The journey starts from the Titanic

Situ Nan paused, saw Eastman's face a little darker, and then said: "You are right about this. There is really a conspiracy, but it was not me, but someone else. Yesterday, my people asked I reported that when our Robles Securities Company acquired Kodak stock on the stock market, there was already a mysterious force that was quietly absorbing Kodak stock. Until we joined the snap-ups, the two parties went crazy buying Kodak stock. , So today Kodak’s stock has risen again and again, and it has reached $2.8 per share."

"Is this true? Do you know who that force is?" Eastman didn't expect that there will be so many stories behind this. Hearing Situ Nan's words, he has almost believed in 90% of it, and subconsciously he is in harmony. Situ Nan was on the side.

"It's not clear for the time being, but they are very strong. My people are investigating them, and I believe there will be results soon." Situ Nan shook his head.But I was happy in my heart, and pushed bad things to that mysterious force, so that I could almost clear my suspicion.

"Is it him?" Eastman said in deep thought.

"Oh? Do you know who it is?" Situ Nan asked curiously.

"Not sure, but I know it when I get back to New York. I hope it's not that guy!" Eastman sighed.

"Oh!" Situ Nan said, "In any case, George, I think Kodak will have greater development under your management. I will support you."

Situ Nan expressed his support for Eastman at the right time. Anyway, he never thought about taking care of the company by himself. It is reasonable to hand it over to Eastman.

"Thank you, Stoney!" Eastman said.

With Situ Nan’s promise, Eastman’s position in Kodak will not be affected, and he believes that with sufficient funds, he can lead Kodak through this difficult period smoothly and make Kodak’s development even better. Go up one floor.

In the next two days, Kodak's stock was a little weird, with little trading volume and no fluctuations. Robes Securities and the mysterious force died down.

After a round of trials, everyone was jealous of each other, but the scattered retail investors on the market were watching eagerly. Originally, they complained that Kodak’s stock price fell too fast and they had no time to make a move. When they wanted to make a move, Kodak However, the stock price of the company is rising sharply. Some savvy retail investors immediately changed their minds and stopped selling. They waited for the big players to snap up the stock price to make a profit.

In fact, there are not many Kodak stocks circulating in the market now, and most of them were divided by Robles Securities and that mysterious force a few days ago.

Although I don't know how many Kodak shares the other party holds in his hand, Situ Nan knows that there is definitely not as much as his own.

In any case, after engaging Eastman, Situ Nan finally passed Kodak, but he also paid a total price of less than 8 million US dollars, which is really worth it!

However, in order to resolve Kodak’s financial crisis, Situ Nan had to invest more than US$3 million in investments several times, thus diluting the shares of other shareholders. Instead, Situ Nan’s control of Kodak's shares exceeded 50%.

After this turmoil, Eastman really did not live up to Situ Nan's expectations, and Kodak's financial situation was rectified without much effort.

After that, he took care of Kodak very well, and in the next ten or two decades, Kodak's market value has doubled several times.

In the 1930s, Eastman had to retire due to physical illness. He had been at the helm of Kodak before.

It is a pity that Eastman finally chose to commit suicide by jumping into the sea because he could not bear the pain caused by the disease. Before his death, he scattered hundreds of millions of fortunes and returned to society.

Chapter 88 The Cleveland Consortium

Situ Nan calmed Eastman and soon received a call from Robles from New York.

"Stone, the investigation of the mysterious forces has come to fruition. Their funds come from a large bank in the Cleveland area. This time we encountered the Cleveland consortium."

Robes on the other end said.

"Which one knows exactly?" Situ Nan asked.He knew that the Cleveland Consortium was a consortium formed by several big families in the Cleveland area, mainly including Mather, Hanna, Humphrey, Eaton and other families.Using the abundant coal and iron resources in the Cleveland area, he founded the steel industry and obtained huge profits, then invested in the banking industry and developed into the rubber industry and railway transportation.

"Still investigating, but those guys are very strong in the Cleveland area. If we didn't start quickly, this time Kodak might not be so easy." Roberts said with emotion.

"Yeah. But we won, didn't we?" Situ Nan said disapprovingly.

In Situ Nan’s previous life, after the brilliance of World War I and World War II, the strength of the Cleveland Consortium once ranked sixth among the top ten consortiums in the United States. However, due to regional restrictions, the influence of the Cleveland Consortium gradually declined and was The new consortiums in the west and south surpassed, and their original companies were gradually infiltrated by the Morgan, Rockefeller and other consortia in the east. By the time Stuart crossed, the Cleveland consortium had become a vassal of the Morgan, Rockefeller and other consortia.

The current situation is just the opposite of a hundred years later. Cleveland is located on the southern shore of Lake Erie in the northern part of the state, at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, an important land and water transportation site.It is the largest city in Ohio, USA.

In the nineteenth century, the road of American industrialization followed the westward direction all the way to the west, and Cleveland was just on the main road of the westward expansion of the United States and was a transit point for the westward expansion of the United States.

Especially shortly after the opening of the canal between Lake Illinois and the Ohio River, the railway in Cleveland was opened to traffic in 1851. Since then, industry and commerce in the Cleveland area have developed vigorously with the improvement of transportation and become an industrial town in the Midwest.

Heavy industry is the economic foundation of Cleveland, among which the steel industry is the most developed. Other industrial sectors such as machinery manufacturing, metallurgy, electrical equipment, petrochemicals, textiles, and food are also in the ascendant.This acquisition of Kodak is an attempt by the Cleveland consortium to expand into other industries.

Although Cleveland's industry is not as good as Pittsburgh, the difference is limited.It is completely comparable to Pittsburgh in the steel industry. Its Republic Steel Company, Lex Youngston Company, Amco Steel Company (jointly controlled with the Mellon Consortium and Rockefeller Consortium) and National Steel Company (jointly controlled with the Mellon Consortium) ) These four steel companies are among the top ten in the US steel industry.

It is worth mentioning that Situ Nan’s California Steel is also among the top ten steel companies in the United States. This is a special case. Situ Nan’s previous life did not have such a large steel company towering in Los Angeles.It was catalyzed by Situ Nan with a lot of money, otherwise the rise of California would have to wait until after World War II.

Since Situ Nan opened the Golden Finger, the industrial development of California, Texas and other western states was earlier than the original time and space, and the achievements were greater, so the strength of the United States will also increase.

The rapid development of industry and commerce in the states along the Pacific coast of the United States in recent years has put pressure on the Japanese on the other side.

Although the Pacific Ocean is large, it will eventually accommodate two world powers.The Americans have been stubborn since they suffered from the Japanese in Hawaii. After Theodore Roosevelt reinvigorated the navy, the American power in the Pacific has become stronger and stronger. Now the war in Europe has also given Americans a rare opportunity. , The British retreat in the Eastern Pacific was just filled by the Americans. They were rushing toward the Pacific with their strong industrial strength.

Japan was not without development. Instead, after seizing the German colony on the Jiaozhou Peninsula in China and the German islands in the Pacific, Japan became the overlord of the Northwest Pacific.Now Japan is taking advantage of the rare opportunity in Europe to vigorously develop heavy industry, in an attempt to improve their industrialization path in a period of time, hoping to have enough strength to fight the Americans across the sea in the future.

As for courage, this thing has never been lacking in Japanese since the Meiji Restoration. On the contrary, there is a surplus. Japanese soldiers fed with the spirit of Bushido have nothing they dare not do. They are bolder than eating a leopard with ambition.Adding a few words to describe them means that their eyes are above the top.This is the exact opposite of the ancient mainland country where the spine was broken on the opposite side.

After pulling away, the topic returned to the Cleveland consortium.

Now because of the European war and the United States is about to join the war, the steel industry is booming, and the Cleveland people are living well, and their investment is getting good returns or they have very good prospects.

Cleveland people have a little money in their hands and they all invest in steel, machinery manufacturing and other industries. In addition, some people with vision have begun to turn their attention to other industries.Take the camera, for example, this time Kodak was one of their targets, but was killed by Situ Nan Hengdao and took the lead.

It may also involve a little bit of personal grievances and other dog-blood factors, which Situ Nan didn't know anyway.

He only knows that the current Cleveland consortium is just a consortium that has not been formed. Although its strength cannot be underestimated, it is not strong enough to make himself a taboo.

Although the families in Cleveland have been in business for decades, and their overall strength is stronger than Situ Nan, they are not rivals for upstarts like Situ Nan alone.

Like the acquisition of Kodak this time, it was not the will of the entire Cleveland consortium, but the sole action of a certain family, and other families did not participate.

The guys in Cleveland haven't reached the level of heinous tyranny like Morgan and Rockefeller, and they are nothing more than a match with Stuart.

Their strength is mainly concentrated in the steel industry in the Cleveland area, and the funds mainly come from consortia such as Morgan in the northeast, so the Cleveland consortium’s funds have been subject to others.

"Don't be afraid of them, they are like dogs trapped in their hands and feet, no matter how fierce they are, why can't they get out of the small world of Cleveland!"

Situ Nan said arrogantly and harshly.

He was right!

Cleveland is located in the Great Lakes region of the Midwest of the United States. It is the most important industrial area outside the industrial area in the Northeast of the United States with developed industry and commerce. Compared with, these two states are good sites in Situ South.

Cleveland is surrounded by industrial cities like Chicago and Detroit, which are fiercely competing with it. Therefore, it is not easy for the Cleveland consortium to expand. At least the current strength of the Chicago consortium is not lost to the Cleveland consortium at all.Where can you easily farm in the remote California and Texas like Situ Nan?

"Hahaha! Stonney, I like your analogy! You are so talented!"

Robles on the other end of the phone echoed, "Okay, I'll let you know if I have further information. I haven't done this beforehand."

Putting down the phone, Situ Nan thought for a while, this Kodak incident should be a coincidence, even if he didn't move Kodak, the guys in Cleveland would do it, everyone just happened to have a chance.

The people in Cleveland may not have enough funds yet!When this Kodak battle came to a critical point, it suddenly died down. I guess I didn't want to lose both sides with myself.

Businessmen ask for money but not for gas. Perhaps they dormant temporarily when they know that they can't compete with Kodak, and wait until the next favorable opportunity to jump out?

Situ Nan was speculating about the Cleveland consortium's attempt, but it was all his speculation and there was no evidence.Although he shouted loudly, he never despised his opponents, and was careful not to accidentally overturn the boat in the gutter.

This is what Situ Nan learned from the tragedy of Titanic. If they hadn't had a fluke in their hearts at that time, perhaps such a tragedy would not have happened.