America: My Time

Chapter 1070 Decisive Abandonment
Chapter 1060 Decisive Abandonment

Lack of funds? No one present believed John's nonsense. They thought he was misleading them; those Japanese guys dared to give him so many loans, how could John not have a huge cash flow? Anyone who believed that was a fool. But now that John said it, they couldn't help but doubt their previous assumptions. Did this sly John really not intend to enter the international grain trading industry?

Morgan hadn't expected John to make such a clean decision. If he had harbored any reservations before, his anxieties were now deepening. Why John chose this time and circumstance to say such a thing was crucial, very important to Morgan.

"Since Mr. John doesn't have such thoughts, then we won't make any more preparations. We originally thought Mr. John was interested in entering the international grain trade, so we wanted to cooperate with you more. It seems we were overthinking it!" Although the atmosphere was a bit awkward, the people from the White House quickly found a good way out for themselves, directly telling him that he didn't need to make any more preparations for John's acquisition of Cargill. However, whether his preparations were good or bad was hard to say!
"Thank you all for your kindness, but I'm sorry to disappoint you. I'm not as capable as you think, nor do I have such ambitions. I'm only involved in agriculture to leave myself a way out and some assets for my descendants. It's not as much as you all think!"

Upon hearing John's words, everyone couldn't help but curse him inwardly for being a hypocrite. This guy didn't tell the truth at all. With John's current assets, what need did he have for a backup plan? With this guy's extraordinary talent, he would probably only grow stronger.

“John, the White House issue is over. Let’s talk about futures. I wonder what your thoughts are on futures trading. Those guys in Japan are getting more and more powerful, and you’re the one among us who knows Japan best. Everyone wants to hear your opinion, after all, it concerns the interests of many people, and also the interests of the United States!”

These old guys are really cunning and treacherous. They always talk about the interests of the United States, but in reality, they only think about their own interests. But since the other party has said so, John can't just stay silent. Besides, he had already thought about this problem before he came to meet these old guys!
"I have also expressed my concerns to Mr. Morgan. I am only trying to protect my own interests and the interests of Quantum Mining and Western Energy. It is also related to the old deal with the Russians. After so many years of doing business, it is not something that can be given up so easily. I need to maintain business with both Russia and Russia. However, I have a lot of stockpiled materials, so I naturally want to cash them out as soon as possible. After all, my many investments still require a lot of funds."

When John brought up Big Mao and Little Mao again, everyone sighed. They were all annoyed by John's claims. They didn't believe John was telling the truth and thought he was deliberately deceiving them. However, they couldn't find any evidence, since John did indeed have a considerable amount of supplies. The barter trade had brought John huge benefits from the Russians, and now those benefits were being transferred to Big Mao and Little Mao.

Before anyone could speak, John continued, “I understand your concerns. Don’t worry, I have no intention of targeting any of you, nor do I intend to compete with you in finance. I’m just trying to improve myself and looking for new investment opportunities. The retail and pharmaceutical industries in the United States are my main focus.”

John glanced around at the crowd with a faint smile, but no one believed him. They realized that John had changed and was no longer the man they knew. Now, he was a complete liar, spouting nonsense at will.

Even President Richard Lamb was astonished by John's methods. After so much time, as president, he naturally knew how enormous John's businesses were in the United States: a Silicon Valley giant, a military giant, an entertainment tycoon, a retail giant, an aviation giant, and also a pharmaceutical giant. If this guy hadn't broken up Western Energy, he would still be one of the giants. The more he learned about John, the more shocked he became by his methods, and the more he realized how terrifying this man was. All of this was accomplished by John in just over a decade, so anyone who dared to underestimate him was a fool.

Today, John's size is comparable to that of Morgan and Rockefeller. If John hadn't been in control of the development of Sinolink and East West Bank, he would have become a banking giant if he had integrated them into Standard Chartered Bank. Hurricane Investment is also very restrained; otherwise, he would have become one of the giants on Wall Street.

It's precisely because John has never entered the investment banking sphere of these Wall Street giants that their conflicts have decreased. However, they don't know how long this situation can last. In the US, they can use their established influence to suppress John, but overseas, they lack that ability; Standard Chartered Bank is not subject to their control. Today, Standard Chartered Bank has a presence in overseas markets, especially in Asia.

Standard Chartered Bank has now completed its presence in Europe and Asia and is moving towards the Americas, but its target isn't the US; rather, it's other Latin American countries. This strategy unsettles these old guard, as it's clearly a division of labor. Sinotrans and East West Bank target the US market, acting as their reserve bank, while Standard Chartered expands overseas, operating outside the US. These Wall Street figures are familiar with the size of Sinotrans and East West Bank, but they have little knowledge of Standard Chartered, as it's a truly private bank with highly confidential internal information. Many wonder how much gold reserves Standard Chartered holds, given the formidable Jaguar Security Company in Africa; how much gold they've acquired from indigenous African communities is anyone's guess!

Anyone who wants to target Standard Chartered Bank must understand its true strength and weaknesses. However, no one knows how formidable or astonishing Standard Chartered Bank's resources are, which makes many interested parties hesitant to act rashly.

Of course, John knew that these guys on Wall Street were secretly pushing for banking reforms. Before long, the restrictions on interstate operations would be lifted, and the banking industry would undergo a major upheaval. By the end of the century, the separation of banking and banking operations would also be abolished. Until then, John had no intention of fighting these guys; it wasn't necessary. Perhaps they saw him as a hidden danger, but they were overthinking it. He had no intention of confronting them at this time.

Even if one aspires to become one of the giants on Wall Street, one must wait for a giant to fall. Now is not the time. This is why Hurricane Investment has not received greater support. It is not the right time. Exposing more now will only make one's future plans more dangerous.

Faced with John's shameless statement, the others were helpless. After all, they couldn't afford to fight John over such a trivial matter. As Wall Street giants, they weren't fools and understood the pressure behind the situation. As long as John didn't target them or hold them back, that was enough. There was no need to fuss over anything else.

These guys really wanted to know John's attitude. Perhaps John's series of actions made them feel threatened, which led to all of this. Morgan was one of them, but Morgan didn't tell them, which naturally created a slight rift between John and Morgan.

Since these guys were testing him, John naturally wasn't willing to let this opportunity slip by. He directly brought up the acquisition of Dika Biotechnology Company. Faced with John's 'counterattack,' although everyone wanted to take action, they could only acquiesce. After all, they had to follow the rules and couldn't act recklessly, otherwise they would only put themselves in danger. No one wanted to be John's enemy, at least not now.

"Thank you all for your recognition. I will speed up the acquisition process!" John was pleased with the outcome, as it saved him a lot of unnecessary trouble. As for the sale of Cargill shares, it wasn't a big deal.

Although many people are not satisfied with John's attitude, they have no choice but to accept it since John is now in a favorable position. No one wants to turn against John unless absolutely necessary. If it is just a little bit of business competition, it is nothing, but if someone insists on breaking the rules, then things will get serious. Now no one wants to see John involved in the situation in the Middle East, as that would seriously affect their interests and disrupt their plans.

President Laughlin was incredibly frustrated. He had initially thought he could teach John a lesson over the Cargill affair, but now they had accomplished nothing. John's decisiveness put immense pressure on him. Although John hadn't openly broken ties with them, the White House's stance against him meant this wouldn't end there. For the next six months, he could afford not to worry about John's retaliation, but once that period was over, he would face it. He understood this perfectly well, yet he was helpless. After all, they had taken the initiative to target John but failed to suppress him or force him to submit. Under these circumstances, they were bound to pay a heavy price!

(End of this chapter)