[Chapter 697: In the Face of Inflation, Any Investment is Nonsense]
It was no secret that Mr. Wealthy's daughters were favored more than his sons. In fact, William White was a man without principles; he generally tried to meet any demands his kids had. His two daughters, one older and one younger, were doted on beyond belief.
With him behaving this way, one could only imagine how the butler Fulton and the children's mothers were handling it. If he spoiled those kids any more, he would surely be in trouble. Forget about inheriting the family business; they might not even know how to call their own driver without an assistant.
After playing around with the kids for a while, William White's mood noticeably brightened. Here he was, at a high position, still letting others get him down -- now that was quite a rarity.
William White's empire was massive, and he worried about being envied; his concerns were far from being unreasonable.
"Why don't you keep a low profile?"
But even with strength on your side, pretending to be oblivious wouldn't help. Once any movement stirred up in his circles, the various factions would scrutinize every detail. Even if he were truly losing his mind, nobody would believe it.
"Sweetheart, who's been bothering you now?"
Looking at Michelle Reis's gorgeous face, William White couldn't help but feel a bit emotional. Not all beautiful women were just airheads after all.
"Ha ha, it's nothing much; I'm just a little out of sorts. Some jerks tend to want to pick on me. You know, if I took them all down, wouldn't the world be a bit less chaotic?"
"Pfft, don't be ridiculous. If you didn't hold back, Murdoch would've been finished ages ago. Honey, I think they can see that you're not willing to go all out."
William White blinked. The gloomy mood that had bothered him for days lightened a bit. Yeah, it was the onlooker that was oblivious; even women who didn't care about these matters could see it, so how could those crafty old foxes not understand?
"Ha ha, right. By the way, where's Suzuki? It's dark out now."
The lovely lady shot him a glare; ever since he'd had one victory, he always expected to get away with it.
"Your little girl needs some attention; she'll be fine soon."
"Tsk tsk, Michelle Reis, don't be jealous. Boys shouldn't be spoiled; otherwise, if we end up with a bunch of delinquents, that would give me a headache. Oh, speaking of which, we have some time; how about I check on something first?"
"Sweetheart, I'm not saying anything, but you're not getting any younger. Stop messing around."
"Alright, alright, I've been behaving myself lately."
The lovely lady ignored him. The extent of his antics was clear without needing to go to California. Those paparazzi wouldn't care if you were a billionaire; as long as they had readers, morals were out the window.
...
"Eight point five billion dollars? Morgan Stanley has lost their minds. Paramount wouldn't even be worth eight billion," Summer Redstone exclaimed in outrage, regretting his decision to approach Morgan in the first place.
"Summer, your first priority now should be your wife's issues."
"Henry, has that difficult woman thought things through? I'm only willing to invest ten million in her foundation. Hmph, instead of taking care of those stray dogs, she should focus on her son."
Henry felt exasperated by the old man's stinginess. He was just a lawyer, not obligated to manage his home; but now, they were discussing an 8.5 billion deal, not just eight million.
Summer Redstone had no idea that his wife was also fuming. You old rascal, making all this money and not including me? Half of that is mine.
In America, even with a prenuptial agreement, divorce costs could be steep, especially for someone like Summer Redstone.
Now the question arose: these assets would be deemed joint property acquired after marriage. Without a prenup, it could easily turn into a chaotic half-way split.
"Henry, with such high interest rates, are you sure Morgan hasn't erred?"
"Even though the Federal Reserve lowered the benchmark interest rates, the market hasn't taken it well. The only place with low interest right now is Japan; they don't have faith in your acquisition. Plus, their recent positions aren't exactly flush. Word is, William White got himself access to two billion."
"That damned Texas cowboy, why's he always against me?"
Henry was at a loss for words. Didn't he have a good rapport with you when you were working for the theaters?
Inflation was starting to rise, and gold prices climbed back up above four hundred dollars an ounce. With the current situation, there seemed to be room for more increases.
So the trouble was this: while gold was rising, prices were also on the rise. Times were tough for everyone. In such a sensitive period to provoke William White wasn't going to end well for anyone -- if he didn't slap you first, that would count as restraint.
The economy was bleak, but the entertainment industry didn't feel the pinch too much. Others had noticed this, not just Summer Redstone.
Mr. Wealthy's oil business was now in complete ruins. Sticking your hand into his most lucrative territory and not expecting to get pushed back was simply unrealistic. Just wait and see -- once you succeeded in the acquisition, various pushbacks would follow closely.
Like Murdoch, he would stop only once he'd been beaten into submission.
...
Farm life was like this; you went to bed early. Even if you chose to sleep harder, you'd still wake up early the next day.
Well, time was finite, and you wouldn't remain in bed all day. Besides, if a few kids barged in...
Even William White's thick skin couldn't withstand such a touchy situation.
Mornings at the White Farm were busy, especially during grape harvesting season. There were more and more people around.
"Tanner, how's this year's harvest?"
"Not good. There's been more rain than in previous years. I'm doing alright, but father says the sugar levels are off."
William White chuckled, not too concerned. If relying on the farm for income, he would have likely gone bankrupt by now. Even with government subsidies, farming in America was a tough business.
Of course, for someone like him, who didn't carry bank loans, a little surplus still existed. Throw in the distillery and juice factory, and he could at least call it a viable industry.
As for Summer Redstone's acquisition of Paramount, William White had already come to terms with it. The world had changed drastically by now.
Especially Hollywood, which was nothing like the era he once knew. He was curious how Summer Redstone, no matter how great, would cook if he had no grain to feed the pot.
Besides, he wasn't out to battle with them; he rather wanted to see if Murdoch would treat him like family.
Heh heh, without Titanic, without Transformers, how was Paramount supposed to take off?
How many films did Hollywood churn out in a year? Which ones could you even remember? Most films either bombed at the box office or were on that trajectory. By the way, that cash cow, Mission: Impossible, was one he needed to jump on quickly.
Tom Cruise, you lucky bastard. Ahem, I wonder if he's bent now. Well, that's easy to deal with now, but later could be quite the hassle. After this movie hits theaters, his salary might reach twenty million dollars.
*****
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