Globally, not to mention those large chaebols controlled by the government or monopolizing private companies, only in terms of listed companies, before the IPO of Daenerys Entertainment Group, the highest market value in the history of listed companies occurred in Japan five years ago.
At the peak of the economic bubble, the market capitalization of Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Company (NTT) once reached 21.5 trillion yen, which was roughly equivalent to US$160 billion based on the exchange rate of about 1:130 USD/JPY that year.
At that time, all Japanese corporate giants ranking closely behind NTT were banks.
At its peak, the market value of Industrial Bank of Japan also exceeded 100 billion U.S. dollars. Other Japanese banking giants such as Sumitomo Bank, Fuji Bank, and Daiichi Banking also overwhelmed major American companies. Among them, Daiichi Banking, which ranked fifth, The highest market value reached 8.6 trillion yen, equivalent to US$66 billion.
In recent years, as the Japanese stock market and property market bubbles have burst, the Bank of Japan has been the first to bear the brunt.
The bursting of Japan's property market bubble has brought trillions of yen of bad debts to Japan's major banks, causing many banks to be on the verge of bankruptcy and their market values plummeting.
As for NTT, three years ago, Japan imitated the United States and split up NTT. Coupled with the continuous decline of the Japanese stock market in recent years, the market value of NTT, a monopolistic telecommunications giant, has also shrunk severely. At this stage, although it still maintains the market value of Japanese companies In the first place, NTT's market value is only 6.3 trillion yen, which is equivalent to 61.1 billion U.S. dollars based on the exchange rate of 1:103 after the recent continued appreciation of the yen against the U.S. dollar.
Even after the economic bubble burst, Japan is still the world's second largest economy after the United States.
The market value of Japanese companies is still like this. European countries that fell into economic recession after the currency crisis in 1992 have no listed companies that can compete with Daenerys Entertainment Group.
Therefore, although it is not the first corporate giant in global history with a market value exceeding 100 billion U.S. dollars, Daenerys Entertainment's market value of 112.8 billion U.S. dollars on the first day of listing has become the only company in the world with a market value of 100 billion U.S. dollars at this stage.
The share price of Daenerys Entertainment Group surged on the day it went public, severely impacting the entire Hollywood entertainment sector.
Throughout the trading day on July 1, Hollywood's other six.
Time Warner Group shares fell 3.1%, with a closing market value of $17.9 billion;
Disney's stock price fell 5.3%, with a closing market value of $6.7 billion;
MGM shares fell 1.7%, with a closing market value of $2.7 billion;
The stock price of Fox Film parent company News Corporation fell 4.1% that day, with a closing market value of US$9.6 billion;
The stock price of Seagram Group, the parent company of Paramount, fell 6.1% that day, with a closing market value of US$13.7 billion;
Even Sony, the parent company of Columbia Pictures, saw its stock price fall by 3.7% that day, with a closing market value of US$21.5 billion.
Therefore, apart from Daenerys Entertainment, the other six traditional giants in Hollywood, even if considered as the assets of the entire parent company, the total value is only US$72.1 billion, which is only equivalent to 63% of the market value of Daenerys Entertainment Group on the first day of listing. .
Simon really doesn’t want the situation of one superpower and multiple superpowers in Hollywood to appear too soon, so he has supported Time Warner either explicitly or covertly in recent years. Now, in terms of corporate market value alone, this actual situation of one superpower and multiple superpowers has not only taken shape, And the combined strength of the other six companies is not even as strong as Daenerys Entertainment.
As a relatively open and competitive Hollywood film industry, the current situation can only be described as a miracle.
In any case, it may be very difficult for outsiders to break into Hollywood. For Hollywood natives, the seven major film companies have equal opportunities to enjoy this market. For example, this summer, each major film company can launch multiple movies. Home-produced videos.
There is no shortage of opportunities and no shortage of markets. If the films you produce do not perform well in the market, you can't blame others.
Therefore, although Daenerys Entertainment Group alone suppresses all the edges of the other six major Hollywood companies, unless it is a mess, the other six major companies do not have many excuses to accuse Daenerys of entertainment monopoly or other unfair competition practices. .
Of course, the executives of several other major Hollywood film companies have secretly considered jointly targeting Daenerys Entertainment.
It's a pity that Daenerys Entertainment's rise is too fast. When some people plan to snipe Daenerys Entertainment according to the 'wild boar' standard, in the blink of an eye, the company has turned into an 'elephant'.
Now, having just experienced the Hearst Group incident, not only the media industry, but also no company in Hollywood dares to make any small moves against Daenerys Entertainment easily.
What's more, even if a group of 'wild boars' all unite, it is unlikely that they can overturn an 'elephant'. Moreover, this 'elephant' will not kill them all, but will occasionally give up some. food'. Therefore, although everyone's livelihood has obviously become much more difficult, in this movie market that is constantly recovering and prospering, life can still be managed.
Everyone has varying degrees of inertia. Enterprises are controlled by people, so naturally.
Since they are not forced into a desperate situation and the difference in strength is too great, the situation in Hollywood can be considered stable for the time being.
Outside of Hollywood, on the last trading day before the Independence Day holiday, not only did Daenerys Entertainment surge on its first day of trading, it directly overturned the old industrial giant General Electric, taking with it two other stars of the Westeros system. The stock prices of listed companies Cisco and America Online also rose by 7.1% and 5.6% respectively on that day, with closing market values of US$76.4 billion and US$65.9 billion respectively.
In just one day, the Westeros System accounted for three of the top five market capitalization lists of U.S. listed companies.
The total market value of the three companies reached an astonishing US$255.1 billion!
According to the Westeros Company's shareholding ratio in the three companies, these three companies alone have contributed US$170.7 billion to Simon's personal wealth.
Three months ago, the media just announced that Simon's personal wealth exceeded US$200 billion.
Now, Simon's personal wealth of US$170.7 billion is close to this figure just because he holds stocks in Daenerys, Cisco and AOL.
In addition, the Westeros system also owns Cersei Capital, Melisandre Corporation, Igrit Corporation, Verizon Telecom and other companies, of which the market value potential is no less than that of Cisco and AOL's I The general valuation of Gretel Corporation has reached 50 billion U.S. dollars, and the stocks of technology companies such as Microsoft, Intel, Oracle, and SUN held heavily by Westeros Corporation are also valuable.
All these assets combined are definitely more than another $100 billion.
Although the Westeros system specifically informed many mainstream media groups in the United States, over the following weekend, many second- and third-tier newspapers in order to attract attention still gave Simon's latest personal net worth.
And it was directly increased by another order of magnitude.
$300 billion!
This is a valuation generally recognized by most media outlets that give similar valuations.
Not exactly, but just enough.
After all, just Daenerys, Cisco and AOL have contributed more than 170 billion US dollars in personal wealth to Simon Westeros. The total value of many other companies and assets in the Westeros system, excluding debt, is then converted into US$130 billion is obviously more than enough.
According to economic data in the first half of the year, officials estimate that U.S. GDP in 1994 will be around $7.2 trillion.
Now, Simon Westeros's personal wealth of US$300 billion is equivalent to 4.1% of the US GDP, far exceeding the 1.5% GDP share of the Rockefeller family at its peak.
Rockefeller and Morgan were once credited with controlling the entire American existence.
This time, the rapidly rising Westeros system has also penetrated into many aspects of American public life in just eight years. The most important and sensitive one is the control of American public audio-visual entertainment resources.
Therefore, compared with the one-sided crusade by the American media after the London girl incident broke out in March, this time, any attentive public can feel that the North American media, especially the large media with wide influence, has a negative attitude toward Simon Westeros. A 'cold' attitude as personal wealth reaches new heights.
American media and public opinion have a great influence on the direction of federal policy.
Many times, just one heavyweight article in a major newspaper such as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times or Washington Post can lead to the adoption of some federal government bills.
The large-scale mainstream media showed a cold attitude. Even if Simon's personal wealth of more than 300 billion US dollars triggered many people's subconscious hatred against rich people, without the gathering and guidance of public opinion, it would not cause too many negative consequences.
However, although the more influential mainstream media did not hype this matter because of their interest in the Westeros system or just out of fear, the birth of the first US$300 billion super-rich man in the history of the United States and even the world triggered a lot of controversy. The hustle and bustle is still not comparable to ordinary social events.
After all, it is impossible for newspapers and televisions with any influence to say nothing about Daenerys Entertainment’s listing and Simon’s personal net worth reaching a new high.
Simon is just trying his best to control the media not to lead public sentiment to the opposite of the Westeros system. For major newspapers that can influence the direction of federal policy, he only requires that the exposure be minimized, but it is impossible to let countless newspapers in the United States, TV, radio and other media platforms all shut up.
Of course, with the lessons learned from Hearst Group, most media did not dare to rashly criticize Simon's growing personal wealth accumulation, but they spared no effort in using this topic to boost sales or ratings.
The mainstream media is conservative, but many politicians in the US government have no such scruples, especially those congressional candidates who are aware that they have been included in the Westeros system's sniper list for this year's midterm elections.
A group of politicians, led by Wisconsin Senator Craig Ames, jumped out again and spared no effort to exaggerate the threat that the increasingly large Westeros system posed to the U.S. economy, demanding that the federal government take immediate measures. Limiting Simon's personal wealth as it continues to grow unchecked.
Congressman David Meloth, who was supported by the Hearst family, had previously attempted to establish a House special investigative committee on the Westeros system but had failed.
However, Craig Ames followed David Meros's thinking and once again promoted the original 'asset tax' bill. At the same time, the politician also contacted a group of congressmen and asked for a vote in the Senate. A special investigation committee was established, and this time the goal is still to investigate the monopoly of the three Internet giants "Cisco-AOL-Igret" on the emerging Internet industry.
As for Daenerys Entertainment Group, although this company is already very large, there is not much that can be criticized under various federal laws.
In this world, unless a person is so mediocre that he has no sense of existence, if he has friends, he must have enemies.
Simon knows very well that even the federal media is definitely not as peaceful about the Westeros system as it seems at this time. The reason for this is mainly because it is difficult to cause any fundamental damage to the Westeros system by hyping up the current news hot spots. On the contrary, once the force comes to the fore, some flowers and plants may be trampled to death by the huge Westeros system.
If a suitable opportunity arises, Simon can be sure that many media will jump on it and push the wall down.
As for politics.
In a capital society like the United States, politicians are usually not willing to provoke the super-rich, but this is never the case. When the rich themselves reveal their flaws or block their political career, their nature is definitely worse than that of ordinary people. Politicians who are too aggressive will do anything they can.
Moreover, the Westeros system has risen too fast and its foundation is too shallow, which has also given many politicians opportunities to take advantage of.
The following weekend, news came from Washington.
The U.S. Department of Justice will formally launch an investigation in the near future into the alleged monopoly of the Internet industry by three companies in the Westeros system: Cisco, America Online, and Igrit.
Unlike the FBI, the White House has strong control over the Department of Justice.
However, many political opponents continue to attack the Clinton administration for deliberately protecting the Westeros system. If the Department of Justice takes action against the Westeros system after Congress, the accusations of some politicians will be more solid. In the past two years, The White House, which does not have a good reputation to begin with, will become even more passive.
Therefore, Clinton must act before Congress.
Simon was prepared for this.
A rough plan has even been made.
The biggest feature of antitrust investigations in the United States is that they are protracted. It doesn’t even take Simon too long. Even in two or three years, the three companies’ layout in the Internet industry will be completely entrenched. At that time, even if it is split again, it will actually be like the ATT split case back then. Although one giant was split into seven companies, the market structure will actually still be monopolized by princes.
After July 1, there will be three consecutive days of Independence Day holiday.
Despite the disturbances from the outside world, within the Westeros system, this increasingly huge business machine is still running at a high speed.
This IPO has significantly boosted the morale of Daenerys Entertainment Group employees.
The 35 million shares of Daenerys Entertainment held by Amy Pascal increased in value to a huge US$1.67 billion on the day of listing. Counting the past accumulation of this female executive, Amy Pascal's personal net worth has reached 20 billion, becoming one of the richest people in this era.
Nancy Brill, Robert Egger, Mark Belford, Danny Morris and Ella Deutsch, the five core managers of Daenerys Entertainment Group, rely on hundreds of millions of shares they hold. Ten thousand corporate stocks, all of them became billionaires on July 1st.
Based on the closing price on the afternoon of July 1, 15 middle-level managers of Daenerys Group's companies who hold more than 200,000 shares of Daenerys Entertainment have become multi-millionaires.
Among them, Daenerys Film President Tom Pollack holds 1.5 million shares. Even if he is not squeezed into the core, his net worth is as high as 70 million U.S. dollars. This Hollywood senior person actually has no influence on Daenerys Entertainment. The senior management who contributed so much was even ridiculed by the "Hollywood Reporter" as the luckiest person in the IPO process.
In addition, 173 lower-level managers who hold more than 20,000 shares have also become millionaires.
Throughout Daenerys Entertainment, employees with some qualifications who participated in the original stock subscription all earned a lot of money during this IPO.
Before the listing, Simon distributed a total of 1.76 shares or rewards or subscriptions to employees of the entire Daenerys Entertainment Group. Based on the rough conversion of the unlisted status at the time, the average reward for each of the group's 29,000 employees was only 51,000. Dollar.
However, on the first day of listing, the total value of the original 176 million shares reached US$8.4 billion. After excluding the US$1.09 billion in internal subscription costs paid by employees, it was actually equivalent to each employee receiving a reward of US$250,000.
In the history of world business, such a generous stock award is unprecedented, if not unprecedented.
With this alone, many people are vaguely aware of why Daenerys Entertainment Group is so powerful.