At 4:30 p.m. on October 6th, the New York stock market closed.
On its first day of trading, Egret's stock price peaked at $56.75. By the close of trading, due to a wave of selling as many investors couldn't resist cashing out, the price settled at $53.125. Despite the late-day dip, Egret's stock still recorded an impressive 51.7% increase on its first day, closing with a market cap of $229.8 billion.
In just one day, Egret's market value surged nearly $80 billion, rising from its $150 billion IPO valuation. This leap also allowed it to surpass Cisco, which had held the top spot in the North American stock market by market cap.
At the close of trading, Cisco's market cap stood at $223.7 billion.
With Egret's success fueling the market, the entire tech sector enjoyed a bullish day on October 6th.
The Nasdaq Composite, which had broken the 2000-point barrier earlier this year, hit a new record high, jumping 3.5% in a single day to 2618 points. The total market capitalization of companies listed on the Nasdaq reached $3.1 trillion as a result.
Before Egret's listing, some media outlets had estimated Simon's personal net worth at $100 billion based on his stake in the company, a figure that some critics had deemed overly inflated.
Now, with Egret officially listed, Simon's stake in the company, held through the Westeros company, had dropped significantly to 59.2% after the IPO. Based on the first-day closing price, his 2.561 billion shares were worth $136.1 billion.
Looking at the internet giants under Egret's control:
- Cisco had a market cap of $223.7 billion on October 6th, with Westeros holding 46.3%, giving Simon $103.5 billion in stock value.
- AOL had a market cap of $179.1 billion, with Westeros holding 65.5%, making Simon's stake worth $117.3 billion.
These three tech giants alone accounted for $356.9 billion of Simon's wealth.
If you include Daenerys Entertainment, which had a market cap of $176.1 billion when it was suspended from trading on September 29th, and Westeros's 81.9% stake, this added another $144.3 billion to Simon's fortune. Together with the tech giants, his total wealth reached $501.2 billion.
These four companies alone had generated more than $500 billion in wealth for Simon.
Undoubtedly, the upcoming Forbes 400 Richest Americans list, set to be published at the end of the month, would show that Simon's net worth had soared well beyond the $620 billion estimate made by Fortune magazine a few months ago.
For the general public, such figures were becoming harder to comprehend, but many institutions had begun to seriously study the impact of the Westeros system on the global economy.
To put it in perspective, in 1995, fewer than 10 countries had a GDP exceeding $600 billion. The total wealth controlled or influenced by the Westeros system had now surpassed the economic output of most nations in the world.
With the stock market miracle of Egret's IPO, no one doubted anymore that the information industry was the future of the world.
And Simon Westeros almost had a stranglehold on that future.
At least, he controlled the future of the United States.
After the IPO on October 6th, the weekend arrived.
Without any major distractions to divert the media's attention, all headlines over the weekend focused on Egret's IPO.
In addition to cementing Simon's status as a centibillionaire, the media spotlight also fell on Egret's "Big Four."
Based on the closing price of $53.125, the three co-founders—Tim Berners-Lee, Jeff Bezos, and Carol Bartz—each held 151 million shares, giving them personal fortunes of $8 billion. Thanks to Amazon's rapid rise, a former Westeros family housekeeper, who now held 76 million shares, had a net worth of $4 billion.
In recent years, aside from Simon's dominance on the Forbes 400 list, the Walton family had also stood out, with five members consistently ranking among the wealthiest.
This time, Simon remained in a class of his own, but the Egret Big Three, each with $8 billion, were poised to break into the top 10, and the housekeeper, Alice Ferguson, with her $4 billion, was virtually guaranteed a spot in the top 20.
Thanks to the steady rise in Daenerys Entertainment's stock price since its IPO last year, its CEO, Amy Pascal, was estimated to have a personal fortune of $3.5 billion, easily putting her in the top 20 as well.
In addition, there was a family that had long stayed behind the scenes—the Rebolds.
Over the years, Simon had not shortchanged James and Jennifer Rebold, the couple who diligently managed Westeros Company affairs, especially considering Jennifer's role in the family. Just from the Egret IPO, the Rebolds had been awarded 8 million shares for their advisory roles, far less than the Big Four, but their 12 million shares were still worth $420 million based on the closing price.
In addition to stock options in other Westeros subsidiaries like Daenerys, Cisco, and AOL, the Rebolds had also made several investments under Simon's guidance. Their initial 1% stake in Microsoft alone was worth more than $1.3 billion, given Microsoft's $134.6 billion market cap on October 6th.
All told, the Rebold family's assets had quietly reached $3 billion.
In previous years, the Rebolds had kept a low profile, with their last Forbes wealth estimate sitting at just $500 million, far below the actual figure.
At the lunch reception on the day of Egret's IPO, Steve Forbes, the head of the Forbes group, even joked with Simon about how James Rebold was likely one of the biggest oversights on the Forbes list. However, James had no intention of disclosing his full wealth and preferred to keep a low profile. Forbes wasn't going to push the matter either.
Regardless, this year's Forbes 400 list would feature not only several top-ranking Westeros executives but also many new entrants from the company.
With a threshold of $350 million to make the list, Egret's IPO alone had created 26 billionaires, 11 of whom had net worths exceeding the list's entry requirements.
Besides Egret, companies like Daenerys Entertainment, AOL, Cisco, Cersei Capital, as well as non-listed companies like Tincobell and Instagram, had also produced many top executives worthy of making the cut.
Initial estimates suggested that at least 35 Westeros executives would make the list, which, though many ranked lower on the list, still placed them in the top 400 out of the U.S.'s 260 million people—true apex figures.
Globally, the numbers were even higher.
One of the most notable examples was Australia's Johnston family, which, thanks to Simon's unwavering support, had amassed more than $10 billion in assets and had now entered the ranks of the world's most elite families.
The rise and fall of great enterprises, groups, and even nations followed a cyclical pattern that no one could escape.
Though the Westeros system hadn't yet reached its peak, Simon was already consciously considering this issue and had taken steps to delay the inevitable downturn.
Egret's IPO had been a phenomenal success.
A total of 714 million shares had been issued, and with the first-day price surge triggering the green shoe option, an additional 100 million shares were expected to be issued, bringing the total funds raised to $28.6 billion. After accounting for the sale of 183 million shares by existing shareholders, which netted $6.4 billion, $22.2 billion remained in Egret's coffers for future development.
Though Egret's annual revenue had already surpassed $10 billion, this sudden influx of $22.2 billion in cash risked encouraging reckless spending among its executives.
On October 7th, the day after the IPO, Simon convened an impromptu meeting with Egret's top executives still in New York to address the potential shift in the company's operational mindset.
Simon opened the meeting by stating the central issue.
The $22.2 billion from the IPO would be kept as a long-term cash reserve to protect against future industry downturns. In essence, this money would serve as a special fund for Egret to continue expanding when the internet bubble eventually burst.
All bull markets come to an end.
Simon believed that the U.S. tech market still had a long run ahead but had no doubt that the tech bubble would burst someday, leading to a prolonged market slump. When that time came, having a substantial cash reserve would allow Egret not only to maintain stable operations but also to capitalize on the downturn and further expand its dominance in the internet sector.
To achieve this, the $22.2 billion would not only remain untouched but would be supplemented by even more reserves.
Over the next few years, Egret would issue a series of long-term corporate bonds to raise additional funds, ensuring that the company was well-prepared for any future crises. As for its day-to-day operations, Egret's current revenue levels were more than sufficient to sustain itself, and the company would need to be fully self-sufficient.
In short, following the IPO, Egret's growth would not accelerate—it would slow down.
It was also time to start
streamlining and trimming excesses.
At the very least, they needed to prepare for it.
Egret would focus on deepening its core businesses—search engines, social networking, and e-commerce—industries Simon believed had the most long-term potential. By entrenching itself in these areas, Egret would ensure that even if other business lines were discarded or declined, it would still become a trillion-dollar behemoth.
In a conference room at Westeros Company's headquarters in Rockefeller Center, Midtown Manhattan, after discussing the post-IPO austerity measures, Simon addressed Tim Berners-Lee and the others with a final point: "There's one more thing. You, and many other executives, now have considerable wealth after this IPO. But I don't want to see anyone becoming complacent.
"If you think now is the time to start enjoying life, that's fine. Resign first, and then you can enjoy everything you've earned, which you fully deserve. But if you're not willing to work hard and don't want to give up your position, I'm sorry, but I'll have to ask you to leave if I find out.
"I'm saying this to you, Tim, Jeff, Carly, and Alice. I don't need any promises—I'll just watch what you do. When I get back to Los Angeles, pass my message on to everyone at the company. Remember, I'm very, very serious about this, and I'm not joking at all.
"Now, any other questions?"
The four executives, having just been sternly warned, nodded seriously, with no objections.
"Alright then, that's it. There's no lunch today. Alice, please stay behind."
As Tim Berners-Lee, Jeff Bezos, and Carly Bartz left the office, Alice Ferguson, who had been sitting next to Simon during the meeting, remained.
After waiting for a moment until the door closed, Simon turned to Alice and asked, "Alice, you know the main reason I wanted to speak with you today, right?"
The housekeeper turned slightly toward him and nodded gently.
Among the Big Four, Tim Berners-Lee was more of a technical talent and didn't involve himself much in company management. Jeff Bezos was a meticulous and somewhat conservative manager, who could be trusted to enforce Simon's austerity measures. Carly Bartz was in charge of Egret's software and services division, which contributed a significant portion of the company's revenue but wasn't one of Simon's core focuses.
Alice, on the other hand, had overseen Amazon's aggressive expansion in recent years, with a bold and ambitious management style.
Shifting from an aggressive approach to a more restrained one was often not easy.
As Simon admired Alice's perfectly composed and strikingly cold face, he paused for a moment and asked, "Alice, do you know how to paint?"
Alice shook her head. "No."
Simon didn't mind and continued, "Learning to paint is a lot like managing Amazon. Once someone masters one painting style, it's easy to learn other techniques by building on that foundation. It's the same with programming languages, as I'm sure you're familiar with."
Alice nodded. "I understand, boss. I'll carry out your plan seriously."
Simon was surprised. "Really?"
"Yes."
Simon had expected to spend more time convincing her, but seeing Alice agree so readily left him a bit puzzled. He teased her, "Why are you so quick to change your approach?"
Alice blinked her striking blue eyes twice before answering, "Because your suggestion is correct. Also, Amazon has completed the initial market development phase that required heavy spending. Even if we still need to burn money, other capital flowing into the e-commerce sector can take over. They'll be the ones providing subsidies for the next few years. Starting next year, my focus will shift to optimizing Amazon's warehousing and logistics systems, maximizing efficiency, and reducing costs. That way, Amazon can establish a sustainable business model. However, boss, Amazon will still post losses for a while longer because I'll continue expanding the sales network. These losses are inevitable and won't be the same as the strategic losses aimed at growth and tax avoidance."
Simon listened carefully and suddenly felt like the icy beauty might be pulling one over on him.
Perhaps Alice would rein in her spending somewhat, but deep down, she didn't seem inclined to change too much.
Old habits die hard.
Leaning in closer, Simon tilted her chin up again, studying her delicate features. "Who taught you to be so, hmm, sly?"
This left Alice with a mildly confused expression.
Without explaining further, Simon leaned in and kissed her cool lips. The sensation was pleasant, so he moved in closer, intending to use a more primal method to convince the stubborn woman who showed no signs of repentance.
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