America: My Time

Chapter 49 Trading
Chapter Forty-Nine: Transactions

"Jimmy, get everyone moving. Investigate these four companies thoroughly and complete the acquisition before the end of the year. We need to show this kid the immense power of Morgan and let him know that having us underwrite the IPO of Game World was the right choice. This time, all of Morgan's power is in your hands. Don't let me down!"

"Don't worry, boss, I won't let you down, I won't let Morgan down. No one can refuse Morgan's acquisition, at least not them!" Indeed, in front of the behemoth that is Morgan, these four companies are insignificant.

This acquisition is a test, not only of success but also of capability. It is easy to spend a lot of money, but to complete the acquisition at a reasonable price requires great power.

The deal between John and Morgan quickly became known to other Wall Street giants. There are no real secrets on Wall Street. Although these giants were furious about Morgan's good fortune, after learning everything, they understood that GameWorld would go public. Even if they didn't get underwriting rights, they would still have the opportunity to subscribe to a portion of the shares before the IPO. Therefore, this was no longer just Morgan's interest, but concerned the interests of the entire Wall Street. No one dared to obstruct the acquisition at this time.

Even if Warner hated John, he wouldn't dare to ruin John's plans at this time; Warner couldn't afford the wrath of Wall Street.

With Morgan leading the charge, Warner Bros. was nothing but an ant. No matter how much they hated Legendary Entertainment, they dared not make any rash moves. This result made Steve Ross grit his teeth in hatred. If John had acquired all of this himself, Warner Bros. would have definitely jumped out to cause trouble and disrupt things. But with Morgan taking the lead, everything was not a problem and there was no resistance.

Compared to the explosive popularity of Game World, Dream World has been much more low-key, attracting far less attention. Everyone's eyes are on Game World, eagerly awaiting the release of its home console and handheld game console, wondering whether it will become an overnight sensation, sweeping the North American game market, or suffer an unexpected crash!
Because fewer people were paying attention, no one noticed that another company had emerged in the dream world. Although the number of employees was small, it embarked on the path of hardware research and development. This company became an independent new company, Nvidia, and began research on graphics card chips.

John attaches great importance to this new company, which is expected to shoulder the heavy responsibility of display chips for the gaming world, since arcades needed display chips more than personal computers at this time.

John underestimated Morgan's power and his own influence on Wall Street. In just over ten days, Morgan demonstrated its formidable strength by acquiring MTV. John was astonished by the speed of their acquisition and deeply impressed by Morgan's power. The old-school giants were indeed formidable, their foundations incredibly strong. John had expected Morgan to first acquire Vanity Fair magazine, the easiest acquisition, but he hadn't anticipated MTV.

Is money a problem? No, it's not a problem now. When arcade games in the game world sell like hotcakes, no bank in Japan will refuse to lend to them. They all believe that the game world has enough repayment capacity.

When Morgan came to visit again, John was no longer the one to receive him; instead, it was Robert Iger, CEO of Legendary Entertainment, who met with him to discuss the acquisition. Acquiring a television station so quickly, even if it was just a small, unknown station, was a huge step forward and made Robert Iger very happy!
"Boss, I didn't expect Morgan to move so fast. They've completed a quarter of the acquisition in such a short time. It's unbelievable. It seems we need to move our plans forward. It won't be long before Morgan completes the entire acquisition!"

"Yes, we all underestimated Morgan's resources and the power of capital. In fact, if Morgan wanted to, they would have already accomplished half of it. For Morgan, the 'Vanity Fair' is not a problem. They just put it last. They wanted to show me their power and let us know how strong Morgan's resources are!"

John saw through Morgan's intentions, but this was actually a good thing for him. The stronger Morgan became, the more he would benefit, and the more frustrated Warner would be. Now was the time to launch a new attack on Warner, to crush Atari and ensure it never had a chance to recover.

Game World's home console and handheld game console are ready and waiting to go on sale. If it weren't for John's request, Game World would have released the arcade, home console and handheld game console at the same time!

If arcade games severely damaged Atari's market share, the emergence of home consoles and handheld game consoles will be the arrow that destroys Atari, aimed straight at its heart!

"Iger, don't worry about Morgan's actions. Focus all your energy on launching our toy and making it a hit in the toy market. That's the most important thing for Legendary Entertainment; we can't afford any mistakes. I believe that once our toy is released, it will definitely carve out a large slice of the market and bring us a steady stream of funds!" "Don't worry, boss, everything is arranged. Negotiations with various television stations have been completed. I just think we should use ABC for our domestic network; its performance is the best. NBC is far behind!"

"Yes, I know ABC is good, but we can't just look at the immediate benefits. We need to think long-term. We must have our own public television network. Although ABC is good, its shares are too dispersed, making a complete acquisition difficult. We also cannot accept mergers and acquisitions, so we are its enemy. In that case, why should we support our enemy? NBC is our acquisition target. Giving them such a big gift now will also have an impact on us in the future. It will reduce a lot of unnecessary trouble during the acquisition. Taking a small loss now is nothing!"

This is just the beginning. If Morgan can quickly acquire Dick Clark Television Productions, he will prepare an even bigger gift for NBC: a hit series and the production of Millionaire, making NBC completely dependent on Legendary Entertainment and leaving it with no ability to resist.

"Speaking of which, although our animated film earned less this time, it still yielded a decent profit because it was part of a global market strategy. We cannot give up on the animation market; we must increase our investment. Whether you are from the domestic, Japanese, or Taiwanese markets, you must strengthen your efforts. We cannot rely on outsourcing forever; we need to have our own production teams."

"Boss, I also want to speed things up, but that takes time. I've already contacted some people, but building a complete team isn't easy. It takes time to gel and also requires financial investment!"

"Funding will not be a problem. I have no requirements for Legendary Entertainment in terms of profitability. Don't worry about the investment, just go for it. Even if we suffer losses in the first year or two, it doesn't matter. As long as we can have a complete production team, everything is worth it!"

In John's eyes, the production team is the key. The initial investment is nothing, and even if the investment is large, it is worth it. If they can successfully snatch Disney's IP, any big IP can offset the previous investment.

"Okay, boss, I believe it won't be long before our Legendary Entertainment's animation film studio is established!"

“Very good, I’ll leave everything to you. You’ll handle Legendary Entertainment. I still need to keep an eye on the gaming world. This is the moment of truth for Warner Bros. We can’t let our guard down. Otherwise, if Atari comes back to life, we’ll be in big trouble.”

Everything went exactly as John had predicted; the rise of the gaming world was unstoppable. When home consoles and handheld game consoles were released, Atari collapsed completely; all its products failed to sell, and the gaming world swept through the entire North American market.

At this point, the valuation of the game world surged again, increasing by half, and is now valued at $15 billion, which shocked Wall Street.

Even before the peak of summer vacation, Game World has already swept the gaming market, and sales will only explode once summer arrives. Although all products are licensed, some astute observers have calculated that Game World can generate nearly $100 million in net revenue in just one summer, not to mention the entire year.

Faced with the overwhelming onslaught of the gaming world, Atari was truly powerless to resist. Whether in game design or console quality, it was far inferior to the gaming world. Soon, the gaming industry giant was seized by the gaming world, and with its market share being devoured, Atari instantly faced bankruptcy.

Atari suffered a devastating blow when its heavily invested new games failed to sell and its consoles also went unsold, forcing it to seek help from its parent company, Warner Bros. They needed funds to develop new games and new consoles, but Warner Bros. was also in a difficult position and couldn't provide them with substantial support.
Loans? No, that's impossible. Although Atari is a large and powerful company, no one is optimistic about them. Even though Atari has many engineers, no one believes they can surpass GameWorld. GameWorld has built a strong barrier with patents. Not to mention, the game controller alone is completely monopolized and locked by GameWorld's patents. Without patent licenses, how can Atari compete with GameWorld?

(End of this chapter)