The Hearst family's mansion was not far from Simon's manor. In less than five minutes' drive, Simon and Janet arrived at their destination.
It was also a large manor. As soon as the car stopped in front of a villa with a simple appearance, the waiter quickly stepped forward and opened the door.
When Simon and his wife got out of the car, they could already see the figures in the lobby of the villa.
However, apart from the waiters, there was no host outside the villa to greet the guests. The two looked at each other, and Janet leaned over with a smile and whispered: "Maybe it was on purpose."
Simon saw a guest who had arrived earlier being led to the parking space by a waiter, and there were guests arriving behind him, so he did not stay outside the door for too long. He slightly shrugged his shoulders and walked directly into the villa with Janet. .
The two stepped into the door of the villa and looked around.
There were about twenty guests in the hall at this time, chatting together in small groups, including many faces that Simon knew, such as New York Mayor David Dinkins, who spotted Simon and his wife at a glance.
Since the Hearst family is a die-hard supporter of the Democratic Party, it is not surprising that David Dinkins appears here.
Simon did not see the host's figure. When he saw David Dinkins and the few people he had just chatted with walking over, he smiled and greeted them.
David Dinkins also came with his wife. They greeted the Simons and his wife, and then introduced an old man and a young couple beside him: "Simon, this is John Gutver, the chairman of Salomon Brothers. Mr. Lund and his wife, Lisa.”
Salomon Brothers is a famous Wall Street investment bank in this era, as famous as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. To be precise, Salomon Brothers is now stronger than Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
Of course, this is only now.
Simon stretched out his hand and shook hands with John Gutfreund: "Nice to meet you, John."
"Hello, Simon, I've been looking forward to meeting you for a long time." John Gutfreund was also very enthusiastic. He let go of Simon's hand, shook Janet's hand again, and said, "Hello, West Mrs. Low."
Janet shook hands with Gutfreund, smiled and said, "Just call me Jane."
After everyone introduced and exchanged greetings, David Dinkins looked around: "I remember William was still here just now."
John Gutfreund seemed to suddenly notice this. He also looked around, and then said: "It seems that Tom Murphy has arrived, and they went next door."
Tom Murphy is chairman of Metropolis/ABC Group.
Simon could roughly guess what Hester and Murphy were going to talk about, and said indifferently: "I'll just wait a moment. John, David, what were you talking about just now?"
David Dinkins did not continue the topic. The Hearst family could snub this young super-rich man, but he did not have the capital. He said: "Oh, about the 'New World Order' that the President has been promoting recently. Plan, Simon, what do you think about this?”
Before Iraq invaded Kuwait at the end of July, the U.S. ambassador to Baghdad personally promised Saddam that the United States would not interfere in the dispute between Iraq and Kuwait.
However, when Iraq successfully occupied Kuwait, the Bush administration immediately forgot its promise. Not only did it quickly launch the "Desert Shield" plan to confront the Iraqi army within a week of the outbreak of the Kuwait war, then Bush began lobbying for himself at the United Nations. The "New World Order" plan calls on the United States and European countries to send troops to the Middle East in order to maintain the stability of the world oil market, drive the Iraqi army out of Saudi Arabia, and further destroy Saddam Hussein's regime.
At this time, other guests in the hall spotted Simon and came over. When they heard David Dinkins mentioning the war in the Middle East, they temporarily gave up the idea of going up to greet Simon and listened carefully to what the young man would say.
Cersei Capital has made unusually huge profits over the past six months relying on the operation of the crude oil futures market. Naturally, the guests at the scene knew that some of them were investors in Cersei Capital. If Westeros can reveal some valuable information, their trip tonight will definitely be worthwhile.
Simon glanced at everyone indifferently and said: "I think this war is probably inevitable."
Another customer in the crowd couldn't help but ask: "So, Simon, do you think gas prices will continue to rise?"
Recently, the international crude oil price has been close to 40 US dollars a barrel, basically reaching the highest point in Simon's memory.
"It should rise a little more, but I heard that the White House is planning to open up federal crude oil reserves to stabilize oil prices, and the plan may be finalized in the near future."
Simon's remarks were completely based on recent newspaper news, so someone else retorted: "It is said that there are only 20 million barrels. If calculated based on the federal crude oil consumption of millions of barrels per day, it cannot last even a week."
"The key is to stabilize the situation," Simon shrugged and said, "Besides, I haven't paid much attention to this matter recently."
Everyone continued to test a few more words, but they were all a little disappointed that they couldn't get any usable information from Simon.
Simon doesn't have the vanity to show off after being surrounded by people, and, even though it's just a few sentences, he has actually revealed some useful information, two of which the audience with keen intuition will definitely be able to spot.
First, war is inevitable, and second, Simon no longer pays attention to the crude oil futures market. Interested people can make plans based on the first point. As for the second point, Simon has no longer paid attention to this matter, which obviously proves that it is no longer feasible to continue to speculate in the crude oil market.
In recent months, countless crude oil futures brokerage companies around the world, the securities departments of energy companies, and hedge funds that made mistakes before the war have closed down due to huge losses. Crude oil futures trading has dropped to a freezing point, and the market is unlikely to recover in the short term. becomes active again, so it is difficult to carry out large-scale hedging and arbitrage.
However, probably even those who have discovered these two points will first consider the credibility of Simon's words before adding their own will.
Just like the previous operation of the crude oil futures market, and the operation of the Japanese financial market going forward, there are not a few people who can detect the operating methods of Cersei Capital, but from beginning to end, no one has been able to obtain as huge profits as Cersei Capital. The reason is that too many people trust their own judgment more than completely follow the actions of others.
Even if the other party has created a series of miracles, some people will always think that maybe this time someone will make a big mistake.
Cersei Capital was able to establish a long position worth tens of billions of dollars when crude oil prices were still falling rapidly. Other hedge funds considered the risks involved and even if they followed up, they would often reduce the proportion of positions and reduce leverage in order to avoid risks as much as possible. , the results can be imagined.
Simon continued to chat with David Dinkins and others for a few minutes, and finally a middle-aged man with a stout figure and some baldness appeared. It was William Hester III, the third generation head of the Hearst family.
Arriving in front of Simon, William Hester III looked at the young man in front of him and explained with an apologetic smile: "I'm really sorry, Simon, I was just talking about something with Tom."
Because of his slightly obese body shape and the smile on his face that makes people put down their guard easily, it is difficult for William Hearst III to give people the impression of being the heir to a century-old media family.
Simon also showed a very sincere smile, shook hands with the other party, and said: "It's okay, Mr. Hester."
William Hester III continued to greet Janet, and then introduced the sixty-year-old man next to him wearing a black suit with sharp eyes, and said: "Simon, and Jenny, this is Tom Murphy."
Simon and Janet greeted the chairman of Metropolitan/ABC Group again.
After some pleasantries, William Hester III smiled and asked everyone, "What are you talking about?"
So a group of people talked about the topic just now.
However, after they had just chatted for a while, a waiter came over and whispered a few words in William Hester III's ear, and the middle-aged man said to everyone: "I'm really sorry, I need to leave for a while, let's talk first. "
The waiter did not deliberately lower his voice. Everyone actually heard each other whisper that Mr. Buffett had arrived.
Seeing William Hester III and Tom Murphy welcoming him out together, many people's eyes subconsciously fell on Simon.
If Hester III showed up just a few minutes later, it was still reasonable, but now this kind of unabashed differential treatment can not even be described as just disrespectful. The host was so indifferent that it would not be too much for Simon to leave immediately.
Probably because of his two lifetimes, Simon discovered early on that he had some emotional deficits and was very indifferent to many things. Moreover, this indifference seems to be getting more serious as his wealth and status continue to accumulate.
Although he knew that he should be angry at this time, William Hearst III's just neglect really did not arouse much negative emotions in Simon's heart. He was just curious. Since the Hearst family invited him tonight, it should be You should not be so rude if you have the intention of making good friends.
Or maybe William Hearst III didn't think it was a faux pas.
For a super media family that even the President of the United States does not dare to easily provoke, the Hearst family does have such arrogance.
In just a moment, William Hearst III and Tom Murphy returned again, along with an old man of medium height and disheveled hair, who was none other than Warren Buffett, the head of Berkshire Hathaway.
Seeing the three of them laughing and walking towards him, Simon also took the initiative to step forward.
Before Simon could speak, Janet beside him had already spoken first this time: "Hi, Warren, do you still remember me?"
Simon, Hester III and Murphy were all surprised by Janet's sudden opening. Hester III, who was originally smiling, frowned imperceptibly.
Simon was puzzled for a moment, and then quickly remembered some past events that Catherine occasionally said about Janet a few years ago. The woman seemed to be very powerful when she was a student at Columbia University.
Warren Buffett looked at Janet carefully and said with a smile: "I remembered, you are that little girl from Columbia University."
Janet leaned her head on Simon's shoulder and said: "I am Mrs. Westeros now. Look at my man, Warren. Do you still think that your investment theory is not Grandet's accumulation of gold coins?"
"Hello, Simon," Buffett stepped forward and shook Simon's hand, and continued to Janet: "I really didn't expect you to marry Westeros, but according to my observations in recent years, Simon's rise has been at a perfect pace. It can only be described as a miracle, and I don’t think I can create miracles, so I’d better save gold coins slowly.”
William Hester III said at this time: "Warren, do you know him?"
Warren Buffett nodded, his tone still funny, and said: "Yes, this...Mrs. Westeros, I gave a speech at Columbia University, but she made things difficult for me."
"Oh, what a coincidence."
Everyone joked a bit, but Buffett and Murphy probably had something to talk about and took the initiative to go elsewhere.
When William Hester III was free, he finally seemed to remember and said to Simon: "By the way, Simon, let me introduce you to some guests."
Simon naturally agreed.
The Hearst family has accumulated hundreds of years of heritage, and it was vividly displayed at a small party. The people who appeared in the villa tonight were basically all prominent figures in the American political and business circles. During the entertainment process, Customers kept arriving.
Finally, they had a few words with a congressman who was said to be interested in restricting foreign investors from acquiring American companies. Simon and Hester III stepped aside, while Janet had already taken the initiative to avoid them.
"Meloth will probably join several other congressmen to submit his own bill next month. We really can't let the Japanese continue to acquire our country's assets. Just as it happens, this should be a good help for you to acquire MCA, Panasonic I am worried that the acquisition may be vetoed by the Ministry of Justice, so I will definitely not be able to compete with you."
"I hope so."
Hester III directly determined that Simon was interested in acquiring MCA, and he did not deny it. However, Simon did not show much interest in the proposal of the congressman just now.
In recent years, there have been calls in the United States to prevent Japanese companies from acquiring American companies. However, given the openness of the U.S. capital market, Simon does not think that such a bill can be introduced. There is indeed no relevant bill in his memory. Hollywood belongs to the entertainment industry, and the Ministry of Justice does not The veto cannot be exercised on the pretext of 'national security'.
Seeing that Simon was not enthusiastic about this, William Hearst III turned to the topic and said: "As for the 20% stake in ESPN, Simon, Metropolis/ABC and the Hearst Group are very good partners. The two parties hold shares in each other and can play a better complementary role. Moreover, you should know that Metropolis/ABC not only has veto power over the purchaser of this equity, but even if it buys it, you will not have any say in it, so, I hope you can back out. Well... maybe we can have other opportunities to work together in the future."
Although he had already planned to give up the 20% of ESPN shares, hearing that Hearst III wanted to withdraw from the competition with just a blank check, Simon stopped being polite and said: "Actually, William, there is a good one now. Opportunities for collaboration.”
William Hester III paused, then showed an interested expression: "Tell me about it."
"I started an Internet company in Silicon Valley that provides Internet information services. Maybe you have heard of it, called Yigrit. It happens that the San Francisco Chronicle is also in San Francisco. I hope Yigrit can start from the San Francisco Chronicle. "Get some news content."
William Hester III had a clear look of hesitation on his face.
The "San Francisco Chronicle" is a very important newspaper under the Hearst Group. Its status on the West Coast is second only to the "Los Angeles Times" and can bring tens of millions of dollars in profits to the Hearst Group every year. Moreover, the competition among American print media platforms is to a large extent the competition for exclusive news. If the news content of the "San Francisco Chronicle" is shared with Eagle, if it were any other time, William Hearst III would definitely immediately reject.
However, William Hearst III also understood at this time that this was probably the bargaining chip proposed by Westeros to withdraw from the ESPN equity competition.
Recalling the discussion with Tom Murphy at the beginning of the party, and considering Simon's request at this time, William Hester III couldn't help but feel a little more dissatisfied with the young man in front of him.
Speaking of which, Hearst Group learned about Reynolds Nabisco's upcoming sale of ESPN shares earlier than Simon. However, before it had time to make a final decision, Westeros entered into a partnership with Metropolis/ABC and Reynolds. Nabisco initiated communications regarding these shares.
Hearst Group executives originally thought that in the absence of other competitors, if they wanted to buy this equity, they could probably lower the price to less than US$170 million. After all, not many investors would be interested in a 20% stake that lacked any say in the matter. interested.
However, because of the sudden involvement of the Westeros Company, the current offer price is less than US$200 million, and Reynolds Nabisco is not willing to sell at all.
The reason why Hearst Group wanted to buy this batch of shares was mainly for the tax relief agreement obtained after selling part of the group's cable TV assets in the first half of the year. The agreement stipulated that Hearst Group would purchase another cable TV company of the same type within one year. Television assets are exempt from income tax payable on the previous asset sale.
The price of 20% of ESPN's shares has increased from the expected US$170 million to US$200 million, which has completely offset the tax exemption amount of less than US$20 million in the tax relief agreement. This is also what Hearst III said after Simon's arrival today. The reason why I can't help but give him a try.
Now, this young man actually raised another bargaining chip to withdraw him from the competition.
After thinking for a moment, William Hearst III still did not refuse directly. If Westeros cannot withdraw from the deal as soon as possible and continues to entangle, and the news comes out, the price of the 20% share will only be fired higher: " Simon, I need to think about this carefully.”
Simon raised the red wine in his hand to Hester III and said: "Of course, no problem, William, I happen to be staying in New York for a few days, and I look forward to hearing your good news."