Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 169 Stealing a house!

"Mr. Jones, thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet with me."

"Oh, you're welcome. Please take a seat."

"Thank you."

"I've read your resume, and I'm very interested in your life experience. You were born in 1956? You're 21 this year? Wow, you're one year younger than me? But now you've graduated from Harvard? And you got a double degree in applied mathematics and economics?"

"Oh, Mr. Jones, you flatter me. Compared to your achievements, I am just a kid who can read a little bit. Yes! I spent four years at Harvard and got two degrees. I just graduated this summer. I was also the captain of the Harvard football team and served as an editor in the literary club. The newspapers I was responsible for were The Harvard Crimson and The Harvard Advocate..."

"Wow~ This is really a very fulfilling college life."

"Yeah~ I think so too..."

"I want to know why you chose our company? Are you applying for a secretary position? With your experience, it shouldn't be difficult to find a management trainee position in some large company, right?"

"You're right. I had received an offer from Procter & Gamble before I came here, but when I heard that Destiny Games was recruiting, I decisively gave up because I witnessed the scene of Pac-Man devouring the campus when I was studying at Harvard. Your game seems to have a special kind of magic. At that time, I wanted to explore the place where the legend was born. And I also planned to study at Stanford. I went to Harvard because my father liked it. Compared with Harvard, I actually prefer the young Stanford. To be honest, I plan to apply for an MBA at Stanford after working for a while. I think that compared with Procter & Gamble, the work experience of Destiny Games may be more accepted by the teachers here? And I also like Hollywood..."

"Oh—you're right." Ethan laughed.

At this moment, he was leaning on the sofa, and sitting opposite him was a bald man wearing a blue T-shirt. This guy had a very plump face, and when he spoke, his facial features were even squeezed together, which made him look very funny. Not only that, he also had the confidence of an American pride.

Just for these reasons, Ethan liked him very much.

But before officially accepting him, Ethan had one last question.

"Since you graduated from Harvard, you should know some of the celebrities in your school?"

“Do you know Bill Gates?”

"The one who provided the BASIC software for the Altair 8080?"

When these words came out, the older boy sitting opposite Ethan was stunned.

Ethan saw the confused reaction, smiled, stood up and stretched out his right hand towards the other party.

"It seems you know, right?"

"That schoolmate of yours did a great job."

"Steve Ballmer, welcome to the game of fate."

That's right!

The bald man who could make Ethan stunned was the future owner of the Clippers, Steve Ballmer!
After seeing his resume, Ethan was stunned, because he couldn't understand why the guy who helped Bill Gates build a trillion-dollar empire would come to him to apply for a job?

You know, Harvard is more than 3,000 miles away from Stanford!
It takes a whole day to fly!
After Ethan finished reading the resume submitted by Ballmer, he found that he was actually attracted to this bald guy because he was a Jew.

Ballmer grew up in a Hebrew school. Just from the description on his resume, you can see his feelings about his race. He also has a cousin who works in Hollywood and is a regular cast member of NBC's "Saturday Night Live." This relationship made Ballmer quite interested in Hollywood and wanted to become a director in the circle. So after graduation, that is, this summer, he came to Hollywood, hoping to use his literary literacy shown at Harvard to seek a job as a screenwriter.

But unfortunately, Hollywood has no shortage of stories, and his attempt to enter the industry failed.

After wasting months trying to find a way into the industry, he wanted to find a job to make a living in order to avoid starving to death, so he cast a wide net and sent out resumes. Finally, Procter & Gamble extended an olive branch to him.

Just as he was about to go to Cincinnati for work, the job posting for Destiny Game caught his attention. Thinking that it didn't matter where he worked, California had a milder climate, and his boss was a tycoon, he simply turned down the job offer from P&G, set off from Los Angeles, and drove to Palo Alto.

This bizarre dream-chasing journey made Ethan grin from ear to ear. Although he knew that this guy was probably coming for his relationship with Spielberg, he still decided to accept Bald Ballmer, not for anything else, just because this guy was funny.

As for whether this guy will join Microsoft like he did in his previous life?

Ah--

It's not that Ethan is arrogant.

Compared to the game of Destiny, Microsoft is now just a small Karami.

After Steve Ballmer completed the entry formalities, Ethan assigned him a job to collect information in four categories: politics, technology, finance, and entertainment. Although Ethan did not explain the focus of the work and did not tell Ballmer the specific companies he wanted to follow, this guy who was able to get two Harvard degrees in four years thought about it for a while and came up with a priority.

At nine o'clock in the morning of the second day at work, he walked into Ethan's office with sorted newspapers and reported to him the latest information he had collected.

"Boss, regarding current affairs, there are two pieces of news that should interest you... The first piece of news is related to our vital interests. This month, the European Patent Office will be officially established. From now on, patent applications from multiple European countries will be handled by this department... The second piece of news is that President Jimmy has officially signed the Community Reinvestment Act..."

The European Patent Office is an intergovernmental cooperation organization established this year in accordance with the European Patent Convention. Its headquarters is in Munich and covers 19 countries including the United Kingdom, France and Germany. Its purpose is to facilitate companies and individuals to apply for their own invention patents on the European continent, to promote the commercialization and promotion of inventions with a simplified process, and to promote economic development in Europe.

The Community Reinvestment Act is a federal law in the United States that aims to encourage banks and savings institutions to provide credit services to low-income and middle-income communities. President Jimmy's goal is to eliminate the red lines in the issuance of real estate loans as much as possible, thereby providing more Americans with a place to live. However, many opponents say that lowering mortgage standards may cause financial institutions to lend indiscriminately and trigger a series of financial crises.

These two points are not very attractive to Ethan.

After expressing his understanding, he waved his hand.

"In terms of technology, there are three companies I am focusing on today."

"The first one is Motorola. Ever since their chairman blessed MOS at the end of 1975, they strategically gave up their layout in the field of civilian chips and devoted themselves to their mobile phone business. But recently, they have restarted their research institute in Phoenix. Judging from the current market reaction, they seem to have seen the huge potential of civilian chips and are unwilling to give up potential profits. They want to return to this market..."

"The second one is AMD. At the beginning of this year, they announced that they would cooperate with Siemens. After several months of negotiations, they finally finalized the specific cooperation plan. Siemens will purchase 20% of AMD's shares to ensure that they can regain their competitive advantage in the chip field..."

"The third is Intel. After releasing its third-quarter earnings report, its stock price rose slightly without any clear highlights. This market reaction is very strange..."

Ethan had heard a little about Motorola's affairs, because he had direct contact with Motorola's chairman Galvin and knew that they looked down on the personal chip business.

And now, they actually want to go back to their old love?
late!

He really didn't know about AMD, but this guy actually had connections with Siemens? Could it be that Siemens also wanted to manufacture CPUs in this era?

He was even less aware of Intel's strange reaction.

He has not had any contact with this company since he traveled through time.

When cheap chips were readily available, he actually ignored this chip giant of later generations.

However, the era of ignorance is over, and now he has opened his ears.

"Keep keeping an eye on these three companies. I want to know their every move." He ordered.

"Okay." Steve Ballmer pulled out the pen from his jacket pocket.

Made a mark in my notebook.

Then, continue reporting——

"There is nothing bright in the financial sector right now. Our Dow Jones Index is still falling, but Warren Buffett has been very popular recently. The article he published on inflation in May this year has once again become a hot topic in the media. Of course, this is inseparable from Mrs. Graham's promotion. After all, everyone in the country knows that Mrs. Graham likes him, right?"

In May of this year, Fortune magazine published an article written by Warren Buffett titled "How Inflation Deceives Stock Investors", which detailed the impact of inflation on the stock market and elaborated on his views on compound interest.

Once the article was published, it attracted widespread discussion among financial professionals, but unfortunately, before the public could hear the insightful views, the article was overwhelmed by public opinion.

The reason is very simple: Star Wars is coming.

In front of "Star Wars", any rational voice is insignificant, and in this case, Warren Buffett can only retreat to the edge of public opinion. But with the decline of contemporary topics and the continued economic downturn, his article was brought up by gossipers again. Unfortunately, after a while, people were distracted and concerned about Warren Buffett's gossip.

Because everyone in America knows that Warren Buffett is not a stock god at all. He is just a pretty boy who was favored by Katharine Graham, the head of The Washington Post.

Katherine's father is Eugene Meyer, former chairman of the Federal Reserve and the first president of the World Bank. Her great-grandmother is from the Kuhn-Buhler family, and her grandmother is from the Newmark family, the chief Jewish rabbi of Los Angeles. The Washington Post was just a toy of the princess, and the most brilliant thing the princess did with it was to report the Tingzong wiretapping scandal despite pressure.

Because there was no solid evidence at the beginning, The Washington Post was naturally suppressed by the President. When the stock price plummeted, Omaha country boy Warren Buffett frantically bought its stock and put his entire fortune at risk. After he had spent all his money, The Washington Post coincidentally released the solid evidence, and the stock price soared.

In just half a month, Warren Buffett made a net profit of tens of millions.

If that were all, he would definitely be investigated because he might have been involved in insider trading, but after he became rich, Mrs. Graham invited him to join the company's board of directors, personally took her to various high-end dinners, and threw the key to her front door to him in front of everyone.

With Mrs. Graham's protection, no one dared to cause trouble for Buffett. The most amazing thing was that at the beginning of this year, Mrs. Graham made public a letter written by Buffett's wife Susan. In the letter, Susan said that she allowed her to date her husband and she believed that the two of them truly loved each other... After that, Buffett openly moved into Mrs. Graham's New York home. When reporters interviewed him why he did not come home all night, Buffett said that he was just studying bridge skills with his wife.

When these things happened, Warren Buffett's image was ruined in the eyes of Americans! But no one cares about it, because everyone wants to cling to the thighs of rich women!
Compared with his financial management skills, people are more concerned about how to hang on to rich women!

This……

"Well, this is also financial news." "But don't report such things that everyone knows in the future."

Ethan made his own comments.

"Okay." Steve Ballmer nodded obediently, and then continued: "Boss, the entertainment news is very simple. In the next few months, an eye-catching movie will be released in Hollywood. It is the work of your friend, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"..."

Yes, after ten months of turmoil, 1977 is almost over.

If it weren't for helping George Lucas re-edit "Star Wars", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" could have been released in the summer, but it was because Steven Spielberg took advantage of his privilege that "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" was scheduled for the Thanksgiving period at the end of the year.

To be honest, Spielberg's behavior is extremely bad for investors. If "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" flopped, he would definitely be trampled into the ground by investors, but unfortunately...

"Star Wars" became a huge hit.

This makes investors experience the feeling of eating shit.

But this is not important to Ethan. He attended the premiere of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" as scheduled, and then spoke to reporters, "If George Lucas prompted the birth of the "Star Wars" game, then "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" is the inspiration for the game. This movie will definitely satisfy the curiosity of all Americans, because Steven Spielberg uses his lens to tell the public a decades-long alien story."

“It will be the box office champion in the second half of this year!”

"What? You asked me why I didn't say it was this year?"

"Because the box office champion in the first half of the year was Star Wars!"

"As long as I add enough attributives, they will all be champions, right?"

Ethan opened his arms and embraced Xiao Si and Xiao Lu.

The words, which were like those of a master of keeping balance, also made the two of them laugh out loud.

Amid Ethan's boasting, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" officially set sail, earning more than 2 million in the first weekend, and more than 3 million in the second week. There was a slight decline in the third week, but it still reached more than 3 million. The total box office for the first month directly exceeded 10 million.

As a movie with an investment cost of nearly 20 million, this first month's performance is enough to make a steady profit, but compared with "Star Wars", it is still a little bit behind.

But movies like "Star Wars" are something you only come across occasionally, right?

The dividends of the times will only favor the first guy to try something new, and what about the rest of the followers?
They don't deserve fame.

But even if Steven Spielberg regains his glory, the slow box office revenue still makes Hollywood giants very dissatisfied. Even as Christmas approaches, they are still holding meetings.

Disney

"Is that Sidney guy still holding on?"

"He just wouldn't force Steven Spielberg and Ethan Jones to communicate about our cooperation?" Walt Disney's son-in-law Ron Miller asked.

"Yes." Dwyane Tatum nodded.

"Sidney said he couldn't order Steven Spielberg around."

"He said they were not in a superior-subordinate relationship."

"Tsk——" Ron Miller looked disdainful.

“Is the relationship between the two of them like Schrödinger’s cat?”

"When Sidney himself needs Steven Spielberg, they are in a leadership relationship, right? Once outsiders talk about it, they are close comrades?"

After making a sarcastic remark, Ron Miller added: "Forget it, leave them alone."

“We make our own video games!”

Paramount——

“But how do we deal with the patent issues related to video games?”

Michael Eisner cast a quizzical look at Barry Diller.

Barry Diller laughed and said, "That's your business, right?"

"Whether you learn from Ethan Jones and get a license directly from the patent holder Ralph Baer, ​​or buy a license from MILO like Atari did, that's fine."

"I have only one request."

“That’s cheap.”

“I heard that the license Ethan Jones obtained from Ralph Baer was only a few hundred thousand?”

"Our Paramount price can be higher than his, but it must be lower than Atari's."

"As for what you do, I don't care."

MGM

"Boss, I understand. We'll do it ourselves."

After receiving a call from his boss Kirk Kerkorian, MGM President Daniel Melnick wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "I will find a way to resolve the patent issue."

"Okay, don't worry, we at MGM will get involved in any business that makes money quickly!"

Warner Communications——

"Yes, yes, that's the latest investigation report."

"Okay, okay, you're welcome."

"You guys helped me before, and I, Steve Ross, will always remember it."

"Yeah, yeah, if it works, I'll definitely come to New York to attend your celebration party."

"Click--" Steve Ross hung up the phone.

Then he put his hands together and rested them on the tip of his nose.

Ethan, a man of all kinds in Hollywood, didn't know this, because at this moment he was preparing for the arrival of 1978. He signed his name on the salary and bonus slips made by the Human Resources Department, and Alan Massey could use this to distribute year-end bonuses to employees in the company.

He is not stingy and even a guy who has only been working for two months can get an extra month's salary in a red envelope.

Just as Ethan was about to pack up his belongings, stop all projects in the company and let everyone work on them next year, the bald Steve Ballmer suddenly broke into his office.

"Boss, something happened."

'...'

Ethan's hands trembled, and he looked at the bald man with an uneasy look, "What's wrong?"

He was a little scared at the moment, because it had only been two months since Julis Noble left! He had only enjoyed more than sixty days of peace! And now he was going to have diarrhea again???
Steve Ballmer held up the newspaper in his hand and said, "The Wall Street Journal published an article saying that New York investment company Venrock has contacted Apple Computer and expressed investment intentions."

“WTF???”

This news made Ethan jump.

‘Fuck! ’

'This is not diarrhea at all!'

'Someone is stealing my house!'

Notes: ① Steve Ballmer’s cousin won an Emmy Award, her name is Gilda Radner, she is indeed Jewish. ② The Kuhn-Loeb family is a banker, one of the most influential banks in the United States in the 20th century, a direct competitor of Morgan, merged with Lehman in 1977, and was acquired by American Express in 1984. ③ Jacob Newmark of the Newmark family is one of the most influential Jewish scholars in the 20th century, and his title is the giant of American Jewish academic circles. ④ The fact that Buffett achieved class transition by being a concubine was exposed by the media at that time and was known to everyone. Or in other words, Mrs. Graham herself did not intend to hide it.

PS, regarding the date of the canal treaty, the date I got is from the canal history data of our Ministry of Commerce, which says "On September 1977, 7, the United States was forced to sign the new "BNM Canal Treaty" (also known as the "Torrijos-Carter Treaty") and the "Treaty on the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the BNM Canal" with BNM. As for why Baidu Encyclopedia says September 9, I don't know.

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(End of this chapter)