Midtown Manhattan.
On February 16, 1996, the Nasdaq trading hall at 4 Times Square was packed with people, marking a day destined to go down in American financial history.
At 9:30 a.m.
After completing media interviews and delivering IPO speeches, the core team of Tinkobair took the stage together and pressed the button symbolizing the start of trading for Tinkobair's stock. With the bell ringing, the ceremony concluded.
But the day was just beginning.
Since the start of the month, despite a series of visible and hidden market maneuvers, the Nasdaq index had been struggling to cross a critical threshold. However, following the bell-ringing ceremony for Tinkobair's IPO, when the market officially opened, the Nasdaq quickly surged past the long-awaited 3000-point mark.
In just the first five minutes of trading, the index jumped by 2.9%, rising from yesterday's close of 2987 points to 3073 points.
And this was even before the first round of pricing for Tinkobair stock had concluded.
Over the next half hour, the Nasdaq continued its upward trend amidst fluctuations, and by the time the first round of pricing results were displayed at 10 a.m., the index had reached 3139 points, a 5.1% increase.
The numbers on the electronic display were so striking that many thought there was an error.
$81 to $83 per share.
Could this be real?
Despite several rounds of price increases, Tinkobair's final IPO price had been set at just $50 per share. Even at the lowest displayed price of $81, the first round of pricing represented a 62% increase. To put this into perspective, the most recent IPO of Egret had seen a first-day increase of 51.7%.
Even the officials were skeptical. However, after confirming the data multiple times, the trading hall erupted into applause and cheers, with many realizing one thing:
This was madness!
Indeed, madness.
Some also recognized that this situation likely reflected a gross underestimation of Tinkobair's IPO valuation.
With such a surge in the first round of pricing, it seemed likely that Tinkobair's stock could double on its first day of trading.
Doubling in value on the first day wasn't unheard of in the current booming tech wave. Many newly listed tech companies over the past two years had reached this milestone.
But those companies were mostly small startups with valuations under $1 billion.
Tinkobair, on the other hand, even if not as massive as Egret's $150 billion IPO from last year, was still a giant with a valuation exceeding $40 billion—already a behemoth in this era. People tended to compare it to companies like Egret, Daenerys Entertainment, Cisco, and AOL, but they often forgot that these were exceptions, not the rule. Other long-established titans of the American economy, with the exception of General Electric, had valuations in the $10 billion range or lower.
Take Boeing, for instance.
A few years ago, news that Westeros had invested in Boeing had boosted the company's struggling stock price, but even now, Boeing's market value hovered around $37 billion—less than Tinkobair's IPO valuation.
With just the first round of pricing, Tinkobair's valuation had already surpassed two Boeings.
As the first round results were revealed, Nasdaq surged again. By 10:15 a.m., with the second round of pricing displayed, the index had climbed to 3219 points, marking a 7.7% increase in just 45 minutes.
Tinkobair's stock price was now listed at $88 to $90 per share.
Then came the third round: $91 to $93.
The fourth round: $95 to $97.
The fifth round: $101 to $103.
The sixth round: $107 to $111.
Due to the tech boom of recent years, Tinkobair wasn't the first company to double its stock price on the opening day, but it was certainly the first tech giant valued in the tens of billions to achieve this during the pricing phase alone.
By 11:15 a.m., the pricing rounds were complete.
Even at the lowest price of $107, Tinkobair's stock had risen by 114% from its IPO price, giving the company a market value of $87 billion.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq index had surged to 3265 points, with a cumulative increase of 9.7%, setting a new record for the largest single-day gain in Nasdaq's history since its creation in 1968.
A wild day.
On television and across the internet, countless media outlets marveled at the day's events.
And the day was far from over.
By the close of the U.S. stock market at 4:30 p.m., Tinkobair's stock had risen 151% on its first day, closing at $125.50 per share, with a market value of $102.1 billion.
A new trillion-dollar corporate titan had emerged in a single day.
The Nasdaq index finished at 3324 points, with a record-breaking single-day increase of 11.3%.
A historic high.
Yet, despite all of this, the headline of the evening news wasn't Tinkobair's remarkable IPO—it was the young man behind it all.
$1 Trillion!
Simon Westeros' personal fortune had officially surpassed $1 trillion.
Unlike recent estimates from Fortune magazine, this new calculation was far more definitive.
The Nasdaq index, which is based on data from all publicly traded companies in the Nasdaq sector, had jumped 11.3% in one day, meaning that the value of all Nasdaq-listed companies had increased substantially.
And indeed, by 4:30 p.m. on February 16, the stock prices of key companies tied to the Westeros system had surged as well:
Egret: up 12.6%, with a market value of $356.7 billion.
Cisco: up 11.9%, with a market value of $319.5 billion.
AOL: up 8.3%, with a market value of $245.9 billion.
Microsoft: up 9.5%, with a market value of $227.8 billion.
Intel: up 12.6%, with a market value of $131.5 billion.
Even Daenerys Entertainment, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, saw a 7.1% rise in its stock price, reaching a market value of $302.6 billion.
With the surge of these tech giants, all part of the Westeros system, Simon's personal wealth had skyrocketed.
His holdings in the three trillion-dollar giants alone—Egret, Cisco, and Daenerys Entertainment—were now worth $602.3 billion.
Adding his stakes in AOL and Microsoft brought the total to $800 billion.
With Tinkobair's successful IPO, Simon held a 57.7% stake in the company post-IPO, valued at $58.9 billion.
Combined with his shares in other major companies like Verizon, Nokia, Intel, Oracle, SUN, and others, his total wealth now easily exceeded $1 trillion.
In fact, it might even be more.
Finally, unable to hold back, Forbes magazine released its own wealth calculation report that afternoon, giving Simon Westeros a net worth of $1.06 trillion.
Unlike other financial publications, Forbes had access to more detailed data and offered a comprehensive breakdown of Simon's fortune. This figure became the benchmark for most media outlets covering the story.
$1.06 trillion—what did that mean?
In 1995, the U.S. GDP was $7.64 trillion.
Simon Westeros' personal wealth now accounted for 13.8% of the U.S. GDP, far surpassing the 1.5% share held by the Rockefeller family at its peak. No comparison could be made.
Globally, only six countries—America, Japan, Germany, France, the UK, and Italy—had GDPs over $1 trillion in 1995.
The seventh-largest economy, Brazil, had a GDP of just $769.3 billion.
While some media outlets pointed out that much of Simon's wealth was tied to tech stocks, which were notoriously volatile, there was no denying that the Westeros system had become a terrifying financial juggernaut. No other financial power on the planet, not even the oil-rich royal families of the Middle East, could compare.
February 16.
On this one day:
The Nasdaq broke 3000 points.
The Nasdaq's 11.3% single-day gain set a new record.
Two more $300 billion companies emerged in the U.S. stock market.
And Simon Westeros' personal fortune surpassed $1 trillion.
...
Many marveled at these miracles, but none of them happened without reason.
While the average media outlet was left bewildered by the day's events, those in the know, from Washington to Wall Street, quickly realized the truth.
At the root of it all was one man.
Simon Westeros had promised not to sell off any more shares, lifting the cloud of uncertainty that had been hanging over the Nasdaq's continued rise.
Moreover, just before February 16, Westeros had completed its final $2 billion sale of AOL stock, while quietly offloading $3 billion worth of Daenerys shares to Goldman Sachs and other financial giants. Everything was ready.
All that was needed was the right moment.
Even though some skeptics continued to bet against the high-flying tech sector, the majority of investors remained bullish, pouring money into tech stocks and venture capital investments.
With the clouds of uncertainty lifted, and Tinkobair's IPO providing the perfect trigger, the bulls, without any need for secret coordination, simultaneously pushed the market to new
heights on February 16, setting the stage for the Nasdaq's record-breaking performance.
At the same time, these same tech bulls had also propelled Simon's fortune to over $1 trillion.
In the original timeline, when the Nasdaq first broke through 3000 points, it marked the beginning of the market's irrational exuberance and eventual collapse. After hitting 3000, the index skyrocketed to 5000 in less than a year before crashing down.
Now, history was repeating itself.
People always say that the flow of history is unstoppable.
But in reality, history often repeats itself more than it progresses forward.
Simon eventually realized that while he had accelerated history, he could never truly change it.
---
Greenwich.
Saturday afternoon, February 17.
At a shooting range in the city's northwest, every time Erin Lande watched Simon fire his Barrett rifle, she felt her heart tremble and melt.
However, after spending two hours with Simon at the range, Erin noticed that he seemed somewhat down today.
When he finished another round, Erin removed her ear protection, walked over, and took the heavy rifle from him, following him to the rest area. Curious, she asked, "You're now a trillionaire, so what could possibly make you unhappy?"
Simon smiled at her question. "I'm not unhappy."
Erin gave him a look. "You can't fool me."
"Women's intuition?"
Erin hugged the heavy rifle tighter, looking up at him intently. "Yes, a woman's intuition about the man she loves."
She blushed after saying that.
Quickly walking ahead, she placed the rifle in its case, knowing Simon was done for the day.
This Barrett was a personal item that had to be taken back.
Simon followed, handing Erin his gloves and ear protection before putting on the coat his bodyguard handed him. They left the shooting range and returned to the nearby northern estate.
Back home, one of the household staff was waiting, saying that Chen Qing had sent some materials from China.
Simon glanced through the documents, pulling out a single private-recorded CD. He took Erin to the living room, where she curiously placed the disc into the player and pressed play.
As a soft instrumental melody began to play, a woman's voice floated through the air:
"Once I set out, the willows swayed gently.
Now I return, the snow and rain fall heavily.
Those who understand me say I am troubled; those who do not ask what I seek.
Those who understand me say I am troubled; those who do not ask what I seek."
Erin didn't understand the words, but she could feel the subtle melancholy in the beautiful song.
She sat down beside Simon on the sofa, leaning into him as they listened to the song on repeat. Though she couldn't comprehend the lyrics, a sense of quiet sorrow filled her.
Simon wrapped an arm around her.
As he listened to the song.
At some point, Simon realized the source of his negative emotions over the past few days.
Even though he now stood at the top of the world, looking down on all, Simon was still human, still subject to certain instincts.
Genetic instincts.
No matter what, Simon always wanted the world to be just a little better.
_________________________
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