America: My Time

Chapter 586 Morgan's Explanation

Chapter 576 Morgan's Explanation
"John, I'm really sorry this time. It's not that I didn't want to tell you the truth, but I couldn't. Faced with the pressure from those old guys like Rockefeller, Morgan had to give them some face!" After the so-called meeting ended, Morgan apologized to John.

"It's nothing. Actually, I didn't suffer any losses, and I even closed a good deal. To be honest, I'm not optimistic about their plan. The semiconductor market isn't as simple as they think. If it were really easy to control, it wouldn't be like this now. Unless what those old guys said before was all lies. Although they have factories in the US, their main business is in South Korea. They've reached an agreement with South Korea!"

At this point, John's expression changed, and he said to Morgan with some surprise, "Could it be that I was right? These guys really chose to cooperate with those Koreans, and Samsung's $20 billion investment was their masterpiece?"

“I don’t know the details, but there are sources that confirm that they did invest in that $20 billion. As for how many shares they hold, that’s not something I can know. You should understand that Morgan was also excluded from this investment. They are keeping a close watch on Morgan and don’t want Morgan to participate in this plan.”

Upon hearing Morgan's reply, John couldn't help but smile wryly: "It seems I was too arrogant and underestimated these guys' abilities. No wonder the Koreans are so arrogant and are going all out to fight against those Japanese guys. It seems they have the help of these old guys. Everything is within their calculations. I just don't understand why, since they have already cooperated with the Koreans, they would pay such a high price to control Intel, and there is no need for them to invest in these factories in the United States. The Koreans' labor costs are cheaper."

Morgan smiled wryly and said, "That's their plan, I don't know either. Maybe they have more plans. But there's one thing I don't understand. Why did you agree to their request? Bell Labs already has this technology, why would they license it to someone else? Is Bell Labs that short of money?"

"We are desperately short of money. Right now, we can only barely support Bell Labs' research and development work. If we don't sell, Bell Labs will not have the funds to continue research and development. Moreover, doing so will also suppress other competitors!" In John's plan, he will not build his own factory for too long, but it will not be the first one. Bell Labs needs to go further and master better and more mature technologies. The first 8-inch wafer fab will not be in his hands.

8-inch wafer fabs will be the mainstream in the future, and the demand will be even greater. Therefore, we need to wait until the technology is more mature before building one, rather than rushing to do so immediately. There is nothing wrong with licensing this technology to those old guys, as it will allow Bell Labs to have more funds to continue research and development.

There's an even more important issue: if I wanted to build such a factory overseas, the US government wouldn't allow it. The White House would definitely stand up and stop me, and I could easily be ambushed by those old guys. So I'm not in a hurry now; I can just wait patiently until 8-inch wafer fabs keep appearing and there are such factories overseas before I make my move. At least that will save me a lot of unnecessary trouble.

High technology needs to be restricted, and even Taiwan isn't so easy to access. That's why John hasn't been in a hurry to act. Moreover, the fact that these old guys knew this secret was because Bell Labs intentionally let them know under John's authorization. John just didn't expect that while he was scheming against these old guys, he was also being schemed against by them.

John hadn't expected that South Korea would now receive investment from these old guys. However, this didn't affect John's plans. Not only the wafer foundry, but even the abandonment of Global Online's mobile phone factory was part of the plan; only by giving up could better development be achieved. Only temporary sacrifices could secure more R&D funding, allowing the technology to advance further. You have to give to gain!
Morgan shook his head slightly, not believing John's words. Perhaps Bell Labs was short of money, but that was definitely not a reason for John to sell. However, he didn't want to ask any further questions about the secret behind it.

Morgan's expression hardened as he said, "John, the real internal reception on Wall Street is starting the day after tomorrow to discuss economic issues. Will you be attending? It's different from today's reception. That's the real reception, not this distorted one. It will only be for Wall Street insiders, no one else!"

"Is this really necessary? The stock market crash has gradually subsided; it's only a matter of time before it ends. Do you really need to be so concerned?" John was somewhat puzzled and a little surprised by these words.

“This isn’t something I can decide alone; it’s the thought of all my Wall Street colleagues. You don’t seem to care much because Hurricane Investments profited greatly from this stock market crash, but others don’t have your capabilities. So we want to sit down and discuss our views to prepare for the future, since the impact of this crash won’t end so easily.” “If it’s necessary, then I can’t refuse. Here, or somewhere else?” John thought for a moment before asking. With the crash over, John felt he should make a small gesture, at least to make those guys stop paying attention to him and avoid affecting his plans.

Although John didn't consider himself a Wall Street crocodile, others didn't see him that way. If he insisted on avoiding these peers, he would only be ostracized by the entire industry, which was not the outcome John wanted. Although he had some understanding of the future, he knew that if he insisted on standing against his peers, he would definitely not have a good ending.

"Still here. Those guys won't expect us to hold a meeting here and then a cocktail party at the same location. We need to be careful this time and avoid attracting attention!"

John and Morgan quickly finished their conversation and left the manor. After John left, Morgan couldn't help but sigh, a hint of disappointment flashing in his eyes. He had watched John grow up and was quite shocked, surprised, and a little worried by John's performance today.

If John had shown even a hint of dissatisfaction or resistance during their conversation, Morgan could have accepted it. But John was far too calm, so calm that it put him under pressure. This was not the behavior expected of a young man. He didn't see the pride that John should have.

“He’s changed. John has become much more reserved. Perhaps we made a mistake this time. It has left a bad impression on him. Deception is something no one wants to accept, especially a young man like John!”

“Actually, I don’t think things are that dangerous. John doesn’t blame us. You can tell from his expression that he was prepared for this all along, or even that he knew it would turn out this way!” Jimmy stepped forward and said upon hearing his boss’s words. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with Morgan’s choice this time.

“Jimmy, if you think that way, you're sorely mistaken. John, that little fox, doesn't care and doesn't show it, but that's not a reason for us to ignore it. If you were in his shoes, how do you think you would react? Don't think that just because John hasn't reacted at all, it's over. That's just a facade. He's incredibly cautious inside. If I could, I wouldn't want to deceive him or do something so foolish, but we have no choice. We can't go against Rockefeller and his ilk. The semiconductor industry is their target, and they won't give up until they achieve their goal. So, under these circumstances, we have to compromise!”

"Boss, will they succeed? Will that little fox John really not care about their schemes at all? I feel like there's something wrong with all of this. This little fox agreed too quickly, but I can't figure out what his scheme is." Jimmy asked the question that was on his mind, and it was also the question that many people had. They couldn't understand why John would accept the other party's proposal so readily and give up all his current advantages so easily.

"I can't see through John's scheme either, but as you said, this little fox John has his own calculations, so he doesn't care about Rockefeller's relentless pressure, or rather, it's all within his expectations. Just like he saw through Rockefeller's investment in Samsung in South Korea, repeatedly giving up a lot of funds just to alleviate Bell Labs' funding gap seems a bit unrealistic. I always feel that there's something else going on behind all this. By the way, what's the situation in Taiwan? Is it possible that this little fox is planning to increase investment in Taiwan?"

Jimmy thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No, things are still very calm in Taiwan. Everything is proceeding as planned, and there's no sign of any change. On the contrary, their investments in mainland China are constantly expanding, and the situation in South Korea is also constantly changing. It seems they really intend to make a big splash in heavy industry. Things in Europe are also going normally. Apart from the expansion in the UK, everything else is as expected. There's nothing amazing about the expansion. They're just working on improving venture capital and Standard Chartered Bank's expansion, and there are no problems in that area!"

(End of this chapter)