America: My Time

Chapter 165 Sikorsky
Chapter 165 Sikorsky

Perhaps those old guys like Rockefeller had the same idea as Morgan: to take the game world public, raise funds for their other companies, and recoup their losses. Or maybe these old guys had already noticed the problem with the database software, and of course, they had even deeper schemes up their sleeves!
If he refuses this time, it will be difficult to acquire Sikorsky again. Rockefeller is here to handle everything. If he misses this opportunity, it will be difficult to acquire the company outright again, unless it is a merger. But a merger is not something John can accept, at least not now.

John wanted to see Morgan's reaction to this unexpected event. His cooperation with Morgan had been going smoothly, and he didn't want this incident to create a rift between them. Morgan was still very useful to him, and extremely useful indeed.

After seeing Mr. Liu and his entourage off with heavy hearts, he realized that plans often go awry, and this sudden turn of events had brought him immense trouble. After some thought, he decided that if there were no problems with Morgan, he was willing to accept Rockefeller's "kindness," but the funding for Dreamworld might need to be brought forward, as would the funding for Nvidia!
"I need to inquire about the progress of Dream World's first research project and Nvidia's research, and when it will be successful. I need an accurate timeline!"

Research Project No. 1, one of the core research areas of Dream World, is the development of blade servers. Its success would have a huge impact; even securing funding would require waiting for the research to succeed. Nvidia, on the other hand, focuses on chips, which is equally crucial.

The faster he expanded, the more he felt he was losing control of his own destiny. His plans had malfunctioned more than once, and after this acquisition, he needed to be even more cautious and not be led by the nose. John saw Rockefeller's good intentions as a terrible warning. His previous development had indeed been too smooth, to the point that Rockefeller now understood his preferences—a very dangerous situation!
While John was deep in thought, chaos reigned at Morgan's headquarters on Wall Street. There are no secrets on Wall Street. When Rockefeller and his group of old guys made the decision to sell Sikorsky to John, Morgan got wind of it. They felt like they were being robbed of their jobs!
"Jimmy, how come there was no prior warning about this? Are those bastards trying to start a war with Morgan? They're trying to steal our valuable clients. Do they even care about Morgan's existence?"

“Boss, I didn’t hear a thing before. They kept this a secret so well that very few people knew about it. They didn’t contact Mr. John directly either, but instead relayed the information through Hurricane Investment. Otherwise, we would still be completely unaware of the situation!”

"Do you think they want to improve relations with John, or they want to sabotage John, or they want to push the game world to go public?"

"Boss, it's hard to say. As long as they send this fax, whether John accepts it or not, the existing conflicts between them will be eased to some extent. If John accepts it, the funding issue will need to be resolved, whether it's listing the game world, financing other companies, or even selling it."

"Gold mine, do you think these old guys are eyeing the gold mine that John is about to sell? 150 tons of reserves, that's a tempting offer that would drive anyone crazy!"

"Boss, it's not impossible, but is it worth it for them? That's Sikorsky!"

"There's no question of whether it's worth it or not; it depends on how you look at it and from what perspective. Perhaps it's worth it for those old guys. You should know how profitable a world-class gold mine can be. John is really lucky; it seems Lady Luck is truly on his side. He's already made such an amazing haul so early in the exploration."

“Boss, I think there’s little chance John will agree. He’s in China now and has made such a big investment. How could he possibly have the energy to acquire Sikorsky? With his second-rate airline and Gulfstream, how could he possibly integrate Sikorsky?”

"Integration? He doesn't need integration. Sikorsky is no ordinary company. He knows very well that the integration you're talking about won't happen. He's not that stupid!"

Jimmy gave his boss a resentful look, as if he were being called stupid, and then asked, "Boss, what should we do? Morgan can't just sit idly by!"

"We'll just wait, we'll do nothing but wait for John's decision!"

Just as those words fell, John's inquiry arrived. Upon receiving it, Morgan frowned. The worst had happened. He understood that John was interested, hence the inquiry—to avoid affecting their cooperation and friendly relationship. Morgan had seized the opportunity using this very tactic, and now Rockefeller and his associates were using it to poach his valuable clients. This was Morgan's own fault; they hadn't considered it, and their recent success in making money had made them complacent. Otherwise, how could they have failed to detect John's strategic moves in aircraft manufacturing? A Gulfstream aircraft should have alerted them.

"Boss, what do we do now? How should we respond?"

"Since things have come to this, we have no choice. Whether these old guys want to ease tensions, push for the game world's IPO, or have other ideas, it's none of our business. John now has connections with conglomerates, and these bastards are giving him Sikorsky. Can we stop them? If they're willing to give it up, why shouldn't we? Speed ​​up the acquisitions of the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building. We can't let these bastards steal our clients!"

The secretarial team was quite powerful. The next morning, John received a report from his secretary: "Boss, the profits from Sikorsky, Gulfstream, and Executive Jet Aviation are not enough to repay the acquisition of Sikorsky unless funds from other companies are used. The research on Dreamworld and Nvidia has reached the final testing phase and can be completed in a week at most."

"Okay, I understand. Morgan has no problem. I agree to Rockefeller's proposal to acquire Sikorsky. The funding will be handled by Neon Bank. Contact Morgan, and the financing for Nvidia and Dreamworld will be expedited!"

Although this decision would sacrifice some profits, John believed it was worthwhile. Sikorsky was no ordinary helicopter company; acquiring it would be crucial for building a conglomerate. Because Sikorsky was an arms dealer, it would allow him to enter a new and important field—though it could also be a trap.

John felt this summer was going to be exciting, with many things happening. In just over ten days, he'd already experienced a series of major events, and he wondered when the promises from the British side would be fulfilled. To resolve the conflict, the British side offered tickets to the privatization of Rollo and Perkins. Otherwise, they wouldn't have so readily agreed to let Bentley Group continue its plans in Britain.

After arranging everything, I embarked on my trip to Shanghai. Shanghai in the 1980s left a deep impression on me. Many of the tourist attractions from that era no longer exist, and many old houses were dilapidated and abandoned. Compared to the courtyard houses of Huajing, these were old Western-style houses! Despite the allure, I still chose to buy several nice properties. Like those in Huajing, they all needed renovation, but that wasn't a problem. Among these properties was the Yan Family Garden.

When Morgan received John's message, he was incredibly excited. The deal they had been hoping for—to secure funding for Dreamworld and Nvidia—had actually been made. Although they were unhappy that Rockefeller had taken away their valuable client, dissatisfaction aside, the outcome was good!

Morgan found out, and Rockefeller naturally found out too. Those old guys all breathed a sigh of relief; the deal was done. Next came the negotiations—the market capitalization of the two companies needed to be discussed. Before they could even celebrate, Nvidia and Dreamworld jointly held a press conference. Dreamworld's blade server was officially unveiled, using chips developed by Nvidia. This caused a huge shock throughout Silicon Valley. The alliance of the two companies stunned even IBM, as it affected their interests and was taking away their business.

No matter how annoyed IBM is, the market value of Dreamworld and Nvidia is growing rapidly. Nvidia's market value was already astonishingly high before because of the VCD issue, and now it is rising again and again.

"I knew this kid wouldn't suffer a loss. It seems he was prepared all along. Those old guys contacted us before, wanting to team up with us to lower the price. Now they have nothing to say, right? They really thought that kid was easy to deal with. They don't even realize they've been burned a few times. They're still so ignorant!"

"Boss, John really pulled off a brilliant move this time. Everyone misjudged him. Bell Labs is a real treasure. With Bell Labs' help, Dreamworld and Nvidia have developed amazingly. Right now, they're just raising funds. Once they go public, their market value will probably double! To be honest, I'm even a little tempted to jump into the Silicon Valley startup wave."

"I share the same sentiment, but after witnessing the failures in Silicon Valley, I've calmed down. With the rise of Dreamworld and Nvidia, Apple, IBM, and Intel have all been affected. They were all giants in Silicon Valley before, so we shouldn't have such thoughts. We only see John's success, but behind that success are countless failures. He is not a role model for us to learn from."

(End of this chapter)