American Scandal King

Chapter 149 Crisis
The year came to 2002, the new year arrived.

In the luxurious living room of Godwin Manor, Ian was reading the Wall Street Journal.

Today's headline is eye-catching: Enron admitted to cooking the books, falsely reporting profits of more than $6 million.

Fake!

I had totally forgotten about Enron.

Ian was depressed and speechless. I am indeed not a financial expert. I missed such an important opportunity.

If you miss the news, you also miss out on a stock market profit!
But we can't blame him entirely, because Enron's collapse occurred a few months later than in another parallel time and space.

Just as he was feeling frustrated, Gaskell suddenly called: "Ian, do you have time? Come over to my place."

His tone was slightly heavy, and Ian had a keen sense that something was wrong.

After hanging up the phone, Ian thought seriously before getting up and leaving.

The butler came over tactfully: "Do you need to call Brydeson?"

"No need." Ian shook his head slightly.

Ian grabbed a custom-made coat from Balenciaga and walked out of the mansion.

He got in his newly bought Lamborghini and headed all the way to Montecito.

An hour later, Ian arrived at Gaskell's house.

The butler opened the door for him and invited him in directly.

Gaskell and Lena were in the living room at this time.

Lena sat on a sofa covered with white floral patterns, her belly slightly bulging, but her expression was somewhat miserable.

Nearby was Gaskell smoking a cigar.

His hair looked a little grayer and his face looked pale.

Ian quickly stepped forward and put his arm around Lena's neck: "No matter what happens, don't take it to heart. Believe that Gaskell and I can handle it."

Lena nodded slightly, hugged Ian's face and kissed him lightly.

Ian then came over and sat next to Gaskell, took off his cigar and looked at his expression.

Fortunately, at least it’s not a physical problem.

Ian asked, "What happened?"

A trace of bitterness appeared on Gaskell's face. "The board of directors removed me from my position as chairman and is demanding the repayment of all loans to Carl Media."

Ian's heart sank.

Although I had a feeling something bad might happen before coming here, I didn't expect it to happen so quickly.

Bank loan withdrawal is undoubtedly the biggest trouble.

If they really do this, they can't even expect the subsequent 3.36 million.

If Ian is unable to fulfill the contract and get the final 3 points of payment, then the CBS board of directors can deny the previous 12 points of shares and directly take them back, including the dividends for the fourth quarter of 01.

Ankang can also justifiably not pay any money.

In short, the bank's loan withdrawal caused Ian huge trouble.

Ian slowly picked up the bottle of wine on the table, gulped down the wine, and said leisurely:
"Although the bank has the right to withdraw the loan early, it also requires me to break the agreement, right?"

Banks cannot withdraw loans at will; they must require the borrower to clearly default before they can do so.

Currently, Carl Media's debt ratio is 69%, which is relatively healthy. The key is that its operating conditions are good and it has sufficient profitability. There is no reason to withdraw loans.

Gaskell whispered, "You bought a house in Beverly Hills."

Ok?
Ian was stunned: "That's it?"

At the beginning of 01, Ian borrowed more than 1 million yuan from Lino Bank and bought three newspapers including the Xingkelun Daily. These three newspapers themselves were collateral. Later, Ian sold the three newspapers and bought himself a mansion in Beverly Hills and shares in Spark TV.

Of course Gaskell supported it - the mansion allowed Ian Carr to move freely in and out of Beverly Hills and obtain more valuable information.

Besides, life is work for big bosses.

Some people brag about not having taken a vacation in forty years, and that's true. Anything in a boss's life can be considered work. Going to the golf course to play golf is a business meeting with clients; renting a yacht for a party is about building relationships; even dining out is a business meeting with clients. Even without clients, a big boss's physical and mental health is a consideration; it's part of their job description.

For Ian, the Beverly Hills mansion has a more practical purpose, not to mention that the house itself is also collateral.

With Gaskell as the chairman's support, there's absolutely no problem. However, there are indeed problems with the process.

Your original collateral was three newspapers, and now you sold it without our consent. The change of collateral requires the bank's approval - the convenience provided by Gaskell is a procedural violation!
Therefore, we have the right to believe that you have violated the regulations and that you have used funds that were originally intended for business expenses on your personal life, so I have the right to withdraw the loan.

To put it bluntly, when they want to help you, the process is bullshit.

When I don't want to help you, I can bring up any nonsense.

When Gaskell was in power, the properties bought with 1 billion yuan were mortgaged with 1 billion yuan. Even without mortgage, you could get a credit loan, or even sign a special agreement to pay back only the interest instead of the principal. When Gaskell was not in power, I'm sorry, your 1 billion yuan in assets could only be mortgaged with 700 million yuan!

So now Lino Bank believes that Carl Media has violated regulations, insufficient collateral, and that the special agreement is unfair, and is demanding the withdrawal of loans on these grounds.

After understanding all this, Ian became more and more confused.

This is intentional to mess with me!

He looked at Gaskell strangely: "Why is this happening?"

Gaskell said softly, "Someone is plotting against you!"

"Who?"

"Bernard Madoff."

"Is it him?" Ian was stunned.

Gaskell said, "You seem to have offended him, and CBS has value to him. You know he has connections, especially in finance. He promised to give my shareholders some shares."

Fake!

Ian understood.

Yes, he did offend him, but not because of a few words at the banquet, but because of Giuliani and others.

Doubt is like a seed that can sprout. The distrust of Madoff expressed by Ian at that banquet led to Giuliani's decision to redeem his money a year later.

This had a huge impact on Madoff. His scam was able to continue for so long because the vast majority of his clients only received interest and not principal.

Once a trend of redeeming principal occurs, it will cause him difficulty in capital turnover, and even the scam will be completely exposed.

So Ian could have chosen not to invest in him, but the distrust he expressed towards Madoff, coupled with his invisible influence, led some of Madoff's clients to choose to redeem their shares.

This was extremely disadvantageous to Madoff.

Especially since he knew that if Ian publicized the matter in the media, it would be even more troublesome for him.

So he chose to attack Ian - destroy you first, so that no one would believe you no matter what you say. Even when you accuse Madoff of being a fraud, Madoff can explain it as Ian's revenge.

Interestingly, Madoff’s reward was to give Lino’s shareholders some financing shares in his own company, which was almost like: I will only cheat you of your money if you do work for me.

That's right!

High-end scammers are just that high-handed: You have to beg me before I’m willing to scam you! My financing channels are limited, and I won’t give them to ordinary people.

The same example is DJI in later generations. When they raised funds, they also bundled financing with other subsidiaries, which made investors complain: You might as well just raise the price directly.

Of course, DJI is not a liar. What it means is that not all investors are in a dominant position. High-quality companies can take the initiative. The buyer and seller markets are never fixed. It depends on which side is stronger and more powerful.

There was another reason, and that was the bullet that Gaskell was shot in.

Although the shot did not take his life, the convulsions and occasional headaches it caused caused the board of directors of Lino Bank to doubt his management ability.

That would be fine, but the key is that Gaskell helped Ian a lot - the reason why private bank shareholders are willing to invest in banks is not only for profits but also for more convenient loans.

Gaskell took too much care of Ian and too little care of other aspects, which caused dissatisfaction among shareholders.

Finally, Madoff's influence caused the Linobank board of directors to resist this.

In the board election at the beginning of the year, Gaskell was removed from the position of chairman. The board of directors of Lino Bank was about to withdraw the loan, which would have serious consequences. Ankang could also refuse to fulfill the agreement and issue the loan.

In this case, the Los Angeles Herald, the Los Angeles Times, and Meihe Construction Company might give you a combined price of 10 billion, which is a good figure.

As for continuing to borrow, that was impossible. No one would lend money to a company that was being forced to pay its debts - Madoff would definitely publicize the fact that Carr Media Group was being forced to pay its debts.

So Ian had earned more than 1 billion, but it was all gone in an instant, and he might even end up in debt!
Who told you, young man, to be too greedy and too arrogant?

The most important thing on the road to growth through debt is to be able to borrow money continuously. Once you can’t borrow money, you are doomed and will be devoured by lurking jackals.

All I can say is that becoming friends with Gaskell is Ian's luck and also his misfortune.

Without Gaskell's support, Ian might have developed step by step. But because of him, Ian got unprecedented opportunities for rapid development, but also took greater risks.

(End of this chapter)