African Nationhood

Chapter 185 Edison bows his head

In the next few days, Ander, the manager of Blackstone Fund, together with Tesla, found two New York businessmen who had previously cooperated with him.

He spent $20 to buy back Tesla’s patent rights as a partnership and his laboratory on Fifth Avenue.

Shi Jintang came to Rockefeller Oil as a second shareholder of Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals, met with Rockefeller himself, and got a promise from him.

……

A few days later, Tesla held a press conference at its Fifth Avenue laboratory.

At the press conference, he announced that he had found a new filament material that would completely surpass Edison's previous 1200-hour light bulb experiment.

On the day the news was released, Edison Electric Light and Power Company's stock price fell by 5%, and Wall Street was in an uproar.

Newspaper reporters immediately rushed to the door of Edison's apartment and asked the power tycoon if he was worried about being challenged?

Edison smiled contemptuously: "That thief Tesla, he'll be damned if he succeeds."

Tesla did not respond to Edison's contempt. He just said lightly: "Please wait and see!"

24 hours, 48 ​​hours, 96 hours...

100 hours, 200 ​​hours, 300 hours...

900 hours…

The longer the filament lasted with Tesla's ever-burning lights, the faster Edison Electric's stock fell.

At 900 hours into the day, the Edison Electric Light & Power Company's stock had fallen below half its value.

At this time, JP Morgan, the major shareholder behind the Edison Electric Light and Power Company, found Tesla.

Nikola Tesla was not surprised by the arrival of JP Morgan, because Shi Jintang told him that as long as the new filament material lasted for 1000 hours, Edison and the investors behind him would come to him to beg for mercy.

It now appears that Henry's estimate is still too conservative.

"Hello Mr. Morgan, welcome to my laboratory."

JP Morgan is a serious-faced middle-aged white man. The companies and bank assets he owns have accounted for a quarter of the Morgan consortium.

Although he is a second-generation rich man, most of his achievements today come from his own efforts. His father, Morgan Sr., only provided him with start-up capital.

Now the Edison Electric Light and Power Company is his core asset, and he will not allow the company to go bankrupt, so he came to Tesla, hoping that Tesla would give up the current lighting experiment.

"Hello, young man, I admit that your talent is admirable, but you should not slander your former boss like this, let alone try to destroy him. This is immoral!"

When Tesla heard this, he burst into laughter, "My friend Henry told me that you guys would use moral kidnapping to force me. I didn't think so. Now it seems that he really understands you all too well."

After JP Morgan listened to Tesla's words, he couldn't help but wonder: "Who is Henry?"

Tesla shook his head, "It doesn't matter who he is. Have you admitted that you have lost? If you admit that you have lost, you can ask me for peace and we can negotiate a settlement."

JP Morgan didn't expect this young man to be so tough. He shook his head, "This is wrong, we haven't lost yet, but I want to reach cooperation with you.

Regardless of whether your new material can achieve the duration you claim, I don't mind. I want to buy your "new material". Can you give me a price? "

JP. Morgan's intention is obvious, which is to kill his opponent in advance.

It's worth spending a little money. You can make a lot of money with a little operation on Wall Street. This young man should not be too greedy.

Tesla shook his head, "I'm sorry, I want to prove that my new material is good enough, and the Edison Electric Light Company will be finished soon.

I advise you to give up this company as soon as possible, otherwise your losses will be heavy. "

JP. Morgan naturally would not accept this warning. He thought that this young man was struggling or pretending to be calm.

"Well, young man, you are so determined, I can only wish you good luck!"

The day after JP Morgan was sent away, major newspapers in New York received an anonymous submission: "The major shareholder of Edison Electric Light and Power Company secretly visited Tesla's laboratory in an attempt to acquire Tesla's new filament material, intending to kill competitors in advance. . 》

As soon as this report came out, Tesla personally confirmed to reporters that the news was true, and Edison Electric's stock price plummeted another 10%.

Edison even angrily ran to JP Morgan's apartment on Fifth Avenue and asked him: Why did he go to the Tesla laboratory without consulting him?

JP Morgan was also angry at Tesla's dirty tricks, but he was also angry at Edison for not being able to figure out his position.

It was he who promoted Edison, and it is to him that the Edison Electric Light and Electric Company is what it is today.

As a result, the two broke up in a quarrel, and I don't know who brought this matter to the media. At this point, the stock price of Edison Electric Light and Power Company was already in turmoil.

As the stock price continued to plummet, Edison could no longer sit still.

He found Charles Batchelor, the head of the Edison Electric Light and Electric Company Europe, Tesla's boss, hoping that he could help him persuade Tesla to abandon the long-bright filament experiment.

When Tesla received the telegram from his former boss, he was sitting in his laboratory studying brushless motors. He just glanced at it lightly and then threw it aside.

This time he must prove himself, he needs Edison to bow his head and apologize.

The ever-bright filament experiment continues!

1000 hours, 1099 ​​hours, 1111 hours...

At this time, there was panic selling in the stock market, and the stock price of Edison Electric Light and Power Company plummeted again, now reaching 30% of its previous share price.

JP Morgan immediately notified its banks and transferred funds into the market to push up the company's stock price. When their funds were transferred into the market, they were shocked to find that the stock price had been raised up by unknown black hands.

JP Morgan suddenly realized: The other party's goal was to buy Edison Electric Light and Electric Company at a low price.

He was angry, it turned out that it was all a scam!

Tesla's ever-bright filament experiment was fake, and the real purpose of the mastermind behind the scenes was to seize the equity of the Edison Electric Light and Power Company.

Therefore, JP Morgan immediately called Edison and asked him to hold on to his shares and never sell them. The other party wanted to control the company.

Edison himself occupied half of the company's shares. If he did not sell his shares, no one would be able to shake the Edison Electric Light and Power Company's equity. Unfortunately, there are more than just two shareholders in the company, and there are still people selling in the market.

JP Morgan was very angry and called the other two shareholders. The two shareholders firmly refused to admit that they had sold their shares.

For a moment, Jp. Morgan was a little confused.

But the experiment with everlasting filament continues, 1131 hours, 1141 hours, 1151 hours...

With every ten hours of increase, the selling of stocks in the market becomes more and more frequent.

Soon the stock price of Edison Electric Light and Power Company fell below 30% again, and the black hands who were driving up the stock price appeared again in the market.

JP Morgan naturally would not sit back and watch his property being harvested, and he also took action to raise the stock price.

30%、40%、50%、60%、70%、85%，抬高到了这个份上，JP摩根松了口气，对方不出手了。

He wanted to catch his breath, but his subordinates immediately reported that someone was destroying the market again on a large scale.

JP Morgan was so angry that he smashed everything at hand, but should he continue to protect the market?
  In desperation, he could only knock out his front teeth and swallow blood. Since the other party wanted to control the company, he must be testing his patience and judgment.

Therefore, he decisively bought and instructed his subordinates to buy as much as they had.

The experiment of keeping the filament on here continues, 1181 hours, 1191 hours, 1201 hours...

Edison Electric Light & Power Company's stock fell completely below its low price, and the panic selling in the market could not stop it.

JP Morgan could no longer protect the market. He had determined that that bastard Edison was also involved in the sell-off.

And all of his working capital of more than 500 million US dollars was invested, but it still failed to protect the stock price of Edison Electric Light and Power Company.

Tesla's filament burning experiment was real, and the other party deliberately played a trick on him.

Now if you want to restore the company's stock price, you must buy Tesla's new filament patent, otherwise there will be no possibility of arbitraging your liquidity.

So JP Morgan met with Tesla again, "Young man, please give me a price. How much does your new filament patent cost?"

Tesla shook his head, "Let's not talk about the filament patent. When I worked under Mr. Edison, he made a promise to me.

If I complete the motor innovation, he will reward me with 5 US dollars, but he did not fulfill his promise.

And he insulted me when I left his company. "

After hearing this, JP Morgan nodded immediately and said: "I will cash in the bonus of US$5 immediately.

As for his insult to you, I will let him apologize publicly. Do you think that's okay? "

Tesla nodded, "I'll wait and see."

The next day, Edison publicly apologized to Tesla in major newspapers in New York and promised to honor his previous bonus of 5 yuan, hoping that Tesla would forgive him.

When Tesla received the $5 check and the apology letter in the newspaper, his eyes were filled with tears. He hugged Shi Jintang fiercely and kept saying thank you.

Shi Jintang allowed the genius to cry wildly, and then happily received US$50 in tungsten wire patent transfer fees and 5% of the shares of Edison Electric Power Company.

These 5% shares were purely profit-making. He tried to buy shares, and then found that someone was also raising the stock price, so he sold them directly.

The other party absorbed them all, making him earn more than 30 US dollars in one fell swoop.

I went back and forth several times, but it was all for nothing.

Then Tesla's Changming experiment lasted longer than Edison's experiment, and Edison's stock price fell below the issue price.

So he immediately bought all the money he had, and roughly calculated it directly reached 5% of the equity.

If you don't want Bai's bargain, he will just settle for it.

Before the success of alternating current, Edison Electric Company stock was still valuable.

If you don't do anything else, just receiving dividends is a good income.

The Rockefeller Group won the patent for tungsten wire. Taking this patent as an opportunity, the Rockefeller Group was able to invest in the Edison Electric Light and Power Company, occupying 23% of the shares and becoming the second largest shareholder.

JP Morgan is the largest shareholder, holding 39% of the shares, and Edison becomes the third largest shareholder, holding 19% of the shares.

Shi Jintang’s Blackstone Fund is the sixth largest shareholder, accounting for 5% of the shares.

It is not difficult to understand that Rockefeller entered the game, because before the invention of the electric light, the Rockefeller Oil Group basically monopolized the supply of kerosene in most parts of the world.

With the electric light, his interest in kerosene was over, and now that he had the opportunity, he would definitely be willing to get involved.

This is why Shi Jintang went to find Rockefeller.

He got a guarantee from the oil tycoon that as long as the Changming experiment lasted longer than Edison's experiment, he would buy the patent rights for the new material.

After Rockefeller directly spent money to obtain the patent rights for tungsten wire, he came forward to negotiate with JP Morgan.

At this point, JP Morgan directly concluded that Rockefeller was messing with him.

But Rockefeller held the patent for the new filament material, so he had no choice but to compromise.

Shi Jintang sat firmly on Diaoyutai and faced this business war with the mentality of watching a show.

The US$50 tungsten wire patent transfer fee is enough to build a Tesla laboratory.

However, the laboratory must be located in Birmingham, UK.

He didn't want to wait for Tesla to come up with alternating current and be forced by American capitalists again.

Then let the British capitalists trade with the American capitalists. He only needs to hide in secret and count the money.

　Please subscribe, monthly pass, collection, recommendation vote.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)