America: My Time

Chapter 593: One stone stirs up a thousand waves
Chapter 583 A Stone Stirs Up a Thousand Waves
Wall Street parties are always watched by various factions. There are far too many problems among those beautiful women. The bigwigs on Wall Street are well aware of this, but their subordinates are not. Who dares to ignore Wall Street? Even the White House wouldn't dare. So having informants is perfectly normal. As long as it doesn't affect Wall Street's own interests, it's not a problem.

Similarly, with these informants around, these Wall Street bigwigs can issue warnings to the White House and even various other forces. John's actions this time were a warning. After understanding this, those guys in Europe naturally dared not continue to be arrogant, unless they were certain that their own financial system was without any problems, but that was simply impossible.

John's departure did not affect the continuation of the party. These Wall Street crocodiles were already corrupted by alcohol and women, and in their eyes, John was just too young and inexperienced. They believed that when John reached their age, he would not have so many scruples.

Living for the moment has become ingrained in the bones of these Wall Street crocodiles. This is precisely why Wall Street and the New York modeling world are so inextricably linked, remaining unaffected even during stock market crashes. Deep down, they all harbor a fear that they might be the next one to fall from a building.

Not long after John left, the Rockefeller semiconductor alliance learned of John's conversation with the others. This situation was very unfavorable to them, as Bell Labs' decision to license 8-inch wafers would increase their pressure.

"We should demand an explanation from John. How could he license such important technology to those damned guys in Japan? Even if he doesn't help us, he shouldn't be holding us back!"

"What grounds do you have to demand an explanation from John? Do you think the Japanese haven't researched the technologies that Bell Labs has? It's just that Bell Labs got there first. But given time, those guys in Japan can bypass Bell Labs. Most importantly, John made it very clear about Bell Labs' situation: they should focus their efforts on developing the next generation of technology. Under these circumstances, there's nothing wrong with them licensing the existing technology. The White House can't interfere. After all, Japan is still our ally. Even if we want to suppress them, we need to have a reason and evidence."

"What we should be worrying about now is not what the Japanese will do, but the situation in South Korea. Samsung is not under our control. If they are willing to invest a lot of money, they can also get this technology license from Bell Labs. There may even be more companies involved. This is what we must pay attention to."

"I just don't understand why, with such technology at his disposal, John, that little fox, doesn't participate in this semiconductor war, but instead focuses his energy on other trivial matters. He can't possibly be unaware of the immense potential of semiconductors, and the chip market is constantly expanding. Game consoles, personal computers, mobile phones, VCD players, and so on all require them, yet he, who completely controls the market and technology, doesn't seem to want to dominate this market!"

"Could it be the influence of Japan? After all, these guys have driven chip prices down too low!"

"Impossible. John also has a production base in Taiwan, and he also has a price advantage. It's not a matter of price; it's just that we can't figure out his calculations. Perhaps he doesn't think this is the right time. He's waiting for a better opportunity, just like this guy doesn't think much of our alliance and believes that we'll part ways soon."

These old guys know in their hearts that once they destroy Neon Semiconductor, they will inevitably go their separate ways. There is no such thing as friendship among them; all they care about is profit.

“I don’t think John ever intended to put production in the United States. If he were to fully commit to the semiconductor industry, he would inevitably become a monopoly, which would attract anti-monopoly and anti-corruption investigations. If that happens, John would be in big trouble. It would be better to give up semiconductor production and outsource it to Japan. This would avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble. That ‘accident’ in the game world has made him very wary.”

"We don't need to worry about John, that little fox, in the semiconductor industry. He won't side with us; he'll only choose so-called 'neutrality,' accelerate technology licensing, and recoup funds to speed up Bell Labs' R&D. As long as he doesn't interfere in the semiconductor industry, we don't need to pay attention for now. What we need to do now is decide on the construction of the wafer fab. If we focus on the North American market, can we compete with Japan on cost by building a wafer fab in the US?"

"It's hard to say. It requires detailed investigation. Fortunately, with the semiconductor agreement with Japan, we have the upper hand. The yen is also appreciating, so there's a good chance our production costs will be lower than Japan's." "No, I don't think that's possible. Those guys in Japan are too hardworking. They don't have as many problems as the US. We also need to consider another factor: capability. Japan has skilled workers, while we need to start from scratch, unless everyone is willing to contribute their factories. Also, if market demand is too high, can we withstand the market pressure? That's a significant issue."

Before they could even crush Neon Semiconductor, these old guys in the US had already fallen out. No one wanted to pay too high a price or relinquish their power. The issue of building a factory alone gave them all their own ideas.

A disorganized mess—that's the true state of affairs for these old guys. They came together for profit, seeing the immense potential and huge profits in the semiconductor industry, which is why they sat down together. Now that a conflict of interest has arisen, things have naturally changed; no one wants to bear the greatest burden.

John's remarks at the Wall Street party caused quite a stir. The old guys were all worried about the future of the semiconductor industry. The White House didn't expect John to increase his investment in China and want to build a 6-inch wafer fab there. As for the guys in Europe, they were even more worried.

They had to take John's threats and warnings seriously, even the British had to. They all understood how influential John was in the financial industry. If they continued to interfere with the other party's 'normal' trade, things would get serious. The stock market crash had severely damaged many companies, especially luxury brands.

Being threatened is a terrible feeling, but they dared not take the risk. When they learned of John's words, they all contacted experts to inquire about their own problems. However, they were too caught up in the situation to see the hidden dangers that John had mentioned.

John paid no attention to what these guys thought. Instead, he comfortably returned to his New York estate. This was his retaliation—a retaliation against everyone. Those old geezers had repeatedly demanded resources from him; how could they not pay a price? If he didn't retaliate, they would become even more emboldened, believing they couldn't refuse their demands and had to satisfy them.

John made the previous deal out of respect for the White House and for the sake of America's "greater good," but that's not a reason for those old guys to act recklessly, nor is it a reason for them to keep proposing acquisitions. First, there was the 8-inch technology, which, although it had its own calculations, was different from the mobile phone factory.

If these guys think that as long as they hold the 'righteous cause' in their hands, they can extract more benefits from John, that would be terrible. Next time, will they target Nvidia, or will they set their sights on Bell Labs?
Too much of a good thing is bad. John was telling them not to overdo things. His words were not only a threat to the Europeans but also a warning to the old guys. Morgan understood, but he couldn't let Jimmy know about this, otherwise they would lose face. It would be too much of a disgrace to be warned by a junior.

After hearing these words, the old men understood that this was John's warning, but they all tacitly pretended not to know, at least not to discuss the matter openly, otherwise they would lose face completely. John was no longer someone they could control; going too far would come at a price, a price they could not afford.

Because they understand this, they become more cautious and careful, daring not to be careless or make any reckless decisions, in order to avoid the worst-case scenario. Of course, they have already achieved their goal this time; at least they have figured out John's bottom line and obtained the benefits they wanted. As for saving face, it is not as important as the benefits. However, whether they will succeed in the end is still unknown, and they cannot be happy before the results are in.

These old guys appeared confident on the surface, but only they knew their true thoughts and plans. Furthermore, they each had their own calculations regarding the construction of the wafer fab. Currently, the advantage didn't belong to Rockefeller, but rather to the California and Texas conglomerates, who controlled giants in the semiconductor industry. Therefore, they were in the most advantageous position in this struggle for profits. In comparison, Rockefeller didn't have as much benefit to gain as he had imagined!
(End of this chapter)