Chapter 40: Can't Hide
Seeing Adrian's gaze, Song Yang thought for a moment and understood what Adrian wanted to do.
"According to the plan, DoubleClick will have 300 advertising sales staff by the end of the year..."
Before Song Yang finished speaking, Adrian said directly, "Double Click Company must complete the staff expansion before the end of next month!"
In Adrian's constituency, 300 new jobs mean 300 families will vote for him. These 300 families may even affect 600 or 800 votes!
Why do those powerful people in the federation want to curry favor with big groups? Besides being able to obtain campaign funds, those big groups have tens of thousands of people under their umbrella and can influence hundreds of thousands of votes in tens of thousands of families, which is enough to decide whether a certain congressman in a region stays or goes.
When Song Yang heard that Adrian was going to interfere with Double Click Company, he frowned slightly. Adrian disrupted the original plan of Double Click Company.
At this time, Matthews, who was standing aside, coughed and said, "Senator Adrian, I remember you are promoting a proposal for emerging technology companies in Houston?!"
Adrian slapped his forehead, as if he had just remembered something, and said to Song Yang, "I am promoting a proposal for emerging technology companies in Houston, exempting emerging companies like DoubleClick from taxes for one year, so that they can develop better!"
This is an exchange. As long as Song Yang can add 300 jobs to Adrian's constituency, he can use his power as a member of parliament to exempt Double Click Company from taxes for one year.
You should know that Texas does not collect state taxes, nor does it collect taxes from the rich. If DoubleClick is exempted from taxes now, it will at least reduce its expenses by one third. As for whether it will be exempted next year or whether it will get subsidies, it depends on its relationship with Adrian.
Faced with such conditions, Song Yang had no reason to refuse. "I also think that DoubleClick has reached the point where it needs to expand its staff."
"I believe Councilman Adrian is the best candidate for mayor of Houston. For this reason, I am willing to donate funds to Councilman Adrian's campaign office!"
Seeing Song Yang being so considerate, Adrian finally smiled. Song Yang's willingness to invest in his campaign had already shown his attitude.
As for how much to invest, Adrian didn't care too much. This was not a state election or a congressional election, and he was running in the Elephant Party's territory. In fact, he didn't have much money to spend. It would depend more on the connections Adrian had accumulated over the years and the support of the Elephant Party bosses.
When it comes to the gubernatorial election or even the presidential election, that's when money is burned, easily reaching hundreds of billions of US dollars. With Song Yang's current wealth, he hasn't even got the admission ticket to this money-burning game.
Even though those big donors are spending money so desperately, as long as the one they support becomes the president, the money they spent can be earned back many times over in the next four years. Otherwise, who would be willing to do a losing business in America?
Adrian patted Song Yang on the shoulder, then he and Matthews went to talk to the next person. After leaving, Adrian whispered to Matthews, "Not bad young man!"
Matthews could tell that Adrian was quite satisfied with Song Yang. Generally speaking, if young Americans of Song Yang's age had as much wealth as Song Yang, they would probably be extremely arrogant and would dislike everyone, let alone listen to the nagging of someone like Adrian.
"Young people are prone to making mistakes and often fail to judge who their allies and opponents are. In addition, most of their wealth is just paper wealth..."
As Adrian's chief of staff, Matthews is more cautious than Adrian. He has to select the most suitable allies for Adrian and deal with the most difficult opponents.
Adrian laughed, looked back at Song Yang, and whispered to Matthews, "I hope he can get up. Cheniere Energy and United Energy are going too far..."
When saying this, Adrian looked a little dissatisfied. It was obvious that the support of Adrian by those energy giants in Houston was not cheap, and their appetite was growing. At least in comparison, Song Yang was much easier to talk to.
Adrian doesn't want to be a puppet manipulated by a giant company. You know, he is famous for his decisive character and resolute tactics, but he has become more and more smooth in recent years.
Just as Adrian and Matthews left, a special person came to Song Yang's side. When people in the small restaurant saw this person coming to Song Yang, they couldn't help but look over.
"President Kenneth!"
Song Yang didn't expect that Kenneth, the boss of Enron, would come to see him specifically.
"Would you like to talk for a few minutes?" Kenneth handed Song Yang a glass of wine.
Song Yang took the wine glass and nodded. Kenneth spoke personally, and Song Yang had no way to refuse. Enron was now a behemoth with annual revenue of over 10 billion US dollars. If they provoked Enron in Houston, Song Yang and DoubleClick would definitely be the ones who would not be able to stay.
"Although Enron is a traditional energy company, it is not opposed to emerging businesses. In fact Enron is preparing for telecommunications business!" Kenneth took a sip of wine and said to Song Yang.
Song Yang took a sip of wine and showed a surprised look, but his mind was working fast, wondering why Kenneth said this to him. Anyway, coming from the mouth of someone of Kenneth's status, it must be no trivial matter.
"Enron is at the forefront of the times and is more innovative than Microsoft and Intel!"
Song Yang praised Kenneth, which was true. Microsoft and Intel's reactions were indeed not as good as Enron's. Enron had already started to get involved in telecommunications, but these two companies were still slow to act. It was only when Netscape hit them in the face that Microsoft reacted.
Kenneth couldn't help but burst into laughter again. He felt that the young man Song Yang was much more pleasing to the eye than the others. He liked An Ran to become "new" rather than remain the same.
"Enron is interested in developing in the telecommunications broadband and Internet industries. Enron even has an Internet-based plan. Song, maybe Enron and DoubleClick can cooperate!"
Kenneth hinted at something, patted Song Yang's shoulder like a big boss, and left.
In the small restaurant, seeing Kenneth leaving with a big laugh, everyone looked at Song Yang with a new respect. They didn't expect that he would be favored by someone like Kenneth.
Gleick was also a little excited. This was Enron, an absolute giant in America. It ranked seventh among the giant companies in America and sixteenth among the Fortune Global 500. Being associated with such a giant was enough to double the company and help it soar to the sky.
However, Song Yang did not feel happy at all. Instead, he felt bitter. He couldn't avoid it even if he wanted to. He already knew what Kenneth was going to do. It could only be the trading website Enron Online.
