In the study.
Simon heard the woman in his arms say this, smiled, patted her waist, and said, "Then what do you want to do?"
Janette, however, just grabbed Simon's wrist, bit it a few times, looked up, and asked, "You little rascal, how do you plan to spend this money?"
Simon pointed to a stack of stock transaction receipts on the desk and said, "Didn't you see? I've already bought $800 million worth of stocks. After setting aside taxes, I plan to convert all of this money into stocks".
As Americans often say: in this country, only taxes and death are unavoidable.
A $1.62 billion inflow also meant a heartbreakingly huge tax bill.
According to the tax reform plan introduced by the Reagan administration last year, the portion of the $1.62 billion in Westeros Company's account that constituted profit from stock index futures trading would be subject to a 28% capital gains tax. The remaining income from 'Run Lola Run' was also not exempt from taxation.
Roughly calculated, the taxes Westeros Company would need to pay by the end of the year would exceed $450 million. After deducting Janette's share of the 'Run Lola Run' earnings, Simon would ultimately receive only about $1.1 billion.
Janette was visibly surprised by Simon's decision: "Convert it all into stocks? You're not planning to do anything else?"
"Now is a good opportunity to buy low. If I need money in the future, I can sell it anytime," Simon said, then asked, "What about you? Do you want me to convert all your money into stocks too?"
"Dad has mentioned it several times; the family also needs money, so I plan to send it directly back to Australia," Janette said, shaking her head. Then she smiled, reached out, and stroked Simon's face, saying, "So, you little rascal, I won't have any money then, and you'll have to support me from now on".
Simon turned his head and kissed Janette's palm, saying, "Alright, let's go to New York tomorrow. We'll spend that $20 million loan first. What do you want to buy?"
Janette tilted her head and said, "A house. Didn't you want to own a house in every major city in the world? Let's start with New York".
"That's my business," Simon said. "What about yours?"
"Your business is my business, and as for my business, it's you".
"Oh, I get it. That's a love confession".
"Haha, how slow"…
'When Harry Met Sally' had been filming for six weeks and was expected to wrap up smoothly before Thanksgiving next month.
The turmoil of the North American stock market crash was still ongoing and was unlikely to calm down anytime soon. However, after completing the stock index futures operation, Simon took Janette to New York to check on the filming progress of 'When Harry Met Sally'.
At the same time, 'Final Destination', produced by Fox, officially premiered on October 23. Although the financial market was in disarray, it did not significantly impact the film's box office.
Simon had initially requested a minimum of 1,000 screens, but due to excellent audience feedback from several internal test screenings, Fox ultimately granted the film 1,350 opening screens.
From October 23 to October 25, 'Final Destination' achieved a first-weekend box office of $12.56 million, successfully unseating 'Fatal Attraction', which had held the top spot in weekly box office since late September.
'Fatal Attraction' had a first-week box office of $11.01 million, and in its sixth week of release, its single-week box office still reached $10.98 million. Its box office curve had barely declined for a month and a half, and its cumulative box office had already reached $69.49 million. While the total North American box office for this film was still unpredictable, surpassing $100 million was absolutely certain.
Simon knew very well that the subsequent total box office for 'Final Destination' would certainly not be comparable to 'Fatal Attraction'. However, with a first-weekend box office of $12.56 million, the film was projected to earn $18 million in its first week.
$18 million was already enough for Fox to recoup all production costs.
As long as it could maintain a relatively low decline in the future, the film's total North American box office could even exceed $60 million. A total North American box office of $60 million, while not enough to break into the top ten annual box office, would be more than sufficient to enter the top 15.
According to the original contract, after the box office exceeded $20 million, a 10% share of the North American box office and a 5% share of video sales would eventually bring Simon approximately $10 million in income.
Although he had already earned over $1 billion in wealth from the stock index futures market, Simon did not intend to use this money in the short term. The earnings from films would be his main source of funding for operating Daenerys Pictures in the coming years.
On October 26, a new week began, and Simon withdrew all funds from his stock index futures account. Except for the reserved $450 million for taxes and the $67 million settled to Janette, all the remaining money was invested in the stock market.
With the North American stock market in disarray, it was impossible for a sudden influx of over $1 billion into the technology sector to go unnoticed. Many Wall Street analysts had clearly observed the abnormal fluctuations in the technology sector during these days.
Moreover, having calmed down from the panic of the crash, some people gradually realized that while everyone else was losing their shirts, an unknown 'little crocodile' had quietly amassed an astonishing fortune from the stock index futures market.
As the figure of a certain young man gradually became clear, the speed at which the matter spread became increasingly uncontrollable.
Simon's initial choice of Lehman Brothers as his sole broker was primarily for secrecy. Although concentrating all funds with one company would undoubtedly create more commotion, as long as Lehman Brothers maintained sufficient integrity, they should still be able to keep the secret.
However, the subsequent developments inevitably deviated from Simon's expectations, forcing him to turn to several other brokers, and eventually, he even gave up on the idea of secrecy in his heart. In any case, it was impossible for him, a young man not yet 20 years old, to suddenly acquire over $1 billion from the capital market without attracting the attention of interested parties.
The only thing Simon could do was to ensure as much as possible that this wealth would truly fall into his hands.
Therefore, even though there was still more than a month until the end-of-year tax payment date, and he might have earned more if he had invested all his funds in the stock market, Simon instinctively chose to set aside the enormous tax amount of $450 million as a precaution.
Americans can never escape taxes throughout their lives, and attacking someone through taxation is usually the simplest and most effective method to cause them issues.
October 28.
Wednesday.
All $1.1 billion of Simon's available funds had been converted into stocks, and he and Janette had been in New York for five days.
Aside from checking the various production progress of 'When Harry Met Sally', Simon and Janette mostly just explored New York.
Although the release of 'Final Destination' once again brought Simon into the media spotlight, 'Run Lola Run' and 'The Butterfly Effect' had already finished their runs, and paparazzi were increasingly realizing that trailing Simon and Janette rarely yielded any explosive news.
Consequently, although Simon and Janette's whereabouts were quickly exposed by the media, there were very few paparazzi following them, and they could walk around the streets without much trouble.
In the evening.
Simon and Janette had spent the entire day touring Manhattan with a real estate agent and had just returned to their hotel, The Plaza, intending to rest for a bit before going out for dinner, when they unexpectedly found Noah Scott waiting in the hotel lobby.
Although somewhat surprised, and even wary, Simon readily agreed to Noah Scott's suggestion of treating them to dinner.
Leaving The Plaza Hotel again, the three went to a nearby restaurant.
After ordering, Noah Scott observed the couple sitting across from him. After a moment, he couldn't help but ask very directly, "Simon, can you tell me exactly how much money you've made?"
Simon smiled and shook his head: "Noah, if it were you, would you tell me?"
"No," Noah Scott smiled helplessly, saying, "But these days, this matter keeps going around in my head. Hearing you guys were in New York, I specifically flew over from Chicago today".
Simon shrugged and said, "If this matter has caused you trouble, I can only apologize".
Noah Scott said, "Then, tell me some things I know, that's fine, right? Simon, for example, your operation in September, why?"
Simon countered, "What 'why'?"
"6,000 contracts," Noah Scott said. "Why did you only buy 6,000 contracts? You know, although the S&P 500 index fluctuated violently in September, the overall trend was still downward. You could have fully bought 80% of your position, as usual".
Simon paused upon hearing Noah Scott's explanation, then said, "If you really want to hear the truth, I was scared."
Noah Scott looked disbelieving: "Scared?"
Janette also looked over curiously.
Simon quickly relaxed and said, "That's right, I felt fear at the time".
Noah Scott stared intently at Simon, clearly misunderstanding the meaning of Simon's words, and said, "But, this month, you should have earned more, shouldn't you?"
"Yes, but at that time, I was scared," Simon nodded, looking directly at Noah Scott, and said, "Noah, you guys followed, didn't you?"
Noah Scott, this time, fell silent.
Inside trading, even if everyone knows about it, no one would be foolish enough to openly admit it.
Simon didn't wait for Noah Scott's answer and continued, "I sensed Lehman Brothers following, and then I thought of more possibilities. If you guys followed, would the news spread further? If others also followed, the entire market trend might deviate from my expectations".
Noah Scott nodded slightly but patiently waited for Simon to continue.
Simon thought for a moment, then continued, "Let me put it this way, Noah, I predicted the stock market crash would be around October. You know, in October, the federal government would announce the third-quarter national trade and fiscal deficit situation, which could be the last straw that breaks the camel's back, and that's indeed what happened.
Looking back, September was the delivery month, and due to increased trading volume, the S&P 500 index fluctuated up and down. I couldn't complete my positioning in such a market environment. So, at that time, I was scared. However, your previous understanding was wrong.
I wasn't afraid of earning too much, but rather worried that the entire market, because of all your follow-ups, would undergo changes completely beyond my personal expectations, or even crash prematurely. That's why I adopted a conservative position-building strategy, to prevent you from judging my true intentions".
Noah Scott was speechless after hearing Simon's explanation.
After another moment of silence, Noah Scott quickly composed himself and looked back at Simon, saying, "However, Simon, I don't know if you've been following Wall Street lately. I guess you definitely don't want to be exposed, right? But, your actions have actually attracted a lot of attention".
After months of hard work, Simon and Janette had been mostly enjoying themselves these days and hadn't paid much attention to Wall Street.
Hearing Noah Scott say this, Simon straightened up slightly and asked, "Could you elaborate?"
"Tech stocks," Noah Scott said with a slight smile on his face, "Simon, you bought a lot of tech stocks, didn't you? A very large batch?"
Since he was directly called out, Simon didn't hide it and admitted, "That's right".
"Compared to other sectors," Noah Scott continued, "in the past week or so, tech stocks have collectively risen by over 15% from the day of the crash until now. Many people even thought it was us investment banks secretly buying in, and they also started entering the market, hoping to make a profit. They don't know that the person is actually you. And, if I'm not mistaken, you invested at least $1 billion".
Simon didn't nod this time.
Noah Scott paused for a moment. Not hearing Simon's confirmation, he continued, "Furthermore, your operations in S&P 500 index futures have also attracted a lot of attention".
Simon still didn't respond, but Janette couldn't hold back any longer. She glared fiercely at Noah Scott and said aggressively, "Noah, what exactly do you want to say?"
Noah Scott raised both hands in a gesture of surrender, smiling as he said, "Janette, don't worry, I don't have any other intentions, and I'm not here as a lobbyist for anyone else today. I just want to tell you what I know. Simon, perhaps you should make some preparations in advance. Also, I'd really like to continue our cooperative relationship. If we have a chance to cooperate in the future?"
Simon nodded when he heard Noah Scott say this, saying, "Of course, we will definitely have a chance to cooperate".
Noah Scott's smile widened upon hearing Simon's reply. Seeing Janette still staring at him, he turned and said, "Speaking of which, I also secretly bought some S&P 500 index futures last time. Guess how much I made?"
Simon shook his head in confusion.
Noah Scott held up two fingers and wiggled them: "$2 million. Compared to you, that's a big failure, isn't it?"
Janette pouted.
Simon smiled but didn't say anything.
Noah Scott continued, "Just by slightly following your operations, I made $2 million. So, I think it's best for me to stay in touch with you guys, which is why I specifically rushed over from Chicago today. Simon, I've seriously considered it. You're only 19 years old, yet you already possess such vast wealth. It's like a child having a huge pile of gold. You definitely want to avoid attracting attention as much as possible, and I can help you with that".