America: My Time

Chapter 567 The Hurricane Retreats

Chapter 557 The Hurricane Retreats

"Haha, isn't this normal? If you expect them to be as generous as Middle Eastern tycoons, that would be a miracle." Rockefeller laughed upon hearing Morgan's words, equally worried about the foolishness of these guys. Even if they didn't try to be as generous as the Middle Eastern tycoons, they could at least try something like the Japanese using a honey trap or something. But they had nothing; all they wanted to do was suppress John. What kind of stupid behavior was that?

"Perhaps it's not just a matter of stinginess; they're more interested in using John to establish their authority. Unfortunately, they underestimated John's abilities. Their suppression was ineffective, only giving this sly John an opportunity to stir up trouble, using it as a pretext to gain more cooperation with Middle Eastern tycoons and extract more benefits from them. To be honest, I think he's far less adept at dealing with these tycoons than they are. Look at Gulfstream Aerospace's development; it's almost entirely supported by Middle Eastern tycoons. And the Bentley Group—their profits all come from the support of Middle Eastern tycoons. If those guys had learned even a little bit of generosity, things wouldn't be like this now. However, speaking of Japan, their relationship with John isn't entirely hostile. Those guys know best how to compromise; you'd better be prepared!"

Morgan's reminder made Rockefeller nod. Although they had their own conflicts, there was no problem when it came to Japan; they would both do their utmost. However, Morgan always felt that John's every move was calculated, yet he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, which was what worried him the most.

“Morgan, if possible, everyone hopes you can talk to that little fox John, at least to understand what his core strategy is. Many people are worried about this issue, after all, no one wants to have a direct conflict with him.”

"Difficult, almost impossible, because John is developing in almost every aspect. He is no longer the same as he was at the beginning. Now he is developing in many areas and there is no core or non-core layout. In comparison, he is still more restrained in the financial field. At least he has not directly confronted us in the United States. Hurricane Investment's layout in the UK is just the beginning. For us, as long as there are no problems in the financial field, the other problems are not too big!"

After some initial probing, Morgan and Rockefeller finalized the deal. Any other issues would be handled by Morgan; in short, Rockefeller and his associates had shown sufficient 'sincerity.' Watching Rockefeller leave, Morgan couldn't help but sigh. Just from their actions, it was clear how astonishing these old men's investments in semiconductors were; they might genuinely intend to expand comprehensively into the semiconductor field.

In an instant, a crazy idea popped into Morgan's mind: could the previous Intel breakup also be part of these old guys' plan to reduce the attention of Japan and John? If these old guys had been laying the groundwork since then, their layout in the semiconductor field would be quite frightening. The conglomerates behind these old guys control a lot of semiconductor companies. If they were to join forces, they would definitely be one of the biggest crocodiles in the semiconductor market.

Although he had such thoughts and speculations in his mind, Morgan did not want to tell John. Saying too much would only put Morgan in a crisis and put him at a disadvantage. Morgan's only task was to help John complete the acquisition. Now it was time to hand over these assets to John and let him handle these issues himself.

After receiving the call from Morgan, John's eyes gleamed. Although he had some suspicions that the old guys would compromise, the compromise came too quickly, so quickly that it shocked John. This alone showed how much these old guys valued the semiconductor industry.

"Perhaps those old guys have made many preparations in secret that I don't know about, and even companies related to semiconductors have fallen into their hands. If Apple, IBM, and a series of other computer companies also fall into their hands, perhaps their goal is not just memory chips, but the entire semiconductor industry!"

Soon, John couldn't help but feel a little wary. The biggest problem was that they were exchanging Merck for the remaining shares of the game world. The profits from pharmaceuticals were considerable, and these old guys must have had a detailed discussion before offering Merck.

After receiving Morgan's call, John also notified Quantum Mining and Amgen to take over these companies. The think tank was also quickly taking control of everything in these companies, with financial involvement. This series of actions shocked the entire United States and amazed those in Japan who were following John.

At this point, many people began to suspect that everything John said at the White House press conference was a diversionary tactic. Otherwise, how could he have completed so many acquisitions in such a short period, and how could these acquisitions be interconnected and complementary? The two specialized steel companies naturally have a strong foundation in the research and development of special steels, and Angsilu Cutlery is also a giant in the aerospace cutting tools industry. It all seems like they are preparing for future aircraft manufacturing! When did steel companies become so involved, participating in the research, development, and manufacturing of cutting tools? Quantum Mining, instead of accelerating its expansion in various mines, is making great strides in the steel and cutting tool sectors, which has shocked many.

"Hurricane Investment has started to slow down its bottom-fishing. We can't continue like this. We need to give our Wall Street counterparts a chance. We've already made enough gains. Let's stop competing with them. Since they've all joined this battle, let's take this opportunity to withdraw and give everyone a break!" As more and more Wall Street counterparts entered the fray, John informed Hurricane Investment to stop. Now, their American counterparts have all taken action. It's time to withdraw and wait for the stock market to recover.

With John's order, Hurricane Investment ceased operations, and the traders all went on vacation, each taking their substantial sums of money on their holiday trips. With the changes at Hurricane Investment, the Wall Street guys breathed a sigh of relief; at least they had one less competitor, one less competitor trying to buy at the bottom.

At this point, Hurricane Investment withdrew without causing any significant impact. In many people's eyes, this was the beginning of John's efforts to consolidate the acquired companies. After all, having paid such a high price and acquired so many companies, he couldn't just do nothing.

Hurricane Investment has closed its doors, and Standard Chartered Bank is also closing its doors. They've done all the bottom-fishing they needed to do, and now it's time to exit before everyone else reacts. After all, they'll need funds for acquisitions in various areas, and John can't invest all those funds in bottom-fishing. While that might yield good returns, it would deviate from his development plan.

“John, you should talk to the donkey. You can’t keep getting entangled with them. You should give these extreme environmental organizations some face. Letting them block your company all day long is no big deal. And those animal protection organizations, you have to give them some face too, otherwise Legendary Entertainment and Phoenix Group will be affected.”

As time went on, neither the donkeys nor the oil tycoons let John off the hook. They continued to harass him and sabotage the expansion of the Mandarin Oriental and the shopping center. Even though the old guys like Rockefeller had spoken up, the matter remained unresolved. The reason was simple: John's concessions made these guys feel they were right and that they could definitely succeed in sabotaging the Mandarin Oriental Group and force John to bow down to them.

"It's nothing, let them keep making a scene. That's what's going on. Hollywood is in an even bigger mess, those guys are going on strike again. Anyway, those guys from Donkey, and some other shady characters, are stirring up a bunch of stupid bastards. The more this happens during the economic crisis, the more they cause trouble. If they don't make a scene, how can I continue my plans? How can I keep watching how many more people jump out and cause trouble? And look, that idiot Disney is causing trouble again. Let them make a scene, give them more time, let them make a bigger scene, the whole of America should know! I don't have time to play with them right now, it's time to talk to those guys in Japan, about the loan, and some things on their end need to be settled as soon as possible!"

As John embarked on a frenzied acquisition spree, the banks in Japan grew increasingly anxious. This sudden surge in resources shocked them all. They weren't fools; after Hurricane Investment and Standard Chartered's aggressive bottom-fishing, the fact that John still possessed such formidable acquisition capabilities was enough to make them realize just how terrifying and astonishing John's financial reserves were.

Just when they were in a dilemma, whether it was to continue the previous plan of using beautiful female public relations officers to influence John's husband, John's trip from the United States to Tokyo was finalized. He had only just returned to the United States, and now he was going to Tokyo again, which puzzled many people. However, many more people believed that this was the beginning of John's fundraising. After all, so many acquisitions and the construction of shopping malls all required funds. In many people's eyes, John was currently in dire need of funds!

However, their Wall Street counterparts dismissed this claim with disdain. They were well aware of the formidable financial resources Hurricane Investments possessed—funds accumulated over a year. Moreover, Hurricane Investments had reaped enormous profits during the stock market crash. The idea that this acquisition would deplete Hurricane Investments' funds was utter nonsense; only a fool would believe it. They all knew that previous transactions were the result of John sacrificing his game world, without consuming much of his own capital. The real acquisition hadn't even begun, at least not yet with Morgan Stanley.

(End of this chapter)