Chasing Stars in Hollywood

When Simon returned to the estate in Greenwich, Janet was already there, waiting at the villa entrance. She warmly embraced him before they walked arm-in-arm into the living room.

Not in a hurry to address matters in Africa, the couple sat down on the sofa. Simon asked Janet about the results of her trip to Boston.

With the rise of BlackRock Asset Management under Cersei Capital, many large financial groups began to take this business seriously. Before BlackRock, though asset management companies had been developing for years, none had reached the $200 billion scale. Most financial companies, focusing on traditional businesses, increasingly favored high-risk, high-reward fields like hedge funds and private equity.

BlackRock Asset Management, on the other hand, thrived on scale. Even at a significant scale, the risks remained low, and the returns were sufficiently high, making it hard for other financial giants to stay calm.

Wall Street is often perceived as mysterious and powerful in the minds of many.

In reality, before the 1990s, Wall Street's power was not as formidable as in the new century, and Europe's financial sectors were still capable of competing with the US. The real shift began in the 1990s, with continuous economic turmoil and recessions in Europe and Asia driving large amounts of capital to the US, where the economy continued to prosper. Federal deregulation in the 1990s ultimately led to Wall Street's dominant position globally in the new century.

Whether hedge funds, private equity, or asset management, all saw tenfold growth in the 1990s on Wall Street. The total size of hedge funds increased from hundreds of billions in the 1980s to several trillion dollars after the turn of the century. Private equity, while no longer excessively leveraged after the frenzy of the 1980s, continued to grow in size. The conservative asset management sector evolved from managing at most a few hundred billion dollars in the 1980s to managing multi-trillion-dollar assets.

For the overall development strategy of the Westeros system, Simon valued Lawrence Fink's BlackRock Asset Management Company the most among Cersei Capital's three subsidiaries, with Cersei Fund Management Company, mainly dealing in hedge funds, being the least important.

BlackRock Asset Management's total assets recently exceeded $210 billion, but Simon was not satisfied. From the beginning of the year, Janet had been planning a takeover of State Street Bank, headquartered in Boston. This established banking giant was considering spinning off its asset management business into an independent subsidiary similar to BlackRock.

Anyone interested in the shareholding structure of major US companies would notice that whether it's new tech giants like Apple, Google, and Amazon, or established companies like General Electric, Boeing, and ExxonMobil, public shareholders often include two names: 'BLACKROCK INC.' and 'STATE STREET CORP.' The former is BlackRock Group, and the latter is State Street Bank.

Although State Street Bank's overall asset management scale could never match BlackRock's, its strength was evident as it frequently ranked among the top five public shareholders of major corporations, just like BlackRock.

Currently, State Street Bank's core business still focused on traditional banking, with its asset management operations not independently run and managing only about 10% of State Street Bank's total assets, approximately $60 billion.

Of course, even $60 billion in asset management made it a giant in this era.

While most financial giants were only beginning to recognize the potential of the asset management industry, without fully understanding its future impact on the US economy, Simon decisively launched a takeover plan with Janet to prevent State Street Bank's asset management department from becoming an independent entity.

The feasibility of this plan was high, centered around the 'Cersei Capital' brand. For the established State Street Bank, exchanging its asset management department, which accounted for only 10% of its total business, for a ticket into Cersei Capital and establishing close ties with the entire Westeros system was a worthwhile deal at this stage.

Thus, when Janet began negotiations with State Street Bank at the beginning of the year, they didn't receive an immediate positive response, but the door to negotiations wasn't shut either.

After a period of back-and-forth, formal negotiations finally began in March. Janet's trip to Boston was to finalize the cooperation details.

"The final plan is a complete stock-for-stock merger, saving us a lot of money," Janet said, sitting across Simon's lap in the living room, one arm around his neck and the other gently scratching his chin. "25% of BlackRock Asset Management's shares in exchange for State Street Bank's entire asset management department. 22% of the shares will go to State Street Bank, and the remaining 3% will be given to a few key senior executives in State Street's asset management team. After this transaction, our shareholding ratio will drop from 41% to 32%, but State Street Bank has agreed to grant us voting rights for its 22% stake for five years."

Janet winked playfully at Simon, who understood immediately.

As BlackRock Asset Management's scale rapidly expanded, the relationship between Simon and Lawrence Fink became less harmonious.

The crux of the issue was control of the financial giant.

Lawrence Fink designed BlackRock Asset Management's business model. However, the company's rapid growth to its current $210 billion asset scale was primarily due to the 'Cersei Capital' brand. Wall Street never lacked genius bankers, but in recent years, Cersei Capital's appeal to global investors, even surpassing that of established firms like Morgan and Goldman Sachs, was unmatched.

The reason was simple: the Westeros system's rise in recent years was miraculous. Capital follows profit, and investors naturally lean towards companies that promise substantial returns.

Lawrence Fink was well aware of this, so he had been quietly diluting Cersei Capital's shareholding by continuously issuing shares to new partners. Before this transaction, Cersei Capital's shareholding in BlackRock had dropped from 50% to 41%.

Furthermore, Fink intended to take BlackRock Asset Management public.

In traditional partnership-based financial companies, partners' equity is usually not permanent. Once a partner leaves, they often receive a payout while their shares return to the company. However, once a financial company goes public, the nature of its shares changes permanently, and the special rights enjoyed by the parent company, like veto power, become inappropriate for a publicly traded company.

In short, as a company goes public and becomes a widely held public entity, shareholders' power often diminishes while the control of the board and management significantly increases.

Lawrence Fink aimed to gain actual control over BlackRock Asset Management from Cersei Capital by dispersing shares and pushing for a public listing. Historically, this top Wall Street banker succeeded in this.

This time, however, it would not happen.

If the merger with State Street Bank's asset management department succeeded, Fink's recent efforts would be reset.

Obtaining the voting rights for State Street Bank's 22% stake, even if not permanent, combined with Cersei Capital's 32%, would ensure Simon and Janet's absolute control over BlackRock Asset Management for the next five years.

Five years is a long time.

Once a company reaches a certain scale, it operates almost autonomously, no longer requiring constant, real-time management. Consequently, even Lawrence Fink, the founder who built this machine, would no longer be indispensable.

Moreover, this wasn't the early days when Fink joined Cersei Capital from Blackstone.

Back then, BlackRock managed only $3 billion in assets, and Fink could have started over even if he had to leave. Now, with the merger and continued expansion, BlackRock Asset Management's assets were expected to surpass $300 billion by the end of the year, a hundred times the scale when Cersei Capital initially took over.

At this point, whether Fink was willing to give up everything and start over, it would be nearly impossible to recreate a $300 billion financial empire.

By agreeing to a 50-50 shareholding structure initially, Simon showed his appreciation for Lawrence Fink, who built the BlackRock empire in another timeline. He didn't pursue a controlling interest but insisted that Cersei Capital should not be marginalized in the company. That was the bottom line.

Since Lawrence Fink attempted to cross that line, Cersei Capital's response was to reclaim absolute control over BlackRock Asset Management.

If this deal succeeded, Cersei Capital would hold absolute control over BlackRock Asset Management, both nominally and in reality, for at least the next five years. If Fink still didn't change his attitude, Simon wouldn't hesitate to oust him.

In the villa's living room, after Janet outlined the merger plan, Simon asked, "How's Fink taking it?"

Janet, caressing Simon's chin, said, "He always wanted to expand BlackRock's scale as much as possible. This time he got his wish, so what can he say? However, in Washington, getting this deal approved might be tricky."

The Westeros system had been too prominent in recent years. Although the BlackRock-State Street transaction didn't involve monopolies, the enormous asset scale of BlackRock might lead the authorities to create obstacles out of fear.

The couple continued to discuss strategies to deal with potential hurdles from Washington, cozily leaning on the sofa. After a while, a tall woman in her thirties, dressed in a navy blue business suit, emerged from the hallway. Seeing the couple, she paused, nodded at Janet, and addressed Simon. "Mr. Westeros, I just came to inform you that everyone is waiting."

Janet, hearing this, stood up from Simon's lap with a smile. "I'll go prepare dinner. Honey, what do you want to eat?"

Simon, as usual, replied, "Anything."

Though not as casual as Warren Buffett, who thrived on burgers and soda, Simon wasn't picky about food

 and wouldn't go to great lengths to source rare ingredients like some wealthy individuals.

Janet joked about having the chef create a dish called 'Anything,' then glanced at the woman with her shirt's top two buttons undone, intentionally or not, before heading to the kitchen.

Simon stood up, unabashedly glancing at the woman's neckline, his gaze following the perfect curves. He gestured for her to lead the way. "Let's go, Celia. By the way, how did the operation go?"

The woman's name was Celia Miller, 36, married. Miller was her husband's surname.

Digging deeper, Celia Miller's background was quite intriguing.

Born and raised in Washington, Celia came from an upper-middle-class family. After graduating from Northwestern University, she started her political career as an intern for then-newly elected President Ronald Reagan. At 24, she joined the US Treasury, and at 27, she married her current husband, Philip Miller.

Philip Miller's father, Michael Miller, was a Navy vice admiral. Philip, three years older than Celia, was also a career military officer, currently serving as a colonel in the Pentagon's Joint Staff.

Leveraging her husband's military connections, Celia transferred to the defense sector after marriage. By the time she left her position last year, she was the Director of the Department of Defense Inspector General's Office. This office, equivalent to the FBI within the US military, oversees the entire military's operations, underscoring its importance.

Because of the department's significance, Clinton's administration naturally sought to install its own people.

For these core national departments, the White House couldn't act arbitrarily. Many appointments required congressional approval. Additionally, the military operated independently with intricate internal networks. Even White House-determined positions often resulted from extensive balancing and negotiation.

Given Celia Miller's background, she wouldn't have been removed under normal circumstances.

However, her greatest supporter, Vice Admiral Michael Miller, retired in 1992. With his departure, the Miller family's influence in the military could only ensure Philip's position in the Department of Defense. Celia, who had a stronger career trajectory than her husband, was forced out.

After years of effort, Celia found herself back to square one, nearly causing a rift with her in-laws.

It's worth noting that her marriage to Philip was largely a facade.

To make their marriage seem genuine, the couple even had a son through IVF in the '80s.

Having invested so much, Celia was unwilling to start over. She spent the past year trying to regain her footing, but to no avail.

Then she heard Simon Westeros was looking for a personal military assistant.

Personal military assistant—a novel concept.

Typically, a military assistant would be a man. However, Simon preferred female assistants and saw no reason to change.

Furthermore, he didn't hide his preferences.

Ultimately, Celia was selected from over a hundred candidates, being one of the top candidates for the role.

Many who encountered Simon's circle couldn't help but marvel at the bevy of beauties surrounding the tycoon.

Top-tier beauties that most people could only dream of having were easily within Simon's reach. Many of them were also highly intelligent, something even moderately wealthy individuals found hard to achieve.

The key was Simon's position at the pinnacle of the world's hierarchy.

Simon possessed not only immense wealth but also significant influence in entertainment, fashion, technology, and other fields.

This combination ensured that Simon could access most of the planet's resources, including beautiful women, at will.

If he wished, he could easily find numerous women of a specific type for his enjoyment, just like the hundreds of lolis he kept in Europe and the Caribbean.

Celia Miller, with her excellent looks and capabilities, was just one of the many top candidates available to Simon.

Celia slightly sidestepped to lead the way, nodding at Simon's inquiry. "Very smoothly. Our helicopter units divided into five groups and cleared the National Radio Station headquarters in the capital and relay stations in four provinces."

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