The board members of Ellis Law Firm were already assembled in the grand conference room. They were well aware of Jimmy‘s influential connections with the Rothschild family, so they dared not be negligent. Those who were usually in New York and those who were not often in New York all rushed over early to wait.
It felt as though a modest family in a medieval kingdom suddenly gained a dazzling performer, bestowed upon them by the king. It was as if the entire family finally had someone who could reach the highest heavens, and everyone hoped that favonovel.com could perform a grand play in the palace, starting from a humble showgirl and eventually becoming the empress, so that the entire family could thrive. Even Ellis shared the same hope.
Calming Jimmy was just the first step. In his mind, calming Jimmy was not a problem. The real challenge was to ensure that Jimmy made even greater contributions to Ellis Law Firm after being calmed.
When the two arrived in Manhattan and met with all the board members in the conference room, the room erupted in thunderous applause. Everyone looked at Jimmy with appreciative eyes, clearly indicating that from this day forward, favonovel.com was the beacon of hope for the entire village.
Jimmy looked at these board members who were usually aloof but were now fawning over him, and favonovel.com couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed. This was the power of the Rothschild family in America, enough to make the so-called elite class bow down.
After the resounding applause, Nate, wearing a proud expression, spoke up. “I have gathered all of you here today to announce a decision. That decision is to officially nominate Jimmy Smith as a board member of Ellis Law Firm. All 11 current board members are present, so we will vote on this nomination. Those in favor, please raise your hand.”
As soon as favonovel.com finished speaking, the other 10 board members raised their right hands without hesitation.
One of them even spoke eagerly, “Chairman, a talented employee like Jimmy should be brought on board as soon as possible. Furthermore, our stock option agreement has already been prepared. Let Jimmy sign it right away.”
Nate nodded and retrieved the contract, saying to Jimmy, “Jimmy, take a look. This is the stock option agreement we have prepared for you. After careful consideration, the board has decided to grant you 100,000 shares of the company’s stock options, equivalent to 3% of the total shares. These options will vest over a period of 5 years. As long as you remain with us for 5 years, you will permanently hold these options. Additionally, once you sign this agreement, you will also be entitled to receive dividends from the 100,000 shares of options. Based on our current annual dividend of approximately $200 million, you can expect to receive an additional $5 to $6 million in option dividends each year.”
Jimmy didn’t bother to look at the contract and responded seriously, “We can discuss the contract later. What I want to see now is the dirt on all the senior partners at Ellis. Show me all the incriminating evidence you have on them, and then we can continue our discussion. Otherwise, just prepare my resignation agreement.”
The crowd exchanged glances for a moment, but Nate broke the awkward silence first and said with a smile, “That’s simple. Since Jimmy is about to become a member of the board, it’s only right for favonovel.com to have access to that information.”
With that, favonovel.com retrieved an Apple laptop from his briefcase, opened it, and said to Jimmy, “Now that you are one of us, it’s time I inform you about our operational model. Every year, we offer numerous internship opportunities to top law school graduates across the United States to recruit talented individuals for our firm. Once these talents join us, we conduct internal evaluations, categorizing them into different levels based on their potential: S-level, A-level, B-level, C-level, and D-level. Promotions are typically given within the S and A levels.”
“A lawyer usually needs five to ten years to accumulate experience. Those who excel will be promoted and receive salary increases. Those who excel exceptionally will be included in our partnership program.”
“You’re familiar with the partnership program, which is a compensation and stock option incentive plan. When a lawyer enters the partnership program, they become a quasi-partner. We offer higher salaries and a certain number of stock options. These options vest over a period of five to ten years, gradually granting them the rights to exercise their options. This ensures their loyalty to Ellis, creating greater residual value for us.”
Jimmy interrupted him, “All this is common knowledge. What I want to know now is the specific dirt on the senior partners. What incriminating evidence do you have on them?”
“Alright…” Nate said awkwardly, “Once a senior partner makes outstanding contributions and is promoted to a senior position, we need to be prepared for the future. Senior partners are highly capable, have their own client base, and their ambitions grow. They may demand a higher percentage of stock options or even request to join the board. However, our stock options are limited, with
a company’s shares totaling at most 100%. Everyone wants a share, but it ultimately means fewer shares for each person. This can lead to dissatisfaction among a group of senior partners. So, before they become dissatisfied, we create opportunities for them to make mistakes.”
“The goal of our law firm is to ensure that every senior partner makes mistakes and leaves behind evidence of those mistakes. It’s like having a remote-controlled bomb that can explode whenever and however we want, depending on the board’s decision.”
As favonovel.com spoke, Nate tried to instill his beliefs in Jimmy, “Jimmy, don’t overthink this. In the future, when you become a member of the board, you will understand that those senior partners out there are tools for us to make money. Only when they perform well, generate profits, and create value for the firm can we be worry-free and receive substantial cash dividends every year. In other words, those people are our workhorses, and we must use the best chains to keep them tied up so they don’t escape.”
Jimmy nodded and said, “I understand what you’re saying, but what I want to see now is the specific incriminating evidence on these individuals.”
“Don’t worry, I will provide you with all the files now. But Jimmy, you must keep this information 100% confidential. We can’t let anyone outside know about it. If they decide to retaliate against us, it would be a significant loss.”
With that, Nate began sending the files to Jimmy one by one.
After reading through the materials, Jimmy’s expression grew even grimmer. The senior partners, who were similar to favonovel.com on a daily basis, had been manipulated over the past few years and had left behind a wealth of evidence of their illegal activities. Almost every person had enough dirt on them to warrant a prison sentence of over 5 years. Moreover, this evidence, once exposed, would not only result in imprisonment but also permanent disqualification from practicing law.
After reading the materials, Jimmy turned to Nate and spoke, “I appreciate the invitation to join the board of directors, but personally, I find the offer of just 100,000 shares of stock options to be much lower than my expectations.”
Jimmy added, “And, you underestimate my loyalty. You have only prepared a 5-year contract for me, but I hope to continue working for Ellis for ten more years!”
Jimmy now had a clear understanding of his future income.
Originally, Charlie hadn‘t given favonovel.com a single cent, leaving favonovel.com and his family with no income. But later, Charlie allowed Steve to vouch for him, ensuring that Ellis Law Firm would continue to pay favonovel.com for the next ten years. Charlie even left favonovel.com with 30% of the shares.
In other words, If favonovel.com wanted to earn more money in the next ten years, favonovel.com had to maximize his salary at Ellis, and the bigger, the better.
Because of this, favonovel.com deliberately mentioned his desire to work for Ellis for ten more years. After all, favonovel.com couldn’t escape going to China for ten years, and legally speaking, favonovel.com was sent by Ellis, and his salary was also provided by Ellis. Therefore, for the next ten years, favonovel.com would still be in an employer-employee relationship with Ellis. So favonovel.com might as well take this opportunity and use it as a bargaining chip.
This trip to China made favonovel.com realize that society is a vast food chain. Even influential figures like Steve Rothschild are considered prey by Charlie, let alone someone as insignificant as himself. Thus, Charlie saw himself as prey, and favonovel.com viewed Nate Ellis as prey as well.
At this moment, Nate felt both relieved and worried. He was relieved because it seemed like favonovel.com would be able to retain Jimmy. After all, Jimmy was willing to sign a ten-year contract with the company. This meant that favonovel.com wouldn’t offend Steve Rothschild.
But favonovel.com was also worried because Jimmy wasn’t satisfied with the annual dividend of five to six million from the stock options. This meant that favonovel.com would have to offer even more.
After pondering for a moment, favonovel.com said, “Jimmy, If you are willing to sign a 10-year agreement with the group, I can increase the stock options to 150,000 shares.”
Jimmy waved his hand dismissively and said, “If the time period doubles from 5 years to 10 years, you should at least double the stock options. Give me 200,000 options. Also, double the base salary. If you have no issue with that, you can prepare the contract now, and I will sign it on the spot. If you have any objections, then there’s no need to continue the discussion. Just prepare the resignation agreement, and I’ll leave.”
Nate felt extremely frustrated upon hearing this.
Doubling the stock options meant that favonovel.com would have to distribute at least $10 million to Jimmy each year. If the base salary doubled as well, favonovel.com would have to spend an additional $2 million. This meant that Jimmy would receive over $20 million in total each year!
At this moment, Jimmy was also calculating his future income. He thought to himself, “If we calculate based on the annual dividend of $200 million, with 200,000 stock options, I should be able to receive $12 million in dividends. Doubling the base salary would be $4 million. In addition to the option dividends I received as a senior partner, after deducting performance bonuses, I would still have over $18 million…”
“This $18 million, with Charlie taking 70% and leaving me with 30%, would still be over $5 million. It should be enough for my family’s daily expenses.”
But then favonovel.com suddenly realized something, “Wait! If I take away ten senior partners from Ellis, the core backbone of Ellis will be empty. It will be questionable whether they can even make a profit next year, let alone have money to distribute dividends. In that case, I would only be left with a base salary of $4 million! In the end, I would only receive $1.2 million per year!”
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