Volume 4: White Devil Chapter 285: Keep your word, good character
Ed Curtra, the good guy in the Democratic Party and the three-term mayor of New York City, received more vicious greetings in just one week than in the previous decades combined. And according to Tommy's idea of institutionalized freedom, New Yorkers discovered the truth, that is, there is no freedom at all in New York where they live.
In New York, in addition to gays not being able to go to entertainment venues, the New York Giants, an American football team, were not allowed to hold a victory parade in the city when they won the Super Bowl. Mayor Ed Currie rejected the team's application to hold a traditional victory parade in New York without giving any reason, simply exercising the administrative power granted to him by the citizens of New York.
Now, reporters are digging up the reason he refused to approve the victory parade, because the mayor had a nervous breakdown and didn't want New York City to be filled with drunken fans who exceeded the noise limit all night.
The scandal of him holding stocks in a real estate company was exposed in the newspaper, and reporters continued to dig deeper and found that he held stocks of not only real estate companies, but also TLTV, a New York cable TV company owned by Murdoch, and a CTS parking fee collection company, which also involved an old corruption case from three years ago.
In 1986, Donald Menes, the Liberal Party mayor of Queens, New York, committed suicide. The official reason given was that his corruption was exposed and he was facing charges and prosecution, which led to a mental breakdown and eventual suicide. Now, everyone has discovered that several companies owned by the mayor are exactly the same as those of the deceased, and people are beginning to question whether Donald committed suicide.
Because the district chief had enough props for suicide, such as a pistol, high-dose sleeping pills, poison sticks, etc. at home, he chose the most bizarre way to die. He stabbed himself in the heart with the large kitchen knife at home. His wife did not stop him or call the police at the scene. Her first reaction was to rush forward and pull out the knife, accelerating her husband's death. The wife explained to the police that the reason she pulled out the knife was that she wanted to help her husband stop the bleeding. The police found a stranger's fingerprints on the knife, but because the wife's reckless behavior of pulling out the knife to save her husband, the police could not capture more detailed fingerprint clues. Of course, the wife insisted that there was no third person present at the time.
Moreover, with Donald's suicide that year, the investigation ended quickly. In the end, the police announced that Donald accepted a bribe of up to 36,000 yuan from a parking fee collection company. After the incident was exposed, he chose to commit suicide due to excessive mental pressure. The police recovered the bribe money and the case was closed. Afterwards, Donald's wife and daughter inherited other inheritance and quietly moved out of New York.
At that time, countless New York citizens lamented that a district head committed suicide out of shame and anger for $36,000? The amount of money embezzled was not even as much as the district head's annual salary.
But now, people have discovered that CTS Parking Collection Company, which contracts all parking collection business in New York City, did bribe Donald a real amount of 36,000 yuan, but it was not the total amount, but once a year, which has lasted for at least ten years, and Donald has been re-elected as the mayor of Queens for fifteen years.
Even Donald was not the only one who received bribes. It was revealed that New York Mayor Ed Curtis also received a fee of 36,000 US dollars. If we count from the time CTS Toll Collection Company took over the New York parking fee collection business in 1979, the bribes that Ed Curtis received from one company in ten years amounted to 360,000 US dollars.
This completely aroused the anger of New Yorkers. Three hundred and sixty thousand for one company. God knows how many municipal engineering contracting companies gave bribes, ten, fifty?
Ed Currie's reaction was the same as always. He endured all the doubts with a gentle manner and publicly stated that, first, in view of the doubts raised by New York citizens, he would give up seeking re-election. Second, he was willing to accept the investigation and bear the consequences if the court found him guilty.
In the eyes of all politicians, this means that he has acquiesced to everyone's doubts about him and has taken the initiative to end his political career. You know, this old man is the mayor of New York, the owner of the largest city in the United States. Now, just because this good man said a few words for Murdoch, countless reporters rushed up like hungry strong men, stripped him clean, and waited to be sent to court!
Former President Reagan and current President Bush, who had just received a call from Murdoch and were preparing to arrange for their staff to find an opportunity to express their views, immediately calmed down and realized that there was a misunderstanding in their previous thinking, that is, accepting benefits from Murdoch does not mean defending Murdoch, and silence does not affect receiving money. They dare not deal with most of the people, but they can definitely deal with Murdoch who does not give them money.
No one wants to be targeted by countless reporters, and no one can quietly kill all the reporters who try to break the news. The best attitude is to protect yourself and stay away from Murdoch for the time being.
"Al, isn't your good friend exaggerating a little? I mean he should kill himself. I just hope he will sacrifice his political life. I don't intend to put him in jail." Tommy looked at the various news reports about Ed Curtry in New York during this period and called Al Gore to ask.
He let Ed Currie jump out to defend Murdoch, and then used the scandals provided by Ed Currie himself to attack him, making him lose his political life, and teaching other politicians who were ready to speak for Murdoch what it means to shut up. However, Mr. Ed Currie's methods were too exaggerated. He provided the information about the parking fee company and Mayor Donald's suicide. If this situation continued, the other party would not only lose his political life, but might even have to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Tommy couldn't think of any other reason why Ed Curchu wanted to go to jail, except that the gay mayor had such a strong taste that he treated going to jail like going to a nightclub.
"Of course, it's a bit exaggerated, but that's what I asked for. I have to charge this guy some interest to make him understand that there is a price to pay for deceiving me for so long." Al Gore smiled and said on the other end of the phone, "Ed only received 36,000 dollars, that's true. The reason why he deliberately made a big deal out of it is because I know that all the borough mayors in New York have taken benefits from the parking fee collection company, and the amount is far more than 36,000 dollars. Several borough mayors with Republican identities will go to jail. However, if the borough mayors with Democratic identities want to continue to hold their positions, it can be discussed. It depends on whether they are willing to let the voters in their jurisdiction support someone."
"Just have fun. I just want to make sure Ed Cotcher knows the consequences of his actions. I'm a kind person and have never thought of sending the mayor to jail for a party." Tommy hung up the phone and looked at his angel investor Benjamin Rosen.
Benjamin was spinning a Rubik's Cube in his hand. He waited until Tommy hung up the phone before he stopped and put the Rubik's Cube back on the table. His wrinkled face was full of confusion. "I just received news from Australia that Japanese consortiums have withdrawn from the Australian short-term money market and have gone to China. Murdoch's News Corporation previously had a credit line of 200 million pounds in the Australian short-term money market. The lenders were mainly Japanese consortiums. They provided temporary financing for a period of 30 days, seven days or one day. They were once Murdoch's most powerful assistants. Murdoch could get 200 million pounds immediately with just one phone call without any guarantee. The Australian short-term money market was originally an important place for Murdoch to maneuver in the capital market, but now, his most important source of funds no longer exists."
"What do you want to say?" Tommy picked up the Rubik's Cube that the other party put down, closed his eyes and twisted it. After about twenty seconds, he stopped, and the Rubik's Cube with messed up colors had been perfectly restored.
"I don't know what to say. Several banks in California took over a pile of short-term debts left by the Japanese, about 140 million pounds." Benjamin sighed.
The young man opposite was his Stanford alumnus, Brother SSD, the one he was optimistic about and had made investments in. Tommy's performance over the years had certainly been impeccable, and his investment returns had become increasingly generous, but Benjamin's initial delight had turned into a bit of horror.
Others didn't know what Tommy was thinking, but he and Jim knew it completely. Tommy attacked Murdoch and chose the right time as if this bastard was a visitor from the future in a science fiction movie, predicting everything.
He founded the VOX news network and a financial television network, and then through his Benjamin Rosen connections from half a lifetime of work on Wall Street, he helped Tommy obtain investments and loans from several Wall Street investment banks. In other words, if it weren't for Tommy's television network, Murdoch would have been able to get 100% of the loans on Wall Street, but because Tommy had asked him to operate in Wall Street in advance, Murdoch could no longer get 100% support. It's true that Murdoch is Jewish, but he is an Australian Jew , while he is an American Jew who has worked at Goldman Sachs on Wall Street for half his life.
Then, when the US government tried to discredit communism again at home, Tommy jumped out and used the excuse of criticizing communism to discredit Murdoch, making him infamous in the United States. The American politicians who spoke for him also became disgraced, causing no one to dare to speak up for this Australian anymore.
Japan withdrew from Western capital markets and began to flock to the East.
If it were someone else, these seemingly unrelated events might not be worth making a fuss about, but for Murdoch, this was a brutal blow that Tommy had been preparing for years, and this crisis seemed tailor-made for him.
Murdoch has been in the business world for decades, and the thing he hates most is to solve the problem of raising funds for company expansion by issuing stocks. He is unwilling to give up his absolute control over the company. At the same time, he has plundered too many companies in this way, so he does not want others to use this trick on him one day. Therefore, the Murdoch family has always held a 45% stake in News Corporation, and all funds for expansion come from loans.
Now, the capital chain is broken. The long-term and short-term loans that Tommy has been letting the banks under the California consortium take over for Murdoch's News Corporation have totaled to 470 million US dollars. Compared with the 20 billion market value of Murdoch's News Corporation, this may not be worth mentioning, but the problem is that with the withdrawal of Japanese funds from the Australian short-term money market, this means that Murdoch can no longer borrow new money in the Australian capital market, and it is even more impossible in the UK and Europe because all the money that could be borrowed before has been borrowed. Moreover, with the withdrawal of Japanese funds, the capital of all Western countries will choose to temporarily shrink and wait and see due to this large-scale capital fluctuation, and it will no longer be possible to lend money easily.
In other words, even if a new loan is approved, would Murdoch be willing to use it to repay News Corporation's maturing debts?
It's impossible, because the Sky TV network is about to be launched. Previously, renting satellites, purchasing licenses, opening up connections, and preparing various European satellite TV associations have already cost Murdoch countless funds. It can be said to be the largest investment he has made since he started his business. Banks of all sizes are lining up to lend money to Murdoch to burn. Everyone who lends him money understands that if the Sky TV network is successful, all TV viewers in Europe will be Murdoch's believers. In order not to be killed by those creditors who are optimistic about him, Murdoch must hold on until the Sky TV network is actually launched. Otherwise, taking a step back will be tantamount to wasting all his previous efforts. The British Satellite Broadcasting Corporation will immediately block his way to the throne and crown himself, so he cannot stop burning money.
And Tommy is now coming to collect the overdue debt, the consequence of which is to cause a chain reaction. In addition to the nearly $500 million in short-term debt that Tommy holds through a dozen California banks, Murdoch also has nearly $4 billion in debt held by more than one hundred other banks, most of which are short-term debts. This is a big mistake Murdoch made because of greed. He had hoped to wait until the short-term debt interest rate drops and then convert these short-term debts into long-term debts to take advantage of the banks.
But now, with the withdrawal of Japanese funds and capital becoming conservative, all loan interest rates will surely increase sharply, and the process of converting to long-term debt will probably no longer be as easy as before. Simply put, creditors now hope that borrowers will repay the money in time to ensure that the principal is in hand, and no longer covet the interest.
If Murdoch chooses to issue new shares or sell stocks to raise funds to repay the debt, the number of new shares required to issue and the proportion of shares to be sold to meet the 4 billion debt will be astronomical, large enough to make the Murdoch family lose its controlling stake in News Corporation. Murdoch will never accept this option. This empire must be his, and he will not abdicate.
If Murdoch chooses to initiate debt restructuring negotiations, it means that he needs to find a creditor who is strong enough to lend him the largest loan and has sufficient funds to form a committee, complete the asset appraisal report of all News Corporation's subsidiaries and make it public, prepare to restructure News Corporation, and most importantly, convince more than 100 creditors to allow News Corporation's debt to be extended. At present, Citibank is the only choice, and Citibank will definitely promote debt restructuring on behalf of Murdoch. After all, it lent Murdoch $1.1 billion and is the largest creditor.
But this is also impossible to achieve, because no matter whether others agree or not, Tommy will never agree to extend the 400 million he holds, unless Citibank, which stands for Murdoch, is willing to take over the debt held by Tommy at a high enough price so that Tommy can leave with satisfaction. However, no matter how rich Citibank is, it will not satisfy Tommy's appetite, because once the gap is opened and Tommy is fed, other creditors will immediately flock in, and it will be even more impossible to choose a debt extension.
There are only two options left: one, Murdoch announces that he cannot repay the debts due, and News Corporation goes bankrupt and liquidates; two, Murdoch sells some of his high-quality assets to raise funds to get through this difficult time.
Benjamin Rosen gradually saw these ideas clearly as the situation developed, but the problem was that as a capitalist who had worked on Wall Street for half his life, he only saw them clearly now, while Tommy Hawke on the other side had started to arrange things around these two endings a few years ago.
You know, the most crucial point here is that the capital of Japanese consortiums moved eastward. A few years ago, the Japanese were still arrogantly announcing the purchase of the entire Western Hemisphere. The most astute financial experts would not believe that Japanese funds could be withdrawn so easily from the United States, Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and poured into China all at once.
Even a few weeks ago, no one dared to make such a judgment, because the United States had just taught the Japanese a lesson and helped them replace a more obedient prime minister!
But now Japan has given its answer. Obviously, the fact that the Prime Minister is more obedient does not mean that Japanese capital is willing to listen to the Americans.
Australia is Murdoch's base. It is impossible for him to sell the assets in his hometown because, in addition to newspapers, he also holds many high-quality minerals in Australia. The assets in the UK are even more impossible. That foundation is a tool for Murdoch to control British politicians. Without those, he will not be able to continue expanding in Europe, not to mention that his ambition to rule Europe with the Sky TV network is still burning in him.
Only American assets are his best option. The film and television assets of Fox TV Network and Fox Film Corporation, and the newspaper assets of The Washington Post and The New York Post. Selling any one of them would be enough to get him through this.
Because Murdoch's News Corporation has not yet formed a real monopoly in the United States, and cannot completely use the media to control the fate of politicians like he did in Australia and the United Kingdom, for Murdoch, he can abandon this part, retreat to the safe cave like a venomous snake, and slowly look for the next opportunity to land in America.
Australia and England are his caves.
The problem is that no matter which one Murdoch sells, Fox or the Post, it will be enough for him to get through this difficult time, but no matter which one he sells, Tommy Hawke has already made preparations.
He owns a TV network and Stephen owns a film company, which allows them to calmly join the feast of dividing Fox. At the same time, Ted of SSD owns The Washington Star. If Murdoch chooses to sell the two well-known newspapers , Ted can join the negotiations to acquire the newspapers. No matter which assets Murdoch sells, he will be ready to take over.
When the boy had told him, a few years before, that he was going to swallow Fox, Benjamin had taken it as a little joke played by a proud young man.
Now, everything that was happening before his eyes told him that this kid, Tommy Hawke, had turned an impossible joke into reality.
"Murdoch must really hate me. I haven't even met him, but I punched him so rudely. He must think that I, a wild country boy, am a bastard." Tommy put the Rubik's Cube back, picked up a cigarette, lit it and continued:
"But he's got it worse than me, he's from rural Australia."
"I think the consequence of him hating you is that he won't sell his assets to you even if he wants to. Those American tycoons are now united with you in hatred of the enemy, and they will get rid of them at the first opportunity... Oh My God..." Benjamin wanted to remind Tommy casually, although he thought Tommy should have considered this issue and he was just acting subconsciously. But when he was halfway through, he suddenly paused, and his gray-blue eyes locked tightly on Tommy Hawke's calm face:
"What you asked Wolf Tucker, Otilia, and Jim to do was to provide Murdoch with a rope, letting him pick it up in a panic, put it around his own neck, and then flip the switch of the noose himself. You are not the person waiting in front of the gallows to search the pockets of the corpse for silver coins. You are the vulture waiting to eat the carrion."
Tommy nodded. "The layout of the past few years is due to the advancement of the times. What you said at the end is my original work. Yes, vulture, eating carrion can also make me strong."
"Keep your word, that's a fine character." Benjamin Rosen even felt frustrated. As the young man gradually matured, he could give him less and less advice. The old man's life experience didn't seem that important to Tommy.
He stood up slowly. "I'll go talk to Stephen and see if we should discuss it. I'll pick a good day to knock on Murdoch's door and collect the debt. I'd better come to your office less often in the future, because I feel like I'm getting old too fast here."
"You know I can't live without you, Benjamin. Without you, I wouldn't be able to achieve what I have today. And you are absolutely right. I like to keep my word." Tommy also stood up, patted the other's broad back, and walked outside with him.
Benjamin took a few steps and suddenly turned his head to look at Tommy: "Keep your word. You mentioned this at the headquarters. I still remember it. It had better be a joke."
"I won't give up this good quality." Tommy smiled at him. "You'll see."
Benjamin sighed, came to his senses from the shock, and continued to move forward: "God, please don't let me witness that day. You are a lunatic, Tommy."
