America: My Time

Chapter 111 Face or Conspiracy
Chapter 111 Face or Conspiracy

Is mining investment profitable? Yes, everyone knows that Morgan's concerns are real. If John only explores for minerals and doesn't develop them himself, even if there are some losses in the early stages, it's not a big deal. As long as he successfully finds a mineral vein, all the investment can be recovered. No one dares to gamble on John's luck.

John's ability to achieve this level of success in just one year, solely through talent without a shred of luck, is something few would believe. Don't assume Americans don't believe in luck; they are quite superstitious about it. Anyone saying John's success had no luck at all is absolutely lying. Every single investment he made was a success, and a resounding one at that. Talent alone couldn't achieve that.

Of course, they could bet that John's mining investments would completely fail, but would that affect John's cash flow? No, at least not for a long time. They had detailed information about John's investments and understood that his businesses were high-quality assets, allowing him to secure further loans from the Japanese bank. The Japanese bank was never worried about John's investments failing; they had no doubt about his repayment ability!

The Bank of Japan was well aware of how quickly John's investments in Japan had appreciated. The fact that his businesses in Japan alone were enough to warrant the Bank of Japan offering him the best possible loan terms. They all believed in John's ability to repay!
The most worrying aspect was Universal Pictures. After the split, Universal Pictures was left with only film-related assets. However, instead of declining, Universal Pictures has shown signs of recovery, with several film investments yielding good returns. Focusing on film production allowed Universal to streamline its staff and improve efficiency. Even though Universal isn't fully back on track and has already taken on all its debts, everyone has faith in Universal's capabilities—this is the result of the investigation!

The reason is simple: Universal has over a dozen scripts meticulously prepared by John. Before Legendary Pictures' success, people naturally wouldn't believe in John's scriptwriting abilities. Now, they have to believe it. Legendary Entertainment's two victories, both achieving astonishing box office revenue, and the script for NBC, which also achieved great success, are enough to prove John's talent.

After the split, profitability was not a problem, nor was loan repayment; it was just a matter of time. Under these circumstances, even the old guard had to take Morgan and DuPont's decision seriously.

The old guys didn't care about the investment in the aviation industry at all. They all thought it was just John's hobby, just to make his own travel more convenient. Moreover, they all knew that John had ordered a Boeing 747 from Boeing, which was being rapidly modified and had the same security measures as Air Force One.

"When we discuss splitting up Bell Corporation next time, we can conditionally agree to Morgan's proposal. We need Morgan's guarantee that our interests will not be affected!" Soon, someone else stepped forward to agree to Morgan's proposal. For these conglomerates, interests are paramount. When there is no hope, they naturally know how to make choices!
Morgan learned of the old men's secret meeting the next day, and he sneered at their choices. Even at this point, these old men still wanted to save face, were stalling for time, and refused to speak directly with Morgan, choosing instead to discuss it at the next meeting!
Although Morgan felt a bit contempt and disdain for these old guys' choices, he also breathed a sigh of relief. A peaceful resolution was best, and they didn't want to antagonize these old men; more enemies meant more resistance. As for the conditions in their hometowns, Morgan didn't care. The profits from listing the game world came at a price; they couldn't keep it all to themselves, especially with the involvement of Japanese companies.

"A bunch of outdated old fogies, even in this situation they can't let go of their pride. Is it that they really can't let go of their pride, or do they have ulterior motives and want to scheme against Morgan?"

"Boss, judging from the current situation, perhaps they really can't let go of their pride!"

“This matter isn’t as simple as it seems on the surface. We can’t be too careful with these old guys, because nobody knows what preparations they’ve made in secret. Although Morgan holds the upper hand, we still can’t let our guard down. Jimmy, keep an eye on these conglomerates’ movements; we can’t let them outsmart us!”

"Okay, boss! But is this really necessary?"

"Yes, it's absolutely necessary. You haven't forgotten what happened to John in Hong Kong. Someone has already extended their reach into Hong Kong and is colluding with HSBC. Do you think there's anything wrong with them targeting Morgan Stanley at this time? Don't let past reputations cloud your judgment. The 'enemy' we face is very powerful! If we're even slightly careless with these old guys, we'll face defeat. Do you think there wasn't someone else behind the Gulfstream acquisition?"

"Boss, this is insane! Is it worth it for them? This poses no threat to us at all; it will only make us resent them!"

“It’s worth it, because they’re not trying to stop us, but warning us not to try and take all the profits for ourselves. That’s Wall Street, that’s the financial giants! John’s under too much scrutiny these days, and the benefits Morgan is getting are tempting to many. We have to be careful!” “Boss, why don’t we tell John about the HSBC deal? Wouldn’t that be more advantageous for us?”

“No need. What we can find out, he can do too. His security forces are not just for show. Right now, this kid is not making any moves, but he is probably secretly laying the groundwork to deliver a fatal blow to the ‘enemy’! Let’s wait and see. Perhaps it won’t be long before we see the sharp edge of this kid.”

"Boss, could this lead to an accident? The semiconductor industry is in such a bad state right now. If someone with ulterior motives were to stir things up, it could easily turn into a storm!"

"No, at least not in the short term. Those old guys won't allow that to happen; it wouldn't benefit anyone."

While those old guys were fighting, John had already started a new round of investment in gold futures. This time, John didn't use too much capital, and the publicly disclosed Hurricane Investment also used ten million US dollars, but with ten times leverage. This was insignificant to the US futures market and did not attract anyone's attention.

John had already secretly laid out his funds in the London futures market without alerting anyone. All the accounts had been prepared well in advance. John had made comprehensive preparations for this gold futures speculation!
When the gold futures price reached its target, John had to leave school to keep an eye on the gold futures market. This time, the investment was substantial, so he had to be extremely careful and couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

No one noticed that after John's successful gold futures trading, all the accounts were cancelled again before the market could react. The funds flowed back to the original bank and then quietly dispersed back into the futures market, entering other accounts that had been prepared in advance, waiting for the next move.

Although everything was under control, John still felt immense pressure. He had thought that his experience with financing in the gaming world and loans from Japanese banks would not put too much pressure on him in this gold speculation, but he overestimated his ability to withstand the pressure. John felt the pressure from the very beginning of this investment reaping operation.

The initial success of going long not only failed to alleviate the pressure, but actually increased it. Only then did I truly understand the feelings of those on Wall Street; their frenzy likely stemmed from the immense pressure they faced, making each trade a risky gamble.

Although John's parents sensed the changes in him, they didn't ask. It wasn't that they didn't care about John, but rather that John needed to face everything on his own. All this pressure stemmed from John's own investments, whether in business or gold. John had to deal with all of this himself.

John had considered using external forces to alleviate his stress, but he was being watched by those old guys, especially regarding the acquisition of Bell Labs and Motorola Semiconductor, so he had to be cautious.

Yes, Morgan betrayed his 'partners,' telling John about the old guys' decision and letting John know where the problem lay in his acquisition. It wasn't that Morgan was incompetent, but that the enemy was too crazy.

Knowing what those old guys were thinking, John had to be even more careful. No matter how much pressure he was under, he couldn't relax for a second and couldn't give those old guys any chance. The emergence of resistance to the acquisition also brought some pressure, and it could even be said that this was the most pressure John had ever faced. It was as if many things were happening at once, forcing him to bear several times the pressure!

(End of this chapter)