We’ve said once and we’ll say it again, The Young and the Restless’ Victor (Eric Braeden) is the most savoy and ruthless corporate mind in all of Genoa City. As he continues to move chess pieces into place, mainly his children into roles within Newman Enterprises and Kyle (Michael Mealor) and Audra (Zuleyka Silver) into co-CEO positions at Glissade, his plan to go after Jack (Peter Bergman) and Jabot become clearer.
Just to recap, Victor used Audra to acquire Glissade from Tucker (Trevor St. John) through a hostile takeover. The Mustache then named Audra as co-CEO, but under the condition that she work with Kyle as the company’s other co-CEO. Kyle, as a former Jabot executive and as Jack’s son, will make Victor’s plan of revenge against Jack much sweeter as the younger Abbott is on hand to destroy his family’s legacy.
Then to help matters along, Victor pretty much strong-armed Adam (Mark Grossman) to pick back up the CEO reigns temporarily at Newman Media, claiming Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) needed to continue to focus on her sobriety before resuming her duties in the role. While Adam is more than qualified to step into the top spot having originally started the company, Victor’s need to place Adam in charge of Newman Media at this moment in time seemed suspicious.
And of course, the suspicion proved to be warranted as Victor opened up to Adam that he wants his son to use Newman Media to give Glissade an advantage in the press and on social media, while also using it to help destroy Jabot. Adam pushed back and has said he won’t resort to mudslinging or doing anything that could hurt Jack’s family, but we’re doubtful everything will remain above board.
Unhappy with what she felt was a slight and worried Adam won’t hand her back power when she’s ready to go back to work, Nikki confronted Adam in The Young and the Restless episode that aired on July 18. After Nikki hurled a few insults his way and he suggested he wouldn’t give her back Newman Media until he knew what his future would be with Newman Enterprises when she returned, Adam proposed they work together to figure out Victor’s long-term vision.
Now we aren’t sure what gets them here, but in the following preview clip for the episodes airing during the week of July 22, Adam and Nikki can be seen talking to Victor. The Newman patriarch shares, "I’m in the process of acquiring a company that’s almost as big as ours." He then notes he plans to give the company to Nikki.
Right away, our minds started going into overdrive thinking about what company Victor was about to take over next. It’s easy to suspect he plans to acquire Jabot. If he thinks Glissade can knock Jabot down, Victor may feel he can scoop the ashes of the Abbott business and fold it into Newman Enterprises. Should that happen, he’d likely merge it with Glissade and then put his wife in charge. That would mean Audra and Kyle would be facing a demotion in the future.
However, what if Victor wasn’t referring to Jabot but Chancellor? In the episode that aired on July 15, Victor has a drink with Billy (Jason Thompson) and pans Billy’s successful push to split Chancellor-Winters in two. When Billy questioned why Victor cares, Victor noted Jill (Jess Walton) is a dear friend and Devon (Bryton James) is the son of his dear friend Neil (Kristoff St. John). Victor calls himself being protective of them, and not only them.
The Newman Enterprises founder is extremely protective of Katherine Chancellor’s (Jeanne Cooper) legacy as well. Needless to say, Victor thinks the demerger is a big mistake. So will he try to acquire the Chancellor? If so, will he put Nikki in charge of the business that represents two of her dearly departed friends, Katherine and Neil?
We admittedly can’t see how Victor could pull off acquiring Chancellor, but we’ve also learned never to underestimate him.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
