America: My Time

Chapter 862 A Frenzied Counterattack

Chapter 832 A Frenzied Counterattack
Time flies, Christmas and the New Year passed in the blink of an eye. When January 9, 1991 arrived, and the talks between the United States and Iraq failed to yield results, the war was finally about to begin. On the 17th, the war finally started. The previously declining oil prices rebounded again, although not to their most extreme levels. Nevertheless, it made people feel the impact of the war on oil prices. At this time, Japan's real estate bubble burst!

"The war has begun, and Japan's real estate bubble has finally burst completely. Now their situation is even more difficult. It won't be long before Japan's economy collapses, and many companies go bankrupt. It has to be said that these Japanese guys are crazy. They haven't considered the consequences of their actions at all. Soon, Japan will enter a society of low desire and aspiration. The era of rampant luxury goods in Japan has finally come to an end. The luxury goods market will begin to slump, and Japanese housing prices will plummet! If there are no surprises, housing prices will be halved within a year. I wonder how many crazy guys will be caught in the middle!"

John didn't care about any of this. He only had a small portion of his real estate left in Japan, which he used for vacations. As for Tokyo, he had almost sold off all of it. He didn't have many spare properties left. However, not everyone had John's foresight and was able to get out early. Most people were trapped in this quagmire.

"What are you thinking about?" John asked, seeing the worried look on Kuroki Hitomi's face.

"I was thinking about my friends. Not many of them believed my advice, and not all of my family believed it either. There are always some people who are hoping for the best, who still think that housing prices in Japan won't fall!" As she said this, Hitomi Kuroki couldn't help but sigh. Although she had let go of everything in Japan, she still felt uneasy when she learned about all this.

"There's no need to overthink it. This isn't something you can control; it's a problem with the Japanese authorities. If they hadn't acted so recklessly and had instead taken a gradual, soft-landing approach, things would be different now. Unfortunately, they were too hasty, or perhaps this was the outcome they wanted. Those guys never imagined that Japan would swing from one extreme to the other, and that Japan's consumption patterns would undergo a dramatic reversal! Just stay put in the US for now, and once things are settled there, everything will be out in the open!"

Yes, at that time, Japan's economy had already collapsed. If John hadn't said anything, who would have thought that Japan's output would drop by nearly 65% ​​and would continue to fall? Those with a clear head would have chosen to cut their losses and survive, while those who couldn't see through it would have stubbornly held on, ultimately ending up with a mountain of debt.

The war had begun, and everyone's attention was drawn to the Middle East. Japan's real estate market was also heading towards collapse. Everything was going so smoothly that a faint smile appeared in John's eyes. This was the opportunity he had been waiting for, the opportunity to split up the company. Without giving anyone time to think, he began the split-up process.

First, there was the Southern Group. Without any warning or indication, with the involvement of finance companies and think tanks, the group began to split into three. The liquor group was spun off first, then the Asian group, and finally the US assets, which is now the Southern Group.

Some people initially had reservations, but after the split, there wasn't much action; it was merely a division of assets. The original head of the liquor group was promoted, and the Jianlishi Liquor Group was established, headquartered in Ireland. In Asia, the focus was on Hong Kong, with the establishment of the Hong Kong Retail Group, directly led by Lee Boo-jin, the eldest daughter of Samsung, who began integrating assets across Asia. This caused a brief period of turmoil in Asia, given the large number of assets and the wide scope involved, but it quickly subsided as everyone realized there were no real changes.

Swift as lightning, before Wall Street could even react, Southern Group's assets shrank dramatically and the company was completely dismantled, catching them off guard and leaving them dumbfounded. They had been expecting corporate turmoil, but what they were waiting for was a smooth transition. There might be a little trouble and chaos in the short term, but no major upheaval, because everything was under control.

Before everyone could recover from the shock of the Southern Group's split, the Forever Group was quickly spun off as well. Although Andrea Jung was dissatisfied, she couldn't change John's decision. The assets in the US would remain under the Forever name, still managed by Andrea Jung. Of course, if she didn't want to continue, she could resign; John wouldn't force her.

In Europe, things went a bit crazy. Having prepared in advance, they directly integrated the European market, using their European branch as the core. Headquartered in Ireland, they simply used the Chanel name as the group, remaining a luxury brand giant unaffected, as the luxury industry is primarily European. Unfortunately, the situation in Asia was much more problematic. Although headhunting firms had made preparations and arrangements, their assets in Asia were still relatively small, lagging significantly behind those in the US and Europe. They didn't even have a single respectable luxury brand. This situation puzzled many, who felt John was being too reckless. How could Uniqlo develop and expand in Asia without a single established luxury brand?

These guys are overthinking it. John never intended to focus on luxury brands; instead, he aimed for fast fashion and the mid-range market, prioritizing quality over price. In Japan, he would only handle design and production of mid-to-high-end items, while other production would be moved to China. After all, to compete for the Japanese market, a price war was crucial, making labor costs paramount and unacceptable. Expansion was inevitable. Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea all needed their own brands and needed to accelerate brand expansion, especially fast fashion brands, along with retail strategies. The Asian market was arguably the most challenging. However, recruiting talent from Japan wouldn't be a problem for headhunting firms, as Japan was already facing economic collapse, with massive layoffs and a wave of bankruptcies.

"He's gone mad! John has really gone mad! He's split and integrated the two major groups in such a short time. What is he trying to do? Even if Rockefeller and his ilk are trying to stop his expansion, there's no need for him to do something so crazy!" Faced with this astonishing change, Jimmy was completely bewildered and couldn't understand John's madness.

"He's definitely gone mad, but madness is the only way to become a demon. Only madness can inspire fear and deter people from further provocative actions. We thought the Australian shipping company's acquisition of President Lines was already a slap in the face for Rockefeller, leaving him embarrassed. But we didn't expect this little fox to launch such a crazy counterattack. Rockefeller's face has been slapped so hard, and a huge accusation has been leveled against him. The entire American public will believe that this is all because of the sabotage by those old guys like Rockefeller, which made John feel insecure and forced him to take such a crazy action, directly splitting up the two major groups. Rockefeller is probably jumping up and down now, cursing John for being shameless."

“Boss, John’s actions are truly shameless. By pinning this blame on them, anyone who doesn’t know the situation will assume that this is all the work of those old guys like Rockefeller, and that it’s all due to the impact of their attacks. With this split, the two major groups have shrunk instantly. Who wouldn’t be furious? I would be furious too.”

"Haste is useless and will not yield any results. This is clearly something John had prepared long ago. If the split of Southern Group was not prepared in advance, people could still believe it, but the split of Forever Group is completely different. Uniqlo was prepared long ago, and even headhunting companies found management for them. Who would believe that there was no preparation?"

"Boss, actually, the Southern Group can also see that Wellcome, centered in Hong Kong, was taken over by John's woman, and she is also the eldest princess of Samsung. This clearly shows that they were prepared in advance. It can only be said that Rockefeller and the others were outmaneuvered by John this time and were unfairly blamed."

"Scheme? This isn't scheming, it's a counterattack, a warning to everyone that his patience has reached its limit. Don't provoke him anymore, or be prepared for a bloody battle. Do you really think that little fox John is just trying to pin a blame on them? That's just the surface. In reality, the timing of his move was highly problematic. He could have acted anytime, he could have broken things up, so why did he choose this moment, when the fighting starts in the Middle East? Haven't you thought about this? Don't you see any connection between the two?"

"Hiss!" Upon hearing his boss's words, Jimmy couldn't help but gasp. He quickly said, "This is a threat! It's a blatant threat to those old guys like Rockefeller, telling them that if they dare to attack him again, it will be war. Has this guy gone mad? How dare he make such a threat? Isn't he afraid of causing a huge mess?"

At this moment, Jimmy was truly terrified by John's words, and by his boss's words. This was simply too crazy, too terrifying. How could John dare to make such a crazy move, daring to directly threaten war with those old guys like Rockefeller? This was going to rip the sky apart! If it really came to that, the consequences would be unimaginable.

(End of this chapter)