Wayne Enterprises is wealthy, but as many people might know, assets and liquid capital are two different things.
Liquid capital, simply put, is cash at hand. Many people may have cars and houses, which count as assets. If cars and houses are counted, a lot of people are millionaires. But when you talk about accessible perusable liquid capital, most people simply don't have that much.
The same goes for Wayne Enterprises. All real-world companies and businesses are constrained by their liquid capital. If they make many aggressive investments simultaneously, draining the company's liquid capital, it is extremely dangerous. Many people might have heard the term "capital chain rupture" before, but they may not fully understand what it means.
To put it simply, it's like robbing Peter to pay Paul. Eventually, there will come a day when one can no longer rob, and using credit cards to cover other cards will inevitably lead to a day when the debt can't be repaid.
Therefore, what Wayne Enterprises needs right now is not new assets, but a means to immediately liquidate assets, or acquire a large amount of liquid capital.
If Bruce were to invent some new technology now, there are two ways for him to monetize it. One would be to use Wayne Enterprises' industrial advantages, introduce the technology for civilian use, and earn a large amount of money.
But the problem is, the process from investing in production materials, to actually producing, and then selling is quite time-consuming. Moreover, the return can't be very accurately estimated. If Wayne Enterprises' other funds are diverted in advance, before a profit is made, and the revenue is not up to expectations, it could easily lead to capital chain rupture.
Another way to go would be selling the technology. This is a fast method to earn liquid capital. The only question is, who to sell it to?
Honestly, most of Bruce's technologies are not very relevant to civilian use. He rarely thinks about using practical technology to improve living conditions. Maybe it's always like this with geniuses; they'd rather use their wisdom to change the fate of their entire race than spend time on small-scale happiness.
Most technologies that Bruce could put forwards are related to Bat Equipment, like the material of the bat suit, storage devices of the Bat-belt, defensive weapons of the Batcave, engine system of the Batmobile, etc., These things, even by title, lean more towards military use.
If Bruce is willing to bring these technologies out, they would definitely be taken by the military. But the problem is, Bruce does not trust the military.
Many people say that the Joker is an anarchist, but actually, from a conceptual point of view, Bruce is the real anarchist. He never trusts the military and the government and does not count on any others. He doesn't even trust himself, so how could he trust that the military would use these things for good?
To simplify these things into civilian versions is not impossible. However, there are many problems with private enterprises buying them. One is that because of their limited budget they can't offer high prices, and the other is that they might not choose to pay all at once, because their liquid capital is also limited.
In such circumstances, getting a large amount of cash in a short amount of time becomes tricky. While pondering over these problems, Bruce couldn't help but reflect upon something Shiller had once said -- all ways to make money are in the penal code. Now he understands what that saying truly means.
Actually, if he was willing to lower his moral standard slightly, getting money would not be an issue at all. To him, any physical or virtual defense of any bank or website in this world is negligible. Even if he gambled, he could easily earn tens of millions of US dollars.
While Bruce was worrying about these issues, it just so happened to be the time to submit final reports for the second round of internships. Even though Bruce didn't participate in that round his participation is still assumed, so he has to submit a final report too.
Even though he didn't know what he needed to summarize about being the subject of a research investigation, Bruce still grudgingly wrote a report. While he was submitting it to Shiller's office, he heard Shiller on the phone, saying:
"You found out something? So who exactly is this Vandal Savage? ... Of course, this has something to do with me. You should know about Jason Todd, right? The kid, I see great potential in his academic talent in psychology and I plan on grooming him."
"Then that day ... yes, that day about a month or two ago, he went to some big hotel to investigate the whereabouts of this Savage, but he ended up getting hurt. I was furious ..."
"No, Savage didn't hurt him, but it still has to do with Savage. If Savage wasn't prowling around town, why would he go to investigate? He's only 11 years old, can he lie?"
"The wound was deep, just under his ribs. If it hadn't been treated in time, it would surely have festered. Then the temperature in Gotham dropped and it rained so much, he doesn't have parents, so he had to stay in the hospital all by himself ..."
"Really? Savage claims that he's an immortal? Has lived for a very long time ... how exactly long? Fifty thousand years? Good heavens, did he eat dinosaurs?"
"He's lived this long, accumulated countless wealth, but since he's so rich, why does he still have to come to Gotham? Does he want to rule the world?"
"He's been alive in this world for fifty thousand years and still hasn't taken over the world. He's still trying so I can only say, despite handicaps, his determination is unwavering."
"Yes, James, what I mean is, if Alberto finds him and uncovers his whereabouts, he must tell me. I'm genuinely angry about what happened to Jason!"
"No, of course not, it's not about the money. You know that I'm not a materialistic person. It's merely the wealth amassed over fifty thousand years ..."
Bruce, standing outside the door, paused as he held the door handle, but at that moment, Shiller put down the phone and asked the door: "Who is it? Why don't you knock?"
"It's me, Professor ..." Bruce walked in, placed his report on the desk, then paused. Shiller looked him over and said, "What's the matter? If there's nothing, go read your books. Gotham University doesn't have guaranteed postgraduate places ... "
Bruce, whose mind was full of money, suddenly sobered up. He asked, "Guaranteed? What is guaranteed?"
"Aren't you preparing for your graduate entrance exam? Do you expect me to write a recommendation letter? Shall I write in your recommendation letter that dear Mr. Bruce Wayne, failed twelve courses in four years, didn't participate in round one of the internship, half participated in round two, and turned in the internship summary two days late than others?"
Bruce held his forehead and said, "No, Professor, I won't go to graduate school ..."
"Oh, really? But, Lex said he would, your helicopter engine has prepared for postgraduate recommendation. Then, you will have the lowest education among them ... "
"I'm going to read my books." Bruce turned around and left, he said, "But I want to transfer to the Department of Physics ..."
"That's okay, Victor teaches physics. If you don't do your homework, I'll only make you consider psychological aspects, but he will let you physically cool down."
Bruce, who had no hope for his future studies, left the office building with a heavy heart. However, Shiller's phone call just now gave him a breakthrough solution.
Bruce had known for a long time that Savage had broken into his Batcave, but he ignored it. Firstly because he was busy recently, secondly because just like what Shiller said, if you broke into the Batcave and didn't take anything away, dealing with idiots is always the lowest priority.
However, Bruce didn't know that Savage was quite wealthy. After all, by looking at the surveillance footage, Savage did not dress like a traditional wealthy man. Meanwhile, someone who had lived for so many years might maintain a low profile.
If Savage actually had a large amount of liquid funds, then Bruce wouldn't mind letting him voluntarily contribute to the construction of Gotham. The premise is that there is a large amount of funds, and it must be voluntary.
Taking down Savage requires collecting information about him, and Bruce knows just the person to find.
"You said Savage?" At Gotham University's canteen, Captain Cold touched his cheek and said: "Actually, he came to us on his own, saying that he could give us a large sum of money, and the power to rule a city, to get us to work for him ..."
Bruce's attention was on the large sum of money. He asked, "How much money is he willing to give you?"
"We initially agreed on ten million US dollars, but we didn't have much hope. If he had that much money, why would he contact us?" Captain Cold sliced his steak and said, "If he were like you, a rich man who casually spends tens of millions of US dollars, then why doesn't he run for the presidency? While he might not necessarily be able to rule the world, he would definitely be able to rule America."
Bruce thought, now I can't casually spend tens of millions of US dollars either. I need to save even a few million US dollars carefully. The construction sites that have started, they're like blood-sucking machines.
Above all, he was unwilling to make do. He always wanted the best of everything, and the area of Gotham is vast. The volume of the phase one construction project is equivalent to three other projects. When over 100 large-scale construction sites are active, money drains like water.
"However, we feel that he is indeed quite wealthy." Captain Cold stroked his chin and said, "Last time, Master Mirror ran errands for him, and he directly gave Master Mirror two large gold bars, which are quite valuable."
"Also, according to Master Mirror, there are many collectibles in his room. There are various things from all over the world and from all different periods. I heard that one of his paintings can sell for millions of US dollars."
Bruce frowned and said, "What you said earlier makes sense. If he's that rich, why hasn't he fuled the world?"
Bruce felt strange, it's actually not logical. Someone who has been alive for fifty thousand years, even if he started as a tribal chief in the early days of the Homo Sapiens, and gradually unified every tribe, he should have unified everything, right?
Even if he didn't think of this before and just thought of it now, he could entirely organize his own election team, become the legitimate president first, and gradually unify everything using his wealth and experience.
At the very least, as long as he lives long enough, he can meet enough people and have a large enough network of relationships. A lot of things would become very easy to handle. So why is he looking for strangers in Central City to work for him now?
Captain Cold shook his head and said, "From what I've observed, it seems he hasn't been awake this entire time. He probably needs to hibernate periodically. After waking up, he has to re-adapt to society again. I suppose he probably hasn't adjusted to the rapid development of human society recently."
"Just woken up", "not adapting to modern society", "hasn't responded yet", when these phrases are put together, Bruce knew who he should look for.