The surge of online activity calling for Wilson to address the issue quickly reached the English royal family, prompting the public relations team to report the situation to King Philip.
Initially surprised, Philip soon regained his composure upon learning that William was involved. He immediately suspected that this might be a coordinated effort between his grandson Wilson and William.
After calling Wilson, he learned that the plant science Ph.D. candidate who made the controversial post was a 27-year-old first-year doctoral student at Oxford, someone who had a good relationship with Wilson and was also the heir to a barony.
Philip didn't need further explanation. He quickly understood that everything was still under control.
Chuckling to himself, he offered Wilson a few words of advice before ending the call.
With the assistance of his staff, Philip personally sat down at a computer to explore FaceNet.
After a half-hour of navigating the site and learning from trusted sources, he discovered that the platform already had over 30 million active users online simultaneously.
Experts estimated that this number was limited only by time zones; in many countries, it was still midnight or early morning.
Once daylight reached the other side of the world in seven or eight hours, the global user base could potentially exceed 100 million.
Philip also realized that the brewing controversy about what William might have said to "mislead" viewers would likely dominate global discussions for days.
Media outlets wouldn't miss the chance to capitalize on the public's curiosity. They'd dig through William's past statements and interview experts to analyze or even refute any theories.
This constant media frenzy—whether praising or criticizing William—would effectively provide free, global advertising for FaceNet.
The scale of the giveaway alone—1,000 bottles each of Château Latour and Château Margaux wines, plus the 100-gram gold coins—had everyone talking.
If 10,000 people guessed the correct potato weight, William would need to distribute 9,000 gold coins worth a total of $18 million, in addition to the $20 million worth of wine.
For the average person, participating was risk-free: all they had to do was register on the site and submit their guess.
Meanwhile, the two wineries, Latour and Margaux, would gain significant global exposure, transitioning from being exclusive to the wealthy elite to becoming household names.
In a few years, this increased visibility could easily double their valuation, earning William an additional $1.5 billion to $1.6 billion—a return far exceeding his potential $200 million giveaway.
As Philip processed this, he couldn't help but marvel at William's ability to incite global excitement even while stranded on Mars.
William wasn't just orchestrating a guessing game; he was masterfully leveraging it to keep people engaged with FaceNet.
With the current level of interest and activity, the platform wouldn't lack traffic until the potato results were announced.
By that point, FaceNet could easily have tens or even hundreds of millions of registered users.
If William decided to raise funds for the platform, investors would undoubtedly line up, eager to write checks just to secure a piece of the action.
But Philip knew William well enough to predict that he wouldn't let anyone take advantage of him during this critical period.
Unless the platform was valued at a minimum of £100 billion, William was unlikely to part with more than 10% of the company's shares.
Philip, intrigued by the potential, called Wilson again to inquire about his stake in the venture.
When Wilson revealed that William had promised him and his peers 5% of the shares during the first funding round, Philip felt a mix of pride and regret.
He congratulated Wilson on his savvy connections but couldn't help wishing he had a direct way to secure a stake for himself.
By 1:00 p.m., the board members of the Independent Television Network were ecstatic to learn that their morning broadcast had drawn over 5 million viewers during a traditionally low-rating period.
Projections for the evening suggested that more than 10 million TVs in England would tune in, giving them an unprecedented 90% share of the national audience.
Their daily advertising revenue was now equivalent to 10 days' worth of normal earnings.
Yet, as the directors celebrated, the network's operations manager raised a crucial point:
"William won't be broadcasting all day. If we want to retain viewers, we need to give them more reasons to stay.
"We should consider having William interact directly with viewers through our network or even inviting audience members to join a live studio broadcast."
The manager also proposed a lucky draw featuring Martian items as prizes. Even ordinary rocks or red metallic sand from Mars would captivate the public.
And if the prizes included a piece of gold ore, the frenzy among English viewers would reach unimaginable levels.
With these discussions in the background, the equity deal between William, Wilson, and the network was finalized without any obstacles.
Wilson cleverly negotiated for a 36% stake, with William holding 33% and Wilson personally acquiring 3% for £40 million.
By doing so, Wilson secured a seat on the board, a privilege that delighted him immensely.
William, informed by Sunday about the deal, chose not to interfere. He understood that Wilson's 3% stake was more than just an investment—it was an acknowledgment of his role in brokering the partnership.
By 4:00 p.m., after William wrapped up his daily Mars broadcast, he teased his audience with a cryptic message:
"Don't forget to stay tuned to the Independent Television Network tonight. You might be in for a surprise."
This ensured that English viewers kept their TVs tuned to the network.
Meanwhile, audiences in other Commonwealth nations who could access the channel via satellite also began switching over.
Thirty minutes later, the network's ratings were soaring.
The channel then announced that Wilson would be appearing live at 8:00 p.m. to answer viewers' questions.
There was also a possibility of a direct conversation with William from Mars.
Additionally, the network revealed that they had received exclusive footage from William's space journey, including breathtaking views of space, asteroid encounters, and the Moon and Mars.
This announcement not only retained existing viewers but also attracted a surge of new ones, causing the network's ratings to skyrocket even further.
(End of Chapter)
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