After work, Simon went straight to George Norman's house in Bel Air.
On Wednesday, Jennifer revealed her intentions, and Simon received a call from James Raybould early yesterday morning.
The two chatted for over an hour, during which James Raybould listed a long string of reasons to persuade Simon to abandon the idea of having him and Norman separately manage the East and West Coasts, stating that he could handle the job himself and was more professional.
After careful consideration, Simon agreed.
Since they were busy with movie matters during the work week, the Rayboulds came over today, planning to discuss more details with Simon over the weekend and extended a dinner invitation to Simon at Norman's house.
Since he had already agreed to James Raybould, Simon didn't complicate matters by telling his private lawyer his original idea.
In retrospect, George Norman, being a civil lawyer, was indeed not very suitable to manage Westeros Company's assets for Simon.
Unaware of the opportunities he had missed, George Norman was equally enthusiastic that evening, even congratulating his brother-in-law on reaching a partnership with Simon.
Everyone was enjoying themselves, though Jennifer occasionally showed a slightly guilty expression when facing her uncle, as she was well aware that her father had taken an opportunity that should have belonged to her uncle.
The new year was fast approaching.
In recent weeks, Simon had successively paid his 1987 personal income tax and various taxes for his two companies.
Of course, the main portion was the taxes for Westeros Company.
After completing the tax settlement, the main assets under Westeros Company's name were the shares of those 26 companies.
It is worth mentioning that when Simon applied for Westeros Company, he confirmed the company's nature as a Limited Liability Company (LLC).
The biggest advantage of an LLC type company is that it can avoid double taxation.
The income of Westeros Company is equivalent to Simon's personal income, and only needs to pay income tax once, allowing Simon to enjoy his rightful profits.
Of course, LLC type companies also have their disadvantages, such as being unable to go public.
Fortunately, Simon had no intention of listing Westeros Company.
In comparison, for future considerations such as listing and financing, Daenerys Pictures is structured as a Corporation, where both the company's profits and shareholder dividends are subject to taxation.
As the North American stock market gradually emerged from the shadow of the October stock market crash, and with the exposure of the 'Westeros Portfolio' leading to a surge in popularity for tech stocks, the tech stocks held by Westeros Company have been continuously appreciating during this period.
According to the latest statistics compiled by Simon's private accountant after the stock market closed today, the total value of tech stocks held by Westeros Company has exceeded 1.67 billion US dollars.
Compared to Simon's initial investment of 1.1 billion US dollars, the cumulative appreciation reached 51%.
The appreciation of these stocks effectively recouped the enormous taxes Simon had paid.
On the other hand, Westeros Company's 4.9% stake in 26 tech companies generally qualifies them as major shareholders in these companies, but obtaining a board seat and sharing a company's power is not an easy feat.
However, these companies have all benefited from the 'Westeros Portfolio' effect with significant stock price increases in recent months, and they clearly wouldn't want their shares to be sold off, so Simon's chances of securing board seats in these companies are still very high.
After the weekend's discussions, James Raybould, authorized by Simon, officially sent applications to all the tech companies in which Westeros Company held shares, requesting to join their boards of directors.
The media, upon learning of the news, quickly began to pay attention to the matter.
A new week began.
The most anticipated event in Hollywood was undoubtedly the announcement of the new Golden Globe nominations.
On Monday morning at nine o'clock, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced a series of nominations for the 45th Golden Globe Awards for American Film and Television in a press conference held in the ballroom of the Beverly Hills Sunset Tower Hotel.
Due to the Golden Globes' 'manipulability' being far greater than the Oscars, which have numerous judges, it was no surprise that 'Run Lola Run' became a hot favourite for this year's Golden Globes with five nominations: Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, Best Actress – Motion Picture – Drama, Best Screenplay, and Best Original Score.
Simon also knew that unless the Hollywood Foreign Press Association completely abandoned its integrity, his Best Director nomination would certainly only be a nomination.
As for Best Motion Picture – Drama, he remembered that the winner should be Bertolucci's 'The Last Emperor', and Simon didn't think 'Run Lola Run' could compete with this long-established European film master.
Of course, it was still something to be happy about.
Simon spent the entire morning answering a constant stream of congratulatory calls from various parties.
This continued until midday.
At a restaurant in downtown Santa Monica, Simon, as the host, arrived ten minutes early, and Bill Gates soon followed.
Evidently having done some homework, Gates politely congratulated him on 'Run Lola Run's Golden Globe nominations upon meeting.
The two sat down at the table, each subtly sizing up the other.
Bill Gates was only 32 this year, wearing large-lensed black-rimmed glasses, looking even younger, almost like a middle school student, and the type of bookworm often bullied by school thugs.
Just by looking at his face, Simon understood why Gates was often bullied by his peer, Jobs, in many biographical films.
However, pnce he spoke, Gates showed no sign of being a pushover.
After ordering, and once the waiter left, Gates bluntly said, "Simon, I hope you can explain why you are interested in Microsoft stock?" Simon ignored Gates's questioning posture and said in a relaxed tone, "Bill, I should say I'm very interested in the entire electronic information industry, and Microsoft is just one part of it".
"If that's all it is," Gates pulled out a fax from his briefcase and handed it over, saying, "I'm afraid I cannot agree to Westeros Company's representative's request to join Microsoft's board of directors".
"Actually, I'm not that keen on joining Microsoft's board; I'm quite busy. However, since I've invested so much money, to get more returns, I still hope to offer some personal advice for the development of these companies".
Simon picked up the fax, glanced at it, then put it down, sat up straight and stared at Gates across the table, saying, "Bill, you own nearly 45% of this company's shares. Are you still worried that I'll contend for control with you?"
"Alright, let's be frank" Gates relaxed his tone, saying, "Simon, if Microsoft refuses Westeros Company's request to join the company's board, will you sell your shares?"
"I've already answered you; my main goal is investment. If holding Microsoft stock continues to make me more money, I certainly won't sell it. As for the Microsoft board, if I deem it necessary to join, perhaps I will continue to buy shares, increasing my stake to 10%, or even more, until you agree".
"What if I insist on refusing?"
"Excluding you and Paul Allen, Microsoft's circulating shares should be 30%, right?" Simon said with a smile, "Perhaps I can buy out all of Microsoft's circulating shares. Then, you, I, and Paul Allen, the three of us can discuss the company's future together".
After Microsoft went public last year, Bill Gates and Paul Allen still held approximately 45% and 25% of the shares respectively, with 30% of Microsoft's shares in the circulating market.
Based on Microsoft's total market value, which was still only over a billion dollars after the stock price rebound, Simon could indeed buy all the circulating shares.
According to regulations, once the circulating shares in the market drop to a certain proportion, Microsoft would have to delist.
Bill Gates observed the young man across the table, realizing he could clearly sense the strong eagerness in the other's tone when he said those words.
He felt Simon would really do something like that!
After a moment of silence, Gates finally spoke again: "Simon, I don't like you; you're a lunatic".
"Everyone knows that; I'm not even sure if I've fully recovered," Simon chuckled indifferently, then turned serious, "Alright, Bill, why don't we talk about Windows? I've been studying Microsoft's recently launched Windows 2.0. Frankly, it's still pretty bad.
However, your approach is correct. Compatibility is an essential development strategy for an operating system to expand quickly at this stage. Moreover, a graphical user interface system can also drive the rapid popularization of personal computers in the mass market.
Only by selling personal computers to the general consumer can the entire electronic information industry develop rapidly. Just like VCRs, ten years ago, fewer than 1 million households in North America owned VCRs, but now, that number is 50 million. As a result, last year's North American videotape sales revenue exceeded box office revenue.
In my opinion, the market capacity for personal computers far exceeds that of VCRs, and due to standardization requirements, it will be difficult for too many types of operating systems to exist in this market in the future.
In this regard, Microsoft does not have an advantage because you do not produce hardware, and companies like IBM can easily leave Microsoft behind. Therefore, while maintaining compatibility, Microsoft must also develop certain unique advantages of its own".
Simon stopped at this point, at the opportune moment.
Bill Gates, who had begun to listen intently, subconsciously asked, seeing Simon suddenly stop, "What kind of advantage?"
Simon raised his hand and pointed to the fax he had just received: "First, give me a board seat".
Bill Gates insisted, "You speak first".
Simon asked, "Do you have a pen?"
Bill Gates took a pen from his briefcase and handed it over.
Simon wrote something on the back of the fax paper, then handed the paper and pen back, saying, "One suggestion for one board seat. Actually, I feel like I'm losing out. Maybe you could sell me some of your shares at a discount".
Bill Gates ignored Simon's words and picked up the fax paper directly.
On it, there was only one very strange word: Wintel.