America: My Time

Chapter 847 Huge Pressure

Chapter 837 Immense Pressure
“John, are you sure you’re not joking? This is no joke. This integration is absolutely insane. Do you really have the technology?” Jimmy was shocked to hear John’s words. He hadn’t expected John’s plan to be so crazy, spanning land, sea and air. If this plan succeeded, it would be a true behemoth.

John smiled calmly and said, "Do you think I would joke with you about something so important? Do you think the Pan Am plan alone is enough to make me postpone my return to the US and bring forward my plans? The plan is real, but it needs time and more investment to perfect. You can think it over carefully. If Morgan is interested, we are naturally willing to accept that. We can discuss the details next time. As for Grumman, I have no problem with a stock swap. Pan Am is bound to go public, and I feel more at ease cooperating with you!"

“John, I want to know how many shares you can give us. I need a precise figure!”

"How about 20%? After all, Pan Am will need to go public after the integration is complete. All the US airlines will be integrated into its group, and the overseas airlines will be readjusted. But I can give Morgan another chance. The shares in the road transport company will also be 20%. We have completed the testing of the road transport company. We can track all the logistics dynamics through the global satellite positioning system and have a real grasp of every truck transport. You don't need to doubt it. Silicon Valley has already perfected this system. The integration will start in full when the time is right. In comparison, sea freight is much more troublesome. After all, there is cooperation with the Russians and many port management issues, so it will be much slower in terms of time."

"John, can I make a phone call? This isn't something I can decide on my own; I need to consult with my superiors!"

Jimmy was greatly shocked by his conversation with John during his trip to Taiwan. Although he knew that Pan Am had big plans before he came, he did not expect the plans to be so crazy. Moreover, no one expected that John had hidden more assets in the United States, and even had a car transport company that had completed its testing. This shocked Jimmy greatly!

"No problem, you can call Morgan and discuss it. However, cooperation is possible, but going public takes time and is impossible in the short term. After all, we want to maximize profits, and we will only go public once the company is on the right track."

Jimmy didn't see anything wrong with John's statement. If Morgan were to cooperate with John, they naturally wouldn't choose to go public early; they would naturally want to maximize their profits. A 20% stake was a significant commitment.

John quickly arranged a private room for Jimmy so he could report to Morgan and give them time to discuss whether to continue working with him and whether Morgan dared to commit to John's grand plan.

When Morgan heard Jimmy's report, he was shocked and said in a deep voice, "It seems we underestimated John's cunning and his ambition. This is a globally positioned logistics group spanning land, sea, and air. Although John has his own motives, sea freight does take time, and the situation in the Middle East is unknown, with a high probability of conflict. However, the road transport company's layout is probably not simple. The fact that John attaches so much importance to it suggests there are more secrets. We have no reason to refuse. As for Grumman Aircraft Company, we can simply abandon it. The detailed negotiations will naturally be handled by our subordinates."

Despite John's enticement, Morgan accepted, seeing it as a win-win partnership and no apparent problems. If John's claims were true, and Silicon Valley had indeed made arrangements, it demonstrates the immense effort John had invested in this plan. The fact that he managed to deceive Morgan and Rockefeller is no ordinary feat. The only explanation is that John's transportation companies in the US were small, scattered businesses across various cities.

Although he understood, finding out the details wouldn't be easy. Moreover, the fact that John dared to reveal all this at this point proved his plan was complete, and telling them wouldn't have any impact. If John was most worried about shipping, it wasn't just because of the upheaval in Taiwan, but also because of the situation in the Middle East. Others might not know John's relationship with Middle Eastern tycoons, or the layout of Australian shipping in Asia and Middle Eastern ports, but he was aware of it.

Instinctively, Morgan Stanley believes that John's proposed consolidation is far from simple. He's not just integrating Australian shipping and port companies worldwide, but potentially the entire shipping arm of Western Energy, as well as the shipping companies of Quantum Mining, both giants with their own transportation companies. With Pan Am completing its Star Alliance expansion, it's likely that the shipping arm will also integrate the power of all of John's shipping and port companies, creating another behemoth. No wonder John places such importance on shipbuilding; he not only has shipyards in South Korea but has also acquired one in Taiwan—all in preparation for this consolidation.

"Boss, do you need to talk to John, that little fox, yourself? I have a feeling there are too many schemes behind this. I don't understand how John managed to evade our attention and have so many plans and preparations on American soil?"

Jimmy was under immense pressure from John, that cunning fellow. He hadn't expected to face so many problems on this trip, and behind each of these problems lay a great deal of pressure and trouble. He felt he couldn't handle it.

"No need. It's not convenient for me to talk to him right now. Besides, John chose you, which means the impact won't be too great. At least his plan will take a long time. The integration and transformation of Pan Am is easy, but the other two plans won't be easy to succeed; they'll need even more time. As for what you're worried about, it's really nothing. It must be an offshore company. If we want to find out John's situation in the US, we just need to check which transportation companies are controlled by offshore companies. But we can't do that now. I'm very curious to know how clever John's plan is this time. We haven't noticed it, and I believe those old guys like Rockefeller haven't noticed it either. We can't alert him."

After receiving his boss's approval, Jimmy quickly reappeared before John. Seeing Jimmy's smiling face, John said, "It seems our cooperation has been successful. Morgan has agreed to my proposal."

"Yes, Morgan agreed, but I don't understand, is it worth it for you to make such an arrangement? You could have taken full control yourself; there's no need to hide in the shadows. I believe no one would refuse your investment in the United States!"

“Jimmy, we're friends. Morgan won't directly attack me, but do you think those old Rockefellers, knowing even a little bit about my plans, will react? You seem to have forgotten how Western Energy was forced to break up, and you know the current situation of Western Gas & Electric. To ensure profits, they've had to stop even expansion. So I don't trust those guys. I've learned my lesson the hard way, and I don't want to fall into the same trap again. Don't be fooled by their talk of wanting me to invest in the US and bringing me back; it's all a lie. If I actually did that, they'd all be sabotaging me behind my back. You know what's going on in Oregon. What are those guys at Elephant doing? They're all holding me back. It's really just their own doing, nothing more. I don't believe them. So it's better to be careful. When dealing with these old guys, being well-prepared is the right thing to do.”

When Jimmy heard John pin all the blame for the breakup of Western Energy on the old guys like Rockefeller, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. Things weren't as John said. The breakup of Western Energy was probably John's scheme, otherwise it wouldn't have developed so quickly and so wildly. Rockefeller was just taking the blame for John. This was the consensus on Wall Street, especially after the oil crisis.

“John, although Rockefeller was involved and pressured in the breakup of Western Energy, it wasn’t their fault. It was because someone didn’t want to continue expanding, and it seems you still have the control of the operation.”

"You think it's because I don't want Western Gas & Power to continue expanding? Ridiculous. It's because I can't do it, and I don't have enough funds. You only see how profitable Western Gas & Power is, but you don't see how huge the capital required for a power plant and the laying of gas pipelines is. Western Gas & Power simply can't expand on its own. Forcing it will only drag it down. The reason that old man Rockefeller pushed all the blame onto me is because he wanted to force Western Gas & Power to merge with other companies so that he could gradually kick me out. Rockefeller controls everything at Western Gas & Power. Do you think I'm stupid enough to be schemed against by him?"

Upon hearing John's words, Jimmy inwardly cursed, "You're no better! You've both been scheming against each other, but you've outsmarted Rockefeller, firmly seizing control of Western Gas & Electricity and giving him no chance. You've disrupted all of Rockefeller's plans. You're the most cunning little fox out there! Cooperating with you puts me under immense pressure!" Unfortunately, he dared not voice these words aloud; the consequences would be too severe.

(End of this chapter)