Football Dynasty-Chapter 502: First Ballon d’Or winner

Chapter 502: First Ballon d’Or winner
Ritz Paris, France.
Inside the luxurious fitness center of a five-star hotel, Richard was running vigorously on one of the state-of-the-art treadmills lined up by the window, basking in the morning sunlight streaming through the large glass panes.
Sweat dripped from his forehead, and the movements of his feet and back muscles were dynamically revealed with each stride. He had been sprinting at full speed for ten minutes now, his breathing growing ragged, but he didn’t stop, earbuds plugged into his ears as he kept running.
Still remembering his injury, he didn’t dare push himself further.
"Phew... ha..."
Only after running for quite a while longer did he finally reduce the treadmill’s speed, slowing down to a walk as he checked his heart rate on the watch strapped to his wrist.
"If only smartwatches existed—I wouldn’t have to check manually; it would show me instantly," he muttered to himself, flapping his sweat-soaked T-shirt. While wiping the sweat from his forehead with a towel draped over the handle, his phone rang.
RING~
Richard picked up immediately.
"Richard, it’s me."
Hearing the familiar voice of Larry Fink, Richard furrowed his brows slightly and asked, "What’s the matter at this hour?"
"The liquidation of AOL is complete, so I called to ."
Good guy, so fast!
Recalling that he had entrusted Larry Fink and Adam Lewis as the law representatives of Maddox Capital to handle the AOL sale after Netscape’s stock-by-stock exchange, Richard sat down on a nearby bench and asked, "What about Jim and Marc’s response?"
Clark and Andreessen, the two founders of Netscape, were both so busy that they hadn’t even taken a second glance at Richard selling the shares. In fact, it seemed they were happy that they managed to retain their shares instead.
"So, judging by your tone, I take it things went well."
The America Online (AOL) acquisition of Netscape Communications in a tax-free stock swap valued at US$4.2 billion sent shockwaves through the global financial market. It was valued at US$10 billion after the acquisition in fact. Probably, after this, the dot-com boom peaked temporarily before eventually normalizing with the crash.
Richard sighed in relief. Even though he had anticipated this outcome, a bitter, bitter smile formed on his lips. If the two hadn’t sold to AOL, they might still have been able to realize their own brand concept, unimpeded by AOL’s bureaucracy. Richard believed that the two corporate cultures would be a mess after this.
"How much was the return?"
"A clean 100%."
"That’s beyond expectations."
Richard hadn’t sold his AOL shares personally. He transferred them to Maddox Capital, which handled the sale. The profit remained inside the company, meaning Richard avoided any immediate personal capital gains tax.
"It’s just that near the end, news spread that we sold our shares, and it seems to have triggered a massive sell-off of AOL."
"That was unlikely to last long term," he said.
After all, investors scrambled to dump their shares because Maddox Capital’s selling pushed the price down. They sold as quickly as possible—but Richard believed they would scoop the shares back at rock-bottom prices, taking full advantage of the situation before closing their positions for a hefty profit.
"Anyway, back to business—our total profit is £1.029 billion."
Hearing the figure, Richard let out a short whistle.
"All that effort pays off. Tell the team that when they visit the office, they will get a hefty bonus. Anything else?"
"Yes. To be honest, currently I am in Germany, and tomorrow I’m scheduled to meet at GN Netcom and Fraunhofer at their headquarters on Haussmann Boulevard at 2 PM."
"The details have all been finalized, I assume?"
"Of course. We’ve secured all five patents we requested for a total of $9.5 million."
"You made sure to include what I specifically asked for?"
"You mean the digital audio compression technology?"
"Uhm." Richard hummed in confirmation.
"You emphasized it so many times—I wouldn’t dare forget." answered Larry Fink.
Richard gave a reassuring smile upon hearing this. "I definitely have to be generous with your bonuses this time."
Larry Fink was taken aback.
Hadn’t he just started working at Maddox Capital as its director?
Seeing no response, "Why don’t you want it?"
"Haha, if you insist, then I won’t refuse," said Larry Fink, going along. Hearing the word
bonus
, everyone would naturally be excited. "It’s definitely included in the acquisition list, so you don’t need to worry."
"Good." Richard gave a small nod of approval.
Larry Fink, still slightly puzzled, hesitated before asking, "I checked, and it seems like that particular technology isn’t even fully developed yet. Why are you so interested in it?"
Truthfully, today’s patent acquisition from Fraunhofer wasn’t a major deal—certainly not significant enough for Larry himself to fly all the way to Berlin. On top of that, among all the patents they were securing, the one with the least value, still in development, was the one Richard seemed most fixated on. It was perplexing.
After racking his brain, and finding no answer, Fink cautiously asked again, "Is everything else just a distraction, and the real reason you’re here is for that digital encoding process?"
At that, Richard smiled, as if the other party had finally caught on. There are dozens of audio compression technologies when counting all codecs and dynamic compression methods, but the digital encoding process—this is one of the key MP3 patents. Without it, MP3 as we know it might not have existed.
"It may not seem like much now, but soon, it’s going to be a golden goose that lays eggs year after year."
"If it’s such a revolutionary technology, why would Fraunhofer be willing to part with it?" Fink frowned, still skeptical.
"That’s exactly why we’re getting it for so cheap."
Richard stood up from the bench before adding, "If they truly understood its value, they would never have sold it at this price."
"I know you’re wealthy, but a million dollars for technology that isn’t even complete isn’t exactly ’cheap.’"
The price set for the patent acquisition—specifically for the digital audio compression technology, soon to be known as MP3—was six million dollars alone.
"Six million is practically a steal. In a few years, Fraunhofer will deeply regret this deal."
"Hmm... is that so?" Fink still wasn’t fully convinced, but based on Richard’s track record, he had never made a bad investment before—not even once. And considering the scale of his wealth, six millions dollars was nothing more than a drop in the ocean.
With that in mind, he decided to let it go.
Done with business, the main event had finally arrived.
Ballon d’Or.
The current Ballon d’Or was less of a glitzy red‑carpet show than modern awards—France Football ran it. To be precise, the awards were organized entirely by France Football.
O’Neill did not attend this event, as he was focused on Boxing Day. That’s why Richard was here. After last year’s criticism of the Ballon d’Or, naturally he came with high hopes of a good result.
Two City players, Zidane and Ronaldo, had been given time off to attend the celebration. Though Ronaldo was still recovering from his knee injury, at least he could perform light training.
"And the winner is..."
When the voting results were revealed, the applause was thunderous.
Richard immediately turned to look at Ronaldo, who was stunned.
"What are you doing? Go up to the stage!"
"Is it really me?" Ronaldo stammered.
Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or by a massive margin over the second-place player:
Ronaldo – Manchester City – 222
Predrag Mijatović – Real Madrid – 68
Zinedine Zidane – Manchester City – 63
Dennis Bergkamp – Arsenal – 57
Roberto Carlos – Real Madrid – 47
Andreas Möller – Borussia Dortmund – 40
Raúl – Real Madrid – 35
Peter Schmeichel – Manchester United – 19
Jürgen Kohler – Borussia Dortmund – 17
Matthias Sammer – Borussia Dortmund – 16
In the Maine Road office, late at night, the lights were still on, and shouts echoed from the meeting room. All City employees and staff rejoiced when the Ballon d’Or was announced.
Manchester City has its own Ballon d’Or winner!
This would raise the club’s profile tremendously, significantly boosting its reputation. The small club from just three years ago had now produced a Ballon d’Or winner!
This could also serve as massive motivation for City’s players. The young players aspired to reach the heights that their star had achieved.
For the runner-up, Predrag Mijatović of Real Madrid, last season he scored a total of 14 goals. That included a memorable goal in Real Madrid’s 2–0 victory over Barcelona in El Clásico, where he escaped from Miguel Ángel Nadal and Laurent Blanc before lifting the ball over Vítor Baía to score. By the end of the season, Real Madrid finished first in La Liga and also claimed the Supercopa de España over Barcelona.
As for third place, there is no doubt about Zinedine Zidane. He spent half a season at Bordeaux, where he starred in Ligue 1 alongside Bixente Lizarazu and Christophe Dugarry—also key figures of the French national team. Now, after City managed to sign him from Blackburn Rovers, who had preferred Tim Sherwood over him, he was dominating the Premier League last year, winning the double: the Premier League title and the Champions League for the first time.
As for the first, he scored 34 goals in 37 matches in all competitions for Cruzeiro before transferring to Manchester City, where he continued his high-level performances. He rarely failed to score over 20 goals each season. Last season? An astonishing 59 goals in 57 matches. His ability to dominate defenders, score from anywhere, and change games single-handedly made him stand out above all others.
Voted by sports journalists from UEFA member countries, Ronaldo’s talent and achievements were widely recognized across the continent. His combination of goals, skill, and match-winning impact put him far ahead of his peers in the voting.
Before stepping onto the stage to accept his award, he embraced Richard tightly, his eyes glistening with tears. Richard could only whisper his congratulations and urged him to take the stage. Next was Zidane, who offered his congratulations with a warm smile.
After receiving the Ballon d’Or, his first words were, "This is not just for me, but for everyone who believed in me and supported me along the way." The applause in the room swelled, echoing off the walls as cameras flashed, capturing the moment for history.
He paused, taking a deep breath, still overwhelmed by emotion. "To my teammates, my coaches, and my family—you are the reason I am standing here today. Without your guidance and support, none of this would have been possible."
Turning to the audience, he added with a shy grin, "And yes, a little extra motivation came from a certain someone who always pushed me to be better." His gaze met Richard’s, who nodded approvingly, a proud smile spreading across his face.
The crowd cheered again, louder this time, as Ronaldo lifted the trophy high.
For a moment, the world seemed to pause, celebrating not just a player, but the culmination of years of effort, resilience, and talent.