While Daenerys Entertainment and the ABC Metropolitan Group drew the majority of media attention, another merger was finalized during the same period.
San Francisco, Silicon Valley.
On June 28, Tinkerbell, a rapidly rising electronics company in recent years, suddenly announced that it had reached an agreement with the online radio and audio sales website, Broadcast, for an official merger. Since both companies are privately held and not publicly listed, neither disclosed specific merger terms. However, accompanying this news was another announcement that garnered even more attention.
Following the merger, Tinkerbell would officially launch its IPO.
For years, rumors had circulated about Tinkerbell's potential IPO. The company had experienced growth on par with other cutting-edge tech firms and was seen as one of the many "women" within the Westeros system (Tinkerbell is also a woman's name). As a result, the capital market had long been anticipating the company's public offering.
Unfortunately, previous IPO rumors eventually fizzled out.
This time, since the announcement came through an official statement, it was unlikely to be false news.
As the news broke, media investigations gradually revealed the merger's details. Tinkerbell and Broadcast were valued at $15 billion and $2 billion respectively. Although both valuations seemed high, market analysts still believed that Tinkerbell was at a disadvantage.
Last year, Tinkerbell's sales data indicated that its valuation had already reached the billion-dollar level.
After launching the iPlayer-10 digital music player earlier this year, Tinkerbell increased production to 300,000 units per month over the past month, but demand still outstripped supply. It was estimated that within a year of its release, the iPlayer's total sales would rival the company's long-established iCam series.
This essentially doubled Tinkerbell's market size.
Moreover, with the release and strong sales of the microdrive version of the iCam-50, Tinkerbell's market share in digital cameras had returned to over 60%, up from 53% last year.
Considering these favorable factors, a $20 billion valuation for Tinkerbell would not be an exaggeration.
On the other hand, Broadcast, despite having over 30 million registered users since its launch in 1993 and finding a relatively successful business model, only generated $26 million in revenue in 1994, which was roughly equivalent to Tinkerbell's daily revenue at its current stage.
Even though Broadcast's revenue has been rising rapidly following the launch of the iPlayer-10, its $2 billion valuation was considered highly inflated.
However, after some discussion, the media realized that both companies were part of the Westeros system. No matter how the merger played out, it was merely a transfer from one hand to the other. Moreover, the widespread belief was that Tinkerbell's acquisition of Broadcast, fueled by the booming iPlayer sales, would only bring more benefits by securing content channels.
This was indeed the case.
After the merger, Tinkerbell's ownership structure became more complex, but Westeros retained 61.6% control, maintaining absolute dominance. Broadcast was incubated by the venture capital division of Ygritte, another Westeros-controlled entity. Although Ygritte nominally held 8.1% of Tinkerbell's shares after the merger, they ultimately remained under the Westeros system.
None of the other stakeholders had any complaints.
Simon initially wooed major newspaper groups by opening Ygritte's incubated projects to these traditional media giants. Last year, The New York Times acquired a 15% stake in Broadcast for $30 million. After the merger, its 15% stake in Broadcast was converted to a 1.8% stake in Tinkerbell. While this appeared to be a substantial reduction, at the merged valuation of $17 billion, the 1.8% stake was worth $300 million, a tenfold increase in just one year.
Meanwhile, the former maid from Westeros who now held 13.2% of Tinkerbell's shares, reduced from 15%, had a personal net worth of $2.2 billion according to the merger valuation.
Another billionaire had been born.
This put her on par with Alice Ferguson, the former housekeeper who had recently acquired 76 million shares in Ygritte.
With Ygritte and Tinkerbell both set to go public, these two women had a real chance of breaking into the top ten of the Forbes 400 list.
It wasn't just companies named after women—like Daenerys, Ygritte, Melisandre, and Cersei—that had risen within the Westeros system. In recent years, a powerful "women's circle" of highly successful, wealthy, and capable women had emerged from the system.
Yet, that wasn't even the most important aspect.
Over the years, with one major event after another, the Westeros system had constantly made headlines. Even if many refused to admit it, the ever-growing empire built by Simon Westeros, and his soaring net worth, had become ubiquitous.
Conspiracy theorists often believed someone was quietly controlling the world.
In truth, they weren't entirely wrong.
However, in well-established Western societies, power was difficult to concentrate in the hands of a few individuals. Instead, control was exercised by a vast entrenched elite class.
Ultimately, it boiled down to one word: capital.
As the Westeros system's capital scale continued to expand, the implicit power held by the Westeros family within this country and the world also grew.
From a historical perspective, the fact that Simon had built all of this in under ten years, giving the old guard little time to react, was akin to a violent revolution reshaping the social structure.
Indeed.
Even if many were unwilling to accept it, the world had already seen the rise of a new ruler.
The King of Capital.
Midtown Manhattan.
Inside the conference room at Elite Model Management's headquarters on Fifth Avenue and 27th Street, Grace Spurt felt that the young man sitting next to her was indeed her king.
It was the morning of July 3rd, the day before the Independence Day holiday.
The story began a week earlier.
Fernanda Lima, whom Grace had signed at the start of the year, turned 18 on June 25th. Soon after, the freshly minted 18-year-old Brazilian model secured a coveted contract to walk in the upcoming Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
This brought the number of Victoria's Secret Angels under Grace's management to four, including Tricia Helfer, Eva Herzigová, and Daniela Pestova.
Over the years, the fashion industry had come to realize that landing a spot on the Victoria's Secret runway offered much more than just a fleeting moment in the spotlight. It came with the full support of the Westeros system's resources across entertainment, fashion, and more.
This arrangement was mutually beneficial.
The sale of Victoria's Secret Fashion Show tapes alone had generated billions in profits for the Westeros system in recent years.
As a result, even models who weren't official Victoria's Secret spokespersons saw their value rise exponentially just by walking the runway. Their increased fame led to a flood of commercial opportunities, including runway shows and endorsement deals.
In a global modeling industry with millions of men and women, only a few reached the pinnacle.
With the powerful backing of the Westeros system, the Victoria's Secret Angels had firmly secured their place at the top of the industry.
The total number of Victoria's Secret Angels was only about 40.
As smaller model agencies fought tooth and nail for just one or two Angel spots, Grace Spurt, a single agent, held four. Naturally, this sparked envy and jealousy.
Even Elite's CEO, John Casablancas, found it hard to accept.
Fernanda Lima's signing with Victoria's Secret became an implicit trigger.
The conflict between Casablancas and Grace didn't stop there.
Last year, Elite established a new media operations department, which Casablancas initially didn't pay much attention to. He didn't expect this department to grow so rapidly. In just one year, Grace's new media team had secured $26 million in contracts with major brands.
Founded in 1972, Elite had spent over two decades expanding its operations worldwide. Even without the new media department, the agency secured $120 million in contracts for its thousands of models last year.
This made Elite a giant in the modeling industry.
But in comparison to the swift rise of the new media department, Elite's core business now seemed less impressive.
Had Casablancas personally controlled the new media department, it wouldn't have been an issue. But with Grace at the helm, he increasingly felt that his position was threatened.
Additionally, during a meeting last week, Grace proposed establishing an advertising planning department.
There was precedent for such success.
Hollywood's CAA had successfully broken into the advertising business a few years earlier, even winning Coca-Cola's account. The famous Coca-Cola polar bear commercial was CAA's brainchild. It not only beat out several long-established advertising agencies but also achieved enormous success.
As the largest modeling agency in the industry, Elite still relied on traditional modeling contracts as its core business. This wasn't a sustainable long-term strategy.
An agency's core asset was its people.
If the people left, the agency had nothing.
Many modeling agencies had risen and fallen in this way over the years.
By branching into other business areas, Elite could develop more permanent "assets," ensuring the company's longevity.
Grace's suggestion was made with Elite's long-term success in mind. However, after more than 20 years at the top, Casablancas had lost his drive. He had no interest in expanding into new business areas, but he absolutely wouldn't tolerate anyone threatening his authority.
If Grace's proposed advertising department succeeded, Casablancas, the company's founder, would likely have to pack his bags and leave.
Thus, Casablancas decisively rejected Grace's proposal and took it a step further by demanding that she relinquish control of the new media department
. He wanted to oversee it personally and, in exchange, offered to promote her to president of Elite's North American division.
A classic case of a "promotion" in name only.
Naturally, Grace refused, leading to a heated argument. Casablancas promptly fired her on the spot.
The sudden turn of events left everyone at Elite in shock.
What just happened?
Grace didn't hesitate. She quickly made arrangements and left the company that very day.
As Elite's founder, shareholder, and president, John Casablancas had every right to fire her, but Grace was even more confident.
She had a man backing her up.
She made a phone call. Simon was in Los Angeles at the time and simply told her to take a break, assuring her there was nothing else she needed to do.
Grace trusted Simon completely and followed his instructions without question.
After a busy year, she realized it had been a while since she spent time with her children. With summer vacation starting, she took them on a trip to the Caribbean.
Knowing Simon was busy, she thought it would take a while to hear back from him. To her surprise, just a week later, she received a call asking her to return to New York as soon as possible.
Grace went straight from the airport to Elite's Fifth Avenue headquarters.
Before boarding her flight, she received some documents from Simon's assistant.
In just one week, everything had changed.
At least, for Elite, it had.
Talent agencies, while essential in many industries, ultimately represented small players in the grand scheme of things.
As a result, Simon only needed to give a few instructions, and within a week, Cersei Capital's Apollo Management negotiated a deal with Elite's shareholders. Apollo acquired a 55% stake in Elite for $65 million.
Considering Elite's nature, this was an extremely generous offer.
Based on Elite's $120 million in contract revenue for 1995, the figure seemed impressive. However, even at a high commission rate of 20%, Elite's revenue only amounted to $24 million. Most of that money went to the company's agents, leaving very little profit for shareholders.
Moreover, Apollo Management had clearly outlined the risks to Elite's shareholders.
If they held onto their shares, there was a high likelihood that a new modeling agency would soon rise and poach many of Elite's top clients. Although Elite had over 2,000 models under contract, only the top tier was truly valuable, and those contracts were quite flexible.
Even if some models stayed with Elite, the powerful Westeros system, which held significant sway in fashion and entertainment, could easily dismantle the agency if it chose to.
Simon Westeros didn't push too hard. He took a 55% stake and laid out a clear plan for Elite's future growth. With both immediate benefits and long-term prospects in mind, the shareholders offered little resistance.
With absolute control of Elite now secured, John Casablancas, who had only held a symbolic 5% stake, was unceremoniously ousted.
Today's meeting was merely a formality to hand over control.
Simon had considered putting Grace in charge of Elite for some time, originally planning to take a more gradual approach. However, given recent events, he decided to act swiftly.
Simon also knew exactly what kind of person John Casablancas was.
In the original timeline, Casablancas became embroiled in a scandal a few years later and was forced out of the industry, turning against the fashion world and publicly exposing its dirty secrets. This time, Simon preemptively took action to ensure Casablancas would leave quietly and keep his mouth shut.
It was easy enough.
Over the years, the "godfather" of the modeling industry had accumulated quite a few skeletons in his closet. The infamous trope of "men preferring 18-year-old girls" had largely originated from John Casablancas. In reality, he liked them even younger. At Simon's casual request, the Westeros family's intelligence team quickly gathered enough dirt to send Casablancas to prison for the rest of his life.
With the gloves off, Simon showed no mercy. He bought out Casablancas' remaining shares and swiftly kicked him out the door.
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