Chapter 23 Warning
By October, except for 10% of KFC shares, Zhang Feng had sold all the other stocks. Due to the madness of the stock market during that period, Zhang Feng's assets increased significantly again.

Today, Little John sent a message from New York that the total funds for this liquidation are more than 9 million US dollars. Now he has started to implement the next plan, investing 4 million US dollars to short the stock market. Half of it has been invested so far, and it will probably take another week to complete.

Yes, Zhang Feng finally couldn't resist the temptation and shorted the stock market. He knew that he could make money just by moving his fingers, but he couldn't make the decision to give up.

However, he now feels a little regretful. The danger of snatching food from the mouths of a group of big sharks can be imagined. Although he has made concessions, not only did he not increase leverage, he also only invested half of his assets, which was already very restrained.

Zhang Feng is a little worried now and needs to continue to hone his skills. After all, he has basically not encountered any setbacks since he started his business, and he was just an ordinary person before. It seems that only time can help him to settle down.

Zhang Feng is now extremely insecure. He is thinking of a plan in his mind, but the most important thing now is to wait for the economic crisis to come. Only after this wave of money feast is over can he calm down and think.

Just as Zhang Feng was at home with his wife and children, waiting, this day finally came.

1929 10 Month 29 Day.

On this day, in the bustling city of New York, crowds gathered on Wall Street. The arrival of the black swan and the stock market crash caused panic among people.

No matter whether it is a prosperous or chaotic era, the world will not actually undergo major changes. Even in the biggest crisis, there will always be people who can benefit from it. Who can tell whether it is a natural disaster or a man-made disaster?

The New York Stock Exchange at that time was like the Myanmar A Stock Exchange in later generations. People were selling stocks in large quantities every day. Even though the stock market had fallen to the ground, there were still people dumping the stock. Even though the government had issued policies to rescue the market many times, it still could not stop the downward trend because the big capitalist consortiums still had room for profit and could make money by short selling.

So no matter what time it is, these people can always make money in their own way, and in the end they can get high-quality bloody assets with super cheap funds.

Regardless of what roles the capitalists, the powerful, the government, etc. played, Zhang Feng had no intention of discussing them. He just wanted to play their roles instead of being the object of exploitation.

Although Zhang Feng made a fortune this time, this crisis also made Zhang Feng realize that he still has a long way to go, otherwise he might end up like those people in free fall at any time. There is no shortage of wealthy people among them, but they still cannot escape this tragic fate. At this time, they are not even as good as ordinary people.

Of course, this is relative to those who have no assets and can only be exploited infinitely. They have never gained anything, so there is no such thing as loss. They cannot understand these things, perhaps because they have become numb.

In the last month of 1929, Zhang Feng reaped rich rewards from this crisis. Now, his several companies have a total of 12 billion US dollars in cash in their accounts. It is no exaggeration to say that he is rich enough to rival a country.

Of course, they are still not as good as large financial groups like Morgan and Rockefeller, which are the ones who have gained the most in this crisis. They are the bankers in the gambling, and they have repeatedly reaped the biggest profits regardless of whether the stock market rises or falls. In the subsequent process, no one has the strength to own high-quality underlying assets, nor do they dare to compete with them.

In the coming period of time, countless people will go bankrupt and countless people will lose their jobs. John Jr. is now negotiating an acquisition with Paramount.

In real history, in 1916, the two production companies merged to form Paramount-Lasky Company. The following year, it merged with 12 production companies. Later, Paramount Film Distribution Company was also merged, and then it was renamed Paramount-Lasky Company in 1927.

In 1930, it merged with Publix, which owned several cinemas, and changed its name to Paramount Publix, gradually developing into a large Hollywood company. In 1933, the company was declared bankrupt by the New York Federal District Court due to conflicts among the leadership and poor management. In 1935, it was reorganized into Paramount Pictures.

In order to facilitate the development of the plot, the timeline was moved forward two years. Now Paramount Company is unable to obtain bank loans due to poor management and the coming economic crisis. The company's capital chain has been broken and it will not be long before it files for bankruptcy in court.

According to the information reported by John Little after his investigation, Paramount currently has assets of 4000 million US dollars and liabilities of 3000 million US dollars. Although it is not yet insolvent, it is not far away.

The company has more intangible assets. Countless banks collapsed during the economic crisis, and it is almost impossible to get loans again. The company's shareholders also suffered heavy losses in this crisis. No one is willing to inject capital into such a company on the verge of bankruptcy.

In the eyes of other financial giants, Paramount is nothing more than a junk asset. No one is willing to take it over. Even if there is such an idea, it is not the right time now. It is clear that this crisis will last for a long time. Investing cash in a poorly managed company is tantamount to wasting cash.

So this gave Zhang Feng an opportunity. The reason why Zhang Feng dared to take over was that the opportunity was rare now, and there would be no chance for him in the future. He hoped to create momentum for himself, shape his image, and improve his status through the movie, so as to reduce pressure from all sides.

Secondly, in his memory, the entertainment industry was one of the few industries that bucked the trend and grew during the economic crisis. This was the lipstick effect. People also needed cheap entertainment to numb themselves. Zhang Feng was confident that he could change Paramount's current situation with his foresight advantage.

After a long period of negotiations, Paramount finally relented and proposed the condition of assuming all of the company's debts and paying a 20% premium, and finally that the company's management could not be fired at will.

Zhang Feng did not hesitate any longer and agreed directly. Anyway, he was rich now, and maybe it was his personality from his previous life that was at work. Never mind, he was just being taken advantage of. It was good enough that they were willing to sell to a Chinese person. If it weren't for the economic crisis, these white people would rather the company go bankrupt than sell to him.

After reaching an agreement with the investors in New York, Zhang Feng asked John Jr. to come back quickly to arrange for someone to take over Paramount. Currently, the addresses of the eight major Hollywood film companies are still in Los Angeles, and they will move to other cities one after another in the future. In the end, only one registered address will remain in Hollywood.

Zhang Feng is not good at acquiring and reorganizing companies, but he does not need to handle these personally.

In his memory, due to the coming of the Great Depression, after Paramount was taken over by a banking group, the company's founding father Adolf Zukor had to stand aside. In 1935, Adolf Zukor made a comeback and helped the company escape from the brink of bankruptcy.

This shows that he is still very capable. The company went bankrupt mainly because of infighting among executives and the impact of the economic crisis. So Zhang Feng decided to wait until John Jr. and Paulson completed the acquisition of the company, and then hire Adolf Zukor as the general manager of the company. Then he would spend money to fire the disobedient executives and replace them with a few of his own people to provide checks and balances.

At the end of December, John Jr. and Paulson returned to Los Angeles and hurried to Monchi Manor to report to Zhang Feng.

In the study room of Monchi Manor, "Boss, the shorted stocks have been closed, and the plan has been completed." Paulson said excitedly. He still felt incredible about this operation. The boss's accurate judgment and the large amount of funds in the company's account shocked him.

"Well, you did a good job. This year's reward will be tripled. Maple Leaf Investment Company will no longer invest in stocks in the short term. Now this situation may continue for a long time. You will first assist John Little to complete the acquisition of Paramount, and then listen to my arrangements for the future." Zhang Feng first praised him, then gave him a red date, so that he could work with peace of mind in the future.

"Yes, boss." Paulson is now full of admiration for Zhang Feng and will only carry out Zhang Feng's orders more strictly in the future.

"Little John, after the acquisition of Paramount is completed, Adolf Zukor will continue to serve as the general manager. The company still needs to be cleaned up, and the unsuitable people need to be removed. A few of our people will be assigned, with Adolf Zukor as the main person. Do you understand?" Zhang Feng told him the arrangements in his mind.

"I see, sir, I know what to do." Little John nodded seriously. "Well, what is the current progress of the Times Square property acquisition?" Zhang Feng asked again after talking about Paramount.

"The New York Times still refuses to sell its headquarters building, but the surrounding buildings have already been acquired. In this crisis, many people either went bankrupt or were in urgent need of cash flow, so they were all easily acquired," John Jr. reported.

"Well, since they are unwilling to sell, let's just stop it. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future." Zhang Feng didn't care. He remembered that this area would be very chaotic in the future. As long as he paid enough money, the owner of the New York Times should be happy to change the headquarters building.

After the two left, Zhang Feng took out an unfinished script from the drawer. On the cover was written - The Amazing Spider-Man.

This is the first work Zhang Feng prepared for Paramount after the acquisition. During the economic crisis, everyone must want a superhero to save them and satisfy their psychological comfort.

The reason for choosing this superhero film is that Spider-Man does not require too many special effects, the scenes are not very grand, and the prop suits are also easy to make. Whether it is Spider-Man or the final BOSS Lizard, the protagonist only needs to put on Spider-Man's prop suit and then go to Chinatown to find a few martial arts instructors who know Chinese Kung Fu.

The main purpose is to promote Zhang Feng and Shennong Pharmaceutical Company through this movie, a superhero, a company with conscience and strength, to gain enough trust from the people and benefit the development of his family.

Just when Zhang Feng was preparing to continue expanding his business in America, an uninvited guest suddenly came to Monk Manor.

"Master, someone wants to see you. Here is a visiting card." When Zhang Feng was feeding the koi in the pond, Butler John came over and handed Zhang Feng a visiting card from the Morgan family.

"Well, ask him to come to the study later. I'll go up first." Zhang Feng took a look and said.

"Yes, sir." John came back and walked towards the gate of the manor. The iron gate was still closed at this time. Two bodyguards were standing on the inside. In front of the door stood a middle-aged man in a formal suit with a polite look on his head. He was a little far away, so Zhang Feng couldn't see his appearance clearly.

After Zhang Feng arrived at the study on the second floor and waited for about three minutes, he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Zhang Feng said lightly.

At this time, Butler John pushed the door open and walked in. He came to a place not far from the desk, made way for him, and a middle-aged man appeared behind him.

"Master, I have brought the guests." John said to Zhang Feng.

"Well, you go out first and have someone bring two cups of coffee over." Zhang Feng felt that this person must have something important to tell him, so after thinking about it, he decided to let Butler John leave.

"Please sit down. Are you from New York? What's the current situation at the New York Stock Exchange?" Zhang Feng asked first without going straight to the point.

"Hello, Mr. Monk, I just came from New York. The market is still very bad now. I don't think it will get better in the short term." The middle-aged man said with a very good attitude.

The two chatted for a while, and then a maid brought in two cups of coffee, placed them in front of them, then turned around, closed the door and left.

"Well, I wonder if Mr. Morgan sent you here for some important matter?" Seeing that no one came to disturb him anymore, Zhang Feng decided to get straight to the point and didn't want to continue talking nonsense.

"Oh, Mr. Monk, I'm not Mr. Morgan's man. I'm here to talk to you on behalf of several consortiums. Because you have cooperated with the Morgan family before, I'm here in the name of Mr. Morgan." The middle-aged man explained.

Zhang Feng was shocked after hearing this. These vampires must be coming to him for no good reason, and they were from a consortium.

"Haha, how could I have deserved to have several family consortiums come to talk to me? I wonder what this is about." Zhang Feng quickly used a smile to cover up his inner nervousness.

"Mr. Monkey, you made a lot of money in this crisis and acquired Paramount. Your Shennong Pharmaceutical is also making a fortune. We hope you can stop. You have encroached on too many interests that do not belong to you." The middle-aged man said with a smile, but Zhang Feng could feel the threat hidden in him.

This day finally came. Zhang Feng had actually predicted that this day would come. He had indeed made a lot of money in the past few years, and there would definitely be a lot of people who would be jealous, especially since he had no one to rely on. Others did not take direct action this time, probably because they saw that he had taken the initiative to show goodwill to the Morgan family last time and gave up part of his interests, and there was also the Langsha Stocking Company that cooperated with Howard Hughes, so they just sent someone to remind him.

"Mr. Monkey, you are just a Chinese. I am here just to give you some advice." The middle-aged man continued.

Advice? Warning, right?

"Thank you for your advice. Please go back and tell the people behind you that I will only earn the money that belongs to me and will not be involved in more industries in the future. I also look forward to cooperating with major families and consortiums to gain everyone's friendship." Zhang Feng first made it clear that he would not give up his own interests, but in the end he still softened slightly. There was nothing he could do. The situation was stronger than the person.

"I will definitely convey your words. Now I'm leaving." The middle-aged man said this and got up and left without even drinking a sip of the coffee on the table.

Zhang Feng was still a little panicked at this moment. Thinking of how these capitalists treated their competitors in history, Zhang Feng felt a little chilly.

Throwing bombs into factories and assassinations are commonplace. White people are so barbaric. This makes Zhang Feng feel very insecure. Even if he has more bodyguards, he still can't feel at ease.

Thinking of himself, his family, and his dream of building a consortium, Zhang Feng decided to expand outward from now on. The business in America would remain at this scale for the time being, and there would be opportunities to expand it in the future.

However, this is not safe. Who knows if these people will attack them again in the future? Therefore, they still need to find a backer in the United States. Zhang Feng thought of the future President of the United States, Roosevelt, who will come to power in two or three years.

Zhang Feng plans to find an opportunity to deal with him first, and then sponsor him for the election. Zhang Feng does not expect him to provide him with any help. He just needs him to act as his backer, protect himself, and make others afraid to act rashly.

After all, he has the support of many financial groups, and he is not a big deal as a Chinese. He should not think too highly of himself and expect a white person to give him national interests. That is impossible. Even if he is willing, those white financial groups will not agree.

(End of this chapter)