After work, Simon rushed directly to George Norman's house in the Bel Air district.

On Wednesday, he revealed his intention to Jennifer, Simon received a call from James Raybould early yesterday morning, and the two chatted for more than an hour, during which James Raybould gave a series of reasons to persuade Simon to dispel the idea of putting him and Norman in charge of the East and West Coasts separately, saying that he could do the job himself and be more professional.

After careful consideration, Simon agreed.

They were busy with movies on weekdays, so the Rayboulders rushed over today, planning to discuss more details with Simon over the weekend, and sent Simon a dinner invitation through the Norman house.

Now that James Raybould had been promised, Simon did not go out of his way to tell his personal lawyer what he had originally thought. After all, George Norman is a civil lawyer, and he is indeed not very suitable to help Simon take care of the assets of Westeros.

Not knowing that he had missed some opportunity, George Norman was also very enthusiastic in the evening, and congratulated his brother-in-law on his partnership with Simon, which was a great pleasure for everyone, but Jennifer occasionally showed some caution on her uncle's face, but she knew very well that her father had taken away the opportunity that should have belonged to him.

It's the new year just around the corner.

In recent weeks, Simon has paid his personal income tax for 1987 and taxes on his two companies. Of course, it's mostly Westeros' taxes.

After the tax settlement was completed, the main assets in Westeros' name were the shares of the 26 companies.

It is worth mentioning that when Simon applied for Westeros, he confirmed the nature of the company as a limited liability company (LLC). The biggest benefit of an LLC type company is that it can avoid double taxation. Westeros' income is equivalent to Simon's personal income, and Simon only needs to pay income tax once, and Simon can enjoy his fair share of profits. Of course, LLC type companies also have their own disadvantages, such as not being able to go public.

Fortunately, Simon didn't think about going public either.

In contrast, in order to consider the future listing and financing, the nature of Daenerys Pictures is a company limited by shares (Corp), and the profits and shareholder dividends of this type of company are subject to tax.

As North American stock markets emerge from the aftermath of the October crash and the Westeros portfolio exposes tech stocks are in high demand, Westeros' holdings of tech stocks have continued to appreciate during this period.

According to the latest statistics made by Simon's private accountants after the stock market closes today, the total value of Westeros' holdings of technology stocks has exceeded $1.67 billion. Compared to Simon's initial investment of $1.1 billion, the cumulative appreciation has reached 51%.

The appreciation of these stocks is equivalent to making up for all the huge taxes paid by Simon.

On the other hand, Westeros' 4.9% stake in 26 technology-listed companies can basically squeeze into the ranks of the majority shareholders of these companies, but it is not so easy to get a board seat and share the power of a company.

However, these companies have all risen sharply in recent months thanks to the Westeros portfolio, and it is clear that they are not too hopeful that their shares will be sold, and there is a good chance that Simon will now have a seat on the board of these companies.

After a weekend of negotiations, James Raybould, who was authorized by Simon, formally sent an application to all the technology companies owned by Westeros to join the board of directors, and the media that learned of the news quickly took notice of the matter.

A new week.

The most eye-catching event in Hollywood is undoubtedly the announcement of the nominations for the new Golden Globe Awards.

At nine o'clock on Monday morning, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced a series of nominations for the 45th annual Golden Globe Awards in a press conference in the ballroom of the Sunset Tower Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Because the 'operability' of the Golden Globe Awards is far greater than the Oscars with many judges, there is no suspense that "Lola Run" has become the favorite of this year's Golden Globe Awards with five nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress in the Drama Category, Best Screenplay and Best Soundtrack.

Simon also knew that unless the Hollywood Foreign Press Association completely abandoned the discipline, his nomination for best director would definitely only be one. As for the best film in the drama category, the winner should be Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor", and Simon doesn't think that "Lola Run" can compete with this long-established European film master.

Of course, after all, it is something to be happy about. Throughout the morning, Simon was non-stop answering combined calls from all sides.

And so on until noon.

At a restaurant in downtown Santa Monica, Simon arrived ten minutes early as the host, and Bill Gates arrived soon after.

Apparently doing some homework, Gates politely congratulated "Lola Run" on its Golden Globe nomination. The two sat down at the table, each looking at each other quietly.

Bill Gates is only 32 years old, wears a pair of black-rimmed glasses with large lenses, looks younger, even a bit like a middle school student, and is the nerdy type who is often bullied by school boys.

Just looking at his face, Simon also understands why many students in biographical films and television are often bullied by Steve Jobs of the same age.

But.

After opening his mouth, Gates did not look like a bun at all.

After ordering the meal and waiting for the waiter to leave, Gates said bluntly: "Simon, I want you to explain why you are interested in Microsoft stock?"

Simon ignored Gates' questioning posture and said in a relaxed tone: "Bill, it should be said that I am very interested in the entire electronic information industry, and Microsoft is just one of them. ”

"If that's all there is to it," Gates said, pulling out a fax from his briefcase and handing it over, "I'm afraid I can't agree to the Westeros representative's request to join Microsoft's board of directors." ”

"Actually, I don't really want to join the Microsoft board, it's very busy. However, since I have invested so much money, in order to get more returns, I still hope to provide some personal advice for the development of these companies," Simon picked up the fax page and glanced at it, then put it down, sat up straight and stared at Gates opposite, and said: "Bill, you own nearly 45% of this company, are you still worried that I will fight with you for control?"

"Okay, let's be honest," Gates relaxed his tone and said, "Simon, if Microsoft rejects Westeros' request to join the company's board of directors, will you sell your stock?"

"I have already answered you, my main purpose is to invest. If I could make more money by continuing to hold Microsoft stock, I wouldn't have sold it. As for Microsoft's board of directors, if I feel the need to join, maybe I'll keep buying shares and increase my stake to 10%, or even more, until you agree. ”

"What if I insist on refusing?"

"Aside from you and Paul Allen, Microsoft's outstanding shares should be 30%," Simon said with a smile, "Maybe I can buy out all of Microsoft's outstanding shares." When the time comes, you, me, and Paul Allen, the three of us can discuss the future of the company together. ”

After Microsoft went public last year, Bill Gates and Paul Allen still held about 45% and 25% of the shares, respectively, and the proportion of Microsoft shares in the circulating market was 30%. Based on the fact that Microsoft's stock price still has a total market capitalization of just over $1 billion after the rebound, Simon can indeed buy all the outstanding shares.

According to the regulations, once the outstanding shares in the market are reduced to a certain percentage, Microsoft can only be delisted.

Bill Gates looked at the young man across the table and found that he could clearly feel the strong eagerness in the tone of the other man's voice when he said what he had just said.

He's really going to do something like that!

After a moment of silence, Gates finally said again: "Simon, I don't like you, you're a madman." ”

"Everyone knows this, and I don't know if I've healed or not," Simon smiled indifferently and said with a straight face: "Okay, Bill, why don't we talk about Indos, I've been working on Indos 2.0 that Microsoft just launched recently." In all fairness, it's still bad. However, you are right. Compatibility, which is a necessary development strategy for an operating system to expand rapidly at this stage. Moreover, graphical interface systems can also drive the rapid adoption of personal computers in the mass market. Only by selling personal computers to mass consumers can the entire electronic information industry develop rapidly. Just like VCRs, a decade ago there were fewer than 1 million households in North America owning VCRs, but now, that number is 50 million. As a result, videotape sales in North America exceeded box office sales last year. In my opinion, the market for PCs is much larger than that of video recorders, and it is difficult for too many types of operating systems to exist in this market in the future due to the need for standardization. Microsoft doesn't have an advantage in this regard, because you don't make hardware, and companies like IBM can easily throw Microsoft out. So, while maintaining compatibility, Microsoft must also develop some unique strengths. ”

At this point, Simon paused.

Bill Gates, who had already begun to listen attentively, saw that Simon suddenly lost his words, and subconsciously asked, "What kind of advantage?"

Simon raised his hand and pointed to the fax page he had just hauled, "Give me a board seat first." ”

Bill Gates insisted: "You speak first. ”

Simon asked, "Is there a pen?"

Bill Gates took out a pen from his briefcase and handed it over, Simon wrote something on the back of the fax paper, and then handed the pen and paper together, and said: "A suggestion, change a board seat, in fact, I feel like I am losing, maybe you can sell me some of your own shares at a discount." ”

Bill Gates ignored Simon's words and picked up the fax paper, but there was only one very strange word on it: intel.