Hunting in Hollywood

In the morning, Sophia drove her children to the Dumay Cape Manor.

The car stopped in front of the Shell Villa, where Sophia got out just in time to see the ABCD Girls moving boxes of children's supplies out of the villa and loading them onto a pickup truck.

Janet was there too, and upon seeing Sophia, she came over to chat warmly and affectionately greeted the two little ones, Daniel and Gemma.

After a brief conversation, Sophia gestured towards the busy ABCD Girls and asked, "What's all this for?"

Jennifer patted her belly and said, "I bought a lot of stuff for the little one yesterday, thought it was a bit premature, so I decided to donate it instead of letting it go to waste."

Sophia understood the situation after Janet's explanation.

However, seeing the truck full of items and knowing Janet's habit of never opting for cheap goods, Sophia couldn't help but have a thought similar to one Simon had the previous afternoon.

They all entered the villa together.

Noticing that Daniel and Gemma were quite interested in the Shell Villa, Janet took the initiative to show the two little ones around, and instructed Lady A to take Sophia to the study on the second floor, where Simon was.

Following Alison to the second floor, they reached a door. Sophia signaled for Lady A to leave and knocked on the door herself.

After getting a response, she pushed the door open.

Instead of sitting behind his desk, Simon was lounging in an armchair by the window, flipping through a book with his feet unceremoniously resting on a stool, and snacks and juice on a side table, looking quite relaxed.

The spring sunlight was just right.

The bright light poured through the glass window into the study, creating a perfect lazy ambiance.

Sophia greeted Simon, closed the door, and turned to notice a toy truck on the floor.

Picking up the toy truck, she approached Simon and, holding up the toy, asked with a smile, "Is this for your little treasure too?"

"Of course not, it's my toy," Simon said.

He took out a remote control and fiddled with it, and the toy truck in Sophia's hand buzzed to life.

Placing the toy truck on the floor and watching it clatter away, Sophia didn't sit on the other armchair but instead sat on the armrest of Simon's chair and asked, "What book are you reading?"

Simon showed her the cover, saying, "It's a pregnancy guide."

Sophia flipped through the book and said, "You're really looking forward to being a dad, huh?"

"More nervous than anything, it's my first time," he replied.

Sophia suddenly commented, "I really envy you both."

She put the book down on the side table, subtly shifted closer to Simon, and continued, "You look very pretty today."

Simon noticed Sophia's slight movement and simply smiled, complimenting, "You look very pretty today."

Sophia knew the timing and setting weren't quite right. Since Simon wasn't taking the initiative, she didn't push further. She casually brushed her hair from her forehead as if to clear her slightly fluttering emotions and changed the subject, "Have you looked into Van Cleef & Arpels?"

Simon nodded, "I have, they're a great company."

Van Cleef & Arpels, a French luxury brand with nearly a century of history, specializes in jewelry and high-end watches and is favored by royals and celebrities alike, ranking alongside Tiffany and Cartier.

It's also the next acquisition target for the Melisandre Corporation.

Over the past year, Melisandre's subsidiary Gucci had perhaps the highest exposure among luxury brands.

Starting with "The Gucci Mark," many films produced by Daenerys Entertainment in 1990, including the hits "Pretty Woman" and "Ghost," featured Gucci products.

Gucci's brand events at major film festivals and widespread traditional advertising also significantly boosted its brand impact. With Sophia's strict control over Gucci's product and service quality, the brand achieved a spectacular 73% growth in revenue, reaching $670 million for the year.

In comparison, Gucci's direct competitor, the Dior brand under the LVMH group, saw only a 17% increase in revenue, reaching $1.09 billion in the same period.

Two years ago, Sophia had proposed the idea of Gucci overtaking Dior in 1991. While ambitious, if the growth trends of the past two years continued, Gucci's revenue could soon join the "billion-dollar revenue club," reaching a level comparable to Dior.

As of March 1991, Gucci's operations indicate a secure 50% revenue growth rate for the year, easily achieving the $1 billion target.

In consideration of Gucci's brand focus, over the past two years, Melisandre only added one subsidiary, a vineyard that falls under Simon's personal collection.

Now that Gucci has fully recovered,

 releasing more than half a century's worth of accumulated brand value, Melisandre is ready to expand. However, Sophia is not rushing to acquire luxury brands that overlap with Gucci's markets, instead choosing Van Cleef & Arpels, which specializes in jewelry and watches.

According to information Sophia gathered in advance, Van Cleef & Arpels reported $176 million in revenue and $19 million in profits in 1990.

After several negotiations with the Van Cleef family and the Italian Fingen company, which hold shares in Van Cleef & Arpels, both parties preliminarily agreed on a valuation of $230 million for Van Cleef & Arpels. The shareholders are willing to sell 60% of the company for $138 million in cash, relinquishing control of the company.

Simon was also very positive about this deal.

He and Sophia had extensively discussed Melisandre's expansion plans, eventually deciding on a "carrier battle group" model for the company.

A carrier battle group typically consists of one to three aircraft carriers and numerous cruisers, destroyers, frigates, supply ships, and submarines.

Similarly, Melisandre's future structure would likely include two to three core brands supported by numerous smaller luxury brands, with the core brands accounting for over 50% of the group's revenue.

The subsidiary brands would share the remaining 50%, with each generating about one-tenth of a core brand's revenue.

This structure would ensure that core brands like Gucci maintain sufficient visibility and competitiveness, while also providing growth potential through the acquisition of numerous smaller luxury brands. This strategy also prevents the emergence of new competitors that could challenge the core brands, serving as a containment strategy.

The acquisition of Van Cleef & Arpels would serve as the seed for Melisandre's second "carrier battle group."

This is because Van Cleef & Arpels does not directly compete with Gucci.

Melisandre could then develop two distinct groups, one focused on bags and clothing with Gucci and another on jewelry and watches with Van Cleef & Arpels.

As for acquiring subsidiary luxury brands, this could be gradually pursued throughout the 1990s.

At this time, major luxury giants like LVMH and Richemont were focusing on managing their core brands and had not yet started large-scale expansions.

LVMH focused on Dior and LV, while Richemont's core brand was Cartier.

Melisandre's planned "carrier battle groups" would directly compete with LVMH's bag and clothing focus and Richemont's jewelry and watch focus.

In the original timeline, Kering, which acquired Gucci and stood alongside LVMH and Richemont as a luxury giant, was still managing its retail chain operations. With Melisandre already securing Gucci and eyeing the luxury goods industry, Kering was unlikely to follow its original development path.

Sophia's visit to Los Angeles that weekend was not just to see Simon.

The following Monday was the start of the new Academy Awards ceremony, and Gucci traditionally hosted its brand party after the Oscars.

With Daenerys Entertainment's influence in Hollywood and its growth over two years, this party was becoming a staple, potentially replacing the Vanity Fair party as the post-Oscars gathering.

After spending a casual weekend discussing various matters with Simon and sharing lunch, Sophia returned to the city to prepare for the themed party.

Janet, claiming she wanted to get a feel for childcare, kept the two little ones at the manor. They enjoyed their time with Auntie Janet until Sunday afternoon when they had to return to the East Coast for school on Monday. Janet then sent the children back to New York on the family's Boeing 767.

Following a warm weekend, it was now March 25th.

Since the start of the Easter period on March 22nd, Madonna's concert documentary "Truth or Dare" opened on 733 screens and made $4.93 million in its first weekend, with an estimated total of $7 million for the week.

Given the film's popularity and critical reception, "Truth or Dare" was likely to reach at least $20 million in North American box office receipts. While it couldn't match "The Gucci Mark's" over $60 million in total North American revenue, it was still a notable success for its genre.

However, "Truth or Dare" ranked only third in the box office for its opening weekend.

The top spot went to Warner Bros.' action film "Hard to Kill," starring Steven Seagal, which made $10.52 million in three days.

The robust "Toy Soldiers" held second place, adding $5.71 million over the weekend.

From its opening on February 8th, "Toy Soldiers" had accumulated $87.18 million in North American revenue, steadily approaching the $100 million mark.

Ranked fourth and fifth were Fox's crime film "Courage Under Fire," starring Gene Hackman, and Universal's crime comedy "The Hard Way," starring Michael J. Fox.

Looking closely

, Daenerys Entertainment occupied three spots in the top five for the Easter weekend.

Of course, Simon preferred not to draw too much attention to this fact.

Daenerys Studios.

Simon put aside the weekend's box office report and turned his attention to Nancy Brill who walked into his office.

Following the acquisition of MCA, Nancy would take over all non-film divisions of Daenerys Entertainment, except the theme parks. This included records, cinemas, publishing, games, consumer products, and the video tape chain, making her powers second only to Simon and Amy, and slightly more influential than Robert Raym, who was still in charge of distribution, and Robert Eagle, head of television.

During the salary and position adjustments, Nancy was also promoted to be the third president of Daenerys Entertainment, alongside Rayman and Eagle.

Daenerys Entertainment's management structure was unique compared to other studios.

For instance, Simon's position as chairman was more akin to Michael Eisner's role as both chairman and CEO of Disney, directing the overall development of Daenerys Entertainment.

Although Amy was the CEO, her authority was similar to Eisner's deputy, Frank Wells.

The three presidents at Daenerys Entertainment were more like heads of major business divisions at other studios.

Hollywood's power structures were always fluid, and since Daenerys Entertainment was not publicly traded, it could adopt any management structure it deemed appropriate.

However, with an IPO in mind, Simon planned to make some adjustments to Daenerys Entertainment's management structure.

Sitting across from Simon, Nancy and he began discussing the company's gaming division.

Over the past year, Daenerys Entertainment's wholly-owned subsidiary Blizzard Studio and 35% owned EA had both seen significant growth.

Blizzard's two "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" games, a fighting game in the first half of the year and an action-adventure sequel in the second half, were expected to sell over 2 million units each.

EA, under Simon's guidance, developed the PC real-time strategy game "Dune," which had been released in September of the previous year and had already sold over 1.1 million copies by now. Its sports games and other RPGs had also performed well.

Moreover, EA had used its rising stock price to acquire several gaming studios with strong brands, beginning an expansion similar to that of its original timeline.

Today, Simon and Nancy discussed EA's plans to develop online games.

This was also to quickly enrich internet content.

Over the past few months, the growth in internet users had far exceeded Simon's initial expectations.

Besides the Ygritte portal, more and more content websites were joining the World Wide Web, but not to Simon's satisfaction.

At this stage, developing massively multiplayer online role-playing games with tens of thousands of concurrent users was still unrealistic. However, turning games like "Dune," which had already gained traction, into turn-based online battle platforms was very feasible.

Additionally, the online payment system Ypay, which Ygritte portal had begun developing, could address the payment issues faced by online games.

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