"Simon, in fact, I really don't want your money. I know you want to push me to the front to resist the pressure of public opinion. It seems that I can no longer escape this fate. So, in exchange, talk about your views on Russia. What do you think?"
An estate in the northern suburbs of Greenwich.
After lunch, the work schedule continued, and Simon was entertaining George Soros.
Actions against Southeast Asia have already begun, and the hedging team under Cersei Capital is also planning.
In order to minimize the operation volume of Cersei Capital and avoid being targeted by Asian countries and making it difficult to do business in the future, Simon hopes to put part of the funds into Soros's Quantum Fund. The two parties have already negotiated an investment of US$3 billion. protocol. After all, he is a big customer, and the follow-up of the Westeros system has a different meaning. Soros took the initiative to give a good discount in terms of management fees and commissions.
The financial tycoon is just whining at this point.
During the financial turmoil in Southeast Asia, Soros became the target of many criticisms, but to be honest, this hedge fund tycoon was more of a shield launched by the West to attract firepower. There are countless safari capitals following this giant crocodile. These capitals hunt wildly, wipe the blood from their mouths at will, and in the blink of an eye they can jump out as saviors and start a second harvest in Southeast Asia.
Simon would rather be a 'noble' savior.
The two had just discussed some details of the layout of Southeast Asia. Simon heard Soros mention Russia, and stared at him with bright eyes. He rubbed the coffee cup in his hand and said: "George, what do you want to know about my views on Russia? "
"Political prospects," Soros said, then added: "I know you have been to Russia some time ago, and the Westeros system has always had various layouts in Russia, but I don't understand what exactly you want to do?"
"The political prospects are obvious. With our joint efforts, Yeltsin can be re-elected this time, and then everyone can happily privatize Russia's large state-owned enterprises and divide the benefits."
Soros felt the joking in Simon's tone, and his expression became more cautious: "Simon, don't you think it is a good idea to permanently eliminate the hidden danger of Russia?"
"These are actually two questions, George," Simon also said seriously, "Can we do it, and do we need to do it?"
"Um?"
Just as Simon was about to continue speaking, a girl in a light pink straight skirt came over holding a pot of coffee. Seeing the two of them looking at him, she felt a little embarrassed, so she raised the coffee pot in her hand.
Watching the girl refill the coffee for the two of them, Simon said to the confused Soros: "This is Gemma, Sophia's daughter."
Soros naturally knew about Sofia Fesi, and the slight displeasure in his expression immediately turned into kindness, and he smiled and nodded to the girl.
Simon said to Gemma again: "This is Mr. Soros, a very powerful financier."
Gemma put down the coffee pot and called out obediently: "Hello, Mr. Soros, nice to meet you. Simon and mother have talked about you. You were the first person to beat the pound."
Soros shook hands with the little girl: "Hello, Gemma, you can call me George. Also, you are so beautiful."
"Thanks."
After the two greeted each other, Simon said to Gemma: "I will leave at about four o'clock. Do you want to go to Los Angeles to watch the 007 premiere together?"
Gemma didn't sit down, looked at Simon and said, "I just came over to say hello to you, so I'm not going. Besides, I still have homework."
"Put aside your homework. Beautiful girls need to do their homework. There are also some people who will go with you. You can also bring a few friends and spend a few days on the west coast."
"It's better not to, Danny went to summer training camp, I can't leave my grandparents running around too."
Gemma's expression changed slightly, but she still refused. She leaned over and hugged Simon, said goodbye to Soros, picked up another empty coffee pot, and turned to leave.
After Gemma disappeared, Soros complimented him and brought the topic back to just now: "Simon, what are the two questions you mentioned?"
"Yeah, two questions," Simon said after sorting out his thoughts: "First of all, since the Tsarist era, Russia has maintained a strong power for hundreds of years, which means that this country has a deep-rooted power. Gene, this sounds a bit elusive, but it is a fact that cannot be ignored. It is destined that Russia will not completely fall. Moreover, more realistically, even if the Soviet Union has disintegrated, Russia’s heritage is still there, and it is a nuclear weapons power, so it is also very important. It is difficult to continuously dismember and indirectly control it according to your ideas."
Soros thought for a while and said: "Simon, I think nothing is eternal. How will you know if you don't try it?"
"This is the second question," Simon took a sip of coffee and continued: "Do we need to do this? There is a philosophical saying in China, to the effect that a country in a state of constant vigilance and worry is more likely to It is easy to survive, but if there is a lack of enemies and a long-term peace and slack, it may perish at any time.”
"I understand, Simon, you want to save Russia as a strategic rival?"
"That's right."
"Simon, I think the United States will never lack strategic opponents, such as China you just mentioned. And in my opinion, Russia is a rather uncertain and dangerous country."
Simon shook his head and said: "Times have changed, George, it is not hundreds of years ago, or even decades ago. The world has formed an international order that will be quite stable for a long time to come, so you don't We need to consider some things according to the thinking of decades ago. Unless the leader of Russia is a lunatic in the future, this country will inevitably follow the existing international order as much as possible. Even if it violates it, it will be punished accordingly. "
Soros thought seriously for a moment and said again: "Simon, I still stick to my point of view."
Simon smiled and nodded: "Of course, you can implement your plan, and I will implement mine. There is no conflict, and there is not even a conflict of interest between us, because I will not go there in the next few years. Fight more for Russia’s state-owned assets.”
Historically, Soros began betting heavily on Russia after Yeltsin was re-elected.
During the last secret meeting, Yeltsin's daughter Tatyana mentioned that she wanted to give Simon the privatized shares of the Russian telecom giant as a gift. In the original time and space, it was the Russian oligarch Potanin who pocketed the money with the huge financial support provided by Soros. In addition to eating a lot of To privatize shares, Soros also purchased a large amount of Russian government bonds and corporate bonds.
It was not until 1998 that the Russian economy hit rock bottom and even experienced a rare default on its national debt. As a result, Soros, who had just been high-spirited in Southeast Asia, returned from Russia after losing billions of dollars.
From Simon's current perspective, what Soros did was actually a kind of economic penetration. While making profits, he also tried to control the country by controlling the Russian economy at the strategic level.
Simon is actually doing the same thing.
Soros ended in failure, which can be regarded as a negative case for Simon.
The main thing is to do what you can.
For big countries, do not expect absolute control, but strive for more influence step by step. As for a small country like Ukraine that is doomed to fall, only then can we talk about control. After all, this kind of country that has been deceived to the point of abandoning its martial arts and becoming a fragmented country can only be reduced to a standard pawn in the game between great powers.
Even if the game goes wrong, neither party will take it seriously.
After sending Soros away, Celia Miller, who had returned from Europe, reported to Simon the results of her negotiations with France.
The Chirac authorities basically agreed to Simon's request.
A senior French military official who has been quietly working on things for two years will retire in the near future, and Paris has promised that there will be no more entanglements. At the same time, the Chirac authorities also asked Simon to stop supporting Rwanda's continued troubles in the international community and let this matter go away.
Simon certainly had no objections.
This matter seems to have reached a good ending, but both parties actually know that it cannot be completely ended.
Just like the French side did not mention the evidence of the confessions of the captured soldiers of the French advisory group that Simon kept in his hands, because they knew they would never come back, so they did not waste their words.
What happens next, we’ll talk about it later.
It’s nothing more than you coming and me going.
After talking about this matter, Simon and his entourage rushed to JFK International Airport by helicopter, where the Boeing 767 crew was already waiting to take off.
Others are waiting.
After the previous few times, Jerry Hall's daughter Elizabeth was already familiar with the business. It happened to be summer vacation, and a certain unscrupulous little girl who was accustomed to calling Simon dad once again brought a group of friends to fly on Simon's private plane to Los Angeles to participate in " The premiere of 007: Spectre.
This time there were no other parents except Jerry Hall.
On the contrary, Jerry Hall has raised three children, and then there is a group of girls and liars that he is already familiar with, such as the Hilton sisters, the Kardashian sisters, etc., chattering together,
After a little exploration, you will understand why they can mix together.
She is obviously a group of rebellious girls who are not very motivated. The photo of her smoking in public with her head on her head when she was a teenager has been widely circulated. This can tell which group she belongs to in Manhattan. And like Sofia's daughter Gemma or Grace's daughter Rita, they are either good girls or very motivated, which is not something they can play with.
When the private plane took off from JFK International Airport, after leaving the two younger children in the care of the maid and explaining the girls playing in the middle cabin, Jerry Hall came to the front cabin and saw Simon sitting in the porthole of the living room. There was a document flipping through on the sofa next to him, and he looked a little lost in thought. He leaned over and sat on the man's lap, put his arms around his neck and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Simon put his arms around the woman's waist, put the folder on those amazing long legs, and said casually: "I was wondering why there are no good children to play with me, they are all unmotivated little girls."
Jerry Hall laughed and said: "Liz and the others are still young, and they are already very good. Speaking of which, Liz also opened a channel on the YouTube platform, which already has more than 600,000 fans. Her current pocket money I don’t even need to give you any money.”
Simon nodded.
Jerry Hall glanced at the document in the man's hand. Seeing that Simon didn't seem to care, he looked at it a few more times and then said, "This is... um, are you planning to acquire the newspaper assets of the Hearst Group?"
The document in hand is an asset sale plan for the Hearst Group. The Hearst family, which has been in an increasingly dire situation in the past two years, plans to sell another batch of newspapers, and Goldman Sachs is responsible for the project.
Then naturally it fell into Simon's hands.
Shaking his head, Simon said: "Just looking."
Simon has never planned to completely let go of the Hearst Group, so he has been keeping an eye on it intentionally or unintentionally. With his unique prophetic advantage, Simon only needs to ensure that this family does not go on the right path, and decline is inevitable.
Just like two years ago, Simon had divested the Hearst Corporation of all its cable TV assets that later accounted for more than half of the family's assets and had long-term growth potential, especially its stake in ESPN. Now, the Hearst family is simply trapped in a world doomed to decline. of print media.
Due to the chain reaction brought about by the Westeros system, the Hearst Group declined faster than the print media environment. For example, the most valuable "San Francisco Chronicle" under the Hearst Group is second only to the "Los Angeles Times" in California. ", the second largest newspaper, has begun to suffer losses since 1996, and its value has shrunk significantly.
In a few years, even bankruptcy is not impossible.
In order to prevent the dog from jumping over the wall and the fish to die, Simon has not made any big moves, and has been slowly suppressing it like boiling a frog in warm water. Even in the end, the Hearst family was still able to retain considerable assets, enough to maintain a relatively comfortable life, but this family In American society, there will no longer be the kind of media voice that could even start a war.
Jerry Hall, who was well aware of Simon's entanglement with the Hearst family, didn't ask any more questions. He chatted with the man about some recent events, and after a while, he leaned into his ear and said, "How about we go to the bedroom, four of you?" Hours later.”
Four hours is really not a long time.
When the Boeing 767 landed at Los Angeles International Airport, it was five o'clock in the afternoon on the West Coast.
The red carpet for the premiere of "Spectre" also started at 5 p.m.
Simon didn't plan to walk on the red carpet, so he wasn't in a hurry. However, Jerry Hall wanted to take this opportunity to show his face, so he got dressed up on the plane, got off the plane, and took the extended limousine directly to the city center. Holy Civic Auditorium.
Choosing the Sacred Civic Auditorium to host the premiere of "Spectre" instead of the usual Hollywood Chinese Theater is also a big move by MGM.
This was the beginning of a new phase for MGM.
There is no room for error.
So give it your all.
Simon and a group of girls playing around took a few other cars, but he did not indulge these girls' request to go to the red carpet. They were all big stars, so it would be too imprudent to let a group of girls go.
Arrive at the Sacred Civic Auditorium and enter directly through the back door.
The girls ran to sit down. Simon did not walk on the red carpet, but still had to cooperate in taking a few publicity photos. He came to a media area in the auditorium with Shirley Lansing. After posing for photos, he was chatting with Lansing. The big Arnold... Schwarzenegger came over with his wife and greeted Simon enthusiastically and somewhat flatteringly.
Simon knew why Schwarzenegger came to the premiere.
It's still a matter of "Terminator" copyright.
After the failure of "The Order" and the overall environment in Hollywood, in order to avoid falling in popularity, Schwarzenegger thought of restarting the "Terminator" series again.
Simon considered it and agreed to transfer the filming rights.
This matter was almost settled, but because the partner Schwarzenegger found was Disney controlled by Vivendi, the French side made some small moves a few days ago and deliberately blocked the screening of films related to Daenerys Entertainment in France. , Simon retaliated with tit-for-tat and directly shelved the copyright negotiations for "Terminator".
Now that things are settled in France, it's time to relax.