Capítulo 367: Chapter 367: A League of His Own
Simon Westeros got his hands on the 1990 Forbes magazine's list of the 400 wealthiest Americans a day before its new issue was released on September 2.
The next day, September 3, a Monday, as the new issue of Forbes magazine officially hit the stands, a large number of North American media outlets that had been closely following this year's Forbes billionaires list published their reports almost simultaneously. Clearly, these media outlets had also obtained the data in advance.
$21 billion!
That was the net worth figure listed for Simon Westeros in Forbes magazine's 1990 list of the 400 wealthiest Americans.
He was the unsurprising first place winner.
Moreover, Simon also became the first individual on the Forbes 400 list to amass a personal net worth exceeding $10 billion, surpassing Sam Walton who had distributed his Walmart shares among his children.
Following Simon, the second place on the list remained last year's runner-up, John Krug, whose personal net worth plummeted directly to $5.6 billion, a massive gap from Simon's fortunes.
Further down the list:
Third place, Warren Buffett, $3.3 billion.
Fourth place, Ronald Perelman, $2.87 billion.
Fifth place, Henry Hillman, $2.65 billion.
Beyond the top five, the sixth to ninth places were tied by the Cox sisters, Barbara Cox Anthony and Anne Cox Chambers, and the Newhouse brothers, Samuel and Donald, each with a net worth of $2.6 billion.
From tenth to seventeenth place, the list featured a long string of ties including Sam Walton and his four children, who control the Walton Group; the Pritzker brothers, who control the renowned Hyatt Hotels Corporation; and the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates. Each of these eight tycoons possessed a fortune of $2.5 billion.
Due to the economic recession triggered by the U.S. debt crisis, there were significant changes in the rankings this year, with many fortunes drastically diminished. Last year's top-ranked tycoons, Sam Ray Easton, Ted Allison, and Ross Perot, even fell out of the top ten.
The economic downturn and the significant shrinkage of fortunes should have been a major focal point of this year's list. However, when the new list was published, nearly all media attention was drawn to one outstanding name.
Simon Westeros' personal net worth of $21 billion, up from last year's $6 billion, marked an increase of over three times.
However, after Forbes magazine detailed and analyzed Simon's personal assets, the $21 billion figure sparked less controversy than the previous year.
This year, the asset garnering the most attention under Simon's name was the substantial cash he had amassed through consecutive operations in Japan's financial and crude oil futures markets through Cersei Capital.
The cash assets, which had been disclosed at the beginning of the year at $4.5 billion, had grown to an estimated $8 billion by mid-year through operations in the crude oil futures market. This amount alone exceeded Simon's total net worth of $6 billion from the previous year.
Following this, Forbes magazine estimated the value of Daenerys Entertainment, another major asset, to be between $8 billion and $10 billion.
To avoid the valuation disputes of the previous year, Forbes invited multiple financial and accounting teams from Wall Street to participate in the valuation, ultimately estimating a value range of $8 billion to $10 billion.
Was Daenerys Entertainment really worth this much?
In response to these doubts, Forbes published a financial report from Daenerys Entertainment for the first half of 1990, showing a post-tax net profit of $573 million in just two quarters, surpassing any of the Big Seven in Hollywood.
Moreover, with revenue from blockbuster movies, subsequent VHS, television, and merchandise sales, as long as no significant losses occur in the next few years, Daenerys Entertainment could easily maintain an annual net profit of around $1 billion.
Comparing this to the Fortune magazine's mid-year list of America's top 400 companies, Boeing had the lowest market value among companies with a net profit of around $1 billion, recently valued at $15.6 billion, while Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson, also achieving $1 billion in net profits, were valued at $21.8 billion and $18.6 billion, respectively.
Therefore, Daenerys Entertainment's valuation of $8 billion to $10 billion is arguably conservative.
Additionally, Daenerys Entertainment owns several major film labels, Daenerys Television, 35% stakes in Blockbuster, Blizzard Studios, and EA, potential gold mines in Marvel Entertainment and the DC film universe, and more. These tangible assets sufficiently support Daenerys Entertainment's substantial valuation.
Clearly, just the combination of cash and Daenerys Entertainment assets owned by Simon was nearly equal to the net worth figure provided by Forbes.
Apart from these, Westeros Corporation also owned numerous listed and unlisted
company assets.
During the 1987 stock market crash, Simon purchased stocks in several technology companies, still holding shares in 19 of these, with a total market value exceeding $26 billion.
Among these, Westeros Corporation's significant holdings in Microsoft and Intel had market values of $6.3 billion and $7.6 billion, respectively, with Simon's 20% and 15% stakes bringing in over $2.5 billion in wealth.
Other companies like SUN, Oracle, AMD, Silicon Graphics, Adobe, and Autodesk, also brought Westeros Corporation's shareholding values to around $1 billion.
In total, Simon's wealth from these 19 listed technology companies amounted to $3.5 billion.
Additionally, unlisted companies such as Cisco, AOL, Icarus, and overseas companies like Nokia and non-tech firm Melisandre Corporation, even just Westeros Corporation's shareholding, were valued between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.
Moreover, Simon's personal assets this year also included Cersei Capital.
This large private equity fund, officially based in New York as of the beginning of the year, had already drawn significant industry attention from its operations in the Japanese financial and crude oil futures markets. Even conservatively, it was valued at no less than $1 billion.
Finally, Simon's real estate and land assets were also appraised at about $500 million.
All these assets combined, minus Westeros system's liabilities of less than $1.5 billion, placed Simon's personal assets in the range of $21 billion to $23.5 billion. Forbes simply chose the lower end of this valuation range.
Yet, even this conservative $21 billion figure created a series of unprecedented records.
Not only was he the first individual in the United States to amass a net worth over $10 billion, but Simon was also set to surpass Japan's real estate tycoon Tei Yoshiaki as the world's richest individual in the upcoming global billionaires list by Forbes.
While the general public could only marvel, envy, question, or fantasize about what $21 billion could actually buy, the U.S. capital markets responded very directly after the publication of Forbes' list.
Stock prices for companies related to the Westeros system, whether tech stocks like Microsoft and Intel, or other industries such as Blockbuster or EA, all saw notable increases over the following week.
That year's "Westeros Portfolio" was frequently mentioned again by the media.
Subsequently, to ride the wave of Simon's newly high net worth figure according to Forbes, Oracle rushed to publish its financial report for the past quarter on September 6.
From June to August 1990, Oracle's revenue was $207 million, with losses reaching $36 million.
In the quarterly report, Oracle candidly acknowledged that aggressive expansion strategies and flawed sales tactics over the past two years were the primary causes of these losses. Several executives responsible for sales would depart, and the company would lay off about 400 employees to reduce operating costs.
Moreover, in a letter to shareholders included in the report, Larry Ellison confidently stated that everything was under control, highlighting the recent increased stake by Westeros Corporation.
Had it not been for Westeros Corporation's increased holding, the substantial loss of $36 million for the quarter, and Oracle's belated admission of strategic missteps would have undoubtedly incited countless angry shareholders to demand Ellison's ouster.
However, reality was different. Oracle's stock price did not plummet as Wall Street analysts had anticipated after the quarterly report was released on Thursday, September 6; though it didn't surge either, the trading volume decreased by 80% compared to before the report was published.
Clearly, many shareholders were no longer hastily selling off their Oracle shares but were instead waiting and watching.
Some Oracle shareholders connected to the Westeros system even went to great lengths to discern Simon's stance on Oracle.
The following Saturday, Oracle announced that in addition to James Raybuld, president of Westeros Corporation, Carol Bartz, president of Icarus Corporation under Westeros, would join Oracle's board. Westeros Corporation subsequently issued a formal statement supporting the continuation of Larry Ellison as chairman and CEO of the company, and affirmed its long-term holding of Oracle shares.
Westeros Corporation's formal stance calmed those shareholders who had lost patience with the current management due to Oracle's 70% stock price drop over the past year. While some shareholders remained dissatisfied with Ellison, they understood that with the joint effort of Westeros Corporation and Ellison, replacing the current management was unlikely.
However, dissenting voices were not absent.
The Wall Street Journal criticized Simon's continued support for Oracle's current management, which had made serious operational errors, as foolish. If Westeros Corporation had sold its Oracle shares at their peak last year, Simon could have gained more than a 500% return compared to his recent investments.
Moreover, even if continuing to hold the company, replacing the current management was essential.
The Wall Street Journal also cited Apple as an example.
After driving away founder Steve Jobs,
who had caused huge losses with the impractical Macintosh project, Apple had seen continuous growth in revenue and profits over the past few years. Despite the recent overall downturn in the federal stock market due to war, Apple's market value had surpassed $6 billion.
Simon could understand that the purpose of this article was not so straightforward.
Rumors of issues within Oracle had been circulating for more than a day or two, and many bears on Wall Street had recently been short-selling the company's stock ahead of Oracle's new quarterly report.
Now, due to Simon's support, Oracle's stock price did not experience the anticipated sharp decline after the release of the new quarterly report, even showing some rebound. Naturally, those who had short-sold Oracle's shares were not content to let it go.
Beyond Oracle, from the day Forbes magazine was published on September 3, Simon was flooded with various invitations, and the media's focus returned to him, his every move once again under intense scrutiny.
To avoid the premature leakage of his planned dual-track strategy, Simon had to abruptly leave a swarm of journalists and fly from New York to Chicago. Though he could have had the sample reel of Home Alone sent to Los Angeles, he chose to watch it personally in Chicago and seek some peace.
After discussing some details and modifications with John Hughes post-screening, Simon shook off the reporters who had caught wind of his location and flew from the northern United States to New Mexico to visit the set of Terminator 2.
Although there had been numerous agreements in advance, Terminator 2 had only quieted down for a while after filming began. These days, it had begun to stir again.
After checking the filming progress, Simon had no expectations that James Cameron could complete Terminator 2 within budget. Fortunately, having just experienced the failure of The Abyss, Cameron had restrained himself somewhat. According to the producer's private estimates, the project should be able to be completed within $70 million.
Considering the box office potential of Terminator 2, $70 million, though $20 million over budget, was still within Simon's tolerance. After visiting the set of Terminator 2, Simon simply took another trip to the East Coast to visit the set of Outlaws in North Carolina.
After making such a large loop around the United States, it seemed that the cost of following Simon Westeros had become prohibitively high, and he finally found some peace around him.
On September 8, a Saturday, Simon quietly returned to New York.
Although they could not track Simon himself, the news about him did not stop.
Over the week, not only Oracle but also media coverage of Simon's personal fortune and his current and upcoming activities were abundant. On the day he returned to New York, besides the changes to Oracle's board, the West Coast's Hollywood Reporter suddenly broke the news that Daenerys Entertainment was planning to acquire MCA.
Since it was a Saturday, the impact of this news could not immediately reflect on MCA's stock price, but the situation was unavoidably confronting.
Moreover, that week, media debates about Simon's $21 billion fortune also came in waves.
Regardless, a 22-year-old amassing such a fortune in just a few years, vastly outstripping numerous established wealthy families, was indeed a bit too shocking, even in Western countries where private wealth is typically openly discussed.
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