It was already one o'clock in the morning when Hadi said goodbye to Janini, but Janini did not rest and sat alone in the study for a long time.

President Johnson's re-election may still be uncertain.

But now the Marshall Plan is right in front of us. It is a real benefit. How could Giannini give up such a huge benefit?

All republic and democracy can be put aside.

California conglomerates must strengthen their ties with Hardy.

Giannini called his assistant over and said, "Go and inform the other clan leaders that there is an urgent matter to discuss and that they should come to the manor at 8 a.m. tomorrow."

The assistant took the order and went out to notify.

Early the next morning, several big bosses of the consortium came to the Janini Manor. They went to the backyard, where there was a garden, and sat in the garden to chat.

Gianini glanced at the crowd and said, "After the reception for the President yesterday, Hadi and I chatted until after 1 a.m. He told me a piece of news. President Johnson intends to organize a private inspection team for the Marshall European Aid Program, and Hadi has obtained one of the three team quotas."

"The other two spots are Rockefeller and Citigroup."

Those present were all heads of other companies in the California Consortium. After hearing what Giannini said, they immediately understood a lot of things.

The Marshall Plan involved more than 20 billion dollars, which was a huge business. They could sell a large amount of goods and invest in Europe. Many of them were national projects, and they could make money as long as they got on board.

Hardy is the leader of one of the three teams that have the power to decide whether CalFederation can get on board.

"I called you here to discuss the matter of Hardy. Let me first tell you my thoughts. Although Hardy joined the consortium before, he was only one of the consortium's peripheral partners. I think it is necessary to go a step further and let him enter the core layer of the consortium." said Giannini.

No one jumped out to object.

These people are all smart people who know how much benefit Hardy has in his hands now will bring to them.

If they really join the European delegation, their companies can receive huge orders, can get loans, can invest in Europe, and their corporate assets will increase dramatically, which is what capitalists dream of.

Wasn't it for these reasons that they supported Dewey in the past? Now what Hardy brought was much more than they wanted. How could they let it go?

"Has this news been confirmed?" someone asked.

Giannini said calmly, "I spoke to Rockefeller this morning. President Rockefeller told me that they are in the process of forming a team and selecting companies in the consortium that are suitable for investing in European countries to bring over."

"How much can we get?" someone else asked.

"Hadi said there is no limit, and the investment amount depends on the capabilities of each team," said Giannini.

Everyone was very happy to hear this. Although they could not defeat Rockefeller and Citigroup in terms of their abilities, it was still much better than being restricted to a certain amount.

At this time, someone asked, "What about the presidential election? Should we change our camp?"

Janini looked at the man and shook his head slightly, saying, "There is no need to publicly express support, and there is no need to do so now. Hadi has already taken the lead and secured benefits for us, hasn't he?"

When people think about it, it is indeed true.

"I agree that Hadi should join the core team." The chairman of Northwestern Bank was the first to speak.

"I agree too." The chairman of Security Pacific Financial Company nodded.

"I agree."

"agree."

After all the people agreed, Janini said, "Now let's discuss how many shares to give to Hardy."

The core of the California Consortium is Bank of America, and the core layer is the several major families and companies that hold shares in Bank of America, including the Giannini family, Bank of the West, Security Pacific, San Francisco Consortium, Crocker National, etc.

The Giannini family holds the largest shareholding, which is 23%, while other family businesses each hold a few 10% of the shares.

Agreeing to let Hardy enter the core layer means allowing Hardy to obtain shares of Bank of America and truly enter the core decision-making layer, where he can decide the direction of the California Consortium, rather than just being a branch company outside the consortium responsible for making money.

"How about 5 percent?" someone asked.

"I feel it's not enough. If we can't impress Hardy, he can just hand over the European investment to someone else. That will be a heavy blow to us. I think we must come up with chips that can impress Hardy." Someone said.

"At least 10% or more, otherwise Hadi won't be interested. I have always felt that Hadi is a far-sighted investor and I believe he will be able to play a greater role for the consortium in the future." Someone said.

If Johnson is re-elected, during his four-year term, Hadi will certainly be able to secure much more benefits than he does now, and they really need Hadi's political resources.

Just like the mafia families were willing to spend money to buy the political resources of the Godfather, they are also willing to spend money to buy Hardy's political resources.

The final result of the negotiation was to give Hardy a 12% stake in Bank of America. This stake is neither too much nor too little, and is at a mid-level, which is believed to be enough to satisfy Hardy.

No one cared so much about Hardy before. In their eyes, letting Hardy join would only expand the strength of the California consortium. But now, they must consider Hardy's opinion because he now has what they want in his hands.

You are only valuable in the eyes of others when you make them want something.

Hardy was at Bill's apartment in San Francisco. Bill was in Los Angeles, so Hardy moved in without any hesitation.

Ring ring ring!

The phone rang, and Hadi's assistant picked it up. After saying a few words, he came to Hadi and whispered, "Mr. Hadi, Mr. Janini wants you to come over. He said that several directors of the consortium are here, and they want to talk to you?"

Hardy figured it was done.

When Johnson mentioned the European expedition plan, Hardy began to think frantically about how to make it happen.

After weighing the pros and cons, Hardy felt that it was in his best interest to cooperate with the California Consortium. Of course, he also had to make the California Consortium pay a satisfactory amount of chips.

Hardy came to Janini Manor again and met several core bosses of the California Consortium. After greeting everyone, Hardy sat down.

In front of these people, Hardy is now fully qualified to be an equal, rather than a so-called peripheral enterprise.

This is very important.

For example, the California Consortium operates with Bank of America as its core. The real core circle is the few big guys who control Bank of America. The other hundreds of companies can only be regarded as partner companies.

There are dozens of families of all sizes within the Rockefeller Group, and hundreds of companies surrounding it, but the core is undoubtedly the Rockefeller family, and the same is true for other large groups.

"Hardy, can you tell us in detail about the inspection team?" said the chairman of Kroc National Company.

"no problem."

"President Johnson said that this aid to Europe cannot rely solely on the power of the government. The private sector can also play a huge role. Europe is short of everything right now, so it is a good opportunity for everyone to make money. The government aid money must be exchanged for goods in those countries. Looking around the world, the only country that can provide so many goods is the United States. So we can make this money back and boost the domestic economy. It can be said that we kill three birds with one stone."

"I think everyone knows that whoever can get these orders first will make a lot of money. This is a pie worth more than 20 billion US dollars."

"Take Crocker Company for example. You are the largest agricultural product company in the West. Grain, vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, and fodder are what European countries are in urgent need of now. What kind of orders do you think the national-level purchases will be like?" Hardy asked, looking at Boss Crocker.

Chairman Kroc nodded excitedly.

That decision was a huge order.

Hadi looked at Giannini and the chairman of Northwestern Bank, "For example, our banks, Bank of America, Northwestern Bank, and Wells Fargo, can provide national loans to other countries. Those European countries are very short of money now. World War II destroyed their countries and exhausted their treasuries. Now that World War II is over, they want to build but have no money. I believe they will be very happy if we go there."

Giannini and others nodded.

They naturally know that these countries are short of money, but they cannot and dare not borrow from them casually.

Now that the government is backing it up, this money can be lent out. Banks make money by lending money, so as long as there is a guarantee, they will lend any amount of money.

"For example, in industries such as building materials, steel, cement, and wood, their original homes were destroyed and needed to be rebuilt, so they would definitely import a large amount of these materials, as well as cars, fuel, and all kinds of materials."

"Of course, if they need it, they can also discuss the arms business and secure orders for the group's arms companies."

"After World War II, we had excess capacity and the country could not digest so much. There was also a wave of layoffs. In fact, the country did this to digest the excess domestic goods. There may also be political reasons. We can ignore these. For us, it is definitely a good opportunity to make money."

Everyone nodded in agreement with Hadi's point of view.

"During the first trip to Europe, in addition to the Economic Cooperation Council bringing state aid, President Johnson plans to organize three private inspection teams to accompany the Economic Cooperation Council. They will be responsible for state-level exchanges, and we will be responsible for private exchanges."

"It is said that those countries have prepared investment lists. In the past, we could pick and choose the companies to invest in. This opportunity is really rare."

"President Johnson gave me one of the teams. The first thing I thought of was the companies in our consortium. If anyone wants to join, they can sign up. I will be ready to bring along anyone I think is suitable. Of course, if anyone is not interested, I will look for other people to cooperate with," said Hardy.

How could they not be interested? These people would never let go of such a good opportunity to make money.

They are all old foxes.

When Hadi said this, how could they not hear that Hadi was asking them to make conditions.

Giannini smiled and said, "Hadi, we just discussed it and we think that with your current strength, you are fully capable of entering the core management of Bank of America. We are ready to offer 12% of the shares. Are you interested?"

Hardy leaned on his chest.

Of course I'm interested.

This is what I want.

With the shares of Bank of America, it was equivalent to his entry into the core layer. Originally, the Americas Conglomerate had eight giants, and after he joined, he became the ninth giant.

Commonly known as Laojiu.

Look at Giannini’s big nose, he really looks a bit like a mountain eagle.

By entering the core layer, Hardy will have more rights, especially over other companies. Other companies all have some shares in Bank of America, which is also one of the requirements for the California Consortium to take over these companies.

Today's American conglomerates, with capital of more than 3 billion, control businesses worth more than 30 billion.

This is not the 30 billion of later generations.

In later generations, the assets of the top 100 companies in the United States all exceeded this number, and they were all just one company.

"Of course I am interested. The Hardy Group is willing to make progress, develop and make money together with you." Hardy said with a smile.

Everyone else laughed too.

Hardy agreed.

Then the deal is done.

"I wonder how much 12 percent of Bank of America is worth?" Hardy asked.

"I've had it calculated, and it's $380 million," Giannini said.

Hardy looked at the bosses and asked with a smile on his face: "I don't have that much money right now. Can I borrow the money from Bank of America?"

Everyone was stunned.

By borrowing money from Bank of America and buying its shares, this guy is once again making money out of nothing.

Why again?

Because the Wells Fargo guys did the same thing last time, and now Hardy still owes Bank of America more than 100 million.

Giannini and several big guys looked at each other.

"Okay, I'll lend it to you." said Giannini.

Anyway, the loan was given to them, and the amount of money did not decrease, and it would not affect their subsequent investment business. The only change was that Hardy used an IOU to exchange for 12% of Bank of America's shares.

Of course,

Hardy has to pay interest on this $380 million loan.

Andy flew over from Los Angeles with his team.

The shares were ready in two days.

Wells Fargo purchased a 12% stake in Bank of America, becoming the fourth largest shareholder of Bank of America. At the same time, Wells Fargo borrowed $380 million from Bank of America to pay for the acquisition.

Wells Fargo is now a wholly owned company of Hardy, which means Hardy owns 12% of Bank of America.

After the acquisition was completed, the Global Times disclosed this major transaction to the public, and many people were surprised after seeing it.

Didn't the two families have a falling out?

The California Consortium had previously said it would kick out the Hardy Group, but in the blink of an eye, the Hardy Group acquired shares of Bank of America and entered the core layer of the California Consortium.

This is changing too fast.

Of course, there are also people who know the ins and outs of this. Johnson is now in a good position. Hardy has invested in Johnson. Once Johnson wins, it will definitely bring huge benefits to the consortium. The American consortium is repairing the relationship.

At the same time, with Hardy's current strength, he is indeed qualified to enter the core layer of the consortium.

Countless people admire Hardy. Every investment he makes is like a stroke of genius. In just three years, he has become one of the core families of a large conglomerate. It is really amazing.

Others take generations to run the business, but he only takes a few years.