Before Igreat's first public financing, Simon had quietly initiated plans for the headquarters' location.
In fact, there wasn't much deliberation needed.
Relying on memories of past data, Simon directly picked the land where Google would later build its campus in Mountain View, just south of Palo Alto.
Choosing a site for a large corporate campus almost inevitably causes local real estate prices to rise. Simon didn't mind paying a bit more but wanted to avoid the hassle of dealing with holdout landowners.
Getting rid of holdouts in the USA can be quite challenging.
Therefore, several months in advance, Simon began acquiring land in Mountain View through an agency.
Although Silicon Valley was already highly developed, it was primarily centered around Stanford University in Palo Alto. Areas to the south like Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and Cupertino were still relatively undeveloped, lacking the clusters of large companies seen a decade or two later. Many parts were still vast farms and open land.
The site Simon remembered as the future Google campus was currently just farms and open land, with few residents.
After several months of discreet operations, the agency had quietly acquired about 60 hectares of land in the undeveloped area north of Mountain View, east of Palo Alto, near the bay. Most of this was farmland, specifically to preempt any holdout issues.
For the large tracts of undeveloped land near the bay, the next step was to negotiate with the Mountain View city government.
Even the existing 60 hectares, despite being somewhat fragmented, were more than enough to build Igreat's campus. However, driven by a deep-seated personal preference, Simon enjoyed the process of buying land.
With Igreat's $1.5 billion financing completed, news soon spread that the increasingly prominent tech company was planning to build its headquarters.
Why did Amazon's search for its second headquarters attract such intense competition among major US cities? Besides job creation, a key reason was that hosting a large company promised significant tax revenues.
Amazon is skilled at minimizing taxes, sometimes even achieving negative corporate tax rates, but its tens of thousands of employees cannot avoid paying personal income taxes.
In developed countries, personal income tax constitutes a major part of national tax revenue.
In the USA, personal income taxes account for about 50% of federal revenue, compared to single-digit percentages in most developing countries.
Tech company employees are among the highest-earning individual taxpayers.
Thus, when news of Igreat's headquarters location spread, the entire Bay Area was abuzz. From northern cities like Redwood, Menlo Park, and Palo Alto, to southern ones like Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and Cupertino, local officials pursued Igreat's executives daily. Even those who thought their chances were slim did not pass up the opportunity to try.
Tim Berners-Lee and others at Igreat were already aware of Simon's preference for the company's campus location. Although many of them preferred to have the headquarters close by in Palo Alto, securing a few dozen acres there wouldn't be difficult at this time. However, the site near the bay in northern Mountain View was also quite decent, being only about 7 kilometers from Stanford University.
After more than a month of low-profile negotiations with several major cities in the South Bay area, they finally "chose" Mountain View's tax incentive plan. They quickly carved out 300 hectares of land in northern Mountain View near the bay.
The 300 hectares, equivalent to over 700 acres, were a staggering amount. While not as vast as the 8,000 acres donated by the Stanford couple to Stanford University, it was a remarkable size for a company headquarters.
In fact, if Mountain View's government had dared to approve more, Simon would have preferred at least 500 hectares.
Even so, when the news was officially announced in mid-May, it immediately sparked a wave of skepticism from the San Francisco Bay Area media.
To give some context, even Silicon Valley veteran Hewlett-Packard only had a 12-hectare office park in Palo Alto. For Igreat to acquire 300 hectares in one go, were they planning to build an office villa for each employee?
After several years of sluggish performance, the US real estate market was showing signs of recovery.
Thus, many media outlets openly criticized Igreat for seemingly grabbing large swathes of land with the intent to speculate in real estate.
With more details revealed, it became known that the land acquisition was made by Westeros Corporation. Igreat only bought 20 hectares from Westeros at the same price for its campus, which fueled the media's chatter even more.
Westeros Corporation entering the real estate business seemed inevitable.
However, once the detailed information was disclosed, the media's criticisms became somewhat incoherent.
In reality, Igreat only acquired 30 hectares. Although larger than HP's 12 hectares, it wasn't excessive. As for Westeros Corporation's land grab, it didn't seem unreasonable.
The northern Mountain View site was a largely undeveloped area by the bay. If a company was willing to develop it, it would benefit the city.
Moreover, there was no rule against Westeros Corporation entering the real estate sector.
Not only that, but anything Simon Westeros set his sights on was seen as a valuable bet by the smart money.
As the media's noise continued, a flood of capital shifted its focus to the northern Mountain View area. Companies began approaching the city government or the remaining landowners to purchase land.
This led to reports that in just one week, some companies were offering prices 30% higher than Westeros's purchase price. Historically, the southern part of the South Bay had lagged behind northern cities like Redwood and Menlo Park in development.
Suddenly, Mountain View became highly sought after, much to the delight of the local officials.
In most parts of the world, the performance of local leaders is often measured by a few key metrics.
With the current momentum, Mountain View's tax revenue and employment growth over the next few years would undoubtedly surpass that of other Bay Area cities.
Simon arrived in San Francisco on May 20, spending a whole day planning Igreat's campus and personally touring the northern Mountain View site.
The 300-hectare site bordered Highway 101 to the south and the Stevens Creek to the east, which flowed from the southern mountains through Mountain View. The rectangular plot measured about 1.2 kilometers wide and 2.5 kilometers long, making it the prime piece of land in northern Mountain View.
The planned Igreat campus was situated in the center of this prime land, away from the bustling Highway 101.
As for the remaining land, Simon had considered several plans but ultimately left them undeveloped.
In simpler terms, there were no plans for the extra land.
If anyone knew the details, they would think Simon's $230 million purchase of 300 hectares was a colossal blunder based on his previous investment successes.
But Simon didn't care.
Much like his ongoing purchases on Tasmania in Australia, he now had the luxury of being capricious.
Whether he planted trees, grass, or left it undeveloped, as long as the land was his, he was content.
Standing on it felt solid and secure.
After spending a day in San Francisco, he returned to Los Angeles that evening and flew to New York early the next morning.
It was currently the TV pilot season in New York.
As TV ventures were a major focus for Daenerys Entertainment's expansion in the coming years, Simon made a point of flying to the East Coast to oversee some matters.
Meanwhile, on May 21, a Friday, the summer blockbuster season of 1993 officially kicked off with the release of the first major hit.
Following last week's warm-up releases of "Hot Shots! Part Deux," "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story," and "Made in America," Columbia Pictures' TriStar division released the action-packed "Cliffhanger," starring Sylvester Stallone.
"Cliffhanger" had a production budget of $70 million and opened on 2,333 screens.
Additionally, the comedy "Made in America," starring Whoopi Goldberg, opened on 2,048 screens.
"Cliffhanger" and Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Last Action Hero," scheduled for release on June 18, were Columbia's big summer releases, with the latter's budget even higher at $85 million.
Columbia had previously sought a partnership with Daenerys Entertainment to develop "Last Action Hero," but Simon had declined.
While Columbia was optimistic, Simon knew that these two films were financial disasters for Sony, Columbia's parent company.
The failure of these projects led Sony to lose patience with Columbia's head, Peter Guber, and even consider selling the studio.
On his flight to the East Coast, Simon received the latest box office data from the previous week.
Sitting in the office section of the Boeing 767, Simon reviewed the box office report and first looked at "Hot Shots! Part Deux" data.
Released on April 9, "Hot Shots! Part Deux" had been in theaters for six weeks.
It opened with $43.67 million in its first week and dropped by 39% in its second week. Over the following weeks, benefiting from its reputation and the lack of competition, its box office performance remained steady.
From May 14 to May 20, its sixth week saw a 23% decline compared to the fifth week, adding $8.96 million to its total.
Over six weeks, "Hot Shots! Part Deux" had grossed $124.55 million.
Based on its second-week performance, Daenerys Entertainment estimated its final North American gross to be between $130 million and $150 million.
After six weeks, with a $124.55 million total, projections based on the box office trajectory suggested a final North American gross of around $145 million, with a margin of error of no more than $2 million.
With a production and marketing budget of $45 million, "Hot Shots! Part Deux" was expected to generate about $35 million in net profits for Daenerys Entertainment.
Internationally, the
film had struggled to overcome cultural barriers.
Based on feedback from key overseas markets like the UK, Spain, and Australia, it was expected to gross about $70 million internationally.
Nevertheless, for a comedy film, surpassing $200 million worldwide was a significant success.
With over $124 million in six weeks, "Hot Shots! Part Deux" was not only the first film of 1993 to break $100 million in North America but also temporarily held the top spot for the year.
Reviewing the first half of 1993, there were few major hits.
Aside from "Hot Shots! Part Deux," Columbia Pictures' "Groundhog Day," starring Bill Murray, was another standout.
"Groundhog Day" was released in February during the Valentine's Day weekend and had grossed $66.32 million by the previous week, with a final gross expected to reach $70 million.
Simon had also been interested in "Groundhog Day" but decided not to pursue it, believing Daenerys Entertainment didn't need to dominate every profitable project.
The current third-place film was Warner Bros.' Civil War drama "Sommersby," starring Pierce Brosnan and Jodie Foster, released on February 5, with a final gross of $50.08 million.
Simon had seen the original "Sommersby," which starred Richard Gere and Jodie Foster.
This time, Simon's influence had displaced Richard Gere in "Pretty Woman," and Pierce Brosnan took over in "Sommersby."
This wasn't just a coincidence.
Both Brosnan and Foster were represented by ICM, and shared the same agent.
The three major talent agencies were pushing the package deal mechanism.
With Brosnan's rise in "Pretty Woman," ICM naturally preferred to pair him with Foster rather than the now-past-his-prime Gere.
Apart from "Hot Shots! Part Deux," Daenerys Entertainment's three labels had released a total of 15 films by mid-May, though none had become major hits.
Among these, notable performances included Highgate Films' Mexican drama "Like Water for Chocolate," released on February 19, which was a surprise hit with $21.66 million in box office earnings after acquiring North American distribution rights for $2 million.
"Indecent Proposal," released on April 16 during the Easter weekend, grossed $4.67 million in its opening weekend. After five weeks, it had accumulated $15.39 million and was expected to surpass $20 million before the end of its run.
The Berlin Film Festival's Golden Bear winner, "The Wedding Banquet," was released in early March, and had grossed $12.07 million in two months, showing solid profits.
Aside from these four films, the other 11 releases, 6 from Highgate Films and 5 from New World Pictures, had box office earnings under $10 million each. These were mainly non-self-produced films with no significant box office potential, and "Like Water for Chocolate" was considered a pleasant surprise.
Daenerys Entertainment's major films, particularly those from its core label like "Superman," "The Firm," "The Lion King," and "Mission: Impossible," were all slated for release in the second half of the year.
Still, having "Hot Shots! Part Deux" as the top-grossing film of the year so far, along with other profitable projects like "Like Water for Chocolate," "Indecent Proposal," and "The Wedding Banquet," meant that Highgate Films and New World Pictures were performing well.
_________________________
[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! $5 for all!!]
[w w w . p a t r e o n .com / INNIT]
[+50 PowerStones = +1 Chapter]