The fact of the matter is, if you were sitting at the table across from Victor Newman conducting a business negotiation, YOU would blink first. Hands down, no doubt about it, guaranteed, fait accompli.
Victor Newman: billionaire CEO and Chairman of Newman Enterprises in Genoa City (state unknown), played by Eric Braeden on The Young And The Restless. He’s a corporate James Bond. I mean, the guy was the most interesting man in the world like fifty years before Dos Equis ever even dreamed about the concept.
As a businessman, Newman is a ruthless, conniving, power-hungry, and mega-successful mogul. He rules Newman Enterprises with no less than an iron fist. His competitors may stand up to him and attempt to fight and defeat him, but eventually they step out of the way …. or get taken out of the way. The only man who can get anywhere near under Newman’s skin is Jack Abbott, heir and CEO of Jabot, another Genoa City conglomerate. He is probably the only guy who would take longer to blink than you. Newman’s long-standing business rivalry with Jack is pivotal to the show’s plot. They not only share a passion to out-do one another in order to conduct hostile takeovers, maintain a majority stake, and win the deal, but they also share an interest in some of the same women. Of course they do. After all, what soap opera does not have a long-winding, complicated number of romantic relationship twists in its everyday series of plots.
The effect of Victor’s low, gravelly voice and ice-cold stare is as alluring to the female persuasion as it is fatal to his business enemies. HIs on again-off again marriage to Nikki has lasted for over thirty years, spawned two children (aptly named Victoria and Nicholas), and is a mainstay plot in the continuing saga of The Young and the Restless. “Despite true love and good intention, (their) relationship has always been troubled by poor timing and miscommunication” (Soap Opera Digest). Along the way, Victor has cheated, cavorted, loved dearly, and left behind many other women like so much chattel. For instance, he has had several romantic relationships with women such as his rival Jack Abbott’s sister Ashley, his former daughter-in-law Sharon Newman, a blind woman whom he genuinely loved, and others. And yes, there were children sired by him with some of these women and he has ultimately served as a loving father to them.
How do I know about Victor Newman? Why, because besides gathering some information from Soap Opera Digest, I watched the The Young and the Restless as long ago as the late 1970s. Even today, every once a while I might switch channels to CBS at lunch hour and intermittently watch a few minutes of the show. Anyone who has ever watched a soap opera can tell you that once you have gotten involved as a viewer in a “story,” particularly for any length of time, you can pick up on the story weeks, months, and even years later and still have some inkling as to what is going on. Many of the characters are still on the show (though they may have aged a bit) and their ways (wicked or otherwise) have not changed much if at all. One of those characters is Victor Newman.
So, if you ever find yourself in a brutal corporate boardroom battle, in an intense spat with a business rival, or even want to take the next step with a desirable woman, you could do far worse than attempting to channel your inner-Victor Newman and see where it takes you.
Just ask yourself “What would Victor Newman do?”
Photo Credit: “Victor Newman.” https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Victor Newman.
Website credit: Soap Opera Digest. https://soapoperadigest.com.