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However, before Simon had time to go to Australia, another incident happened suddenly.

The next day, on Friday, August 8, Forbes magazine officially released the 26 Forbes Global Rich List and the North American 1988 Rich List.

In Simon's memory, the release time of the "Forbes" rich list is always somewhat erratic, sometimes in March at the beginning of the year, sometimes in the autumn months, and occasionally at the end of the year.

Of course, these are just minor details.

Before the announcement of this year's list, Forbes contacted Simon, hoping that he could cooperate with the statistics of relevant data.Because of the deep-rooted concept of not revealing money, Simon instinctively chose to refuse, and Forbes did not bother afterward.

Now, the sudden list results not only caught Simon by surprise, but also surprised the whole world.

In the new year's list, "Forbes" counted Simon's personal net worth as US$31 billion.

31 billion US dollars, if it is 30 years later, such a personal wealth figure will not be noticed by too many people.But in the 80s, this was a very conspicuous wealth.

You know, in this year's list, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, the boss of Japan's Seibu Group, ranked No. 1, with a personal worth of only 190 billion US dollars.There are only two people on the list with a personal wealth of US$100 billion, and the other is also Japanese, named Yoshiro Moridai.Japan's real estate bubble has not yet burst, and the real estate tycoon, who owns 68 office buildings in Tokyo, is worth $180 billion.

After the two tens of billionaires, the Canadian Lakeman family ranked No. 3, and their assets fell directly to 90 billion US dollars.

In the United States, Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, became the richest man in the Federation with a personal asset of US$67 billion, and ranked No.7 on the global list.

then.

Look at Simon's $31 billion.

On the list of the world's richest people, this wealth allowed him to rank No. 16.If this ranking is not too dazzling, Simon's personal assets in the United States are second only to Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton's US$67 billion and media tycoon John Kruger's US$32 billion.

Ranked third!

From 1986 to 1988, in just two years, a young man who had just turned 20 years old and had no financial background suddenly had a huge wealth of 31 billion US dollars, surpassing most of the traditional rich people in North America who had accumulated tens of hundreds of years The family has become the super rich No. 3 in the US private wealth ranking and No. 16 in the world.

How can this not be surprising!

After the list was announced, many people's first reaction was even, this is absolutely impossible.

however.

The statistical basis given by "Forbes" magazine is hard to refute.

Among the assets under Simon's name, the value of technology stocks that can be queried from the open market has reached 18 billion US dollars in the previous month's statistical period of "Forbes".

In addition, Daenerys Entertainment has recently launched a series of successful film and television projects such as "Who Will Be a Millionaire" and "Instinct", and completed the acquisition of New World Entertainment. The recent valuation of Daenerys Entertainment has also increased significantly.

It's just that the hugely profitable "Who Will Be a Millionaire", considering the decline in popularity and ratings, will be enough to earn Daenerys Entertainment a net profit of no less than US$5 million in the next three years.After the integration of New World Entertainment, Daenerys Entertainment Group has not only become the top second-tier film company in North America after the seven major film studios, but also has become an important TV network program provider in North America.

Based on various data, "Forbes" magazine finally confirmed that Daenerys Entertainment Group's valuation is 15 billion US dollars.

In order to make this valuation more convincing, Forbes also conducted a special survey.As a result, 100 out of 96 fund managers of all types consulted on Wall Street expressed their willingness to invest in Daenerys Entertainment at this valuation.

Also.

Various real estate and non-listed company investments under Simon's name, "Forbes" gave a valuation of 2.5 million US dollars.

This data is also supported.

Westeros originally reduced Motorola's huge sum of more than 3 million U.S. dollars, half of which was used to increase its holdings of technology stocks, and the other half, about 1.5 million U.S. dollars, was used for non-public investment in other fields.Moreover, the $1 million loan that Westeros applied for from Wells Fargo some time ago was also used for private investment and consumption.

Added together, that's exactly $2.5 million.

In the end, the sum of these assets minus the entire $4.5 million in debt owed by Westeros Corporation and Daenerys Entertainment, Simon Westeros' personal net worth is exactly $31 billion.

Chapter 192 What Really Happened (Revised)

Since entering the public eye with the script of "The Butterfly Effect", Simon has basically been under the spotlight of the media for two years.

However, Simon's previous influence was more limited to Hollywood.

Even if he suddenly made more than one billion US dollars from the stock index futures market at the end of last year, the sensational effect caused by the media's hype has gradually faded.Billion-level wealth is too far away from the lives of ordinary people, and it is difficult for most people to understand what this means.

however.

When the new year's list of "Forbes" magazine was released, the world's [-]th United States ranked third in wealth, which immediately concretized the personal wealth under Simon's name.

Although it is always easy to only notice the No.1 one in people's thinking, Simon is too conspicuous in the list.

Among the top ten local billionaires, the average age of the other nine billionaires is over 65 years old, while Simon is only 20 years old.

With such an obvious age advantage, almost everyone has no doubt that Simon Westeros will one day take the top spot.

In just two years, an unknown person who had nothing to do with the rich list has become the third richest person in the United States. Such a miraculous creation instantly made Simon the focus of attention of the entire United States and even the world.

While envious and amazed, many people couldn't help but have some strong doubts again: Why was Simon Westeros able to do this?In the end what happened?

In the following weekend, almost all the mainstream media around the world were discussing various topics about Simon, and all the experiences of Simon from childhood to adulthood before and after becoming famous were re-flipped.

"Forbes" magazine's estimate of Simon's personal net worth has naturally become the focus of heated discussions.

Although there is no lack of hatred of the rich in any country or region, the general concept of Westerners is still very respectful of wealth. Many rich people prefer to make their net worth appear higher on various lists, sometimes even at the expense of File a lawsuit for this.

As for Simon, although "Forbes" magazine gave a very detailed evaluation basis, most of the media generally expressed their dissent.Moreover, in similar discussions, many media believe that Simon's personal net worth should be higher, not only $31 billion.

The assets and liabilities of technology stocks under Simon’s name are not in dispute, and the non-public business investment and real estate are irrelevant to the overall situation. The focus of discussion is still on the valuation of Daenerys Entertainment Group.

If it were not for the difficulties in funding and operations, New World Entertainment would definitely be worth more than 2.5 million US dollars.

After the merger and integration of Daenerys Films and New World Entertainment is completed, the two companies have fully achieved a synergy effect of one plus one and one big. The background in the TV business field makes the overall strength of the new Daenerys Entertainment far exceed any one before the merger.

As long as this rapid development momentum continues, within a few years, Daenerys Entertainment will be able to become an existence alongside the Big Seven.Even now, the strength of Daenerys Entertainment has surpassed the established MGM Pictures.

Through the analysis of the two mainstream businesses of Daenerys Entertainment, film and television, it is not difficult to find that even if this company will bear a large amount of additional operating and debt costs after merging with New World Entertainment, Daenerys Entertainment’s 1988 No net profit after tax is expected to fall below $2 million.

After all, it's just "Who Will Be a Millionaire." The pilot plus pre-season extra episodes earned $3000 million, $200 million per episode in the first season, and a total of $69 million for 1 episodes in a single season. The total advertising revenue in the game was 3800 million US dollars, and all the income added up was 5600 million US dollars, which did not include the subsequent syndicated distribution and overseas licensing income.

Simon himself didn't expect that the reality show "Who Would Be a Millionaire" would become the mainstay of Daenerys Entertainment's income.

In addition to "Who Will Be a Millionaire", the other three reality shows have also brought in very considerable profits, and "Survivor" has the same commercial potential as "Who Will Be a Millionaire".Coupled with the successful film projects of Daenerys Films "When Harry Met Sally", "Pulp Fiction", and "Basic Instinct", the media's annual net profit of 2 million US dollars for Daenerys Entertainment The predictions are even somewhat conservative.

Under normal circumstances, the company's market capitalization is equivalent to the net profit scale multiplied by the price-earnings ratio.In a mature stock market, the company's price-earnings ratio is usually between 10 times and 30 times. The greater the development potential of a company, the higher the price-earnings ratio. During the Internet bubble around 2000, the price-earnings ratio of many companies could even reach more than 1000 times.

However, even at a low price-to-earnings ratio of 10 times, Daenerys Entertainment should be valued at $20 billion.In fact, the price-earnings ratio of the stocks of the same type of listed companies in Hollywood in the North American stock market is generally around 15 times.Looking at Daenerys Entertainment again, according to the company’s rapid growth momentum, if it is a listed company, it is fully capable of obtaining a price-earnings ratio of 30 times or even higher because of the optimistic capital market.

A price-earnings ratio of 30 times and a net profit of US$2 million.

The results couldn't be more obvious, and Daenerys Entertainment's market value will thus reach $60 billion.

So, counting other assets such as stocks in Simon’s name and subtracting debts, his personal net worth will reach 76 billion US dollars, which is enough for Simon to surpass Sam Walton and become the richest man in the United States, even in the world. , Simon's ranking can also rise to No.6.

As soon as the relevant data came out, some people immediately refuted that in Hollywood, if the overall size of the parent company is not counted, there is no film company with a market value that can reach 60 billion US dollars.Except for the copyright of a series of film and television works, Daenerys Entertainment's other net assets are pitifully small, and it is impossible to reach this market value.

However, someone soon gave another example. During the IPO process in 1986, Microsoft, which is heavily held by Westeros, had a net asset value of less than US$500 million, but its market value exceeded US$3 million on the day it went public.

In comparison, the net worth of Daenerys Entertainment far exceeds that of Microsoft.

Just the copyright value of "Who Will Be a Millionaire" can reach hundreds of millions of dollars, which is enough to cover all the debts of Daenerys Entertainment.Daenerys Entertainment has taken over hundreds of copyrights of various types of film and television works from New World Entertainment, as well as a series of projects accumulated by Daenerys Films, all of which also have very considerable asset values.

As such, Daenerys Entertainment fully deserves a higher valuation well in excess of $15 billion.

The media was buzzing, but Simon didn't care much about it. He even regretted not 'cooperating' with the statistics of "Forbes" magazine and trying to keep his personal assets as low as possible.

Throughout the weekend, Simon spent all kinds of disturbances.

In just two days, all kinds of media interview invitations, congratulations from familiar and unfamiliar people around, all kinds of charity offers, and even various changes in Daenerys Entertainment because of this list made Simon worry a lot. , although he really wanted to fly to Australia in advance to escape for a while, but escape was obviously not the way to deal with the matter, and he even had to postpone his trip to Australia again.

Early on Saturday morning, Simon received a call from Robert Iger from New York. I don’t know whether it was influenced by media public opinion or other reasons. Wife" broadcasting rights.

CBS is not only willing to accept the various conditions of Daenerys Films, but also agrees to order a full season of 60 episodes on the basis of the same offer of $23 per episode as HBO.

Daenerys Entertainment had already decided to sign a contract with HBO next week, but CBS temporarily changed its mind, which immediately caused another twists and turns in this matter.

However, Simon did not hesitate too much. The four major TV networks are still very powerful in this era. Between CBS and HBO, he decisively chose the former. As for how to deal with the agreement that has been reached with HBO, that is Robert Iger's something happened.

In addition, Terry Semel, who had been quiet after a brief contact with Simon some time ago, also hoped to talk to him again about the cooperation between the two companies.There are a lot of things to do on the weekend, and Simon can only make an appointment with Semel for lunch on Monday.

In such a busy schedule, the weekend will pass quickly.

Monday, October 8.

In the late summer and early autumn, Los Angeles finally had a rare rainy weather. Simon was supposed to board the plane to Australia with Janet today, but because of the sudden incident last Friday that disrupted the arrangements of many things, he had to Do not continue to rush to the company.

Inside the villa in Malibu.

Looking at Janet who came over to help her tie her tie carefully, and feeling the damp cool wind blowing in from the outside, Simon lowered his head and kissed the woman's face, and said with a smile: "It's not because you're in a bad mood , isn’t that the weather outside?”

Janet let Simon kiss her sideways, and opened her small mouth towards him without biting, saying, "If I have this ability, at least there should be hailstorms outside."

Simon smiled and said, "I will definitely be able to leave the day after tomorrow, I promise."

Janet curled her lips, and said very expertly: "A man's guarantee is the most unreliable."

Simon was helpless: "Well, pretend I didn't say it."

Janet put on her tie, took a step back to look around, nodded to herself, and said, "Actually, Sophia flew over from France today, and she should arrive at nine o'clock."

After returning from Cannes in May, Simon handed over the affairs of Europe to Janet. Hearing this, he asked, "How is she doing?"

"Of course I'm working for you. She will bring a batch of real estate information in major European cities this time, and there are other things that you don't need to worry about anyway," Janet said casually, and finally raised her eyes. Get off Simon and say, "Do you want to invite her over for dinner tonight?"

"Not tonight, let's talk later when you have time." Simon didn't notice Janet's small eyes, picked up the suit on the rack next to him and put it on, and explained: "I have an appointment for dinner with Peter tonight, Peter Butler, you do you remember?"

Janet nodded and said, "That reporter from the Los Angeles Times, he wrote an exclusive interview for you last year."

Although he doesn't really like to contact the media, in the current situation, Pat Kingsley's suggestion to Simon is to prevent the outside world from completely losing Simon's personal information and starting to speculate or even make up random things. He'd better be able to accept some interview.

Simon also agreed, so he contacted Peter Butler for a less formal dinner interview.

After sending Simon away, Janet came to a living room, took out a folder from under the coffee table and opened it.Inside the folder was an interview manuscript from a nurse at the Watsonville Mental Hospital in San Francisco. The content of the manuscript was naturally related to Simon. It was originally intended to be published in the San Francisco Chronicle, but it was suppressed.

After re-reading the interview, Janet leaned on the sofa and dialed Simon's personal lawyer, George Norman, and chatted for an hour. Seeing that the time was approaching nine o'clock, she hung up the line.

Ken Dixon had picked up Simon's European housekeeper, Sophia Fisher, from LAX.

In the courtyard, as soon as Sophia Feixi got out of the car, Janet immediately went up to meet her.

The housekeeper wore a black professional suit for women today, with light makeup. The well-tailored suit and tube skirt not only set off the mature charm of a woman, but also made her look full of intellectuality.

The two women hugged and greeted familiarly, and walked into the villa together. Janet asked, "How are the two little guys doing?"

Sofia Feixi nodded gratefully, and said, "Very well, I sent them to mom and dad for the time being."

"If that guy dares to pester you again, tell me right away," Janet said with a vicious expression, "I happen to want a few wineries."

When she came to the sofa in the living room and sat down, Sophia Feixi put the suitcase she was carrying on her knees and opened it, looked at Janet who was walking towards the small bar in the corner of the living room, and said, "If you are interested, I can find one for you. I still know a little bit about it.”

Janet came back with two cups of coffee and said, "Okay, but I must have the best one. Well, what information about the houses did you bring this time, let me see?"

"I went to Paris, London, Venice, Barcelona, ​​Amsterdam and many other cities during this time, and picked out a total of [-] properties," Sofia Feisi said, taking out several stacks of documents from her suitcase and neatly arranging them. On the coffee table, he said again: "By the way, congratulations to Simon. His ranking on the Forbes rich list is really surprising."

Janet picked up a piece of real estate information and leaned comfortably on the sofa, and said with a smile: "It is indeed a happy thing, but there are also a lot of troubles. We were going to fly to Australia, but now we have to postpone it." journey."

Sofia Fish nodded understandingly, and said, "Yes, Simon is too young after all."

Janet remembered another thing, and said, "How is Natasha? Last time she called, she said she was going to Italy?"

Sofia Fishy said: "She is currently filming Jerzy Skolimowski's new film "The Rapid Spring."

Janet tilted her head and said: "I remembered, there was talk about this in the media some time ago, the catwoman that Simon chose, um, Valerie Golino, she was going to play this There's a movie coming."

Sophia Feixi smiled and said, "That's right, Skolimowski has been preparing for two years for the film, but the heroine was suddenly snatched away, so he had to delay the time to recast the film."

"I don't know much about this man, but of course he can't compare with my man," Janet said as a matter of course, looking at the information in her hand, and suddenly said: "This house is not bad, um, Kensington Garden Street , next to Kensington Palace?"

Sophia Feixi leaned over and said, "Yes, if you buy it, you can just be neighbors with Prince Charles and his wife."

Janet curled her lips and said disdainfully, "That pair of messy guys."

Sofia Fishy smiled reluctantly. Many people always yearn to get closer to the royal family. Janet's dismissive reaction was completely beyond her expectations.

Janet turned a few more pages, tilted her head and muttered: "This house is really nice, but it would be great if those two guys could be kicked out of Kensington Palace. I really don't want to be neighbors with them."

Sofia Fishy's smile faltered.

The idea of ​​driving the British royal family out of Kensington Palace is probably only the woman around him can think of.

Janet looked at Sophia without realizing how unrealistic her idea was, and said, "Hey, how do you think we can drive the two of them out of Kensington Palace?"

"This." Sophia Feixi could only shake her head, and said, "Jenny, this is unlikely."

Janet noticed the expression on Sophia's face, shrugged her small shoulders, and said: "Nothing is impossible, maybe one day I can even buy Kensington Palace. However, Simon doesn't like those castle-like houses, maybe To tear down and rebuild.”

Sophia Feixi was not an uninformed woman, and she couldn't help thinking about it when she heard Janet's words.It is indeed not impossible for Janet to achieve her vision.However, the premise is that either the royal family is on the verge of bankruptcy, or the royal family is probably outlawed.

Chapter 193 Deal (Revised)