Ever since his script for 'The Butterfly Effect' brought him into the media spotlight, Simon has basically been under the media's glare for two years.
However, Simon's influence had previously been largely confined to Hollywood.
Even his unprecedented feat of earning over a billion dollars from the stock index futures market late last year began to fade after several rounds of media hype. A billion-dollar fortune was too far removed from the lives of ordinary people; too many struggled to understand what it truly meant.
However, when Forbes magazine released its new annual list, Simon's personal wealth was instantly concretized by his ranking as the sixteenth richest globally and third richest in the United States.
In just two short years, Simon, who was once an unknown figure with no connection to the rich list, became the third wealthiest person in the nation. Moreover, at only 20 years old, he stood out even more among the generally fifty and sixty-year-old men on the list.
This miraculous achievement instantly made him the focus of attention across the entire United States, and even the world.
Many, amidst their envy and astonishment, couldn't help but feel a strong sense of bewilderment once again: How was Simon Westeros able to achieve all this? What exactly happened?
The following weekend, almost all mainstream media in North America and even worldwide were abuzz discussing every little detail about Simon. All sorts of experiences from his childhood to before and after he became famous were re-excavated. Forbes magazine's estimation of Simon's personal net worth also became a focal point of controversy.
Although Forbes provided very detailed assessment criteria, most media outlets still re-calculated it in various ways to attract attention. In similar discussions, many even leaned towards believing Simon's personal net worth should be higher, not just $3.1 billion.
Simon's stock assets and debt figures were irrefutable; the focus of the discussion remained on the valuation of Daenerys Entertainment.
Through an analysis of Daenerys Entertainment's various business types, many media outlets found that even if the company incurred significant operational and debt costs in merging with New World Entertainment and maintaining its other businesses, Daenerys Entertainment's projected after-tax net profit for 1988 would likely not be less than $200 million.
After all, 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' alone, with $2 million per episode in revenue, plus pilot episode income and substantial sponsorship revenue, could already bring in over $200 million for Daenerys Entertainment, while the production cost of this reality show was only around $20 million.
Beyond 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?', Daenerys Entertainment's other businesses also generated substantial income.
Therefore, a net profit of $200 million was entirely reasonable.
Many companies' market capitalization is roughly equivalent to their net profit multiplied by their price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. In the stock market, a company's P/E ratio is usually between 10 and 30 times.
Thus, even if calculated at a low P/E ratio of 10 times, Daenerys Entertainment's valuation should reach $2 billion. In fact, Hollywood-type listed companies on the North American stock market generally have P/E ratios around 15 times. Looking at Daenerys Entertainment, given its super high growth momentum, if it were a listed company, it would be fully capable of achieving a P/E ratio of 30 times or even higher due to the capital market's optimism.
A P/E ratio of 30 times, and a net profit of $200 million.
The result was obvious: Daenerys Entertainment's market value would therefore reach $6 billion.
Including Simon's stock and other assets, and subtracting his debts, his personal net worth would thus reach $7.6 billion. This figure would even allow Simon to surpass Sam Walton and become the richest person in the United States; even globally, Simon's ranking would rise to sixth.
As the relevant data was released, some immediately refuted it, stating that no film company in all of Hollywood, excluding its parent company's other assets, had a market value of $6 billion. Daenerys Entertainment, apart from a series of film and television copyrights, had very few other net assets and simply could not reach this figure.
However, others quickly cited Microsoft, a company heavily invested in by Westeros Company, which had less than $5 million in net assets during its IPO process, but whose market value surpassed $300 million on its listing day.
In comparison, Daenerys Entertainment's net assets are far greater than this figure. The copyright value of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' alone could reach several hundred million dollars, which is already enough to cover all of Daenerys Entertainment's liabilities. The hundreds of film and television copyright assets Daenerys Entertainment received from New World Entertainment, as well as the series of projects previously owned by Daenerys Pictures, are all very valuable. The combination of Daenerys Pictures and New World Entertainment has achieved an effect far greater than one plus one.
Mentioning New World Entertainment, someone immediately pointed out that Daenerys Pictures only spent $250 million to acquire all of New World Entertainment's shares. Before this, Daenerys Pictures' foundation was not even as strong as New World Entertainment's. The merged Daenerys Entertainment also had to bear a total of $350 million in debt. Considering the strong uncertainty in the operations of film and entertainment companies, Daenerys Entertainment's valuation could at most reach $1 billion.
The media was in a frenzy, but Simon had no inclination to pay attention to any of it. He even somewhat regretted not having cooperated properly with Forbes magazine's statistics, to keep his personal asset figures as low as possible. Simon spent the entire weekend amidst various commotions. Although he really wanted to fly to Australia early for some peace and quiet, avoiding it was clearly not the way to handle things. He even had to postpone his departure for Australia again.
Too much had happened in just two days surrounding the release of the Forbes rich list.
Early Saturday morning, Simon received a call from Robert Iger in New York. Whether influenced by media opinion or some other reason, CBS suddenly changed its stance, hoping to reacquire the broadcasting rights for 'The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills'. Not only were they willing to accept all of Daenerys Pictures' conditions, but on top of HBO's identical offer of $600,000 per season, CBS also agreed to order a full 23 episodes.
Daenerys Entertainment had originally decided to sign with HBO next week, but CBS's last-minute change of heart immediately introduced new complications to the matter.
However, Simon did not hesitate much. Between the still very powerful public television network of that era and HBO, which had a small audience, he decisively chose the former. In addition, Terry Semel, who had been in contact with Simon some time ago but had since gone silent, also expressed a desire to talk about cooperation again. With a pile of things to do over the weekend, Simon could only schedule a lunch meeting for Monday.
August 29, Monday.
Los Angeles at the end of summer finally saw a rare rainy day. Simon was supposed to fly to Australia with Janette today, but because last Friday's sudden events disrupted many arrangements, he had to continue going to the company today.
Inside the Malibu villa.
Looking at Janette, who leaned in to carefully tie his tie, and feeling the cool, damp breeze blowing in from outside, Simon lowered his head, kissed her cheek, and said with a smile, "It wouldn't be because you're in such a bad mood that the weather outside is like this, would it?"
Janette turned her face to let Simon kiss her, then opened her small mouth towards him, but didn't bite, saying, "If I had that ability, it would at least be hailing outside".
Simon smiled and said, "We'll definitely leave the day after tomorrow, I promise".
Janette pouted, "A man's promises are the least reliable".
Simon sighed, "Alright".
Janette finished tying his tie, stepped back to appraise it, nodded to herself, and then added, "Actually, Sophia is flying in from France today; she should arrive around nine o'clock".
After returning from Cannes in May, Simon had left European affairs to Janette. Upon hearing this, he asked, "How has she been recently?"
"Working for you, of course. She's bringing some real estate documents this time, and some other things too, but you don't have to worry about it," Janette said casually, finally looking up at Simon and asking, "Do you want to invite her over for dinner tonight?"
"Not tonight, we'll see when I have time", Simon said, not noticing Janette's subtle glance. He picked up his suit jacket from the hanger nearby and put it on, shaking his head. "I have plans with Peter tonight. Peter Butler, do you remember him".
Janette nodded, saying, "Oh, the reporter from the Los Angeles Times. He even wrote an exclusive interview about you last year".
Although he fundamentally disliked interacting with the media, in the current situation, Pat Kingsley's advice to Simon was that it would be best to accept some interviews to prevent the outside world from completely lacking personal information about Simon and thus making groundless speculations or even fabricating stories. Simon agreed.
After seeing her man off, Janette went to a living room, took out a folder from under the coffee table, opened it, and while lounging on the sofa, called Simon's private lawyer, George Norman. They chatted for a full hour, and she only hung up the phone as it approached nine o'clock.
Ken Dickson had already picked up Simon's European housekeeper, Sophia Fessey, from Los Angeles International Airport.
In the courtyard, Sophia Fessey got out of Janette's burgundy Range Rover, and Janette immediately went to meet her. The housekeeper was wearing a black women's business suit today; the well-tailored jacket and pencil skirt added a touch of intellect to her mature and graceful demeanour.
After the two women greeted each other with a familiar embrace, they walked into the villa together. Janette asked, "How are the two little ones doing recently?"
Sophia Fessey nodded with a hint of gratitude in her expression, saying, "They're very well. I've temporarily sent them to my parents' place".
"If that guy dares to bother you again, tell me immediately", Janette said with a fierce little expression. "I happen to want a few wineries".
Sophia Fessey smiled and walked into the villa with Janette. She sat down on the living room sofa, placed the briefcase she was carrying on her lap, opened it, and watched Janette walk towards the small bar in the corner of the living room, saying, "If you're really interested, I can help you find one. I know a bit about that".
Janette brought over two cups of coffee and said, "That sounds good, but it has to be the best. Hmm, what house information did you bring this time? Let me see".
"I've been to Paris, London, Venice, Barcelona, and Amsterdam recently, and I've selected sixteen properties in total," Sophia Fessey said, taking out several stacks of documents from her briefcase and neatly arranging them on the coffee table. She then added, "Oh, and congratulations to Simon. His ranking on the Forbes list is truly surprising".
Janette picked up a property document, leaned back comfortably on the sofa, and said with a smile, "I'm happy too, but there's a lot of trouble. We were supposed to fly to Australia, but now we have to delay our trip".
Sophia Fessey nodded understandingly, saying, "Yes, Simon is too young after all".
"By the way, how is Natasha doing recently? Last time she called, she said she was going to Italy?"
Sophia Fessey nodded and said, "She's currently filming Jerzy Skolimowski's new movie, 'Spring in the Torrent'".
Janette tilted her head and said, "I remember now. The media was talking about it a while ago. The Catwoman Simon chose, um, Valeria Golino, she was originally supposed to be in that movie".
Sophia Fessey smiled and said, "Yes, Skolimowski had been preparing the film for two years, and then the lead actress was suddenly snatched away, so he had to delay for a few months to re-cast".
"I don't really know that person, but of course, he can't compare to my man," Janette said matter-of-factly, then suddenly added, "This house is nice, oh, Kensington Garden Street, right next to Kensington Palace?"
Sophia Fessey leaned closer and said, "Yes, it's right next to Prince Charles and Princess Diana's residence".
Janette pouted, disdainfully saying, "Those messy people".
Sophia Fessey forced a smile in agreement. Many people would kill to be neighbours with royalty, so Janette's complete disdain was entirely unexpected.
Janette flipped through a few more pages, then tilted her head and muttered, "This house is really nice, but it would be great if those two could be kicked out of Kensington Palace. I really don't want to be their neighbour".
Sophia Fessey's smile was about to freeze.
Kicking the heir to the British throne out of Kensington Palace, such a thought could probably only come from the woman beside her.
Janette, however, seemed completely unaware of how impractical her idea was, and even looked at Sophia, saying, "Hey, how do you think we can get those two out of Kensington Palace?"
"Well", Sophia Fessey could only shake her head, saying, "Janette, that's not very realistic".
Janette noticed Sophia's expression, shrugged her small shoulders, and said, "Nothing's unrealistic. Maybe one day I'll even buy Kensington Palace, but Simon doesn't seem to like this style of house very much, so it might have to be torn down and rebuilt".
Sophia Fessey was not an uneducated woman; hearing Janette's words, her mind couldn't help but begin to ponder.
Achieving Janette's 'vision' was indeed not impossible, but the prerequisite would probably be either the royal family facing bankruptcy, or perhaps, the abolition of the monarchy.