The financial turmoil in mid-October left the U.S. junk bond market in a state of chaos.
A large number of short-selling funds made a lot of money, and many more people lost all their money. Therefore, whether it was for the purpose of introducing a scapegoat to attract media public opinion, or for other reasons, there seemed to be no need to keep Cersei Capital's secret involvement in this crisis a secret.
Saturday, October 21st.
New York's "Daily News" suddenly published a press release titled "Westeros is coming, and so is the stock market crash."
The article recalled in a joking tone the Japanese stock market crash caused by Simon's last trip to Melbourne to visit his girlfriend, and then pointed out that before the 'mini crash' on October 13, Simon Westeros and Janet Johnston happened to be in New York for a week.
If that's all, of course it's nothing.
However, as a gossip newspaper with a similar positioning to the New York Post, the Daily News exposed many insider details of Cersei Capital in its press release, including even the most core net worth status. Finally, the topic was brought to the topic of Cersei Capital joining forces with the Australian consortium to participate in promoting the collapse of the U.S. junk bond market, and then making huge profits through short selling.
Cersei Capital made $1.6 billion this week, and there is nothing wrong with the article in the Daily News.
However, the intention of this article is obviously not that simple.
But the public opinion guidance of "Cersei Capital teamed up with the Australian consortium to destroy the U.S. junk bond market" can be said to have sinister intentions. This is completely intended to label Simon as a "beautiful traitor" who lures wolves into the house. Simon has no sense of belonging to the country he lives in, but he also understands the impact that this kind of public opinion trend will have on his personal image and business landscape.
Therefore, the public relations team of Westeros Company immediately counterattacked the "Daily News" article, pointing out that the scale of short funds targeting the U.S. junk bond market this time exceeded 30 billion U.S. dollars, and it was impossible for a certain capital company to do so. The forces dominate from it. Moreover, the root cause of this collapse was caused by companies such as United Airlines that over-issued bonds without restraint in spite of their own strength. The Daily News' attempt to blame Cersei Capital for the collapse of the junk bond market is a complete slander.
Westeros not only responded publicly, but also asked the Daily News to retract its article and apologize on the front page of the newspaper. Otherwise, Westeros will file a lawsuit against the Daily News.
As a supplement to this counterattack, Daenerys Entertainment immediately announced that it would withdraw the movie advertisement it originally planned to place in the "Daily News".
James Raybould also personally called Mortimer Zuckerman, the boss behind the Daily Mail, to implicitly remind him that if necessary, Daenerys Entertainment can push at least half of the major Hollywood studios Withdrawing advertising from the Daily News would make Hollywood unpopular with all of Zuckerman Publishing's other newspapers and magazines.
The continuous increase in marketing expenses for Hollywood movies means that any major movie company is an important advertiser for mainstream media platforms in the United States. Mortimer Zuckerman naturally cannot afford to lose more than half of the Hollywood market. As a result, the Mainichi Shimbun announced the next day that it had withdrawn the article from the previous day and issued an apology on its front page.
The "Daily News"'s rapid compromise in just one day was dramatic. The Westeros Company's swift and sharp attack made many people realize that a powerful capital force had already taken action in this area. The country is taking shape.
The reason why nouveau riche are called nouveau riche is that these people often lack the power and foundation equivalent to their personal wealth. Even if your wealth is ten times or a hundred times that of other established families, you will still be looked down upon by others.
If Simon Westeros was just an upstart who suddenly had a billion-dollar fortune, the 'freedom' American media would not pay any attention to the demands of the Westeros Corporation. The compromise of the "Daily News" obviously means that this newly wealthy man who has risen rapidly in just three years has established potential power and influence equivalent to his huge personal wealth.
Therefore, although the Westeros Company's pressure on the "Daily News" had a very obvious meaning of concealment, out of fear of Simon Westeros, the "Daily News" announced that it had withdrawn the article and apologized. , other mainstream media in the United States were very careful not to continue discussing a sensitive topic.
No matter how strong the flame is, it cannot spread into a fire if it loses the combustible material.
The major newspapers actively ignored it, the mainstream TV stations did not discuss it, and the "Daily News" argument only appeared briefly and then quickly disappeared in the wave of other news.
Ultimately, this is the power of capital.
However, although no media dared to refer to Simon as a "American traitor", the fact that Cersei Capital participated in shorting the North American junk bond market was established.
Simply discussing how much money Simon Westeros has earned, or delving into the inside story of Cersei Capital, does not seem to be a taboo topic. Some newspapers published similar articles after scratching their heads over this topic that was destined to attract attention. Seeing that it no longer caused dissatisfaction among Westeros companies, other media began to follow suit.
Of course, the inside story of Cersei Capital's operations is not something that just anyone can find out. Most newspapers only get semi-public information like the "Daily News" leaked through some not-so-secret channels.
However, there is never a shortage of caring people in this world.
The creation of sub-funds 6 to 10 by Cersei Capital is not a secret to some people, but most insiders have ignored some deeper information.
For example, where did the capital of sub-funds 6 to 10 come from
The net value of Cersei Capital's sub-funds 1 to 5 has achieved 100% growth in less than a year. Some people naturally think that it is completely easy for Simon Westeros to raise additional large sums of funds. Naturally, this is not true. It’s easy to focus on the specific source of the money.
However, there are exceptions to everything.
Manhattan.
For reasons well known to everyone, Noah Scott, who once helped Simon Westeros operate S&P 500 index futures during the 1987 stock market crash, has been in charge of a company under Lehman Brothers that specializes in overseas financial markets since the end of last year. Derivatives hedging and arbitrage team that operates.
Now, in less than a year, the US$1.5 billion in capital managed by this team has increased to US$2.6 billion.
A profit rate of as high as 70% has made Noah Scott the most high-profile young executive within Lehman Brothers. However, he has been spending the past few months in a vague sense of unease.
Because he needed to focus on the Japanese market, Noah Scott did not intervene in the U.S. junk bond market operations, which Lehman Brothers was also involved in. The "mini-crash" of the US stock market on October 13 and the subsequent collection of information from all aspects made Noah Scott gradually begin to confirm some of his speculations.
American Express headquarters in Rockefeller Center.
Although it was Sunday, several core executives of Express, including James Robinson, CEO of American Express, the parent company of Lehman Brothers, and Nelson Scott, father of Noah Scott, who was also a senior executive at American Express, gathered in a conference room at the headquarters. Hear Noah Scott's confidential briefing in person.
"I have carefully studied Cersei Capital's operations for the Japanese market. According to the information we have obtained from various aspects, Cersei Capital's operations are clearly divided into three phases. The first phase probably lasted from the end of last year to March this year. To be precise, Before Simon Westeros accidentally passed out due to overwork, Cersei Capital's operations were mainly conservative and prudent. It was a trend investment that bet on the long term. This should be led by Simon Westeros himself. 3 From January to July, the operations of Cersei Capital turned aggressive, and many ultra-short-term, highly leveraged and high-risk investment cases appeared. As a former classmate, I can determine that Janet Johnston should be in charge during this period."
When Noah Scott said this, he paused and quickly continued: "After July, Cersei Capital's operating methods have become incomprehensible."
James Robinson was originally looking through a piece of insider information on Cersei Capital that Lehman Brothers had used a lot of resources, contacts, information channels, and even some shameful means to collect. Hearing this, he raised his head and asked: "Noah, what exactly do you want to express? "
Noah Scott sorted out his thoughts and said: "Jim, since Simon Westeros visited Melbourne at the end of June, Cersei Capital's operating methods have changed significantly again. This time it is not Westeros. The style of either Lowe or Johnston is neither conservative nor radical, they simply continue to be bullish on the Japanese stock market through a high proportion of positions."
Noah Scott's father Nelson Scott said at this time: "Noah, besides Westeros and Johnston, isn't there another person in charge of Cersei Capital? The boss of the Johnston family, Anthony Johnston, maybe he took over the operation?”
"Anthony Johnston is only responsible for the finance of Cersei Capital and is not involved in the specific operations. Moreover, Janet Johnston is obviously better. How could the investors of Cersei Capital let Anthony, who is not familiar with these businesses, Johnston takes over?”
Another executive asked: "Maybe Janet Johnston's energy has shifted to North America?"
"It's impossible. Even if Janet Johnston's energy turns to North America, she will definitely keep her eye on Japan. Cersei Capital's operating style for the Japanese market cannot be completely changed," Noah Scott said, No longer trying to be pretentious, he said: "So, I have always suspected that something happened within Cersei Capital that we have not been able to detect. I have been troubled by this matter in recent months. It was not until the recent collapse of the junk bond market that I Understand.”
Everyone in the conference room looked at Noah Scott.
Noah Scott simply stood up, walked to the whiteboard at the front of the conference room, picked up a pen and wrote quickly, while explaining: "Simon Westeros rushed to Melbourne at the end of June, and Cersei Capital's sub-funds 6 to 10 will arrive in early July. was established. During the same period, Cersei Capital’s sub-funds 1 to 5 changed their operating style for the Japanese market. Recently, according to the information we have received, the size of Cersei Capital’s short-selling federal junk bond market will not be less than US$3 billion. . 3 billion U.S. dollars. It is impossible to raise such a huge amount of funds quietly. So, let’s think about it carefully, where did the 3 billion U.S. dollars of sub-funds 6 to 10 come from?”
After saying that, Noah Scott did not really let everyone guess. He directly drew several arrows in succession to lead the schematic diagram of Cersei Capital's sub-funds 1 to 5 on the whiteboard to sub-funds 6 to 10.
The scene was full of top career elites who had been working hard in the industry for many years. Noah Scott did not need any further reminders. James Robinson, who felt a chill running down his spine, stood up and blurted out: " Westeros is gone!”
The Japanese stock market has recently exceeded the 39,000-point mark and is headed straight for 40,000 points.
If Simon Westeros had cashed out in July, it is now the end of October, and everyone has been fooled for more than three months. More than three months have passed, and a large amount of Lehman Brothers' funds are still completely locked in the Japanese market. So who can say what will happen next? !