America: My Time

Chapter 1270 Interests and Influence

Chapter 1260 Interests and Influence

“Even if you don’t care about the family, you should at least think about your brother. He’s going down a political path, and what you’re doing is making enemies for him!” Smith shook his head, using this excuse to persuade John, lest the situation get out of control, after all, Richardson is the president.

"Don't worry about Allen's matter, it won't involve him. You saw that even the family hasn't been affected. How could anyone dare to use this as an excuse to target Allen? If anyone dares to do that, I won't even need to lift a finger, I'll teach them a lesson. You don't really think my conglomerate is fake, do you?"

John is no longer the naive young man he once was. Nearly twenty years have changed him drastically. Although his relationship with the old guys like Rockefeller seems strained now, their interests still align. And if someone dares to target John's family today, they could target his family tomorrow. This is a taboo subject, and anyone who does it will face a united backlash.

As a tycoon, John doesn't need to lift a finger; a single word is enough. His plans over the past decade haven't been for nothing. If things really come to that, countless people in Congress will speak up for him. If John wanted to take down Leddon, it wouldn't be a problem. But there's no need, and Leddon doesn't have the qualifications; after all, it requires building relationships and connections.

Before John made his move, no one dared to be careless, because no one knew how powerful John's hidden forces were. Rockefeller and Morgan both knew that John had been taking action, but they had not used any of their personal connections. Once these connections were used, it would be a storm.

Many things are better left unsaid by those who know, and even if you try to find out, it's useless; people simply won't tell you. If anyone thinks John only controls Oregon and has little influence over Congress or the US, they're an outsider who doesn't understand the real situation. As a financial tycoon, how could John lack connections and resources in Congress? Moreover, as a media mogul, his network of connections is even more astounding.

John usually disdains using these resources for ordinary matters, as he can handle things himself and there's no need to waste favors. But for major issues, John's word is enough to unleash a storm. The Asian financial crisis and Soros's schemes against John elicited such a swift reaction because Soros had crossed a line. If these old guys hadn't acted, John could have simply eliminated Soros without fear of repercussions. Even Laugh Tale didn't dare say much; the reason was simple: they couldn't withstand John's wrath.

Despite the arguments and struggles, the bottom line cannot be crossed. John now holds the absolute right to the cause, and the trouble caused by others has nothing to do with him; they are merely adding fuel to the fire. Even if something goes wrong, the troublemakers will bear the consequences, not John. No one will dare to treat John as an easy target.

"It's good that you understand. There's no conflict of interest, so don't directly side with the Donkey and target Lancelot. After all, he's still the President. Even if someone wants to leave the Donkey, there's no need to side with the Elephant. You can remain neutral."

"Dad, you're wrong. This involves huge interests. If I don't resist at all, how many people do you think will jump out against me? As long as someone targets Zipperton, I will never let go of such a great opportunity. If I don't teach Zipperton a lesson, everyone will think I'm easy to bully. As for neutrality, I've never thought about it. Fence-sitters are the least popular. By joining the elephant's side, whatever happens will be handled by the elephant."

John paused, then shook his head and said, "Alright, there's no point in talking about these things now. We were originally just discussing the Everlasting Group, but now we've veered off on these topics. It's not just the Everlasting Group that needs adjustments and arrangements. Other companies also need to make corresponding adjustments, otherwise there will be hidden dangers. The Phoenix Group incident is the best proof of this, and now the Everlasting Group is facing similar problems. If we don't make adjustments, the problems will only get bigger. As long as the time is right, I will take advantage of the opportunity to handle them all."

The think tank had reminded John more than once, but he had always suppressed it. One reason was that he was too busy with the Asian financial crisis, and the other was that he didn't want to embarrass those people too much. After all, they were all seniors, and he needed to give them some face. As long as they didn't go too far, he could accept it. Who doesn't have selfish motives?

This time, however, the problems within the Forever Group were significant. John didn't believe that Andrea Jung hadn't noticed the issues with the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, or the hidden crisis behind it. But Jung had never mentioned it, and there were considerable interests involved. So, when the opportunity arose, John made adjustments and initiated a reorganization. Over the years, Victoria's Secret had developed smoothly, but the interests involved were substantial. The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show had become a stage that all models dreamed of, but stepping onto that stage was no easy feat; there were even unwritten rules. Under such circumstances, how could John tolerate it?

John is now hoping that the White House will make a little provocation, giving him the opportunity to "turn against" them and have a legitimate reason to address the various issues in the United States and clean up the major companies.

The Asian financial crisis was just the beginning; the consequences are far more intense. The internet crisis will likely follow, and right now, this guy, John Lloyd, is wildly touting his internet superhighway plan. While it's certainly boosting the US economy, there's a huge bubble behind it, no smaller than Japan's real estate bubble. Others may not know, but John is very familiar with Silicon Valley and knows exactly what those so-called startups are like.

Many of these guys didn't have anything substantial to offer; they were just burning through investors' money. Once the money ran out, it would be time for them to go bankrupt and liquidate. Many people missed the opportunity presented by the internet, and even Laughlin's plan had competitors. John, though he didn't shout slogans, acted much earlier than Laughlin!

John's spending on communications is also substantial, as evidenced by Bell Labs, which rarely turned a profit, investing everything in research and development. This is one of the reasons John is so confident. The reason why Richardson and Donkey, despite their strained relationship with John, dare not criticize him lies in the significant financial investment in communications and semiconductor research. Even if they wanted to target John, they couldn't.

"After the Asian financial crisis, I need to keep a low profile again, at least not to provoke those old guys again, so I need to focus my energy on other areas of planning and development. Media and entertainment are the top priorities, as are retail."

“John, speaking of media and entertainment, you seem to have never considered making a move against Robert Iger. He has been in charge of Legendary Entertainment for much longer than Andy Chung has been in charge of Forever Group. Aren’t you worried that something might happen to Legendary Entertainment?”

"These are different. Although Robert Iger is also from Taiwan, he knows when to advance and retreat and doesn't cause as many problems. Even if there are problems, they are all within the bounds of the rules and are not made public. But the situation with Andrea Chung is different. The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show slots have been taken over by several major agencies, which is not what I want. Stagnant water breeds stagnation. If this continues, the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show stage will be ruined, and the value of Victoria's Secret will be greatly reduced. This is fundamentally harming the development of Victoria's Secret. In contrast, Legendary Entertainment has been developing steadily. What reason do I have to adjust Legendary Entertainment?"

In essence, it all boils down to a matter of interests. Robert Iger, due to his status, has always been very cautious and has always acted within the bounds of the rules. However, it's completely different for Andy Chung. The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is too profitable, so there are many problems involved. Most importantly, her presence has already affected John's control over the Eternal Group.

Although John doesn't seem to get involved much in Legendary Entertainment, his reputation as a Hollywood tyrant is not just for show; it's a real deterrent. However, John's influence within the Forever Group has vanished, gradually being eliminated by Andrea Jung. By erasing his influence from his own hometown, Andrea Jung is determined to purge him based on this alone.

In short, Andrea Jung's control over the Forever Group was too ruthless, crossing John's bottom line. The Forever Group belonged to John, not Andrea Jung. When the split was made, Andrea Jung did not reflect on herself or think about why she did it. Instead, she blamed John, the boss, and made some arrangements for the Forever Group.

Perhaps she believed that she had always been in control of the Forever Group, and that everything should be done according to her arrangements. She felt John shouldn't interfere in the group's affairs. This was the influence of over a decade of managing the company, giving Zhong Binxian this mindset. She thought she was acting in the company's best interests, forgetting that the company didn't belong to her, but to John. Everything she did put her on the opposite side of John, not on her boss's side, so being purged was only natural. She couldn't blame John; she could only blame herself for being too arrogant!

(End of this chapter)