Janet moved quickly. By the weekend, she had taken her assistant and the three little ones to Melbourne.
Jennifer wasn't very keen on going to Australia. She was mainly worried about feeling awkward with the Johnston family and also wanted to stay with Simon. After much persuasion from both Simon and Janet, the assistant reluctantly agreed.
Veronica also tagged along.
Both Simon and Janet were somewhat reluctant about this, as there were many matters needing attention, and Simon needed someone absolutely reliable by his side.
Veronica was very insistent on returning to Australia, claiming it was part of her original travel plan. When Janet asked her reasons, she became evasive.
In the end, Simon didn't object.
Before their departure in the morning, the assistant repeatedly reminded Simon not to attend the Oscars ceremony.
Today was March 21st, the night of the 66th Academy Awards ceremony.
Given the current situation, it wasn't appropriate for Simon to appear in public. Even though he was nominated for Best Screenplay for "The Lion King" again, he had no intention of attending the ceremony. He readily agreed to the assistant's reminder.
Instead of using their private Boeing 767, which could fly directly to Melbourne, they chartered the first-class cabin of a regular Boeing 747. Simon admitted he was being overly cautious, but insisted it was better to be safe. If Janet hadn't thought it unnecessary, he would have preferred the woman and children travel on separate planes to Australia.
The content of the assassin's last letter had given Simon a significant warning.
If Simon were to have an accident, the US government would receive a massive windfall from the 50% estate tax, and many could 'feast' on his wealth.
Simon and Janet had a private conversation over the weekend. He planned to revise his will soon.
Once the will was amended, if anything happened, unless the federal government blatantly disregarded global opinion, Simon wouldn't leave any of his assets to the US government.
Of course, this was just a precaution.
The key was to strengthen his own power, so that even those who might be tempted wouldn't dare act out of line.
The ongoing investigations into the London girl exposure incident and the recent assassination attempt had both made progress.
The investigation team re-examined the assassin's previously neglected apartment and found unknown fingerprints not present in his known social circle. The untraceable M16 rifles used in the assassination attempt were another major clue.
Additionally, the assassin's bank account and recent contacts provided important leads for further investigation.
On Sunday, Simon received a report on the London girl exposure incident from Martin Dinham, one of the heads of the family intelligence team.
The mastermind persistently leaking information about the London girls to the British media was, unsurprisingly, the Hearst family.
Last time, when they tried to expose the assistant's pregnancy, Simon issued a warning. The Hearst family didn't stop. Although they no longer dared target people close to Simon, they continued attacking the Westeros system through family media like the San Francisco Chronicle. The London girl incident was another of their petty tricks.
Moreover, Congressman David Melrose, supported by the Hearst family, had been pushing for the House of Representatives to establish a special investigative committee to scrutinize the Westeros system.
Initially, Simon hoped to maintain good relations with the old media family like the Hearsts.
Despite ongoing conflicts over the past two years, Simon maintained a business-is-business attitude, not interfering with collaborations between his subsidiaries and the Hearst Group.
Unfortunately, the Hearst family, with nearly a century of dominance, hadn't realized the times had changed. After minor conflicts with the Westeros system, they continued their arrogant stance, making the conflict irreconcilable.
Since they were now a persistent nuisance, Simon decided to take action without holding back.
War it was.
In an impromptu high-level conference call for the Westeros system on Monday morning, Simon officially announced his decision. He ordered all subsidiaries with partnerships with Hearst Group media to sever all ties.
Apart from a few serious media like the San Francisco Chronicle, most of Hearst Group's platforms leaned towards fashion and entertainment. Many famous magazines like Cosmopolitan were Hearst assets. Consequently, subsidiaries like Daenerys Entertainment and Melisandre Company had heavily advertised in Hearst Group's newspapers and magazines.
In 1993 alone, the Westeros system spent $65 million on advertising with Hearst Group media.
Starting March 21st, all these expenditures were halted.
Furthermore, in all sectors influenced by the Westeros system—technology, fashion, entertainment—partners would be asked to choose sides.
There were many traditional media giants in North America, but only one Westeros system.
So, choose!
Hearst Group's revenue for 1993 was $2.11 billion. The $65 million from the Westeros system accounted for over 3% of their total revenue, a significant portion.
Losing this income alone might not cripple Hearst Group, but combined with the full-scale assault leveraging the Westeros system's influence, they couldn't remain unaffected.
But that was not all.
Over the past two years, Hearst Group had also ventured into the internet, investing in several tech startups. Although they initially refused to collaborate with Ygritte Company on news content, they had recently launched an online edition of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Starting March 21st, mainstream portals like Ygritte, AOL, and MSN, as well as Ygritte's Google search engine and Facebook social network, would all implement a ruthless blockade strategy against any tech company or website connected to the Hearst family.
On the same day, after finalizing the agreement over the weekend, Ygritte Portal and the New York Times Group simultaneously announced their collaboration on their respective platforms.
Ygritte Company not only published the cooperation details on its portal homepage, reiterating its open stance against monopolizing internet media, but also featured a New York Times article on Clinton's push for an assault weapons ban. Users clicking this news were directly redirected to the New York Times website.
The Boston Globe, acquired by the New York Times Group last year, would also launch its online edition soon, benefiting from Ygritte Portal's traffic support.
Besides news content sharing, two other collaboration points drew significant industry attention.
The New York Times Group invested $30 million in Broadcast, an online radio and audio resource site, acquiring a 15% stake.
At first glance, many thought the price was steep.
Initially, the New York Times Group thought so too.
After learning about Broadcast's over 3 million registered users and its future growth potential, the industry realized the New York Times Group might have gotten a great deal.
Personal radio, audiobooks, educational courses, online music—all indicated vast market potential.
Moreover, Broadcast announced plans to introduce audio download services, proposing ad placements or VIP strategies, showing they had a viable business model.
For most sites still focused on gaining users without considering profitability, this was remarkable.
Rapidly growing users and a viable business model meant Broadcast could easily reach a $1 billion valuation within one or two years of going public. The New York Times Group's seemingly expensive $30 million investment could multiply many times over.
Ygritte Company's potential benefits were even greater.
The rest could only watch enviously.
Currently, in Silicon Valley, even if you offered higher prices, most quality internet projects would still be easily taken by Ygritte Company, whose user base and traffic leverage were unmatched.
Another collaboration on internet streaming video technology also attracted much attention.
Even without specific projects announced, the phenomenal social impact of the recent London girl livestreams highlighted the enormous commercial potential of internet video sites.
The New York Times Group reciprocated the cooperation.
Since negotiations reached the final stage, New York Times Group's dozens of newspapers had already reduced targeted articles against the Westeros system.
After finalizing the agreement on Sunday, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., head of the New York Times Group's controlling Sulzberger family, personally wrote Simon a letter, offering as much support as possible in paper media.
After reviewing the 32 newspapers under the New York Times Group on Monday morning, Simon found only a few minor criticisms. Most notably, many articles even spoke favorably about the Westeros system.
The Westeros family's PR team began contacting New York Times Group executives on Monday, planning further cooperation on public opinion guidance.
Simon appreciated the Sulzberger family's sincerity, even more than the superficially friendly but elusive old fox Murdoch. As long as the cooperation continued, he didn't mind giving the New York Times Group more benefits.
So, receiving Arthur Sulzberger Jr.'s letter on Monday morning, Simon personally wrote a reply, expressing his optimism about the cooperation and hope to visit the Sulzberger family on his next trip to the East Coast.
Meanwhile, as the collaboration news between Ygritte Company and the New York Times Group broke, the Los Angeles Times Group on the West Coast reached out to Simon through Peter Butler, a former Los Angeles Times employee who had joined Ygritte Portal.
Even Rupert Murdoch called Simon's office, half-jokingly complaining about Simon being too stingy with News Corp and giving too many benefits to the New York Times Group.
Having announced the cooperation with the New York Times Group in the morning and deciding to go to war with the Hearst family, Simon turned his attention to politics in the afternoon.
Joseph Schrapp had flown from Washington to Los Angeles yesterday. After a Sunday afternoon discussion with Simon, they continued their talks in Simon's office at Daenerys Studios on Monday afternoon about the Westeros system's current political situation.
Schrapp had recently engaged with the White House.
Clinton hadn't explicitly stated his stance on congressional candidates targeting the Westeros system but conveyed through an aide that he hoped the Westeros system would voluntarily make some changes, further opening the World Wide Web platform.
Simon was well aware of the Clinton couple's opportunistic nature.
If the Westeros system couldn't quickly resolve the current crises independently, Clinton would undoubtedly 'follow public opinion' for his approval ratings.
In fact, the Department of Justice held a closed-door meeting last Friday to discuss whether to investigate the Westeros system's 'Cisco-AOL-Ygritte' triopoly for antitrust issues, chaired by Clinton-appointed Attorney General Janet Reno.
This was already a signal.
The closed-door meeting's outcome wasn't disclosed, but the White House indicated its stance. If necessary, it would act.
Meanwhile, the series of bills pushed by the Westeros system had no short-term prospects.
Simon decided to halt them temporarily.
Representative David Melrose, supported by the Hearst family, had officially submitted the proposal to form a special investigative committee on the Westeros system.
Simon realized that a formal antitrust investigation was almost inevitable. To maintain control of public opinion, the White House would act before the House investigative committee was formed. Hence, even if the Westeros system made concessions, it would only lead to further demands.
Therefore, Simon planned to strengthen the 'barbaric growth' strategy.
Even if the Westeros system's internet assets were eventually split, Simon would still hold significant shares in the separated companies, akin to the Rockefeller family retaining wealth after Standard Oil's breakup.
Holding onto this wealth, the Westeros system might eventually re-consolidate the internet industry.
Unity and division were cyclical.
The fragmented Standard Oil eventually re-formed into a few major energy giants, and the recently split AT&T began re-consolidating. The future internet industry would also be dominated by tech giants.
The last topic of the afternoon was the midterm elections.
Plans to 'snipe' from the opposition list and maintain the Westeros family's political 'base' would be carried out simultaneously.
The success of these plans was crucial for the Westeros system's influence in Washington in the next phase.
Therefore, the news of Ygritte Portal quoting the New York Times article on Clinton's push for an assault weapons ban was intentional.
It not only showcased Ygritte Company's collaboration with the New York Times Group but also served as a reminder to the NRA. If they opposed the Westeros system in the midterms, Ygritte Portal might adopt a gun control stance.
In Simon's memory, the NRA's influence waned in the internet era, mainly due to the internet.
Gun incidents were frequent in the USA.
In traditional media, news about shootings was often localized, preventing widespread impact.
In the internet age, every shooting incident could easily be seen nationwide and globally. With media stirring the pot, even the staunchest gun supporters might change their stance.
Simon and Joseph Schrapp wrapped up their day's work around 6 PM.
Meanwhile, across town, the 66th Academy Awards ceremony had started at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles.
After a simple dinner at the company's internal restaurant, Simon saw Schrapp off. With the women and children in Melbourne, he stayed at his studio office, handling Daenerys Entertainment's affairs and preparing to make a brief appearance at the Melisandre party at the Sunset Tower Hotel after 9 PM.
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