Hollywood Hunter

After get off work, Simon rushed directly to George Norman's house in Bel Air.

On Wednesday, he revealed his intention to Jennifer. Simon received a call from James Rebald early in the morning yesterday. The two chatted for more than an hour during which James Rebald listed a series of reasons to persuade Simon to dismiss Jean. He and Norman are respectively responsible for the idea of ​​the east and west coasts, saying that he can do this job himself and is more professional.

After careful consideration, Simon also agreed.

They are still busy with the movie on weekdays, and the Rebolds rushed over today, planning to discuss more details with Simon on the weekend, and borrowed Norman’s home to issue a dinner invitation to Simon.

Now that he had promised James Rebold, Simon did not tell his private lawyer the original idea. After all, George Norman is a civil lawyer, and indeed he is not very suitable for helping Simon manage the assets of Westeros.

Not knowing that he had missed some opportunities, George Norman was also very enthusiastic in the evening. He also congratulated his brother-in-law on the partnership with Simon. It can be said that the guests and hosts enjoyed themselves, but Jennifer faced her uncle She occasionally showed some cautious expressions, but she knew very well that her father had taken away the opportunity that should have belonged to her uncle.

The new year is coming soon.

In recent weeks, Simon has successively paid the 1987 personal income tax and various taxes of the two companies under his name. Of course, the main thing is the tax of Westeros.

After completing the tax settlement, the main assets of Westeros are the stocks of the 26 companies.

It is worth mentioning that when Simon applied for Westeros, he confirmed the nature of the company as a limited liability company (LLC). The biggest advantage of LLC type company is that it can avoid double taxation. The income of Westeros Company is equivalent to Simon's personal income, only need to pay income tax once, Simon can enjoy the profit he deserves. Of course, LLC type companies also have their own disadvantages, such as being unable to go public.

Fortunately, Simon did not think about listing Westeros.

In contrast, in order to consider future listing and financing, Daenerys Pictures is a company limited by shares (Corp), and this type of company needs to pay taxes on its own profits and shareholder dividends.

With the North American stock market gradually getting rid of the gloom of the stock market crash in October, and the popularity of technology stocks caused by the exposure of the "Westero Portfolio", the technology stocks held by Westeros have continued to appreciate during this period.

According to the latest statistics made by Simon's personal accountant after the stock market closed today, the total value of technology stocks held by Westeros has exceeded $1.67 billion. Compared to Simon's initial investment of US$1.1 billion in principal, the cumulative appreciation has reached 51%.

The appreciation of these stocks is equivalent to making up all the huge taxes paid by Simon.

On the other hand, Westeros’ 4.9% shareholding in 26 technology companies can basically squeeze into the ranks of the major shareholders of these companies. However, if it wants to obtain a seat on the board of directors and share the power of a company, it does not It's not so easy.

However, these companies have benefited from the impact of the Westeros portfolio and their share prices have risen sharply in recent months. Obviously, it is impossible to hope that their shares will be sold off. The possibility that Simon will now get a seat on the board of these companies is still very big.

After negotiations over the weekend, James Rebold, authorized by Simon, formally sent an application to join the board of directors of all technology companies held by Westeros, and the media that received the news quickly paid attention to this matter.

New week.

The most noticeable thing in Hollywood is undoubtedly the announcement of the new Golden Globe nomination.

At 9 o'clock in the morning on Monday, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced a series of nominations for the 45th American Film and Television Golden Globe Awards in the banquet hall of the Sunset Tower Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Since the "operability" of the Golden Globe Awards is far greater than that of the Oscars with many judges, there is no suspense that "Rola Run" features the best film, best director, best actress, best screenwriter and most Five nominations for the best soundtrack have become a hot spot for this year's Golden Globe Awards.

Simon also knows that unless the Hollywood Foreign Press Association completely abandons morals, otherwise, his best director nomination can only be a nomination. As for the best film in the drama category, the winner in memory should be Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor", and Simon does not think "Lola Run" can compete for the long-established European film master.

Of course, after all, it is something to be happy about. Throughout the morning, Simon kept answering combined calls from all parties.

And so until noon.

In a restaurant in downtown Santa Monica, as the host, Simon arrived ten minutes early, and Bill Gates arrived soon.

Obviously he did some homework. After meeting, Gates politely congratulated the nomination of the Golden Globe Award for "Lola Run". The two sat down at the dining table, each looking at each other calmly.

Bill Gates is only 32 years old this year. He wears a pair of black-rimmed glasses with very large lenses. He looks younger, even a bit like a middle school student, and he is the type of nerd who is often bullied by school bullies.

Just by looking at the face, Simon also understands why Daemen students in many biographical films are often bullied by Jobs of the same age.

but.

After speaking, Gates did not look like a bun at all.

After ordering the meal, when the waiter left, Gates bluntly said: "Simon, I hope you can explain why you are interested in Microsoft stock?"

Simon ignored Gates' questioning gesture and said in a relaxed tone: "Bill, I should say that I am very interested in the entire electronic information industry, and Microsoft is just one of them."

"If that's the case," Gates took out a page of fax from his briefcase and handed it over: "I'm afraid I can't agree to the request of the representative of Westeros to join Microsoft's board of directors."

"Actually, I don't want to join the Microsoft board of directors that much. I am very busy. However, since I have invested so much money, in order to get more returns, I still hope to provide some personal suggestions for the development of these companies," Simon took the page The fax glanced at it, then put it down, sat up straight and stared at the opposite Gates, and said, "Bill, you own nearly 45% of this company. Are you still worried that I will compete with you for control?"

"Well, let's be frank," Gates relaxed his tone and said, "Simon, if Microsoft refuses Westeros' request to join the company's board of directors, will you sell the stock?"

"I have already answered you. My main purpose is to invest. If I continue to hold Microsoft shares to make more money, I will definitely not sell. As for the Microsoft board, if I feel it is necessary to join, maybe I will Continue to buy stocks and increase your shareholding to 10% or more until you agree."

"What if I insist on rejecting it?"

"Except for you and Paul Allen, Microsoft's outstanding shares should be 30%," Simon said with a smile: "Maybe I can buy out all of Microsoft's outstanding shares. At that time, you, me, and Paul. Allen, the three of us can discuss the future of the company together."

After Microsoft went public last year, Bill Gates and Paul Allen still hold approximately 45% and 25% of the shares respectively, and the proportion of Microsoft shares in the circulating market is 30%. According to the total market value of only more than one billion US dollars after the rebound of Microsoft's stock price, Simon can indeed buy all the outstanding shares.

According to regulations, once the number of outstanding shares in the market drops to a certain percentage, Microsoft can only delist.

Bill Gates looked at the young man across the table and found that he could clearly feel the strong eagerness in his tone when he said the words just now.

He would really do such a thing!

After a moment of silence, Gates finally said again: "Simon, I don't like you, you are a lunatic."

"Everyone knows this, and I don't know if I'm cured or not," Simon smiled indifferently, and said seriously: "Well, Bill, why don't we talk about Windows? I have been I'm studying the Windows 2.0 that Microsoft just launched. In all fairness, it's still bad. However, your idea is correct. Compatibility, this is the necessary development strategy for an operating system to expand rapidly at this stage. Moreover, the graphical interface The system can also promote the rapid popularization of personal computers in the mass market. Only by selling personal computers to mass consumers can the entire electronic information industry develop rapidly. Just like video recorders, less than 1 million households in North America had video recorders ten years ago, but now , This number is 50 million. So last year, the sales revenue of video tapes in North America exceeded the box office revenue. In my opinion, the market capacity of personal computers far exceeds that of video recorders. Moreover, due to standardization requirements, this market will be difficult in the future There are too many types of operating systems. In this regard, Microsoft does not have the advantage, because you do not produce hardware, companies such as IBM can easily throw away Microsoft. Therefore, while maintaining compatibility, Microsoft must also develop some Your own advantage."

When Simon said this, he stopped in time.

Bill Gates, who had already begun to listen intently, saw that Simon suddenly disappeared, and subconsciously asked, "What kind of advantage?"

Simon raised his finger to the fax page just now: "Give me a board seat first."

Bill Gates insisted: "You speak first."

Simon asked, "Do you have a pen?"

Bill Gates took out a pen from his briefcase and handed it over. Simon wrote down something on the back of the fax paper, and then passed the pen and paper together, saying: "A suggestion is to change a seat on the board. Actually, I feel If you have lost, maybe you can sell me some of your stock at a discount."

Bill Gates ignored Simon's words and picked up the fax paper, but there was only one very strange word on it: Wintel.