Part 18 (1/2)
Faraday groaned. ”Have your own opinion once in a while, will you?”
”Hey, I-”
”Who's the black guy hanging around today?” Faraday continued, switching subjects. ”The one who looks like he could break me in half with two fingers.”
”Quentin Stiles,” Gillette replied, amused at the way Faraday had easily segued from topic to topic. He was the consummate salesman. ”My new bodyguard.” The fact that Faraday had asked about Stiles indicated that Cohen and Faraday hadn't buddied up since they'd been pa.s.sed over for chairman. Cohen had known since this morning about Stiles but apparently hadn't told Faraday. They'd never been close, but Gillette figured they might form some kind of alliance after the events of the last week. He was glad they hadn't. ”Stiles will be with me full-time from now on.”
”I thought Tom McGuire was taking care of your personal security,” Faraday said.
”I needed another set of eyes and ears, given what's happened.”
”Hmm. Hey, what about Bill's old office? You going to take it?” Faraday wanted to know. ”Because if you don't, I will,” he volunteered quickly. ”In fact, I should should get it. I'm the lead money-raiser around here. I deal with investors more than anyone else. It makes sense for me to have it. Always good to impress the investors with the best digs.” get it. I'm the lead money-raiser around here. I deal with investors more than anyone else. It makes sense for me to have it. Always good to impress the investors with the best digs.”
”I'm taking it,” Gillette said firmly. ”But thanks for bringing up our investors and getting us to the first agenda item. Which is the new fund.”
”New fund?” Faraday asked.
”Yes. Everest Capital Partners Eight.”
”I thought Seven was only 50 percent invested.”
”Over 50 percent,” Gillette made clear. ”Which means I can start raising Eight whenever I want to.” 50 percent,” Gillette made clear. ”Which means I can start raising Eight whenever I want to.”
Faraday turned to Cohen. ”Is that right?”
”Yes.”
”I've already started the raise, Nigel,” Gillette continued. ”I met with Miles Whitman over at North America Guaranty yesterday morning.”
Faraday sat back in his chair and folded his arms tightly across his chest. ”Thanks for telling me,” he muttered.
”I wanted to get things kicked off as soon as possible. Miles was available on short notice. He committed a billion five.”
”A billion five?” Faraday asked incredulously.
”Yes. And, Nigel, there's no need for you to follow up with Miles. I'll deal directly with him on this.”
”But, I-”
”Don't sweat it,” Gillette broke in, hearing the insecurity in Faraday's tone loud and clear. ”You're going to have your hands full bringing in the other thirteen and a half billion.”
”Thirteen and a half?”
”That's right.”
”Holy s.h.i.+t. You mean we're going to try to raise fifteen f.u.c.king billion?” You mean we're going to try to raise fifteen f.u.c.king billion?”
”Yes.”
”No one's ever raised a private equity fund that big.”
”We'll be the first,” Gillette said matter-of-factly. ”By the way, Paul Strazzi is going to be in the market raising a $10 billion fund for Apex at the same time.”
”That's comforting news.”
”Have confidence, Nigel.”
Faraday gave Gillette a quick salute. ”Aye, aye, Captain. But in the future, could you at least let me know when you're going to talk to one of our big investors? We'll look like f.u.c.king amateurs if I call one of these guys and he says you've already been in touch.”
”Of course,” Gillette agreed. ”Let's get together later and talk specifics. You're going to need to hire at least one more person. Maybe two.”
”Maybe three.”
”Like I said, let's talk later.” Gillette looked around. ”Next topic. I've agreed to sell Laurel Energy to U.S. Petroleum for a billion dollars. We invested three hundred million in that business, so it's an excellent transaction for us: a seven-hundred-million-dollar profit. And we know the buyer's good for the money. There'll be no financing contingency.” He glanced at Cohen. ”Ben, I've asked Kyle to take the lead on this one.”
”Right!” Cohen jotted down a note to himself.
”I want to close the transaction quickly,” Gillette continued. ”No earlier than January first, though. We don't want our partners getting hit with capital gains taxes this year.”
”Whoa,” Faraday spoke up. ”At least Bill let us have some discussion about selling a portfolio company before he made his decision.”
”The offer came out of nowhere,” Gillette explained. ”Directly from Richard Harris, the CEO of U.S. Petroleum, at Bill's funeral reception. I had to make a decision right there.” Here was another sign that Cohen wasn't running to Faraday to tell him about what was going on. ”Ben was in the room with me when Harris made the offer.”
”Shouldn't we get info on the seismic tests in Canada before we commit to Harris?” Faraday asked.
”We'll get those next week,” Gillette answered. ”If we win the lotto, we'll renegotiate. Any more questions?”
”Yeah,” Faraday said. ”Why does Cohen already know everything?”
”I've promoted Ben to chief operating officer,” Gillette answered without hesitation. ”Things happened fast in the last few days, and I needed someone with me while I negotiated. I'm going to need someone focused internally, too. Ben's the best suited for that job.”
Faraday shoved his hands in his pockets and slouched back in his chair, annoyed. ”What about our portfolio companies?” he asked, the edge in his tone sharpening. ”Who's getting the chair positions now that Donovan and Mason are gone?”
”I'll chair fifteen of the twenty-seven. Kyle and Marcie will split the other twelve, six and six.”
Faraday was quiet for a few moments. Finally he looked over at Cohen. ”Did you know about this, too?”
Cohen looked away.
”Yes, he did,” Gillette admitted.
”Christ!” Faraday shouted, yanking one hand out of his pocket and banging the table.
”Oh, G.o.d.” Debbie dropped the pen and put her hands to her chest. She'd been focused on taking minutes and hadn't seen Faraday's explosion coming.
”Easy, Nigel,” Gillette warned.