Ethan was in New York to attend the opening of Apple's new flagship store.
Unlike the company's ordinary retail outlets, Apple had placed enormous importance on this location.
Specialist designers had been commissioned to create the building's exterior, while every detail of the interior, from the displays to the furnishings, had been carefully arranged to reflect Apple's distinctive aesthetic.
As one of America's best-known technology brands, Apple had already attracted countless enthusiasts before the doors even opened.
Some people had arrived early and begun queuing outside the store well in advance.
As was customary, the first customers through the doors on opening day would receive exclusive gifts that could not simply be purchased, making them highly desirable among Apple enthusiasts.
"I didn't realise Apple had this kind of following in New York."
Ethan looked at the enormous queue outside with a mixture of surprise and amusement.
The sight reminded him of future Apple Store openings he remembered from his previous life.
He even recalled one particularly dedicated customer who had once queued for three days and nights to become the first person inside Beijing's first Apple Store.
Afterwards, the man posted a photograph online and was mocked relentlessly.
Ethan had always found that reaction rather sad.
Viewed differently, how was such a person fundamentally different from football supporters who spent hours queuing outside ticket offices before important matches?
Were they fools as well?
"See that man over there?" Jobs asked, pointing towards someone using a device that resembled an oversized mobile phone.
Ethan nodded.
The man wore a business suit, although after spending so long outside, he looked rather dishevelled.
"If I'm not mistaken, he works on Wall Street.
"And that one over there does too."
Jobs quickly pointed out several more people before smiling.
"I'd wager more than half the people in this queue came because of you."
"Me?"
Ethan looked at him incredulously.
"Of course.
"You do realise people have created fan sites about you online?
"You're practically a cult figure among venture capitalists.
"But you spend most of your time in Britain and rarely appear publicly in America.
"Now that you've finally turned up in New York, naturally they want to see you."
There was something suspiciously pleased about Jobs's smile.
Ethan immediately realised what had happened.
Jobs had almost certainly leaked the news of his appearance deliberately.
Ethan stared at him with a resigned smile.
There was little he could do about the old schemer.
Besides, if Apple benefited from the publicity, Ethan benefited as well.
What difference did it really make?
From the moment he agreed to visit the United States, Ethan had accepted that Jobs would exploit his presence for everything it was worth.
"Stop looking so miserable," Jobs said, patting him on the shoulder as the ceremony approached.
"You're their idol. At least smile."
"I prefer looking mysterious."
Jobs burst out laughing.
The two men emerged through the main entrance side by side.
The crowd outside immediately erupted.
Since Ethan first invested in Apple, almost nobody had ever seen him and Jobs appear publicly together.
In separate interviews, however, Jobs had repeatedly praised Ethan, while Ethan had spoken equally highly of him.
That had naturally made people curious about their relationship.
The answer quickly became obvious.
They spent most of the ceremony teasing each other.
Ethan was still irritated about being used as free publicity, so after the ribbon-cutting ceremony, he repeatedly put Jobs on the spot during interviews.
Jobs managed to answer every difficult question, although Ethan occasionally caught him badly enough to leave him momentarily flustered.
Jobs retaliated whenever an opportunity appeared.
Their constant banter kept the atmosphere lively.
More importantly, it confirmed what many people had suspected.
The two men were genuinely close friends.
Otherwise, neither would have dared behave so casually with the other in public.
After the ribbon-cutting, Ethan and Jobs remained inside the store to participate in the opening activities.
The first ten customers who purchased an Apple product were offered the opportunity to take a photograph with both men.
Everyone further back in the queue immediately regretted not arriving sooner.
Once that event ended, Apple introduced several additional interactive activities.
Visitors were encouraged to experiment with the company's products, explore different applications, and participate in creative challenges designed specifically for the flagship store.
The entire space increasingly felt less like a conventional shop and more like a place built around technology and creativity.
"Ethan, how is the stadium coming along?" Jobs asked.
The question immediately put Ethan in a good mood.
"According to the current construction schedule, the main work should be completed in about eighteen months.
"We expect it to be fully operational within two years.
"Don't worry, Steve. It won't interfere with Apple's plans for expanding in Europe."
Jobs trusted him.
He had already seen the designs for both the Red Rebel Stadium and the Apple flagship store incorporated into the surrounding development.
In his opinion, the entire project was approaching architectural art.
Apple's store beside the Red Rebel Stadium would occupy a large underground space beneath the main plaza.
Its entrance would rise above the square as an elegant glass structure personally designed by Ethan.
A spiral staircase would descend through the centre.
Combined with carefully designed internal lighting, the entire structure would resemble a glowing, crystal-like Apple logo.
Even Jobs had been forced to admit that the design was extraordinary.
When Lamborghini launched the Red Rebel supercar in North America, Jobs had originally placed an order largely out of friendship.
After seeing the finished car, however, he became completely convinced by Ethan's design.
He purchased one immediately.
Only later did he discover that the limited-edition model had triggered extraordinary demand around the world.
Jobs felt much the same about the Apple store beside the Red Rebel Stadium.
After several rounds of discussions, both sides agreed that it would become Apple's largest and most comprehensive flagship store in Europe.
Apple would not be alone.
The commercial district around the stadium would also contain flagship locations for Audi, Adidas, Vodafone, and several other major brands.
New Manchester United was continuing to search for further commercial partners.
As Ethan had previously told Jobs, the entire district had the potential to become one of Manchester's most important destinations.
Once the surrounding land was fully developed, it might even grow into one of the city's most prosperous areas.
Thinking about it, Jobs could not help admiring Ethan's instincts.
Whenever he committed himself to something, he seemed capable of producing something remarkable.
Whether it involved investing, football, automotive design, or architecture, the results were rarely ordinary.
"There's been a great deal of speculation about the value of the companies you own stakes in," Jobs said.
"Do you have any plans to sell shares or take any of them public?"
Ethan smiled.
"Not yet, Steve.
"Our blogging company is developing a new core platform called Twitter.
"Once it launches, I believe it could change the way information spreads across the internet.
"And our social-networking platform still hasn't reached anywhere near its potential user base.
"There's plenty of room left to grow."
"What about the video-sharing site?
"I heard Google is interested in acquiring it."
"Still too early."
Ethan smiled mysteriously.
In his calculations, eventually going public was inevitable.
For an internet company operating in the United States, reaching its full scale without accessing public capital would be extremely difficult.
The only reason Ethan kept delaying was that he wanted the companies to achieve much higher valuations first.
It was not because he desperately needed the money.
At his current level of wealth, money was increasingly becoming little more than numbers on a screen.
What interested him more was recognition.
Footballers often regarded wages and transfer fees as measures of how highly clubs valued them.
Ethan regarded a company's valuation in much the same way.
Jobs could do little about him.
The companies Ethan already controlled or held major stakes in would collectively be worth several billion dollars if placed on the market.
Yet Ethan remained remarkably indifferent to their monetary value and spent most of his attention on football.
Sometimes even Jobs could not decide which version of Ethan was more impressive.
The football owner in Manchester?
Or the investor operating across America?
Perhaps both.
...
Since he was already in the United States, Ethan also decided to visit Hollywood.
Ever since investing in DreamWorks alongside George Clooney and several others, he had barely appeared there.
Clooney, Brad Pitt, and the others frequently complained that Ethan behaved like the ultimate absentee investor.
The moment they heard he was coming to Hollywood, several friends made time to see him.
Some were in the middle of filming, while others had been enjoying holidays, but they all returned when possible.
They gathered together, talked about DreamWorks, and discussed the latest developments in Hollywood.
Ethan repeated an opinion he had expressed before.
Animation, comic-book superheroes, fantasy properties, and other recognisable franchises would become increasingly important sources of material for major films.
At his suggestion, DreamWorks had already acquired or secured rights connected to Transformers, Iron Man, and The Chronicles of Narnia.
This time, Ethan proposed another idea.
DreamWorks should approach Blizzard Entertainment.
He believed Blizzard's Warcraft universe had enormous potential as an epic fantasy film franchise in the spirit of The Lord of the Rings.
Only after receiving an encouraging response from Blizzard did Ethan suddenly remember something important.
World of Warcraft had not yet been released.
The online game that would eventually transform Blizzard into a global phenomenon did not exist yet.
More importantly, Blizzard's current valuation remained comparatively modest.
Ethan immediately asked John to evaluate the company and began preparing an acquisition.
Blizzard had long faced financial pressure under its existing ownership.
The possibility of being acquired by Ethan and receiving greater creative freedom was extremely attractive to the development team.
For that reason, they offered considerable support to the proposed deal.
The negotiations progressed quickly.
Before long, the acquisition of Blizzard was essentially complete.
Ethan intended to develop it into a fully integrated gaming company capable of handling development, publishing, and online operations while still allowing the studio to function independently.
With Blizzard under the same ownership umbrella, DreamWorks naturally gained much easier access to the screen rights for the Warcraft universe.
The two sides then negotiated a revenue-sharing structure acceptable to everyone involved.
Apart from Warcraft, Spielberg had recently been considering another film set during the Second World War.
That immediately reminded Ethan of the suffering endured across East Asia during the conflict.
He discussed the possibility of developing a film centred on civilians caught in the devastation of the war, particularly the atrocities and humanitarian disasters that had received far less attention in Western cinema.
Spielberg found the idea compelling.
He even suggested that Ethan should personally write the screenplay.
Ethan did not refuse.
Then he noticed the expressions on Clooney's and the others' faces.
They were looking at him far too eagerly.
Ethan immediately sensed danger.
Remaining in Hollywood any longer seemed likely to result in considerably more work being dumped on him.
That evening, he boarded the first convenient flight back to Manchester.
(To be continued.)