Money and beauty, money and beauty are never separated.
After experiencing Beauty last night, Simon went to visit Qian early the next morning.
In fact, it is the latest batch of gold purchased by the Westeros system. It is located in the underground vault of the Westeros Building. This batch is 50 tons, which is not a small amount.
Or a non-public transaction from Eastern Europe.
After all, as we all know, Big Goose is the world’s largest gold producer.
The continuous hoarding of gold over the years coincided with the long-term downturn in gold prices in the 1990s. In fact, it can be considered a considerable advantage. Just recently, the price of gold has been hovering at a low of US$260 an ounce, which is even cheaper than US$300-400 an ounce in previous years. It can be said that the price of gold has been at its lowest level in the past thirty years.
As for the reason, it is fundamentally very simple. In the 1990s, the United States was at its peak and its national strength was strong, which also meant that the credibility of the US dollar as the national currency reached its highest point. As the US dollar strengthens, gold, which is somewhat the opposite, naturally weakens.
In short, for the Westeros family, over the past few years, through various public and non-public channels, including the latest batch of 50 tons, the gold reserves in the vaults of North America and Australia have exceeded the 1,000-ton level.
This is why Simon specially came here today to watch the storage of this batch of gold.
To be precise, a certain number is actually 1,036 tons. At the current price of US$260 per ounce, this is actually only equivalent to US$8.6 billion, which does not seem like much. However, this actually exceeds the gold reserves of most countries in the world.
Just across the ocean, the current national gold reserves are actually only 450 tons.
What's more, this is only the price at the lowest point of current value.
According to the original time and space, the price of gold once soared to a high of US$2,000 an ounce. By then, the price of this batch of gold would immediately rise to US$66 billion.
It may seem like a small amount, but it is definitely the king of currency that is universal in the world and does not require any credit guarantee. When necessary, it is not a problem to rely on this gold, the Westeros system and several times of leverage for financial operations. In comparison, it is the US dollar. The same year 2000 was, to some extent, a turning point between prosperity and decline.
The evidence also lies in the fact that after about 2000, the price of gold continued to rise.
In addition, the Westeros family's hoarding of gold will certainly not stop. Not to mention other things, the Westeros system has quietly invested in a large number of gold mines around the world. It can currently be determined that there are several gold mines in Australia, Latin America, and Africa. At the mine, the comprehensive annual output has reached about 35 tons, and will increase in the future.
This gold is not intended for sale and will only flow into the Westeros family's own treasury in the future.
It's interesting to say that Simon was initially worried that his family's hoarding of gold would attract more attention. However, the result is that it is probably impossible to attract attention, but relevant news has always been limited to a very small circle.
The reason is equally simple. In the era of credit currency, the fact that a super rich man is hoarding gold is obviously inconsistent with the mainstream concept. If too many people know about it, it will definitely damage the value of credit currency of all parties.
Therefore, Western countries have unanimously chosen to ignore this matter. Naturally, the mainstream media will certainly not report it.
As for attitude
There was definitely no shortage of people who were dissatisfied with Simon's actions, but Simon's actions did not obviously harm the interests of any specific person, so all parties just remained silent.
Occasionally, some people who know the situation will ridicule Simon's "stupid investment".
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the price of gold continued to decline for ten years, and it seemed that it would continue to decline forever. It would be very unwise for someone to continue to buy gold for many years.
Simon just laughed it off.
As for teasing on the surface, no one is sure whether they will follow the trend and stock up some in private. After all, the wealth miracles Simon has created over the years are obvious to all. When it comes to making money, probably few people would think that they are more discerning than Simon Westeros.
After seeing the gold put into storage, he went to the Westeros headquarters in Rockefeller Center to handle some work. Near noon, Simon took a helicopter and rushed to Southampton.
There is an engagement reception here today.
The parties involved were Grace's daughter Rita Spulte and Alexander Levison, heir to the Levison family.
Rita Spurter is 22 years old. In 1997, she followed her boyfriend's footsteps and entered Columbia University to major in international relations. Then, the girl was very smart and hard-working. It only took three years to graduate with her boyfriend, who entered college a year early. , currently both of them have entered Citibank jobs with the advice and help of their parents.
He did not go to Cersei Capital or First Boston, which were more related to family relations, or even the Levison Group, in order to better train himself. After all, this job was just excessive, and both of them were actually heirs, even if they were elites. The scale here is far less than that of the Levison Group, and Grace has decided to hand it over to her daughter in the future.
Of course, this does not mean that her daughter will be directly involved. After all, Grace has always disagreed with her daughter entering the fashion circle, but even if she just inherits the equity and controls behind the scenes in the future, it will still be a considerable asset.
And now.
This young couple was able to go from high school to college smoothly, their relationship was always stable, and they were considered a perfect match, so they decided to get married first.
The reception was held in Southampton at an estate owned by the Levison family. After the Levison Group gradually shifted its base from Florida in the south to New York, the family also began to purchase more properties here.
The private Black Hawk helicopter stopped on the lawn. Simon walked down the gangway and was greeted by a group of people.
The parents on both sides, Frances and Bryce Levison, Grace Klepp with her son Ray, and Rita's father, Bill Spurter, with his little wife, were surrounded by a group of people. to the golden-child-like Michael Leveson and Rita Spurter.
There were also some other important guests.
Simon greeted the adults on both sides and just nodded to the people around him. Then he walked towards the boys and girls, smiled and congratulated them, handed over his gifts, and reminded them: "Pay attention, Mike, it's a little heavy."
Even if Michael Levison is wearing a suit, he still has a standard athlete's physique. He is six feet three inches tall and taller than Simon. However, because someone deliberately reminded him late as a prank, the boy caught the seemingly unattractive figure. The large and exquisite gift box still visibly dropped, and I almost lost it.
Fortunately, Simon didn't let go completely and took advantage of the situation to help him support him.
However, in the end, Michael still had to hold the gift with both hands to be able to hold it securely.
Everyone chuckled when they saw this, and couldn't help but wonder, what did Westeros send that was so heavy? It looked like it was only a box the size of a dictionary, and perhaps the heaviest thing was probably just gold.
Wouldn't it be so tacky
Simon arrived and the reception officially began.
The Levison family spared no expense for this engagement reception and specially invited David Letterman to be the host. Grace quietly greeted Simon and paid a large appearance fee to invite him.
Actually, Simon feels that NBC's Jay Leno is more in line with the atmosphere here. However, since David Letterman, who is affiliated with his own TV station, has been selected by Simon, he cannot dismantle his own station.
Perhaps it was because the big boss personally greeted him and gave him enough money. David Letterman had obviously prepared carefully. There were frequent golden quotes throughout the process and the atmosphere was quite lively.
The formal process of half an hour passed by in the blink of an eye, and then it was time for free activities.
After all, it is the engagement reception of the children, let alone Bryce Levison. Even if Grace, even if all parties are well aware of her relationship with a certain man, she intentionally or unintentionally keeps some distance from Simon, but this does not matter at all. It doesn't affect Simon's popularity.
Celine Dion, who was invited to sing at the reception, had just started the classic "My Heart Will Go On" when Simon was surrounded by a group of little girls. Finally, a girl who claimed to be Michael Levison's cousin took the lead and pulled Simon along. Enter the lawn dance floor.
Then came various turns.
An unknown banker’s young wife, an unknown steelmaker’s daughter, an unknown young TV star
Just when Simon was enjoying himself but still feeling dizzy, today's heroine Rita Spulte helped him out and took the initiative to invite him. After all, although Simon had never called himself anything in these years, he was a very good man to her and her brother Ray. Whether it was birthdays or holidays, even if he didn't show up, he never forgot to give them a gift.
Rita, who had changed into a Gucci dress suitable for dancing, pulled Simon to the dance floor and slowly danced to the soothing jazz tune. The girl finally asked: "Simon, what did you give me just now? Mike almost made a fool of himself?" "
The girl seemed to be speaking curiously, and she was obviously a little annoyed.
Simon smiled and said: "Guess?"
Rita rolled her eyes slightly: "How could I guess that?"
"To give you a hint," Simon said, "Probably, it weighs 30 pounds."
Rita's eyes widened slightly, and then she realized: "A box of that size, weighing 30 pounds, only contains gold?"
"Yes, gold." Simon half-joked: "I forgot to prepare a gift in advance. I happened to go to the vault in the morning and picked out a gold brick for you."
Rita rolled her eyes again: "How tacky."
As he spoke, he inevitably became more curious.
Gold was certain, but considering how attentive this man had been to their siblings over the years, he would definitely not carelessly forget to prepare for an important occasion like today, so he became even more curious.
It's gold indeed.
Of course, Simon would not just make do with a piece of gold brick, but a batch of very beautifully made gold coins, which he asked Chen Qing in China to help find craftsmen to make. Each one has a very beautiful meaning and words on it. Pictures, therefore, in addition to their own value, each gold coin is also a work of art and is worth collecting.
It even holds up well to collection.
After all, there is no substance more stable than gold in this world.
In addition, although he gave away a full 30 pounds, Simon actually still has a lot in hand, which is worth playing with.
After chatting casually, when the dance was about to end, Rita finally said in a more formal tone: "Simon, I mean, from now on, I need you to take more care of my mother. You will definitely do it, right?" ?"
"Of course," Simon said without hesitation, but subconsciously joked: "You are just getting engaged and will not care about your mother in the future?"
"That's not what I meant." The girl said with some anger again, "I just want you to understand."
Seeing the girl's pleading eyes, Simon also calmed down his expression: "I promise."
The music ends.
The two of them left the dance floor together, and Rita's words, which were side by side with Simon, turned into a bit of a snack: "Actually, I and Ray, of course we love mom very much, but in recent years, what mom cares about most is you. .”
Simon happened to notice Grace looking over at the crowd outside the dance floor with soft eyes, and nodded: "Don't worry."
Rita's tone suddenly became brisk again. She looked around and saw that no one was approaching, and then said: "Of course don't worry, Simon. Although you are recognized as being very troublesome, you are indeed very good to your mother, even to me and Lei." They are all attentive, and John, hehe, I can only suggest that maybe you should give John more time, otherwise he may become alienated from you when he grows up."
Simon just nodded slightly again.
John Westeros, the little one with Grace, his own ninth son.
Of course Simon was interested.
However, I have to say that I may subconsciously have higher expectations for my own children, which inevitably lacks a bit of the warmth that an ordinary father should have for his children.
In fact, Simon actually agrees with a certain concept.
Father and son are natural enemies.
Speaking of which, the higher the social class between father and son, the more similar emotions tend to be more prominent.
Of course there are ways to change it.
For example, the strategy of a tiger father and a dog son is to raise the child in a more useless direction.
However, Simon would rather have a group of his little guys against him in the future than to have each generation become worse than the last.
In short, from the beginning, Simon's attitude was very clear and not contradictory at all. Therefore, he has never looked like a standard good father to the boys in his family. Instead, he has a gentler attitude towards the few daughters, not even his biological daughters.
This is actually a clear preference for boys over girls.
He doesn't have high expectations for his daughter, so he can show a more pure image of a gentle father. As for whether the boys who did not receive much warmth from their father would resent it in the future and feel that his father was partial, Simon didn't care too much.
After leaving the dance floor, another woman immediately came forward. Simon chose to refuse this time and walked towards Grace and the others with Rita.
After staying at the reception for more than half an hour, at two o'clock in the afternoon, Simon said goodbye to everyone and flew back to Manhattan by helicopter.