After resting for over half a month, it was time to get back to work.
During this period, the settlement and payout work for Cersei Capital's Sub-Funds No. 6 through No. 10 had already been completed under Anthony Johnston's supervision.
After closing all positions at the end of last year and clearing every category of fees, Cersei Capital's total funds available for settlement came to 8.63 billion dollars.
Under the commission ratio agreed upon at the start, out of that 8.63 billion, Simon's principal and profit allocation totaled 2.25 billion dollars, and his commission income was 1.96 billion. Adding in his initial 500 million in principal, Simon ultimately took home 4.71 billion dollars.
The Johnston family's 100 million investment ultimately returned a combined principal and profit total of 550 million.
The remaining investors' share totaled 3.37 billion dollars. Subtracting their 970 million in principal, their net profit came to 2.4 billion. The return rate was nowhere near Simon's, but it still reached 250%, a figure that already surpassed most hedge funds on the market. At the same scale, there wasn't a single one that could match it.
And so, once settlement was completed, the newly reopened 1 billion-dollar fund Cersei Capital raised from Australian investors was fully subscribed on the spot.
Japan's stock market had slid from its high above 40,000 points down below 38,000 over the past few months. Even so, the Japanese government stubbornly refused to admit their market contained any serious bubble, insisting publicly that it was merely a normal pullback after overheating. Perhaps to prop up that narrative, most of the assets held by Sub-Funds No. 1 through No. 5 still hadn't been sold.
Those five shell sub-funds couldn't be reclaimed in the short term, so this round of fundraising was done under the name of Sub-Fund No. 6.
Unlike last year, since they intended to run Cersei Capital long-term and formally, the externally raised Sub-Fund No. 6, primarily for hedging operations, fixed its commission rate at 20%. As a preferential policy for longtime clients, Australian investors still didn't need to pay a management fee.
In addition, Simon and the Johnston family invested a combined 1.5 billion dollars. This deviated from the original plan, with an extra 500 million coming from the Johnstons.
In North America, the fundraising target remained the planned 1 billion. Just like in Australia, James Rebould, who was responsible for the task, simply let the news slip out. At the very next fundraising meeting, total subscriptions in North America doubled on the spot, surpassing 2 billion.
A hedge fund that was too large made too tempting a target. That was not a good thing.
So after several discussions, the North American fundraising amount was still capped at 1 billion. James carefully selected a group of "money men" who could be helpful not only to Cersei Capital, but to the entire Westeros system. Of course, for these investments, Cersei Capital would begin charging a 2% management fee.
Although Sub-Fund No. 6, used for hedging operations, couldn't expand in size, Simon still had James spread word that Cersei Capital would be raising additional funds soon, this time for other investments such as private equity and leveraged buyouts.
In just three short years, Simon had risen from nothing to become North America's richest man. That kind of wealth miracle had become a golden signboard in itself. So even though the next fundraising wouldn't be for hedging operations, capital looking to get in kept coming in an endless stream.
After ending their vacation in Australia, Simon set off early on the morning of the 16th to return to North America. Traveling with him, besides Janet, were David Johnston and Leslie Whickett.
Leslie was due to return to Cambridge on the 22nd to resume classes, but before then, she wanted to personally visit Daenerys Studios to look at the office building she was responsible for designing. David Johnston, who was pursuing his doctorate, didn't have such a rigid course schedule. He was simply accompanying his girlfriend.
After more than ten hours in the air, the Boeing 767 arrived in Los Angeles. They dropped off David and Leslie, picked up Amy Pascal and Nancy Brill, and then set out again for New York.
Because of the time difference, when they reached New York it was still Tuesday afternoon, January 16, on the U.S. East Coast.
Blockbuster's IPO was scheduled for Thursday, January 18.
Even with two days to spare, the schedule was packed tight.
After resting for only a few hours at the Fifth Avenue apartment, Simon and Janet rushed to the Rebould family home for a carefully prepared investor cocktail party. During it, they also needed to meet several industry managers they had been scouting.
If they were going to operate formally, Janet couldn't possibly handle everything alone.
Besides, the two of them had already agreed that Cersei Capital's headquarters would be set up in Manhattan. With marriage coming up soon and plans to have a baby as quickly as possible, Janet had even less intention of working full-time. Deep in her bones was that instinct to lead and delegate. She planned to work only two or three days a week, and not necessarily in Manhattan. Everything else would be handled by professional managers.
After a year of operations, Janet had already selected a team to run Sub-Fund No. 6 and directly granted six of them partner status, generously carving out 30% of Sub-Fund No. 6's equity.
Finance was different from real industry. This field was essentially propped up by elite talent. Without enough upside, the best people were easily poached away by other firms.
So Simon also approved Janet's equity distribution plan.
They would divide equity at the sub-fund level rather than in the parent company, another decision they had made together.
As the team expanded, Sub-Fund No. 6 would certainly take on more partners in the future, and likely develop further lower-level sub-funds as well. But no matter how diluted the equity became, it would never affect Simon's control over Cersei Capital.
In fact, even for Sub-Fund No. 6, the parent company Cersei Capital adopted a structure that separated voting rights from profit rights, ensuring absolute control over the sub-fund at all times.
The hedge fund operations team was already in place, but if they wanted to begin other types of investments, they needed to build new teams.
Simon didn't have much of a network in Manhattan, but James Rebould had spent many years as a financial lawyer, and his connections in that world were extensive. Recently, he had helped Simon identify many suitable candidates.
The evening cocktail party was lively.
The moment Simon arrived with Janet, he immediately became the center of attention.
It wasn't just that Batman was still tearing up the box office. The news that Simon had knocked out ten opponents in a row at the Melbourne fight arena last Saturday, along with a flood of photos and videos, had outright detonated North American media chatter.
Enormous wealth was hard to feel directly. Raw physical dominance, though, hit people in the face.
While ordinary people were talking about it, some top professional boxers even issued half-serious, half-joking challenges to Simon.
Working the room, James Rebould soon led Simon and Janet to a man in his thirties wearing rimless glasses.
"Simon, Janet, this is Laurence Fink. Laurence, this is Simon and Janet." [TL/N: He's Jewish btw.]
Laurence Fink, currently the head of Blackstone Financial Management, a subsidiary of the Blackstone Group, oversaw funds totaling around three billion dollars, primarily focused on mainstream stock and bond investments.
After the premiere of Batman, Simon had chatted briefly with Frank Wolken, Lisa Collins's boyfriend, Lisa being one of Jennifer's close friends. Hearing that Frank worked under Laurence Fink, Simon had quickly taken note of his boss and asked James to gather information on him.
At this point, Laurence Fink was still only the head of a subsidiary under Blackstone.
But Simon knew that more than ten years later, Laurence Fink would break away from Blackstone and found BlackRock, surpassing his old employer.
At its peak, BlackRock would manage assets that once exceeded six trillion dollars, becoming the world's largest asset management company. Whether it was top-tier tech giants like Apple, Amazon, and Google, or traditional industrial behemoths like General Electric and Walmart, BlackRock would rank among their top five shareholders.
Corporate shareholding meant influence, real influence.
Six trillion dollars in assets, major shareholder status across countless corporate giants, one could imagine the terrifying potential sway BlackRock possessed.
According to James's investigation, Simon was very satisfied with Laurence Fink's past track record. And by coincidence, the disagreements between Fink and Blackstone's founder and CEO, Steve Schwarzman, over corporate management and fund operations had been growing sharper. Fink already intended to leave Blackstone, and Simon planned to poach not only him, but his entire team.
In the materials James provided, Laurence Fink was described as an investor who placed great emphasis on risk control, with a temperament cautious enough to match. Combined with what Simon remembered, compared to insisting on absolute control like he did with Sub-Fund No. 6, Simon was willing to grant Fink far more autonomy.
As for capital, that was simply not a problem for Simon.
With the capital markets' reverence for Simon's golden signboard, he could easily raise more than double the funds Fink currently managed and hand it to him to run.
After a few lines of introduction, they quickly found common ground in discussing how Columbia Savings and Loan had recently been taken over by the federal government.
Both sides understood perfectly. This was an interview.
Simon participated for a moment. But as he listened to Janet and Laurence enthusiastically dive into "vulture investing" aimed at the still-collapsing North American bond market, he gradually couldn't keep up with the thread of conversation. He simply excused himself and stepped away, leaving the gatekeeping to Janet.
After years together, Simon had come to appreciate more and more Janet's talent for judging people.
He'd heard it was inherited from Raymond Johnston.
With James introducing him to a few other guests, it wasn't long before a figure Simon hadn't expected appeared in front of him.
Or rather, two people.
Linda Carter, wearing a black, low-cut evening gown, had her arm linked with a middle-aged man who was likely her husband.
Before James could introduce them, the man warmly extended his hand to Simon. "Hello, Mr. Westeros. I'm Robert Altman."
This Robert Altman was clearly not the Hollywood Robert Altman.
Simon was already used to Westerners sharing the same names. He didn't find it strange, smiling as he reached out to shake the man's hand.
When Linda Carter saw Simon, her expression turned slightly unnatural. After he greeted her husband, she still reached out, saying, "Hello, Mr. Westeros."
The woman was clearly pretending she didn't know him. Simon didn't expose it, simply greeting her back, "Hello, Mrs. Altman."
Linda Carter could tell Simon was doing it on purpose. A flicker of reproach flashed in her eyes as she explained, "Mr. Westeros, I didn't take my husband's surname."
Simon nodded. "Oh. My apologies."
"Simon, I heard Daenerys Entertainment is already preparing a live-action Wonder Woman film. Maybe you could let Linda do a cameo," Robert Altman said with a smile. "You know, Linda is the most beloved Wonder Woman."
Simon glanced at the woman. "Of course. If there's a chance."
After a few more lines of small talk, Robert Altman began describing his work. He was also a lawyer, mainly engaged in tax avoidance structures to help overseas capital return to the U.S. for investment.
Listening to Robert Altman's explanation, Simon more or less understood why the man was so eager.
Cersei Capital had a huge pile of money sitting overseas, and Simon was obviously a client with massive potential.
They talked for a while. Robert Altman left his business card, invited Simon to lunch tomorrow, and after being politely declined, tactfully moved on.
Once the two of them left, James shook his head slightly at Simon. "Simon, it's best not to get too involved with Altman. The tax tricks he uses ride the edge in a lot of places. To put it bluntly, they have a money-laundering flavor. Rumor is the IRS has already put him on their radar."
Simon nodded. "I have no intention of that."
In only a few short years, he'd amassed such enormous wealth. Simon knew there were absolutely plenty of people watching him. The moment he showed a crack, a whole crowd of opponents would swarm. He had more than enough confidence that he could continue accumulating massive wealth through fully legitimate operations. There was no need to even consider those disreputable side paths.
After making another round through the crowd, Janet returned to Simon and said, "It's settled. But Fink doesn't plan to jump with the team. He wants us to fund the purchase of the shares Blackstone holds. That way, the business under him can continue without interruption."
"What about Blackstone's side?" Simon asked.
"Fink wants autonomy, and he wants to share more equity with other partners. Steve Schwarzman insists on maintaining absolute control over the subsidiary. Their differences are getting worse and worse. If Fink led the team to leave, Blackstone would be left with nothing but a mess. Compared to that, selling the asset management division to us would at least bring them a payout. They shouldn't refuse."
Simon nodded. "Did you discuss a price?"
Janet said, "Blackstone currently holds 50% of Blackstone Financial Management. Based on last year's performance from Fink's team, we can keep the offer under a hundred million. Once we take over, I don't think many investors will redeem their existing funds. Fink's team is also very stable. So this is a very worthwhile investment."