Due to its complete privatization, Verizon had maintained a relatively low public profile in recent years, despite its solid presence and deep-rooted dominance in the mobile communication sector, known only to industry insiders.
During dinner, Simon and Raymond Smith first discussed bringing Verizon back to the capital markets—essentially, another IPO.
There were several reasons for making this decision, each with significant benefits.
First and foremost, it would reduce the Westeros system's shareholding in Verizon.
While most business owners seek to own as much of their company as possible, Simon was doing the opposite, continuing his strategy of further integrating the Westeros system into the broader American economy.
This was similar to what had happened with Egret's IPO.
Including the recent issuance of an additional 100 million shares through the "green shoe" mechanism, Egret's total shares now stood at 4.426 billion, with the Westeros Company holding 2.561 billion shares, lowering its stake to 57.9%. By transferring 42.1% of the shares to Egret's management and a broad range of investors, the biggest advantage was that Egret faced far less potential opposition.
With tens of millions of investors and a combined interest worth hundreds of billions of dollars tied to the Westeros system, any attempts by federal antitrust agencies or domestic and international competitors to target Egret would also be targeting a vast capital alliance behind the company.
A single misstep could lead to catastrophic consequences.
Given the U.S. telecommunications industry's over-100-year history, breaking through entrenched barriers was bound to face many potential obstacles, and a strategy of integration would help minimize these challenges.
Another reason was to raise funds.
This was a key part of the Westeros system's expansion strategy over the next few years: to take advantage of the strong market conditions and raise as much cash as possible through public offerings or debt issuance. Historically, many of the new tech companies that rose in the 1990s went under after the dot-com bubble burst due to lack of capital.
The third reason was to facilitate a more straightforward merger with AOL after the listing.
As a private company, Verizon's valuation, even the $30 billion figure provided by Forbes, was still considered low by Simon. If the company merged with AOL, whose market value was much higher, it would be difficult to come to a valuation that satisfied all parties, and it could lead to potential lawsuits.
Once both companies were publicly traded, with their prices determined by the capital markets, there would be far less controversy surrounding a merger.
Simon also discussed personnel issues with Raymond Smith regarding the merger between AOL and Verizon.
There was some history here.
AOL's predecessor was a startup that provided internet services under Bell Atlantic, Verizon's predecessor. At the time, Raymond Smith was already in charge of Bell Atlantic, and Steve Case, the current CEO of AOL, was just an entrepreneur—two men with very different levels of authority.
Now, with AOL at its peak, while their roles hadn't entirely reversed, a merger would place Raymond Smith as Steve Case's subordinate.
Simon was extremely cautious about such matters.
If the two couldn't work closely together after the merger and instead constrained each other, it could bring disaster to both companies. The merger decision was unchangeable, so if tensions arose, Simon would have no choice but to remove one of them.
However, neither being forced out was an outcome Simon wanted.
During dinner, Raymond Smith spoke candidly about the situation, expressing his willingness to work with Case, which somewhat reassured Simon—but not entirely.
Many things are easier said than done.
In the following days, media discussions about the 1995 Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans intensified. After all, this year's list was packed with attention-grabbing highlights.
Simon stood firmly at the top with $700 billion in personal wealth, untouchable.
Right behind him, Microsoft founder Bill Gates' net worth had also increased to $57.3 billion, more than doubling compared to 1994.
In third place was Warren Buffett, with $12.6 billion, surpassing many expectations. This was largely due to Daenerys Entertainment's acquisition of Metropolis ABC Group, which caused a significant rise in Berkshire Hathaway's stock.
Fourth place went to Larry Ellison, another dark horse, with $11.7 billion in personal wealth, mostly stemming from his 31.2% stake in Oracle.
With the explosive growth of the tech industry and Oracle's close ties to the Westeros system, Oracle's database software had gained a significant advantage in recent years. At the time Forbes compiled the list, Oracle's market value had reached $37.6 billion. Although it couldn't compare to the tech giants with trillion-dollar valuations like Egret, it had already surpassed many traditional corporate giants in the U.S.
Notably, Westeros currently held a 24.6% stake in Oracle, contributing $9.2 billion to Simon's personal wealth.
In fifth place was Paul Allen, with a net worth of $10.9 billion.
Forbes calculated Bill Gates' and Paul Allen's wealth based on Microsoft's market value of $151.5 billion. Using this figure, Westeros' 18.7% stake in Microsoft added $28.3 billion to Simon's personal fortune.
Tied for sixth, seventh, and eighth were Egret executives Tim Berners-Lee, Jeff Bezos, and Carol Bartz, each with a net worth of $8 billion.
They were also major surprises.
Forbes had waited to finalize its list until after Egret went public on October 6, so the fortunes of these three individuals were based on Egret's stock price at its IPO close, as was Simon's.
In ninth place was John Kluge, with a net worth of $6.1 billion.
Now 81, John Kluge, who once competed with Sumner Redstone for control of Orion Pictures to break into Hollywood, was gradually retiring. In recent years, he had been selling off large portions of his assets and turning to trust investments, focusing on wealth transfer. Many of the TV stations under Fox, founded by Rupert Murdoch, came from Kluge's Metromedia Company.
Tenth place was tied between brothers Jim and John Walton of the Walton family, each with a net worth of $4.6 billion.
The Walton family remained formidable.
However, due to various changes in stock ownership, Sam Walton's widow and four children no longer had equal wealth. Following the two brothers, the other three Waltons occupied the eleventh to fourteenth spots, with respective net worths of $4.5 billion, $4.5 billion, and $4.3 billion.
After the top ten, there were a few other notable names. Alice Ferguson, Simon's former housekeeper, ranked 15th with $4 billion.
Amy Pascal, CEO of Daenerys Entertainment, ranked 17th with $3.5 billion.
Further down, Claire Gain, a C-girl, tied for 35th place with Neil Brantley, another co-founder of Tinkerbell. Both were valued at $2.2 billion due to their 13.2% stake in the company.
In 87th place, D-girl Deborah Lippman held a 56% stake in Instagram, which gave her a net worth of $1.1 billion.
This year's Forbes list had a cutoff of $340 million, with the well-known talk show host Oprah Winfrey closing out the list.
Of the 400 individuals listed, not including major names like Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and Larry Ellison, whose companies were simply partially owned by the Westeros system rather than controlled or nurtured by it, 37 of the billionaires listed had direct ties to the Westeros system, such as Simon, Tim Berners-Lee, Alice Ferguson, and C-girls, who could all be considered "Westerosians."
Had the narrative not been deliberately suppressed, the topic "Simon Westeros controls America" would undoubtedly have been a hot topic in the media. When one man's immense wealth influences a nation's politics, economy, culture, and even military, calling it "control" wouldn't be far off.
In reality, the Westeros system was still far from reaching that level of dominance, but the trend was clear.
For example, this time around.
Compared to previous years, the media was just as noisy, but there were far fewer calls to limit Simon's wealth or impose targeted tax legislation. Instead, there was a growing wave of skepticism about the accuracy of the $700 billion figure.
This was precisely what Simon wanted.
"Seven hundred billion? That's impossible!"
Fine.
"Even if it's true on paper, most of it is in stock assets, which are highly speculative and part of an obvious tech bubble. Isn't the tech bubble supposed to be extremely serious right now? Simon Westeros is the perfect example of that."
When it came to shaping public opinion, Simon no longer had to get directly involved.
As the core of the Westeros system, not only his companies but also major media conglomerates like Time Warner, News Corp, and The New York Times Group, all closely aligned with the system, would naturally rally behind him. Their interests were intertwined: if one flourished, all flourished; if one suffered, all suffered.
While the outside world buzzed with noise, Simon, as usual, declined all interview requests and continued with his routine life.
The Daenerys Entertainment acquisition of Metropolis ABC Group was nearing its final stages.
After stock settlement ratios were tallied in the first two weeks of October, 83% of shareholders chose to exchange their Metropolis ABC shares for Daenerys stock. Even Warren Buffett adjusted his initial 50/50 stock-cash settlement ratio to 70% stock and 30% cash.
As a result, Da
enerys only needed to pay $3.5 billion in cash for the acquisition, well under half of the company's more than $7 billion in cash reserves.
On the other hand, once the acquisition was complete and 236 million shares were issued to former Metropolis ABC shareholders, the total shares of Daenerys Entertainment would increase to 2.599 billion, and Simon's stake would drop from 81.9% to 74.5%.
Due to Daenerys Entertainment's dual-share structure, Simon's voting power remained at a towering 96.7%, despite his shareholding dropping to 74.5%.
His control remained unshakable.
Simon still felt that the 74.5% shareholding was too high, but reducing it further would take time, so he would have to slowly sell shares in the future.
As for the lawsuit and strike surrounding the Wisconsin logistics center, Simon had decided to delay its resolution.
To avoid having his massive wealth compared to the truck drivers—who were sure to end up blacklisted—it was better to wait until the media buzz had died down before taking action.
Time flew by, and it was already Friday, October 27th.
The end of the year was approaching.
Daenerys Entertainment's third installment in the Conjuring cinematic universe, The Conjuring 2, premiered that day, marking the start of the Halloween season.
By then, most of the summer blockbusters had already finished their box office runs.
Among them, Jurassic Park 2 grossed $413 million domestically, making it the current top-grossing film of 1995. Whether it would hold that spot depended on the performance of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, set to release on December 22nd.
This film was also a hot topic among moviegoers.
It had even sparked some controversy.
Many argued that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice would have been better suited for a Thanksgiving release, allowing the DC superhero film to span both Thanksgiving and Christmas, maximizing its box office potential. However, the film was set for December 22nd to make room for Daenerys Entertainment's 3D animated film Beauty and the Beast.
Though Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was being distributed by Warner Bros., Simon had the final say on the release schedule.
Pixar's Beauty and the Beast was slated for a November 17th release.
After all, it was Simon's own creation.
Moreover, Simon hoped to leave some breathing room for films from other studios. Otherwise, if Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, another potential $400 million domestic hit, were to dominate the Thanksgiving box office, it would create an imbalance in the market.
Warner Bros. wasn't too happy about this but had no choice but to accept it.
Everyone knew that, in a similar situation, anyone else would have made the same decision as Simon.
Aside from the dominant Jurassic Park 2, Daenerys Entertainment's Apollo 13, starring Tom Hanks, earned $177 million domestically. Jurassic Park 2 and Apollo 13 were the only two films in the 1995 summer season to surpass $100 million at the box office.
David Fincher's Mind Games, released at the tail end of the summer season, had a production budget of $50 million but only grossed $51.34 million domestically. Its overseas performance was expected to be similar, so while the global box office would likely surpass $100 million, it was still far from a satisfactory outcome.
Other Hollywood studios struggled to reach the $100 million mark due to Jurassic Park 2's dominance. Films like Die Hard 3, Casper, and Braveheart were indirectly or directly affected.
Warner Bros.' Waterworld, which had a massive budget of $175 million, turned out to be a colossal failure.
Even though the film was strategically released at the end of July to avoid competing with Jurassic Park 2, it still only grossed $63.19 million domestically, $20 million less than its historical counterpart. With the film struggling against Jurassic Park 2 overseas, its global box office was projected to barely reach $100 million.
A global take of $160 million would result in approximately $70 million in box office revenue, far short of the $175 million production budget.
This time, there was no Universal Studios to build a "Waterworld" theme park attraction to recoup losses. Daenerys Entertainment had more than enough of its own IPs, so Warner Bros. was left to cry over its enormous losses.
The other notable box office bomb of 1995, Cutthroat Island, had yet to be decided.
The film, produced by Carolco Pictures with German capital in collaboration with Paramount, had a final production budget of $100 million, according to recent promotional figures. It was scheduled to release on the same day as Daenerys Entertainment's 3D animated Beauty and the Beast, on November 17th.
If Cutthroat Island also failed, the two bombs combined would be enough to throw cold water on the ambitions of many speculative investors hoping to make their mark in Hollywood.
Hollywood isn't for everyone.
With fewer disruptors, Daenerys Entertainment's dominance would only grow stronger.
New York, Manhattan.
The fourth Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was scheduled for November 11th. The Lexington Avenue Armory near Gramercy Park had already been booked for the show's rehearsals.
This year's lineup of Victoria's Secret Angels had been finalized before September's Fashion Week.
The biggest change was undoubtedly the simultaneous departure of Cindy Crawford and Yasmeen Ghauri, and their replacements: Eva Herzigova from the Czech Republic and Fernanda Lima from Brazil.
Eva Herzigova was less controversial.
At 22 years old, the Czech model had risen rapidly last year, securing enviable campaigns and scoring enough points through runway shows, fashion endorsements, and magazine covers to earn the "supermodel" title, as ranked by Egret's fashion portal.
Her qualifications were more than sufficient to become the next Victoria's Secret Angel.
Fernanda Lima, however, had sparked considerable controversy. At just 18, the Brazilian model was at the center of a fierce debate among fashion's top players. The infighting in the fashion world could be vicious, but in this case, no matter how dissatisfied some might be, they could only watch helplessly—because behind Fernanda Lima stood Simon Westeros.
It wasn't just Simon's $700 billion fortune; the Westeros system's influence in the fashion world was now undeniable. Since Simon had chosen Fernanda Lima, the rest could only watch in envy.
Even John Casablancas, once a dominant force in the fashion industry, had quietly faded from the scene. For smaller models, trying to sabotage or badmouth someone like Fernanda Lima in the media would lead to one outcome: complete blacklisting. There were no second chances.
As for why Simon had chosen Eva Herzigova and Fernanda Lima, that was likely a matter of personal preference.
This wasn't something that could be achieved by simply getting into bed with him.
After all, too many models were willing to do that nowadays.
It was pure luck.
Take now, for example: during a break between rehearsals at the Armory, the lucky Fernanda Lima could be seen cozily leaning next to Simon on the stands, stealing glances from the other models passing by on the runway, their eyes blazing with jealousy.
"Bitch!"
They were all six-foot-tall supermodels—who was she kidding with this girl-next-door act? It didn't even fit. And to top it off, she was acting all cutesy? Ugh, we hope she twists both ankles during rehearsal!
_________________________
[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] [+5 Reviews = +1 Chapter]