How much is worth salvaging? It was good to get away from that troubled spot. To be honest, the world's largest diamond mines had not brought much benefit to the local people.
The Boers never understood the simple truth of having a treasure brings suspicion, and they suffered for it. The brothers didn't get it either, so they fell into the same trap.
This incident gave William White quite a few insights. Forget the depreciating dollar; what was gold and diamonds worth? These things were merely symbols of wealth and didn't provide true richness.
What really showcased personal power, apart from social influence, were industries -- these were the real foundations. He had been a little careless lately, and this served as a wake-up call.
Looking at the red supercar in front of him, William felt a tinge of excitement. His Bentleys were everywhere, but this Aston Martin supercar was still not on the market.
"What do you think, Jason? Isn't this car something special?"
"Man, it's absolutely gorgeous! How about I borrow it for a couple of days?"
"Don't even think about it. They're hauling it to the set immediately. If it weren't for this movie, it might not be finished this quickly."
"Well, once you finish shooting, you'll have to let me take it for a spin, right? Honestly, you have no time to chase girls right now anyway."
"Fine, fine, I'll give it to you."
William was a bit presumptuous; a sports car was one thing, but a supercar was in a different league. Without pouring tons of money into it, this vehicle wouldn't even exist.
"How fast can this car go?"
"Limited to 250 kilometers an hour, but it can go a bit faster. Honestly, it's not too meaningful unless you're on a racetrack."
"Forget it, I'd probably throw up after driving a go-kart anyway. Better lay low on the race track."
"Too bad. You could show off a little in L.A., but honestly, why not just modify a bus into an RV? The springs on a supercar are expensive and can't take too much wear."
"Hey, that's not a bad idea! Might as well add a swimming pool!"
"Trust me, Jason, a pool isn't worth it. A bathtub isn't that useful either -- just a quick shower will do. Besides, you're pretty quick yourself."
"Who said that? I'm doing just fine, buddy!"
"Alright, alright, enough fun. How's the TV station doing these days?"
Speaking of serious matters, Jason became serious too. The pure music television station was booming.
"It's doing well. This guy named Michael Jackson is just blowing up. Boss, why don't you sign him?"
"Is it that easy? The kid's already a superstar. Even if I signed him, there wouldn't be any money to be made."
Record companies were putting a lot of emphasis on MTV these days; it was no longer something trivial.
"Boss, is there really no issue with Chernobyl?"
"What issue? The Russians are in deep trouble. No one knows how many people would die, but it's certainly in the thousands."
"Come on, didn't they say it was just a few dozen?"
"Those who died on-site were indeed only dozens. Do you understand what it's like to exceed danger levels by hundreds of times?"
"I get it. Basically, there's no hope for survival."
"I've told you already, don't eat anything from Europe for now -- at least for the next few years."
These days, whenever the topic of Chernobyl came up, the atmosphere instantly became heavy. Nuclear power stations weren't only in Russia; the U.S. had plenty as well.
...
"Tesla Motors? You're not kidding, are you? Sure, Bentley is selling well, but that so-called supercar hasn't even launched yet, has it?"
"People saw that car on set, and it was truly stunning."
"Yeah, no kidding. It costs at least several tens of thousands of dollars a piece. If it looked terrible, then that would be news. But is that really a group?"
"Probably not. Hamburg just set up a new R&D center, and the design center is in L.A. The engine and transmission factories are also being located in Hamburg. If it were just for their two brands, there'd be no need for this."
"Gee, that's a big investment."
"So they're planning to issue corporate bonds?"
"Yep, raising 500 million dollars initially, going public next week."
"Goldman Sachs is underwriting it all?"
"Sure is."
"Looks like we need to smooth things over."
Morgan Stanley saw William White's shift, and this change was indeed why they wanted to mend fences.
William had clearly adjusted his strategy. This so-called car group was really just Wall Street's game. The allure was far greater than just being a plain stock underwriter.
Five hundred million dollars? Had William lost his mind? A car group? Was he sure someone would buy these bonds?
On Wall Street, the news created a stir, with all sorts of doubters popping up. Strangely, several major brokerage firms maintained a degree of interest.
Isn't this a joke?
Was William White really short five hundred million dollars?
He could just raise his voice on Wall Street, and banks would line up to throw money at him.
...
"William, why not just buy an American car company?"
"Seriously, you trying to set me up for failure?"
"Don't you know about all the subsidies? Advertising costs wouldn't even be on you."
"Let me put it this way, George. I'd be too scared to accept even if you just gifted it to me."
"The United Auto Workers isn't that bad, is it?"
"Ha! Just wait and see. They'll ruin all of Detroit."
"Have you chosen a location for the assembly plant yet?"
"Not yet. That'll take until next year."
"Got it."
William White's concerns were met with skepticism from George Bush. While the union was frustrating, it wasn't exactly over the top. Hadn't things quieted down recently?
William wanted to say, I can tolerate high wages, and I can tolerate good treatment, but how can I put up with such low production efficiency? The quality is a disaster too -- how can I stand that?
What was truly unbearable was that this bunch kept their eyes fixed on the boss's wallet. The instant you turned a profit, they'd bombard you with conditions.
Won't agree?
Perfect, you can just stop working. Let's all go down together.
William White was not running a charity; how could he tolerate that? Just thinking about it made his skin crawl.
In the future, whenever someone mentioned the Toyota Production System, factory workers immediately respected it. Because it represented efficiency and quality.
But the method of the Japanese was something plundered from GM. They succeeded because they had the most compliant workers in the world. As for the inventors of the system, well, the unions thought it was somewhat inhumane.
Alright, that argument had some merit. Asking each worker to perform their duties perfectly and not waste a second was completely normal for the Japanese, but it would be a disaster for the Americans.
One slip-up, and it could lead to some serious depression. The minuscule efficiency savings likely wouldn't cover the costs of treating the workers.
So, for the sake of the boss's mental and physical health, it was best to let workers enjoy their jobs, and forget about production efficiency for a while.
*****
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