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[2021-05-17 | Porsche AG Headquarters, Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, Germany | 15:30 CET]

Porsche’s headquarters in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen stood as a symbol of German engineering. The glass-and-steel building reached into the afternoon sky, with the Porsche crest on display. Inside the twelfth-floor executive wing, the mood was focused and professional.

Lisa Rex took a seat in one of the plush leather chairs of Conference Room 3, her posture relaxed as she set aside her yellow Birkin bag. At thirty-seven, she was in her prime, her exquisite figure sculpted by her main job as a personal trainer, perfectly accentuating her beige 3-piece suit. The blazer was little more than an accessory, judging by the fact that she draped it over her shoulder, not bothering to wear the sleeves.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," she greeted the three gentlemen who would conclude six weeks of preliminary negotiations, countless emails, and strategic bargaining. "I hope you all haven’t gotten cold feet since our last meeting."

"Ahah, not at all," Klaus Hoffman, the chief marketing officer, responded from across the polished mahogany table, chuckling lightly. "We are very excited about the prospect of this deal."

He was in his mid-fifties with a distinguished mop of silver hair, and he had the kind of charisma that people instinctively described as a silver fox. His expensive navy suit was immaculate, befitting Porsche’s head of brand partnerships. Despite his age, Klaus had a surprisingly keen grasp of current trends, likely from his marketing background.

To his left sat Lutz Meschke, Deputy Chairman and Member of the Executive Board for Finance and IT. The man was in his early sixties, dressed in a conservative dark grey suit, his expression carefully neutral. The third man was fifty-three-year-old Oliver Blume, the CEO of Porsche AG.

"Mrs Rex," Blume began, his expression visibly brightening. "Before we dive into the specifics, I want to personally express my congratulations on your son’s achievements this season. A domestic double at seventeen, and potentially a Champions League trophy in two weeks. Remarkable."

"Thank you," Lisa replied, pride clearly visible in here demour. "Rakim’s worked incredibly hard to get where he is. But I assure you, he does not plan to end his year here."

"We expect nothing less from him," Blume responded with a smile. "Now, shall we go over the final points of the deal?"

At his prompt, Lisa put her phone on the table and activated the recorder, and Klaus slid a leather-bound folder across the table. She immediatly opend it her eyes, scanning the comprehensive contract summary. She’d seen earlier drafts, of course, but this was the final proposal.

"We’re offering a seven-year exclusive brand ambassadorship," Klaus began, his tone shifting to business. "Base compensation of eight million pounds per year, totalling fifty-six million pounds over the contract period."

She didn’t react as this had been what they had agreed on through weeks of negotiations. Her son had just thought he could get a free car and get paid to drive it by becoming an ambassador, not realising the hornet’s nest he was kicking. She had to go through countless negotiations with Ario’s car brands before finally getting the deal she wanted with Porsche on the table.

"I have no objections, let’s just move on to the escalators and bonuses we discussed. Which ones have you settled on?"

Klaus flipped to the next page. "We’ve structured several performance-based increases. With the first being that if Rakim wins the Champions League this year, he will activate the base salary increase clauses, earning 13 million euros per year instead."

Lisa nodded, making a small note, happy they had finally gotten over the hump of this clause. "Additionally," Klaus continued, "We’re offering bonuses for international tournament performance and milestones reached. Please look below for the figures."

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International tournament incentives:

Knockouts → £1.5M

Semi-final → £2.5M

Final → £4M

Winner → £8M

-

YEARLY PERFORMANCE ESCALATORS Club:

League title → +£2M/year

UCL win → +£4M/year

Individual:

Top 5 finish in one (major awards) → +£1.5M/year 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Ballon d’Or win → +£5M/year

---

"The escalators are acceptable," she said with a light smile after carefully scanning them, reading all the attached clauses, and making sure there wasn’t a loophole for them to wiggle out of when Rakim inevitably achieved those goals. "But I want to discuss the vehicle allocation clause. Your current proposal states Porsche will provide two vehicles annually on loan. That’s not going to work."

Oliver Blume leaned forward slightly. "What are you proposing instead?"

"Full ownership," Lisa said flatly. "Two Porsche base models per year, with ownership transferred to Rakim—or more specifically, to his LLC that manages his car collection."

The three men exchanged glances. Lutz frowned slightly. "Mrs Rex, the reason we opted for this was to ensure not to burden him with the insurance for the two vehicles. Two vehicles annually for seven years—"

"Don’t worry, we will take care of that on our side, and I’m sure we can agree on a reasonable exchange deal to minimise cost for both parties." She countered, presenting the option that would allow Porsche to use the tax loopholes and insurance deduction, etc. "You’re getting seven years of exclusive driving rights from one of football’s brightest young stars. In return, you provide fourteen cars over that period, which Rakim owns and a major marketing outlet."

"With what you’re suggesting, we would cover the insurance for those two annual vehicles," Klaus responded with a frown, for some reason getting hung up on that point.

"Just accept it, I’m the finance guy, and I’m not crunching pennies, so why are you? I’ll make up that money in other areas," Lutz noted, interrupting before the two could get hung up on arguing a single clause for 3 hours. "It’s actually reasonable from an accounting perspective. We’d need to review the specifics with our tax team, but the principle is sound. Plus, despite not needing it, it would incentivise Rakim to drive our cars more without feeling like an obligation, which is what your entire marketing campaign is standing on."

"Good," Lisa said. "Now, regarding upgrades and modifications—I assume Rakim will want to customise his vehicles. What’s your position on that?"

Lutz took over before Klause could speak. "We anticipated this. Any upgrades or modifications must be performed by Porsche engineers for safety and compliance reasons. Rakim would cover the cost of materials and pay engineer labour at 1.25 times their standard salary rate."

"1.25 is actually quite fair," Lutz continued, feeling the need to clarify before it can devolve into a problem. "Custom work requires engineers to work outside their normal production schedules. The premium compensates for that disruption while ensuring quality and safety standards are maintained."

Lisa considered this, then nodded. "Acceptable. What about purchase benefits beyond the annual allocation?"

"We’re offering Rakim a 25% discount on up to two additional vehicles per year," Klaus said. "And a 15% discount for friends and family."

"Make it three additional vehicles at 25%," Lisa said immediately. "Rakim collects cars. Two extra per year won’t be enough."

"Three at 25% is pushing it," Lutz said, shaking his head. "We’d be willing to go to three vehicles, but at 20% for the third."

Lisa pretended to consider this and easily accepted it. "Fine. Two at 25%, one at 20%. And the family discount stays at fifteen 15%."

"Agreed," Lutz said.

"Now," Lisa continued, "let’s discuss the exclusivity clause. Your current language states Rakim must exclusively drive Porsche vehicles year-round. That’s too broad."

Oliver Blume’s eyes narrowed slightly, speaking up for the first time. "How so?"

"Rakim needs flexibility during the off-season when there’s no international tournament," Lisa explained. "If he’s on holiday in the Maldives and wants to rent a jeep for a day, or if he’s visiting friends in America and borrows someone’s car, he shouldn’t be in breach of contract. The exclusivity should apply during club seasons and any off-season period when there’s an international tournament. Outside of that, he has freedom."

Klaus and Lutz exchanged glances, clearly not having considered this angle. "That’s... reasonable," Klaus admitted. "Though we’d want social media restrictions to remain in place year-round. He can’t be posting pictures of himself with competitor vehicles, regardless of season."

"Agreed," Lisa said. "No posting other car brands, no identifiable competitor vehicles. He’ll regularly feature Porsche in his lifestyle content. That’s fair."

"Good," Oliver said. "What about the media and campaign clause?"

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TO BE CONTINUED...