Over the weekend, with help from Sophia and his advisors in various political and military fields, Simon finalized the detailed plans for both the Troy Plan and the Solvay Plan and immediately began execution.
The first step of the Troy Plan was selecting people, which was also the most critical step.
Simon didn't fully delegate this responsibility to Joseph Schrapp, Celia Miller, or others; instead, he intended to personally oversee the selection. Of course, the actual execution would still require their assistance.
Politically, the plan was to support a group of young political activists. Some of these individuals would come from within the Westeros system—descendants of management or executives with political ambitions. The other group, at least on the surface, would have no visible connection to the Westeros system.
Simon was most focused on the latter group.
Once someone bore the mark of the Westeros system, it would be challenging for them to climb too high within the U.S. political system without drawing attention.
Those seemingly unconnected to the Westeros system would not face such limitations.
They could even run for president someday.
These people were easy to find, as every country has numerous individuals eager to make a name for themselves in politics, belonging to various groups and organizations.
The challenge was how to attract and support these individuals without drawing suspicion from outsiders.
The club system that Sophia was organizing would play a crucial role.
It was a slow process, but Simon had no shortage of money, teams, or time, so he could afford to take his time.
Unlike those from within the Westeros system who would be selected from the existing management circles, Simon targeted the American lower-middle class for external candidates. These people lacked the funds and connections needed to climb the social ladder, making them more dependent on the Westeros system's support, and their loyalty was more secure.
Simon didn't expect absolute loyalty, but once someone chose a side, their loyalty often became less voluntary.
Betrayal always comes with consequences.
In the military, Simon had to proceed more cautiously. For now, his focus was on courting retired high-ranking officers with strong connections, using board positions within Westeros subsidiaries to gradually spread his influence.
He would feed them, test the waters, and slowly infiltrate the ranks of active U.S. military personnel through these networks.
After spending the weekend in New York, Simon and Sophia flew back to Los Angeles together, with Sophia coming along to visit their two children, as she was their biological mother.
They flew in a brand-new Boeing 767.
Last year, Simon had placed an order for two Boeing 767s. One had just been delivered, and since Sophia's pregnancy last year, one of the planes had been designated for her personal use. She had designed the interior herself, although the plane was still registered under the Westeros family to cover its maintenance and operational costs.
Maintaining a private plane is an enormous expense.
The annual maintenance costs of a private jet amount to about 10% of its purchase price, not to mention the crew salaries and flight expenses. Over the course of 30 years, the total cost of operating a private plane can be enough to purchase four or five new planes.
This is why many wealthy individuals prefer to rent rather than own private jets.
Even with Sophia's substantial wealth from her shares in Melisandre, maintaining a private Boeing 767 at an annual cost of $10-20 million wasn't easy.
Fortunately, money was never an issue for Simon.
Back in Los Angeles, it was January 29th.
Monday.
The biggest news of the day was undoubtedly that Egret had officially surpassed a market capitalization of $300 billion, becoming the first publicly traded company in the world to do so.
This milestone came after Egret released its full-year 1995 financial report on Saturday, January 27th.
With fourth-quarter revenues soaring to $6.53 billion, Egret's total revenue for 1995 reached $20.82 billion, surpassing the $20 billion mark for the first time.
This represented a 78% year-over-year increase from 1994's $11.67 billion.
Moreover, Egret's fourth-quarter net profit of $380 million exceeded the combined net profit of $310 million from the previous three quarters, bringing the full-year net profit to $690 million.
This was a deliberate move by Egret.
The company wanted to send a clear signal to the market: if Egret wanted to turn a profit, it could do so easily.
And this was no exaggeration.
The capital market is full of sharp-eyed investors.
Even without the emphasis on profits, Egret's revenue growth from $10 billion to over $20 billion in just one year was enough to drive investors wild.
Revenue is the best indicator of a company's value.
This is why Fortune 500 rankings are based on revenue rather than market capitalization or profit.
In this era, and even in the decades to come, a company that can generate over $10 billion in revenue is a leader in its industry. And if a company can continue to grow rapidly after surpassing the $10 billion mark, it's even rarer.
As a result, after two days of media frenzy over Egret's 1995 financial report, the stock surged 9.3% on Monday, pushing its market capitalization from $291.1 billion to $318.3 billion.
The surge also boosted the NASDAQ Composite Index, which jumped from 2,816 points to 2,937, a single-day increase of 4.1%. It seemed that last week's announcement of Westeros' reduction of its stake in Cisco had already been forgotten.
At least, the index remained below 3,000 points.
Simon was relieved by this.
The capital market, however, was disappointed.
It hadn't broken through the 3,000-point barrier like Egret's stock had.
Nevertheless, many investors were already gearing up to push the NASDAQ past 3,000 points in the coming week.
Simon was preparing as well.
The market's reaction to Egret's 1995 financial report had been anticipated, so Simon planned to cool down the NASDAQ again before Tinkerbell's IPO. The back-and-forth could be exhausting, but it was necessary.
Egret becoming the first company to reach a $300 billion market cap sparked renewed curiosity about Simon's personal wealth.
Based on Westeros' 57.9% stake in Egret, Simon's share alone was now worth $184.3 billion, with a single-day increase of $17.1 billion on Monday.
At this point, it was no longer appropriate to measure the wealth of a certain soon-to-be 28-year-old by the year.
Even daily calculations seemed justified.
Just from his Egret shares, Simon's wealth grew by an amount in one day that most ordinary people couldn't fathom in ten lifetimes.
Since Egret's IPO on October 6th last year, Simon's stake in Egret alone had increased in value by over $50 billion in just over three months. Forbes' estimate of Simon's net worth from late October had been based on Egret's IPO value, meaning that in just one quarter, his wealth had grown by $50 billion.
And it wasn't just Egret. Despite efforts by the Westeros system to cool down the market, Cisco, AOL, Microsoft, and Intel shares had all continued to rise sharply over the past few months. The combined value of Simon's holdings in these companies had increased by no less than $100 billion in just over three months.
Then there were the numerous non-public companies.
Take Tinkerbell, for example.
In late October, Forbes had estimated Tinkerbell's value at $17 billion based on its merger with Broadcast. Now, just three months later, Tinkerbell's IPO prospectus pegged its value at $35 billion. Even without considering Egret's indirect stake in Tinkerbell, Westeros' 61.6% direct stake was now worth $21.5 billion, a doubling in just three months.
By the end of the trading day on January 29th, Fortune magazine, which had always struggled to keep up with Forbes, was the first to release a special report on its website, estimating Simon's latest net worth at $900 billion, just $100 billion shy of the trillion-dollar mark.
Although the $900 billion figure wasn't perfectly accurate, Fortune's analysis was detailed. After all, Egret, Cisco, AOL, and other key companies in the Westeros system alone had increased Simon's wealth by over $150 billion in just three months.
Non-public companies like Tinkerbell, Melisandre, and Verizon were also estimated to have added $50 billion in value, a reasonable figure.
In total, Fortune's $900 billion estimate seemed reasonable compared to the $700 billion listed in Forbes' October 400 Richest Americans list. An increase of $200 billion in just one quarter was astonishing but accurate.
Other media outlets quickly joined the discussion.
Forbes, on the other hand, remained silent, likely believing that an annual ranking was sufficient and that too frequent updates would undermine its credibility. This was typical of traditional media's reluctance to adapt, but it wouldn't last long. Simon vividly remembered that Forbes eventually began releasing real-time wealth tracking.
Regardless of the debates, most media and the public accepted Fortune's estimate of Simon's wealth at $900 billion.
And now, attention was turning to when that number would cross the $1 trillion mark.
No one doubted that as long as the NASDAQ didn't crash in the short term, $1 trillion was just a matter of time.
On the same day, Barron's, a Hollywood financial magazine, published an optimistic forecast.
Tinkerbell's IPO.
As the roadshow progressed, Tinkerbell's IPO
date was tentatively set for February 16th, a Friday.
Barron's argued that Tinkerbell's $35 billion valuation was a significant underestimate. As a new giant in the electronics sector with over $10 billion in annual revenue and $1 billion in annual profits, Tinkerbell's internet-focused business model made it clear that it shouldn't be valued as a traditional electronics company.
Moreover, rumors of Tinkerbell's upcoming new product launch, potentially another hit like the iPlayer, had already started circulating.
As a result, Barron's predicted that Tinkerbell's market value should be closer to $100 billion, not the meager $35 billion currently suggested. The frenzied interest during the roadshow only reinforced this view.
The market widely anticipated that Tinkerbell would raise its offering price before the official IPO.
Simon and Tinkerbell's management were indeed considering this.
Not because they felt the $35 billion valuation was too low to leave money on the table, but because Simon no longer wanted Tinkerbell's IPO to be overly successful, as that would likely further inflate the entire NASDAQ, pushing tech stocks up too quickly.
Also on January 29th, aside from the excitement over Egret's $300 billion milestone, the 68th Academy Award nominations were announced that evening.
The nominations were mostly in line with Simon's expectations.
In the highly anticipated Best Picture category, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was nominated, alongside Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Score, and six other categories, for a total of nine nominations, making it the most nominated film of the year. Fans were ecstatic.
The film's distribution team seized the opportunity to launch a second wave of marketing and began a serious awards campaign.
In addition to Batman v Superman, the other Best Picture nominees were Sense and Sensibility, Braveheart, The Bridges of Madison County, and Nixon.
Daniels Entertainment's Sense and Sensibility, which had performed well at the Golden Globes, received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress.
This was even more than in the original timeline, where Ang Lee wasn't nominated for Best Director.
The reasons were clear. Daniels Entertainment now had enough influence to break through such biases easily.
The nominations of Braveheart and The Bridges of Madison County were expected.
However, Nixon was more controversial.
Directed by Oliver Stone, the biopic was typical of his work—decent but not exceptional. It underperformed both critically and at the box office. The film's nomination was largely due to Stone's stature and the influence of Vivendi, which owned Disney. The French company wanted to assert its presence in Hollywood.
With Daniels Entertainment's films like Apollo 13, Beauty and the Beast, and The Man from Earth choosing not to submit for nominations, Nixon was given a chance.
This was why Simon insisted that 1995 wasn't a strong year for the Oscars.
It truly wasn't.
Despite Daniels Entertainment films racking up 22 nominations (not counting Batman v Superman), including Sense and Sensibility, Dead Man Walking, Apollo 13, and Beauty and the Beast, Nixon's nomination still invited criticism.
The Oscar committee had little choice.
Daniels Entertainment had dominated the box office in 1995, leaving other competitors struggling. But the Oscars couldn't allow Daniels to sweep every category.
There's always controversy at the Oscars, and this year was no exception.
Still, most attention quickly shifted back to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
In the week following the Oscar nomination announcements, along with the renewed marketing push, Batman v Superman saw its weekly box office drop by only 17%, earning $31.54 million in its sixth week. The film's cumulative domestic box office passed another milestone, reaching $501.5 million.
This was why the studios launched the new promotional campaign.
With its current momentum, Batman v Superman was on track to surpass $600 million domestically, and the goal was to aim even higher—at the $700 million mark.
According to normal commercial film trajectories, with weekly earnings now around $30 million, it seemed unlikely that the film would gross another $200 million. But Batman v Superman was not a typical commercial film; it was a phenomenon.
And box office phenomena rarely follow the usual curve.
Looking back at past blockbusters like Back to the Future and Ghostbusters, both had grossed over $200 million domestically, even though their opening weekends were only $18.43 million and $23.16 million, respectively.
Now, with Batman v Superman already performing stronger than those films and benefiting from the Oscar boost, the possibility of it becoming the first film in North American history to break the $700 million barrier stood at least at 50%.
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