Chapter 194 Morgan Enters Steel
The biggest benefit of this war was that it helped the United States enhance its political influence. Through this war, the country's rise was proved to the world, and it quickly became a great power. It was also at this time that the United States established its own position, thus providing favorable conditions for its economic and political expansion.
The idea of the country was spread. The redivision of colonies also meant a change in the world pattern, which was the rise of a new power led by the United States. Through this battle, the United States defeated Spain, which had dominated the world for hundreds of years, and reshuffled the old political pattern.
The early colonial empires can no longer rest on the glory of their ancestors. The new powerful countries will inevitably eliminate the old colonial empires. This is just the beginning.
Because the United States is mainly populated by white people, this war is not as significant to other countries as the Russo-Japanese War. When Japan defeated the Russian Empire, it was truly demonstrated that white people could be defeated. In fact, in Sheffield's eyes, white countries could have been defeated. If there had not been the Sino-Japanese War, the Combined Fleet and the Beiyang Fleet would have had no problem defeating a colonial empire like Spain.
The Netherlands is actually the only colonial empire with weak military power. However, the United States has no reason to attack the Netherlands. Moreover, if the United States attacks Spain and the Netherlands successively, European countries may really wake up and re-examine this emerging power in America. This is equivalent to taking the bullet for the German Empire, which cannot be done.
The Battle of Manila Bay made George Dewey a hero among the citizens. Various newspapers published articles about his calmness in the face of danger and his command. A new round of deification movement had begun.
The smoke of the Battle of Manila Bay had not yet dissipated, and the United States had already begun organizing the expeditionary force. During this window of opportunity, Theodore Roosevelt in New Orleans finally recruited a decent army to follow him to the Cuban battlefield.
If the Spanish fleet in the Atlantic had not yet appeared and the sea control had not yet been seized, Theodore Roosevelt might have already made the trip. However, due to the news of the victory in the naval battle in Asia, the future president was in a very good mood recently and often talked about his optimism about George Dewey. "Does William know this hero?"
Theodore Roosevelt, who always had a heroic complex, asked with a smile. Sheffield pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "I've heard of this person!" George Dewey, during the Civil War, blockaded the South and helped the Union Army capture New Orleans, the largest city in the South. Brigadier General Wharton of the Confederate Marine Corps resisted until the last moment. After New Orleans was captured, except for Texas, the entire South had surrendered.
Of course, this is not worth narrating, it is all in the past. No matter what, Texas is a place with a special status.
"Now is the time, my dear son." At the headquarters of the General Electric Corporation, old Morgan was full of energy in front of his son. He was not bothered by the previous minor setbacks. In fact, he had never been bothered. Although the final move to disrupt the electrification of the South using Westinghouse Electric did not succeed, it did not matter. The South was large but had a small population and few large enterprises, so General Electric still had an advantage.
"Dad, I just don't know if it will be smoother this time." Morgan Jr. was obviously not as open-minded as his father. After operating Coca-Cola stocks for a long time, he had to bow to the market prosperity. Even with his family's strength in the financial industry, he could not distort the market for a long time, and finally missed the opportunity to teach the Texas landowner a lesson.
"Of course it will go smoothly. I have made preparations in advance. This time I will start with a small steel company, slowly approach the target, and then slowly achieve my goal. In this process, I must remain patient and be prepared to deal with my opponents." Old Morgan smiled very cunningly, like an Arctic fox. "Although Rockefeller was the first to create the trust model, he was also targeted by the federal government because of this first. I have been in the very complex and changeable financial industry. Without a few years of investigation, no one knows how many shares of companies I have. With Standard Oil standing there, I can actually accomplish a lot of things."
"The action against the United Company in the South was just a loss to the stubbornness of the Dixie people. It doesn't mean that Annabelle's heirs are so powerful. And I'm ready to close the net now." Old Morgan put on his coat and said to his son, "Come on, come with me to talk to the prey."
Morgan spent a lot of time preparing for this action and formulated a series of strategies. He drew up a list of all steel companies in the country, clarified ownership based on asset status, set up an investigation team, went deep into the companies, started with finance, and understood the equity structure and management structure; implemented a capital increase plan to provide reinvestment opportunities; issued stocks, and used its reputation to attract some social funds into the company.
It sounds like some of the steps are not very legal, but it doesn't matter. Morgan has already made arrangements in the legal community and even put a lot of effort into recruiting trusted lawyers for many of the acquisition targets.
After every economic depression, a real financial tycoon has an opportunity to open his mouth wide. Just like the economic crisis 20 years ago, due to the economic depression, the transportation volume of the United States railway system has also dropped significantly. Although many railways are still in operation, they are only to make up for some fixed costs. In the situation where there are too many wolves and little meat, in order to survive, the competition in the railway industry is becoming more and more fierce.
On some popular trunk lines between major cities, competition forced railway companies to drastically reduce freight rates and grab transportation volume. In order to make up for these losses, they raised prices on branch lines they controlled, which was bound to benefit large customers more and exploit small customers more, thus intensifying the conflict. Angry farmers even directly attacked the railway and government departments.
Morgan was not a leader in the railroad industry, but he caught up with the economic crisis and saw with his own eyes how railroad stocks, which accounted for more than half of New York's trading volume, became a suicide machine. During the economic crisis of the 1970s, he was still in the learning stage, but during the economic crisis of the 1980s, Morgan, who had already had experience, made his first move and became a figure on par with the Vanderbilt family.
However, compared to the railroad tycoon Vanderbilt, who is well-known to everyone, Morgan, a financial banker who entered the market later but has already established a parallel trend, is less known. He hid himself through a series of trusts and cross-shareholdings.
This time Morgan saw the recovery after the economic crisis. It happened that during the war, not only had the United States and Spain gone to war, but the British Empire was also preparing for a major war in southern Africa. The steel industry came into his sight, and the current environment easily reminded him of the environment in which he infiltrated the railway industry after the economic crisis ten years ago. No, the environment now is even better than that time, because the war is more conducive to his concealment.
Prior to this, he had used financing to place Morgan's senior executives in Illinois Steel and Minnesota Steel, thereby gaining control of the two steel companies. This was considered an advance preparation for entering the steel industry and laid a solid foundation for subsequent mergers and acquisitions.
Morgan, who followed his father closely, came to the meeting room of Morgan Company and witnessed his father's solid step into the steel industry. The opponent sitting on the other side was John Gates, the owner of American Steel Wire Company. From the beginning of the negotiation, Morgan firmly took the initiative and knew John Gates' company very well, including the equity distribution structure, financial expenditure, and profit.
He resolved all the objections raised by John Engates one by one, and finally pointed to the lawyer John Engates brought with him and said, "If Mr. John thinks that what I said is just an exaggeration, then you can ask the lawyer you have trusted for a long time."
"Boss, I'm sorry, what Mr. Morgan said is the true current situation of the company." John Gates' lawyer had to speak up, with a hint of guilt in his voice, but John Gates didn't hear it.
Morgan then listed the benefits that could be gained from the acquisition of American Wire, including greater financing and the economic effects it would bring. At the beginning of the negotiation, it was like Morgan cheating unilaterally. After having the other party in his grasp, he also retained a huge benefit that was hard to refuse.
How many people in the United States could refuse Morgan? Perhaps there were, but the abrupt end to the negotiations showed that John Gates was not such a person. He quickly signed the merger contract. Using his own personal experience, old Morgan completed a vivid teaching lesson in front of his son.
"The United States will surely enter an era of large-scale demand for steel, and the demand for steel will soar in the next few years. This industry must have a promising future, but there is a very difficult opponent in the steel industry. I mean, we should start with the steel companies that are easy to target." After completing this textbook-like merger, old Morgan said to his son as he walked away, "Wait until we have dealt with the average steel mills, and then have a good talk with Carnegie."
A few days later, the news of the establishment of the United States Steel Corporation caused a huge shock in the steel industry, because there was news that the new United States Steel Corporation was established with Morgan's leading investment.
(End of this chapter)
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