America: My Time

Chapter 1114 Slap in the face
Chapter 1104 Slap in the Face
"Damn Morgan, what is this guy trying to do? He's still talking to that little fox John at this time. Given their relationship, there's no need for this. Is he showing off to us, or is he plotting something else?" Rockefeller was furious when he saw Morgan and John still talking during the party.

"They're probably trying to intimidate us. Otherwise, they could have found another time to sit down and talk, instead of continuing to talk to John in front of everyone. By doing this, they're ruining opportunities for many people. There are plenty of guys on Wall Street who are eager to talk to John!"

"Alright, whether this is a demonstration or an attempt to stop others, it has nothing to do with us. The most anxious people right now are not us, but others. We can sit back and watch the fight. Morgan's actions will reduce their influence on Wall Street and make many people dissatisfied with them. Isn't that exactly the result we want?"

“That’s true, but if we do nothing, what do you think the White House will think? What do you think that guy Laugh Tale will think? This isn’t just a show of force against us, it’s a show of force against President Laugh Tale!”

"Alright, stop complaining. Look, John and Morgan have separated. It seems things aren't as we thought. These two might have come up with new ideas during the previous meeting, which is why they acted this way in this setting. We should ask the White House for the party minutes. I believe the White House will study their lip movements to find out what they were talking about."

“That makes sense. I’m afraid the White House won’t give us that favor. And if they really do, they’ll offend John and Morgan to death. I don’t think Laugh Tale would make such a decision. So getting this information from the White House won’t be easy. We need to find another way!”

“That’s right. It would be inappropriate for us to ask the White House for this information directly, and the White House and President Laughlin would definitely refuse, since they don’t want John and Morgan. But we can try a different approach and start with the White House staff. I believe that with enough money, there won’t be any secrets here!”

“Okay, let’s do it this way. I believe no one can resist the temptation of money, and we’ll soon get everything we want. But I have a thought in my mind. Do you think John and Morgan might be doing this on purpose? They might not have been talking about anything at all, and they might just be intentionally misleading us?”

When they heard these words, some of the old Rockefellers were dumbfounded. To be honest, this was quite possible. John, that little fox, was no good person. It wasn't impossible for him to do such a trick to humiliate them. There was nothing that this guy wouldn't dare to do.

“We can’t rule out that possibility, but we can’t abandon our previous decision for this reason. Even if it’s just John playing a trick on us, we have to do it. We have no other choice. I believe no one dares to risk giving up on finding out about the conversation between John and Morgan!” Rockefeller sighed and shook his head. The financial loss was nothing; bribing people wouldn’t cost too much. As for saving face, as long as they didn’t say anything, who would know?
Regardless of what all this is, Rockefeller and his old geezers will not give up. Even if it's just a farce, they have to do it. Caution is what these old guys value most.

John had no interest in interacting with those guys on Wall Street. It wasn't that he hadn't seen Buffett and Soros, but John didn't want to have any conversations with them or give them any face. Before these guys even got close, John immediately changed direction, determined not to meet them.

"Heh, John really holds a grudge. He humiliated Soros and his cronies at the White House New Year's party. It seems he doesn't want to have anything to do with Oilfield Capital. I wonder if Oilfield Capital can continue to stand on Wall Street after this. After all, there's still a big gap between them and John!"

"Alright, this has nothing to do with us, and we don't need to worry about it. The one who's really worried right now is President Richard Lamb of the White House, and the oil giant. But have you guys noticed that John is only talking to those people in the entertainment industry? Could it be that his focus will be on entertainment from now on?"

"While John has certainly been connecting with people in the entertainment industry, that doesn't mean his focus will be on entertainment going forward. However, speaking of entertainment, I do have some 'good news.' You all know about that big ship project, right? It's in a very bad situation right now. Universal and Paramount have to cooperate, otherwise they can't support the project's continuation. I heard that this project is the most insane investment in Hollywood history!"

Cameron's big ship project has been repeatedly affected. Its original summer release has had to be postponed. Moreover, his crazy ideas have made many Hollywood giants pessimistic about the project. They all think it will be a failure for Universal and Paramount, as well as John's failure, because John was the one who decided on the project. However, the project's investment has been repeatedly over budget, which has had a very serious impact!

Such a massive investment is a strain even for Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures. If it fails, these two film companies will become a laughing stock. Although John had said that he would take full responsibility for the project and that it would not affect them, the failure of such a large project would have a very negative impact. It would seriously affect the two groups' control over Hollywood and could even lead to unexpected changes in Hollywood.

If this project fails, I believe many people in Hollywood will jump out and cause trouble, targeting Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures, in order to undermine the two major groups' control over Hollywood. Some may even try to undermine these two groups. It's hard to say whether Donald will take the opportunity to launch an attack, after all, Hollywood is their territory.

"So, do you think that if this large ship project fails, it will impact John's two major media groups, and even shake their foundations in Hollywood?" Rockefeller asked with a serious expression. If it were just the two film studios, it wouldn't be a big deal, but if it could affect the two major media groups, that would be a different story.

It wasn't just Rockefeller who was putting pressure on John's two major media groups; the old guys around him were too. If they had the chance to suppress these two media groups, they certainly wouldn't let it go.

"I don't know, it's hard to say right now. With Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures, even if this project fails, the losses won't be too great. After all, their overseas distribution is very strong, and Phoenix Media's theater chains can provide them with tremendous support. Other Hollywood giants are also trying to do this, but they can't do it all!" "Isn't there anyone else who will step forward to help them, or perhaps there's no other way to limit all of this?"

"It's almost impossible. Phoenix Cinemas has been laying the groundwork for over a decade to reach its current scale and global network. Other cinema chains can't do that. And even if those guys in Hollywood have some ideas, they wouldn't dare to act openly. If they did, they would face suppression from Phoenix Cinemas in overseas distribution. The world's largest cinema chain group is not just for show; its influence is enormous, especially in Asia."

These old guys all took John's media group very seriously, but they didn't expect the split to come so suddenly, leaving them no time to prepare. By the time they realized what was happening, everything was already done. Most importantly, John's influence in the media industry did not diminish after the split; on the contrary, it continued to expand, which was the last thing they wanted to see.

"In retrospect, we were too careless and underestimated John. If we had kept a close eye on him from the beginning, things wouldn't be like this now—the media, overseas investments, even Silicon Valley. We have no idea how much capital this guy is hiding." Rockefeller sighed as he said this. Now, even if they wanted to investigate John's true assets, they couldn't. On the one hand, they couldn't do so, as that would be against the rules; on the other hand, they had no idea how many of those countless offshore companies were John's doing.

Silicon Valley has received a lot of investment these days, and much of it comes from offshore companies. If you said that John was behind it all, no one would believe it, because many of these investments are made by these old guys. But no one is willing to tell others how much they have invested in this internet development.

The more these old guys understood about the money behind Silicon Valley, the more headaches they got. Even the White House was having some trouble. Don't be fooled by the fact that John had moved many Silicon Valley companies to Portland. That's not all. John still has a lot of investments in Silicon Valley, but they are all hidden and not in the open.

Of course, what these guys are concerned about now is John's financial plans. The Barings Bank incident still makes them uneasy. Despite John's repeated promises to them, they don't believe them at all, because they all know that promises are worthless in the face of interests, and it's not difficult to avoid them.

The more these old guys watched John flaunting the beautiful Jennifer Connelly at parties, the more uneasy they became. The White House and President Lancelot were also uneasy because everything was completely different from what they had initially envisioned. The benefits they hoped to gain from John had not materialized at all, which gave them a major headache.

John was exhausted, both mentally and physically, from this party. He couldn't stop because he wanted to avoid those Wall Street guys. How could he not be tired from constantly moving around the party?

By this time, the shrewd individuals had all discerned John's true purpose in mingling at the party, but none of them stepped forward to stop him. In fact, many were tacitly cooperating with John. Where there are people, there is a power struggle, and many at the party sided with John. Even those Wall Street figures had their enemies, and it was precisely because of this that John wasn't cornered. At least, there weren't any fools at the party who would do something so foolish as to provoke John's anger.

"This is too much! He's not giving us any face at all. What is he trying to do?" Seeing that John wasn't giving them any chance to make contact, the guys from Oil Capital were getting impatient. This was a slap in the face, and in front of everyone.

"Is it excessive? I don't think it's excessive at all. We were just too greedy. We should reflect on ourselves and see why things turned out this way, why we've gotten into this predicament. We should think carefully about how we went from friends to enemies. Whose fault is it?"

Is it even necessary to discuss whose fault it is? Of course it's their fault. If they hadn't all been so greedy and tried to scheme against John, things wouldn't have come to this, and they wouldn't be in this dilemma now.

"Alright, what's the point of arguing about who's right and who's wrong? The conflict between us and John can't be resolved in the short term, and our new media strategy is constantly being targeted by this guy. Not just John, but also Middle Eastern tycoons! I believe you all understand how important the power of the media is. We need to make some new changes!"

"The internet? You want to shift from print media to the internet? Isn't that a bit crazy?"

"No, I don't want to abandon print media. I just want to increase investment in the internet. We can't fall behind others in this field. Morgan and Rockefeller have both made investments, so we can't do nothing. We need to have our own strength in this area and not be controlled by others. Moreover, I am very optimistic about this project!"

"The internet does have potential, but there are limited things we can do right now. Although we want to invest, those companies in Silicon Valley all have their own funding, and we are willing but unable to do so. Most importantly, we don't have our own network, and we all have to rely on Global Online, which makes us vulnerable. I believe this is a situation that no one wants to see. Nobody wants to be controlled by this guy John forever."

(End of this chapter)