[Chapter 85: Beautiful Assistant and the Investment Manager]
Aunt Kelly's family didn't stay long at the estate, leaving Los Angeles after just three days. After accepting the role of charity ambassador, Aunt Kelly felt a huge sense of mission and urgency. She rushed back to San Francisco to handle her resignation properly, eager to dedicate herself fully to charity work.
She had to ensure that Linton's $5 million charity fund for the year was used wisely and not let Linton down.
Linton arranged for Goodman to accompany her to San Francisco to help set up the Linton Charity Foundation office. They rented an office near Aunt Kelly's residence and recruited a financial specialist and an office clerk.
The foundation's legal and auditing affairs were respectively entrusted to Goodman and Henry Zhou's firm.
As the movie's release date approached, Universal's promotion intensified. To feed the scandal rumors, Linton and Naomi even watched Batman Returns together. Mira got them the best seats. When they sat, paparazzi followed, and since they made no attempt to hide, they were quickly recognized by fellow audience members.
Before the movie began, fans crowded Linton for autographs until the screening started, then quiet settled. The movie continued the dark, gothic style of the first, with many bloody scenes. Naomi used a moment when a supporting actor's face was in close-up, letting out a soft gasp and snuggling into Linton's arms, a scene quickly captured by in-theater paparazzi.
The movie was indeed thrilling, and even in its fourth week in theaters, it maintained over 30% occupancy. The box office looked strong. Thankfully, Step Up was scheduled six weeks later, so it wasn't a competitor.
Linton and Naomi attended several talk shows for promotion. Fortunately, Step Up had been bombarded by media since its inception, and its current attention level kept Linton relaxed.
Linton took time to interview assistants, surprised by the huge number of applicants for investment and personal assistant roles. Each position received over 50 resumes, making it impossible to interview everyone individually.
He filtered out males, candidates over 25, and those not attractive enough. After this blunt screening, around ten candidates remained per position. For the investment assistant role, he further narrowed down applicants to those with Ivy League finance-related degrees, leaving only three candidates. For the personal assistant role, only candidates with college degrees were considered, leaving five candidates.
During interviews, the last investment assistant candidate walked in, instantly stunning Linton. She wore a white blouse with cuffs rolled back, an all-black business suit, black stockings hugging long legs, and mid-heel strappy crystal sandals. Her delicate features, brown-gold shoulder-length hair, and height over 5'9" composed a graceful figure. Even among the many beauties in showbiz, her looks and charisma were top-notch, far surpassing her resume photo.
"Hello, Mr. Linton, my name is Winnie Gesso. I'm here to apply for the investment assistant position," came the sweet voice, pulling Linton back from his surprise.
"I didn't expect Miss Gesso to not only be a Harvard Business School economics prodigy but also so beautiful."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"Your skills perfectly meet what I need for the investment assistant role. But I'm curious, with your capabilities, you could have gone to big financial firms on Wall Street. Why choose to work for me?" Linton asked.
"Mr. Anderson, I think you might not realize the true value of your investment assistant position. Before coming here, I did some research. Since your debut in April last year, your earnings have exceeded $100 million, right? And unlike other Hollywood stars who splurge on planes and yachts, you invest most of it in real estate and ventures. That's a fantastic platform for someone about to graduate from graduate school like me, which naturally attracts me. Besides, Wall Street is still biased against women workers. I believe I can better realize my potential with you," Winnie explained.
"What do you think about the prospects of computers and network communications?"
"The market potential is limitless. Computers and networking are just getting started. There are countless opportunities. The next wealth explosion might come from these two industries," Winnie replied, her bright and intelligent eyes expressing confident insights.
"Excellent! Congratulations, you're hired. Please see Goodman to complete onboarding!"
After confirming with Soul Induction that Winnie had no hidden motives, Linton immediately selected her. She was capable, young, beautiful, and shared his investment philosophy. He offered her an annual salary of $150,000 plus bonuses.
The personal assistant search was less surprising. Linton chose a young woman named Meena Steel, also about to graduate college, fairly pretty but a tier below Winnie. Mostly, he selected her because although her clothes were old, they were very clean, and she had an excellent spirit, clear communication, and logical thinking. Clearly from a poor background, she was self-reliant and motivated to improve herself. She had told him she desperately needed the job.
Using Soul Induction to verify no ulterior motives, Linton gave her the chance with an annual salary of $50,000, the same as Bella after several raises.
After completing onboarding and signing confidentiality agreements, Goodman even took them for physical exams to ensure their health. Linton brought Henry Zhou and Winnie together to brief Winnie on his assets and the foundation's status, telling them to find an office near Universal Studios as the foundation's base.
The foundation temporarily split into two parts. One was investment and asset growth, which Winnie would manage, with Goodman helping recruit an office clerk. Legal and accounting tasks were outsourced to Goodman and Henry's firms. The other part was charity fund usage, assigned to Aunt Kelly.
With $11 million cash on hand, Linton urged prompt investment. Winnie and Henry were tasked to purchase office buildings in Silicon Valley, buying as many as possible.
When Winnie learned of Linton's massive assets, her eyes widened. She felt even more lucky to have chosen to be his investment assistant.
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Meena quickly adapted to personal assistant duties, moving into Linton's estate. After meeting Amy, Danny, Mira, and Robert, she efficiently arranged Linton's daily schedule and thoroughly documented his social connections and work in a notebook.
Linton glanced at her notebook filled with meticulous annotations. Seeing her dedication, Linton entrusted her with managing the estate office.
The headhunting company replied with three investment agent candidates, all with rich experience. After interviewing them with Goodman, Linton selected Richard Welchy, a white man in his 40s.
Richard had worked at Goldman Sachs and later at the Schiff family investment department. Importantly, his investment style was stable, and he was optimistic about the computer and networking sectors, aligning with Linton's vision.
After confirming with Soul Induction that Richard had no malicious intent, Linton hired him with a $300,000 annual salary plus investment performance bonuses. Post-onboarding and signing agreements, Linton handed him documents for the offshore company Skycrest Capital, which Richard would manage.
Currently, Richard was a lone operator tasked to find an office near Universal Studios, with one financial and one clerical staff position. Goodman would assist with recruitment, and legal and accounting would be outsourced.
Skycrest Capital's funds totaled $320 million, not $50 million. The current investments were simple -- purchasing Microsoft and Cisco stock.
Due to the large sum, they couldn't buy from the open market but sought shareholders willing to sell large blocks. Fortunately, the U.S. stock market was sluggish in the first half of the year, partly due to the Los Angeles riots. Microsoft and Cisco stocks saw minimal gains after massive prior increases, so some shareholders might want to cash out.
Linton advised Richard to approach the Bill Gates family office for Microsoft shares, who might want to reduce holdings. Cisco stock purchases were Richard's own responsibility.
To motivate him, Linton promised a bonus of no less than $300,000 if Richard completed the stock purchases within the year.
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