Eric Matthews is an ex-boyfriend of Lauren Miller.
Background[]
When Eric was walking home from kindergarten, he saw a dollar sign in the window of a bank. He saw it as a symbol of life and knelt before it. His passion for money lasted into adulthood. He studied business management at Leland University. He won the Wilson scholarship, the Burke scholarship, and the Harrison scholarship, and was such an accomplished student that the Matthews scholarship was named after him. When he was a graduate student, he was involved with Lauren for almost a year. They broke up because he wanted to take a job offer on Wall Street and she got tired of interpreting his dreams, which were always about BMWs. He now lives in an apartment in Manhattan and works for Dunn and Bradley, the most prestigious banking investment firm in the world. His work leaves him with no time for dating, and he sometimes feels like there's something missing from his life. However, he firmly believes that there's nothing more important than money.
On the series[]
Eric returns to Leland, hoping to rekindle his romance with Lauren. He meets Alex P. Keaton, who feels inferior because of Eric's accomplishments. Eric and Lauren get dinner at the Columbus Grill. Lauren spends the whole evening talking about Alex. On the way home, Eric's $50,000 Porsche breaks down in the middle of nowhere, forcing him and Lauren to walk two miles to a gas station to call a tow truck and a cab. By the time they get back to Leland, it's after one. Lauren lets Eric sleep in her room while she sleeps in her friend Michelle's room down the hall. Alex goes to Lauren's dorm room and finds Eric. Alex accuses Eric of trying to steal Lauren, but Eric assures Alex that his relationship with Lauren is definitely over.