Just like so many times before, the results of the 64th Academy Awards once again sparked controversy in the media.
Three female directors had been nominated for best director at the same time. In the politically correct atmosphere that had dominated the media for the past several months, no one expected this year's best-director Oscar to go to anyone but a woman.
However, in the eyes of many outlets, Barbra Streisand's win looked far more questionable when compared with the other two nominated female directors.
After all, the film that swept six out of eight nominations, The Prince of Tides, had received only a mediocre 6.8 from critics, while the other two, Thelma & Louise at 7.4 and The Piano at a stellar 9.2, clearly stood out.
Even if critic scores did not represent the Academy voters' tastes, and even if Barbra Streisand's Hollywood credentials far outshone the other two directors, awarding The Prince of Tides best director was one thing. But handing it best picture as well made the Oscars appear to have lost all sense of fairness.
Of course some media offered a more insider analysis from another angle.
These outlets argued that the real reason behind the results was that two of the three female-directed films, Thelma & Louise and The Piano, had been produced by Daenerys Entertainment.
Because of the past few years.
At the 61st Academy Awards, best picture had gone to Rain Man, a Daenerys Entertainment production.
At the 62nd, Driving Miss Daisy, also Daenerys.
At the 63rd, Dances with Wolves, again Daenerys.
Three years in a row Daenerys Entertainment had claimed the best-picture Oscar. Three times was enough. If this year the best picture and a large number of other awards had once more gone to Daenerys, the Oscars would have become the private playground of the Daenerys Entertainment group.
Even though Rain Man, Driving Miss Daisy, and Dances with Wolves had all possessed the outstanding quality needed to win best picture, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences clearly did not want the Oscars turning into Daenerys Entertainment's personal backyard.
Therefore, this time, even though Daenerys Entertainment films had still earned twenty-three nominations (excluding those released by other labels), they had walked away with only two statuettes. The outcome had been entirely predictable.
Simply put, the Academy was playing balance.
The Academy naturally denied any such balancing act. Several Academy board members and voters who knew that The Prince of Tides had been campaigned by the Highgate Pictures team felt a complicated mix of emotions.
Since the wins had still been secured through their own efforts, Daenerys of course did not stir up public doubt about the Oscars' fairness. They merely gently fanned the flames of controversy between the three films to boost their commercial potential.
The Piano and The Prince of Tides had both opened in December last year and were still in theaters.
As of last Friday, The Piano, benefiting from awards-season attention since the beginning of the year, had played in limited release for more than three months and accumulated thirty-six point three two million dollars.
Compared with its seven-million-dollar production budget, the film was on track to reach forty million before leaving theaters and could definitely be called a hit.
The Prince of Tides had reached seventy-one point five one million dollars in North America by last Friday.
With Barbra Streisand directing and starring, the mainstream-leaning film was expected to break eighty million domestically thanks to its multiple wins including best picture.
Thelma & Louise had opened on September 6 last year and left theaters in early December, finishing with forty-five point three six million dollars domestically, also a solid performer.
After a three-month gap, Daenerys Entertainment had officially released the video version in early March, right before the Oscars.
Riding the awards-season momentum, Thelma & Louise had sold seven hundred and thirty thousand copies in three weeks, with total sales projected to reach between one point five and two million units.
At an average price of thirty dollars per tape, the film could generate up to sixty million dollars in video revenue, outperforming its theatrical take.
With the Oscars concluded and the media controversy surrounding the results, all three films saw clear upticks in both box office and video sales during the new week.
At its core, the Oscars were both a hall of glory and a commercial feast for Hollywood.
On March 30, the same day as the Oscars, Cersei Capital's rival KKR submitted a 2.15-billion-dollar bid for LTD, the parent company of Victoria's Secret. That was why Simon had flown straight to New York after leaving the four women in Los Angeles.
This year's Oscar results had basically fallen within Simon's expectations.
The single best-foreign-language-film statuette Daenerys Entertainment had won, in addition to The Piano's best actress, had also been a deliberate setup by Simon.
Many years later the live-action Transformers movies would break box-office records on the other side of the ocean precisely because in 1987 Hasbro had given the Transformers cartoon away for free to local television stations, creating nationwide familiarity with the characters.
Campaigning for a fringe award like best foreign language film was not particularly difficult. This year no other standout foreign films had been nominated, so the Highgate Pictures team had easily pushed Raise the Red Lantern onto the stage.
While Hollywood was still basking in the afterglow of the Oscars, Simon took a few thank-you calls the next day and promptly put the matter behind him.
After KKR's bid, Blackstone also approached Cersei Capital's Apollo Management team with a cooperation proposal, hoping the two firms could jointly fund the purchase of LTD.
If they lacked sufficient confidence in LTD or did not have the capital, partnering would have been a reasonable option.
This time, however, unlike the earlier Simmons acquisition where they had chosen to work with other capital, Cersei Capital had both the confidence and the funds for LTD and had no intention of splitting future potential gains fifty-fifty with Blackstone.
With two private-equity firms already bidding and a third giant lurking, many arbitrage funds had rushed in to buy LTD stock, driving the share price even higher.
On the day KKR announced its offer, LTD's market capitalization broke through two billion dollars.
From thirteen hundred million two months earlier to two billion now, a more than fifty-percent increase. The LTD board and major shareholders felt decidedly mixed emotions.
If the company had reached this valuation before the acquisition rumors leaked, the market confidence would have allowed them to raise equity or issue bonds and easily resolve their relatively mild cash-flow problems.
The current situation, however, was that an acquisition of LTD had become almost inevitable.
Otherwise, if the deal fell through, the stock price would drop at least as fast as it had risen. Even though Cersei Capital's interest had made many shareholders realize LTD's potential, they would still prefer to cash out at the high point rather than risk a sharp decline.
"KKR still hasn't shaken off the shadow of the Reynolds Nabisco deal. In my personal judgment, their competition with us for LTD is mainly because Henry Kravis wants a successful acquisition to restore KKR's morale, and perhaps to divert investor attention as well."
Inside the conference room at Cersei Capital's Midtown Manhattan headquarters.
Leon Black, president of Cersei Capital's Apollo Management, was updating the team on the acquisition progress. "Because the negative impact of Reynolds Nabisco was so severe and the U.S. economy has not fully recovered, KKR faces pressure from its own board and investors. They will not bid indefinitely. Twenty-five hundred million is probably their limit."
The Reynolds Nabisco deal had become a disaster precisely because irrational competition had driven the price out of control.
Before the acquisition rumors leaked in February, LTD's market cap had stood at around thirteen hundred million.
If KKR pushed its offer above twenty-six hundred million, a one-hundred-percent premium, investors would once again question whether the firm was heading for another Reynolds Nabisco fiasco.
Therefore KKR was very likely to keep its premium cap within one hundred percent.
On Cersei Capital's side, twenty-five hundred million was the ceiling Simon had set.
Even if they failed to acquire LTD, Simon would not allow the price to rise by even one more dollar.
In reality, when bidding reached the final stage and the final prices were close, what usually decided the winner was the specific deal structure.
Simon considered this, then asked Leon Black, "What about Blackstone?"
"Not entirely clear yet, but if their attempt to partner with us fails, they may turn to KKR. To a large extent both firms only bid because we showed interest in LTD. They probably lack sufficient confidence in LTD's future. Of course, if KKR also rejects Blackstone's cooperation offer, Steve Schwarzman is more likely to walk away entirely. He is an extremely cautious and conservative man. The current economic climate does not allow Blackstone to take big risks, and besides, the fashion industry is not Blackstone's area of expertise."
Simon toyed with a pencil in his hand, thought for a moment, and said, "In that case, reach out to some media outlets and spread the narrative that KKR and Blackstone are simply blindly following Cersei Capital. Create as much impact as possible."
Any company that lost its own judgment and merely chased another's lead would obviously not earn investor trust.
Leon Black replied, "Some media are already framing it that way. We can certainly fan the flames. However, Simon, doing so might also attract other bidders."
"Just hold firm at the twenty-five-hundred-million ceiling," Simon said. "Even if we really fail, we still hold roughly five percent of LTD stock. How much profit would we make if we sold?"
"At least fifty million dollars."
"So that's fine. Now, let's go over your specific acquisition proposal."
Over the next hour and more, beyond the base offer, the group revised the future payment structure, management arrangements, measures to ease LTD's cash pressure, and other deal terms.
Simon also agreed to the request that the Wexner family, LTD's major shareholders, retain ten percent of the shares and that current chairman and CEO Leslie Wexner continue in his existing position. Leslie Wexner was the official founder of LTD Group, and the Wexner family still held roughly thirty percent of the company's stock at this time.
In the original timeline LTD had remained under Leslie Wexner's control for many years, and the company's later development had proven the founder's ability. Cersei Capital's acquisition this time was largely an investment. Simon had no plan to seize full control of LTD.
The meeting ended a little after five in the afternoon.
Simon and Janet returned together to the Fifth Avenue apartment. On the way they made a special stop at the Westeros Tower construction site.
Today was April 1, Wednesday.
April Fool's Day.
After groundbreaking in January the original buildings had been fully demolished, and foundation excavation was now underway.
The workers had already left for the day. The couple took a quick look around the site and then departed.
"We negotiated with the New York subway company for a long time before they agreed to add a subway station beside our building. The renovation cost falls on us, roughly ten million dollars. Also, quite a few of the workers Iron Lion hired are actually illegal Eastern European laborers. I spoke with James about it. He said it's not a big problem."
Janet chatted with Simon about various building details as they quickly reached the Fifth Avenue apartment.
Simon heard the illegal-laborer remark but was not particularly concerned. "There probably isn't a single construction site in New York that doesn't use illegal workers, because there simply aren't enough local laborers. Besides, even if something comes up, the Spyer family at Iron Lion can handle it. They've been in this line of work for nearly a hundred years."
They entered the apartment as he spoke. The person who greeted them was Alia Mukherjee, the yoga instructor Janet had brought from India.
After several months of training Janet's figure was now even better than before her pregnancy.
Yet the Indian woman, whose yoga skills were outstanding and whose appearance and body were first-rate, had stayed on.
Simon had personally witnessed Alia's flexibility rivaling that of an acrobat, with one-hundred-percent unlockable positions, and had even jokingly asked whether she had any plans to try Hollywood.
Quite a few Hollywood stars had transitioned from fitness coaches to actors through connections.
Steven Seagal had once been Michael Ovitz's judo instructor.
Alia clearly had such ambitions, but she also seemed to possess the patience and drive to go further. Simon did not mind and simply let the alluring Indian woman continue staying.
After showering together with Janet, the woman went to the kitchen to arrange dinner. Simon changed into a casual wool sweater and slacks, sat on the living-room sofa, watched CNN's live news, and idly sketched on a storyboard pad.
A special fragrance drifted over. Simon paused his pencil, looked up, and saw Alia place a cup of coffee in front of him. He smiled, then turned his attention back to the storyboard in front of him.
A moment later.
The fragrance had not faded, and a voice sounded beside his ear. "Sir, your drawing is really amazing."
Simon turned his head. The Indian woman was squatting gracefully beside him, arms resting on the sofa armrest, her eyes filled with just the right mix of curiosity and admiration.