American Gossip King

Chapter 236: Hot Topics Continue

After expressing their views, the Russian officials left.

Ian remained by Natasha's side, while Ekaterina looked at him speechlessly: "Do you really think my country would agree to such an outrageous demand?"

Ian shook his head: "Of course not, but there will definitely be some kind of gesture."

Natasha immediately said, "Ian Karl, join Russia. Lina and I can stay with you forever."

Ian shook his head: "I never need beautiful women to last forever."

Natasha: "..."

Even though I know it's true, it's still too much!

Natasha looked at Ian with a wronged expression.

Only she knew that during their time together, she had truly fallen for Ian Carl.

For a moment, she even hated her own identity. It was because of this identity that Ian Karl was always wary of her, preventing their hearts from getting close.

Ian: You're overthinking it. It's impossible.

Ian smiled and kissed Natasha: "Alright, little darling, don't think about these things. Besides, without American citizenship, Ian Carl is nothing. Russia doesn't have that many street shootouts for me to make the news. I can better help you if I stay in the United States."

Natasha nodded vigorously.

She said dreamily, "As long as I can follow you, I'll do anything!"

Just then, Ian's phone rang.

Ian glanced at it; it belonged to Murdoch.

He picked up the phone and said, "Excuse me."

Stepping out of the ward and into the emergency exit, Ian answered the phone: "Hi, Mr. Murdoch."

On the phone, Murdoch's voice was calm and deep: "I saw Ian Carr's live broadcast, but I didn't see the news about Butterfly."

Ian chuckled softly: "I knew you'd come looking for me to confront you."

Murdoch called when he saw the live broadcast, but Ian was still a hostage at the time, so the call couldn't go through.

Now we can finally get in touch.

The live broadcast was given to CBS, and the old man was definitely not happy about it!

Your butterfly is here too, why give it all to CBS?

There's no other way; the market capitalization requirement of 180 billion must be met first.

Ian said, "Don't worry, I also have the interview with Butterfly, I'll send it to you soon."

"Good news needs to be capitalized on its momentum," the old man pressed on relentlessly.

Extreme exploitation is not Trump's prerogative.

"The problem is that this news story has two sides, and I'm using this to talk with Russian officials in order to decide which category to apply to."

Murdoch understood. He sighed, "That's a real shame. The American public prefers negative stories to positive ones, which diminishes the value of the news."

"But heroes can exist," Ian said.

As long as Moscow gives the nod, Ian will not release the interviews with Chechens, but the video of Ian hunting down militants can still be released: through editing, it can be made to appear that Ian, Ekaterina, and Natasha acted at the same time.

Ian will still be the savior, just not the sole hero.

The purpose of doing this is simply to enhance the news value and give News Corporation an explanation.

Understanding his meaning, Murdoch laughed and said, "You always manage to make the news sound like a movie."

"Don't worry, there will be a big movie from News Corporation too," Ian replied.

After hanging up, Ian spoke with James Peley again, using the same excuse, saying that CBS shouldn't expect any follow-up news and that he was going to do business with the Russians.

This kind of business may sound dishonorable, but it can actually be done openly and honestly: So what if I'm taking benefits from the Russians? I haven't sold any state secrets!

legitimate!

Of course, most importantly, Ian now has enough influence that illegality doesn't really matter.

Ian then stayed in Moscow for a few more days, during which intense negotiations took place between the two sides.

The Russians certainly wouldn't give Ian Karl billions of dollars every year for nothing, but they wouldn't care if they gave less—Ian Karl's influence is indeed too important to Russia. It's a rare opportunity to cooperate openly and legitimately, and it would be a pity to miss it.

To this end, Ian took the opportunity to network and make friends—which meant giving money.

Russian officials are incredibly corrupt, and Ian likes people like that.

After sending out tens of millions of dollars, the two parties finally reached an agreement:

First: Allow Karl Media to establish a media organization in Russia, cooperate with Russia, and only speak well of Russia, never speaking ill of it.

Second: Gazprom will allow Ian Karl to acquire a 5% stake in Gazprom at a valuation of 860 billion, but Ian must provide the loan himself.

This is good for both sides.

In Russia, due to inflation, the benchmark interest rate is relatively high, once reaching nearly 20%. Of course, this doesn't mean Ian will lose money, because the exchange rate will compensate for the high interest, but Ian's main business is still in the United States.

Ian's investment of money from the United States benefits Russia by providing them with $43 billion in investment.

To put it simply, this is a normal transaction.

That's pretty good. Given the profitability of Russian natural gas, with annual dividends of no less than 20 billion, even 5% would bring in over 1 billion.

In other words, Ian can earn a net profit of one billion dollars from Russian natural gas every year!

To avoid suspicion of collusion with Russia, Ian will not hold shares in Gazprom himself, but will instead establish a separate company through which Lena will hold the shares on his behalf. Holding shares in Russian oil or gas is not illegal in itself; BP holds shares in Russian oil. However, if Ian continues to speak well of Russia and hold shares in Gazprom, it could easily be seen as bribery, especially since Gazprom's prices are relatively low. Therefore, it is best to avoid such situations if possible.

Third: Russia will provide Ian Karl with other policy assistance, including land transfers, taxes, employment, and so on. However, Ian Karl must invest 20 billion US dollars in Russia, covering various industries.

Nobody's a fool.

I can let you make money, but you also need to give me some other related assistance. You can't just take so much money by not saying bad things about me.

Ian Karl's investments in Russia are a significant source of assistance.

This in itself can help Russia's economic development—Russia lacks many things, including funds and high-quality enterprises, and Ian Karl can help them attract billions of dollars in investment, which is not just money, but also business development and more job opportunities.

You brought me 10 billion in business investment and development opportunities, so I certainly have no objection to you making a net profit of 1 billion every year... When he's not extorting money, Ian still values ​​win-win cooperation, and even when extorting money from the other party, he still gives them room to make a profit.

For Ian Carl, things were much simpler.

Because these policies involve many aspects.

Ian himself doesn't own that many businesses, but he has enough clients and knows too many American business tycoons.

He can contact these clients and encourage them to invest in Russia, providing policy assistance and taking a small stake.

Soon after, Ian contacted Gasker, who then acted as a go-between, connecting dozens of business owners who, upon learning of the agreement reached between Ian Karl and the Russian government, expressed interest and willingness to invest in Russia.

The parties jointly established a company called "Dami United", which covers a wide range of industries and has a total investment of 20 billion. Ian invested 200 million and holds a 2% stake.

Ian brought 20 billion in investment to Russia, and in return, he brought policy benefits to those investors... This is called profiting from both sides.

Therefore, goodwill is like a bridge; you need sufficient resources to maximize its value.

For Ian, although he didn't acquire enough natural gas shares, he still laid the groundwork for his business in Russia.

As for Ian's reward, besides covering up parts of the situation at the Bolshoi Theatre in Russia and helping Russia complete the process of listing Chechen separatists as international terrorists, he also helped Russians have a voice in the United States.

Ekaterina and Natasha were just the beginning; later, there will be others who will use Ian's help to enter the United States and gain opportunities for development, including some Russian business tycoons.

Putin began cleaning up the oligarchs in 00, but it was impossible to completely eliminate them. Many business tycoons still face trouble in the future.

The best option for these people is to invest abroad, like Abramovich who later bought Chelsea!

These people can wield great power in Russia, but in Europe and America, they are nothing more than pigs for meat.

The latest novel is first published here!

With Ian's protection, their assets will be much safer... I'll protect your assets, so taking 20% ​​isn't too much to ask, is it?

You should know that soon, it will be the time for all the bigwigs in Russia to flee!

During this time, Ian met with many important figures and even reached some private cooperation agreements outside of the state. He even met with the Emperor once.

Of course, you should say different things to different people.

To those oligarchs, it's like this: We're all good friends, and your investments in the United States will be protected by Ian Carl.

To the Emperor... Skip!

Meanwhile, reports from Ian were appearing wildly around the world.

News Corp. obtained a massive amount of first-hand news and hyped it up wildly.

While these news reports may not be as high-quality as Ian Carr's exclusive interview with Balayev on CBS, they are plentiful and diverse.

It's important to know that in international news reporting, in order to save costs, the vast majority of media outlets obtain news through news agencies.

For example, the Associated Press, United Press International, Reuters, etc. are specialized international news and communications reporting centers. Supermedia is, in a sense, a supermarket of news; they mainly sell news, rather than receive it.

Or perhaps they are JD.com, with their own vending machines and vending machines from other companies.

News agency reporters typically receive news from multiple sources, not just one. This means that while most media outlets can obtain major international scoops, they rarely have exclusive coverage. This is why most media outlets report on every major international event.

News from news agencies is basically news that is shared.

Ian Carl is different!

His news is mostly exclusive... Other media outlets can report on the story, but they cannot use any videos, pictures, text, or specific content that he has not authorized.

Ian's exclusives went to CBS, Butterfly's exclusives went to News Corp., and the transcripts went to Gannett. Other media outlets didn't have such agreements and could only look on with envy at their content. Only media organizations in overseas countries, because they didn't directly compete with Carl Media, could afford to buy local reports.

In a global market, a single major news story can be worth tens of millions!

As a result, News Corp's reputation soared, and countless media outlets realized: when you work with Ian Carr, you'll never have to worry about a lack of bombshell scoops, and they'll all be exclusive bombshell scoops!

Countless people idolize Ian Carl.

Experts admired his interviewing skills, while laymen admired his physical prowess—although the two beautiful women were credited the most after the news was released, the hostages were unaware of Ian's contribution.

This has once again made Ian Carl a hot topic in the United States.

People watched the video of Ian Hunting Down Chechen militants and were full of praise:

"I knew this guy was something special; his skills are outstanding."

"Look at that stab, it was absolutely beautiful."

"Ian Carr, he's not just a journalist, I think he's more like a secret agent. What's amazing is that he's never served in the military."

"Don't you think the most important thing is Ian Carl's mental fortitude? He's never known fear. He can talk fluently with kidnappers, and he can also kill them when they turn on him."

"Wasn't it because of those two beautiful women's help?"

"I only saw the propaganda on paper, and I didn't see much of their actual work. I don't think they have made much of a contribution. It's just Russians trying to make themselves look good."

"But Ian Carl also admitted that he only dealt with a quarter of the bandits, and the rest were taken care of by the two of them and the special forces."

"Isn't the key question why those two girls were able to go to such lengths?"

"I heard they are swallows."

"Fuck! You mean the Russians arranged for swallows for Ian Karl?"

"Is this surprising? Doesn't he deserve to be treated like this?"

"The question is, does Ian Carl know this?"

"Of course he knows, you idiot. Ian Carr himself admitted they were swallows."

"You actually admit to this?"

"Why can't we admit it? They quit their jobs and changed careers! Ian Carr said he'd bring them back to Hollywood to make spy movies."

"Fuck, isn't this another Shawna? They must have slept with Ian Karl."

"No surprise, buddy. Didn't you see the news? Ian Karl was having a good time with two beauties while he was a hostage. It must be those two! I heard they did it for three hours! I don't believe it, he must be bragging!"

"Ian Carr said two hours and twelve minutes wasn't his limit!"

"I want to be a hostage like that too!"

"I'd rather be that kind of beauty, Ian Carl, Fakmi!!! I'd castrate myself for you!"

A cacophony of howling and wailing filled the air, accompanied by the joy of countless people.

There's one thing the public is right about.

The heroic actions of the two beautiful female agents and their resolute resignation to venture into Hollywood are indeed a story, and also the capital that made them famous.

That's Ian Carr for you; he always manages to cultivate one celebrity after another and then make the most of them.

In addition, there is good news: the Bolshoi Theatre incident has finally resulted in an upgrade for Ian's right eye.

The invisible giant has reappeared.

Unfortunately, it wasn't very useful.

In this world of money, ability is valued for its usefulness, not its power—no matter how strong an invisible giant is, how many missiles can it withstand?

This left Ian feeling helpless, as if his cheat codes couldn't keep up with his progress.

(End of this chapter)