America: My Time

Chapter 135 Bell Labs

Chapter 135 Bell Labs
"Hahaha! Morgan is getting anxious. It seems that kid has noticed the changes at Bell Labs and knows about our plan. Unfortunately, it's too late. We've already got our hands on the experts at Bell Labs. This time, we'll show that kid how powerful we are. Database software isn't something only Dream World can make!"

“We don’t have enough time. This kid made a move ahead of time, and the patents are a big problem. No one can get around Dream World’s office software patents. I’m afraid the database software will also have similar patents, which would be a huge problem for us. Moreover, Morgan is also in a hurry now. What we’re doing is making Morgan extremely hostile!”

"What did we do wrong? Did we breach the contract? No, Bell Labs will definitely be handed over to them, and we will buy it and hand it over to them. We will absolutely not breach the contract. It's just that some experts don't want to stay. What can we do? Who let the news of Bell Labs' sale leak out? We can't stop these experts from leaving!"

"That's right, we did nothing wrong in this matter, and we couldn't stop the experts from leaving. What Morgan thinks is their own business. It's their own fault for not keeping the Bell Labs experts in line, and it has nothing to do with us."

"So how do we repay Morgan now?"

"We can agree to his request, Morgan. We don't need to care about his reaction, but this kid is acting so crazy that he might actually refuse to take over Bell Labs and make a big fuss. Morgan is in such a hurry to contact us to suppress this matter and prevent it from being exposed to the public. We can't refuse."

“Completely separating Bell Labs from Bell Corporation now is not an easy task. The procedures must be followed, and that takes time. I’m afraid Morgan won’t give us that much time!”

“Use all our resources to resolve this as quickly as possible. We can definitely do it together. This isn't just a problem for one or two people; it's a problem for the whole of us. We all own shares in the new company, so we share this responsibility. And we need to be quick; we can't give that kid a chance to back out!”

“We schemed against John this time, do you think he'll scheme against us when we split up Bell Corporation? I have a feeling this is a bit unethical. If this kid makes a big fuss, our losses won't be small!”

"No, don't worry. This deal was handled by Morgan. The responsibility doesn't lie with us. Morgan will take full responsibility. It's Morgan's fault for not being prepared, which caused the problem. If Morgan had done everything properly, this situation wouldn't have happened. If you want to blame someone, blame Morgan. It has nothing to do with us!"

"Yes, this is Morgan's problem, it has nothing to do with us. He has no reason to obstruct the breakup of Bell Corporation. If he dares to do so, he is breaking the rules, and we are not to be trifled with."

"I always felt that this matter was somewhat counterproductive, but since you have already made your decision, I have nothing to say. Anyway, this matter has little to do with me, and Mellon didn't take any shares in the new company, so I won't say much! I'm here today just to bear witness for everyone, and I hope you won't regret it later. The new industry isn't as wonderful as you imagine!"

"We understand Mellon's decision, but we don't believe that falling behind by just one year means we can't catch up. Besides, the investment isn't that much, and even if it fails, we can all share the burden. Moreover, we have other preparations. Silicon Valley isn't just a dream world; we have more options. It's settled then. Let's all work together to completely hand over Bell Labs to him and resolve the last remaining issues!"

Were Bell Labs experts important? Important to John, but not as important as he imagined. With them, Dreamworld's development would accelerate; without them, it would only delay things. Everyone believed Dreamworld was delivering a database system, that it was helping the investment company, but John knew in his heart it was all a facade. This investment had nothing to do with the database software or that system. If someone was willing to do research in this area, he would gladly oblige; contacting Morgan was merely a warning, nothing more! Those old guys thought they had outmaneuvered John and won a round, but things weren't as rosy as they thought. From the beginning, John never truly intended to acquire all the experts and scholars at Bell Labs. Once split up, some would inevitably leave, and he would have to make adjustments. He was also a capitalist; he couldn't let those experts and scholars do research that had no benefit to the company. Companies need to make money, and capital needs profit.

John's biggest advantage in doing this was attracting attention and protecting his investments in Britain from being discovered. This allowed him to better conceal the funds and reduce public focus on Hurricane Investment, drawing all attention to Silicon Valley and putting it at the forefront! Even if Hurricane Investment's core personnel were poached, he didn't know many secrets, and at least the ultimate secret of Hurricane Investment was not leaked.

When the old guys unleashed their full power, the strength they displayed was astonishing, even affecting the government. Although the overall dismantling of Bell Corporation was still in the planning stages, the dismantling of Bell Labs was completed immediately. The old guys handed it over to Morgan without ever contacting John; everything was taken over by Morgan!
"These damn bastards, what do they take Morgan for, their shield?"

“Boss, we have no choice. It’s obvious that these people were prepared a long time ago. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been possible for all of this to happen so quickly. The dismantling of Bell Labs was completed in just a few days. We have no choice but to take it on.”

“Alright, Jimmy, you'll have to handle this. Go talk to John and try to keep him calm. Although there was a slight mishap, Bell Labs was successfully spun off and taken over by that kid. Don't let him have a bad impression of Morgan, and don't let it affect future cooperation. To be fair, those old guys didn't go too far. At least Bell Labs' funding and equipment didn't run into problems, otherwise, it would have been impossible to clean up the mess! And those old guys are right, all of this was given away for free. It didn't cost John a penny, so what's there for him to complain about? Besides, talent turnover is common, and nobody can control it!”

Jimmy desperately wanted to decline the assignment, but faced with his boss's serious gaze, he could only resign himself to agreeing. Fortunately, the situation wasn't insurmountable; Bell Labs only lost a software expert, and other issues were minor. Overall, they had fulfilled their initial agreement!

“The boss is right. Morgan has done its best to minimize the losses in this matter. Even if word gets out, we are not wrong. Getting John into Bell Labs for free is a huge gain in itself!” Despite his disdain, Jimmy reluctantly agreed with his boss.

Jimmy knew all too well what Bell Labs was like; it was a true money pit, a headache for anyone who took it over. Unless it was shut down entirely, it would consume enormous sums of money every year. If it could be shut down directly, it wouldn't cause such a headache, and nobody wanted to bear that infamous reputation.

Did Bell Labs have no benefits? It had many patents, but few were actually put into practical operation and generated profits for companies. This is why capitalists were unwilling to take over such a top-tier global laboratory. For capitalists, profit is everything, not scientific research. No matter how many patents a company has, if they cannot generate profits, they are not willing to see it, nor can they accept it.

“I think so too. In any case, John got Bell Labs for free in this deal. It’s the result of our hard work, and he has no reason not to accept it!”

John had no reason not to accept Bell Labs; after all, it was a free gift. To those others, Bell Labs was a burden; to John, it was a goldmine. The condition was that the experts and scholars would follow his instructions and not be allowed to conduct their research independently. The funding he could provide was limited and couldn't be endlessly consumed by research that didn't generate profit. He wouldn't shoulder the burden of scientific research for the United States, and he wouldn't support research that couldn't generate profit; otherwise, he would eventually be dragged down by Bell Labs himself.

The big question is how many experts and scholars will accept such a decision. No one knows how many experts and scholars will be willing to accept it, or how many will leave. Everything is unknown.

(End of this chapter)