America: My Time

Chapter 987 John's 'Kindness'

Chapter 957 John's 'Kindness'

"Buying at the bottom, if you all think this is buying at the bottom, then so be it. But my thinking is different from yours. I'm buying for my own use, so I don't care about the drop in property prices. What I care about is the success or failure of my business. So our goals are different. You want the property market to rebound and want to get out of this huge pit. I want to use property to develop my own business. As long as I succeed, the loss in property prices won't matter!"

The Mandarin Oriental Group acquires properties in prime commercial areas for its own use, so it doesn't care about falling property prices. It only cares about the success or failure of the business. Moreover, these properties are genuine commercial properties with a good overall environment, which is why John is so confident.

John's explanation shocked and worried everyone. If John's plan succeeded, would it affect them? They also didn't want to see John profiting from the commercial real estate he acquired from them, so a sense of resentment lingered within them. Although they tried to conceal it, John saw through it all—this was the 'greed' of the Japanese!
John is so "kind" in telling these guys his plan. What is he trying to do? Is he really "kindly" guiding them onto a path to making money? Judging from the current situation, it does seem feasible, but whether these guys can achieve the same level as the Mandarin Oriental Group is another matter!

With John's forward-thinking vision and the assistance of the two major groups, rapid development is inevitable. However, it's not yet apparent because the commercial real estate projects haven't seen much growth after the acquisitions and are still operating as before. John's complete plan hasn't been implemented yet, so these guys can't see through John's strategy!

Seeing the greedy looks on the faces of these guys from Japan, John sneered inwardly. This was a calculated scheme. He wasn't afraid of these guys knowing his plan, as long as they didn't know the full details. If anyone else wanted to join in, John would naturally welcome them. He wouldn't give up until he had completely ruined them and made them understand that even the same plan could have different results in different hands.

John knew perfectly well how greedy and stingy these guys in Japan were. Only by making them suffer enough would they learn to let go and dare not continue to plot against him. Right now, John didn't have time to haggle with these guys or get entangled with them. His time was extremely precious!
"John, have you considered taking back some of the shopping malls? Sony wants to sell some real estate to raise funds. You know Sony's current situation isn't very good. The losses from real estate are getting bigger and bigger. If this continues, it will affect Sony's normal development, and even its development in the United States!"

At this moment, Akio Morita interrupted the current topic and turned directly to Sony itself, which was also a way to ease the tension between the Japanese officials and John and prevent them from continuing to discuss this issue.

“If it were anyone else asking, I wouldn’t accept. Everyone knows the current state of shopping malls, and there’s no hope in the short term. But I can’t refuse you, given our friendship. However, my funds are limited right now, and I can’t accept too many. At most, I can take on one or two shopping malls. I can’t afford any more than that, since luxury brands in Japan will be affected for a long time!”

John sighed as he spoke. It was a bit too early to buy back the properties he had sold, but he couldn't refuse. From the perspective of immediate benefits, it was indeed wrong, but from the perspective of long-term benefits, it was a completely different story!

Before acquiring sufficient assets, John wouldn't fully reveal his plans to the Japanese. He wouldn't let them know, as they were too greedy; if they saw an opportunity, they would become his adversaries. "Mr. John, you shouldn't have any financial pressure, right? You can get sufficient loans whenever you want. I don't think Japanese banks would refuse such a high-quality client!" Soon, another Japanese official jumped in, directly engaging John in conversation, trying to extract more information from him!

"Loans accrue interest, and given the current state of real estate in Japan, whoever acquires it will bear the losses from falling property prices. This isn't a major problem for ordinary commercial properties, but for mega-properties like shopping malls, the cost is substantial. Even setting aside the potential drop in property prices, simply revitalizing the property is no easy task, not to mention the interest payments. All of this combined makes the difference staggering. I'd rather invest that kind of capital in China; at least with the same amount, I could own several times more real estate! I can tell you all clearly that Japan is not the core focus of the Mandarin Oriental Group. Some may think our comeback is about restructuring and expanding back into the real estate industry, but if you think that, you're sorely mistaken. We're simply making strategic moves in other areas!"

Whether anyone believed John's words or not, only they themselves knew. But these words made the old man Akio Morita frown. This was completely different from what he had thought, so Akio Morita was extremely nervous and even a little worried. After all, John's reputation was there, which made him hesitate for a moment!
“John, can’t we have more? You know that one or two shopping malls won’t have a huge impact on Sony. That amount of money can’t make up for Sony’s huge losses!” Akio Morita sighed as he said this, looking at John expectantly, trying to persuade him to accept Sony’s shopping malls!

“Mr. Morita, I am also willing but unable. You should know how quickly the Eien Group sold so many shops in Japan. Even now, the Mandarin Oriental Group doesn’t have a single shopping mall in Japan. To be honest, shopping malls in Japan are practically useless now. For the same price, we can build more in China, or even in Europe and the United States, not to mention Asia. So there is no reason to spend huge sums of money in Japan!”

The more indifferent John appeared, the greater the pressure on Akio Morita and the Japanese people became. They were all very worried. The people sitting here were not fools; they knew about Japan's current economic situation. Japan was already struggling with luxury goods, and even the wealthy were now being very cautious.
"How about the shopping center in Roppongi?" Akio Morita, that old guy, brought up this shopping center directly. This is no ordinary shopping center; it's one of the largest shopping centers in Japan right now.

John shook his head without hesitation and said, "I'm sorry to disappoint Mr. Morita, but I can't acquire the shopping center in Roppongi. The amount of money involved is too large, and the Mandarin Oriental Group can't afford such pressure. So, I'm sorry to disappoint you! Such a huge shopping center is not something I can take over right now!"

The more John refused, the more fear gripped the Japanese. If John wasn't willing to take it on, no one else would. And if things continued this way, the pressure on them would only increase. The Roppongi shopping center was already suffering heavy losses and lacked sufficient financial support. With changing consumer attitudes, ordinary people had long since abandoned luxury goods and were more willing to accept affordable products. Discount stores in Japan had greater potential for growth, and fast brands were more likely to succeed than luxury brands. This was no longer the bubble economy!
At this moment, many people were carefully observing John's expression, and even many cameras in the party were watching John. They all wanted to know John's true thoughts, but unfortunately they were destined to be disappointed. John did not give them the chance. His expression remained very calm, as if he was not affected at all and had no scheming.

"Alright, I was overthinking it. The current state of the Japanese real estate market is indeed disappointing. Since you're in a difficult position, let's just forget about it. I'll think of another way. I just wonder when we'll see any changes or results with the Akihabara project?" At this moment, Akio Morita took the initiative to abandon his 'cooperation' with John and instead inquired about the Akihabara project. In Akio Morita's heart, he still harbored a little bit of hope for the real estate he owned!
In fact, it wasn't just Akira Morita who felt this way; all the real estate companies in Japan were hoping for the success of the Akihabara project, hoping it would turn their current situation around and give them a chance to recover. Unfortunately, these guys had no idea that their hopes were impossible to realize. Even if the Akihabara project succeeded, it wouldn't have a significant impact on the overall Japanese real estate market. After all, it was a specialized project and wouldn't affect the entire Japanese real estate industry.

Of course, even if they could achieve that, the Great Hanshin Earthquake would soon follow. When this disaster strikes, Japan's economy, which had just begun to recover, would fall into an even greater catastrophe. Everything would return to square one, or even collapse completely. After all, such a natural disaster would have a huge impact on Japan, so their plans were destined to fail!
(End of this chapter)