America 1982-Chapter 587 - 127: A Man of His Word, Virtuous Behavior_2

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Apart from this queer mayor whose taste was too perverse, treating a prison sentence as if it were a visit to a nightclub for enjoyment, Tommy couldn’t think of any other reason why Ed Koch would want himself to go to prison.

"Of course, it is a bit exaggerated, but that was what I requested. I have to charge this guy some interest to make him realize that deceiving me for so long comes with a price," Al Gore said with a smile over the phone, "Ed only took thirty-six thousand dollars, that’s true. He blew things out of proportion on purpose because I know that every borough president in New York has been on the take from the parking meter companies, and it’s much more than thirty-six thousand dollars. A few borough presidents with Republican Party affiliations will go to prison, but for those with Democratic Party affiliations who want to keep their seats, it’s open to negotiation, depending on whether they are willing to have their constituents support a certain person."

"As long as you’re having fun, that’s all that matters. I just want to make sure Ed Koch is aware of the consequences of his actions. I’m a kind person; I never thought of sending the mayor to jail to party," Tommy said and then hung up the phone, turning to his angel investor, Benjamin Rosen.

Benjamin was fiddling with a Rubik’s cube in his hand. When Tommy hung up the phone, he stopped and placed the cube back on the desk, his wrinkled face showing confusion, "I just received news from Australia. Japanese consortiums have pulled out of the Australian short-term money market, heading to China. Murdoch News Corp previously had a credit line of up to two hundred million British pounds in the Australian short-term money market, with the lenders mainly being Japanese consortiums offering temporary funding with terms of thirty days, seven days, or even one day. They were Murdoch’s most powerful aids. One call from Murdoch, no collateral needed, and he could immediately secure two hundred million pounds. The Australian short-term money market was an important venue for Murdoch’s capital market maneuvers, but now, his most vital source of funds has vanished."

"What are you trying to say?" Tommy picked up the Rubik’s cube the other had put down, closed his eyes, and started twisting it. After roughly twenty seconds, he stopped. The once color-mixed cube was now perfectly solved.

"I don’t know what to say. A few Californian banks swallowed up a bunch of short-term debts left by the Japanese, amounting to about one hundred forty million British pounds," Benjamin sighed.

The young man across from him was his Stanford schoolmate, a brother of the SSD fraternity, the subject he had been optimistic about and had bet on investing in. Over the years, Tommy had proved impeccable, and the investment returns were increasingly lucrative, but Benjamin had gone from initially being delighted to somewhat terrified.

Others might not know what Tommy was thinking, but he and Jim fully understood. Tommy’s timing in making a move against Murdoch was as if the bastard were a visitor from the future in a sci-fi film, having anticipated everything.

He established the VOX News Network, set up a financial television network, and then with his, Benjamin Rosen’s, half-life connections on Wall Street, helped Tommy secure investments and loans from multiple Wall Street investment banks. This meant that without Tommy’s television network, Murdoch could have had 100% backing in loans on Wall Street, but due to Tommy’s early operations, Murdoch could no longer gain 100% support. Murdoch was Jewish, true, but he was an Australian Jew, while he himself was an American Jew, having worked on Wall Street at Goldman Sachs for half a lifetime.

Then, as the United States Government tried to defame communism domestically in another round, Tommy jumped out, ostensibly to criticize communism but instead smeared Murdoch, making him notorious in the United States at this moment. The American politicians who spoke for him were also ruined, leading to no one daring to speak rashly for this Australian anymore.

Japan was withdrawing from the Western capital markets and beginning to flood into the East.

If it were someone else, these seemingly unrelated events might not warrant a blink of an eye, but for Murdoch, this was Tommy’s brutal strike after years of preparation. The crisis was as if it had been tailor-made for him.

Murdoch, who had been in trade for decades, loathed one thing the most – raising capital for company expansion through issuing stocks. He did not want to relinquish absolute control over his company. Also, because he had plundered too many companies using this tactic, he didn’t want one day for someone to turn this move against him. Therefore, the Murdoch family always maintained 45% ownership of News Corp, and all expansion capital came through loans.

Now, the lifeline of funds had been severed. The short and long-term loans regarding Murdoch News Corp, consumed by banks under the California financiers over the years, totaled up to $470 million. Compared to News Corp’s twenty billion market value, it might seem insignificant, but the problem was, with the Japanese funds pulling out from the Australian short-term money market, it meant that Murdoch could no longer borrow new money in the Australian capital market, nor could he in England and Europe, as he had already taken loans there before. Moreover, with the withdrawal of Japanese funds, all Western nations’ capital would retract and observe due to this large capital fluctuation, making it impossible to lend with ease.

Or rather, even if a new loan came in, would Murdoch be willing to use it to pay off the due debts of the American News Corp?

Improbable, because the launch of Sky Television Network was imminent. Renting satellites, purchasing licenses, greasing the wheels, and preparing for the European Satellite Television Associations had already cost Murdoch a fortune, representing the largest investment he had made in his business career. Banks queued up to lend Murdoch money for the burn, understanding that if Sky Television Network succeeded, all European television audiences would be Murdoch’s disciples. To avoid being killed by those hopeful creditors, Murdoch had to hold out until the actual launch of the Sky Television Network, otherwise, stepping back meant all previous efforts were in vain. British Satellite Broadcasting Company would block his ascent to the throne immediately, taking the crown for themselves. Therefore, there was no way he could stop burning through money.