[Chapter 515: Butterfly Wings]
It has been more than ten years since he returned to this world. Under his relentless meddling, some things finally started to shift.
For instance, the original plan of the Japan Central Bank might be delayed until March. Now, this plan would be executed at least a month earlier.
As a result, while other changes were uncertain, the dollars that could have flowed into the pockets of the consortium would definitely shrink.
Although there were some concerns, they weren't many. The reason was simple: William White's strategy was already in play, and those conglomerates had to communicate with him on a relatively equal footing.
"Damn it, we cannot let this proposal pass. Absolutely not."
"Sir, our assets in Japan aren't divesting smoothly. In fact, those large financial institutions have already rejected our loan requests."
"How many do we have left?"
"On the securities side, we still have around 40%, while land and properties are over 60%. Relatively speaking, we're still quite fortunate, unlike Rockefeller, who has more troubles."
"Damn it, how did it come to this?"
No one could answer his question. In fact, when William White withdrew from the Japanese market, they had already started to reduce their shares. Unfortunately, their capital was far greater than William White's, so the time needed to realize profits would naturally be longer.
Even so, their earnings in Japan were substantial.
...
Faced with the Japanese throwing a tantrum, America didn't have much recourse. They had already let you have your way, and yet, upon leaving, you still wanted to tear down the buildings. That was just rude.
"Man, does this world even make sense anymore? I feel like you're the one who's profited the most from the Japanese. Why is no one pointing fingers at you?"
"Ha, George, what are you getting all worked up about? I've got joint-venture agreements with two Japanese companies; that's a pretty friendly gesture."
"Ugh, I'm stunned. Those harsh conditions, and they actually agreed."
"Come on, what do you expect? The lithium battery industry is huge. Just getting their investment was already a significant concession."
William White knew well that the profit from batteries wasn't what mattered to them. What mattered was that the battery couldn't fall into the hands of competitors.
"Ha, without funding, those Wall Street bastards will be jumping through hoops."
"Pfft, a bunch of shallow people. If the Japanese don't invest, they can't see a future. At this level, how can they run an investment company?"
"Let's drop that. I'm here for oil. Are you really set on this?"
"Yeah, I have no place to invest my money. I've made so much, I feel sick just thinking about it. I never thought spending money could be this exhausting."
"Wow, how do you expect to survive? Those old fogies must be going crazy with anger now."
"Hahahaha, when I pulled out, I didn't sugarcoat anything. You should've seen their faces -- so disdainful, it was outrageous. You know, Filson was so embarrassed he wanted to resign."
"Come on, I heard Lehman wanted to make him vice president."
"See, that's what I mean -- these guys are just fickle."
William White's steps in investing in oil were resolute; in fact, he picked a very opportune moment. The American conglomerates were busy raking in Japan's money and had no time to notice.
As for Rockefeller, they were too tangled in their problems to stir up trouble.
William White's antics aside, the trajectories of the ten major conglomerates were bound to change. If the time was right, he wouldn't mind taking down one or two of them.
"I said, if you didn't have so much money, would you still invest in oil?"
William White shot him a glance as if to say, "How dense can you be?" I don't need to tell you, even the simpletons knew that oil had indeed skyrocketed to a hundred dollars a barrel.
"I said, your company doesn't have that many competitors. How can you compare with me? If I need help from those conglomerates, they won't hesitate to give me a solid offer."
"Ha, right, and now there's Rockefeller entering the fray. My goodness, you really are something. But no, you've got problems in your supply chain; you lack transportation."
"Heh, think again," William White smiled without saying a word.
"I got it now; no wonder it's offshore rigs. If worse comes to worst, you could consider shipping by sea."
"Ugh, all the railways are in their hands. Seriously, this antitrust investigation is a heavy burden!"
Facing this guy's complaints, Bush Jr. didn't take it to heart. Although he came from a well-to-do family, William White's game clearly exceeded his understanding.
The Japanese understood that lithium batteries couldn't be controlled by competitors. William White certainly knew that too.
With the collapse of oil prices, the shipping industry also drew the short straw. Acquiring one or two companies at this time would be a wise choice.
As for railroads, he couldn't get involved now. Besides, these guys weren't having an easy time either.
The profits of monopolistic companies were also situation-dependent. These American railroad companies had pretty average profits.
Generally speaking, companies with too many employees couldn't have excessively high profits, especially in America.
When companies made money, workers would demand higher wages. Well, I suppose that's reasonable. Just don't fixate on the boss's wallet.
Yeah, that one's forgivable. One shouldn't be too petty; otherwise, you'd just end up a money slave.
Now that times weren't good, let's skip the whole "we're all in this together" nonsense. Getting through tough times should be a given, right? If the company goes under, wouldn't you lose your jobs too?
Sorry, that's unrealistic. Most people wouldn't agree to that. Your boss has been raking it in; is it too much to ask him to part with a little?
The end result usually led to a lose-lose situation. By the time workers and unions realized things were going south, it was often too late. Many companies folded for this very reason in America.
"Car factories? Not a chance. Don't scare me; that's a recipe for disaster."
"No way, it's not like they won't let you go to Detroit."
"Cough, cough, Detroit? Tell your old man to send two thousand troops to protect me."
"You've got to be kidding. Is it really that extreme?"
Heh, William White smiled without a word.
*****
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