By noon, Jonathan Friedman, Pat Kingsley, and others had arrived in New York one after another. Everyone began discussing how to handle the current situation.
Although Simon's operations over the past five months, closely tracking the S&P 500 index curve, could be described as fantastical, there were no aspects from start to finish. James judged that precisely because Simon's transaction records were so clean with no discernible loopholes, the major agencies resorted to wiretapping and leaked Westeros Corporation's trading information to the media, in an attempt to force Simon to reveal a weakness.
In this era, the annual budget of the SEC was only $100 million.
A massive $1.6 billion fortune, enough to place someone in the Forbes global rich list top 100, was completely worth the agencies using every means at their disposal.
For a young man like Simon with virtually no background or roots, if authorities could prove suspicious activities in Westeros Corporation's trades, they would absolutely not hesitate to impose massive fines. Simon might not even be left with his original principal.
Simon and Janet had booked the Presidential Suite at The Plaza Hotel after arriving in New York in late October. It was hard to determine exactly when the listening devices were planted. However, since Westeros Corporation operations weren't suspicious in the first place, the eavesdroppers naturally couldn't have gleaned the information they wanted.
At 4 PM, to avoid losing control of the narrative by continuously avoiding the media, Pat Kingsley, acting as spokesperson, held a brief press conference on Simon's behalf. She publicly confirmed Westeros Corporation series of operations in the index futures market and denied media rumors that Simon was under investigation for suspected insider trading.
The sudden transformation of the high-profile Hollywood wunderkind director into a billionaire was such explosive news that a simple press conference couldn't possibly satisfy the media's appetite.
Subsequently, the number of reporters gathered outside Simon's Upper East Side apartment not only didn't decrease but grew larger, even disrupting traffic on Fifth Avenue at one point. Countless interview requests also poured in to Simon through various channels.
Simultaneously, the North American stock market reacted most directly to the news by The New York Times and other media outlets. In just one day, a new phrase spread rapidly among countless stock market investors: The Westeros Portfolio.
The crash was over. No matter how much people marveled at or envied Simon West's previous operations, they couldn't go back months to imitate or follow him. However, the young man's stock market trades were very easy to follow.
Even if people didn't understand why Simon West was buying large amounts of tech stocks, for a young man who had just madly profited over $1 billion in the index futures market, the weight of his buying decisions was certainly 100 times more valuable than any stockbroker's recommendation.
The Wall Street Journal had detailed the portfolio of 26 tech stocks Westeros Corporation had bought.
According to the exposed information, the scale of Simon West's purchases was also quite interesting.
Among the 26 stocks, ranging from Motorola, with a post-crash market cap still over $5 billion, to a company called Silicon Graphics (SGI), a graphics workstation maker with a market cap under $200 million that had just gone public last year, and including a series of star tech stocks like Apple, Intel, Microsoft, SUN, etc., Westeros Corporation's holdings in these companies were all maintained at a 4.9% after completing the large-scale purchases.
According to SEC regulations, investors must file a report upon acquiring 5% or more of a company's stock, and subsequent buying and selling activities face strict supervision.
4.9% was below the SEC reporting requirement.
Wall Street analysts thus concluded that Simon Westeros did not intend to hold these stocks long-term. Since it was a short-term play, there was no need for hesitation in following suit. Consequently, in just one day, the trading volume for these 26 stocks held by Westeros Corporation surged several times compared to usual.
After the market closed, the average gain for these stocks exceeded 20%, with some even returning to their pre-crash highs.
Simon had bought these stocks at the lowest point during the crash week for bargain hunting. Westeros Corporation large purchases had already stimulated the tech stock market, causing these stocks' value to rebound about 15% in the preceding weeks.
Now.
After today's surge, the paper value of the tech stocks held by Westeros Corporation was close to $1.5 billion. Simon had essentially made another $400 million in paper profits in less than a month. The total asset value of Westeros Corporation, including all cash and stocks, now exceeded $2 billion.
Back with Simon.
After repeatedly confirming that Simon's trading operations, the questioning process, and his conduct during the period of surveillance contained no potentially problematic actions that could trigger an investigation, everyone focused on managing the current media situation and discussing potential future investigations.
It unfolded exactly as James Rebould had predicted.
Early the next morning, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York stated at a press conference that the FBI, SEC, CFTC, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York were investigating the incident where Lehman Brothers operations caused massive losses to the Quantum Fund.
When answering reporters' questions, the spokesperson confirmed, not too subtly, that the U.S. Attorney's Office suspected Westeros Corporation might be involved.
Subsequently, a local New York TV station more specific potential charges. An unnamed government official revealed that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York suspected Westeros Corporation of conspiring with Lehman Brothers to manipulate the market, engaging in insider trading on October 22nd that caused the S&P 500 index to plummet, resulting in huge losses for investors.
Simon never expected to be saddled with such a serious accusation.
If the charges were substantiated, Simon would not only face massive fines but also be liable for lawsuits from any investor who suffered losses due to the S&P 500's drop on the morning of October 22nd.
On October 22nd, the S&P 500 plummeted from the previous day's close of 256 points to 197 points. Just the Quantum Fund's 9,000 long contracts theoretically represented over $260 million in additional losses.
The total losses for investors across the entire Chicago futures market were far greater than the Quantum Fund's.
Faced with claims from countless investors, Simon could directly declare bankruptcy. The massive debt after losing lawsuits would be enough to prevent him from ever recovering financially in his lifetime.
Simon's memory did contain information about the market drop on October 22nd caused by Lehman Brothers' sell-off, which was why he scheduled the liquidation of his final batch of over 5,000 short contracts for that day. However, this incident clearly had nothing to do with Simon; it was entirely due to Lehman Brothers' internal mistake.
Pat Kingsley immediately came forward to deny the allegations linking Simon to the event. However, the related narrative inevitably spread.
Following Simon's questioning by the CFTC on Monday, the SEC also summoned Simon for questioning on Friday. This time, the Rebould's accompanied Simon to the meeting with SEC staff, where he once again answered a series of questions about Westeros Corporation's stock trades.
Apartment on 68th Street, Upper East Side.
It was now Monday, November 16th.
Last night, New York finally saw its first snowfall of the winter. When Harry Met Sally was nearing its wrap, and the crew had been hoping for snow in New York to film certain scenes.
Waking up to a white-blanketed Central Park outside the window, Simon was reminded of Dream of the Ching Chong Chamber and the Grand View Garden. After 8 AM, Jonathan and the others arrived one by one from their respective lodgings.
Although the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and other agencies hadn't formally pressed charges yet, the past week had been anything but relaxing for everyone.
To prevent Simon from being convicted in the court of public opinion by the media before any formal charges, everyone had been busy with media work—constantly clarifying, refuting, even sending cease-and-desist letters to some newspapers, while simultaneously contacting other media outlets to publish various news releases favorable to their side, all to protect Simon's personal reputation.
Simon, deep down, didn't care much about reputation. But like many things in life, you might not care, but you still have to protect it.
If he were to be labeled a 'financial criminal' by the media, similar to Michael Jackson being labeled a "pedophile", anything Simon did in the future could be saddled with that negative baggage.
Everyone settled in the living room, where a large conference table had been directly placed. They were analyzing yesterday's trends surrounded by piles of newspapers, magazines, faxes, and even videotapes when Jennifer Rebould, who was handling phone calls, suddenly handed the receiver to Simon, indicating it was Noah Scott calling.
After the events broke last week, on James Rebould's advice, Simon hadn't proactively contacted Lehman Brothers, and they similarly hadn't communicated with Simon. Hearing that Noah Scott was calling now, everyone's expressions showed various shades of surprise.
Noah Scott claimed on the phone that he was nearby and hoped to visit. Simon agreed.
A few minutes later.
Noah Scott arrived. After brief greetings with everyone, he then asked to speak with Simon alone. Under everyone's gaze, Simon led Noah Scott to an adjacent, still-empty sitting room.
The two stood by the window in the sitting room. Noah Scott wiped the condensation off the glass with his hand, looking out at the falling snow and the distant Central Park. "A very nice place."
Simon looked at the blurred glass pane but didn't wipe it himself, nodding. "Yes, it's a shame we haven't had time to decorate yet."
Noah Scott paused, couldn't find another suitable topic for small talk, and went straight to the point. "Simon, I have to confess, the current situation is very bad." [TL/N: No shit, Sherlock.]
Simon turned his head but didn't respond, simply waiting for Noah Scott to continue.
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