The Tyrant Billionaire

Time quickly slipped into February. The temperature in Los Angeles stayed between 18°C and 12°C, perfect for wearing trench coats and suits. Hardy liked this weather a lot, much more comfortable than sweating in the summer.

Today, he was at the airport to pick someone up.

The filming of "Once a Thief" had wrapped up, and the crew was returning to Los Angeles. Hardy came to greet them, though his primary reason was to pick up Ava Gardner.

As the crew disembarked, directors and actors respectfully shook hands with Hardy. He offered them a few words of encouragement before taking Ava and leaving.

In the car, Ava excitedly hugged Hardy, "Finally back, I can take a good rest now."

Hardy smiled, "That's all up to you."

On the way back, they chatted idly, and Ava mentioned "Ghost."

"In New York, I watched 'Ghost.' It was amazing. Despite lacking big scenes, there's a feeling that lingers in the heart."

"The theme song is wonderful. Hardy, you created another classic. The success of 'Ghost' is greatly tied to that song."

"By the way, has 'Ghost' finished its run? What's the box office?" Ava asked.

Due to its strong performance, "Ghost" stayed in theaters for nearly two months before being taken down. This was rare in later times but quite common in this era, where some movies ran intermittently for half a year if they had good box office returns.

"It has officially ended. The numbers haven't been publicly released yet, but MGM has informed me. The total box office is $11.2 million," Hardy said.

"Wow, that much!"

Ava exclaimed in surprise.

"I was wondering if 'Once a Thief' could compete with 'Ghost.' Now it seems difficult," Ava said.

"Hehe, not necessarily. With good promotion, 'Once a Thief' can be a hit too," Hardy laughed.

"Boss, how are you planning to promote it?"

"I've arranged something that will definitely help with the film's promotion," Hardy said.

"Ah, I just got back, and you're making me work already. You really are an evil capitalist."

Ava complained.

"Listen to my plan before deciding." Hardy then introduced the 'Superstar' talent show to Ava, detailing the nationwide auditions, preliminaries, advancements, finals, and the journey of an ordinary person rising to fame.

Just hearing Hardy's introduction, Ava could tell that this show would be very captivating.

"I want you to be a judge. Besides you, we have Hedy Lamarr, Johnny Fontaine, and Cary Grant. I think this lineup will be impressive," Hardy said.

It would be more than impressive, this panel of judges could be described as formidable.

Ava Gardner was currently America's most renowned female singer, with her song 'Scarborough Fair' becoming a classic. Her subsequent album sold over a hundred thousand copies.

Hedy Lamarr was an early sex symbol, now hugely popular thanks to 'Ghost,' making her the hottest actress of the year.

Johnny Fontaine was a well known American singer, famous for over a decade and well qualified to be a judge.

As for Cary Grant, he was an Oscar winning actor, with no one questioning his qualifications.

"Okay, I'll do it," Ava agreed immediately.

With the judges selected, the rest was up to ABC Television, Their production team was already formed, and the show would start soon. Explore more at m,v l'e-NovelBin.net

...

Bill secretly contacted a bottle cap factory, not in Los Angeles but in the suburbs of Atlanta, and bought it for over ten thousand dollars. They hired some skilled workers to produce a batch of Coca Cola bottle caps.

After making the caps, they disbanded the team and warned them not to disclose this matter. If they did, they wouldn't escape consequences.

These people never knew their employer's identity. The factory was sold afterward, resulting in a loss of just over two thousand dollars.

This batch of bottle caps was shipped to major cities across the United States and stored in warehouses. After about half a month, Bill felt it was time and called Hardy, "Boss, everything is ready. When should we start?"

"In three days," Hardy said.

A few days earlier, Hardy met with Andy and told him about his plan to undermine Coca Cola. Andy immediately saw the potential in this.

They activated a series of secret accounts to short Coca Cola stock.

Due to the prize redemption campaign, Coca Cola's sales were excellent, even higher than usual, selling seventy to eighty million bottles in just over a month.

Many people had accumulated a lot of bottle caps, but very few won prizes.

Coca Cola had verbal agreements with grocery stores and small supermarkets. These sellers were responsible for prize redemption. After collecting a batch of bottle caps, they would redeem them with major distributors, who would then settle with Coca Cola, deducting the redeemed money from their payments.

But recently, many people started bringing their bottle caps to grocery stores and supermarkets for redemption. Sometimes, a store would redeem over a hundred dollars a day.

Previously, most people lacked the Virgo and Gemini caps. However, recently, many small time crooks somehow got these caps and sold them for 30 cents each, providing an abundant supply of the Virgo and Gemini caps.

This happened not just in one place but in various cities and even small towns across the country.

Suddenly, there were numerous prize winners.

After a few days, grocery stores and supermarkets began taking their bottle caps to distributors for redemption.

They had fronted the money initially. At first, distributors accepted the caps, thinking Coca Cola had increased their rewards for promotion. But as more stores came for redemption, they sensed something was wrong and reported it to Coca Cola's headquarters.

Hearing this, Coca Cola immediately realized the severity and contacted distributors nationwide.

"Washington, how much have you redeemed?"

"Over $4000."

"Oklahoma City, how much have you redeemed?"

"Over $8000."

"Philadelphia, how much have you redeemed?"

"Over $6000."

Coca Cola had over 50 distributors nationwide. After inquiries, they found out that they had redeemed over a million dollars in total.

The Coca Cola president felt his head buzzing. They hadn't issued that many prizes, planning to distribute only a 100.000 for the year. In just over a month, they had only issued twenty to thirty thousand. Where did all these winning caps come from?

Fraud~!

The president immediately realized the serious problem.