America 1982-Chapter 591 - 128: Someone Should Help Us Retire Gracefully_3

Everyone now believes that Tommy Hawk must have set his sights on the two juicy pieces of Fox, and indeed this was the case, but it underestimated the bastard’s appetite. If Murdoch had not chosen to take a lying down and endure the beating but instead wanted to teach Tommy a lesson before he left, then he would have just fallen into the trap Tommy had set for him.

Murdoch’s choice to be a coward and quietly roll out of America was the best option. If he dared to fight back, not only should he prepare to sell his film and television industry assets, but also his newspaper business in the United States.

...

Murdoch acted very decisively. When Citibank told him they could not persuade all creditors to agree to a loan extension, giving him half a year’s time, and also that no capitalists wanted to help him acquire these billions of dollars of maturing debts at a high price, he immediately made the decision to sell Fox Film Corporation and Fox Television Network, making the choice swiftly without any hesitation.

For the current News Corporation, continuing to own Fox was certainly very good, but it would take many years of operation to stand out alone in America. However, in England, Murdoch needed only a bloody battle to take down BBC, and then his Sky Television Network would be able to dominate the whole of Europe.

After all, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. He chose to give up the tough nut of America and swallow Europe.

Just after News Corporation submitted the application to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to sell Fox Television Network and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Turner, Steve, and other executives from the three major television networks—who had previously been united with Tommy against Murdoch—began to each demonstrate their ability and made contact with News Corporation.

Tommy Hawk, who had played a pivotal role in the process of sullying Murdoch, who had been regarded as a close partner by the three major television networks, who had been treated like a son by Turner, suddenly seemed forgotten by everyone, as if they had never known this young man at all.

The three major television networks and Turner were all well aware of the value of Fox Television Network. The fantastic shows produced by Fox, like streams of honey, continuously attracted advertisers to spend their money. They were determined to win, but unfortunately, the core assets of Fox Television Network—the eight flagship stations in America’s seven major cities—were not acquired by any of the three major networks. Murdoch’s enemy, old Turner, did not even get a chance to negotiate.

Former America’s richest man, John Kruger, used his previously established right of first refusal from when he sold his television assets to Murdoch, to repurchase Fox Television Network for $3.5 billion in cash. When asked by reporters why he sold it for $2.5 billion four years ago and now repurchased it with an additional $1 billion, the German old man humorously said it was because his grandson liked to watch "The Simpsons" with him on Fox.

Fox Television Network was originally founded by him, but later as his investment focus shifted from media to industry, he sold this portion of assets to Murdoch and turned to operate communications cables and fibre optics business in America and Eastern Europe, believing that the Internet era was more promising. But now repurchasing was also normal, as the Internet had arrived but was not yet deeply integrated into everyday life.

In the end, Fox Film Corporation was jointly acquired by a consortium lead by president Barry Diller, comprising major shareholders of Columbia Pictures Yannick Enters, oil magnate Mark Rich, and major stockholder of the French media conglomerate Vivendi. The total acquisition price was $900 million. Barry Diller continued to serve as president of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, pushing existing movie projects to continue production.

The campaigns by the three major television networks and Turner against Murdoch’s scandal played out like a farce. Murdoch indeed was driven from the American film and television industry due to a financial crisis, but he took away 1.4 billion in cash. And everyone who had been hopping around with Tommy ended up just like him, gaining nothing in the end.

"Why would Vivendi, all the way in France, jump into the acquisition of Hollywood Movie Company!"

"Damn that John Kruger! He had said before that he wasn’t interested in television, that he was betting on the internet! But now this old geezer has come back into the picture? Just because his grandson likes The Simpsons?"

The Hollywood moguls and heads of the three major television networks who had failed to secure their piece of the action could only roar in anger. After their outburst, they felt lucky; although they had gained nothing, they were still more fortunate than Tommy Hawk, who not only gained nothing but also found himself in trouble because of Murdoch.

After Murdoch made 1.4 billion and left in defeat, his newspapers in the United State America—including The Washington Post, New York Post, Washington Herald, The Wall Street Journal, and others—quickly released a KeyBank investigation report. This report was completed by four finance journalists who spent months undercover at KeyBank, facing many obstacles, including being directly fired by finance TV magnate Wolfe Tuck at the behest of KeyBank’s upper management.

Fortunately, the four journalists possessed the indefatigable American spirit and dedication to the truth. They insisted on making their investigation public, thereby bringing the report to light. The investigation revealed that KeyBank, a credit union, was suspected of not conducting any credit checks and recklessly granting high-interest loans to low-income groups, encouraging these borrowers to engage in illegal and criminal activities. Overseas, KeyBank was also implicated in collusion with international grain merchants, forcing countries experiencing famine to foot the bill for exorbitant grain prices, and was accused of bribing foreign officials, allowing those countries to mortgage prime assets to KeyBank without their citizens’ knowledge, which KeyBank then sold for profit.

The report even named the owners of KeyBank, including Tommy Hawk and the emerging group of computer industry tycoons he represented, Stephen Binns and the group of California bankers he represented, Jim Manzi and the group of US politicians he represented, and Benjamin Rosen and the Wall Street group.

This investigation report almost seamlessly replaced the previous scandal involving Murdoch’s alleged collusion and became a new gossip that caught the attention of the American people. KeyBank, a bank that offered loans to support poor drug traffickers in starting businesses? Honestly, one week before the report was released, many poor devils who had just learnt of this opportunity caused a significant increase in KeyBank’s small loan business, thanks in part to the free publicity from Murdoch’s newspapers.

This time, the President did not choose to remain silent. In response to a reporter’s questions, he stated that he would push for the Federal Government to conduct the necessary investigation into KeyBank, and if the bank indeed engaged in the illegal activities reported, the culprits would certainly be sent where they belonged.

"Under normal circumstances, as the story goes, the group behind us is supposed to send someone to help us get out of this gracefully," Tommy said as he finished reading the newspaper report about KeyBank and tossed it on the ground, then spat his chewing gum on top of it:

"Mr. President needs a lesson. He shouldn’t be in such a hurry to take revenge for Mr. Murdoch, to prove to Murdoch that he doesn’t just take money without acting. I mean, at least he should let agencies like the FBI, CIA or whatever other powerful organization figure out how this report came about first. If he knew that the juicy bits in this report were carefully selected by Tommy Hawk to be leaked to those four idiots, he probably wouldn’t start the investigation so rashly."