William White looked at the pile of diamonds on the table, feeling a bit dizzy. Although they had only been roughly polished, they still sparkled brilliantly.
"Max, is this the profit coming from Africa?"
"Yes, sir. Their famine is severe, and these things obviously can't fill their stomachs."
"Speaking of which, Africa is quite unstable now; tell the people below to be careful."
"Don't worry, boss. We usually deal through middlemen. Though these guys aren't reliable, we have this," Max said, pointing to the Desert Eagle at his waist.
"Yeah, those guys lack credibility. To profit, they'll sell anything."
While folks in Africa were starving, the U.S. was experiencing a harvest it didn't need. Just as those big farmers were having headaches, William White moved in to take advantage of the situation.
If game consoles could be traded for food, then food could be traded for diamonds. William couldn't think of anything valuable they had; diamonds might be their only form of payment.
In fact, the AK47 might be easier to sell. With such a massive famine, their focus wasn't on irrigation but on theft. Simply having food was useless; they needed ways to protect their harvest.
"Sir, what about those arms?"
"We won't touch those. The guys who deal in that probably prefer dollars. If they can legitimize their income, they would certainly be very grateful to you."
"I know what to do."
While diamonds might not be as useful as gold, they were still a decent investment. You could never hold onto a large quantity of gold. After being burned by the Hunter family, no other family could afford to control precious metals in bulk.
...
"Sir, William White's investment in Africa is significant."
"Diamonds? They aren't very liquid. What's he planning?"
"Not sure. He probably isn't planning to enter the jewelry business, is he?"
"Reasons?"
"He only acquires those of good quality or larger sizes. The supply of these is very limited and won't affect the international market prices."
"Ha, it's not that he doesn't acquire them; he's likely concerned about a backlash from existing powers. Forget it; this doesn't mean much."
Even though the old man said that, he clearly looked a bit troubled. That damned kid, how could he have so much liquid capital? You know, nearly all the consortiums were raising funds. Since the debacle about the Japanese had already settled, a big haul was necessary.
William White couldn't possibly be unaware, but this guy didn't seem to have financial pressure and acted very carelessly.
Participating in the spoils, he didn't even have to exert himself. Given the awkward situation, what was there for the consortium to say?
...
Actually, William White was a bit troubled himself. On the surface, serious inflation had ended, but the sharp depreciation of the dollar was looming.
He didn't dare save money now; instead, he gradually began to go into debt. This was not an easy rhythm to manage.
American consortiums were about to have a breaking point during this period. Take Citigroup, for example; at that time, it was just an investment bank with assets in the hundreds of billions. By around 2008, it would be a trillion-dollar company.
The most outrageous wasn't even Citigroup; Goldman Sachs' expansion was incredible. By comparison, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley could be seen as losers.
So, the question arose: relying solely on plundering Japan clearly wouldn't lead to such profits.
Where did these bastards get their money?
William White had no way to know. After all, he wasn't a qualified consortium. But he couldn't afford for his assets to just stay stagnant. Acquiring some valuable assets became urgent.
Only by closing the gap between both sides would those consortia back off. Otherwise, those guys would come over to take advantage of him anytime.
"William, are you planning to start diamond processing in Texas? I must have misheard."
"Nope! You don't know? Diamonds are forever, and one will last all eternity."
Bush Jr. got momentarily dumbfounded. "That's a nice saying; isn't it someone else's slogan?"
"Please, mine is different. Their stuff is only good for cutting glass."
"Oh, it's fine. I just wanted to confirm. But isn't that type of cutting done in Europe?"
"Hmph, I can't trust those jerks. Honestly, having an American set up a factory in Europe is clearly a bad idea."
"Alright, alright. You didn't mess with the donated food, right?"
"Please, all of that is handed over to the World Food Organization. We simply supervise the entire process. By the way, NBC recorded everything."
"Hmm, as long as that's the case, we're good."
"Damn it, don't let me find out who spread those rumors."
"Ha ha, no one dares to say anything now. Otherwise, they wouldn't be out digging for information."
Despite being somewhat vague, William White decided to set the pace first. NBC soon released some footage, starting to widely promote their boss's charitable actions.
At the same time, they put out shocking news. Mr. William White would personally participate in a concert in Philadelphia themed "Live Aid."
NBC would use its broadcasting satellites to showcase the live event to the world for free. Meanwhile, William White personally donated $50 million.
Some guys with ulterior motives immediately decided to back off. If they dared to cause trouble now, they would be torn apart.
*****
https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.