Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 171: Laurence Rockefeller's Perspective

Spring 1977, New York.

The Sleepy Hollow Country Club on the Hudson River was founded in 1911. Its predecessor was the luxurious estate of the Vanderbilt family. After his descendants took over, they transformed it into a private social club. Covering an area of ​​more than 300 acres, it has a 27-hole golf course, 10 clay tennis courts, four squash courts, a large indoor horse farm and supporting outdoor horse areas, stables and horse boarding centers.

Most of the time, this place is only open to members, but today, there are few people under the gray sky. Lawrence Rockefeller, who is nearly 70 years old, is wearing a white sports suit. He holds the golf club and swings it repeatedly, carefully calculating the trajectory of the ball and the force of the hit.

Beside him, two middle-aged white men in suits were reporting respectfully with their hands folded in front of them.

"Boss, after Jimmy took the oath, your brother flew directly back to New York. He went directly to Fifth Avenue, accompanied by Megan Mashak. It is rumored that he has included Mashak in his will and confirmed her status as the designated beneficiary."

The news made the hand that was swinging the club pause.

Lawrence Rockefeller, with his head full of silver hair, raised his head, his energetic face full of surprise and shock, "Nelson included that piece of flesh and blood in the Rockefeller family's will?"

"Wow—does he really want to be a disgrace to our Rockefeller family?"

"It's fine for those little Hollywood girls to just play around with!"

"Does he want to take her to the Rockefeller family's grave? If he has such an idea, then we Rockefellers will have no face to stay in America!"

The dissatisfied words were like a tide, washing over the nerves of the two middle-aged white men who were reporting the news.

At this moment, they dared not say a word, let alone put forward any suggestions or ideas, because they knew in their hearts that the grievances and hatreds among the wealthy families were endless and difficult to sort out. Even if they had a master to be loyal to, no one knew whether their master would change his relationship with his brothers and sisters in the future. They might be dissatisfied with each other today, but what about tomorrow? If someone gave up some interests, it might change the impression of his relatives on him, even if it was only on the surface.

That sullen reaction made Lawrence Rockefeller shake his head.

"What does my other good brother think about this?"

Lawrence Rockefeller is the fourth child in the family, with an older sister, two older brothers and two younger brothers. So far, his eldest sister has passed away, and his eldest brother has also passed away due to pancreatic cancer. Those who are still active in society are his eldest brother John, his second brother Nelson, himself, and his youngest brother David, who is currently a director of Chase Bank.

The good brother he mentioned was John Rockefeller III, the eldest grandson in the family.

When he was mentioned, the two subordinates hesitated.

"Boss, your eldest brother said he is old."

"I don't want to spend my limited energy on these boring things."

"He said that if Mr. Nelson and Megan Mashak were truly in love, he would bless them and hope they could be together till the end."

"Haha..." Lawrence Rockefeller laughed out loud.

"John doesn't care, does he?"

"Since he thinks there is no problem with Mashak being included in our family's will, then he doesn't need to report such things to me in the future! After all, I am just an ordinary member of the Rockefeller family. If I do my best, I am protecting the honor of the family! As for other matters? I have no right to interfere!"

As he said this, he turned his head back and swung the club.

There was a "puff" sound and the metal pole made a sound of breaking through the air.

The golf ball that was resting on the grass moved and jumped out.

In just a few breaths, the white ball disappeared.

The next second, another 'click' sound was heard.

Lawrence Rockefeller threw the golf club in his hand to the ground and walked away without looking back.

His smooth movements made the two people who were reporting on their work look at each other in surprise. They finally took a step and chased after him. When they trotted back to the shuttle bus with their boss and came to the lounge of the single-family villa provided by the club for distinguished guests, Lawrence Rockefeller took off his sports coat and wiped his cheek with a hot towel at the help of the servants. He spoke again.

"What else?"

"I want to hear some good news that will cheer me up."

This request made the two subordinates overjoyed and they spoke immediately.

"Boss, there are a lot of good news. For example, the fund you manage has outperformed all the market funds with an annualized rate of return of 12%... For example, your investment portfolio continues to expand. Last year, several companies were successfully listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq..."

Although when people mention Rockefeller, they always think of Standard Oil, the world's largest oil company, but after Standard Oil was split, Rockefeller transferred his funds to various industries through family trusts. They spent a lot of money on real estate, medical care, culture and other aspects, grabbing countless monopoly profits, and the operator among them was Lawrence Rockefeller.

As early as 1937, he founded an investment company belonging to the Rockefeller family. His first business was to buy Eastern Airlines from General Motors. Because he caught the wave of development of the post-war civil aviation industry, in just a few years, the company became the most profitable airline in the America, monopolizing all routes from New York to Florida.

When the investment was successful, Lawrence Rockefeller instantly became a star on Wall Street.

But he didn't care, because the last name Rockefeller was already a star.

After his first investment was a huge success, Lawrence Rockefeller fell in love with this kind of money-spending behavior. After some searching, he felt that technology was the future, so he turned his attention to the semiconductor industry. The first company he invested in was called Thermo Electron Corporation, whose patent was for high-voltage neutron vacuum tubes, and its products were mass spectrometers, chromatographs, spectrometers, etc.

The second invested company is called Coherent, whose products include solid-state lasers, gas lasers, semiconductor lasers, and so on.

The third company invested in is Evans and Sutherland, a manufacturer of computer graphics modules and displays, including projectors and image processors.

The fourth company is called Intel...

As Lawrence Rockefeller continued to work in the field of science and technology, he felt that the name of a private investment company was no longer appealing, so he changed the name of his investment company to Venrock. The name of the company is also very meaningful, it is a combination of the words 'venture' and 'Rockefeller', meaning that it is a venture capital company under the Rockefeller family.

Although this change was meant to hide his identity, how could Rockefeller's bloodline be hidden? Whenever Lawrence Rockefeller took a fancy to a company, their founders would be ecstatic to accept the investment after receiving the business card and offer their shares with both hands.

The whole process is like a snowball, which can get bigger and bigger with a slight push.

Perhaps because he wanted immediate results, Lawrence Rockefeller no longer had any thoughts about his continuous success. When his subordinates reported to him endlessly how much money his funds and companies had made in the past year, the numbers, which were like waste paper, made him wave his hands.

"Stop, stop, stop."

“I don’t want to hear about financial reports.”

"It's boring."

"How about something fun?"

"There are more interesting things than my brother keeping some mistresses, giving them so much money, and having them listed in the Rockefeller family tree and buried in the Rockefeller family cemetery!"

Lawrence Rockefeller threw the hot towel in his hand to the maid beside him.

However, that slightly fiery attitude made the two subordinates nod their heads quickly.

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"Of course!"

The two said, "Boss, a big thing has happened in our country's newly emerged electronic game industry. The Destiny game, which has been leading the trend of the times in the past two years, has suddenly encountered a joint attack from Warner and Philips. The two companies are planning to launch their own new products this summer, with the goal of snatching Destiny's market share in the electronic game field."

'? '

The news stunned Lawrence Rockefeller for a second.

Then he asked doubtfully, "Are you sure?"

"Warner and Philips actually teamed up to attack a company?"

"Don't they feel ashamed?"

"We are sure because this is the latest news today." The two subordinates replied.

“Public.” They added: “Both sides have issued press releases.”

'…' This fact made Lawrence Rockefeller narrow his eyes.

He signaled the maid to get him a glass of rum, then waved to his subordinates and asked them to follow him. He went into the meeting room in the club lounge, and after waiting for the two to come up with the specific source of the news and reading the news broadcast purchased by Warner and Philips, the angular old man suddenly touched his cheek and said, "If I remember correctly, the video game industry is very popular recently?"

"Yes." The two subordinates nodded and said, "The outside world is very optimistic about this industry at present."

“Everyone feels that the output value of this industry will surpass that of Hollywood in a short period of time.”

"If nothing unexpected happens, they may become the next publicity outlet."

“Tell the world our country’s story.”

"Are you paying attention to this game of fate?" Lawrence Rockefeller asked with interest.

"Yes." The two subordinates nodded and said, "They have two founders, one is Ethan Jones and the other is Evelyn Johnson. Their entrepreneurial experience is very interesting..."

Seeing that their boss was interested, the two subordinates started talking.

When Lawrence Rockefeller learned that Ethan Jones' first public appearance was to beat up his former employer and current partner, he burst into laughter while holding the frame of his reading glasses. After waiting for his two subordinates to tell him that Ethan Jones not only did not pay Philips patent fees for electronic games, but also destroyed Philips' market share in the electronic game industry, the thin old man took off his glasses and threw them aside.

"This company is quite interesting. Contact them and invest in them."

"As for the timing... let's put it after Warner and Philips release their new products."

"If they are beaten to the point of being unable to fight back by Philips and Warner, then you should lower the investment price. If they survive the siege of Philips and Warner, then you should appropriately increase the valuation. Consider it... a reward for them."

"Okay, you guys go now. I'll stay here for a while. I haven't swum in a long time..."

As Lawrence Rockefeller waved his hand, the two subordinates who came to report hurriedly left. After leaving the club, the two only felt a little chilly on their vests.

The boss's moody attitude made them a little nervous.

but--

"Fortunately we passed." One of them breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ok!"

Another person nodded and said, "The better news is that we no longer have to report his family affairs to the boss! Every time we talk to the boss about Mr. Nelson's romantic scandal, his face becomes gloomy! He looks like a bloodthirsty tiger, so scary!"

"We can't help it. The boss has always felt that Mr. Nelson's behavior is embarrassing for the family." The guy who spoke first took over the conversation, and then decisively cut off the topic the next second, "Okay, let's not discuss this matter anymore. It has nothing to do with us! What we need to do now is to send money to the areas that the boss is interested in! Right?"

"Hmmmm..." This proposal was agreed by another person.

With the roar of the accelerator, the two quickly left the riverside of the manor.

And after they followed their boss's request and kept paying attention to the game of fate...

The Rockefeller family summer home in Woodstock, Vermont, summer 1977.

"what are you saying?"

"Can't get into the game of fate?"

Lawrence Rockefeller, who was taking off his ski equipment, looked at his two subordinates with surprised eyes and asked unexpectedly: "Is it because the fate game was successful?"

"Because of that Star Wars?"

"But this can't be a reason for them to reject our investment, right?"

"Didn't you tell them who owned the Wenlock company?"

"After hearing my name they'll still say no?"

Lawrence Rockefeller was incredulous.

"Or did they take money from Morgan and Goldman Sachs in advance?"

The continuous questioning made the two subordinates feel a little embarrassed.

They smiled and shook their heads, saying, "No, no, no, Boss, Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Lehman also wanted to join, but they were all rejected..."

"WTF?" Lawrence Rockefeller was shocked.

"Why?" He didn't understand.

"Is there someone behind the Game of Destiny? Why did these two young men dare to reject us? What was the reaction of Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Lehman after being rejected? Aren't they surprised?" Lawrence Rockefeller was eager to know the answer.

Under his questioning, the two subordinates also told the truth.

"Boss, here's what happened. Evelyn Johnson, the founder of Destiny Game, was a student of Vinton Cerf, a famous figure in the DoD. At the same time, Destiny Game grew up under the support of Fred Terman, the former president of Stanford. So when we invested, we followed the insider rules and sent an inquiry to Fred Terman, asking him whether the company he supported needed funds. Then Fred Terman said that the children wanted to run their own business, so... we came to report..."

The news made Lawrence Rockefeller frown.

He thought for a while and said, "Fred is Vannevar's student, right?"

"Yes, he was one of Dr. Vannevar's three favorite students. During WWII, Dr. Vannevar nominated him to run our country's top-secret radio research laboratory. After the war, the DoD paid Fred to build Stanford's Electronic Research Laboratory. Now, although he has retired, he still manages Stanford's System Engineering Laboratory, which is the starting point of electronic warfare. He is also a founding member of our National Academy of Engineering..."

"Yes." Lawrence Rockefeller nodded slightly, and then continued: "If I remember correctly, one of his students who founded HP seemed to be in the DoD?"

"That's right. David Packard was previously the deputy secretary of the Department of Defense. He was promoted by General Electric, Lockheed, and Raytheon. He did a good job in defense procurement, and those three companies were very satisfied."

"Oh - that's what I mean -" Laurence Rockefeller laughed.

He nodded and said, "Since Fred thinks the two young men are doing a good job, there is no need to bother them anymore. Even if they are really short of money, they will not use our funds."

"I thought they were self-made..."

"Haha... young people nowadays are really interesting. Their backgrounds are more hidden than each other."

The boss's giving up made the two subordinates feel relieved.

He nodded and left the scene quickly.

Just when they thought that this matter was over...

In the autumn of 1977, Lawrence Rockefeller's Snow Mountain Ranch in Wyoming.

The emperor, who was galloping on horseback across the 1,100-acre reserve, summoned his ministers.

"I recently discovered that the personal computer industry is developing very well."

"Unlike the past two years when personal computers were only for the entertainment of insiders, personal computers have gradually entered the homes of ordinary people and are no longer just toys for engineers to show off their skills."

“When people begin to accept this product, it will have the attributes of a consumer product and will have the value and significance of long-term investment…”

"The company that has done the best is a California company called Apple."

"You guys go find out about it, and then vote on it."

“I think it can become the industry leader in personal computers.”

When this order came out, the two subordinates who had experienced spring and summer and were experiencing autumn suddenly felt that they might not see the winter sun anymore...

because--

"Boss, this company may be difficult to invest in." The two said cautiously.

"Why?" Lawrence Rockefeller looked unhappy. "If I remember correctly, this is the second time you have rejected me this year? Please give me a reasonable reason."

"otherwise……"

"Just get out of here."

"..." The direct threat made the two subordinates a little overwhelmed. They pursed their lips and said, "Boss, Ethan Jones has shares in this company. One of its founders, Steve Wozniak's father, is a senior engineer at Lockheed's Stanford Research Park..."

When two subordinates said that Apple might not be able to invest, Lawrence Rockefeller's brows suddenly frowned, and after a moment, he smiled and shook his head.

"The reason is not valid."

"Because in our country, no one can monopolize a market."

“Standard Oil has been broken up, so other companies still want to play the natural monopoly game?”

"nonexistent!"

"You can just communicate directly with Apple this time. You don't need to ask Fred for his opinion."

"I, Laurence Rockefeller, have already given him face once."

"He wants to keep the Game of Destiny, so we won't touch it."

"others……"

“Let’s make money together!”

The boss's order made the two men nod their heads like chickens pecking at rice.

Just as they followed their boss's instructions and sent their employees to California to discuss investment matters with Apple, Lawrence Rockefeller stopped them again.

"The competitor of Destiny Game is Warner Communications?"

"Yes."

"Call Steve Ross and ask him if he has detailed information about Ethan Jones. You must do everything in your power to get this project... Of course, don't worry too much. Steve Ross will not refuse my request. After all, he has taken my money before..."

"Oh, and if you see Ethan Jones, give him my regards."

“Although this young man is a bit arrogant, his work is indeed good.”

Lawrence Rockefeller looked at his subordinates with a smile.

The smile as warm as spring breeze made the two subordinates nod repeatedly.

"Okay, Boss."

"We will definitely buy the apples for you!"

Note: ① The story of Nelson and Megan Mashak from the Rockefeller family is a scandal. The story is that Nelson met Megan, an intern from the Associated Press, when he was deputy commander. After several contacts, Nelson invited her to be his deputy. Even when he returned to New York, he brought her with him. In the end, when Nelson died, Megan was the only one beside him. Because the death was quite sudden, according to common sense, an autopsy should be done, but the Rockefeller family disagreed, and finally nothing happened. ② Thermo Fisher Scientific is now called Thermo Fisher, a giant. ③ Coherent merged with other companies in 2022 and is now called Coherent Corp. It is also a giant in the laser industry. ④ The graphics and image technology of the company Evans and Sutherland was very powerful in that era. They did a good job in Hollywood computer visual effects. Of course, in the end, they were hit by Industrial Light and Magic and their heads were gone.

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(End of this chapter)