America: My Time

Chapter 1542 The Fear Behind the Crisis

Chapter 1532 The Fear Behind the Crisis
At this point, anyone who knew John well could understand how ruthless his methods were during this stock market crash. However, they couldn't blame John, since he had made everything perfectly clear back then. These guys had to blame the old Rockefellers for their greed. If it weren't for their greed—their insistence on breaking up Dreamworld and Nvidia to suppress John—and their failure to properly guide the market, such a dramatic turn of events would have occurred.

Of course, this is what most people think. Many smart people understand that the reasons behind this are not simple, but what good does understanding do? Would they dare to say it openly? They wouldn't dare; doing so would only cost them their lives. In any case, John has already made his move, and the stock market has undergone a catastrophic change. At this point, unless someone can step forward to stop it all, unfortunately, no one can do it, at least no one has that kind of prestige.

Don't be fooled by Intel and Microsoft's current status as industry giants; their influence is far less than that of Dreamworld and Nvidia back then. Under these circumstances, even if they wanted to stop the market from collapsing, they couldn't. The dot-com bubble had blown too big, and when the funding chain started to break, everything was already set in stone, beyond human control.

At this moment, it wasn't just the US and Wall Street that were terrified, but also the Europeans. They were all incredibly worried about their investments failing and about the impact on the European internet. And just like that, it all happened. The Europeans' selfishness had left their networks in disarray, and they were no exception to what even the US couldn't stop!
The collapse began. As more and more people joined the short selling, those who had invested in internet companies were stunned, as were the original internet companies themselves, all shocked by the crazy drop in stock prices. Time Warner was the most unfortunate at this time. They had just merged with AOL and hadn't even recovered from their joy when they faced this devastating blow, plunging them into confusion.

"Why, why is this happening? We've been so successful. Microsoft's 32-bit operating system is already out there and very successful. But now we're in this predicament. What's going on?" Gates was furious. Even though he didn't have many shares left, the dramatic drop in stock price was a disaster for him. He couldn't accept it and was under unimaginable pressure.

"We don't know why either. Everything happened so suddenly. If we had to say what it was, it's that too many internet companies in Silicon Valley have run out of cash. Their bubble was blown up too big, which affected normal companies like ours. Most importantly, it wasn't just one or two that went down, but many. Almost 90% of internet companies have run out of cash. Too many people entered this industry, which directly inflated the bubble!"

It must be said that there are still rational people who can understand why such a crisis occurred in such a short period of time. It all comes down to the problem of the capital chain. Don't be fooled by the fact that after the Asian financial crisis, many people have a lot of money in their hands. They will not invest it all in this one industry. They are not stupid. They are just greedy. So these people are investing in internet companies, which creates such a false prosperity. But behind this lies a terrible crisis.

Ninety-nine percent of the internet companies in Silicon Valley don't have any patents to show for themselves, nor can they create a way out for themselves. They just keep burning money. When the money runs out, they will naturally fall into crisis. The smart guys have already found a way out for themselves, while the foolish guys will naturally get caught up in it.

While John did have some calculations and plans behind this, the main reason was that those guys in Silicon Valley were too greedy. They clearly lacked the ability, but they insisted on exaggerating the size of their projects, which ultimately led to a series of broken funding chains, directly causing the dot-com bubble to burst and plunging them all into disaster!
"We're not the only ones having headaches right now; industry giants like AMD, Intel, and IBM are also facing them."

"What's going on with Bell Labs? And what's going on with Yetian and Serex?"

When they heard that Gates wanted to know about the companies John owned, the guys all sighed. Although the stock prices of their companies like Microsoft were falling, the valuation firms hadn't lowered their ratings on the companies John owned, because the whole industry knew about John's words back then, which gave many people plenty of confidence in him!
"Damn it, why is this happening? How could this guy be completely unaffected? Has he been secretly trying to acquire us?" Despite his fury, Gates realized a terrifying possibility, their biggest crisis: a takeover attempt by John. After all, if Hurricane Investment were to acquire them at this time, they would be in danger!
Gasté was overthinking things. John had no intention of ending the battle so easily. Everything was just beginning. Making an acquisition now would only give those old guys a chance to escape. The current stock price drop was just the start; the real chaos was yet to come. Only when more and more internet companies went bankrupt would the entire internet bubble burst, and everyone would realize just how terrifying and insane this bubble was—no less severe than Japan's bubble crisis of yesteryear!

This is not an exaggeration, but a fact. Because of John's intervention, the dot-com bubble crisis directly affected the United States and Europe, and even the entire computer industry. Under such circumstances, how could those guys not have a headache?

It wasn't that no one wanted to approach John; after all, many people believed that if John were willing to step in, there would be a chance to resolve the crisis. However, they soon discovered that this was simply impossible. John had already become involved in the crisis, and Hurricane Investment's actions made them realize that John was far more terrifying than they had imagined, having already laid out his plans to reap the rewards!
Of course, when they discovered Hurricane Investment's presence, they naturally knew that Standard Chartered Bank was also in action. However, they were powerless to understand Standard Chartered Bank's situation. John had been secretly making arrangements while he was in Hong Kong. This reminded many people of the previous holiday that Standard Chartered Bank's investment department had taken. Many people thought it was just an ordinary holiday, but now they all understood that it was John's conspiracy. Those guys were not given a holiday to go on vacation, but had already entered the hunt!
Many people wanted to know where John's safe house was, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't find it. After all, John, who was well-prepared, would never let them know about the safe house. Even John himself disappeared in Hong Kong, causing many people to become uneasy!
"Why haven't we found John yet? If this continues, my painstakingly built internet superhighway plan will be ruined, and all my efforts will become a laughing stock!" Zipperton was getting anxious. What he had painstakingly prepared as a political achievement had now become a laughing stock in the blink of an eye. The constant collapses in Silicon Valley were making many people worry that if things continued like this, Silicon Valley would soon become a desolate wasteland! Silicon Valley was as crazy as it was before, and now it was just as terrifying. Many people were lost and confused. They were earning high salaries, but in the blink of an eye, their companies went bankrupt and they were all unemployed. How could those young people accept this? This blow was too great for them; they couldn't bear it!
"We only know that John is in Hong Kong, but we can't contact him. It's obvious that he has entered a safe house and cut off all contact with the outside world. It's impossible to contact him before this storm is over. We need to prepare for the worst. After all, once Hurricane Investment makes its move, the short selling pressure is rising rapidly. Most people on Wall Street believe in John and Hurricane Investment, so no matter how much effort we put in, it won't be of any use."

"Can't those guys from Gates stop all this? Can't they step in and stabilize the industry? Even if many internet companies go bankrupt and are liquidated, their assets are fine. Why are they involved too?" At this moment, someone asked what everyone was thinking. After all, many people had invested in Microsoft or tech giants like AMD and Intel, but now their stock prices were falling!

"It's useless. Although Gates and his group have some influence, it's far less than John's influence in the industry. No matter how much they shout, it's no use. As long as Hurricane Investment's short selling doesn't stop, no one will believe the so-called positive news. After all, their foundation is too weak! Bell Labs, Yageo, and Cyrex were all affected by the crisis because they all had strong backing. Microsoft, AMD, and Intel can't do that; their influence is insufficient. Perhaps everyone's initial guess was correct. When John made the change, he had already sensed the crisis and was already preparing. It was precisely because of this preparation that these guys were able to weather the crisis with peace of mind!"

Everyone in the US, and even the world, knows how powerful Bell Labs is. They rake in patent fees like water. Even after the restructuring, they remain an industry giant. Even under such a crisis, it hasn't had a significant impact on them. Compared to others, the American public and even Wall Street giants are more willing to believe in John.

"Speak your mind directly, there's no need to hold back!" Seeing the man hesitate, President Lloyd frowned and advised him. After all, he wanted to know the latest and most complete information, not reserved intelligence, which would affect his decision!

“I’m worried that John will launch an attack on the chip market and the personal computer industry. After all, he has cheap chips in his hands. If companies like Cyrex and AMR were to sell their chips at low prices at this time, it would be a disaster for Intel and AMD, and could even have an unimaginable impact on Japan and South Korea!”

Upon hearing these words, Zipperton's expression changed drastically. Others might not know, but as the President of the United States, he naturally knew how many cheap chips John's companies held. If they were to clear their inventory at this time, the consequences would be uncontrollable.

Despite Intel and AMD having developed new-generation CPU chips, they were naturally the hardest hit by the dot-com bubble crisis. Given the current situation, if the bursting of the dot-com bubble cannot be stopped, the consequences will be unimaginable.

"Have someone contact John again, or if that doesn't work, ask Morgan. He might know how to contact John!" At this moment, Laughlin thought of Morgan again, but unfortunately, Morgan wouldn't get involved this time. Morgan was also shorting the market and trying to recoup his losses, so how could he possibly care about Laughlin, the president who had already stepped down!

While many had previously mocked John, considering him a clown, the bursting of the dot-com bubble and the subsequent devastation in Silicon Valley forced everyone to reconsider John's words and question the abilities of Rockefeller and his contemporaries, concluding that these old men had lost their foresight. Otherwise, they would have plunged into crisis shortly after taking over John's assets.

Everyone initially thought that this internet crisis would be an exception, a chance for them to prove John wrong. However, reality disappointed them again. John's prediction came true once more. These guys had only been in the internet business for a few years, and the market was already in collapse. How could this not shock them? How could this not make them take John's 'well-intentioned' reminder seriously?
Of course, some people wanted to get John to intervene at all costs, but smart guys knew that this was not a good idea. John wouldn't be manipulated by them, and most importantly, they had lost their ability to pressure John. Now that the entire market was in crisis, they dared not go too far.

However, some were calculating the staggering profits John would reap from this attack. Many on Wall Street were calculating how much John could gain from this crisis. The calculations were astonishing; the staggering figures filled them with unease and fear. Yet, after calculating again and again, the result remained the same, leaving them speechless. Who would dare challenge such power? Faced with John's overwhelming strength, and seeing Hurricane Investment's already established presence, and even Standard Chartered Bank, these guys were at a loss. They all hoped John would spare their lives!
(End of this chapter)