America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 286 The Muse

That very evening, Samsung released this major piece of good news to the public.

The announcement clearly states that Samsung Group will issue 20% of its circulating shares to Ernst Asset Management through a private placement. At the same time, its two core business segments, Samsung Electronics and Shinsegae Department Store, will transfer 11% and 10% of their core equity to the company, respectively.

As soon as the news was released, it instantly dominated the headlines of global financial media.

As the nerve center of the global financial market, Wall Street received the complete transaction details almost simultaneously with the announcement.

Inside the top-floor office of Goldman Sachs headquarters, the neon lights outside the floor-to-ceiling windows offer a panoramic view of Manhattan's vibrant cityscape, yet the atmosphere inside the office exudes a sense of solemnity.

Paulson's fingertips unconsciously traced the rim of his handmade bone china coffee cup. The lingering warmth of the cup did little to alleviate his inner turmoil. He stared at the key data in the document and murmured, "A single order worth two hundred million dollars?"

The secretary standing in front of the desk had already finished sorting out the relevant information. Upon seeing this, she immediately added, "According to the information we verified from Samsung's supply chain channels, the purchaser of this order is the recently established Axon Technologies."

"Last night, Samsung's warehouse in Busan initiated an emergency dispatch procedure, transporting all relevant inventory to Shenzhen and Taiwan via overnight flights. The first batch of goods should have already arrived at the designated location."

Paulson looked up abruptly, his deep gaze sweeping across his secretary's face, his brows furrowing involuntarily. "AiTech? How come I've never heard of such a company?"

A $200 million order for storage devices is a huge deal, even among the procurement lists of global tech giants. It's something that an unknown small company could never have secured. Yet, he had absolutely no recollection of the company's name, which puzzled him.

The secretary smiled and reminded her, "Do you remember the incident I reported to you three weeks ago, when Ernst visited Compaq's headquarters and successfully poached a core executive and three senior managers?"

Since Paulson criticized Ernst for the last incident at the Helios Institute, the secretary has been tracking Ernst's movements almost in real time, even more so than he has paid attention to his wife.

Although Goldman Sachs still doesn't understand what Apollo is or what its core business is, it has always maintained a high level of vigilance regarding Ernst.

"You mean, this AI Technology is a new company incubated by Ernst? Is it officially entering the consumer electronics field?"

The moment he saw his secretary nod firmly, his suspicions were confirmed. He unconsciously tapped his fingers on the table, lost in thought.

The secretary added, "The CEO of AxonTech is the same executive he poached from Compaq. More noteworthy is that in the past month, AxonTech has placed large purchase orders with semiconductor giants such as Philips and Broadcom."

At this point, the secretary seemed to suddenly remember something, "Oh right, the fat agent Craig of Ernst that you specifically asked us to keep an eye on has finally made a new move."

Klake disappeared. Normally, such a minor figure wouldn't have been worth Paulson's attention, but after studying Ernst's behavior after his rise to power, he discovered that the fat man was always involved in the early planning stages.

Craig's presence can be seen at key junctures such as Google's office location selection, the acquisition of Leap Games, and the establishment of the SunGod Research Institute.

This seemingly ordinary agent, who had little presence around Ernst, was actually a key pawn in Ernst's every new business venture. His sudden disappearance inevitably made Paulson suspect that there was a larger plan hidden behind it.

"Where did he go?" Paulson's voice suddenly rose, and he leaned forward slightly. In his view, tracking Craig's whereabouts might unlock the strategic mystery of Ernst Investment and seize Ernst's lifeline.

"Taiwan," the secretary replied.

"I've already had someone investigate. Craig assisted Ernst in Taiwan in completing the full acquisition of a semiconductor company called GenTek, whose core R&D focus seems to be on hard disk storage technology."

"A mechanical hard drive?" Paulson repeated the word in a low voice, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

Currently, the technological discourse power in the global hard disk market is almost monopolized by American companies, with giants such as IBM and Seagate building a tight patent barrier based on decades of technological accumulation.

In his view, if Ernst wants to get a share of the pie in this field, he either needs to obtain core technology licenses or invest huge sums of money in long-term research and development. But no matter which method he takes, it will be difficult to have a substantial impact on the market structure in the short term, let alone compete with industry giants.

Unless Ernst doesn't want to compete in the high-end market and directly operates in the low-end market.

But is that even possible?

That's a job that earns you hard-earned money, a fee for your labor.

Ernst?

Selling manual labor?

Do not make jokes.

"What exactly is their strategic intention?" Paulson tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his brain racing, but he just couldn't figure it out.

However, Ernst's recent series of moves—investing in Samsung, establishing Axon Technologies, procuring semiconductor components, and acquiring a hard drive company—confirm that he is indeed entering the consumer electronics field.

"Closely monitor the movements of Axon and GenTek, and do not overlook any clues. Report any news to me immediately."

The secretary nodded respectfully in agreement, then asked, "What should we do about Samsung Group?"

Paulson walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, a hint of disdain in his voice. "There's no need to waste too much energy on Samsung. Our primary purpose in paying attention to this deal was to understand Ernst's strategic intentions."

Looking out at the steel torrent outside the window, he didn't feel any of the oppressive feeling of being surrounded by skyscrapers.

"Once we have achieved dominance over South Korea's financial industry, these South Korean companies will be nothing more than ants in our hands, at our mercy."

While Wall Street's financial tycoons racked their brains over Ernst's scheme, the protagonist himself was currently enjoying his Malena in a luxury apartment in Paris, France.

The room is decorated in a typical European classical style, with gilded chandeliers emitting a soft glow, and Renaissance-era reproductions of oil paintings hanging on the walls. Meanwhile, on the oversized European classical bed in the center of the room, a heart-pounding scene is unfolding.

Monica Bellucci lay on her side on the silk sheets, her disheveled black business suit having long lost its former elegance, with torn black stockings wrapped around her fair thighs, outlining her alluring curves.

She looked at Ernst, who was appreciating her like a work of art, and said in a languid, tired voice, "Now I finally understand why you insisted I wear this outfit. It was simply to satisfy your peculiar fetish."

Ernst frowned upon hearing this, his tone tinged with innocence. "It's just a normal uniform look, at most it adds some spice to life, how can you call it a special fetish?"

Even so, when he saw Monica's appearance at that moment, even though he had just gone through a passionate battle, he couldn't help but swallow hard.

This is practically a perfect replica of Malena from "Malèna". As a loyal fan of this classic film, Ernst first understood the meaning of the word "big waves" from Malena's iconic image.

He still remembers one time when he was on a business trip to Europe, he specially bought an uncut DVD at a high price from a video store and kept it as a treasure.

Now, facing the real-life Malena, and glancing at the camera turned on by the bedside, the natural next step is to retrieve the missing DVD.

Let's make up for it.

Bellucci followed his gaze to the bedside table and said with some concern, "You can't let other men see this."

"Don't worry, I'm the only man who can appreciate this film."

It's perfectly fine not to show it to men, but you didn't say you can't show it to women.

Ernst reached out and gently stroked Monica's smooth and supple thigh, his tone filled with anticipation. "I think you should change into that white evening gown and recreate your elegant posture in GG for me once again."

Monica Bellucci narrowed her eyes, a seductive smile playing on her lips. "So, you're still going to go braless?"

"Why not?" Ernst shrugged, his expression matter-of-fact. "Too many clothes would only waste our precious time honing our acting skills."

"So, this is really just a simple GG endorsement collaboration?" Monica rolled over and lay face down on the bed, her buttocks slightly raised, outlining an exaggerated and alluring curve, with a hint of amusement in her eyes.

Ernst nodded solemnly, his tone full of certainty, "Trust me, darling. With this GG, you will become the muse of every man in the world."

Ernst spared no expense for this two-minute iPod short film, GG. He not only spent eight million dollars to build a filming team, but also specially chose the Champs-Élysées, the most romantic avenue in Paris, as the filming location, and carefully designed the plot of Cinderella conquering all the elite men in the city.

As he had previously emphasized to the director, "I don't need the GG scene to deliberately highlight the function of the iPod, but rather to make the audience remember that all successful men's eyes are focused on the sexy woman holding the iPod."

"As for whether it's the woman's charm or the allure of the iPod, let the audience imagine."

"Can I trust your promise?" Monica reached out and gently traced Ernst's chest with her finger, her tone carrying a hint of seduction.

"Baby, when have I ever lied to you?" Ernst held her hand, preparing to be more affectionate, when a sudden, urgent phone call broke the intimate atmosphere in the room.

"Fuck!" Ernst cursed under his breath, his pleasure instantly replaced by annoyance.

Seeing this, Monica couldn't help but laugh out loud. Her clear laughter was as melodious as a silver bell, but it only made Ernst more helpless.

He reluctantly picked up his phone, and when he saw the name Cook displayed on the screen, his brows furrowed even more.

He pressed the answer button, and Cook's urgent voice immediately came from the other end of the phone: "All contract manufacturers have fully started iPod assembly. Based on the current production capacity, we estimate that at least 100,000 units can be produced before Christmas."

"One hundred thousand units? That's far from enough!" Ernst's voice rose instantly, his tone laced with anger. "Notify all contract manufacturers that, no matter what methods they use, they must double their production capacity, or don't blame me for not giving them any meat."

Ernst hung up the phone immediately after speaking, leaving Cook on the other end looking bewildered.

Is it really worth getting so angry over a shipment volume issue?

Ernst said, "Of course! I was all set to get into the zone, and your phone call completely ruined that feeling."

I'm not a professional actor, so it's hard for me to get into character.

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