America: My Time

Chapter 304 Conflict of Interest
Chapter 304 Conflict of Interest
Unfortunately, John's good mood didn't last long and was quickly ruined. In the evening, Andrea Jung approached John to discuss the Victoria's Secret issue. This wasn't a problem with Victoria's Secret itself, but rather with the two models who had signed with them. Originally, because Victoria's Secret wasn't very famous, they weren't willing to accept their terms and only agreed to a two-year contract. Now, seeing the impact of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, they wanted to renew their contracts early. Jung found it difficult to make a decision, as this was no small matter.

Originally, Victoria's Secret planned to have all its models come from elite talent agencies, but now only Linda Evangelista is represented, and even that was a compromise. The elite agencies didn't have enough candidates, and the rule John had set for the model to be 18 years old had to be changed. Otherwise, the entire Victoria's Secret lineup would be out of their control, easily benefiting other agencies.

"Heh, these guys are getting desperate now. Weren't they very tough when they signed the contract? We refused to accept their renewal. We said we would replace them after two years. We tried everything to persuade them before they signed, but they just wouldn't agree and insisted on signing only a two-year contract. Now that they see this huge impact, they want to renew. There's no such thing as a free lunch. We won't accept it. We'll replace them immediately when the contract expires and not give them any chance!"

At this moment, John acted decisively, even if it meant wasting a little time. It's always better to cultivate your own people than to nurture these ungrateful wretches. Now that they want to renew their contracts, it's too late!

“Boss, someone is speaking up for them, not only their management company but also their sugar daddy. In this situation, shouldn’t we give them some face?” At this moment, Andrea Jung revealed the source of her pressure. In New York, the fashion capital, those models all have their own sugar daddies, and the involvement of these sugar daddies made Andrea Jung have to be cautious.

"Hmph, we don't need to care about what those guys think. They wouldn't dare to do anything. If their backers dare to make a move, we're not to be trifled with either. As for the management company, if they dare to cause trouble, we'll just blacklist them. They're not the only modeling agency in New York. We don't need to care at all! With this Victoria's Secret show, more modeling agencies will come knocking on our door. We don't need to care about what they think."

Hearing her boss's words, Zhong Binxian finally breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, she didn't want to compromise either, but the other party's financial backer was too powerful, and the Yongyuan Group alone couldn't compete with them. However, with her boss's words, everything was no longer a problem. Zhong Binxian knew the prestige of her hometown. They were able to take down Lehman Brothers head-on. Who on Wall Street would dare to oppose them? No one. Even the other party's financial backer wouldn't dare to oppose her hometown.

After dealing with the Victoria's Secret matter, John had to face those old guys. The next day, when John arrived, all the old guys were already waiting for him. This time, no one said John was late or disrespectful to them; instead, they all waited for John with solemn expressions.

With their capabilities, it was possible for them to understand John's mining plans. When they worked together, they quickly learned about John's plans in South America. This made them all feel extremely heavy-hearted, because they worried that John's words would come true, that new world-class mines would emerge, and that John would sell off mines again, leaving them no chance to stop him. This made them very worried.

"Oh, everyone's here so early. I wonder if you've made a decision yet, and if you can accept my request? If so, we can sit down and talk about the game world's launch!" John was slightly surprised to see that the old guys had already arrived. These old guys were really early. He wondered if they had already discussed things beforehand, which was why John started by bringing up the game world's launch right away!

"John, rest assured, everyone agrees with your request and has no objections. We are all aware of the situation in the game world and have no ulterior motives in this matter. We are already very satisfied that you can share the profits. However, there are still some doubts about the changes in the semiconductor market this time, and we would like to communicate with you. You know that many American companies are willing to make changes, but time is limited, so we would like to discuss this with you!"

When Morgan Stanley finished speaking, John was taken aback. The semiconductor industry—these guys weren't trying to figure out their mining operations, but rather to understand semiconductors. Did they sense something?
Although he had some doubts, John didn't show them. He smiled calmly and said, "I don't know what doubts you all have. That's just how semiconductors are. If you want to make a breakthrough, you have to be willing to invest in research and development. If you can't do that, thinking about it won't help. Outdated technology will never gain everyone's approval. I don't think there's anything to talk about. I've said what I needed to say. Now it's their turn to make their own decisions. So much time has passed, and you still haven't been able to persuade the White House. That's even more problematic. Without the White House's help, it's unrealistic to compete with Japan."

John was well aware of these old guys' schemes. These bastards were plotting against him again, trying to get Nvidia and the gaming world to bail them out. That was impossible, and he wouldn't agree to it!
“John, semiconductor research and development takes time and also requires a market. Otherwise, these companies will collapse before we can even convince the White House. We need your help!”

"Heh, what does this have to do with me? I don't care about those guys' crazy expansion in Japan, I don't care about their development. At least they can't threaten the gaming world, Nvidia, or Dream World. We even have a good partnership. This has nothing to do with me. I don't want to pay for those guys' ignorance. If they have products comparable to Japan's, at the same price, I can accept it. Otherwise, there's nothing more to say." John didn't want to be a sucker, didn't want to sacrifice his own interests for these guys. Besides, he and these guys were practically enemies. How could he sacrifice his own interests to help them out of their crisis? To this day, Intel still hasn't given up on CPU chip development and is still fighting on two fronts, competing with Nvidia for the chip market. How could John accept these old guys' suggestions? He didn't owe these old guys anything.

If Intel and other chip development companies were to abandon CPU chip development and instead focus on memory chip development, John would naturally not refuse and would provide them with some assistance to give them enough strength to compete with Japan for the market. But now these old guys want to fight on two fronts and want him to help them. There's no such thing as a free lunch, and he would not accept this ridiculous proposal.

"John, this is a matter of great importance to the development of the United States. Semiconductor research and development is also related to the security of the United States. The White House also hopes to see our unity and cooperation to jointly fight against Japanese semiconductor companies and take back the market that belongs to us!"

Good heavens, these old guys are still using this ridiculous excuse, even bringing up the White House. John sneered disdainfully, "I don't believe that US security needs me to sacrifice it. The US is so big, you can find someone else. And since the White House is interested in so-called unity, you can easily secure their orders! I don't want to say anything more about this. We're not on the same page, so we can't work together. Don't expect Nvidia and Game World to sacrifice their own interests. If you insist on this, perhaps Game World shouldn't have gone public!"

At this point, John bluntly and ruthlessly said these words, even warning these old guys not to have any bad intentions. He said that if they dared to scheme against Nvidia and Game World, the IPO plan would be canceled.

“John, that’s not what we meant. The listing of GameWorld will not be affected in any way, and Morgan will not allow anyone to use the semiconductor issue to affect the listing of GameWorld!” When he heard that John wanted to give up the listing of GameWorld, the Morgan boss got angry. He did not want to sacrifice Morgan’s own interests for the sake of these old guys’ plans.

"I'll say it again: if you don't focus your energy on research and development and instead keep doing these ridiculous calculations, I won't accept it. No one can change that. The White House can't force Nvidia and Game World to sacrifice their own interests. If someone insists on testing my bottom line, then Game World doesn't need to go public. Perhaps relocating out of the United States is the best option."

Is it difficult to relocate the game world? Not at all, because the game world doesn't have any production factories. Relocating research and development is the easiest thing in the world. Moreover, John doesn't believe these old guys at all. He doesn't believe the White House would make such a choice. The White House hasn't even taken action against Japan yet, suppressing Japan's home appliances and semiconductors. How could they possibly take action against the game world and Nvidia? The White House can't afford such consequences.

"If all you want to discuss are these things, then we really have nothing to talk about. You have your own ideas, and I have my own ideas. Since we have different views, it's better to go our separate ways. The game world doesn't need to be listed on the stock exchange! My patience is limited, so don't keep testing my patience. That won't be good for anyone."

At this point, John also felt a little dissatisfied with Morgan, because Morgan had not stood on his side, but instead chose to side with these old guys, which made John wary!

(End of this chapter)