The incident took place in San Francisco.
It was a typical job scam where fraudsters used the 58list platform to post a series of ads for part-time typists, data entry clerks, and the like, then tricked job seekers into paying cash for deposits, training fees, and other reasons. Within just a week of 58list's launch, six people in the Bay Area had fallen for the scam, with a total amount of $23,000 defrauded.
After the victims reported the crime, the local San Francisco police quickly determined it was a gang-related fraud case.
At the same time, the 58list team was immediately notified and blocked the accounts and posts involved in the scam.
Normally, the next step would be the investigation and resolution of the case.
However, traditional paper media platforms had been eyeing 58list's launch with hostility. After the fraud case, the San Francisco Chronicle, owned by the Hearst Corporation, quickly caught wind of it and published a front-page feature on August 18th, aggressively attacking 58list's lack of security.
The very next day, August 19th, the six victims jointly filed a class-action lawsuit against Igrette, demanding a total of $3 million in various compensations and requesting that Igrette shut down the 58list website to protect the public.
Many lawsuits in the USA often come with exaggerated compensation claims, just to start high.
Of course, it was evident to many that the demand for Igrette to shut down the 58list website was the real focus. The media exposure was followed by a class-action lawsuit without even any prior private settlement attempts, making it hard to believe there was no one behind the scenes pulling the strings.
Igrette had anticipated this scenario during the preparation for 58list.
According to the website's service process, users had to click to agree to the site's disclaimer and were explicitly warned about potential fraud.
More importantly, 58list did not charge any fees for classified ads posted by users, so it naturally did not bear the responsibility of ensuring the accuracy of the information. Therefore, even if this case reached the Supreme Court, the chances of Igrette losing were almost nil.
However, if 58list completely washed its hands of the matter, it would inevitably damage Igrette's corporate image in the eyes of users.
Simon never intended to do that from the beginning.
The disclaimer and fraud warning were just to prevent 58list from getting entangled in endless lawsuits. Since the incident had happened, Igrette would do its best to resolve the issue and compensate the users' losses.
In doing so, they were also protecting their own reputation and interests.
When Simon initially formed the Westeros family intelligence team, he defined its overt role as handling potential internet crimes such as hacker attacks and online fraud that Igrette might encounter.
Unbeknownst to many, the Westeros family intelligence team had grown to over 200 people, distributed in a highly professional spy network across North America, Europe, and Australia, based on the advice of industry intelligence experts.
Weapons that are not used for a long time will rust.
Under Janet's arrangements, the intelligence team remained very active. Besides the security and precautionary work for the Westeros family, Simon and his wife also intentionally selected various targets or arranged tasks for the team to investigate or complete, many of which had no specific purpose, merely to ensure the team wouldn't 'rust.'
As for the expenses incurred during this process.
Money was never an issue for Simon.
Thus, over two years, surveillance and investigation files on various targets had filled several large cabinets in the basement of the Shell Villa. Recently, a maid tried to sell employer information, but she was discovered from the beginning. Not to mention the subsequent series of actions, even now, an eye was still on the maid named Doris Fletcher to prevent any backlash.
On August 19th, when the six victims filed the class-action lawsuit, Simon rushed to San Francisco to personally oversee the investigation of the fraud case.
He did not trust the Bay Area police.
In American crime dramas, detectives are always wise and sharp, but in reality, the inefficiency of U.S. law enforcement is well-known. Even the average clearance rate for serious cases like kidnapping, murder, and arson is only 60%, let alone 'small matters' like fraud.
Moreover, formal law enforcement agencies cannot use certain methods.
This was not an issue for the Westeros family's private intelligence team.
When Simon arrived in San Francisco, a team led by Martin Dinham had been working for three days and had essentially determined the direction of the investigation.
Using the IP information of the posts involved in the fraud case, the intelligence team, with the assistance of Igrette's technical team, easily located an internet café in Richmond, a northern city of the Bay Area. This café was part of a project initiated by Igrette, America Online, and several other companies to popularize the internet among the public. Now, this chain of internet cafés, with over 1,200 locations in North America, was owned by IBM and some private equity funds on Wall Street.
The surveillance systems in the early '90s were still very underdeveloped, but after locating the place, the team successfully obtained surveillance footage from a bank's public area near the internet café.
Meanwhile, the official files on the case were also in Igrette's hands.
Although a class-action lawsuit had been filed, two of the six victims agreed to cooperate with Igrette's investigation after being persuaded by the company.
After examining the surveillance footage and having the victims identify the suspects, the suspect was basically confirmed by 8 PM on August 19th.
The whole thing seems simple in retrospect, but many steps would have been impossible without sufficient power, connections, and skill.
Ultimately, it boiled down to money.
The low clearance rate of American police cases is often due to this reason. If there were enough budget and personnel, there wouldn't be many cases in the world that couldn't be solved.
After confirming the suspect, the next step was to locate him.
Although the Bay Area has a population of over 5 million, with the surveillance footage and the victims' descriptions sketching the scammer's exact appearance and locking down their general area of activity, finding the target wasn't difficult.
Therefore, if an average person encounters a scam, especially traceable online or phone scams, catching the criminal isn't too hard. However, the service providers don't want the hassle, the police don't want the hassle, and if the victim isn't persistent, the matter often goes unresolved.
Simon stayed at the Igrette headquarters until after 9 PM before returning to his hillside villa in Woodside.
The assistant hadn't gone to bed yet, sitting quietly in the living room reading a book, with the TV on at a low volume.
Simon handed his coat to D-girl, sat down beside Jennifer, kissed her cheek, and asked, "Was the little one naughty?"
"No, he should be asleep," the assistant put down her book, snuggled closer to Simon, and asked, "How did it go over there?"
"Got it under control, as long as we find the person."
"What about the class-action lawsuit and the media?"
"Those are Jeff's problems to handle; we'll just wait for the outcome."
Simon said this, then leaned in and placed his ear on Jennifer's belly to listen for a moment, hearing nothing, he then playfully tried to knock a few times, only to be gently slapped away by the assistant with a laugh, "It's not a watermelon, don't wake the baby."
Joking a bit, Simon checked the time and asked, "Do you want me to carry you for a bath?"
Jennifer stretched out her arms toward Simon, "Sure."
Simon stood up, lifted the assistant, and walked toward the bedroom.
After bathing, changing into pajamas, they lay on the bed, with Jennifer clearly tired but still asking, "Are you going to wait for news from London?"
It was August 19th in Los Angeles, which meant it was already August 20th in London, eight hours ahead.
Nokia was set to officially go public on the London Stock Exchange on the morning of August 20th local time.
The London Stock Exchange opens from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, so with the eight-hour time difference, pre-trading inquiries for Nokia stock would start around 1 AM in Los Angeles.
Simon had no intention of waiting that long and shook his head, turned off the overhead light, leaving only a soft yellow bedside lamp, and picked up a copy of "Walden" from the nightstand, "Shall I read to you both?"
"Yes."
Simon leaned against the headboard, waited for the assistant to find a comfortable position beside him, and began to read softly.
On the other side of the Atlantic, just before 7 AM, Nokia's CEO Jorma Ollila and James Rebold, who had specially flown in from New York, gathered in the London Stock Exchange's main hall.
The London Stock Exchange's distinction from other major exchanges was its 8 AM opening, at least an hour earlier than most.
After months of preparation, Nokia's IPO valuation was finally set at 1.8 billion pounds.
Since last year's pound crisis, the exchange rate had yet to recover, with the current rate at about 1.51 USD to the pound. The 1.8 billion pounds valuation equaled approximately $2.7 billion, 35% higher than the initial $2 billion valuation from the start of the year, mainly due to Nokia's robust performance in the first half of the year.
In 1992, Nokia's annual revenue was $1.47 billion, with 3.76 million mobile phones sold throughout the year.
In 1993, benefiting from the rapid development of Europe's mobile communications industry, the accelerated update of digital communications, and Nokia's re-entry into the North American market, Nokia's revenue reached $1.13 billion in
just the first two quarters, 76% of the total for 1992, along with a net profit of $129 million.
Additionally, Nokia's mobile device sales were a highlight, with 3.39 million units shipped in the first half of 1993, nearly matching the 3.76 million units shipped for all of 1992. It was estimated that Nokia's total phone shipments for 1993 would reach about 7 million units, with an annual revenue growth rate exceeding 80%.
Therefore, the 1.8 billion pounds valuation was still considered conservative by many analysts.
Given Nokia's high growth rate and the revenue and profit figures for the first half, even a 15x earnings valuation would be conservative.
However, the 1.8 billion pounds valuation equated to just a 10.5x earnings multiple.
Due to the valuation undervaluation and the company's strong growth prospects, the demand during the roadshow phase reached 12 times the offering size, making it one of the most sought-after new stocks on the London Stock Exchange in recent years.
Many believed that making Nokia the most active new stock on the London Stock Exchange was the reason the Westeros company tolerated the 10.5x earnings undervaluation.
The lower the offering price, the more active the post-listing trading, which would benefit the stock's future growth.
Overall, it was a forward-looking decision.
Nokia's growth was healthy and rapid, and the company's future was more important than raising more funds during the IPO stage. After all, neither Nokia nor the ever-expanding Westeros system lacked funds.
In terms of equity, the Westeros company held a total of 132 million shares in Nokia. After pre-IPO equity rewards and internal employee subscriptions, the total share capital expanded to 137 million shares.
In this IPO, Nokia issued 28 million new shares.
Overall, after the IPO, the Westeros company's stake in Nokia remained at the initially planned 80%.
Based on the 1.8 billion pounds valuation and Nokia's initial 132 million total shares, the issue price was set at 13.63 pounds per share, raising 381 million pounds, or $576 million.
In late August in London, the weather had cooled, but the stock exchange hall was bustling.
At 8 AM, after the pre-opening speeches and bell-ringing ceremony, the inquiry phase officially began, and everyone in the hall focused on the electronic display.
Fifteen minutes later, looking at the numbers that jumped directly to 15.25 to 15.55 on the electronic display, the last bit of suspense was resolved.
At 9 AM, after four rounds of inquiries, Nokia's stock officially opened on the London Stock Exchange at 18.12 pounds, a 33% increase from the issue price of 13.63 pounds.
For most new stocks, a 33% gain on the first trading day would be considered very good.
For Nokia, the 33% gain at the opening was just the beginning.
Faced with continuous buying demand, Nokia's stock price soared in the following hours.
In the exchange hall, whether it was the ecstatic Nokia executives or the media reporters from all over, they all felt they were witnessing a miracle as they watched Nokia's stock price continue to rise.
Simon got up promptly at 7 AM in San Francisco and almost immediately received a transatlantic call from London.
James Rebold handed the phone to Jorma Ollila, and the Nokia CEO, almost incoherent with excitement, conveyed a clear message: 106%, with an hour and a half until the close, and the stock was still rising.
Simon was very generous to Nokia's management, particularly Jorma Ollila, whom he valued highly.
Over three years at Nokia's helm, Jorma Ollila received 3 million shares out of the total 5 million reward and subscription shares granted to the team, nearly 2% of Nokia's total share capital, all in stock rewards, unlike many employees' low-priced internal subscriptions.
Judging by the trend, Jorma Ollila was set to become a billionaire in just one day.
Following the routine morning run in the Woodside hills, having breakfast with the assistant, and listening to A-girl's briefing on the day's schedule, Simon continued his day until 8:30 AM, which marked 4:30 PM in London. The stock exchange officially closed, and Jorma Ollila called again, announcing that Nokia's stock price had ended the day with a 121% increase, closing at 30.12 pounds, bringing Nokia's market value to 4.969 billion pounds, or $7.5 billion.
As Nokia's largest shareholder, the value of Westeros' holdings in Nokia soared to $6 billion.
In three years, a total investment of $500 million had turned into $6 billion, a 1200% increase, once again stunning the industry.
With Nokia's listing, not only did Jorma Ollila instantly become a billionaire, but the company also created a series of new millionaires and multimillionaires.
Although Nokia's price-to-earnings ratio had reached 29 times by the end of the day, analysts predicted that the stock still had significant growth potential, potentially reaching a P/E ratio of around 50 times due to market enthusiasm for Westeros system stocks and Nokia's strong growth outlook.
If this happened, Nokia would undoubtedly become the next billion-dollar tech company in the Westeros system, following America Online and Cisco.
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