Late October. Without realizing it, the end of the year was approaching once again.
This year's Halloween was not only about Daenerys Entertainment releasing the final installment of the Scream series, Scream 3.
After the merger with MCA, the two major Universal Studios in Los Angeles and Orlando would also be hosting an even grander Halloween-themed event.
Through coordination by the theme park operations team, this time all the films Simon had participated in since his debut, including Scream, Final Destination, The Butterfly Effect, and The Sixth Sense, would feature in the Halloween activities at both Universal Studios.
October 25, Friday.
Scream 3 officially opened in North America on 2,672 screens.
At the same time, the ten-day Universal Studios Halloween event running from October 25 to November 3 officially kicked off.
Simon had been personally overseeing the final preparations for the Halloween event at Universal Studios Burbank for the past few days. Only on Friday afternoon was he finally able to return to the Daenerys Film Studios in Malibu to handle some other matters.
"Based on the recent negotiation results, if we want to fully acquire EA, the final offer should be around 1.2 billion dollars. Since we already hold 35% of the company, the additional cash required would be about 800 million dollars."
"800 million dollars. The company also reduced its debt by 800 million dollars this year. This would basically push the debt ratio back to the level it was when we first acquired MCA."
Nancy smiled. "But it's worth it. Moreover, if we keep hesitating, the price will only get higher. Recently, all internet-related concept stocks have been rising, and EA just released the online real-time strategy game Dune Fortress, so you know how it is."
Inside the second-floor office loft at the studio.
Nancy Brill was discussing the progress of the full acquisition negotiations for EA with Simon.
Although Ystore had gotten off to an excellent start.
Simon also understood clearly that traditional game publishers could not be replaced by online distributors like Ystore for a long time to come.
EA had spent ten years accumulating its business, focusing exclusively on PC games since its founding. Over the years, it had built up a large library of classic PC game copyrights, particularly in sports games that no other publisher could match.
Moreover, EA possessed a complete PC game publishing team and years of accumulated experience in PC game production and distribution. These were the foundations of the company.
Thanks to its attachment to the thriving Westeros system and its own rapid development, EA's stock price was now unrecognizable compared to when Daenerys Entertainment first invested two years ago.
When they initially acquired the stake, Daenerys Entertainment had obtained 35% of EA for a mere 50 million dollars. At the time, EA's market value was only 170 million dollars.
In two years, influenced by successfully entering the console market, the rise of online gaming concepts, the success of the Dune series of real-time strategy games, and the company's continued rapid expansion, EA's market value had increased fivefold.
EA's recent market value stood at 910 million dollars. To fully acquire the company, 1.2 billion dollars was a necessary premium. Moreover, this 1.2 billion figure was largely due to EA maintaining a relatively high P/E ratio with some stock price inflation.
Otherwise, a premium of less than 50% would make it very difficult to take over the company.
Although the acquisition cost had skyrocketed, considering EA's future market potential was expected to reach 50 billion dollars, Simon felt no regret at all.
800 million dollars was not too heavy a burden for Daenerys Entertainment right now.
Fully acquiring EA would also allow Daenerys Entertainment to integrate it with its own Blizzard studio.
Over the past two years, while continuing to focus on the Ninja Turtles series, Blizzard Studio had also released several other very successful console games. Combined with Nintendo's preferential slots, the studio had become the leading console game developer in North America.
Merging PC-focused EA with console-focused Blizzard would create a degree of complementarity.
Nancy continued discussing other details of the EA acquisition with Simon. The petite female executive finally closed her memo and brought up another matter. "So, Simon, what about Blockbuster? What do you plan to do with it?"
Simon shook his head slightly. "With Blockbuster's current market value, we probably can't afford to buy it anymore."
Compared to EA, which was still in the billion-dollar range, Blockbuster's recent market value had already reached 5.3 billion dollars.
Moreover, Simon could clearly sense that under the careful management of the petite female executive, the current Blockbuster was vastly different from the one in his memory that pursued reckless expansion.
It was no exaggeration to say now that Blockbuster was the "Walmart" of the video rental chain industry.
The reason the Walton family occupied five spots in the top ten of this year's rich list was mainly because Walmart continued strong growth despite the sluggish U.S. economy.
How fierce the competition in retail was could be seen just from the countless supermarkets of all sizes everywhere.
Walmart's ability to stand out in such a red ocean market was definitely not something ordinary people could achieve.
Similarly.
The threshold for video rental chains was even lower than for supermarkets.
The current Blockbuster had also become the standout player in its industry.
Blockbuster's data analysis system and warehousing logistics system were unmatched by other similar companies. Its employees also followed a distinct set of operating guidelines different from other chain stores.
Even the selection of videotapes in each store, their display arrangements, the number of staff, and so on, were all based on the company's increasingly sophisticated data analysis system through repeated testing and optimization.
All of this ultimately created Blockbuster's lowest costs and highest efficiency.
Blockbuster's customer satisfaction and other metrics also far surpassed those of other companies in the same industry.
Currently, Blockbuster had more than 3,000 chain stores across North America and overseas markets such as Britain and Australia. Yet the company showed no signs of the typical big-company problems like inefficiency or staff bloat.
For 1991, which was about to end, Blockbuster's revenue scale was expected to reach around 2.3 billion dollars, and its market share had grown from the initial 5% to the current 31%.
It was estimated that within the next two years, Blockbuster would achieve the 50% North American market share Simon had originally expected.
Even though most of its revenue had been reinvested into expansion, the company's projected net profit margin for this year was expected to reach around 11%, meaning approximately 250 million dollars in net profit.
Daenerys Entertainment only held 35% of Blockbuster. As usual, the company's revenue was not included in Daenerys Entertainment's figures. Otherwise, Daenerys Entertainment would also have become a giant with revenue reaching the one-billion-dollar level.
Because of its market value exceeding 5 billion dollars and the exceptionally high vitality the company demonstrated, most investors were unwilling to sell their Blockbuster shares easily. Daenerys Entertainment also could no longer muster enough capital to acquire the company.
In his memory, Sumner Redstone's Viacom had acquired Blockbuster for 8 billion dollars in 1993.
Now, although Blockbuster's market value had only just surpassed 5 billion dollars, Simon believed that even if Redstone made a move now, 8 billion dollars would not be enough to swallow the company, and Daenerys Entertainment would certainly not sell.
Therefore, maintaining control of Blockbuster and the existing 35% stake was the best choice for Daenerys Entertainment.
After finishing the discussion with Nancy, Simon headed to the post-production center on the first floor. Wonder Woman had recently wrapped filming smoothly and returned to North America to begin post-production.
He stayed busy until five o'clock and got off work on time.
Upon returning to the Dume Point estate, Janet had just gotten home as well.
As her pregnancy advanced, Janet's moods had become increasingly volatile and she showed clear signs of anxiety. However, the woman had not neglected any of the things she needed to do.
When Sandra reminded them about the baby shower last time, Simon had mentioned it to Janet.
The party was scheduled for noon tomorrow.
With no work arrangements for the weekend, Simon personally prepared dinner. Janet, with her large belly, circled around the kitchen, occasionally causing minor trouble while chattering about all sorts of trivial matters.
Simon's cooking skills were only average. Usually several carefully trained girls handled Janet's daily meals.
On these occasional occasions when he cooked himself, what both of them truly enjoyed was simply the feeling of home.
"Speaking of which, there's a surprise tomorrow. Guess what it is?"
Simon continued chopping carrots and followed her tone. "Your mom and dad are coming over?"
Janet picked up a slice of carrot Simon had cut and nibbled on it. "Of course not, but close. Guess again."
Simon paused. "Your aunt is coming over?"
Then he got a light smack.
Simon didn't dodge and smiled. "You told me to guess."
"All right, auntie really is coming tomorrow, but so are Pat and Sarah."
Patrick Johnston and Sarah Keaton.
Simon recalled the girl with the Latin tattoo "Devil on Earth" on her shoulder and asked with a smile, "What are those two coming to Los Angeles for?"
"Of course to visit their big sister," Janet said matter-of-factly, then changed her tone and added gleefully, "Actually, the old man has started pressuring them to get married."
"So they think running over here will let them escape?"
"They'll probably still have to go to Britain afterward."
Their conversation unconsciously left out another person.
After chatting for a while, Janet sat down on a stool beside the kitchen counter, propped her chin on her arm, and continued watching Simon prepare dinner. After a moment of silence, she said, "Simon, I don't want to have any more babies after this one."
Simon knew Janet really disliked the feeling of walking around with a big belly every day. For a woman who loved her freedom, it was a clear restriction.
In this society, the higher one stood at the top of the pyramid, the lower the desire for children often was. To a large extent, this was probably one of the reasons.
Simon smiled and nodded. "Then we'll just have this one."
Janet furrowed her brows in distress again. "But how can the Westeros family possibly have only one child? What if Melbourne turns out like Pat someday?"
Since they had decided the baby would be called Melbourne in the future, Janet had also started using the little guy's nickname directly.
Simon thought about Patrick Johnston's personality and felt some concern. The time the guy dragged him to the Park family boxing ring, Simon still wanted to punch his brother-in-law.
However, right now he had to go along with Janet's mood. Simon maintained a calm expression. "Then you'll just have to teach him well in the future."
"I don't want to deal with it at all. I really want to just dump him on Mom and Dad."
Simon continued nodding. "Mm, maybe letting them teach him would be better."
Janet stared at Simon and suddenly let out a couple of humphs.
Simon glanced at the rice porridge beside him, added the freshly chopped carrots, and smiled. "What's wrong now?"
"Do you want to have children with other women?"
"Yeah."
"Come here. Let me hit you first."
Simon smilingly reached his hand over. Janet slapped his palm. "Jerk."
It was still about the female assistant, after all.
After all, the name had already been decided: Seattle.
Melbourne.
Seattle.
The female assistant had also occasionally whispered to Simon about her hopes, saying it would be best if she could have a girl.
The notion that Westerners don't favor boys over girls was nonsense.
Western women had only broken free from being appendages to men relatively recently.
Precisely because it was "lighter," the female assistant hoped for a girl. That way there would be fewer troubles.
As for Simon himself, he actually hoped to have several children. This was probably influenced by traditional thinking. Since he had already built such a massive fortune, he naturally wanted it passed down properly. This was an instinct rooted deep in human genes.
Even though he occasionally had thoughts like "after I'm gone, who cares if floods come," in the end, how many people could truly act that way?
However, if Janet firmly refused to have any more children in the future, Simon would not force her.
One heir was indeed enough.
Moreover, there would be at least two.
As for having children with other women, Simon had never considered it. Even when he occasionally slept with other women, he was always very careful with contraception.
Simon understood very clearly that for him now, the appearance of an illegitimate child would be an extremely troublesome matter.
Women who were as pure as the female assistant, simply wanting a child, were ultimately a minority.
More common were the gold-digging girls often seen in NBA circles, who would have a child and then live carefree lives while constantly demanding from the biological father. There had even been NBA stars who went bankrupt from the burden of illegitimate children.
Simon of course would not go bankrupt now.
However, if something like that happened, the result would likely still be a complete mess.
Janet continued propping up her chin, seeming to ponder for a moment. "Actually, I've consulted the doctor about some things recently."
"What things?"
"About surrogacy."
Simon immediately felt some resistance, the same as when he had resisted IVF back then.
IVF still ultimately involved the mother carrying the child herself.
Surrogacy often involved certain ethical issues.
Even if they made complete legal preparations in advance, Simon would still inevitably wonder: in the case of surrogacy, who would the little guy's mother actually be in the future?
There were indeed many wealthy and famous people in his memory who chose surrogacy due to advanced age and other reasons. But for Simon, this matter still carried considerable potential risks.
Ultimately, it was still because of Simon's current status.
He was not merely an ordinary tycoon, but the richest person on the rich list, a super tycoon.
Who could predict whether a woman who acted as a surrogate and gave birth to a child would not cause endless entanglement because of his identity?
Deep down, Simon had never truly believed in human nature.