50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 411 Jewelry Store Acquired

Sun Zhiwei was not optimistic that Toby would surrender voluntarily, but Rand Morgan and Orpheum Smith exchanged a knowing smile.

"Chairman, this is where we come in. It's just a jewelry store; capital will make it submit obediently."

Seeing that they seemed to have a solution, he stopped worrying and just waited for the results. However, he still made sure to provide them with all the necessary information.

"Then I'll leave this matter to you. Let me explain the details of this loan."

“Last October, Toby came to me asking for a loan to help him through a difficult time.”

“At the time, his jewelry store was in fierce competition with its peers, and he seemed to be at a disadvantage. The 1 ounces of gold I lent him came in immediately upon arrival at the store.”

"However, the opponent was also very strong. After several months of back-and-forth fighting, he barely won and gained almost no spoils of war."

"The problem is that we agreed to borrow gold and return gold. Now, more than half a year has passed, and Toby has used up almost all of his gold in the industry war."

"Last October, the international gold price was $110 per ounce, and now it is $265 per ounce, and it is still rising."

"Toby didn't make much money selling the gold during the price war, and now it's impossible for him to buy back the same amount of gold with money."

This is Toby's current predicament, and also the main reason for his breach of contract.

He no longer had enough US dollars to buy 10 ounces of gold to repay Sun Zhiwei, but he was unwilling to give up his jewelry store.

Therefore, the only option is to bury one's head in the sand and live one day at a time. But for a businessman, if he loses his credibility, he is not far from bankruptcy.

Now that Sun Zhiwei is back, this debt will soon be settled, and he can no longer escape it.

"That's roughly the situation with this loan. I hope it's helpful to you. You'll have to investigate further to get more information."

"This is very useful, Chairman. It means that Toby has no more working capital. His most valuable asset now is that jewelry store."

"Now we are more confident in taking over this jewelry store."

Subsequently, Sun Zhiwei wrote them a letter of authorization, entrusting them with full authority to handle the recovery of this debt.

"I have only one requirement: to be as fast as possible and not waste time. I also want to take over the entire Magnificent Jewelry Group, including all its channels, personnel, and brands."

"Understood, Chairman. Please wait for our good news."

In the following days, Huang Mingyu kept sending work progress updates to Sun Zhiwei.

Morgan and Smith spent two days investigating and obtaining complete information about Toby and his family's assets. Sun Zhiwei also received a copy of the investigation report.

The investigation report shows that Toby owns a jewelry store, a shop, and a house each in the Upper East and Upper West Sides.

These industries combined are worth around $3000 million, with the largest portion being the jewelry business, valued at $2500 million.

Then on the third day, as the agent, Toby was given an ultimatum—a lawyer's letter.

This is definitely useless, but it's a necessary procedure, just going through the motions.

Over the past 80 years, Manhattan home prices have increased 30 times, from $8 per square foot to $250 per square foot, which translates to $2690 per square meter.

Growth has slowed now, but as far as he knows, Manhattan home prices have increased sixfold in the 40 years since.

Compared to New York's ultra-low property tax of only 0.88%, this increase makes New York real estate one of the most stable investment projects.

In the following days, Morgan and Smith began to mobilize the bank's resources and connections to put pressure on Toby in terms of public opinion, bank credit, and taxes. Humans are social animals, and living in New York requires integrating into this society. As a businessman, if he is condemned by public opinion, has a poor reputation, and is investigated by government agencies, the pressure he will face is unimaginable.

Toby couldn't hold on for more than three days, so he made a phone call to Sun Zhiwei's home.

“Mr. James, I am Toby Bradley. I’m sorry.”

"What are you trying to say, Mr. Toby? Is this apology the reason you didn't call me for the past seven months?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Forget it, Toby, I don't want to say anything more. Just pay back the debt you owe me as soon as possible, and we'll pretend we never met."

“Mr. James, could you please grant me a further extension? I will do my best to raise the funds.”

"How do you plan to raise 10 ounces of gold, and how long will it take?"

Toby simply doesn't have the capacity to raise that much gold right now.

“Mr. Toby, international gold prices are still rising. If you can’t pay off your debts this month, you’ll be under even more pressure next month.”

“If you had been determined to repay the debt by the end of December last year, it would have been easy to resolve. But you dragged it out until May.”

"You should say that you were dragged down because of your lack of integrity. The responsibility lies not with anyone else, but with yourself."

Upon hearing this, Toby could only remain silent; he too regretted his actions.

At the end of December last year, the price of gold was only $150 per ounce. He only needed to sell three properties and borrow some money from the bank to pay off Sun Zhiwei's debts and then make a comeback with the jewelry business.

But his hesitation and procrastination made everything worse.

His current public assets are worth 3000 million, but he can't sell them for that much; he'd be lucky to sell them for 2500 million.

But now the price of 10 ounces of gold has exceeded 2650 million, which is still not enough to pay off Sun Zhiwei's debts.

With $150 million in debt, it's uncertain when he'll be able to turn things around.

“Mr. James, I am willing to repay your gold with magnificent jewelry and two houses in Manhattan.”

How much are they worth now?

"Their total value is $2800 million. Of course, I know I can't sell them for that much, but I beg you to give me a chance to turn things around."

Then came a long wait. After considering it for a while, Sun Zhiwei decided to grant his request.

Unlike Morgan and Smith, the two of them wanted Toby to pay off all his debts, and in the end they would basically drive Toby to his death.

Sun Zhiwei's only goal from beginning to end has been the Magnificent Jewelry Store. Now that Toby is willing to hand over the jewelry store, he will naturally cooperate with him to take over the business.

This will save him a lot of trouble and time, and will also earn him a good reputation in the surrounding community, since he has essentially let Toby off the hook.

Toby will then leave the uptown and return to his only remaining shop in Queens.

If he manages things well, he still has a chance to make a comeback.

That's New York for you. Some people go from being penniless to becoming rich overnight, while others go from wearing suits to being destitute. It's both heaven and hell, and ups and downs are commonplace.

(End of this chapter)