Reborn in America, I am a legendary short seller on Wall Street.

Chapter 266 A tentative attempt, but the other party didn't take the bait.
Koster was originally sent by J.P. Morgan to reprimand Larry for "shorting General Electric." But when Jack Morgan arrived, his mission had changed to discussing with Larry how to successfully raise the fund.

“I understand! I’ll arrange for the tellers to receive your raised funds soon… I never imagined it would be this complicated. So, customers have to open their own accounts to transfer money from their accounts to the fund?” Mr. Coster asked Larry, frowning.

Larry understood that banks were not yet accustomed to actually raising and managing funds, so Mr. Porter's fund would encounter some procedural issues related to fundraising from the very beginning.

However, there is always a first time for everything. For mutual funds at present, feeling their way across the river and proceeding cautiously is actually the best approach.

Larry and Mr. Coster discussed the fundraising for a while.

Jack Morgan, meanwhile, listened with his arms crossed, his expression indifferent, as if he had no interest in any of it.

After a while, the two started talking again about the leveraged buyout issue that Larry had discussed with Mr. Morgan.

When these things were discussed, Koster's face showed a strange expression that was a mixture of surprise and emotion.

“My God, are you still the Larry Livingston I know? That kid who followed Wallace around at Colt… How could you come up with such a devilish acquisition plan?”

Larry smiled slightly, not in a hurry to answer.

Undoubtedly, Mr. Morgan had also told Koster how to cooperate with Larry in financing and leveraged buyouts, after all, Koster was one of Morgan's most important assistants and knew him very well.

Mr. Coster looked at Larry, then shook his head, sighed softly, and said, "...I suggest you set up a new company, inject your partner's shares into it, and then participate in the target company's shareholders' meeting as an entity."

Larry nodded, then asked, "Perfect timing! George Eastman just arrived and he's waiting outside. Would you like to see him too?"

Koster asked instinctively, "How old is he?"

“…I guess I’m almost 40!” Larry swallowed hard before answering.

“Then it’s gone! Anyway, just tell him it’s settled. I think the reason he came to visit you today is because he needs your fund’s financing to arrive as soon as possible.” Mr. Coster leaned back in his chair and said calmly.

At this moment, Jack, who had been silent until now, nodded and said, "Yes, he wants to urge Mr. Livingston to get the funds in place as soon as possible so that he can promote the new camera."

Larry nodded, thinking to himself that he would have to quickly reassure Eastman in a moment.

In addition, since Koster has already pointed out a clear path for him, he should also hurry up and set up a new company... Besides the new company, he also needs to start preparations for the new fund established with Tesla.

Sometimes you shouldn't think about things; the more you think, the more problems arise...

Mr. Koster suddenly looked up and asked Larry, "I heard your fund company is also going to co-invest? How much will you be investing in total?"

“It should be $30, but I still need to discuss that with the fund manager, Mr. Salbert,” Larry replied.

“Alright then, the sooner the money comes in, the sooner your fund can be established!” Mr. Koster waved his hand and stood up.

"The misunderstanding is cleared up..." Koster said with a sigh, "I should go back now. I still have to work overtime on your fund and the acquisition plan of that consortium you mentioned!"

Larry quickly stood up as well.

Jack Morgan stood up, straightened his clothes, and said to Larry with a sigh of relief, "...Well then, Mr. Livingston, I should take my leave too."

“You can stay a little longer!” Koster looked at Jack Morgan, who quickly shook his head and declined, saying, “I have already benefited greatly… so I won’t disturb Mr. Livingston’s rest.”

Larry had intended to see him off, but then he suddenly remembered what Logan had said: that Mr. Coster had helped Gould's men retrieve $50 worth of gold coins from Morgan Trust Bank...

The key point is that this matter is related to the Astor IV family. I must take advantage of this excellent opportunity to ask them about it.

“Wait a minute, Mr. Coster! Mr. Jack!” Larry said with a smile. “The guy from Boston just brought me two bottles of whiskey from Europe. How about we have a drink before you go?” Coster stopped and looked at Larry. Due to his peculiar habits, he was a clean freak and disliked the smell of smoke (except, of course, the smell of smoke on his boss), but he often drank a little whiskey.

Hearing Larry say that, he decided to wait a while before leaving.

Without saying a word, Larry ran to the liquor cabinet, found the whiskey, and took three glasses.

Jack and Morgan showed a slight hint of impatience, but still smiled and accepted the whiskey glass Larry offered.

Larry knew he was distracted and had wanted to leave for a while, but he had no choice now. With Mr. Morgan's son also present, he had to quickly ask them about their attitude towards Jay Gould.

Larry offered the second glass of wine to Mr. Coster. “Mr. Coster, Jack, the recent capital deployments of the Western Railroad are truly dazzling. The boldness and foresight of someone like Mr. Morgan, willing to invest heavily in projects with seemingly extremely long payback periods, is truly invaluable to us. In your opinion, where exactly is the boundary of this ‘strategic loss’? How does the Morgan group accurately determine when they are sowing the seeds of the future and when it is truly a depletion of resources?”

This was just a trivial opening remark. Mr. Coster took the whiskey, took a small sip, and offered a polite compliment before answering the question.

Larry continued, “Your perspective is always so insightful. This reminds me of Mr. Jay Gould’s radical moves in the World. Frankly, it seems somewhat different from the Morgan family’s traditionally ‘conservative, cautious, and risk-averse’ culture. Does this mean that some changes are about to occur in the market that we haven’t yet seen clearly, and even Mr. Morgan is starting to adjust his strategy?”

Upon hearing Jay Gould's name, Koster looked slightly uncomfortable before saying, "I'm not very familiar with him... I just sometimes help him with money transfers. He's not an easy person to deal with. I don't comment on the shady things he's been or is doing now, because I'm not interested at all."

Larry nodded, but his heart was in turmoil. He hadn't expected Koster to answer the question so easily.

But who can guarantee that his question is the real answer?

On the other side, Jack Morgan looked blank, just holding his glass of whiskey without drinking, like an insignificant background figure.

Larry took a sip of whiskey, glanced at Coster, and continued, "...Speaking of Mr. Gould, you know, what I admire most about him is that he financed the sale of gold during that gold turmoil... He was really bold back then, daring to deceive the President."

Mr. Koster scoffed, "It's just exploiting some loopholes. Gold will always be a hard currency, and that will never change."

Larry didn't get any more information from Koster's words, so he exchanged a few pleasantries with the two of them and put down his cup.

Koster finished his drink and said to Larry with a smile, "Then I should head back too! Goodbye. Oh, and remember to transfer your funds into the account as soon as possible."

Larry was pulled back to reality by Koster's words. He also had his own worries; the money in his brokerage account didn't yet belong to him. Besides the $50 investment in Kodak, Larry also had many other bills to pay.

If Mr. Koster is pressing me hard, it seems I'll have to reduce my holdings before the weekend. Reducing holdings and transferring funds for investment means I'll have less money left to profit from a potential reversal.

Throughout the conversation, Jack Morgan showed no interest whatsoever. Upon hearing that Mr. Coster was leaving, he hurriedly followed him out of the room.

Watching his retreating figure, I recalled his beaming face when he learned about the movie. I smiled gently and sighed—another rich kid artist whose talents have been wasted by worldly affairs…

Larry wasn't the only one staring at Jack Morgan's retreating figure. George Eastman, a man who knew exactly how to seize opportunities to ingratiate himself with those in power, saw Mr. Morgan's son about to leave and quickly followed to exchange business cards.

After the two went downstairs, George Eastman, with a smile on his face, went back to find Larry.

Larry knew what he was going to say and quickly replied, "Don't worry, after this weekend, I will definitely arrange for those two investment companies to invest $50 in your account. At the same time, Mr. Porter's fund is in the process of raising funds, and after those funds are raised next week, they will also be invested in Kodak."

George Eastman nodded, but then his expression turned serious as he said, “Very good, Mr. Livingston, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about today. You know, Zeiss is preparing to buy a large portion of Bausch & Lomb’s shares.”

Larry was a little surprised and turned to look at him. "Why? A German company wants to acquire an eyewear company that's located in the United States and needs to license its own patents... What kind of logic is that?"

George Eastman shook his head, but said solemnly, "I'm not entirely sure why, but it means we need to speed up the acquisition process."

Larry nodded. “Alright, when Bausch & Lomb holds its shareholders’ meeting in May, we’ll make the acquisition. As you just saw, the people at Morgan Trust Bank have already agreed to the plan, and they will arrange the funding later… So our task now is to set up a new company as soon as possible.”

(End of this chapter)