Chapter 192: What Exactly Happened

Since entering the public eye with the script for "The Butterfly Effect" two years ago, Simon has been constantly under the media spotlight. However, his influence was mostly confined to Hollywood. Even after unexpectedly earning over a billion dollars from the futures market last year, the sensation caused by media hype gradually faded. The concept of a billion-dollar fortune is too distant for most people to comprehend.

However, when Forbes magazine's new annual list was published, revealing Simon's wealth ranking as sixteenth in the world and third in the United States, it concretized Simon's personal fortune in the public's mind. Although people tend to focus on the number one spot, Simon's presence on the list was too conspicuous.

Among the top ten domestic billionaires, the average age was over 65, while Simon was only 20. This stark age advantage made almost everyone believe that Simon Westlow would inevitably claim the top spot one day.

In just two years, an unknown individual with no previous ties to the billionaire list suddenly became the third richest person in the U.S., a miraculous feat that once again made Simon the focus of attention across the U.S. and the world.

Many, while admiring and marveling, also began to question intensely: How did Simon Westlow achieve this? What exactly happened?

Over the following weekend, nearly all mainstream media worldwide were abuzz with various topics related to Simon, rehashing every detail of his life before and after his rise to fame.

Forbes magazine's estimate of Simon's personal wealth naturally became a hot topic of discussion. Although resentment towards the wealthy exists in any society, the Western mindset generally venerates wealth. Many billionaires prefer to see their fortunes ranked higher on various lists, sometimes even resorting to litigation.

Despite Forbes magazine providing a very detailed basis for its assessment, most media expressed skepticism. Many believed Simon's actual wealth to be higher than the reported 3.1 billion dollars.

The debate focused on the valuation of Danylis Entertainment Group. If not for facing financial and operational difficulties, New World Entertainment's value would undoubtedly exceed 250 million dollars.

The merger of Danylis Films and New World Entertainment resulted in a synergy where the sum was much greater than its parts. Danylis Entertainment's combined strength in film and television made it significantly more powerful than either company alone.

If this rapid growth continues, it wouldn't take long for Danylis Entertainment to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Big Seven. Even now, its capabilities already surpassed those of the established MGM.

Analyzing Danylis Entertainment's main businesses in film and television reveals that even after assuming additional operational and debt costs post-merger, its expected net profit for 1988 wouldn't be less than 200 million dollars.

"Just Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" alone, with its trial episodes and additional quarterly episodes, generated 30 million dollars in revenue. The first season's episodes, at 2 million dollars each for 69 episodes, totaled 138 million dollars, with in-show advertising bringing in another 56 million dollars. Combined, this amounted to 224 million dollars, not including subsequent syndication and international licensing revenues.

Simon hadn't anticipated "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" becoming Danylis Entertainment's financial pillar.

Beyond "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," the other three reality shows also generated substantial profits, with "Survivor" possessing commercial potential on par with "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." Coupled with Danylis Films' successful movies like "When Harry Met Sally," "Pulp Fiction," and "Basic Instinct," media predictions of Danylis Entertainment's net profit for the year being 200 million dollars seemed conservative.

Typically, a company's market value is its net profit multiplied by its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. On mature stock markets, P/E ratios usually range from 10 to 30, with higher ratios for companies with greater growth potential. During the internet bubble around 2000, some companies' P/E ratios even exceeded 1000 times.

Even with a conservative 10 times P/E ratio, Danylis Entertainment's valuation should reach 2 billion dollars. Considering the company's rapid growth, if it were publicly traded, its P/E ratio could easily reach 30 times or higher due to market optimism.

With a 30 times P/E ratio and 200 million dollars in net profits, Danylis Entertainment's market value could reach 6 billion dollars.

Adding Simon's stock and other assets and subtracting debts, his personal net worth could reach 7.6 billion dollars, making him the richest person in the U.S., surpassing Sam Walton. Globally, Simon's rank would rise to sixth.

This data sparked immediate rebuttals. In Hollywood, excluding overall parent company sizes, no film company's market value had ever reached 6 billion dollars. Danylis Entertainment's net assets, aside from a series of film and television copyrights, were minimal and couldn't justify such a valuation.

However, comparisons were made to Microsoft, which had a net worth of less than 5 million dollars at its 1986 IPO but reached a market value of over 300 million dollars on its first trading day. Compared to Microsoft at the time, Danylis Entertainment's net assets were significantly higher.

"Just the rights to 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, enough to offset all of Danylis Entertainment's debts. The company's acquisition of hundreds of film and TV copyrights from New World Entertainment and Danylis Films' accumulated projects also had considerable asset value.

Thus, Danylis Entertainment deserved a much higher valuation than 1.5 billion dollars.

Amidst the media frenzy, Simon had little interest in these discussions, even regretting not cooperating more with Forbes to lower his reported wealth.

He spent the weekend amidst various disturbances: media interview requests, congratulations from acquaintances, charity propositions, and internal changes at Danylis Entertainment due to the list. Although tempted to escape to Australia for some peace, running away wasn't a solution. Simon even had to postpone his trip again.

On Saturday morning, Simon received a call from Robert Aiger in New York. Influenced by media speculation or other reasons, CBS suddenly changed its mind and wanted to reacquire the broadcast rights for "Beverly Hills Wives."

CBS not only agreed to Danylis Films' conditions but also offered to purchase a full season of 23 episodes at the same price of 600,000 dollars per episode as HBO.

Danylis Entertainment had already decided to sign with HBO next week, but CBS's last-minute change caused a dilemma.

Simon didn't hesitate much. Between CBS and HBO, he decisively chose the former, leaving the handling of the agreement with HBO to Robert Aiger.

Additionally, Terry Semel, who had briefly interacted with Simon before going silent, also wished to discuss cooperation between their companies again. With a busy weekend ahead, Simon could only schedule lunch with Semel on Monday.

As the weekend quickly passed, Simon faced a rare rainy day in Los Angeles at the end of summer and early autumn. He was supposed to fly to Australia with Janet but had to continue to the company due to the disruptions caused by Friday's events.

In the Malibu villa, as Janet carefully adjusted his tie, Simon kissed her on the face and joked, "Is the weather like this because you're in a bad mood?"

Janet let Simon kiss her and pretended to pout, "If I had that power, it should at least be hailing outside."

Simon laughed, promising they would definitely depart the day after tomorrow.

Janet skeptically remarked, "Men's promises are the least reliable."

Simon conceded, changing the subject as Janet finished adjusting his tie and stepped back to appraise him. Janet then mentioned that Sophia, the European housekeeper, was flying in from France that day.

Since returning from Cannes in May, Simon had entrusted Janet with managing European affairs. Upon hearing about Sophia's visit, Simon inquired about her well-being.

Janet assured him that Sophia and her children were well, having temporarily moved in with her parents to avoid her ex-husband's harassment. Janet fiercely stated she would take action if the ex-husband caused any more trouble.

Sitting in the living room, Janet and Sophia discussed various matters, including Sophia's recent trip across Europe to scout real estate opportunities for Simon and Janet. Sophia congratulated Simon on his Forbes ranking, which had taken everyone by surprise.

As they reviewed the real estate documents Sophia brought, Janet expressed her desire for the best properties and showed interest in a house next to Kensington Palace, joking about becoming neighbors with Prince Charles and his wife.

Sophia played along but was taken aback by Janet's disdain for the royal couple and her unrealistic ideas about buying Kensington Palace. Despite Sophia's skepticism, Janet mused about the possibility, highlighting the difference in perspective between those with vast wealth and ordinary expectations.

The conversation between Janet and Sophia illustrated the unique challenges and ambitions faced by those in Simon's circle, far removed from ordinary concerns and constraints.

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