Ever since he entered the public eye with the script for The Butterfly Effect, Simon had lived almost entirely under the media's spotlight for two years.
However, his influence had previously been largely confined to Hollywood.
Even when he suddenly pocketed over a billion dollars from the stock index futures market at the end of last year, the sensation sparked by the media's frenzy eventually faded. A billion dollars was a figure so far removed from the lives of ordinary people that most struggled to grasp what it truly meant.
But then came the release of the new Forbes annual rankings.
A global ranking of sixteenth and a domestic ranking of third instantly gave Simon's personal wealth a concrete shape.
While people tended to focus only on who was number one, Simon was simply too conspicuous on the list.
Among the top ten billionaires in the country, the average age of the other nine was over sixty-five. Simon was only twenty.
This staggering age advantage left almost no one in doubt: one day, Simon Westeros would claim the top spot.
In just two years, an unknown youth who originally had nothing to do with the rich list had vaulted to become the third-wealthiest person in America. This miraculous feat instantly made Simon the focus of attention for the entire country, and indeed, the world.
Amidst the envy and awe, a powerful question resurfaced in the minds of many: How did Simon Westeros do it? What exactly happened?
Over the following weekend, mainstream media outlets worldwide erupted in a feverish discussion of all things Simon. Every detail of his life, from his upbringing to his sudden rise, was unearthed and re-examined.
Naturally, the Forbes estimate of his net worth became the eye of the storm.
While no region is without its share of "eat the rich" sentiment, Western society generally admires wealth. Many billionaires prefer to see their rankings inflated and have even been known to file lawsuits to achieve a higher spot.
As for Simon, although Forbes had provided a meticulous breakdown for its assessment, most media outlets voiced their disagreement. In fact, many argued that his personal net worth should be much higher than 3.1 billion dollars.
The value of the tech stocks under Simon's name and his debt levels were undisputed, and his private investments and real estate were considered marginal. The real point of contention was the valuation of Daenerys Entertainment Group.
If it hadn't been for its financial and operational struggles, New World Entertainment would have been worth far more than 250 million dollars.
With the integration of Daenerys Pictures and New World complete, the two companies had achieved a synergy where the whole was far greater than the sum of its parts. The cinematic strength of Daenerys coupled with the television pedigree of New World made the new Daenerys Entertainment far more powerful than either had been alone.
If this rapid momentum continued, it would take only a few years for Daenerys Entertainment to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Big Seven. Some even argued that, even now, its strength had already surpassed that of the venerable MGM.
By analyzing the company's two core pillars—film and television—it was easy to see that even with the significant operational and debt costs inherited from New World, Daenerys Entertainment's projected net profit for 1988 would not be less than 200 million dollars.
After all, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire alone had become a juggernaut. Between the pilot and the extra seasonal episodes, it had brought in 30 million dollars. The first season, at 2 million dollars per episode for 69 episodes, totaled 138 million. Add in the 56 million from in-show advertising, and the total revenue reached 224 million dollars—and that didn't even account for subsequent syndication and international licensing.
Even Simon hadn't expected this reality show to become the backbone of Daenerys Entertainment's revenue.
Beyond Millionaire, the other three reality shows were also yielding substantial returns, with Survivor showing commercial potential equal to its predecessor. Combined with successful film projects like When Harry Met Sally..., Pulp Fiction, and Basic Instinct, the media's 200-million-dollar profit forecast actually seemed conservative.
Typically, a company's market value is determined by its net profit multiplied by its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. In a mature stock market, P/E ratios usually range from 10 to 30. The greater a company's potential, the higher its ratio. During the dot-com bubble around the year 2000, some companies' P/E ratios would exceed 1,000.
However, even using a conservative P/E ratio of 10, Daenerys Entertainment should be valued at 2 billion dollars. In reality, similar publicly traded Hollywood companies in North America generally held a P/E ratio around 15. Given Daenerys's explosive growth, if it were a public company, the market's optimism would likely grant it a P/E of 30 or higher.
At a P/E of 30 and a net profit of 200 million dollars, the math was simple: Daenerys Entertainment's market value would hit 6 billion dollars.
Consequently, when adding Simon's stocks and other assets and subtracting his debts, his personal net worth would reach 7.6 billion dollars. This figure would have allowed him to leapfrog Sam Walton to become the richest man in America and move up to sixth place globally.
When these figures surfaced, critics immediately countered that no film company in Hollywood—excluding those part of massive parent conglomerates—had a market value of 6 billion dollars. Beyond its copyright library, Daenerys Entertainment had very few tangible assets; it couldn't possibly reach such a valuation.
Yet, others were quick to point to Microsoft, in which Westeros Co. held a significant stake. During its 1986 IPO, Microsoft's net assets were less than 5 million dollars, but its market value exceeded 300 million on the day it went public.
In comparison, the net assets of Daenerys Entertainment far exceeded those of Microsoft at its inception.
The copyright value of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire alone was worth hundreds of millions, more than enough to cover all of the company's debts. The hundreds of film and TV titles inherited from New World, along with the projects accumulated by Daenerys Pictures, also held considerable asset value.
Therefore, Daenerys Entertainment was arguably worth far more than the 1.5 billion dollar valuation Forbes had given it.
While the media was in an uproar, Simon had little interest in the noise. He even felt a twinge of regret for not "cooperating" more closely with Forbes to keep his numbers as low as possible.
Simon spent the entire weekend adrift in the chaos.
In just two days, the deluge of interview requests, congratulations from acquaintances and strangers alike, various charitable appeals, and the internal shifts within Daenerys Entertainment triggered by the list left him exhausted. Although he wanted to fly to Australia early to find some peace, running away wasn't the way to handle things. He was forced to push his trip back even further.
Early Saturday morning, Simon received a call from Robert Iger in New York. Whether influenced by the media frenzy or something else, CBS had suddenly changed its mind, desperate to reclaim the broadcast rights for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
CBS was now willing to accept all of Daenerys's terms. Matching HBO's offer of 600,000 dollars per episode, CBS also agreed to order a full 23-episode season.
Daenerys had already intended to sign with HBO the following week, but CBS's sudden reversal threw a wrench into the works.
Simon didn't hesitate long. The Big Four networks were still incredibly powerful in this era. Between CBS and HBO, he decisively chose the former. As for how to handle the verbal agreement with HBO, that was Robert Iger's problem.
Furthermore, Terry Semel, who had gone quiet after a brief contact with Simon earlier, reached out again, wanting to discuss cooperation between their two companies. With a mountain of tasks over the weekend, Simon could only schedule a lunch for Monday.
Amidst the hustle, the weekend flew by.
Monday, August 29th.
Los Angeles saw a rare bout of overcast, rainy weather at the turn of the season. Simon was supposed to have boarded a plane for Australia with Janet today, but the sudden events of last Friday had disrupted everything. He had to head into the office once more.
Inside the Malibu villa.
Simon looked at Janet as she leaned in to carefully straighten his tie. Feeling the damp, cool breeze blowing in from outside, he lowered his head to kiss her cheek and smiled. "Is the weather like this because you're in a bad mood?"
Janet turned her face to accept the kiss, then playfully opened her mouth as if to bite him, though she didn't follow through. "If I had that kind of power, it would be hailing out there at the very least."
Simon chuckled. "We'll definitely leave the day after tomorrow. I promise."
Janet pursed her lips, looking quite worldly. "A man's promise is the least reliable thing in the world."
Simon felt helpless. "Alright, pretend I didn't say anything."
After fixing his tie, Janet stepped back to inspect her work, nodding to herself. "Actually, Sophia is flying in from France today. She should be here by nine."
Since returning from Cannes in May, Simon had left his European affairs to Janet. He asked, "How has she been lately?"
"Working for you, of course. She's bringing a batch of real estate files for several major European cities, among other things. Anyway, don't you worry about it," Janet said nonchalantly. She glanced up at Simon. "Should I invite her over for dinner tonight?"
"Not tonight. Some other time," Simon said, missing the look in her eyes as he grabbed his suit jacket from the rack. "I have a dinner date with Peter tonight. Peter Butler, remember him?"
Janet nodded. "The Los Angeles Times reporter. He wrote that profile on you last year."
While he didn't enjoy dealing with the media, Pat Kingsley had advised that in the current climate, it was better to give the public some information. Otherwise, the lack of personal data would lead to wild speculation or outright fabrications.
Simon had agreed and contacted Peter Butler for a relatively informal dinner interview.
After seeing Simon off, Janet went to a living room and pulled a folder from under the coffee table. Inside was a transcript of an interview with a nurse from a psychiatric hospital in Watsonville, San Francisco. The content was, naturally, about Simon. It was originally meant to be published in the San Francisco Chronicle but had been suppressed.
After re-reading the transcript, Janet leaned back on the sofa and dialed Simon's private attorney, George Norman. They talked for a full hour, and she only hung up as nine o'clock approached.
Ken Dixon had already picked up Sophia Fache, Simon's European housekeeper, from LAX.
As Sophia stepped out of the car in the courtyard, Janet immediately went out to meet her.
The housekeeper was wearing a black professional suit today with light makeup. The well-tailored blazer and pencil skirt highlighted her mature, sophisticated aura and made her look quite intellectual.
The two women shared a familiar hug and walked into the villa together. Janet asked, "How are the two little ones?"
Sophia Fache nodded with a look of gratitude. "They're doing great. I've temporarily sent them to stay with my parents."
"If that guy dares to bother you again, tell me immediately," Janet said with a fierce expression. "I happen to be in the market for a few vineyards."
As they sat down on the living room sofa, Sophia opened her briefcase on her lap. She watched Janet walk toward the small bar in the corner of the room. "If you're interested, I can help you find one. I know a thing or two about them."
Janet returned with two cups of coffee. "Sure, but it has to be the best. So, which house files did you bring this time? Let me see."
"I've visited Paris, London, Venice, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and several other cities recently. I've selected sixteen properties in total," Sophia said, neatly arranging several stacks of documents on the coffee table. "By the way, congratulations to Simon. His ranking on the Forbes list was quite a surprise."
Janet picked up a file and leaned back comfortably. "It is something to be happy about, but it's also brought plenty of trouble. We were supposed to fly to Australia, but now the trip is delayed."
Sophia Fache nodded understandingly. "Yes, Simon is so young, after all."
Janet remembered something else. "How is Natasha? Last time we spoke, she said she was going to Italy?"
Sophia replied, "She's currently filming Jerzy Skolimowski's new movie, Torrents of Spring."
Janet tilted her head. "Oh, I remember. I saw something in the news recently. The girl Simon picked for Catwoman—Valeria Golino—she was originally supposed to be in that movie."
Sophia Fache smiled. "That's right. Skolimowski had been preparing that film for two years, and then he suddenly lost his lead actress, so he had to delay everything to recast."
"I don't know much about him, but obviously, he can't compare to my man," Janet said as a matter of fact. She looked down at the file in her hand and suddenly remarked, "This house looks nice. Kensington Palace Gardens... right next to Kensington Palace?"
Sophia leaned in. "Yes. If you buy it, you'll be neighbors with Prince Charles and his wife."
Janet curled her lip disdainfully. "That messy couple."
Sophia managed a strained smile. Most people would be desperate to be near royalty; Janet's dismissive reaction caught her completely off guard.
Janet flipped through a few more pages, murmuring to herself, "The house really is lovely. But it would be better if we could kick those two out of Kensington Palace. I really don't want to be neighbors with them."
Sophia's smile was now practically frozen.
Evicting the British Royal Family from Kensington Palace... Only the woman sitting next to her would ever come up with such a thought.
Janet, seemingly unaware of how unrealistic her idea was, looked at Sophia. "Hey, how do you think we could get them out of there?"
"Well," Sophia Fache could only shake her head. "Janet, that's not really possible."
Noticing the expression on Sophia's face, Janet shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing is impossible. Maybe one day I'll just buy Kensington Palace itself. But Simon doesn't like those castle-like houses. We'd probably have to tear it down and rebuild."
Sophia Fache was a woman of the world, but hearing Janet's words, she couldn't help but actually ponder the possibility. For Janet to achieve her vision, it wasn't strictly impossible. However, it would require either the Royal Family going bankrupt or the monarchy being abolished altogether.