America: My Time

Chapter 1549 The Old Man's Greed
Chapter 1539 The Old Man's Greed
The Koreans' immediate reaction was to cry for help. They turned to American financial groups for support and assistance, since John was about to launch a full-scale attack on them. In order to get help, these Koreans explained all of John's arrangements in Korea in detail, as if they were afraid that the American financial groups would not know how terrible the pressure they were facing was!
Unfortunately, the Koreans forgot that this confrontation was orchestrated by American conglomerates, not by the US government. These conglomerates are profit-driven and wouldn't provide unconditional assistance. While the US has powerful and well-connected grain traders, they won't supply South Korea with food at low prices. After all, even a small country needs a staggering amount of food, and they naturally want a share of the profits. As for the opinions of the Korean people, what do they care?
Needless to say, the US conglomerates don't care about the pressure South Korea is under. Their first thought is to take the opportunity to plunder South Korea again and squeeze it dry. As for the consequences of doing so, they don't care. All they care about is profit, and they are not worried at all that John will step in to save South Korea.

Of course, some people have concerns. After all, going to extremes is not entirely good for them. Provoking the anger of the Koreans will affect their control of the Korean market and may even affect their suppression of John in the semiconductor chip industry.

"Gentlemen, your idea is good. Taking advantage of the chaos and plundering enough profits from the Koreans is indeed feasible. But have you considered what we will face next if we do this? The Korean people will not accept it, and the Korean conglomerates will not accept it either. After all, doing so would be a heavy blow to them. I am also worried that the Koreans will follow the path of Japan. Now those guys in Japan do not want to rely on us anymore, or even accept our cooperation. Our influence on them is decreasing."

"You're overthinking it. South Korea isn't like Japan. They don't have that much leverage. Besides, we control a lot of South Korean assets. If they don't accept it, we can simply kick them out and replace them with someone else to run those companies. At most, we'll have to pay a little more price!"

"Rockefeller, are you crazy? Do you know what you're saying? Although your suggestion is good, and we can indeed kick those guys out, these Korean conglomerates still have influence. If they rally their forces and start over, we'll be in big trouble. We might even lose all the money we've invested. After all, the Koreans have done this before. If you push them too far, anything can happen!"

DuPont looked at Rockefeller with a solemn expression. Although he was also tempted, he couldn't act on it. After all, the Koreans were a group of crazy and greedy guys. They didn't really have the Koreans under their control yet. Those conglomerates still wanted to struggle and resist. So everything would take time and patience!
“I’m not crazy. I’m just stating the facts. So what if they have influence? You haven’t forgotten that their finances are still under our control. We can completely erode them, swallowing up their assets bit by bit. Most importantly, if we succeed, we can completely control everything in Korea. DuPont, aren’t you tempted?”

DuPont was certainly tempted, but being tempted wouldn't solve anything. As long as the many problems within South Korea persisted, they couldn't truly control the entire country. Moreover, if they provoked South Korean dissatisfaction and anger, the most terrifying crisis would occur, causing unimaginable shocks and forcing them to be extremely cautious.

DuPont sighed and said, "Rockefeller, I admit I'm tempted, but don't forget that's South Korea, not the United States. They're not under our control. Even if we seized a lot of assets from them during the Asian financial crisis, their hearts aren't with us. You should know what the consequences would be if we pushed them too far. If they were ruthless enough, they could destroy all our plans. To be honest, I have more faith in John's methods. We can't achieve John's results, after all, we're heavily reliant on South Korea's own management!"

“I admit that John’s methods are very clever, but the current situation is that we need to take this market from John. You should also understand the importance of this to AMD and Intel. After all, the Koreans still have a strong foundation and are worth supporting. In contrast, those guys in Japan are no longer reliable. It is impossible to expect them to cooperate with us to target John’s semiconductor chips, especially under the current circumstances. They will be even less likely to accept it. Now, the only ones we can rely on are the Koreans. You should be very clear about this!”

DuPont was well aware of this, but even if he was aware, he couldn't act rashly. This was no small matter; if he failed, the consequences would be unimaginable. Don't be fooled by how impatient these guys are now, as if they're all hoping John will fall. But once this exchange is over, someone will tell John everything. He didn't want to take the blame!

“I do know something about this plan, but I don’t believe you can succeed. I still remember what John said back then: even if we handed over the market and the company to us, there would still be no future. Now everything has come true. I don’t approve of your plan and don’t want to invest any more energy in it!”

When DuPont said this, everyone present was shocked. If these guys hadn't been experienced enough to keep their expressions intact, they probably would have exclaimed in surprise long ago, since this result was beyond their expectations.

“DuPont, this is no time for jokes. You should know how vast the market is in this industry. If we could control it, the profits would be boundless!” Rockefeller was shocked, but he still continued to persuade him.
"No matter how big the market is, if you lack ability, you won't gain anything. To be honest, I've already sold most of my shares, so I don't want to get involved in this struggle. Whatever conflict you have is your own business; I, DuPont, will not participate. We will remain neutral!" "What? This is impossible! We didn't notice you dumping a large number of shares on the market?" At this moment, Rockefeller could no longer contain himself, staring at DuPont in shock. This news had a huge impact on him, and he couldn't accept it!
“We did not sell on the market, but we exchanged our shares for Korean assets and took over some Samsung companies. I don’t trust your judgment; I’d rather trust John’s. So naturally, you won’t get any information. Everything is done in secret!”

At this point, DuPont paused slightly, then continued, "I don't know how you reacted, but we were doing the same thing while John was making his move, and I don't believe you were unaware of how John sold those shares."

For many people present, DuPont's move was a betrayal, because this asset sale would jeopardize their control over the major companies. However, they were speechless now, since DuPont's actions were correct; they avoided the dot-com bubble crisis, so whatever they said was right!
After a moment, Rockefeller took a deep breath and said, "DuPont, no matter what, you should have informed us. After all, we were the ones who did this plan together. Morgan has always been detached from us. Are you going to part ways with us now? Don't you want to continue cooperating?"

"That's not how it works. I've warned you all more than once, but you didn't listen. You were all lured by the profits in the semiconductor chip market, determined to fight John to the death. In the end, you gained nothing. On the contrary, John's Cyrex and ARM are already taking more market share from AMD and Intel. Even Microsoft is now being suppressed, and John's newly established software company has also had a significant impact on it. John has long been prepared and has many backup plans. As long as he has enough time, everything is still under his control!"

These words may sound harsh, but they are the truth. Although it has only been a few short years, John is gradually regaining the market share he lost. Now, with the bursting of the dot-com bubble, the situation for AMD and Intel has become even more difficult. After all, they did not have the extensive preparations that John had made in advance, nor did they have a large market to stabilize their development. These old guys have no way to take back all those markets from John!
Originally, these old guys' expansion in the Middle East had already created considerable obstacles for John. However, they never expected the Middle Eastern tycoons to react so enthusiastically, insisting on standing by John's side and cooperating with him. As a result, the market share of the Middle Eastern tycoons alone allowed John's semiconductor chip factory to continue operating stably without having to shut down. Not to mention the numerous demands from the retail sector, which also amplified the crazy profits of John's semiconductor chip factory!

In short, Rockefeller and other American tycoons underestimated the hostility of Middle Eastern tycoons towards them. This was because they consistently sided with oil and gas capital, targeting the Middle East, making their cooperation with John a completely different story. Although some conflicts arose, they ultimately managed to cooperate amicably. Furthermore, the Middle Eastern tycoons trusted John's character and integrity—qualities that Rockefeller and his ilk lacked!
Although some people have been targeting John, criticizing his schemes and integrity, after all, whether it's the Japanese, the Koreans, or the Americans, none of them have had a smooth ride after dealing with John; they've all been scammed!
Of course, John's entire plan was perfect, flawless, but repeated failures naturally aroused suspicion in many, though no evidence could be found. Even though John clearly stated that it was all due to their greed, their failure to stop in time, and even their disregard for his advice, that wasn't the point. As long as these people harbored greed and malice, they could use such reasons to target and sabotage John!

Did those guys in Japan never suspect John? Of course they did, but in each transaction, they were the ones initiating the deals, not John. So even if they wanted to pin the blame on John, they couldn't. Besides, they knew John's transactions in the US were the same, so they didn't accept the US's claims and felt it was their own problem. After all, John had warned them. In Japan, John had warned Akio Morita, but he hadn't believed him. In the US, John had discussed it with Morgan and even with Zackton of the White House, but who believed John? Nobody. So all the consequences were their own doing.

As for the Koreans, nobody cared. The Koreans have always been too arrogant and conceited, so their failures were perfectly normal. Therefore, even with so many doubts in the United States, it had no impact on John. Even the general public had heard John's words and knew his attitude towards those old guys like Rockefeller.

Despite the suddenness of this internet crisis, when they learned that John was secretly orchestrating things, and even that Hurricane Investment was shorting the company, they didn't think there was anything wrong with it. After all, John had said years ago that he didn't have high hopes for these companies' development and didn't approve of those guys' vision and abilities.

Faced with a John who has never failed in any battle, the public is naturally more willing to believe in John's abilities and vision than in companies like AMD, Microsoft, and Intel. After all, John's capabilities are undeniable; even when facing the same internet crisis, the companies under his leadership were less affected. The reason is simple: public recognition. They all believe in John's abilities and vision, and even though John is now working behind the scenes, his reputation remains unchallenged!
It was precisely because of John's exceptional abilities that even during the tumultuous dot-com bubble burst, Bell Labs and numerous other internet-related companies, and even the state of Oregon, remained unaffected. This is the extent of John's influence. Even though John didn't publicly discuss his ideas after the dot-com bubble burst, the American public and global investors alike were more inclined to trust his vision and capabilities!
(End of this chapter)