If Aurora and ELQ merge are Drew and Michael planning to dismantle ELQ?

[TVDfan]

If Aurora and ELQ merge are Drew and Michael planning to dismantle ELQ?

I don’t understand if they merge why can’t Ned be CEO of ELQ.

In their conversation today they mentioned they need someone knowledgeable with the media to run Aurora/ELQ.

What does ELQ does anyways?

[BlindLiberty]

Make defective condoms? I'm not sure either.

I was under the impression that merger mentioned more like absorbing Aurora? I mean Drew said they were trying to pump up Aurora's stocks to be viable to ELQ. So, um, I honestly have no idea really what is going on.

[parker joe]

I don't get their wonky math either. They want to add shares so that Valentin has less. But who cares if Ned "knows how to run a media division"? Isn't that what Vice Presidents are for?

I think what it boils down to is that Michael wants control so he can use his position to go after Sonny. Therefore, Ned is collateral damage.

[1sbkmcfan]

That is exactly what I think. He is willing to risk two profitable companies in order to try and destroy Sonny.

[parker joe]

1sbkmcfan yep. That's why he didn't want Carly buying stock. How? I don't know.

[LadyScorpio2]

Supposedly Drew and Michael have issues with Ned running things after the Aurora/ELQ merger because he has no experience with the media. Drew's background was as a navy seal before the whole mind mapping thing and he only worked at Aurora for a few months at best before he disappeared. Michael doesn't have much more experience in this field than Drew does. I guess I am confused by this whole thing; Ned has more experience as a business executive than Drew and Michael combined.

I fully recognize that this situation is contrived to have Ned at odds with Drew and Michael and to have Ned ultimately side with Valentin against them. It's just that the reasoning behind the character choices is lacking.

[soapfan21]

How much actual experience does Ned have? I’ve only been watching since 2008 or so but I don’t really remember him being that involved with ELQ. I got the impression that before he was brought back this most recent time he mostly did music stuff and since he’s come back the only thing he successfully did at ELQ was lose it to Valentin even though he was warned about a takeover.

[OLTL'69]

What kind of media experience did Michael have before Sam asked him to run it?

[maggiebh]

OLTL'69, Did Michael even graduate from high school??? Wasn't he in a coma and then in jail during all that time? LOL, he was head of ELQ for several years with no education or experience!

[Someday]

soapfan21, Ned has been involved off and on with ELQ his entire adult life.

[Remarco]

In the Real World a CEO does not always come from the same Corporate line of business. Big Business thinks if you can run one company you can run another. GM many times had "not a car guy" as a CEO. Why do people think if you run a business you can run government? Skillset not knowledge seems a rule.

[TVDfan]

I don't get their wonky math either. They want to add shares so that Valentin has less. But who cares if Ned "knows how to run a media division"? Isn't that what Vice Presidents are for?

I think what it boils down to is that Michael wants control so he can use his position to go after Sonny. Therefore, Ned is collateral damage.

Exactly! Who cares if Ned can run a media division. Ned could hire Lucy or anyone else while he runs ELQ or better yet Michel can keep running Aurora.
Is like as soon as the merger happens ELQ will disappear.

Why would anyone in their right mind obliterated a well established conglomerate for a new media company.

i wanted to see if I was missing something or misunderstanding because their plan is not making sense.

Crazy that Spencer’s plan is making more sense than this one.

[Sioban]

To be fair, although Tracy did warn Ned about the takeover of ELQ, he never expected to be blindsided by his daughter, Lucy, and Sam, who together put Val over the top as CEO. I can’t remember, did any other family members sell out to Val?

Val is an example of a CEO who can walk into a business and turn it around. In the case of ELQ, he made it more profitable - it was a company in really good shape (I’m assuming because Ned was doing a good job), and Val made it even more valuable. But Val bought up the shares and pressured some family members to give him their shares.

I don’t understand Drew at all. Michael is no character or integrity, so nothing in the realm of being loyal to Ned is expected from him, but that Drew is dismissing Ned who has more solid experience that Michael and Drew together makes no sense.

[TVDfan]

Skye sold also

[DocBroInLaw]

I find it disturbing that Drew is so interested in this but tries to be Mr. Nice Guy with Ned about it saying..can't we meet halfway together or some weak line like that..
I just find his character very strange.

[louisesnell96]

It seems like they are doing this merger is so they can get Valentin out as CEO

[OLTLBoomer]

I do not understand it either - but, Ned as CEO lost ELQ to Valentin when he was warned about the takevoer from Tracy.
That is two strikes in my book.
Ned was more interested in himself than the business.
That is what is happening here - he has essentially been handed a non confidence vote by the two individuals behind the merger, who are attempting to get the business back into all ELQ hands, and yet Ned is upset at being Blogs Ned is lucky that MIchael and Drew are including him - he could have been handed a paracchute package and be told to have a nice retirement.

[OLTLBoomer]

And you just made my point. A good CEO would not be blind sided.

[Sioban]

CEOs are human, and can be blindsided when it comes to those they trust. I didn’t make your point for you, I made a case for Ned.

[OLTLBoomer]

Sioban - A President once said - "trust, but verify". Ned trusted, which was his huge mistake. This is business, and Ned failed the family. Ned was NOT the CEO until MIchael asked him to step up while MIchael took family leave to parent his newly found son. This is all on Ned, who made it about him, and lost ELQ. Ned is once again mkaing it all about him, instead of what is best for the family.

[believeinme246]

We've often seen Ned vs Michael competition for ELQ team lead, but it seemed like an insult to bump Ned down to COO. As stated above, VP was one suggestion, but why don't they use CEO and President, respectively? Then if they want Michael as CEO, Ned could be President of ELQ business and Drew could be President of Aurora business.

[ValentinFan02]

The entire storyline is incredibly stupid. ELQ has been portrayed as a massive global corporation. Aurora is a small media company local to Port Charles. Jason had enough money to buy Aurora and just give it to Drew and Sam without flinching. It'd be like merging a local mom and pop grocery store with Walmart and expecting the mom and pop chain to wield power.

It would also take a majority vote to even approve the merger and Valentin controls the majority of the stock.

[soapfan21]

Crimson, at the very least, is a worldwide publication. Considering it was already well established and profitable when Aurora bought it, and it only made up a portion of a division of Aurora’s assets, Aurora must be pretty big. Still it’s not comparable to ELQ I’m size, which they have addressed my saying that they are acquiring other assets to increase Aurora’s size to make it comparable to ELQ.

[maggiebh]

Ned is the only one of ANY of them with any kind of business experience! This whole plot is sort of dumb to me.