Charity was always a sensitive topic for Simon, so after Amy Pascal made a few teasing remarks, she quickly shifted the conversation: "I just got word this morning. Vivendi has decided to promote Sandy Litvack and Bill Mechanic as Disney's new CEO and President, respectively. The official announcement should be made next week, and Frank Wells will be retiring."
Simon nodded, already aware of the news. "I know."
After completing the acquisition of Disney at the end of last year, the French conglomerate Vivendi had been searching for suitable professional managers to lead the company. However, several candidates they approached, including Michael Ovitz from CAA, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, Spielberg's former associates, top producer Joel Silver, and even several executives from Daenerys Entertainment, had all declined the offers.
It seemed that many in the industry sensed something was off. Combined with Vivendi's reluctance to relinquish control, the external candidates all declined the positions.
With no other options, Vivendi had to promote internally.
Sandy Litvack, previously Disney's Vice President and head of Legal Affairs, and Bill Mechanic, President of Disney's Home Entertainment division responsible for video and television distribution, were both promoted. Litvack became CEO, and Mechanic became President, effectively skipping two ranks in the hierarchy.
However, in terms of real authority, they had only ascended one level.
According to Simon's sources, after Litvack's promotion to CEO, he would mainly handle administrative duties related to corporate personnel and legal matters—responsibilities previously overseen by outgoing President Frank Wells. Mechanic, as President, would manage production activities, which had been under Jeffrey Katzenberg's purview.
The core strategic planning and financial power, typically reserved for the CEO, would remain under Vivendi's direct control from headquarters.
This wasn't the ideal outcome Vivendi's board had hoped for.
But if they were unwilling to cede control while still seeking top-tier professionals, they were bound to be disappointed.
Having already discussed Disney's situation with Simon several times in the past, Amy merely mentioned it in passing. Seeing that Simon was aware, she moved on. "Eisner has been dabbling in internet investments recently. He's partnering with Ovitz, and they've already settled on a project. I had dinner with Nancy at Morton's last night and ran into them. We had a chat, and it's a pretty interesting idea."
Simon was somewhat surprised and asked, "Eisner's health is better now?"
Amy nodded. "He's fine now. The quadruple bypass surgery was risky, but he pulled through."
Michael Eisner had suffered a heart attack upon hearing that Daenerys Entertainment was planning to build Universal Studios in Europe. Simon had learned about this earlier and knew that it had almost cost Eisner his life.
Frank Wells, who in history had died in a skiing accident last year, had survived due to Simon's "butterfly effect." Had Eisner passed away due to Simon's actions, he would have felt guilty. After all, business competition, no matter how fierce, should not cost lives, especially in an industry where people often work closely together.
Simon nodded slightly, picked up his chopsticks, and took some stir-fried noodles from his plate. He asked with a smile, "So, what project is Eisner investing in?"
Amy took a sip of her juice and replied, "It's a workplace social networking site, an idea from Ovitz. You know how good he is at building connections. He believes the model of managing personal networks in real life can be translated online. Unlike job boards where you just submit your resume, this platform would allow users to build networks in specific industries and showcase their profiles more directly. As these networks grow, they can facilitate more precise recruitment or job searches through recommendations."
The more Simon listened, the more familiar it sounded. Soon, he realized what it was.
This was LinkedIn.
In Simon's original timeline, after losing the power struggle at Time Warner, Terry Semel had left to become CEO of Yahoo. However, with Daenerys Entertainment's support, Semel's position within Time Warner had strengthened, making him a likely candidate for the next chairman. It was unexpected that Michael Eisner, who had left Disney ten years earlier in the original timeline, was now turning to Silicon Valley instead.
When Amy finished speaking, she noticed Simon was silent and asked, "What do you think, Simon?"
Snapping back to reality, Simon smiled and nodded. "It's a solid idea, but the key will be finding the right business model."
LinkedIn, in 2016, had been acquired by Microsoft for over $26 billion, demonstrating the feasibility of a professional social networking platform. The question was whether Eisner and Ovitz could discover a sustainable business strategy to make their site a success.
Ultimately, ideas are never worth much on their own.
Simon didn't believe that Silicon Valley in the past had only one professional networking platform. LinkedIn just happened to be the one that succeeded.
Amy, seeing Simon's reaction, paused and then asked, "So, are you interested in this project?"
Simon looked at her and seemed to understand something. Smiling, he said, "Did Eisner and Ovitz ask you to bring this up?"
Amy shook her head. "No, but I feel like since they told me so much about it last night, they probably want you to know. And, of course, if you're interested in investing, that would be even better."
Simon said, "Eisner and Ovitz shouldn't be short on cash, right?"
Amy shrugged. "You know, it's not just about the money."
Simon thought for a moment and understood.
First, there was the connection between Amy Pascal, Michael Eisner, and Michael Ovitz—they were all Jewish. This was a typical case of mutual assistance among Jewish people, especially when there was no direct conflict of interest.
Second, as Amy suggested, if Eisner and Ovitz hadn't wanted Simon to know, they wouldn't have gone into such detail about the project during a casual dinner. Clearly, they were trying to pique his interest.
As for money, Eisner and Ovitz certainly didn't lack funds. A few million dollars to kick-start the project would be easy for them. However, they still seemed to be operating under Hollywood's old-school mindset.
Hollywood's first rule of movie investment: never spend your own money.
In Silicon Valley, it was much the same.
People only saw the success of sites like Yahoo, Google, and Amazon, but they didn't realize that behind these success stories, over 90% of projects had failed, with billions of investor dollars simply vanishing.
If Simon were to invest in Eisner and Ovitz's project, it would not only help smooth over past tensions between them, but the project would also receive support from the entire Westeros system.
And that was crucial.
In today's Silicon Valley, image-sharing websites were plentiful, but why had Instagram, which had only been around for six months, become such a runaway success? Was it really because of the platform's superior business model?
The answer was mostly no.
The real reason was the comprehensive support Instagram received from the Westeros system in terms of hardware, software, and network traffic.
That being said, Simon had always appreciated Ovitz more than Eisner. After Daenerys Entertainment's rise, Simon had even considered recruiting Ovitz, as his vast empire required someone skilled at managing complex interpersonal relationships. Ovitz was an expert in this field.
However, despite Simon's admiration, there were numerous obstacles to such an idea.
One of the key concerns was loyalty.
Ovitz wasn't a direct subordinate who had risen through the ranks at Daenerys from the start, like Amy Pascal. Without that long-standing sense of loyalty and shared identity, entrusting him with the delicate task of managing the system's intricate network of relationships seemed risky.
Regardless, Simon held Ovitz in high regard.
As for Eisner, Simon had no real animosity toward him, just a lack of fondness, likely due to some of his past knowledge.
Now that many things had changed, and Simon wasn't the type to hold grudges, he considered the situation for a moment before saying, "Alright, why don't you reach out and see if they're free this weekend? We can grab coffee and chat."
Amy nodded, making a mental note.
Seeing that Amy was wrapping up the conversation, Simon suddenly became intrigued and added, "By the way, I can suggest a name for their site: LinkedIn." He playfully traced the word on the table. "The hardest part in Silicon Valley now is naming a company. All the good names have already been taken. I bet this one isn't."
Amy noticed the word Simon had sketched out.
"LinkedIn" was a combination of "Linked" and "In," perfectly fitting the concept of a professional networking site.
Understanding Simon's penchant for naming things, Amy laughed and agreed. "I'll be sure to tell them."
With that, their lunch ended, and both returned to their respective offices.
That afternoon, Simon had non-Daenerys business to attend to.
Upon returning to his office, his assistant informed him that Celia Miller, who had just returned to New York, was online, and the afternoon's documents were ready on his desk.
First on the agenda were several key deals being negotiated with Ukraine.
In Rivne Oblast, with the Westeros system acting as an intermediary, the First Boston team had secured a $1 billion bond issuance deal with the Ukrainian Nuclear Energy Corporation. The funds would be used to build the fourth reactor of the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant and upgrade the power grid between the plant and the city of Rivne.
Currently, no investor would dare lend Ukraine $1 billion.
Therefore, in addition to the Westeros system's credit guarantee, the Ukrainian Nuclear Energy Corporation had pledged
50% of its ownership in the Rivne plant. If the corporation defaulted on the bond payments, First Boston would have the right to auction off the pledged shares to repay investors.
Moreover, this 10-year bond had an interest rate of 12%, far above the industry average.
By comparison, the current U.S. 10-year Treasury rate was only 2.8%, and top-tier corporate bonds generally offered interest rates around 5%.
While Ukraine's economy was struggling, the Ukrainian Nuclear Energy Corporation's repayment capacity was reliable. Unlike the country's traditional power plants, which had seen significant declines in output, Ukraine's nuclear plants continued to generate a stable 50 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, bringing in about $3 billion in revenue each year.
For such a stable, monopolistic state-owned enterprise, even offering a 5% interest rate could have attracted investors.
The reason for such a seemingly absurd bond deal was simple: Ukraine lacked experience in dealing with major financial institutions and instinctively assumed a weak negotiating position. The financial giants, of course, dictated the terms.
And, of course, the money was good.
In Simon's past memories, he had frequently come across similar stories.
The finalization of this deal meant that Ukraine would have to allocate a portion of its revenue—otherwise meant for the national budget and public services—toward repaying the bond. Given Ukraine's already dire financial situation, this would only further strain the country's resources.
Interestingly, initial estimates suggested that only $700 million was needed for the project. The additional $300 million would be used to purchase equipment from Westinghouse Electric, whose prices were twice as high as those of domestic suppliers.
Simon knew this was something that could be negotiated, with a significant reduction in price possible.
But apparently, since the money was good, no one bothered negotiating. After all, it was the state's money.
Additionally, importing high-priced American equipment provided political cover, as it could be spun as safer and more reliable—reassuring the public that there wouldn't be another Chernobyl disaster.
This wasn't just Simon's speculation; the local press in Ukraine was already running with this narrative.
And it was working.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the country's economic devastation, many Ukrainians had fallen into the mindset that everything in the U.S. was superior, and it would take many years for them to shake that belief.
None of this concerned Simon directly.
During a phone conversation, Simon instructed Celia to set up a financial oversight committee to ensure that the $1 billion in bond financing was spent appropriately. After all, the construction of the fourth reactor at the Rivne Nuclear Plant and the grid upgrades between the plant and Rivne were vital to the Westeros system's long-term plans in the region.
Although the Westeros system hadn't contributed any funds to this bond issuance, its role as an intermediary and guarantor granted it significant oversight authority.
Even though all parties involved likely had their own hidden agendas, they would ultimately hope that the money was used properly.
Beyond the nuclear deal, there was also progress on Nokia's plans to build a mobile phone manufacturing plant in Rivne.
After negotiations, Nokia had secured a series of concessions from the Ukrainian government, including a 10-year tax holiday and 150 hectares of free land in northern Rivne for the construction of the factory.
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