Reborn in America: Starting as a California Resident

(This story is purely fictional; please don't take it too seriously, dear readers.)

May 1979, 3 18:15

Federal Avenue, Queens, New York

The Mercedes 450 SELV8 engine roared like a trapped beast as it sped toward Kennedy Airport, crushing the scattered headlines of the New York Post, "Oil Rich Man Emerges."

The Statue of Liberty, shrunk to a golden dot in the rearview mirror, holds its torch aloft, as if igniting the Wall Street black gold frenzy of 1979.

Henry Getty's index finger unconsciously rubbed the window control, and the leather-wrapped dashboard suddenly reflected the moment his pupils contracted—three Greyhound buses sped past the street corner, belching black smoke, and the faded "Make Love Not War" graffiti and the newly hung portrait of President Carter in the shop window formed an absurd slice of time and space in the twilight.

Not bad!

Eighteen-year-old Henry is a reborn person with a cliché plot!

In his previous life, he struggled at the very bottom of a powerful nation in the far East;

Approaching thirty, still trapped in the trivialities and poverty of life.

Money, house, car, girl...

All the symbols of happiness that ordinary people pursue are so unattainable.

Until six months ago, he mistakenly drank Golden Dragon cooking oil, thinking it was drinking water.

Then I only felt the slippery texture of the Golden Dragon oil drum and the dull thud of the back of my head hitting the tiles.

He inexplicably traveled to America in the 1970s and became a third-generation descendant of the Getty family, the richest family in the 1950s.

His father was George Franklin Getty, the eldest son of the oil tycoon Paul Getty.

He was once regarded as the first heir to the family business.

He has served on the boards of several major companies, including Getty Oil, Douglas Aircraft, and Bank of America.

It can be said that as long as everything proceeds along this predetermined path, even if George Getty does nothing more in his life, he can still become one of the behind-the-scenes masters of this "free country" without any controversy.

Unfortunately, reality is never smooth sailing!

His father's overbearing personality and the long-term shadow of the family ultimately crushed the young heir, leading him to commit suicide on the evening of June 6, 1973, after drinking heavily!

"coward!"

An aged roar exploded from the depths of memory.

At the rain-soaked funeral in 1973, the twelve-year-old witnessed his grandfather, Paul Getty, stab his father's portrait with a diamond-encrusted cane.

The crystal chandelier in the funeral parlor trembled with rage: "The Getty blood should not flow in whiskey bottles!"

......

After a barrage of scathing curses, the cold-blooded and cruel Paul Getty made an unexpected decision;

He made an unprecedented exception, allowing George's lineage to inherit all of his family's assets intact.

It includes: dividend rights to the Sarah C. Getty Trust family fund, 10% of Getty Oil, 3.61% of McDonald's Douglas, 5.37% of Bank of America, and real estate and properties around the world, etc.

Worth over two billion US dollars!!!

As George's only male heir, Henry naturally and legally inherited the vast majority of the estate.

Unfortunately, since he was a minor at the time, his property could only be held by his mother, Gloria Gordon.

It wasn't until Christmas Eve last year that he finally received a substantial coming-of-age gift—a cash check for ten million dollars and five villas in Beverly Hills.

Such wealth caused him to lose his way for a time;

They were corrupted by capital for a full two months.

It wasn't until Khomeini returned to Iranian politics that he rediscovered his time-traveling ambitions;

He first mortgaged five properties under his name to a US bank, obtaining $2200 million in return;

Then, he used his privileged status to leverage tenfold financial leverage—swallowing 2150 million barrels of physical crude oil when international crude oil was still at $14.8 per barrel.

At that time, faced with Henry's almost insane behavior;

Paul III, his cousin who had just been promoted to vice president of Bank of America's consumer real estate services department, twitched one ear and scoffed, "Trading emerald cufflinks for oil futures?"

"Gamblers who cheat at the Texas Hold'em table will eventually lose everything..."

Ha ha!"

Henry did not argue with this poor man whose life had been ruined by his grandfather's ransom negotiations.

In his mind, everything that was happening before his eyes was just a minor episode on the road to success.

Future events will show how ridiculous their current actions are!

After that, the wheels of history rolled forward.

On February 11, the voice of an ABC news anchor on the radio vibrated with the radio waves: "Anti-King demonstrations have broken out in Tehran!"

The firefight at the airport lasted for three hours, and the Abadan oil refinery was completely shut down...

Images of Khomeini fluttered like blood-red flags in the streets of Iran as the tide of religious revolution swept across the Persian Gulf.

The standoff between government forces and protesters paralyzed oil pipelines, causing a sudden drop of 500 million barrels per day in global crude oil supply.

On the electronic screens of the New York Stock Exchange, oil prices fluctuated wildly—$14, $18, $22…

It eventually settled at a terrifying high of $25.63.

"The cargo ship must enter the port before high tide!"

"Yes, sir."

The cargo ship has entered port as planned, and unloading of all crude oil will begin soon.

Three days before oil prices were about to reach their previous highs, Henry decisively issued a shipment order via satellite phone.

With the delivery order issued, the 2150 million barrels of physical crude oil were quickly delivered at the port.

"Spot goods!

All items are in stock!

Seventy-two hours later, the dock delivery area was packed with red-eyed buyers.

The broker roared and waved the delivery slip.

When the last barrel of crude oil was shipped, $2.33 million flowed into Henry's account.

"Ha ha!

"Master Dao has succeeded!"

Henry can still vividly recall the exhilarating feeling of his adrenaline rush!

After all, this was the first pot of gold he had earned through his own abilities, which was completely different from what his family had given him. He was bursting with a sense of accomplishment!

"It's time to plant the seeds."

Unfortunately, I have other important matters to attend to this year, so I can only allocate $100 million to invest in two or three companies.

Henry picked up the financial statements meticulously calculated by the actuarial team beside him and carefully examined the ten companies listed on them.

Walmart, a publicly traded company, is a rising star in the retail industry.

With the slogan "Everyday Low Prices," it has opened branches in major cities like mushrooms after rain. Its unique sales model and highly attractive pricing strategy have attracted countless consumers.

However, as the scale grows larger, the shortcomings of the supply chain have gradually become apparent.

The outdated logistics system is completely unable to keep up with the speed of order growth, delivery is as slow as a snail, and inventory backlogs and stockouts occur frequently.

Furthermore, competitors have also adopted low-price strategies, making market competition increasingly fierce.

With a total market capitalization of $8.7 million and a total outstanding share capital of approximately 58.3 billion shares (after ten stock splits), the share price hovers between $0.08 and $0.12.

McDonald's (MCD), a global fast-food chain giant, is reshaping modern food culture with its "golden arches" logo.

A standardized operating system supports a staggering production capacity of 65 hamburgers per hour, and the franchise model has spawned 7,200 stores in 48 countries.

The 1978 financial report showed that its average revenue growth rate per store reached 19%, but the cracks of lagging localization in overseas markets were already evident in the financial report - the average transaction value in Asia was 37% lower than in North America, and the food waste rate in Europe was 2.4 times higher than the group average.