Chasing Stars in Hollywood

In the context of the American political system, most Washington politicians consider two main factors when making decisions: the interests of the financial backers or lobbies they represent and the impact of their decisions on voter support and political capital. When these two factors conflict, politicians usually prioritize the former. Voter support can often be manipulated or influenced, but without the backing of financial sponsors, they lose both their current standing and future prospects.

The Bush family is a prime example, particularly during George W. Bush's presidency. As a well-known representative of the American oil interests, the Bush administration could not have been unaware that engaging in war would significantly increase the national debt, lay the groundwork for economic crises in the U.S., allow China to rise, and spur economic prosperity in Russia and other U.S. adversaries. Yet, during George W. Bush's eight years in office, the country was essentially at war for the entire time.

As the Westeros system's influence continues to grow, Simon has increasingly focused on political investments in North America, ensuring he won't be constantly targeted. While expanding overseas, Simon has never relaxed his efforts to build a robust political network at home, sparing no expense. His goal is to establish a political group aligned with the Westeros system, which would allow him to enjoy the same level of security as America's entrenched financial, oil, and military-industrial conglomerates.

This is no easy task. However, by steadily following Washington's rules, Simon believes that success is inevitable.

Inside the villa's study, Simon continued discussing concepts with Daniel, which might have seemed inappropriate for someone his age, until Sofia knocked on the door to remind him it was time for dinner.

Sending Daniel ahead to the dining room, Sofia stayed behind, her tone both suspicious and slightly cautionary. "Simon, I feel like you're teaching Danny the wrong things."

Simon showed no signs of guilt. "Some things are too late to teach after they turn 18. Daniel's mind is mature enough to understand a lot."

Sofia frowned slightly. "But Danny is only 13."

As Daniel disappeared around the corner of the hallway, Simon put his arm around Sofia's waist. "I was fully independent by the time I was 13."

Sofia placed her hand on Simon's to keep him from misbehaving, though she did slow her pace. "Just so you know, if you lead Danny astray, I'll hold you accountable."

Simon pulled her closer. "And if I do a good job, is there a reward?"

Feeling his breath as he leaned in, Sofia rolled her eyes at him. "You've already got everything. What more do you want?"

As they bantered, they walked into the dining room, where everyone else was already seated. 

Seeing Simon and Sofia enter, Gemma, sitting next to Sia and chatting with her, looked up excitedly. "Uncle Simon, Sia is definitely smarter than you! I only taught her the multiplication table once, and she remembered it right away."

Simon sat down in the chair pulled out by Arya, smiling. "I'm sure Sia thinks this sister is really boring, reciting such simple stuff in her ear. I already knew the multiplication table when I was three months old."

Gemma frowned in disbelief. "No way, how's that possible?"

Simon, with a confident expression, said, "Of course it's possible. I knew the multiplication table at three months old, and you just said Sia is smarter than me."

Gemma was skeptical. "How can you prove it?"

Simon suggested, "How about I recite it for you?"

Gemma blinked, then slyly agreed, "Sure, go ahead."

Realizing he'd been trapped by a little girl, Simon didn't have the face to recite the multiplication table in front of everyone and backtracked. "Forget it, I don't want to hurt your confidence."

Gemma snorted but didn't press the issue. Instead, she turned to Sia with renewed interest. "Sia, what's seven times seven?"

The little girl, with her big, pretty eyes, sat quietly in her specially-made high chair, letting Janet help her with a napkin. She tilted her head slightly at Gemma's question and softly answered, "98."

Having just shown off in front of Simon, Gemma immediately felt embarrassed. "No, no, that's wrong. Try again."

The little girl seemed to think for a moment before saying, "147."

Gemma waved her hand. "That's impossible! One last chance."

This time, without hesitation, the little girl replied, "196."

Gemma finally couldn't resist gently pinching Sia's cheek. "I'm mad now. Say it—49."

The little girl let Gemma pinch her cheek, her expression unchanged, as if her sister's fingers weren't even touching her. She softly said, "245."

Gemma gave up entirely. "You silly goose. I'm not playing with you anymore. You're definitely not as smart as your dad."

Around the table, the adults chuckled, understanding what had happened.

Janet, still laughing, gently pushed Gemma's hand away from Sia's face. "Stop bullying Sia. You're the only silly one here."

Gemma, seeing all the adults laughing, including her mother, was frustrated. "What's so funny?"

Daniel, trying to help his sister, explained, "Sia was multiplying 49 by two, three, four, and five. She was just teasing you."

Gemma blinked, clearly not having done the mental math, then counted on her fingers at the table before realizing, "Wow, that's right." She then looked at Sia, not angry but rather impressed. Turning to Jennifer, who was tending to little Nick, she asked, "Aunt Janet, Sia's a genius! How did you have her?"

The innocent question caused a bit of awkwardness. Simon cleared his throat, stepping in, "Well, that's mostly thanks to Sia's dad."

Gemma shot a disdainful look at Simon for being so shameless.

As they laughed and talked, the maids served dinner. Gemma, seeing everyone about to start eating, couldn't help but ask Simon, "Uncle Simon, why doesn't the Westeros family pray before dinner?"

Simon replied seriously, "I worked hard to earn the money for this dinner. If I thanked God, I'd feel like I was getting ripped off."

The logic was a bit overbearing.

Gemma hesitated, then said, "Uncle Simon, that's blasphemy."

Simon, realizing his mistake, quickly said, "Alright, I repent."

Gemma shook her head, finding him hopeless, and started eating with everyone else. But after a moment, she couldn't resist asking her mother, "Mom, can I go to the city to watch the fashion show this weekend?"

Sofia immediately refused. "No."

Gemma pouted. "But a lot of my classmates are going. If I can't go, they'll leave me out because we won't have anything to talk about."

Sofia considered this and relented. "Alright, I'll ask after dinner, but you can't go alone, and you have to promise not to run around."

Gemma, no longer pouting, excitedly nodded. "I can bring a few friends." Realizing she might have given herself away, she quickly changed the subject. "Mom, can't you come with me?"

Seeing through her daughter's innocent trick, Sofia felt a bit exasperated. But since she had agreed, she wouldn't go back on her word. "I have things to do. You can go with your friends."

Gemma agreed and then looked at Simon. "Uncle Simon, are you going to the show this weekend?"

Simon replied, "That depends on your Aunt Janet."

Gemma looked at Janet, who smiled and said, "Uncle Simon will be staying home to watch the kids this weekend."

Gemma, understanding, nodded sagely. "I see." Then, with a mischievous grin at Simon, she 'praised' him, "You're a good man."

Since discovering that spending time with the kids helped change Simon's mindset, both Janets had been increasing his time with the little ones. While Simon stayed home in Greenwich being a dad, the two Janets would head to the city for shopping and shows.

On the following Monday, Simon arrived in Manhattan at around 8 a.m. to attend Daenerys Entertainment's East Coast headquarters' weekly meeting.

It was September 26th.

As September drew to a close, the film summer season had ended, and the television fall season was well underway. This meeting primarily focused on reviewing the ratings of various shows that had already premiered in the fall lineup.

The focus was on two new shows that debuted last week.

"ER" on September 19th and "Friends" on September 22nd.

According to Simon's plan, the two shows were given to CBS and NBC, respectively. Thanks to the shows' high quality and the relentless promotion, both series had strong debuts.

"ER" premiered on September 19th. Although Monday wasn't the prime time for TV shows, this medical drama, penned by "Jurassic Park" author Michael Crichton, still managed to attract 23.8 million viewers for its first episode, making it the most successful new show of the fall season.

"Friends" premiered on NBC on September 22nd during the prime Thursday 8 p.m. slot, with its first episode drawing 21.5 million viewers.

In 1994, cable TV and the internet hadn't yet significantly impacted traditional broadcast networks, so shows with over 20 million viewers were still common.

But that was relative.

With hundreds of new shows launched in North America each year, only

 a few could achieve the success of "ER" and "Friends" right out of the gate. Another popular sitcom from Daenerys Entertainment, "Seinfeld," only became a hit after several seasons.

In the original timeline, the 1990s on broadcast television were dominated by shows like "Friends," "ER," and "Seinfeld."

Now, Daenerys Entertainment had not only secured all these hit shows but also pioneered the reality TV era. Although it hadn't yet acquired a broadcast network, its dominance in television was already on par with its dominance in film.

At Daenerys Entertainment's East Coast headquarters in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, the meeting ended at 10:30 a.m.

Simon stayed behind to continue discussing some matters with Robert Iger. Just as he was about to head back to his office, A-girl knocked on the door and handed him a document. "Boss, we've just received word from the West Coast that Vivendi and Disney will be holding a press conference at 9 a.m. to announce that they've reached an acquisition agreement."

Since Michael Eisner's forced exit from Disney due to a heart attack, Vivendi had started formal negotiations to acquire Disney, with Eisner no longer standing in the way. 

The negotiations had been anything but smooth, with frequent rumors of talks breaking down or Vivendi considering other targets.

With Simon's focus on Europe recently, he was surprised to learn that the two companies had suddenly reached an agreement.

Simon opened the document handed to him by A-girl and, seeing Iger's curiosity, slid it over so he could read it too.

Last Friday, Disney's market capitalization was around $8.1 billion.

According to the acquisition agreement, Vivendi had offered $9.7 billion for all of Disney's assets, representing a 19% premium over last Friday's closing price. However, compared to Disney's market value of under $7 billion when negotiations began, the premium was as high as 40%.

Additionally, Vivendi would assume Disney's $5.3 billion debt, bringing the total transaction value to $15 billion.

Moreover, this would be an all-cash acquisition, meaning Vivendi needed to raise $9.7 billion in cash, not even considering Disney's massive debt.

In the original timeline, acquiring Disney for $9.7 billion would have been an incredible deal. In fact, Disney's market value in 1994 was nearly $20 billion, so $9.7 billion wouldn't have been enough to buy the company.

But things were different now.

Due to Simon's influence, Disney had been severely suppressed in recent years, just like the other struggling Hollywood studios under Daenerys Entertainment's shadow. The failure of Disneyland Paris had only made things worse for Disney. Given Disney's financials in recent years, Vivendi seemed to be making the same mistake Sony did when it acquired Columbia Pictures.

Unless Vivendi could quickly turn Disney around after the acquisition, the company would be in trouble. Disney's debt was already $5.3 billion, and with the additional debt from this acquisition, Vivendi would face a crisis if it couldn't swiftly reverse the situation.

In the original timeline, Vivendi had to sell off Universal just a few years after acquiring it due to the massive debt they took on.

This time, Simon had no intention of giving Disney a chance to recover.

The Big Seven in Hollywood.

Seven major studios were too many.

After receiving the inside information an hour in advance, Vivendi and Disney held a press conference at 9 a.m. on the West Coast at Disney's headquarters in Burbank, Los Angeles, officially announcing that they had reached an agreement.

Once approved by federal regulators, the deal would be finalized.

Although some media outlets had recently called for limits on foreign capital's involvement in the U.S. cultural industry, legally, this acquisition would not face substantial obstacles, especially with the Westeros system's behind-the-scenes support.

After the morning press conference, Simon discreetly contacted Joseph Schlapp, asking him to push for the deal's approval in Washington. He also made some arrangements in the media to reduce the criticism of Vivendi's acquisition of Disney, ensuring that the deal would go through smoothly.

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