Chapter 1135: The Four

Simon’s meeting with Jung Soo-dong lasted only 15 minutes. After offering a seat on the Bank of New York Mellon board as a sweetener, Simon immediately began assigning tasks, instructing Jung to investigate the debt status of South Korea’s top chaebols. Jung would only stay in North America for three days to handle some job transitions before returning to Asia, initially based in Hong Kong, to build his own team.

There would be others in Asia to assist him.

After Jung left, Simon spent the rest of the day meeting with three other individuals: Choi Yeon-seo, Jung Sang-won, and Jongjeong Ho.

Choi Yeon-seo, like Jung Soo-dong, was a 37-year-old Korean-American first-generation immigrant who graduated from Columbia Business School and previously worked at Lehman Brothers.

Jung Sang-won and Jongjeong Ho, on the other hand, were from South Korea. Both had ties to the recently collapsed Hanbo Group.

Jung Sang-won, 41, also had a background in studying abroad, having graduated from New York University. Before losing his job due to Hanbo’s collapse, he was a senior executive in the group’s human resources department.

Jongjeong Ho was the only one without a foreign education background, having only attended Seoul National University. At 37, he had previously worked in the finance department of Hanbo Steel, holding a mid-to-senior management position. He had been implicated in the Hanbo Steel bankruptcy case, and the Westeros system had spent some effort to clear his name.

The four were carefully selected by Simon.

First, their previous work covered legal, administrative, human resources, and financial aspects, complementing each other. With solid foundations and years of experience, they also had the potential to work independently.

Second, all were over 35, with families, and had not been particularly successful in their careers, meaning they had likely been worn down by society. Their foreign citizenship or study backgrounds, and even Jongjeong Ho’s tainted record, made them easy to control. Additionally, compared to younger individuals who might harbor nationalistic sentiments, these men, given a sudden opportunity to succeed, would likely have little resistance to helping the Westeros system exploit their own country.

Finally, with four Korean faces, they could operate among South Korea’s corporate giants without arousing public suspicion or backlash, as long as they were careful.

Simon did not gather the four together for a joint meeting to avoid any potential risks. For a long time, they would work independently until the Westeros system confirmed their trustworthiness, at which point they would be brought together. If they failed to meet expectations, whether in terms of ability or loyalty, they would be discarded.

Moreover, these were only the first batch of puppets Simon had selected.

There would be more in the future.

The last task of the day was Titanic.

After more than a year of work, the film was almost certain to burn through $200 million and was still not fully completed.

This time, it was about the score.

After Simon’s intervention, James Horner, the original composer, was chosen for the film’s score. However, due to Simon’s butterfly effect, even with Horner on board, it was unlikely he would recreate the iconic masterpiece that defined Titanic.

Simon once again had to step in.

From 3 PM to nearly 7 PM, four hours were spent reviewing a rough cut of the film and providing some revision suggestions based on memory. For the score, Simon’s main input was the use of Scottish bagpipes and the on-the-spot brainstorming of My Heart Will Go On.

Frankly, while Simon couldn’t change the fact that Cameron had burned through $200 million, replacing Kate Winslet with Rachel Weisz as the female lead made the new pairing of the leads much more visually appealing.

During the session, Simon also discussed distribution matters with Amy, who had come to watch the film.

It was decided that the film would premiere at the Venice Film Festival later this year.

The original Titanic premiered at the Tokyo Film Festival, mainly because the October event was closer to the year-end release. However, Japanese audiences didn’t seem to embrace it, so this time, Simon decided to skip Tokyo. Even though the Venice Film Festival in September was a bit early, if the premiere reception wasn’t strong, it would give Daenerys Entertainment time to make adjustments.

Returning to Dume Cove in the evening, Simon stepped into the shell villa’s living room and saw a group of people chatting by the window.

As he approached, Janet stood up first, followed by Veronica and Melbourne, who had been clinging to her.

“Darling, how was your day?” Janet greeted Simon with a hug, then linked arms with him and turned, explaining, “Auntie came back this afternoon. There’s been some trouble at AOL.”

Simon nodded slightly, glancing at his son, who was still holding Veronica’s hand.

Melbourne, catching his father’s gaze, instinctively let go of NaNa’s hand and greeted politely, “Good evening, Dad.”

Simon responded coolly, “Hmm.”

The boy quickly added, “Auntie Jenny and the others are preparing dinner. I’ll go help.”

With that, he hurried off.

Janet, watching the interaction between father and son, almost burst out laughing. After Simon and Veronica exchanged greetings, she pulled him to sit down, still unable to resist teasing, “You’re always so harsh with Mel. Haven’t you noticed he’s growing less and less attached to you?”

“Why should a father and son be so close?”

“…”

Janet almost rolled her eyes, but then she thought about it and realized… it kind of made sense.

She was aware of the concept of generational affection.

Like her own father, who had always been strict with her brothers but doted on Melbourne, his grandson.

Hmm.

And Auntie and Mel.

This was probably… a family trait.

Simon, still in a bit of a sour mood, glanced at the smiling Janet beside him: “You two are sitting here relaxing while Jenny prepares dinner alone?”

Jenny had been pregnant for over seven months since last October.

Janet pouted at this, “Not at all. Sophie came this morning and is in the kitchen.”

She also had a small complaint.

Even if Sophia Firth hadn’t come, in this villa, there was no need for Jenny to personally prepare dinner.

The guy was just being jealous and looking for trouble.

Hmph.

Seeing Janet’s response, Simon didn’t press further and turned to Veronica, who was sipping coffee across from him: “What’s the problem at AOL?”

Among the core trio of the Westeros system’s internet ventures, Simon had prioritized the audit of Igerit, with AOL coming in second.

Veronica, hearing Simon’s question, looked up and said, “I’ve found that AOL’s network construction budgets in many regions over the past few years have been abnormally overspent. Steve Case believes that given the current state of the stock market, we shouldn’t dig too deep to avoid further stock price declines. Without Case’s cooperation, my team can’t proceed.”

Although Simon had spent most of the past month overseas, he hadn’t stopped paying attention to the Nasdaq.

As of today’s closing on the East Coast, the Nasdaq index, after a month-long plunge, had fallen to a low of 4,353 points. Compared to its peak of 7,045 points on March 24, the day of the crash, the cumulative drop had reached 38%.

In the original timeline, the Nasdaq crash after 2000 was a relatively slow process, with several rebounds along the way. This time, as Simon had predicted, the higher it rose, the harder it fell. A 38% drop wasn’t quite a halving, but it was close. The Nasdaq, once valued at $9.3 trillion, had shrunk to $5.6 trillion. In just over a month, $3.7 trillion in stock market wealth had evaporated.

The Westeros system’s trio of Igerit, Cisco, and AOL, as the former leading stocks of the Nasdaq, were hit the hardest, suffering significant losses.

If stock prices were the priority, Simon shouldn’t be making drastic moves now.

However, Simon had always prioritized the long-term development of the Westeros system.

After some thought, Simon quickly said to Veronica, “I’ll talk to Steve after dinner.” Then he turned to Janet, “From now on, assign her two more teams of female guards to ensure she’s always accompanied by at least one group.”

Before Janet could respond, Veronica interjected, “I don’t need that many people following me.”

Just then, Sophia Firth walked over. Simon stood up and said, “That’s final.”

He then went to greet Sophia.

Janet, watching Simon’s retreating back, made a face at Veronica and then moved closer to her aunt: “Alright, that’s that. Auntie, you’ve been through more than us, so you know that when people are pushed to the brink, they’ll do anything.”

Veronica said, “Actually, it’s not that serious. Given the tech bubble hype of the past few years, AOL’s budget overruns for network construction were somewhat expected.”

“I know, I know,” Janet still smiled, “But it’s better to be safe.”

Simon, after exchanging greetings with Sophia, returned to the sofa and sat down, shifting the conversation to other topics.

As for AOL, the issues were also within Simon’s expectations. In fact, he had been aware of the problem for years but had turned a blind eye as long as the network construction in various regions was completed to standard.

This time, to put it bluntly, Simon was using the issue as an excuse to tighten finances and clean house, conducting a thorough review of the Westeros system’s various companies.

After chatting for a while, Jenny, holding her belly, came over to announce that dinner was ready, and everyone headed to the dining room.

After dinner, Simon connected with Steve Case via video call and sternly reprimanded the AOL CEO. Steve Case tried to defend himself briefly but, seeing that it was futile, eventually gave in.

Simon wasn’t reassured by Case’s verbal promises and would wait to see his actions. If Steve Case continued to pay lip service, Simon wouldn’t hesitate to remove him. As for the internal turmoil and stock price decline that might result, Simon didn’t care. If a company in the Westeros system couldn’t function without a particular executive, it wasn’t worth keeping.

As for the stock price, it was just a number.

After this review, AOL would only develop better in the future, and its long-term stock performance would reflect that.

The next day was May 20, Tuesday.

Simon arrived at the company early again. This time, before 9 AM, he met with Danny Morris, head of New World Pictures, to discuss the promotion of upcoming films like American Pie and the production of projects like Rush Hour 2.

Danny Morris also mentioned the increasingly noticeable Hong Kong film craze.

Hong Kong cinema had experienced a major crash two years ago, but now, it seemed to be making a comeback—at least for Hong Kong filmmakers.

Aside from John Woo and Chow Yun-fat’s highly sought-after project, Simon also heard about other familiar names making their way to Hollywood, like Tsui Hark. Through John Woo’s connections, several major Hollywood studios were in talks with him, including New World Pictures and MGM.

Simon happened to remember that in the original timeline, Tsui Hark had tried his hand at Hollywood around this time, collaborating with action star Jean-Claude Van Damme on Knock Off.

And then… nothing.

In Simon’s view, Tsui Hark’s talent surpassed John Woo’s, and his Hollywood failure was simply bad luck, not finding the right project.

Speaking of Tsui Hark, Simon also recalled his idea of producing a Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain trilogy during his recent trip to China.

In the original timeline, Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain was something of an obsession for Tsui Hark. Unfortunately, the filmmaker’s two major attempts at this IP in the 1980s and early 2000s both ended in failure, turning the Zu series into a no-go zone for other filmmakers.

The reasons for the failure were complex.

From Simon’s perspective, one major factor was budget.

Although both attempts were big-budget projects, they weren’t big enough. For a fantastical, swordplay-filled xianxia series, the 1980s version should have been on par with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and the 2001 version should have had the budget of Hero. Unfortunately, Tsui Hark’s budgets for both films were insufficient.

Thus, both films could only be considered half-finished products.

On the other hand, Tsui Hark’s talent was undeniable, but he could also be too whimsical. While he needed a generous budget, he also needed constraints to prevent him from going off track.

Take the script, for example.

Simon believed both projects had solid stories at the outset, but during execution, with too many ideas to realize, the money ran out halfway, leading to rushed work and predictable results.

After this consideration, Simon was almost decided.

The project could be handed to Tsui Hark again, but Simon would have to keep a close eye on him to prevent him from going too far.

In the office at Daenerys Studios.

While distracted by thoughts of Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain, Simon said to Danny Morris, “Since everyone’s scrambling, you can keep an eye out too, but we’re not in a rush. We’ll only move if there’s a suitable project.”

Danny Morris nodded, then added, “Actually, there’s one right now from Golden Harvest, called The Phantom Agents. I’ve read the script—it’s about training top agents through subconscious methods, a great concept. The story is similar to last year’s Black Mask. Oh, and Golden Harvest has also invited Miss Jiang from China to star, and she’s agreed.”

Simon had no memory of this film and was about to ask to see the script and team when Danny Morris mentioned “Miss Jiang.” He paused for a moment before realizing it was Jiang Anqi.