Bab 300: Chapter 300: Westeros Has Exited the Stage!
The financial turmoil in mid-October left the American junk bond market in disarray.
Many short-sellers made a fortune, while even more lost everything. Thus, whether to introduce a scapegoat to attract media attention or for other reasons, there seemed to be no further need to keep Cersei Capital's involvement in this crisis a secret.
On October 21st, Saturday, New York's "Daily News" suddenly published an article titled "Westeros Arrives, and So Does a Stock Market Crash."
The article humorously recounted Simon's last visit to Melbourne to see his girlfriend, which coincided with a significant drop in the Japanese stock market. It then pointed out that just before the "mini-crash" on October 13th, Simon Westeros and Janet Johnston had been in New York for a week.
If that were all, it wouldn't be much.
However, as a gossip newspaper similar to the "New York Post," "Daily News" exposed many secrets of Cersei Capital, including the core condition of its assets. It led the discussion towards Cersei Capital and an Australian consortium's involvement in precipitating the collapse of the American junk bond market, making a huge profit by short-selling.
Cersei Capital's earnings of $1.6 billion in a week were correctly reported by "Daily News."
Yet, the intent behind the article was not so pure.
The insinuation that "Cersei Capital, in conjunction with an Australian consortium, destroyed the American junk bond market" was maliciously crafted, attempting to label Simon with the 'American traitor' moniker. Simon, lacking a strong sense of belonging to this country, understood the potential impact of such a narrative on his personal image and business empire.
Thus, Westeros Corporation's PR team immediately countered the "Daily News" article, pointing out that the short-selling against the American junk bond market involved over $30 billion, impossible to be dominated by a single capital force. Furthermore, the root cause of the collapse was companies like United Airlines recklessly over-issuing bonds. The attempt by "Daily News" to blame Cersei Capital was a smear.
Westeros Corporation not only issued a public rebuttal but also demanded "Daily News" retract its article and apologize on its front page. Otherwise, Westeros Corporation would sue.
As part of the rebuttal, Daenerys Entertainment immediately announced the withdrawal of its planned movie ads from "Daily News."
James Redford also personally called Mortimer Zuckerman, the behind-the-scenes owner of "Daily Mail," hinting at a warning that, if necessary, Daenerys Entertainment could prompt at least half of Hollywood's big movie companies to withdraw their ads from "Daily News," making all of Zuckerman's newspapers and magazines unwelcome in Hollywood.
The rising marketing costs in Hollywood meant that any major movie company was a significant advertiser for American mainstream media platforms, and Mortimer Zuckerman could not afford to lose most of the Hollywood market. Consequently, "Daily News" announced the retraction of its previous article and issued an apology statement on its front page the next day.
The dramatic quick compromise by "Daily News" in just one day, along with Westeros Corporation's swift and forceful strike, made many realize a powerful capital force was subtly shaping up in the country.
The term 'nouveau riche' is often used derogatorily for those who lack the power and background commensurate with their wealth. Even if one possesses ten or a hundred times the wealth of traditional families, they can still be looked down upon.
If Simon Westeros were just a nouveau riche with billions of dollars, the 'free' American media would not have considered the demands of Westeros Corporation. The compromise of "Daily News" clearly indicated that this rapidly risen nouveau riche had established potential power and influence matching his enormous personal wealth.
Thus, while Westeros Corporation's pressure on "Daily News" carried an evident intent to cover up, out of caution for Simon Westeros, other mainstream American media carefully refrained from discussing the sensitive topic further.
Even the most vigorous flames cannot spread into a firestorm without fuel.
With newspapers ignoring the story and TV stations silent, the narrative from "Daily News" quickly dissipated among other news waves.
In the end, this is the power of capital.
However, while no media dared to steer Simon towards being labeled a 'traitor,' the fact that Cersei Capital participated in shorting the North American junk bond market was established.
Merely discussing how much Simon Westeros earned or delving a bit into Cersei Capital's secrets didn't seem taboo. Some newspapers, after scratching around the topic and seeing no further discontent from Westeros Corporation, started to follow suit.
The inner workings of Cersei Capital were not something anyone could easily uncover; most newspapers had only the semi-public information leaked through channels like those used by "Daily News."
Yet, the world is never short of inquisitive minds.
The creation of Cersei Capital's Funds No. 6 to 10 was not a secret to some, but most overlooked deeper information.
For instance, where did the capital for Funds No. 6 to 10 come from?
With Cersei Capital's Funds No. 1 to 5 doubling in net value in less than a year, it was natural for some to assume Simon Westeros could easily raise a significant amount of additional funds, thus not paying much attention to the source of this money.
But there are always exceptions.
Manhattan.
For obvious reasons, Noah Scott, who had helped Simon Westeros operate S&P 500 futures during the 87 stock market crash, took charge of a Lehman Brothers team specializing in derivative hedging and arbitrage in foreign financial markets since the end of last year.
Now, in less than a year, the $1.5 billion capital managed by this team had appreciated to $2.6 billion.
With a 70% profit rate, Noah Scott became one of Lehman Brothers' most noticed young executives. However, he had been living in a vague unease for the past few months.
Focusing on the Japanese market, Noah Scott did not involve himself in Lehman Brothers' operations in the American junk bond market. The "mini-crash" on October 13th and subsequent information gathering led Noah Scott to gradually confirm his suspicions.
American Express headquarters at Rockefeller Center.
Even though it was Sunday, American Express CEO James Robinson, Noah Scott's father Nelson Scott, and several other core executives of American Express gathered in a conference room to hear Noah Scott's confidential report.
"I've closely studied Cersei Capital's operations in the Japanese market. Based on the information we've gathered from various sources, Cersei Capital's operations are clearly divided into three phases. The first phase, from the end of last year to March this year, precisely until Simon Westeros's accidental coma due to overwork, Cersei Capital's operations were conservative, focusing on long-term trend investments, likely led by Westeros himself. From March to July, Cersei Capital became aggressive, with many high-leverage, high-risk short-term investments. As a former classmate, I can determine that this period was probably managed by Janet Johnston."
Noah Scott paused, then continued, "After July, Cersei Capital's operation style became incomprehensible."
James Robinson, who had been browsing a report on Cersei Capital's insider information collected by Lehman Brothers using extensive resources and some dubious methods, looked up
and asked, "Noah, what are you trying to say?"
Noah Scott organized his thoughts and said, "Jim, since Simon Westeros's trip to Melbourne at the end of June, Cersei Capital's operation style changed again in early July when Funds No. 6 to 10 were established. This wasn't the style of Westeros or Johnston; it wasn't conservative nor aggressive, just purely bullish on the Japanese stock market."
Nelson Scott, Noah's father, interjected, "Noah, besides Westeros and Johnston, doesn't Cersei Capital have another person in charge? Anthony Johnston, the head of the Johnston family, could he have taken over?"
"Anthony Johnston is only responsible for Cersei Capital's finances and doesn't participate in operations. Besides, Janet Johnston is far more competent. Why would Cersei Capital's investors let Anthony Johnston, unfamiliar with these operations, take charge?"
Another executive asked, "Perhaps Janet Johnston shifted her focus to North America?"
"That's impossible. Even if Janet Johnston focused on North America, she would still keep an eye on Japan. Cersei Capital's operation style in the Japanese market couldn't have completely changed," Noah Scott explained, deciding not to keep them guessing. "So, I've always suspected something we haven't heard about happened within Cersei Capital. This has troubled me for months, until the recent collapse of the junk bond market made me realize."
Everyone turned their attention to Noah Scott.
Noah Scott stood up, walked to the whiteboard at the front of the room, and began writing quickly while explaining, "Simon Westeros's trip to Melbourne at the end of June, the establishment of Cersei Capital's Funds No. 6 to 10 in early July, and the change in operation style of Funds No. 1 to 5 around the same time. Then recently, according to our information, Cersei Capital's short-selling in the federal junk bond market involved at least $3 billion. $3 billion, such a vast amount of capital couldn't have been raised silently. So, let's think about it, where did the $3 billion for Funds No. 6 to 10 come from?"
After saying this, Noah Scott didn't actually leave it to the audience to guess but drew several arrows on the whiteboard, linking Cersei Capital's Funds No. 1 to 5 to Funds No. 6 to 10.
With the room filled with top industry veterans, Noah Scott didn't need to elaborate further. A chill ran down James Robinson's spine as he stood up and exclaimed, "Westeros has already exited the stage!"
With the Japanese stock market recently breaking the 39,000 point barrier and heading towards 40,000 points, if Simon Westeros cashed out in July, it was now the end of October, and everyone had been played for over three months. After three months, Lehman Brothers' significant capital was still entirely tied up in the Japanese market. So, who dares to predict what will happen next?!
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