At Cape Dume, in the master bedroom of the Shell Villa, Jennifer was the first to wake up. Feeling the presence of the man beside her, she instinctively snuggled closer to him.
Suddenly, she remembered where she was.
Opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was Janet's serene and beautiful face on Simon's other side.
The memories of last night came rushing back.
After leaving the party early, Jennifer had been brought to Cape Dume by Janet. It seemed innocuous at first. However, as the clock passed 11 PM and Simon still hadn't returned, Janet had joked that he must be out "having fun" and declared that she, too, wanted to have some "fun." She then pulled Jennifer along to the master bedroom.
Jennifer never expected that after taking a bath together, doing their nighttime skincare routines, and climbing into bed, Simon would actually return.
All she remembered was a fleeting thought: This will be a reward for him not fooling around outside.
Now, waking up, she couldn't help but feel a mix of embarrassment and shyness.
She gently withdrew the arm draped over Simon's chest, trying to slip away quietly, but after only a few movements, Janet murmured and nuzzled Simon's shoulder before opening her eyes and looking directly at Jennifer.
As Janet's gaze met Jennifer's like a caught kitten, Janet's face took on a playful expression, and she pushed against Simon.
Simon stirred awake almost immediately.
Finding himself surrounded by warmth, Simon naturally wrapped his arms around both women and greeted them, "Morning, sweethearts."
The use of "sweethearts" for both of them felt strangely out of place.
What a rascal.
Feeling both flustered and awkward, Jennifer decided to shut her eyes and pretend to sleep, hoping that Janet would leave first.
Too embarrassing.
Janet, evidently displeased with the "sweethearts" term, playfully bit Simon's shoulder a few times and said, "Get up, you rascal. You're on breakfast duty today."
With Janet pushing and biting him, Simon had no choice but to get out of bed first.
Once Simon was up, Janet seized the opportunity to cuddle and tease Jennifer for a bit before finally letting her go.
Jennifer escaped Janet's playful grasp and, feeling too embarrassed to go downstairs right away, retreated to one of the bathrooms. To pass the time, she decided to take a relaxing bath.
While soaking in the tub, she suddenly remembered something important.
Last night, during their intimate moments, they hadn't used any protection.
He usually was very conscientious about it.
Moreover, she was currently in her fertile period.
Floating in the warm water, Jennifer mulled over her options for a long time before deciding to just go with the flow.
After dawdling as long as she could, she finally had to go downstairs.
The Shell Villa was quiet; the housekeepers were clearly given the morning off. With Simon in charge of breakfast, it was a simple affair.
Simon wasn't known for his cooking skills.
Jennifer knew this from experience and had joked that it was one area where he wasn't omnipotent. He'd retorted that the culinary simplicity of Earth didn't merit his full attention.
The three of them had breakfast together. Neither Simon nor Janet acted any differently, helping Jennifer feel more at ease. Although she envied how Janet could sit so closely beside Simon, she blamed herself for being too shy to take the open seat next to him, opting instead for the one across the table.
However, being able to gaze into his eyes during the meal was also quite nice.
Conversation naturally revolved around the Golden Globes from the previous night.
With 31 nominations and 12 awards, Daenerys Entertainment had truly stolen the spotlight.
This level of prominence was somewhat at odds with Simon's previously deliberate restraint over the past few years.
Yet, that self-restraint had seemingly never quite taken full effect.
Simon was far from being blind to the dynamics at play.
In the earlier years, when Daenerys Entertainment hadn't fully established itself in Hollywood, Simon had to practice restraint and maintain cooperative relationships with other studios to avoid being targeted.
However, things changed drastically after the successful merger with MCA.
Before the MCA acquisition, despite Daenerys Entertainment's rapid growth, it hadn't quite been regarded as one of Hollywood's major players—the traditional "Big Seven" were. Post-merger, Daenerys Entertainment underwent a profound transformation and officially became a key player in Hollywood.
That was one factor.
Another was the rapid rise of the entire Westeros system.
Economically, Simon's net worth of $65 billion last year marked the Westeros system as a formidable financial empire. Politically, the years of private investments were paying off, and successfully backing Clinton ensured the Westeros system wouldn't face severe opposition for at least the next four years.
Additionally, through the newly dominant Egret portal, Simon now held substantial sway over media and public opinion, making it much harder for anyone to aggressively target him without facing significant backlash.
With such solid foundations, both Daenerys Entertainment and the broader Westeros system could afford to maintain a strong expansion trajectory.
Historically, many old-money families, from the Rockefellers to the Morgans, had never had a smooth journey to accumulating wealth. Their paths were fraught with covert struggles and overt conflicts.
Simon's relatively swift and smooth ascent in just six or seven years was largely due to one factor: speed.
The Westeros system's rise was so rapid that competitors barely had time to react before a powerful new financial giant had emerged.
Furthermore, unlike many old-money tycoons whose wealth accumulation often involved displacing others and reshuffling the economic deck, Simon's path was somewhat unique.
Initially, Simon's capital accumulation in the financial markets, especially during the 1987 crash, was seen as taking a daring, unconventional route.
Although many people lost everything during the crash, Simon's maneuvers in the stock index futures market weren't directly responsible for their losses. Instead, he became a financial legend.
In Hollywood, Simon's growth had consistently been based on creating win-win situations.
The most significant development was in the new technology sector, which didn't involve reallocating existing wealth but was a rapidly growing field in its own right.
Especially with the internet.
By investing in companies like Cisco, AOL, and Egret, the Westeros system effectively opened the door to the internet industry.
While the future might reveal just how enormous the profits from this industry could be, in the early stages of the internet's growth, as a pioneer in this new "territory," the Westeros system didn't face any strong rivals with conflicting interests.
The combination of rapid expansion and minimal involvement in redistributing existing wealth explained why the Westeros system could grow to its current scale so quickly.
Looking forward, Simon anticipated that the political climate in the United States might eventually push to limit the Westeros system's expansion to avoid creating a dominant corporate monopoly. There would inevitably be calls for restrictions to curb the system's growth.
After all, the Westeros system had already become exceedingly prominent.
With this foresight, Simon saw no reason to hold back and embraced a strategy of aggressive expansion while the external resistance was still manageable.
Following the Golden Globes, media outlets were abuzz with discussions about the awards results.
There was little controversy over "Scent of a Woman" being the big winner of the season. The competition wasn't particularly strong, and some commentators even suggested that Daenerys Entertainment had deliberately downplayed other notable films to avoid overshadowing the event.
This was actually true.
The 1993 awards season was relatively lackluster.
However, for Daenerys Entertainment, films like "Scent of a Woman," "The Crying Game," "Howards End," and mainstream hits like "Wonder Woman" could have all been serious contenders for awards if they had been separate entries from different studios.
After the Golden Globes, as usual, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for the upcoming Oscars.
Out of the five Best Picture nominations, Daenerys Entertainment secured just one spot.
Naturally, it was "Scent of a Woman."
However, across all categories, Daenerys Entertainment still garnered a staggering 23 nominations, leading all other studios in Hollywood.
Despite some critical and envious commentary, there was little genuine controversy over the nominations.
Traditionally, Hollywood's market share was distributed among several studios. Except for cases like the decline of MGM, the others often operated on a relatively even playing field.
Yet, gradually, the industry was noticing a shift from a landscape of multiple significant players to one dominated by a single entity.
Many sectors in the US—telecommunications, oil, aviation—are dominated by a few major players. However, Hollywood had never experienced this, even in the era before the Paramount Decree when studios controlled the entire film production and distribution chain. During that time, competitors like MGM, Warner Bros., and Paramount maintained a balance of power.
This was mainly due to the unique business model of Hollywood's film industry.
With fixed release schedules and the inability to manage too many projects simultaneously, studios often had to focus their resources. Moreover, unlike other industries, the film industry involved significant gambling risks. It was nearly impossible for any studio to guarantee consistent success, as everyone was bound to falter occasionally. This inherent risk prevented any one studio from dominating the industry.
However, Daenerys Entertainment was altering this business model to a large extent.
First, Simon Westeros's presence as a filmmaking prodigy meant Daenerys Entertainment had produced numerous classics over the years, reducing the risk of failure.
Second, the rise of blockbuster films, especially the establishment of the DC cinematic universe, ensured a sustainable success pattern. The continuous box office hits like "Batman Begins," "The Dark Knight," "The Flash," and "Wonder Woman" demonstrated this.
Third, with its three-label strategy,
Daenerys Entertainment meticulously managed different segments of the market while maintaining excellent internal coordination, contributing significantly to its rise.
In essence, Daenerys Entertainment's operational model, although comprehensible to other studios, was difficult to replicate successfully.
Much like Walmart in retail.
While the barrier to entry in the supermarket industry is lower than in film, Walmart's business strategies aren't complete secrets. Yet, there's only one Walmart in the world.
Superficial attempts to mimic Daenerys Entertainment, such as creating specialized indie film labels, often missed the deeper intricacies, resulting in failure.
As the Golden Globe Awards passed, February arrived swiftly.
In the first week of February, both AOL and Cisco, part of the Westeros system, released their 1992 Q4 and full-year financial reports within a day of each other.
As emerging tech companies, both firms followed the calendar year for their fiscal years, from January to December.
Prior to the official reports, the market had broadly estimated the financial figures for AOL and Cisco due to the booming growth in the internet sector over the past year. Consequently, their stock prices had been rising steadily.
With both companies reporting annual growth rates exceeding 100%, their stock prices surged once again upon the release of the financial reports.
AOL's market capitalization had been approaching $20 billion in the preceding weeks. Following the 1992 financial report, the company's market cap easily surpassed the $20 billion threshold.
Cisco, during its IPO, had initially been valued higher than AOL. However, as a backbone infrastructure company, Cisco didn't generate as much hype as AOL. For most of the previous year, its market cap lagged behind AOL. But with the latest financial results showcasing its rapid global growth, Cisco's market cap also quickly crossed the $20 billion mark, even surpassing AOL.
The upward trend in both companies' stock prices even lifted the entire NASDAQ tech sector.
By the close of trading on February 5th, the first week of February ended with AOL's market cap settling at $22.1 billion, while Cisco's reached a more impressive $26.3 billion, putting it $4.2 billion ahead of AOL.
The Westeros company's stakes in AOL and Cisco were 66.1% and 53.6%, respectively, having increased significantly since their initial public offerings.
Thus, with these ownership percentages, the Westeros company's stakes in AOL and Cisco translated into $14.6 billion and $14 billion, respectively. Combined, these holdings amounted to $28.6 billion.
$28.6 billion—this figure alone already surpassed the personal net worth of any other billionaire worldwide.
And yet, this was only a fraction of Simon Westeros's extensive personal assets.
With last year's net worth of $65 billion already astounding many, the revelation that just two companies could contribute $28.6 billion left many feeling overwhelmed. The sheer magnitude was almost numbing.
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