Chapter 688

At night, by the northwestern corner of the Santa Monica Mountains near Lake Sino, in Kate Beckinsale's villa, Charles was sitting on the couch with his arms around Scarlett Johansson.

"Now, your Black Widow is about to be famous worldwide," Charles said joyfully as his hands wandered on the bombshell's body.

After all, Black Widow's screen time in Iron Man 2 wasn't much and definitely not as stunning as in The Avengers!

"Pepper Potts, Thor's girlfriend, and now Black Widow," Scarlett Johansson said, leaning down to kiss Charles's exposed chest through his open robe.

"So, did you give away a lot of Capet shares this time?" she asked.

"Not really," Charles explained after kissing the lady for a while. "Some people don't have that much cash at once. Besides, AC Capital's current investments aren't bad either; Lululemon, Sands Entertainment, Starbucks, and Apple stock prices have gone up quite a bit!"

"Anyway, congratulations," Scarlett Johansson said with a smile, removing her jacket and kissing Charles on the neck.

Soon, Scarlett Johansson kneeled in front of Charles, who was leaning back on the couch with a pleased expression, caressing the blonde's hair.

Kate Beckinsale walked out after her shower and saw this scene. She calmly came up to Charles, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him. "After The Avengers is released, it will definitely bolster Capet's stock price advantage!"

"Darling, is this really the time to talk about this?" Charles said as he reached out and pulled the lady closer for a kiss...

...

Because after The Avengers, they had to go to New York, Orlando, and other places for promotion, Charles parted ways with Kate Beckinsale and Scarlett Johansson the next day.

Burbank, Capet Headquarters.

"The News Corporation stock seems to have stopped falling?" Charles sat in his office chair with some surprise.

"Yeah, it's dropped quite a bit," Phyllis Jones said with a bit of schadenfreude as she poured Charles a glass of wine, "Rupert Murdoch is currently trying to reassure the shareholders. Besides, such a big deal with the London phone hacking scandal, the lawsuit investigation is bound to be long, at least one or two years before it goes to court!"

Charles took a sip of the wine, "I'm more concerned about the 9/11 investigation on our side. Is the FBI full of lazy bums? No news has come out. So far, only the News of the World in the UK has been shut down!"

"Boss, it's tough to get the U.S. Justice Department to sue News Corporation. The fact that the FBI has committed to investigating is already hard enough," Phyllis Jones explained.

"Hmph, remember the glory days a few years ago when News Corporation continuously acquired 34% shares of DirecTV and the Dow Jones Company?" Charles sneered. "They wanted to build a global satellite TV system by continent!"

A few years ago, News Corporation was a real pain in the neck. Now, it's come back to bite them;

The UK's newspaper assets were toxic, Fox News ratings in the U.S. plummeted, the full acquisition of Sky TV evaporated; Now, the only media News Corporation truly controls is in Australia!

"Has the market value of News Corporation dropped by $20 billion this year?" Charles asked.

Phyllis Jones shook her head, "Around $18 billion, just shy of $20 billion. Right now, News Corporation's stock value is over $42 billion."

Charles stroked his chin. If News Corporation recovers from this, it should bounce back quickly. "Notify Molly to find some tabloids and say Wendi Deng's relationship with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is not simple. After all, Wendi Deng and Tony Blair did meet several times this year..."

"A former British Prime Minister and a fierce woman who just slapped a radical in the British Parliament," Phyllis Jones murmured, eyes sparkling, "This is definitely big news!"

"Rupert Murdoch is 80, and Wendi Deng is only 43," Charles chuckled and continued, "Remember to leak the family discord news too. Rupert Murdoch's sons Lachlan Murdoch and James Murdoch, and his daughter Elisabeth Murdoch, all have huge conflicts with their stepmom, Wendi Deng..."

Now is the low point for News Corporation. Not kicking them while they're down would be a huge missed opportunity!

"Boss, your idea," Phyllis Jones was at a loss for words, but she heard Charles praising himself, "I know, it's a genius idea!"

"I understand, Molly Bloom came back from the UK before. I'll inform her."

Soon, Phyllis Jones left Charles's office.

*****

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