America: My Time

Chapter 1087 The Crazy Splitting

Chapter 1077 The Frenzied Splitting

Although Tokyo property prices had halved in July, the yen remained strong in the currency market, further exacerbating Japan's economic problems. Meanwhile, in numerous safe houses across Tokyo, Hong Kong, Wall Street, and the UK, a frenzied currency sell-off was underway. Guided by the security company, John's orders were rapidly transmitted to every safe house. Everyone had to sell their yen before the 12th, as Tokyo's foreign exchange market was set to reach a record high of 97:1 on that day.

When Standard Chartered and Hurricane Investments took action, Wall Street was shocked. Unfortunately, before they could do anything, Hurricane Investments completed its long position in the yen, catching many off guard.

"Damn, Hurricane Investments and Standard Chartered Bank are going long on the yen again in the currency market. Does this mean the Japanese economy is about to recover?" This was many people's first thought. After all, after the bubble burst, John did not abandon Japan or stop investing; instead, he increased his investment in Japan. This unusual behavior had already attracted everyone's attention. Especially after John reached a cooperation agreement with Japanese banks and acquired Nissan Motor, everyone was even more shocked.

"I don't know, but John's investments during this period have been quite baffling. This guy is not only expanding across Asia, but also borrowing money from Japanese banks to invest in Russia. His investment in Sakhalin Island has been fully launched, and all the funds are from those Japanese guys. Now, in order to hide himself, he has gone through a lot of procedures. I wonder what he's thinking?"

"It's really a bit too crazy. Even Russia is investing. I really don't know what he's thinking. Those guys don't keep their word. But this guy isn't just Russia. He also has amazing investments in Russia and Kazakhstan. Even Mexico to the south is investing huge sums of money in development. Now this guy has almost become Mexico's largest investor, with mines, communications, steel, automobiles, and military industry. It all seems unreliable!"

There are many envious people, but very few who can truly see through John's investments. With Hurricane Investment and Standard Chartered Bank making another move, many people have become more vigilant, worried that John might target them. Unfortunately, these guys are overthinking it; they have nothing that would tempt John.

John is now handling matters in Hong Kong, not only regarding this recent forex market move, but also the telecommunications, retail, real estate, and entertainment sectors. With only a few years left until Hong Kong's return to China, many are eager to adapt, and Phoenix Group also needs to accelerate its integration.

The entire group began to integrate rapidly. Asia Television Group, Phoenix Film Group, Phoenix Comics Group, music companies, etc., were all rapidly completing another integration. Although there had been integrations before, this time the scale was larger and the division was clearer. Most importantly, John was no longer the big boss of Phoenix Group on the surface. He had completely disappeared behind the scenes. What was in front of him were offshore companies, family funds, and investment funds!
At the same time, the British-owned assets were being consolidated and split up, a move so large that it shocked and impressed the bigwigs in Hong Kong. The Mandarin Oriental Group was also undergoing a restructuring and consolidation, with the Empire Group, Hong Kong Real Estate Group, Subway Catering Group, and the entire Mandarin Oriental Group disappearing without a trace.

Empire Group, headquartered in the Empire State Building, owns all of America's real estate and shopping malls worldwide, and is primarily focused on commercial real estate; Subway Group integrates the entire catering industry, with catering as its main focus; Hong Kong Real Estate Group has taken over many properties in Hong Kong, including not only commercial real estate but also numerous residential projects and hotel groups, and is entirely focused on real estate.

This split also triggered a major upheaval. After the split, John's name was no longer on any of the three major groups, and his personal shares were minimal. Before people could recover from the split of Phoenix Group, the real estate giant Mandarin Oriental Group also vanished. The magnitude of this change was unbelievable.

At this point, many people were wondering what John was up to. Was he planning to dismantle all of his group companies and hide behind the scenes? Was that too crazy? After such a split, the personnel adjustments alone would be a huge problem!

Unfortunately, many people did not expect that John had already been carrying out all of this. The accounting firm had always been under John's control, and it had always been John's personal asset. In addition, the think tank personnel were secretly making many preparations for John's split. Therefore, this crazy split was not as dangerous as everyone thought.

Meanwhile, some in the US were wondering if John would break up Gulfstream Aerospace and Bentley Motors next, given their immense size and the coveted assets of many. Unfortunately for them, they were mistaken. John wouldn't touch these two conglomerates, at least not now. Splitting such companies would only hinder their own development. Many were eyeing Bentley Motors and Gulfstream Aerospace, with the most fervent being oilfield capital and those in Israel. They all wanted to see these two groups broken up, giving them an opportunity to exploit, or even sabotage John's partnerships with Middle Eastern tycoons.

Just as these guys were anticipating this, a crazy piece of news emerged. Amgen Pharmaceuticals was also going to be split up and consolidated, also into three entities: Amgen Pharmaceuticals, Bosch Concord Pharmaceuticals, and Langs Pharmaceuticals. Amgen Pharmaceuticals would integrate Amgen, Allergan, Gilead, Merck, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Tsumura Pharmaceuticals, and Respironics—all biopharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers. Bosch Concord Pharmaceuticals would integrate all the generic drug companies, as well as over-the-counter drugs and health supplements. Langs Pharmaceuticals would integrate retail pharmacies, Kaiser Permanente hospitals, and other medical enterprises!

One wave subsides only for another to rise – this is how many people truly feel about John. The fact that he has split and consolidated three major conglomerates in such a short period of time is astonishing, even putting pressure on the White House. Such a frantic split will have a significant impact and cause an astonishing shock!

"Boss, is John's crazy restructuring and consolidation of the company a preparation for an IPO?"

"Jimmy, what are you thinking? Do you think John is an idiot? Would he choose to go public at this time? Stop daydreaming. This guy just wants to stay behind the scenes. Look how many shares he has left after this split. Going public? Don't even think about it. This guy is preparing for future expansion. Everyone only sees the chaos after the company split, but they don't realize that their development has also been unleashed after this split! NBC is preparing to go public. This guy has already notified me and told us to prepare. He plans to go public and raise funds next year!"

"No way, has he gone mad? NBC has already undergone changes, and even if someone were to step forward now, they couldn't force it to break up. Why would he choose to go public?"

"Legendary Entertainment also underwent a restructuring, but the move wasn't significant, so it didn't attract much attention. ESPN Entertainment and the sports television network have been sold to a sports group and integrated into ESPN Sports Group; Barnes & Noble Bookstore has also been sold, as has Proulx Publishing. Now you understand what John is up to!"

Jimmy smiled wryly, "I understand. He's trying to segment the market. This guy wants to completely expand his market share. His sports group was originally insignificant and was just developing on its own. Now it's on the right track. This guy is really crazy. The original two major media and entertainment groups have doubled in size, becoming four major media and entertainment groups!"

"It's not just media and entertainment, but also finance. This company even spun off NBC Business and merged it with United Press International. US Satellite Broadcasting Company was also completely integrated into United Press International. Do you understand now?"

"Hiss! Is this an attempt to preemptively eliminate all possibilities of targeting him? Is it really necessary? Things are far from reaching that point. With this move, the White House is probably on edge, making even President Lancelot suspect that John might have been influenced by the Black Hawk Down incident and made this preparation!"

"Even you can think of this, do you think the White House, or our President, wouldn't have considered it? These successive splits will immediately make anyone think of our President. He's probably quite worried now. John's 'intense' reaction must be terrifying him. If he didn't know John was a rule-abiding citizen, he'd probably be thinking about guarding against a sneak attack." Morgan sneered repeatedly, clearly dissatisfied with the President as well!
In the eyes of Morgan, if it weren't for Donald's rise to power, and if it weren't for Lori's arrogance and conceit, John wouldn't have made this series of reactions. Behind this crazy splitting up, it's preparing for the next expansion. I'm afraid that once these companies stabilize, it won't be long before everything changes.

If we're talking about which industry faces the most pressure, it's undoubtedly Hollywood. Now, after this crazy breakup, everyone in Hollywood is on edge, as they face even greater pressure. Previously, Phoenix Media had some reservations, but now, with the breakup, Paramount Pictures has no such reservations. They can go all out, expand aggressively, seize market share, and leave their critics speechless!

(End of this chapter)