American Gossip King

Chapter 149 Crisis

The year 2002 arrived, and a new year began.

In the luxurious living room of Godwin Estate, Ian is reading the Wall Street Journal.

Today's headline is eye-catching: Enron admits to accounting fraud, overstating revenue by more than $6 million.

Fake!

I had completely forgotten about Enron.

Ian was frustrated and speechless. "I really am not a financial expert. I missed such an important opportunity."

I missed the news, and I also missed out on a chance to profit in the stock market!

However, he can't be entirely blamed, because Enron's collapse happened a few months later than in another parallel universe.

Just as he was feeling annoyed, Gaskell suddenly called: "Ian, do you have time? Come over to my place."

His tone was slightly heavy, and Ian sensed something was amiss.

After hanging up the phone, Ian thought about it seriously before getting up and leaving.

The butler, quite perceptively, came over and asked, "Should we call Bledson?"

"No need," Ian gently shook his head.

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Ian grabbed a custom-made Balenciaga coat and walked out of the mansion.

He got into his newly bought Lamborghini and headed towards Monticino.

An hour later, Ian arrived at Gaskell's house.

The butler opened the door for him and invited him in.

Gaskell and Lena were in the living room at that moment.

Lena sat on a white floral-patterned sofa, her belly slightly protruding, but her expression was somewhat miserable.

Next to him was Gasker smoking a cigar.

His hair looked even whiter, and his face was pale.

Ian quickly stepped forward and put his arm around Lena's neck: "No matter what happens, don't take it to heart. Trust that Gaskell and I can handle it."

Lena nodded gently, then hugged Ian's face and gave him a light kiss.

Ian then walked over and sat down next to Gascoigne, took his cigar, and looked at his expression.

Thankfully, it's not a physical problem.

Ian asked, "What happened?"

Gaskell's old face showed a hint of bitterness: "The board of directors has removed me from my position as chairman and is demanding the recovery of all loans to Carl Media."

Ian's heart sank.

Although I had a feeling before I came that something bad might happen, I didn't expect it to be so swift.

The biggest problem is undoubtedly the banks withdrawing loans.

If they really do that, then they can forget about the subsequent 3.36 million.

If Ian is unable to fulfill his contractual obligations and receive the final 3% payment, then the CBS board can renege on the previous 12% stake and take it back, along with the fourth-quarter 01 dividend.

Meanwhile, Ankang can also justifiably refuse to pay.

In short, the bank's withdrawal of the loan has caused Ian enormous trouble.

Ian slowly picked up the wine bottle on the table, poured himself a drink, and said leisurely:

"Although the bank has the right to withdraw the loan early, wouldn't that require me to break the agreement?"

Banks can't just withdraw funds at will; they need to have a clear default from the borrower before they can do so.

Currently, Carl Media's debt ratio is 69%, which is relatively healthy. The key is that its operating conditions are good and it has sufficient profitability, so there is no reason for it to withdraw loans.

Gaskell said softly, "You bought a house in Beverly Hills."

Ok?

Ian was stunned: "That's it?"

In early 01, Ian borrowed over $1 million from Linuo Bank to buy three newspapers, including the Xingkelun Daily. These three newspapers were used as collateral. Later, Ian sold the three newspapers and used the proceeds to buy himself a Beverly Hills mansion and shares in Xinghuo TV.

Of course, Gaskell was supportive—the mansion allowed Ian Carr free access to Beverly Hills to obtain more valuable information.

Furthermore, for the big boss, life is work.

Some people boast that they haven't taken a vacation in forty years, and it's true. Because any aspect of a boss's life can be considered work. Going to play golf is for business negotiations; renting a yacht for a orgy is for building relationships; eating out is also for business negotiations. Even without clients, the boss's physical and mental health needs to be considered, and is part of the job.

For Ian, the Beverly Hills mansion had a more practical purpose, especially since the house itself was also collateral.

With Chairman Gaskell's support, there's absolutely no problem.

However, there are indeed problems with the process.

Your original collateral consisted of three newspapers, and now you've sold them without our consent. Changes to collateral require the bank's approval—the convenience provided by Gasker is procedurally irregular!

Therefore, we have the right to believe that you have violated regulations by using funds that were originally intended for business expenses for personal living expenses, and we have the right to withdraw the loan.

To put it bluntly, when they want to help you, the procedures are utter nonsense.

When they don't want to help you, they'll bring up any trivial matter.

When Gasker was in power, a property purchased for 1 billion was secured by 1 billion in collateral. Even without collateral, one could obtain a credit loan, and special agreements could be signed to pay only the interest, not the principal. When Gasker was out of power, sorry, your 1 billion in assets could only be used as collateral for 700 million!

Therefore, Linuo Bank now believes that Carl Media has violated regulations, lacked sufficient collateral, and that the special agreement is unfair, and is demanding the withdrawal of the loan on these grounds.

Having understood all this, Ian became even more puzzled.

This is deliberately trying to mess with me!

He looked at Gaskell with a puzzled expression: "Why is that?"

Gaskell said softly, "Someone is plotting against you!"

"Who?"

The latest novel is first published here!

Bernard Madoff.

"It's him?" Ian asked in astonishment.

Gaskell said, "It seems you've offended him, and CBS is of use to him. You know he's incredibly influential, especially in finance; he promised my shareholders a share."

Fake!

Ian understood.

Yes, I did offend him, but not because of a few words at the banquet, but because of Giuliani and the others.

Doubt, like a seed, can sprout. Ian's distrust of Madoff at the banquet led Giuliani to decide to redeem his money a year later.

This had a significant impact on Madoff. The reason his scam could continue for so long was that the vast majority of his clients only received interest and not their principal.

Once a wave of principal redemption occurs, it will cause him to have difficulty with cash flow, and may even completely expose the scam.

So Ian could choose not to invest in him, but his distrust of Madoff, coupled with his intangible influence, led some of Madoff's clients to redeem their investments.

This is extremely disadvantageous for Madoff.

He knew that if Ian publicly publicized the matter in the media, it would cause him even more trouble.

So he chose to target Ian—destroy you first, then no one will believe you no matter what you say. Even when you accuse Madoff of being a liar, Madoff can explain it as Ian's revenge.

Interestingly, Madoff's reward was giving Linuo's shareholders a share of the financing through his own company, which was essentially: you have to do the work for me before I'm willing to scam you out of your money.

That's right!

High-level scammers are this clever: you have to beg me before I'll scam you! My funding channels are limited; I don't give them to just anyone.

A similar example is DJI, which would bundle other subsidiaries with its financing rounds, leading investors to complain: "You might as well just raise prices directly."

Of course, DJI is not a scammer. What it is saying is that not all investors are in a dominant position. Excellent companies can turn the tables and the buyer's market is never fixed. It depends on which side is stronger and more powerful.

Another reason is the bullet that Gaskell was shot with.

Although the shot did not kill him, the resulting convulsions and intermittent headaches led the board of directors of Linuo Bank to doubt his management abilities.

That's fine, but the key issue is that Gaskell provided Ian with tremendous help—private bank shareholders are willing to invest in banks not only for the profits but also for the easier access to loans.

Gaskell favored Ian too much and neglected others, which sparked shareholder dissatisfaction.

Finally, Madoff's influence led to resistance from the Linuo Bank board.

At the beginning of the year, Gasker was removed from his position as chairman of the board during the board election. The board of directors of Linuo Bank is about to withdraw loans, which will have extremely serious consequences. As a result, Ankang may also refuse to fulfill the agreement and issue loans.

In this situation, the Los Angeles Herald, the Los Angeles Times, and Meihe Construction might be lucky to get a valuation of 10 billion yuan for you.

As for continuing to borrow, that's impossible too. No one would lend to a company that's being pressured to repay its debts—Madoff would definitely publicize that Carl Media Group is being pressured to repay its debts.

So Ian had earned over a billion dollars, but it all vanished in an instant, and he might even end up in debt!

Who told you, young man, to be too greedy and arrogant?

The key to growing through debt is the ability to continuously borrow money. Once you can't borrow anymore, you're doomed and will be devoured by lurking wolves.

It can only be said that becoming friends with Gaskell was both Ian's good fortune and his misfortune.

Without Gaskell's support, Ian might have developed in a more conventional way. But because of Gaskell, Ian gained an unprecedented opportunity for rapid development, but also took on greater risks.

(End of this chapter)