As an innovative new technology company in the internet space, Eaglet did not have previous case studies to refer to. Therefore, when its financial report was published, the media generally evaluated Eaglet's market value based on the profit margins of software companies like Microsoft and Oracle.
It is widely known that the net profit margin in the software industry can generally exceed 20%.
Eaglet's annual revenue of $5.41 billion, assuming a theoretical 20% net profit, implies that the company already has a potential earning capacity of $1 billion.
Over the past three years, only about 20 companies in the Fortune 500 have achieved net profits of $1 billion.
Considering that Eaglet still maintained a revenue growth rate of 179% in 1993, if this company were to go public, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30 would be very conservative. Even a P/E ratio of 50 for an IPO would be more than sufficient.
With a potential earning capacity of $1 billion and a P/E ratio of 30 to 50, Eaglet's market value was estimated to be between $30 billion and $50 billion. Whether from media attention or Wall Street financial giants, the valuation of Eaglet generally fell within this range.
Taking the median value of $40 billion, Simon's 90% stake in Eaglet was valued at $36 billion.
On the other hand, as of the close on March 7, the total value of Simon's shares in Cisco and America Online was $65.9 billion.
Thus, just holding shares in the three new technology companies—Cisco, America Online, and Eaglet—had brought Simon more than $100 billion in personal wealth.
$100 billion!
This figure already approached Simon's total personal net assets of $120 billion on last year's Forbes list.
However, these three companies were far from encompassing the entire Westeros system.
In the technology sector alone, Simon remained a major shareholder in companies like Microsoft, Intel, SUN, and Oracle and had absolute control over giants in the electronic communications field like Verizon Telecom and Nokia.
The other three women—Daenerys, Melisandre, and Cersei—also shone brightly in their respective fields.
In addition to this, the entire Westeros system had hundreds of companies that were either directly or indirectly invested in or controlled. No one could guarantee that these companies would not suddenly evolve into giants like Cisco, America Online, or Eaglet.
Considering Simon Westeros' proven investment acumen many times over, this seemed almost inevitable.
So, beyond the $100 billion, how much were Simon Westeros' personal assets in other fields worth?
Starting with Daenerys Entertainment Group.
This comprehensive entertainment industry giant, which was set to formally submit its IPO application next month, had an expected IPO valuation of $40 billion. Given Daenerys Entertainment's strong presence in Hollywood, its market value post-listing would undoubtedly be higher.
Simon Westeros still owned 100% of Daenerys Entertainment's shares, which directly amounted to $40 billion.
For the other two women, Cersei Capital, if estimated for its value, had equity belonging to the Westeros company that alone amounted to billions.
Another $10 billion.
Melisandre, after several years of rapid growth and continued expansion, rooted in Europe and not having a strong presence in North America, this comprehensive luxury goods giant relied on brands like Gucci, CK, Latour, Christie's, and Van Cleef & Arpels, and also crossed the $10 billion market value threshold.
Another $10 billion.
Nokia, set to release its 1993 financial report later in March, had a market value of £8.6 billion on March 7 on the London Stock Exchange, equivalent to $13.3 billion. Westeros Company currently held 78.3% of Nokia's shares, valued at $10.4 billion.
Another $10 billion.
Verizon Telecom, wholly owned by Westeros Company, leveraged strong expansion in the mobile communications field. Referencing the substantial rise in telecommunications companies' stock prices in recent years, its market value was conservatively estimated to be $15 billion.
That's $15 billion.
In the North American tech stock market, Microsoft and Intel, which were closely following Cisco, America Online, and Eaglet, also saw slight declines in Westeros Company's shares to 20.7% and 14.5%, respectively, due to various equity changes.
The market values of the two companies on March 7 were $43.1 billion and $32.9 billion, with Simon's shares valued at $13.7 billion.
Thus, Daenerys, Melisandre, Cersei, Verizon, Nokia, Microsoft, and Intel contributed another nearly $100 billion to Simon's wealth.
Summing it up, that's $200 billion.
Roughly offsetting other explicit and implicit assets and debts of Westeros Company, based on data from March 1994, Simon had become the first person globally to achieve a personal net worth of $200 billion and remained the only super-rich individual with a net worth over $100 billion.
A personal net worth of $200 billion equated to 2.9% of the United States' $6.8 trillion GDP in 1993, almost double the wealth-to-GDP ratio of the Rockefeller family at its peak.
Ranking global GDPs, Simon's personal wealth matched the $209.9 billion GDP of Sweden, which ranked 20th in 1993.
Using a more comparable metric of national wealth, often difficult to accurately measure but typically estimated at 4 to 6 times GDP, taking a midpoint of 5 times, Simon's wealth alone would place him among the top 50 nations, comparable to the national wealth of countries like New Zealand, the Czech Republic, Egypt, and Hungary.
$200 billion is a concept difficult for ordinary people to grasp. For those who understand the latent power of such wealth, it is an utterly suffocating figure.
On the other hand, whether or not they can perceive the power implied by wealth, the sentiment of 'hatred for the rich' is a universally prevalent social phenomenon and is easily incited.
Thus, with the media's calculation and portrayal of Simon's latest personal wealth following the recent series of financial reports from the Westeros system, coupled with criticisms of Simon's extravagant lifestyle during the London girls' incident, a potential crisis loomed.
The key issue was the midterm elections this year.
Entering March, candidates for the 34 Senate seats and all 434 House seats up for election this year had entered the preliminary campaign phase. Governors of 36 states were also up for re-election.
Voting day was uniformly set for November 8th.
With the domestic economy improving, unemployment declining, the victory in the Gulf War, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union boosting America's international prestige, everything seemed to be progressing as expected, resulting in a 'theme-less' midterm election to a large extent.
When many candidates were struggling to find a hot issue to attract voters, the nation's richest man's wealth reaching new heights, combined with the London girls' incident, became the perfect target.
With so many unemployed still seeking work, so many children lacking comprehensive educational benefits, and so many families struggling below the poverty line, while Simon Westeros amassed a personal fortune of over $200 billion and lived a king-like luxurious life, it was enough to incite public outrage.
Using you as a scapegoat is almost a service to God!
Thus, throughout the election campaigns across America, Simon Westeros and the Westeros system became increasingly frequent topics, often fueled by the still influential traditional print media. These topics naturally led to discussions on how to curb the 'unreasonable' growth of Simon Westeros' personal wealth and how to limit the continued rapid expansion of the Westeros system.
David Melrose, a Democratic Congressman seeking re-election in Connecticut, was the first to strike, targeting the Westeros system's internet industry monopoly. He published an op-ed in New Haven's "New Haven Daily," calling for federal government and American public vigilance against a potential trillion-dollar internet industry monopoly by a single individual, and accusing the Clinton administration's Justice Department of inaction regarding this clear monopoly. The article even hinted at a connection between the current President and the Westeros system.
David Melrose's article, though embarrassing for the White House and highlighting internal divisions within the Democratic Party, directly hit the 'Achilles' heel' of the Westeros system in the internet industry.
Following David Melrose's stance, many candidates from various states began to play the anti-Westeros card, both Democrats and Republicans. As many candidates were incumbent congressmen seeking re-election, these statements quickly turned into actual actions.
While lobbying or pressuring the Justice Department to initiate investigations, David Melrose also attempted to form a special investigative committee in the House to launch an investigation into the Westeros system's alleged industry monopolies.
Due to public opinion, all legislative bills that the Westeros system was trying to push forward were stalled. Most congressmen, in this sensitive period of seeking re-election, did not dare to openly support the Westeros system.
Moreover, these targeted investigations were considered mild.
Craig Ames, a left-wing Democratic Senator from Wisconsin, even proposed drafting a special tax bill to levy an annual asset tax on super-rich individuals with personal net assets over $1 billion to balance the wealth gap in society.
Craig Ames specifically stated that the asset tax rate for billionaires would be 0.1%, for those with $10 billion it would be 1%, and for those with $100 billion, the annual asset tax would be 5%.
According to this tax rate, a billionaire's 0.1% asset tax would only amount to $1 million, a negligible amount. A $10 billion billionaire's 1% asset tax would only be $100 million, also not significantly damaging.
But for a $100 billion billionaire
, with a net worth of $100 billion, the annual asset tax would be $5 billion. If this tax bill were to pass, the annual income of billionaires might have to be paid to the federal government, and in more severe cases, they might have to sell assets or take loans to pay the tax.
Thus, the 5% rate was clearly not an arbitrary figure thrown out by a senator.
If it were to increment from 0.1% to 1% and then to 10%, it would be unaffordable since most billionaires' wealth was tied up in stock assets, difficult to liquidate in the short term.
And it was well-known that, currently, Simon Westeros was the only billionaire with a net worth exceeding $100 billion.
With Simon's personal net worth of $200 billion, if this special 'asset tax' were implemented, he would need to pay $10 billion in taxes in the first year.
With such a tax rate, the tax amount would jump from $1 million to $10 billion in just three levels, this blatant targeting of Simon to strip him of his wealth was utterly shameless.
However, Craig Ames' proposal received significant media support.
Meanwhile, as politicians voiced their opinions, making it seem like everyone had suffered long enough under 'Westeros,' many companies jumped out to claim they had been suppressed by the Westeros system.
Two of Oracle's main competitors, Informix and Sybase, through "San Francisco Chronicle," claimed that Oracle and Eaglet had engaged in unfair competition. Eaglet allegedly used its monopoly in the internet field to force numerous websites needing web technology to purchase Oracle's database products.
Furthermore, Eaglet deliberately refused to adapt its web technology to Informix and Sybase's database software, only optimizing it for Oracle's products.
This malicious unfair competition led to Informix and Sybase's market share dropping from 23% and 19% three years ago to 11% and 6% now, pushing them to the brink of bankruptcy. In contrast, Oracle's database software market share skyrocketed from 33% to 69%.
Following this news, the two companies filed lawsuits against Oracle and Eaglet, demanding an end to this malicious unfair competition and seeking a total of $3 billion in compensation.
Facing these accusations, Eaglet quickly responded with a detailed article on its portal site.
Eaglet acknowledged the technical cooperation with Oracle and did not deny their mutual interest within the Westeros system.
However, the cooperation started in 1991, when the internet industry was just beginning to sprout, and Eaglet was a budding startup with no industry advantage. Both companies invested significant manpower and funds in joint R&D to better integrate Eaglet's web technology with Oracle's database software, ultimately to promote the rapid development of the internet industry.
Due to this cooperation, Oracle's database software became better suited to the web technology environment, a result of the joint efforts of both companies. Other internet companies adopted Oracle's products mainly because they were more compatible with the web technology environment, without any forced purchasing.
Informix and Sybase's accusations against Eaglet for refusing to adapt their software were baseless, as software adaptation required costs, and Eaglet was not obligated nor capable of proactively adapting for all software manufacturers. Such an absurd demand was akin to asking a household to prepare a resting room for every passerby.
Moreover, Oracle's market share in the internet database field was only 75%, with many other excellent database manufacturers, including Informix and Sybase themselves, still holding their place in this emerging field.
In summary, Informix and Sybase blaming others for their failures and expecting help was a shameless act of wanting something for nothing.
While traditional print media could only influence a limited audience, Eaglet Portal's influence was global. Therefore, after this article was published on the Eaglet Portal homepage, most of the public psychologically leaned towards Oracle and Eaglet.
Aside from this lawsuit, a small telecom operator in New York State named Sitel Communications accused America Online of violating free competition principles with its exclusive 10-year internet access service agreement with three regional telecom giants in 1990, claiming it was monopolistic. They filed a complaint with the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), demanding an investigation and nullification of the agreement.
Cisco was also accused of using a patent lawsuit to block a Michigan router startup from supporting local telecom operators, thereby facilitating America Online's expansion in the Great Lakes region.
Eaglet Portal's strong influence in news and information was once again questioned by traditional media. Texas's "Houston Daily Star" argued that Eaglet Portal's extensive influence on public opinion threatened freedom of speech and should be curbed. Currently, the three major portals with the highest market share in the internet field—Eaglet Portal by Eaglet, AOL Portal by America Online, and MSN Portal by Microsoft—all had clear shareholder interests within the Westeros system. Thus, the FCC should include internet media under the 'cross-media ownership ban.'
Even the dual-class share structures of Cisco and America Online became a focal point of attack by some politicians and media, claiming it infringed on the equal voting rights of shareholders.
With various accusations against Cisco, America Online, Eaglet, and many other companies within the Westeros system cropping up across the United States, the top management of the Westeros system was tired of responding one by one.
Ultimately, Eaglet Portal simply issued a statement.
Since the late 1980s, the Westeros system had invested over $10 billion to develop the internet industry.
Thanks to this relentless investment, the public could now enjoy ADSL broadband, free news, email, social networks, and other convenient services on the internet platform, ushering in a new internet era.
If an inventor or company can profit immensely under federal patent law for inventing a new product, everything is justified and lawful.
The Westeros system, having single-handedly pioneered the entire internet era, actively opened many patents to other entrepreneurs to join the web platform. The expected future social output value from this could reach trillions of dollars and create millions of new jobs.
Therefore, reaping the rewards of this investment should be entirely justified and lawful, not labeled as monopolistic.
The Westeros system would fight to the end and never compromise against those attempting to infringe on its legitimate rights through malicious lawsuits, illegal investigations, or even political persecution!
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