America: My Time

Chapter 1288 The Impact of the Split

Chapter 1278 The Impact of the Split
"I see. Thank you all for your kindness. Since we're already giving up, there's no need to retain anything else. I'll only keep one share and wait for the company's annual report. Why should I care about the hardware department of Dream World? Besides, there won't be any problems with the software after the split, but there will be big problems with the hardware!"

John's words had a significant impact on the old guys like Rockefeller. They weren't fools and naturally understood the hidden meaning behind John's words. Dreamworld's hardware had always been developed in partnership with Nvidia, but with the spin-off, that partnership was likely to end. How much potential Dreamworld's hardware would retain after the spin-off was an unknown.

Of course, it's not to say there's absolutely no chance. It depends on who has it. If it's sold directly to IBM, there won't be any problem. If it's in John's hands, there won't be too much of a problem either. But if it's handed over to someone else, who knows what the outcome will be? After all, after the split, the hardware part will generate more costs, and the overall cost will increase.

Rockefeller sighed inwardly upon hearing John's refusal, his expression turning serious. If the split failed, the consequences would be significant, and their plan would be completely ruined.

Just then, someone signaled Morgan to step in. If John hung up the phone, they would have no chance at all. They didn't want the plan to go wrong, at least not now!

Faced with this situation, Morgan couldn't help but sigh. Was it Rockefeller's incompetence, or were they deliberately targeting him, trying to put him on the opposite side of John and wear down his relationship with John? Unfortunately, Morgan didn't have much time to consider, after all, there was a time difference between the two sides.

“John, it’s me. We did have this idea, but more importantly, it’s to reduce our own pressure. You know the upcoming deal is worth hundreds of billions of dollars, and everyone is under a lot of pressure. If Dreamworld wants to avoid anti-monopoly and monopoly conditions, it must be split up. We all thought of you, after all, you are the founder of Dreamworld. Only if it is in your hands can the hardware part continue to develop. We can’t let those employees lose their jobs.”

"Actually, you could sell it to IBM. I believe they would be interested! To be honest, if we're going to focus on hardware, my factory in Taiwan is more valuable. Besides, much of the hardware in 'Dream World' relies on software, so the hardware will inevitably be affected after the split!"

“We all know that only you, as the founder, can stabilize the situation and guide them back on track. Everyone wants to reduce their own pressure, after all, it’s not easy to gather enough assets for the transaction, especially since they have to be acceptable to you. This makes things even more difficult for everyone. Some people have even wanted to convert the entertainment acquisitions into share transactions. If you can agree, they would be happy to do so!”

"No way, it seems you're really worried I have a backup plan, wanting to take all my shares. Fine, since you've brought it up, I can't say anything. As for exchanging entertainment-related shares, I personally don't accept that. I don't want to give those guys a free ride. I've taken over the hardware part of Dream World, but it won't happen until next year, otherwise everyone will have objections!"

“Of course, we don’t want our employees to call us heartless, and we don’t want the deal to go wrong!” After hearing John’s agreement, Morgan breathed a sigh of relief. At least the worst-case scenario hadn’t happened. However, he knew that his relationship with John had become even weaker. If things continued like this, he would be screwed over by those old guys like Rockefeller!

At this moment, John understood that these old guys were not only testing him, but also explaining the crisis of 'Dream World'. They were so eager to split it up that they probably couldn't wait to take action against Donkey and Zipperton. If John could see Donkey and Zipperton pay the price, he would naturally help them. However, he could not accept Rockefeller's ridiculous reasoning!
"Alright, it's all over. I told you long ago not to play tricks or schemes. Sincerity is more effective than anything else. John isn't stupid; he can't possibly be unaware of the problems that will arise after the hardware split of Dream World. Now that he's agreed, I won't get involved in the shareholding issues anymore. Otherwise, I'll really be screwed over by you guys!" With that, Morgan shook his head, no longer wanting to get involved in the matter.

"Don't worry, we understand your predicament, so everything is no longer a problem. We won't argue with John. If things escalate to that point, the deal might be in trouble. We wouldn't be foolish enough to lose more than we gain. We're not that stupid or crazy!" Rockefeller nodded in agreement.

"That's for the best. As long as you have no problems, I won't have any either. I don't want to see too many unexpected events or other problems arise!" Morgan shook his head as he spoke, feeling a bit of a sigh at how calculating these guys were. These guys were all incredibly resourceful, but could they have the last laugh? John had directly pointed out their intentions, but these old guys didn't care. In fact, just as John had thought, they all wanted to take action against Donkey and Zipperton. After all, as long as the crisis in the Dream World was resolved, they wouldn't worry about Donkey's methods. Even if Zipperton could use the power of the White House, it wouldn't affect them.

After hanging up the phone, John couldn't help but sneer: "Heh, what a bunch of greedy guys. They cut the hardware of Dream World for profit. It seems they're unwilling to accept the huge R&D costs for hardware development. These guys don't even think about it. Without R&D, where does development come from? They only want more profit. They're just dreaming."

Is hardware development important? Of course it is, but old guys like Rockefeller were unwilling to bear the costs of research and development. In the dream world, the hardware department made almost no profit; all their earnings were invested in research and development, making it incomparable to software. Especially after John relinquished control, the hardware department faced increasing difficulties.

Soon, dissenting voices emerged within Dream World. The hardware department never expected to be split up so quickly, which greatly displeased them. Moreover, they were worried about their future. How much development could they achieve after leaving Dream World? Thus, the staff was restless. Even though they knew that everything would be acquired by John, they still had concerns. After all, in their eyes, John had been out of control for too long and was no longer keeping up with the times!

These guys were overthinking it; John wasn't what they thought. After the conversation ended, John could only get the think tank and Jaguar Security personnel moving to find new office space for the hardware division.

At this moment, the White House was dumbfounded, and Zipperton was also dumbfounded. They did not expect that those old guys would react so quickly and make a decision in such a short time, determined to split up the hardware department of Dream World!

"Damn it, how dare they do this? Is this targeting our plans? With this split, it's dangerous if we continue to keep an eye on Dream World. It seems these guys are seriously dissatisfied with us, otherwise they wouldn't have made this decision so quickly! I'm even worried that they'll get involved in our struggle with the elephant, or that they've already sided with the elephant in this struggle!"

"What's the use of saying all this now? These guys never intended to keep it a secret, otherwise we wouldn't have known about Dream World so quickly. Now John has no problems, the pressure is all on us. Everyone knows that Oregon's departure was our own fault. These old guys are doing this because they're unhappy with our delays. I told you not to play with fire, but you wouldn't listen, and now you've finally messed things up!"

Zipperton sensed the danger, but he had no other choice, as everything had already happened. Now, with events unfolding one after another, both Zipperton and the donkey were significantly impacted.

"Old Martin is avoiding us now. We can only blame some people for being too greedy and others for being too vengeful. Now things have finally escalated, and I don't know how it will end. If all else fails, we should talk to those guys from the Koreans and Israel first. At least give those old men an explanation. Things can't go on like this!"

The idea was good, but reality was incredibly harsh. Once those old guys like Rockefeller had made their decision, they wouldn't easily change it, especially since there were enormous profits involved. John was already pushed to the limit; they dared not take the benefits and then target John's actions—the consequences were unbearable. They couldn't ignore Morgan's warning!

If the upheaval in Oregon had already unsettled the Donkeys, this incident at Dreamworld has made them even more worried. They fear being implicated, especially since some of their people were involved in the previous attacks on John, and it wasn't just an individual act as Laughlin claimed, but rather a collective decision by the Donkeys. Of course, this excludes the possibility of Martin Luther King Jr., but things have escalated to a point where it's difficult to manage now!

(End of this chapter)