America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 540 Demons and Monsters

A newly established telecommunications company, with a dedicated line from Chicago to New York.

With CNN's exclusive disclosure of China Telecom's interstate dedicated line project, this business event, which was originally limited to the telecommunications industry and Wall Street, broke out of its circle and evolved into a media focus sweeping across the United States.

In an instant, various media outlets competed to report on the matter, covering everything from industry analysis to gossip and speculation.

Queens, Astoria neighborhood, Continental Telecom headquarters.

Ernst leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window of his top-floor office, his gaze passing through the hustle and bustle of the street and landing on the distant Manhattan skyline, faintly visible across the river.

"In just one week, I went from being an American super-rich man to a nouveau riche picking up trash?" Ernst's lips curled into a playful smile, his voice tinged with self-mockery.

In the reception area behind him, Ivan Setonberg was sitting on a leather sofa, with several newspapers scattered haphazardly on the coffee table.

At that moment, he was shaking his head and smiling wryly, his fingertips tracing the glaring headline on the newspaper—"Queens' Nouveau Riche: The Cheap Ambition of Billionaires"

"These media outlets really have no bottom line when it comes to gaining attention, fabricating stories like this." Ivan casually tossed the newspaper aside, his tone full of helplessness.

"Mainstream financial media outlets are generally quite objective, with most of their reports focusing on the industry impact of the dedicated Chicago-New York route. But these tabloids are completely detached from the facts and are utterly despicable."

Ernst wasn't angry at all; instead, he laughed and said, "It's only right to do things for money; it's a good thing." Behind these small media outlets' satire of Ernst, there was always the shadow of Wall Street.

Did those small and medium-sized futures institutions think that a few sarcastic remarks would make Ernst back down?

That's incredibly naive.

However, it was a good thing, because Ernst eventually found out that these tabloids were actually doing their jobs after receiving money.

He can use it later; public opinion is something that will always come in handy.

Ivan Setonport didn't have Ernst's magnanimity; if he had, he would have already started cursing.

He glanced down and quickly found the New York Post. Looking at the headline, he almost laughed.

"A nouveau riche is a nouveau riche; they don't know how to spend their money."

Isn't it just a company under Ernst's name? Their offices in New York are all in Queens. Who says that rich people have to rent offices in Manhattan?

Does being a billionaire or super-rich person mean you have to occupy a prime location in Midtown Manhattan and overlook Central Park, otherwise you are considered to have low taste and a narrow mind?

"But speaking of which, why are you so fond of Queens?" He was also curious about that.

Despite being separated from Manhattan by a river and being the largest borough in New York City, Queens is considered by New Yorkers to be less important than neighboring Brooklyn. Many American TV shows depict New Yorkers mocking Brooklyn, but rarely mentioning Queens.

Because in the minds of New Yorkers, they are not familiar with Queens at all.

The stereotype is that this is a poor neighborhood, where poor people from all over the world are crammed into this part of Queens.

Manhattan is a wealthy area; the pipes are filled with US dollars.

Brooklyn is a middle-class area, but in the eyes of wealthy people in Manhattan, it's just a suburb.

Queens?

That was a slum, teeming with illegal immigrants. Foreigners who wanted to make big money in America all crowded here.

In Queens, only a quarter of the population is non-Hispanic white, and there is a diverse mix of races; it's practically a small global village.

Flushing, home to one of the world's most distinctive Chinese communities, is filled with Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese.

When you first come to this place, you'll feel like you've arrived in a third-tier city in China, where you can live without speaking English.

Besides Flushing, there are many other communities, such as Indian, African, and South American communities.

Ernst turned around, walked to the sofa, sat down, and casually picked up the coffee from the coffee table. "They don't understand. The prosperity of Manhattan is already set in stone, but the potential of Queens is far beyond what those ingrained prejudices can measure." Ernst stamped his foot. "And this place will become the future city of New York."

Ivan Setonberg didn't quite understand, but he grasped the general idea: no matter how good Manhattan was, the land area was limited, and there wasn't much room for further development.

He expressed doubt, not about Manhattan's development potential, but about whether Queens would become New York's future city.

"Even if Manhattan's resources expand outwards, shouldn't it still be Brooklyn?" he asked, voicing his doubts. "After all, it's a middle-class area with more complete facilities."

"You're right, Brooklyn's infrastructure is indeed better." Enns doesn't deny this.

"But Queens also has its advantages, namely, a larger area that connects with the Manhattan skyline."

Both Queens and Brooklyn are separated from Manhattan by the East River, but Queens occupies a larger area.

"Also, is land in Queens feasible?"

Ernst wasn't guessing; it was the truth.

This is what Queens looks like twenty years later, now known as one of New York's most promising boroughs.

Many large companies have moved their headquarters here, and because of the multicultural nature of Queens, there are none of the bizarre rules and regulations found elsewhere.

Ernst established the headquarters of his companies in Queens, New York, hoping to emulate the Astor family and become the largest landowner in the area while it was still relatively undeveloped. Ernst Asset Management, Continental Telecom, MGM's New York branch, and Google's upcoming New York branch all chose Queens.

In addition, Ernst Asset Management and Home Office have also acquired a number of properties for rent in Queens.

In the future, the Garfield family will become the largest landowners in Queens, and the businesses they control will control the economic lifeline of Queens.

Now, this is an endless land.

But nobody wanted to hold onto it; all they were fighting for was that piece of land on the riverbank bordering Manhattan.

Once the entire Queens district has developed, everyone will realize that the Garfield family has taken over Queens.

Every blade of grass and every tree here is influenced by the Garfield family; can't that indirectly affect the entire landscape of New York?

However, Ivan Setonberg was unaware of these ideas, but Ernst's statement that they were highly feasible was true.

"From a capital perspective, developing Queens is indeed more profitable than upgrading Brooklyn."

Because this is a blank slate, it represents a complete reshuffling of all industries.

Ernst simply smiled upon hearing this, then put down his coffee cup and said seriously, "Tell me, have those hunters already begun their operation?"

Ivan nodded, took a document from his briefcase, and handed it to Ernst. "Two days ago, I received a call from the CEO of Princeton Communications. They expressed their desire to acquire Continental Telecom, offering an overall valuation of $12 billion." He paused, observing Ernst's expression. Seeing that Ernst remained calm, he continued, "They emphasized that they came with utmost sincerity and hoped to discuss the matter with you in person. If you have any objections to the valuation, we can continue to negotiate."

"Sincerity?" Ernst scoffed, his disdain for $12 billion, a sum of money that 99.999% of Americans could never attain in their lifetime.

"Their so-called sincerity is nothing but a fig leaf to cover up their opportunistic behavior." He didn't even glance at it, throwing the document back onto the coffee table, afraid that reading it would disgust him. "Everyone knows this line is worth at least three billion US dollars. They want to acquire my shares with an overall valuation of only 12 billion US dollars. Do you think Telephone & Telegraph Corporation would agree to that?"

Clearly, Princeton was looking to get a bargain.

A week has passed since CNN's exclusive exposé, and major companies generally know the ins and outs of the whole affair.

Ernst founded Continental Telecom not with the intention of entering the telecommunications business, but with Wall Street as his target, and a deeper reason being the electronic payment war.

The New York State government has approved the telecommunications license for mainland China Telecom.

But it was no use; the Federal Communications Commission blocked it outright.

Mainland China Telecom does not operate within a single state; if it wants to operate across states, it must go through the Federal Communications Commission.

Interestingly, Armstrong, who had previously made such a solemn promise to Ernst, never mentioned the matter again, not even by phone. He only learned about it through a news report from the Federal Council.

This shows that Armstrong was greatly constrained and somewhat powerless within the Telephone and Telegraph Corporation.

It's even possible that he never intended to do this, but rather to use this opportunity to completely seize control of China Telecom under the Telephone and Telegraph Corporation, and also to take over Ernst's shares. Now the situation is clear: everyone has united, and China Telecom is now in a hopeless situation, at least in the eyes of outsiders.

As a capitalist, the smartest thing Ernst can do now is to sell Continental Telecom and cut his losses to exit the market in time.

He sneered, but found these guys rather interesting. They should all be waiting to see him make a fool of himself, right?

He was curious to see who else was interested, so he raised his hand and asked, "Are there any other buyers?"

This time, Ivan didn't produce any documents. Instead, he directly reported to his superiors, "WorldCom, Verizon, Atlantic Bell, Charter Communications... basically all of the top 20 telecommunications companies in the United States have expressed their intention to acquire us through various channels, with valuations ranging from $1 billion to $16 billion. The highest valuation offered by Verizon is $16 billion."

Ernst listened quietly, and these telecom giants pounced on him like sharks smelling blood, which was exactly what he expected.

However, seeing Ivan Setonberg's strange expression, he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Actually, several telecom companies also called me..."

"Tell me about it?" Ernst had assumed these companies were something special.

"For example, Lendon Communications."

"Wait a minute," Ernst interrupted him. "What company is this? I've never heard of it."

Ivan Setonberg looked somewhat embarrassed, but still whispered, "It's a small company in New York State, worth less than two hundred million dollars." Ernst paused for a moment, then a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth. "What a chaotic scene, quite a spectacle."

A tiny, struggling telecom company with less than two hundred million dollars in assets is already dreaming of getting something for nothing.