:11:01
He was a swell fella...
:11:04
...but when the president, chairman
and owner of 87% of the stock...
:11:08
...drops...
:11:09
...44 floors--
:11:11
45.
:11:11
Counting the mezzanine.
:11:13
Then the company, too, has a problem.
Stillson!
:11:18
What exactly is the disposition
of Waring's stock?
:11:21
As you know...
:11:22
...Hud left no will and no family.
:11:24
The company bylaws are quite clear
in that event.
:11:28
"His entire portfolio will be converted
into common stock...
:11:31
"...and will be sold over the counter
as of the first of the fiscal year...
:11:36
- "...following his demise."
- Meaning?
:11:38
Meaning simply that Waring's stock
and control of the company...
:11:42
...will be made available
to the public January 1st.
:11:47
Do you mean to say...
:11:48
...that any slob in a smelly T-shirt
will be able to buy Hudsucker stock?
:11:52
The company bylaws are quite clear.
:11:55
My God! You're animals!
:11:57
How can you discuss his stock
when the man has just leapt 45 floors?
:12:01
44.
:12:02
Not counting the mezzanine.
:12:04
Quit showboating.
:12:05
The man is gone. The question now
is whether we'll let...
:12:07
...John Q. Public waltz in here
and buy our company.
:12:10
What are you suggesting?
:12:13
Certainly we can't afford
to buy a controlling interest.
:12:16
Not while the stock is this strong.
:12:19
How soon before Hud's paper
hits the market?
:12:21
January 1st.
:12:22
- Thirty days.
- Four weeks.
:12:24
- A month at the most.
- One month...
:12:26
...to make the blue-chip investment
of the century...
:12:28
...look like a round-trip ticket
on the Titanic.
:12:31
We play up the fact that Hud is dead.
:12:33
Long live the Hud!
:12:35
We depress the stock.
:12:36
- To the point where we can buy 50%.
- 51%.
:12:39
Not counting the mezzanine.
:12:40
It could work.
:12:41
- It should work.
- It would work.
:12:43
It's working already.
:12:46
Waring Hudsucker is abstract art
on Madison Avenue.
:12:50
What we need now is a new president
who will inspire panic in the stockholder.
:12:55
- A puppet!
- A proxy!
:12:56
A pawn!