America: My Time

Chapter 77 Asking for leave
Chapter Seventy-Seven: Requesting Leave

This year's gold futures trading has come to an end. Going forward, it will only be small-scale, using new accounts to earn a little pocket money. Big moves will have to wait until next year, 1983. At the beginning of that year, the gold futures market will still experience wild fluctuations, presenting a great opportunity to make money. Before then, John needs to prepare, registering more accounts and waiting for the right moment. This time, more accounts will be needed, so preparations must begin now.

In early January 1983, the price of gold was 450, and by early February it had reached 508, which was a good opportunity to go long. By the end of February, the price of gold would plummet to 412, and then fluctuate in small increments until it hit a low of 374 by the end of the year.

After his success, John will establish his own investment company and bank in the United States as the core of his conglomerate! The investment company in the United States will not be too large, as he does not want to arouse the suspicion of Wall Street giants. The bank will only be a savings bank, not an investment bank. Even if he were to have an investment bank, he would have to make proper arrangements for it!

As long as the giants of Wall Street don't fall, there will be no place for him. If he insists on cutting in line, he will only be strangled by the giants. John can tell this clearly. This is the true picture of Wall Street!

In order to prepare for future gold futures investment, we also need to make great strides in the mining industry, and seize the opportunity to acquire the world's top 100 copper and gold mines, as well as silver and zinc mines, Australian iron ore mines, and diamond mines in Canada.

John will continue to expand in the mining sector, with investments in the Americas, Australia, and Africa being the top priorities. This time, the funds will come from gold futures investments next year, primarily based on returns from investments in the United States.

John did not live on campus. Since he lived close to home, he naturally chose to go home. Moreover, living on campus would not be convenient for him, as he might have to deal with company matters at any time. Although major companies already had managers, there were still many things that he needed to handle personally, especially the transactions with Morgan.

After receiving John's order, even though it was just a small Victoria's Secret and Max Factor deal, Morgan handled it quickly. Just as John had expected, with Morgan's help, the problem could be solved quickly, and his own clothing and cosmetics group began to emerge—the Forever Group.

Named after Forever, Forever 21, though just a small factory, embodies John's hopes for fast fashion brands. After the Forever Group was registered, the clothing brands included Forever 21, Victoria's Secret, and Uniqlo, while the cosmetics brand was Max Factor. Among the four companies, Max Factor is the most famous and the mainstay of the entire group.

In integrating the four companies, arrangements have also been made for their development. Forever 21 is a fast brand, Victoria's Secret is a mid-to-high-end brand that sells women's clothing, accessories and lingerie, and women's shoes. Uniqlo is mainly based in the Japanese market, and Max Factor is a top cosmetics and makeup brand. At the same time, Max Factor will also establish a new brand in Japan.

The fast brand is naturally good quality and low price, and production is the top priority. Although the brand is not well-known now, the factories in the United States can handle the production tasks. However, in the long run, the United States is not the place for production. For the long-term development of Forever 21, it is necessary to transfer the production factory, and China is John's choice.

But that's not feasible right now. Foreign investment faces too many restrictions, and even negotiations take too long. John doesn't have that much time. Hong Kong is the best option in the short term, given the presence of Phoenix Group. As for designers and design, John chooses to emulate ZARA, recruiting a large number of designers to copy designs from top brands at various fashion shows. There are no patents for clothing designs in the US, which will greatly reduce the legal issues associated with Forever 21.

Forever 21's development goal is naturally to focus on the US market, to capture the world's largest market, and then to target the European and Asian markets. If they can't even dominate their own home turf, how can they expand outwards? With the Fall/Winter Fashion Week about to begin, John is keeping a close eye on this matter and accelerating the training of these newly recruited designers.

John's focus on fashion impressed Wall Street tycoons, who were even more baffled by him. They couldn't understand why he would waste his time and energy on these 'meaningless' clothes; in their eyes, it was foolish—he should have spent that time managing the semiconductor company. John didn't care what others thought of him. No matter what they thought or how they viewed him, it wouldn't change his decision. With the successful investment in Legendary Toys, acquiring a clothing factory in Hong Kong was a simple matter, and he quickly secured a medium-sized garment plant.

This newly acquired garment factory will not only be responsible for the production of Forever 21, but also for the production of Victoria's Secret. If it were produced in the United States, regardless of the quality, the quantity alone would not be enough to meet the needs of market expansion.

A month passed quickly, and the Forever Group's development gradually stabilized from its chaotic state. At this time, John had to step away from his studies, not for any other reason than to prepare for the game world's financing. The Christmas season was fast approaching, and with the end of summer, the North American game market was gradually entering a period of calm, with the three major contract manufacturers focusing their efforts on development in Europe and Asia. Now John needed to get them to refocus their attention on the North American market, as this was crucial for the game world's financing and could not afford any mistakes. A new round of communication with them was necessary!
John asked for leave, which left the school speechless, only a month after the start of the semester. However, considering John's current status, they couldn't refuse. After all, he wasn't an ordinary student, but a boss who controlled a huge amount of assets. They couldn't stop their student from handling company affairs!

"You, it's only been a month since school started, and you're already asking for a month off. What kind of behavior is this? Can't those things be handled by the company's management? Why do you have to handle them yourself?" As a mother, she was quite helpless about John's behavior. As a professor, she naturally didn't want to see her student son do such a thing!
"I have no choice. Although the game world can handle it itself, this is a major issue concerning its financing. If we just let the people from the game world handle it, it will affect the amount of financing and it would be disrespectful to the investors. I need to leverage the power of the three Japanese OEM companies to increase the valuation of the game world. It's only polite for me to personally negotiate with them! I also need to arrange the production of Everlasting Clothing. The sales season is coming soon, and this is no small matter either. There's also the $40 billion loan, which also needs to be agreed upon with the Japanese bank in advance. I need to be involved in all these matters, otherwise, if something goes wrong, it will definitely affect the acquisition of Universal and NBC television networks!"

John sighed as he talked about his responsibilities. There was so much to do. If he had time, he also wanted to contact the Chinese embassy to inquire about the current investment situation in mainland China. The costs of using factories in Hong Kong were too high, making it unsuitable. If he could establish his own factory in China, everything would be easily resolved. Even if Forever 21 became a huge success, relying solely on the Hong Kong factory would still be difficult, not to mention the responsibility of producing for Victoria's Secret.

"So, do you want to deal with the investment in Japan or the investment in Hong Kong first? Is a month enough time to handle so many things? This is no small matter, and we can't be careless."

"That should be enough. I'll fly directly to Hong Kong first, and after I've dealt with things there, I'll fly to Taiwan. After all, things in Hong Kong are a bit urgent. It's not just about clothing production, but also Phoenix Group. The issue of Nvidia's contract manufacturing in Taiwan is also very important. Nvidia has already designed the graphics cards and is also developing the chips. I just don't know if the contract manufacturers in Taiwan can handle it. If they can take it on their own, that's fine. If not, we'll have to choose a contract manufacturer from Japan!"

If Taiwanese semiconductor factories could handle the manufacturing, even if it would be slower, we would still outsource the orders to them to expedite employee integration, rather than opting for Japanese foundries. We might make less money initially, or even none, but we absolutely need orders to build a solid foundation; otherwise, the foundries will never truly grow!

Speaking of contract manufacturing, John couldn't help but think of his grandfather in Bordeaux and sighed, "I wonder if Grandpa has found a top winery willing to sell for me. If he has, I need to discuss the loan with Japan in advance. Mom, please keep in touch with Grandpa when you have time, and let me know if there's any news."

“Okay, I will contact your grandfather. I don’t know why you have this idea about the winery. These days, those wineries aren’t making any money at all. You’d be better off investing that money in other ways.”

"You can't say that. Although the winery is indeed not doing well right now and isn't making money, it's still a long-term investment. It's just a bit special. Besides, top wineries are famous and have huge wine collections. Even if you're not investing in it for profit and just want to drink it yourself, it's still a worthwhile investment! It's just that I don't have enough funds right now. Otherwise, I would not only be buying wineries in Bordeaux, but also many more top wineries. Now is the perfect time to buy wineries, and it's also when winery values ​​are at their lowest!"

(End of this chapter)