At the start of the new year, just as the two acquisition deals were finalized, the Westeros system began formally pushing into the internet industry.
After careful preparations in advance, America Online launched its free internet trial program on January 1, 1991.
Subscribers of the three telecom operators on the U.S. East and West Coasts, Bell Pacific, Bell Atlantic, and NYNEX, could schedule an appointment to have access to the World Wide Web platform installed for free. They would also receive a one month trial period with three hours of free access each day.
As of December 31, 1990, America Online's total number of users had reached 820,000. Across North America, the number of internet users connected to the World Wide Web platform had reached 1.16 million.
Based on the growth rate of web users over the previous months, the America Online team predicted that once the free trial program launched, the service would attract at least one million trial users per month over the next three months.
With a trial budget of 100 dollars per user, covering both access equipment and web browsing costs, America Online would be spending an average of 100 million dollars per month on the program. This did not even include additional investments in manpower and infrastructure required to support the surge in users.
Altogether, the three month free trial program would burn through at least 400 million dollars.
By comparison, America Online's entire annual revenue for 1990 had barely surpassed 100 million dollars.
As a result, the most critical factor behind this bold and risky business plan was funding.
Simon had already approved the IPO plans for America Online and Cisco the previous year. However, the outbreak of war in the Persian Gulf during the second half of last year caused the U.S. stock market to remain sluggish, forcing both companies to delay their IPOs. This free trial campaign could be considered America Online's final gamble before going public.
Other minor shareholders who collectively held 25 percent of America Online did not want their stakes further diluted by Westeros Corporation, and Simon did not push the issue. The funds for this campaign were instead secured through loans from Citibank, arranged through Westeros Corporation's connections.
After the three month trial period ended, America Online would officially begin its IPO process regardless of the results or the broader economic environment.
Both the company's management and its other shareholders felt enormous pressure because of this.
Simon, however, remained confident in both the plan and the trajectory of the U.S. economy.
One million trial users per month, three million over three months, was actually a very conservative estimate.
In 1990 alone, major PC manufacturers such as IBM, Apple, and Commodore had collectively shipped over 20 million personal computers. IBM compatible machines alone accounted for 16.8 million units. At the same time, the global installed base of PCs had surpassed 100 million units.
As the most developed economy in the world, the United States accounted for more than 50 percent of both shipments and total PC ownership.
Although personal computers at this time were primarily used for office work, and office PCs made up a large share of the total, the sheer size of the user base, combined with the fact that America Online operated mainly in the economically prosperous states along the East and West Coasts, meant that attracting three million trial users within three months was far from unrealistic.
If 20 to 30 percent of those three million trial users converted into paying customers, the free trial program would already be considered a success.
After the first quarter, as long as user growth met expectations, America Online could easily guarantee at least 500 million dollars in revenue for the year. With continued user growth over the following three quarters, the actual figure would certainly be even higher. Compared with last year's more than 500 percent growth, such momentum would be more than enough to secure an excellent IPO valuation.
Once the IPO was completed, America Online would be able to raise capital more flexibly through securities issuance or additional stock offerings on the public market.
At the same time, Ygritte was also beginning to expand aggressively in the content sector.
Peter Butler had only officially joined Ygritte for one week after the new year before flying to the Middle East to personally oversee comprehensive coverage of the Gulf War.
Ygritte also launched a new event on its blog column platform titled "Everyone Is a Novelist."
The concept of web novels, which would later become widely recognized, actually appeared earlier than many people imagined. Just like online gaming, Quantum Link, the predecessor of America Online, had already operated an "online collaborative novel" service back in the 1980s.
After all, creative ideas had never been in short supply.
However, Ygritte's "Everyone Is a Novelist" campaign still leaned more toward traditional literary creation. The event would run for three months.
Registered users of the Ygritte portal could apply through the blog operations team to participate. The format was limited to novels, but genres were unrestricted. Science fiction, horror, suspense, and more were all welcome. The only rule was that participants had to submit at least one update each week. Ygritte users would then vote online to determine the final winners.
The competition would award one first prize of 500,000 dollars, ten second prizes of 100,000 dollars each, and one hundred third prizes of 10,000 dollars each.
In addition, the winning works might be published in print and adapted into film or television productions through contracts with Daenerys Entertainment.
With a total prize pool of 2.5 million dollars, along with opportunities for publication and screen adaptation, the event drew tremendous attention from Ygritte users as soon as it was announced.
After all, most ordinary people carried at least some dream of creating something. They simply lacked the means or opportunity to pursue it.
Ygritte's online event not only provided a platform with a very low barrier to entry, but also offered enormous prize money that strongly motivated participation.
For Ygritte, the campaign served multiple purposes. It fulfilled Simon's long emphasized goal of user generated content while strengthening interaction within Ygritte's social network. At the same time, through title sponsorships from companies such as IBM, Ygritte further expanded its advertising business.
To support the event, the Igreat team developed a dedicated voting system similar to the "like" feature that would become common on the internet later. Only users registered with Ygritte portal email accounts could vote.
To prevent vote manipulation through multiple fake accounts, voters were also required to link their America Online accounts, and each user could cast only one vote per day.
Over in Hollywood, after successfully reaching a purchase agreement with MCA, the first box office week of the new year quickly passed.
From January 4 to January 10, Home Alone entered its third week in theaters. With the holiday season over and normal workdays returning, the film saw a 34 percent drop compared to its New Year weekend rebound, earning another 31.28 million dollars.
Although the weekly total fell from 47.99 million dollars to 31.28 million, the drop was actually quite impressive by the standards of the era. Many blockbuster films in those days did not even surpass 30 million dollars during their opening week, which further demonstrated the phenomenon level popularity of Home Alone.
After three weeks, the film's cumulative North American box office had reached 111.9 million dollars, easily entering the top ten of the 1990 North American box office rankings.
Yet despite its remarkable momentum, the looming shadow of war could not be ignored.
The January 15 deadline set by the United Nations for Iraq was approaching, yet Saddam Hussein showed no intention of withdrawing his troops from Kuwait. It was worth noting that the "hardline stance" of the U.S. government also played a crucial role in the situation.
Several conditional withdrawal proposals made by Iraq had all been rejected by Washington.
On January 12, the U.S. Senate officially approved the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq.
Dark clouds gathered over the city.
At the same time, during the month leading up to the war, the U.S. stock market fell another 6 percent under the looming war shadow. The Dow Jones Index briefly dropped below 300 points, performing even worse than it had before the 1987 market crash.
After completing the year end settlement for 1990, Cersei Capital quickly raised another 3 billion dollars for a new hedge fund and planned to maintain that scale going forward.
Simon had previously transferred more than 8 billion dollars in cash back to the country, but thanks to the cumulative gains during the second half of the year, the funds under his name in Cersei Fund Management still totaled 700 million dollars. The Johnston family also retained 500 million dollars in the hedge fund.
Before the outbreak of war, while most investors were pessimistic about the prospects of the Gulf conflict, the team at Cersei Fund Management began placing new bets in the crude oil futures market and the North American stock index futures market.
The oil futures market had not fully recovered from the shock of the Kuwait crisis the previous year, so only small positions could be established there.
This time, their primary target was S&P 500 index futures.
In Simon's memory, once the U.S. led coalition forces began their overwhelmingly decisive offensive in the Gulf War, the S&P 500 Index would rise more than 20 percent within a month of the war's outbreak.
Moreover, because most traders were pessimistic about the war's outlook, the actively traded S&P 500 futures market was heavily skewed toward short positions. This allowed the Cersei Fund Management team to build long positions worth more than 10 billion dollars within just a few weeks.
Simon did not expect Cersei Capital's hedge funds to funnel large amounts of money into the Westeros system over the next few years.
However, this time, because his prediction about the war differed from the majority, the next few months would bring enormous gains if events followed the same course as history.
Throughout 1991, Cersei Fund Management would easily outperform comparable hedge funds on Wall Street in terms of profitability.
He did not seek miracles, only to outperform peers. That was Simon's standard for Cersei Capital after it entered regular operations.
For most hedge funds on Wall Street, that goal was not easy.
For Cersei Capital, however, with Simon's foresight and a highly capable operations team, it was far from difficult.
Time did not pause for the oppressive atmosphere of war.
On January 15, the final deadline passed, yet Saddam Hussein still refused to comply with the United Nations withdrawal agreement. Coalition forces led by the United States began issuing war authorizations to their troops, while Iraq's million strong army prepared for confrontation.
At two o'clock in the morning on January 17 local time, countless warplanes lifted off from American aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf and military airfields across Saudi Arabia. Like swarming bees, they surged toward pre identified Iraqi military targets.
Many had expected the Iraqi Air Force to mount a fierce counterattack.
Instead, the coalition forces demonstrated overwhelming superiority that left the Iraqi military virtually incapable of resistance.
Iraq's air defense systems proved almost useless against America's high tech stealth bombers. Its outdated Scud missiles were no match for the U.S. military's latest precision guided weapons. The Iraqi Air Force was pinned down by coalition aircraft before it could mount any meaningful response.
In less than a day of concentrated airstrikes, the coalition forces had already achieved their first phase strategic objectives. Iraq's air bases and air defense facilities were obliterated by a relentless barrage of guided missiles, cluster bombs, and fuel air explosives.
The devastating efficiency of the campaign shocked the entire world.
In the international oil market, as news of the war continued to arrive, crude oil prices, which had surged before the conflict began, reversed sharply.
On January 16, the day before the war started, oil prices had still been as high as 26 dollars per barrel. Just hours after the conflict began, they had already dropped to around 20 dollars per barrel, roughly returning to levels seen before the Kuwait crisis.
Under the shadow of war, the North American film market had experienced a noticeable decline during the week before the conflict began.
After its 34 percent drop in week three, Home Alone saw another 29 percent decline in its fourth week, from January 11 to January 17, earning 22.21 million dollars. Its four week cumulative total reached 142.11 million dollars.
However, because the course of the war exceeded most people's expectations, although many remained captivated by the ongoing conflict in the Gulf, the North American film market did not cool further. Instead, it began to rebound the following week.
Before the war began, the organizers of the Golden Globe Awards had even considered canceling the ceremony scheduled for January 19.
Once the situation became clear, they quickly announced that the ceremony would proceed as planned at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel.
At this year's Golden Globes, Daenerys Entertainment held three nominations for Best Picture alone. Dances with Wolves and Crossroads of Life were nominated for Best Drama, while Ghost received a nomination for Best Musical or Comedy.
In fact, in the original timeline, Pretty Woman and Home Alone had also been nominated for Best Musical or Comedy.
However, if Daenerys Entertainment had taken half of the ten Best Picture nominations, it would have been far too conspicuous. After weighing the situation, the company ultimately submitted only three films for Best Picture consideration, with Dances with Wolves as the primary focus.
The other two nominations were less critical. Whether they were accepted or not would not have a major impact.
In the end, all three films secured nominations.
Fortunately, all three were widely regarded as deserving, so there was little controversy. Some journalists did question why Home Alone and Pretty Woman failed to receive Best Musical or Comedy nominations.
After several months of relentless work and the completion of the two acquisitions, Simon still found no time to rest.
After the explosive growth of the Westeros system throughout 1990, too many issues had quietly accumulated. To prevent them from becoming entrenched problems, Simon dared not relax.
At the same time, while gradually delegating more authority to the management teams of each company, he was tightening financial oversight more than ever. The beginning of the year was, as usual, the time for financial audits across all companies.
Despite the heavy workload every day, on the evening of January 19 Simon still appeared on the red carpet outside the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel with Janet, dressed in formal attire.
After all, it was not only the Best Picture nominations for Dances with Wolves and the other films.
Daenerys Entertainment productions such as Pretty Woman, Home Alone, and Misery had also received numerous nominations in other categories.
Beyond film awards, the reality shows and television series produced by Daenerys Entertainment had also earned a large number of nominations across various television categories, many of them strong contenders to win.
For that reason, even before the ceremony began, Daenerys Entertainment had already prepared a grand celebration party at Daenerys Studios in Malibu.