Perhaps due to jet lag, Sophia Fessey didn't sleep well all night, but still didn't feel much fatigue in the morning.
The night raid naturally didn't happen.
She didn't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed, and then thought it might just be a prank by Janette.
As dawn broke, the housekeeper got out of bed. After a simple selection, she changed into a somewhat professional white shirt and black slim-fit trousers, examined herself in the dressing mirror with satisfaction, and then walked out of the guest room.
It was just past six in the morning.
She unexpectedly met Simon in the hallway, who had just woken up, wearing a black vest, shorts, and sneakers, presumably on his way to exercise. Subconsciously, Sophia Fessey glanced at the man's muscular physique under his vest, which was no less impressive than a professional athlete's. She felt inexplicably guilty, yet still forced herself to greet him calmly: "Morning, Simon".
"Morning", Simon was also a bit surprised. He stopped and looked at the woman's formal attire, teasing, "Are you going to work?"
The usually very talkative housekeeper felt Simon's gaze and suddenly didn't know how to respond to his joke.
Simon noticed her restraint and quickly added, "Very beautiful. Actually, I really like how women look in business suits".
Sophia Fessey finally reacted: "Oh, thank you".
Simon smiled and said, "Since you're already up, could you help prepare breakfast? I happen to want to be lazy for once".
"Of course", Sophia Fessey nodded, walking towards the living room with Simon, and asked, "What do you and Janette like for breakfast?"
"Just prepare whatever you like with the ingredients in the kitchen. Janette and I aren't picky about these things", Simon said, then joked, "Of course, if it's too unappetizing, as your boss, I might have to deduct your salary".
After a half-hour workout, Simon showered and changed. Not needing to prepare breakfast, he sat in the living room and read the day's newspaper.
Today was August 30th, Tuesday.
The discussions sparked by last week's Forbes list were still ongoing. Simon had dinner with Peter Butler last night, and the Los Angeles Times published a lengthy interview today.
In addition, although only a letter of intent had been reached with Terry Semel, Warner was eager to announce in today's Hollywood Reporter that Warner Bros. Pictures would be collaborating with Daenerys Entertainment on projects other than 'Batman'.
Warner Bros. had officially begun merger negotiations with Time Inc. in recent months. As a public company, timely release of such positive news would obviously help stimulate Warner's stock price.
Apparently, having seen the news in today's paper, Simon received several probing calls from Disney, Fox, and Orion in the short time before breakfast. Having continuously created six blockbuster films that could rank in the top ten of the annual charts, Daenerys Entertainment was now a highly sought-after partner for all major Hollywood studios.
Simon did not intend to completely sever his collaborations with the Big Seven in the coming years, but he also wouldn't expand the scale of such collaborations too much, so he merely gave perfunctory replies on the phone.
This continued until after seven o'clock when Sophia had prepared breakfast and Janette had also woken up. They all sat down in the dining room together.
Last night, Janette had been severely 'disciplined' by Simon because of Sophia's matter. Waking up refreshed after a good night's sleep, Janette was still radiant, clearly the type to forget her pain once the wound healed. After tasting Sophia's carefully prepared cream muffins, sweet corn soup, and fruit salad, Janette couldn't help but praise, "This is really good, Sophia. I almost want to keep you here as our exclusive chef. Simon's breakfasts are so much worse than yours".
Simon glanced at Janette: "As my girlfriend, don't you feel ashamed saying something like that?"
Janette blinked innocently: "Why should I be ashamed?"
Simon rolled his eyes helplessly.
Sophia pursed her lips and smiled, but didn't interject.
Simon took a few sips of sweet corn soup and got down to business: "A total of five people from the company will be going to Australia with us this time. You said you'd be in charge of the itinerary. How are the preparations coming along?"
Janette nodded and said, "It's all sorted out! I've leased a Boeing 767. If you're sure you won't delay any further, we'll depart tomorrow morning at 7 o'clock and can arrive in Melbourne by 5 PM on September 1st, Australia time. It's a direct flight, no stops in between".
Simon recalled some information he had seen before and said, "A Boeing 767 is a medium-sized Boeing jetliner. Are you sure a direct flight to Melbourne is okay?"
"Of course! This is an ultra-long-range Boeing 7R, with a standard full-load range of over 12,000 kilometres. However, when used as a private jet, the range can reach 16,000 kilometres without issue. Los Angeles to Melbourne is less than 13,000 kilometres".
Sophia, hearing Janette say this, commented, "The Boeing 767 is a twin-engine passenger plane, so it should be subject to ETOPS restrictions, right?"
ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards) is a requirement proposed by the International Civil Aviation Organization to ensure the flight safety of twin-engine passenger aircraft. It stipulates that during flight, if one engine fails and shuts down, the aircraft must be able to reach a diversion airport within 120 minutes from any point on the route using a single engine. The cruising speed of subsonic jet aircraft is usually within 1,000 kilometres per hour, making it difficult to meet this requirement for trans-Pacific flights involving tens of thousands of kilometres.
Janette shook her head and said, "Private jets are not subject to this restriction".
Simon also had a rough understanding of this restriction, but didn't pay too much attention to it. He asked Sophia, "When do you plan to return to Europe?"
Sophia, hearing this, looked at Janette instead.
Janette said, "A few days ago, I intercepted a draft from a nurse at that Watsonville hospital. To prevent those people from continuing to spread rumours, I want George and Sophia to contact some people to sign non-disclosure agreements".
Simon paused. He wasn't ashamed of his past experience at the Watsonville psychiatric hospital, but he also didn't want people to keep bringing it up. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I'll call Dr. Henry Chapman later. He took great care of me back then. When George and Sophia go there, he can help them with this matter".
Janette nodded and said, "I was planning to do that anyway".
If George and Sophia directly approached Dr. Chapman and demanded he sign a non-disclosure agreement like everyone else, it would certainly be hurtful. But if Dr. Chapman cooperated with George and Sophia on this matter, it would mean bringing him over to Simon's side, while also preserving a personal favour.
Since Janette had thought of this, Simon said no more.
Janette usually seemed lazy and carefree, but Simon knew she was smarter and more meticulous than most people. If he hadn't happened to ask, she might have already handled the matter perfectly in private.
Since this trip to Australia wasn't just for work, Simon returned to Malibu early in the afternoon to prepare with Janette.
They woke up very early the next day, arrived at Los Angeles International Airport at six o'clock, and by seven, everyone was present. A Boeing 767 took off from the runway precisely on schedule.
Compared to Simon's Gulfstream IV, which could only carry 20 passengers, the Boeing 7R leased by Janette had a standard capacity of over 200 people. However, the leasing company had converted it into a passenger-cargo aircraft. Besides the luxurious passenger cabin in the front section, which could seat about 30 people, most of the space had been cleared out. This significantly reduced the aircraft's basic weight, maximizing fuel efficiency and range.
Inside the cabin at this time, besides the crew consisting of four pilots and four flight attendants, Simon's group totalled nine people: Simon and Janette, Neil Bennett and Ken Dickson, and five employees from Daenerys Entertainment, including Simon's personal assistant, Jennifer.
In the 1980s, there were no direct commercial flights from Los Angeles to Melbourne. It usually required two transfers, first in Hawaii and then in Sydney, to reach Melbourne, with the entire journey potentially lasting over twenty hours.
Because there were no layovers, Simon's group's trip would take approximately 16 hours.
There was an 18-hour time difference between Los Angeles and Melbourne. Departing at 7 AM on August 31st, they were expected to arrive at 5 PM local time.
Simon naturally wouldn't waste the 16-hour flight time.
In an office within the cabin.
Simon was about to go through a pile of documents he intended to read during his trip to Australia, when Jennifer produced a package and said, "This was delivered from San Francisco yesterday afternoon. You weren't in the office at the time".
Simon took the package and looked at it. It wasn't a commercial delivery; the square box simply had a signature appended with an oil pen: Steve Jobs.
Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Simon opened the package. Inside was a videotape and a sticky note.
Simon handed the videotape to Jennifer and picked up the sticky note himself. It contained only a very short sentence: Simon, if you're interested in Pixar, you can give me a call.
There was also a phone number below.
Jennifer put the videotape into the VCR in the office, and a 3D animation titled 'Tin Toy' quickly appeared on the TV screen in the corner.
After playing for a moment, Jennifer turned around and proactively explained, "I checked, this short film was screened as a pre-feature with Fox's 'Die Hard' early last month, and the industry's response was very good. Also, Steve Jobs's NeXT computer company's new product launch has been delayed again, and Pixar's Image Computer sales have been very dismal. He urgently needs to get rid of this burden. Jobs initially acquired Pixar from Lucas for $5 million and invested another $5 million to keep the studio running, obtaining a total of 70% of the shares. The remaining 30% of the shares are held by Pixar employees. Considering the graphic software like the RenderMan rendering tool that Pixar has completed development on in the past two years, its current value should be around $20 million".
Simon listened to Jennifer's introduction and looked at the still very crude baby model on the screen. He also understood that it was already very impressive for Pixar to achieve this level given its financial difficulties.
After the short film finished playing, Simon didn't deliberately delay. He picked up the phone on the desk and dialled the number on the sticky note.
The call connected and was quickly transferred to Jobs.
The two were not familiar with each other, so after a brief exchange of pleasantries, Simon got straight to the point: "Steve, you can give me a quote... $30 million? That's too high, you and I both know that's impossible... Of course, I'd very much like to acquire Pixar, but you should also know about Daenerys Special Effects. Frankly, what I'm interested in is just Pixar's RenderMan rendering system. Acquiring this software would save Daenerys Special Effects more than half a year. Even if you only contacted me next March, I might not need this company anymore... $20 million, that's my highest offer, and this offer is for all of Pixar. You'll need to convince Pixar employees to voluntarily give up their existing shares".
Simon didn't intend to make too many concessions on the offer. Jobs was clearly eager to offload Pixar and didn't deliberately drag things out.
The two haggled over some details on the phone, and the matter was essentially settled. Simon hung up the phone, then reconnected with Jennifer's father, requesting James Raybould to contact Jobs for a formal acquisition offer. Having settled this matter, Simon didn't feel much of the excitement of a bargain.
When he decided not to base his animated film production plans on Pixar, Simon made up his mind that if he couldn't acquire the company, he would destroy it as much as possible. With his current strength, achieving this would not be difficult.
As he recalled, the main reason Pixar was able to continue until the mid-nineties and successfully produce 'Toy Story' was that Pixar's image computers gradually found a market, and the largest buyer happened to be Disney. Therefore, if Simon wanted to suppress Pixar, he only needed to reach an agreement with Disney to refuse purchasing image computers from Pixar. In comparison, Westeros Company, which held a heavy stake in Silicon Graphics, also produced top-tier graphics workstations. Simon wouldn't even need an extra reason to do this; it would be entirely 'legitimate' business competition.
However, acquiring Pixar was definitely a positive thing.
Daenerys Special Effects would no longer need to spend time developing a rendering system, and Pixar's 3D animation technology could also significantly complement Daenerys Special Effects' technology. Of course, the most important thing was John Lasseter's team, and Simon had already been considering poaching them.
In historical accounts, John Lasseter rejected Disney's overtures after the success of 'Tin Toy'. Rumour has it that Disney approached him three times, and because they couldn't get this talent, they eventually chose to cooperate indirectly, which ultimately led to the birth of 'Toy Story'.
Throughout this process, John Lasseter was said to be unwaveringly loyal to Jobs.
But in reality, the story wasn't quite so legendary.
'Tin Toy' was released in 1988, and 'Toy Story' was greenlit in 1991, undergoing repeated difficulties in the following years before its completion. It's clear that if Disney had truly been so 'eager for talent,' there wouldn't have been a three-year gap.
Therefore, with Daenerys Entertainment's current industry standing, Simon wouldn't even need to offer a particularly special price to have a high chance of recruiting John Lasseter. Of course, since he had already acquired all of Pixar, there was certainly no need for such an extra step now.