Simon returned to Los Angeles, and Veronica Johnston and Anthony Johnston also arrived in the morning.
Veronica is here to see the little one off, and Simon and his wife plan to take Melbourne with them for a while.
Anthony Johnston is on the case for the Billiton takeover.
Probably because of the release of the latest "Forbes" rich list today, reporters appeared outside the Dume Point Manor again. Simon's car entered the gate, and flash lights lit up all around. Some reporters even tried to take pictures through the car window. There's just nothing to gain from the one-way glass block.
The car stopped in front of Shell Villa, and Anthony Johnston appeared at the door.
Simon got out of the car and hugged Anthony: "Tony, how are you doing?"
"Not bad," Anthony hugged Simon, patted him on the shoulder after letting go, and said with a smile: "Also, congratulations, you are the world's first billionaire."
"Thank you," Simon smiled and entered the villa with Anthony, and asked, "Where are they?"
"It's all in there."
As they talked, the two of them were guided by the Indian girl who came over to a showroom on the east side of the villa hall.
This is the room that Janet specially developed and designed to store the various awards Simon has won over the years and other commemorative items.
As soon as I approached the showroom, I heard an irregular "clanging" sound. After entering, I found a little guy lying on the stand holding the flame guitar that Simon once used in Madonna's concert, plucking randomly with his little hands. Move the strings and have a great time.
Now of course there is no flames coming out.
Janet and Veronica were standing by and noticed Simon coming in. Veronica took the initiative to pick up the reluctant little guy from the table, hesitated for a moment, then put it on the floor again, squatted down and gently He pushed the child towards Simon and said, "Mer, daddy is back, call daddy."
Because of the frequent video calls, Melbourne's expression when looking at Simon didn't look unfamiliar, but he was obviously not interested in the guy in front of him. After looking at it for a few times, he turned around and crawled into Veronica's arms, pointing again with his little hand. Pointing to the blazing guitar next to him.
The little guy got close, and Veronica hugged the child almost instinctively, and then looked at Simon carefully. She knew that Simon didn't like that she always held the child in her arms.
It’s just that I can’t bear to let go.
Simon stepped forward and took the child from Veronica's hand. The father and son looked at each other with big eyes and small eyes for a moment. Unmoved by the little kid's tearful and pitiful expression, he quickly handed it over to Isabel and Zoe next to him. A maid said: "Take him out to play." Seeing that Isabel also wanted to pick up the little guy, she added: "No, he can walk by himself."
Everyone watched the little guy asking for help from Veronica with pitiful little eyes while being obediently held by Isabel's little hand and walking out. When the child left the showroom, Janet finally laughed and held Veronica's arm. Overjoyed, he said: "Moer is very smart and knows who the big devil is here."
Veronica looked at the door worriedly and whispered: "Moer is still young."
"Not young, he will be two years old in a few months," Janet said, leading her aunt out and saying, "We are going to prepare lunch. Don't worry, Isa and Zoe will take good care of the children." . By the way, Simon, is A back? Is there anything else I want to ask her? "
Simon nodded: "Outside."
After everyone else left, Simon and Anthony sat down directly on the sofa in a corner of the showroom. After Aaliyah came in with coffee and left, Anthony said: "Auntie is indeed a little too doting on Moer, and so is dad. But, you also Don’t be too strict with him, the child is not yet two years old.”
Simon smiled and asked: "What were you like when you were a child?"
Anthony was stunned for a moment, shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I don't remember much when Moore was this old. But, hey, from the time I can remember, my father was very strict with me and Norman, and my grandfather was still the same at that time. Well, Probably starting from Jenny, I didn’t care much about Jenny, David, and Pat. I actually envy my three younger siblings.”
Simon shook his head slightly and said honestly: "I don't know how to teach children. This will mainly be Jenny's business in the future. However, I think they should know that the world is not responsive to their requests. They should know how to give and how to restrain. For us For a family like this, I think it’s very important.”
Anthony said with a hint of joking in his tone: "I just thought you might be a little envious of Moore."
Simon was stunned for a moment, didn't say anything, and picked up the coffee next to him.
Anthony soon realized that he had made a mistake and changed the topic: "Although Igret has the upper hand in the 58list matter this time, it will still be very troublesome in the future, right?"
Simon also quickly forgot what happened just now, nodded and said: "The relationship with the print media will be somewhat tense in the future."
"Dad has also been paying attention to this matter recently. He asked me to tell you that Australia should not open a similar website."
Simon agreed: "No, Murdoch actually mentioned it to me."
The situation is different here in Australia and North America.
There are currently more than 2,800 newspapers, large and small, in the entire federation. Although there are large paper media giants such as Hearst Corporation, Condé Nast, The Washington Post Group, and the New York Times Company, their influence is ultimately relatively scattered, and even The New York Times, which currently has the largest circulation, only has about 1.2 million readers per day.
Even as they become more and more aware of the threat of Internet media, the number is too huge, and it is impossible for the paper media group to unite as a team to fight against Igret.
Moreover, the Yigrit Portal has more than 20 million active users in a single day, which means that even if someone wants to attack, Simon has enough power to fight back. This time around the 58list incident, the paper media was very aggressive, but in terms of public opinion, Internet users, guided by the Yigrit portal, basically stood on the side of the Internet.
It's different in Australia.
Simon has always maintained a friendly attitude towards the media forces in Australia, and the cooperation between the two parties is also very close.
Moreover, the two major media forces, News Corporation and Fairfax Group, basically monopolize the print media in Australia and New Zealand.
Classified information advertising also accounts for a large proportion of revenue in the Australian print media industry.
If the Australian branch of Igret also launches classified information advertising business there, News Corporation and Fairfax Group will definitely join forces to besiege Igret. This is equivalent to the entire Australian print media launching their efforts at the same time, even if Simon is not afraid of this kind of confrontation, but the fact that several parties have turned from original allies into enemies is really not worth the loss.
Speaking of which, even if Yigrit does not open a classified information website in Australia, with reference from North America, someone will definitely develop a similar project there.
But this has nothing to do with Ygritte.
Anthony was relieved to hear that Simon had no such plan.
If the Australian media overwhelmingly obstructs the Billiton merger plan that has been promoted recently through public opinion, then the Johnston family will have no chance of completing the acquisition.
Thinking about this, Anthony asked again: "Daenerys Entertainment's film promotion work should also rely heavily on traditional paper media, right? How do you plan to deal with it?"
"This is the same as the exchanges between countries. Two countries, especially between big countries, have always had conflicts but also maintained cooperation. Although Igrit exists, the paper media wants to make money from Daenerys Entertainment. For advertising fees, we must maintain a certain friendly attitude. In addition, the Yigret portal not only has its own movie section, we have also invested in some movie review websites in the past two years, which is enough to ensure the word-of-mouth publicity of the company's films."
The main influence of print media on movies is actually word of mouth.
Many cases have proven that word-of-mouth is not that important to a movie's box office impact. The key is popularity.
Even if it's a movie with rave reviews, if it's popular enough, it won't be too bad at the box office.
In the current film distribution process, the most important channel to promote popularity has turned to TV advertising.
Internet media and the television industry have not yet had many conflicts of interest, so there is no need to worry too much in this regard. What's more, within a few years, Daenerys Entertainment will also complete its own layout of the TV network.
After confirming that Simon had his own considerations on these matters, Anthony said no more and said: "Before coming, my father asked me to tell you that the current scale of the Westeros system is too huge, and some things should be let go. You have to let go. Many people just didn't react before, but now they find that the interests of the Internet industry are getting bigger and bigger, and they won't allow you to monopolize it by yourself." Anthony said, laughed again, and said: "Actually, dad also sees it. You have been trying to give up benefits to avoid risks, but this is not enough, just like the 10% of Yigret shares transferred last time, it is difficult to satisfy the appetite of established capital."
"I also know," Simon said, "So, I won't give in for a while."
"Um."
"Since no matter how much I give out, some people are bound to be dissatisfied, so I won't give it at all," Simon said: "It's hard for people to cherish things that are too easy to get, so my next plan is to let them take the initiative. Rob."
Anthony was stunned for a moment, and after a moment he understood a little, and said: "This time the 58list?"
Simon nodded: "Someone within Igret has proposed a classified information website plan two years ago. I understand that the launch of this plan will impact the important business of traditional paper media, so I have been suppressing it. I don't plan to suppress it now. Next In a few years, I plan to let Ygritte and the entire Westeros system completely start to grow wildly, and take down all the areas that can be involved. Future things and future troubles will be dealt with after they are encountered."
In fact, the entire World Wide Web is actually an invention of Igret.
The key to why Simon was able to complete the complete layout of the entire Internet industry chain through Cisco, AOL and Igret was this, and no one thought it was inappropriate at the beginning. The Westeros system has invested huge sums of money to create technology, and it is completely natural to enjoy exclusive rights.
It's just that the scale of the Internet industry is getting bigger and bigger, so more and more people will no longer take it for granted.
Therefore, even if he has been trying to restrain himself as much as possible, there are always more and more news mentioning the Westeros system's intention to monopolize the Internet, and Simon has no intention of restraining anymore.
58list is just one of the other initial projects that has had the greatest impact on traditional print media.
After receiving $1.5 billion in funding from Goldman Sachs and Morgan, Simon has recently invested in a large number of start-up projects through Eagle Capital, which specializes in venture capital.
eBay, an online auction website, plans are selected from many venture capital projects. Just like 58list, the name comes from Simon's personal preference.
Broadcast, an online radio website, conducts live radio broadcasts through online mode, and its name also comes from Simon's memory. In the original time and space, Broadcast was a complete failure. It was only acquired by Yahoo for billions of dollars at the peak of the Internet bubble. Yahoo equivalently acquired a bunch of worthless mess, but the founders and investors made a lot of money. earned a lot. Simon's plan this time is also to cash out at the right opportunity.
iPets, a pet food sales website, is similar to Amazon’s e-commerce.
IMDB, the Internet Movie Information Database, was founded in 1990 and was recently fully acquired by Igret Capital. It continues to maintain a completely free model while providing online movie data to Amazon and Blockbuster Online.
iMap, as the name suggests, is an online map website.
Etc., etc.
All calculated, in just the past few months after completing 10% of the equity financing of Yigret, Yigret has continuously invested in more than 20 start-up companies. This does not include the projects that have been invested in the past and are in the operational stage. Simon's purpose is to take advantage of the crazy period when the Internet industry is about to explode in all directions, to maximize the barbaric growth of Ygriet Company, or in other words, to promote the barbaric growth of the entire World Wide Web platform.
Led by Ygriet, the crazy influx of venture capital into the Internet industry has reached billions of dollars in recent months. In today's Silicon Valley, as long as you can come up with a barely passable business plan, Millions or even tens of millions of dollars of investment can be easily attracted.
While letting Ygritte, Cisco, AOL and even the entire Westeros system grow wildly, all Simon was left with was waiting.
there is always a solution to a problem.
He now has a net worth of hundreds of billions of dollars, but his economic strength alone has exceeded that of the Rockefeller family at its peak. The scale of assets controlled by the entire Westeros system is even larger. In addition, whether in terms of public opinion platform or political connections, Victoria has Stroll's system has already accumulated considerable accumulation, and Simon no longer needs to be as cautious as before.
Next, if someone wants to get involved in the areas controlled by the Westeros system, they must either show enough sincerity or show strong strength.
If you have neither sincerity nor strength, then just go and cool off.
If possible, Simon certainly hopes that the Westeros system can continue to expand quietly and steadily, and unknowingly become a giant that no one can shake.
However, with the current scale of the Westeros system, it is simply impossible to keep a low profile.
In this case, you should show your edge as much as possible.
Anthony always felt that Simon had a maturity that was not commensurate with his age. This kind of maturity could not be said to be good or bad. Now, after Simon's words just now, he finally realized that his brother-in-law should be sharp and assertive as a young man. .
"In this case, you will definitely not get the funds to acquire Billiton by reducing your stock holdings?"
In the initial discussions, Simon mentioned that he might raise funds for the acquisition of Billiton by reducing his holdings in some technology company stocks held by the Westeros system.
Since Simon's mentality has suddenly changed significantly, he will definitely not take the initiative to reduce his stock holdings in the near future.
Simon nodded and said: "The Clinton administration is pushing for capital gains tax reform and intends to return to the graded tax system based on the investment period before the Reagan era. If Igret cashes out now, it will definitely affect the passage of this bill. Therefore, in recent years, I plan to obtain all the needed funds through loans. The current debt ratio of the Westeros system is still very low, and it will be no problem even if another one to two billion US dollars is lent."
After the Reagan tax reform that year, the capital gains tax rate was fixed at 28%.
Simon paid high taxes at this rate for several consecutive operations in the capital market. During the acquisition of MCA and Bell Atlantic, it also used this as a bargaining chip in exchange for federal approval of the acquisition.
Now, the technology stocks held by Ygriet Company continue to rise. If Westeros System announces the reduction of its holdings, it will be very conspicuous and will definitely become an excuse for many people to obstruct the Clinton administration's reform of capital gains tax.
According to news from Washington, the capital gains tax reform bill can be passed before the midterm elections at the end of next year at the latest.
Once the bill is passed, the capital gains tax will be divided into several brackets based on the investment cycle, with the lowest being approximately 15% for an investment cycle exceeding 18 months. By then, the technology stocks that the Westeros system wants to reduce its holdings will basically meet the minimum capital gains tax bracket.