Chapter 232: Manipulating the State Legislature
The new Sheffield Rand Company accounted for 53% of high explosives, 66% of black powder, and 57% of smokeless powder, completely suppressing the DuPont Consortium that had long controlled the gunpowder market in these three areas.
This is the first time in a hundred years that a company has emerged in the United States that has surpassed the DuPont Consortium in all aspects in this field. So what some newspapers said about a field entering a new era is not an exaggeration.
The merger is definitely not a matter of Sheffield and Loughlin Rand handing over the money and delivering the goods. There is still a lot to do to merge the two companies. All manufacturing activities should be merged, and production should be concentrated in several large factories close to the corresponding markets of the products. Three management departments should be established to coordinate, plan and evaluate the production work of the factories for the three products of black powder, dynamite and smokeless powder. Sales, engineering, transportation and purchasing departments should be established respectively.
Sheffield had just begun to absorb Rand Corporation, and of course he had to try his best to make up for the shortcomings. For this purpose, Sheffield found Edith Rockefeller again, a goal that made him not want to work hard. "Standard Oil wanted to defeat DuPont back then. If it were not for the threat of antitrust laws, it would have become a reality long ago. There is no use for Standard Oil to keep the nitric acid raw materials and other raw materials and minerals back then. It is better to sell them to me."
"You seem to want to take advantage of our family!" Edith Rockefeller put the child down, "Why do you always want to take it from the Rockefeller family when you are short of something?"
"You're still telling me this? You've got quite a bit of assets from me, right? No matter what good things happen, I always think of you. Also, you have a son, and your son is your support, not your brother." Sheffield was getting even angrier as he spoke. "What's wrong with me? I'm your son's father. How can I lose money on him after the acquisition? Besides, your and my combined wealth makes us billionaires. Even so, I haven't considered the stocks your father gave you."
Edith Rockefeller was stunned for a moment, and whispered in dissatisfaction, "No one has ever dared to talk to me like this."
"What a coincidence, me too! The United Company is ruled by women, and I am the only male heir of this generation. I live a more comfortable life than your brother." Sheffield crossed his legs, acting like a gangster. "My family also has its own supply of raw materials, but DuPont is no ordinary opponent. It's said to be internal chaos, but a lean camel is bigger than a horse, and it's still not easy to deal with."
"What is a camel?" Edith Rockefeller asked, tilting her head and looking confused.
"Just pretend I didn't say anything. A giant Asian horse!" Sheffield slapped his thigh, wishing he could slap himself twice. He knew that Edith Rockefeller knew nothing about anything except upper-class life, so he shouldn't have given random examples.
"Then I might talk to John, but I'm a little afraid to see him now. You know that my father and he must be very dissatisfied with my having a child. Both my father and he are very strict people!" Edith Rockefeller pursed her red lips and said weakly, looking like she was in a dilemma, "William, it's difficult for me too."
"Of course it's difficult. It's not as comfortable as going in!" Sheffield laughed bitterly. Not to mention Edith Rockefeller didn't dare to go, he didn't dare to go to Rockefeller Jr. Now he was even more cowardly than Edith Rockefeller.
"Then let Rafflin Rand go!" After a moment's silence, the adulterous couple suddenly spoke at the same time, and then smiled at each other.
Anyway, the two dared not to show up, and they hid as long as they could, but they had to do it. After all, there was such a basic condition in front of them, and they could use it immediately after the acquisition. They couldn't stop because of embarrassment. Sheffield and Edith Rockefeller had received a good family education on this point. They would not stop making money because of a little guilt. Guilt is worth a lot of money.
Otherwise, the two of them would go to the church and pray devoutly to God to forgive them? Sheffield would not go anyway. How many divisions does the Pope have?
As soon as Lovellingland had a bigger stage, he was entrusted with an important task and went to the Rockefeller estate in New York to discuss business with the controller of the oil empire. This opportunity is not available to everyone.
"Actually, William, you are the boss, and you have a better chance of success if you show up." Lovelin Rand was a little puzzled. With Rockefeller Jr.'s identity, it seemed that it would be more in line with etiquette for Sheffield to go in person, and he shouldn't go.
"No, no, no!" Sheffield shook his head like a rattle, indicating that he had something important to do. Although he wanted to talk to Rockefeller Jr. in person, he couldn't leave. Otherwise, he would definitely go. Then he expressed his full trust in Lovelin Rand, "Mr. Rand is also the boss of the company. We are partners. There is no need to distinguish who has a larger share and who has a smaller share."
"Okay then!" Lovelin Rand did not continue to refuse. However, when he did not hear that Sheffield needed any help, he agreed immediately and was willing to go to New York.
"What I want to know now is what those people in the DuPont family think?" Sheffield laughed evilly twice, then changed his face and put on a serious look, not wanting to get carried away.
Walking along the Delaware River, Pierre Dupont looked solemn. He stopped by the riverbank and stared into the distance, saying fiercely, "You know, if it were any other company, I would have blown up their factory long ago."
"Obviously this time you, the DuPont Consortium, have met an opponent that can't do that!" Alfred Sloan put his hands in his pockets, looking lazy, and followed Pierre DuPont to the riverside and said, "In fact, the current situation is just like the water in the Delaware River. It looks calm, but many people drown every year. As long as you like to swim, the risk of drowning will always exist."
As another big entrepreneur with deep roots in the DuPont family, Alfred Sloan now fully understands Pierre DuPont's pain. Although competitors in Texas have always existed, they have long controlled the South without even looking at the North. Although other companies have some threats, they have all been disintegrated by DuPont's overt and covert means, so DuPont has not been threatened for a long time.
However, the southern rival was clearly unwilling to continue to consolidate its base and began to move across the country. Most importantly, this rival was still deeply involved in the war, just as it had been in the past.
"There was nothing we could do about it. Who would have thought that Sheffield would not only contribute money but also manpower, and mobilize tens of thousands of armed forces to join the war? He played a huge role in this, and the military generals all spoke up for him, so he got the majority of the share." Although he knew his friend didn't like what he heard, Alfred Sloan shrugged and continued, "Now that he has acquired the Rand Corporation, plus the money he made from the war, he is indeed more popular than DuPont."
Pierre Dupont covered his head. It was the first time he felt that his friend's words were so harsh. But this was the fact. It could be said that Dupont was under unprecedented pressure. He said, "Is there no way?"
"At least until the war in the Philippines is over, there should be no other way. Let's think about the things at hand. This time, tax cuts may ease some of the pressure. The State House has already been approved, so it shouldn't be a problem. As the largest company in Delaware, your DuPont Company will definitely benefit the most."
The Delaware State Assembly is voting on tax relief for large companies. The scope of this tax relief is companies with a scale of more than one million US dollars, which is tailor-made for these famous entrepreneurs in the state. Originally, this was just an idea of a few companies and it didn't have to be passed immediately. But now it can't be done. The DuPont family and several other family businesses with deep roots are under a lot of pressure because of their close relationship, and they must pass it immediately.
"Well, let's not think about it for now. The headquarters is also very concerned about today's resolution." Pierre Dupont shook his head, as if putting his worries behind him, and returned with his friends, waiting for the result of the state assembly.
On this day, the Delaware State Assembly passed a resolution to reduce taxes on well-known companies in the state by an overwhelming majority, supporting the development of these large companies and the state's economy. As soon as the news came out, companies in Delaware that were concerned about this matter breathed a sigh of relief, and their stocks would also rise because of this result.
"I can guarantee that this result must have been manipulated." Sheffield was stunned when he heard the news. Is this possible? And why is this policy of tax cuts for the rich so familiar? Isn't it a little early?
This external explanation and operation of tax cuts for the rich is very similar to the measures taken by Reagan, and of course real estate businessmen did the same thing decades later. The professional term is called the trickle-down effect. Government relief is not the best way to help the poor. The overall wealth should be increased through economic growth, which will ultimately benefit the poor.
In simple terms, it means giving all the money to the upper rich, hoping that it can trickle down to the poor, so that the rich can make more money, and the richer rich can hire more poor people, thus expanding their own industries, so that the rich will be richer and the poor will have stable jobs.
It turns out that this operation was first carried out by the DuPont family in Delaware, and the source is actually here.
"Could the DuPont family be more shameless?" Sheffield muttered to Edith Rockefeller with admiration on his face.
"You can also use your base in Texas to replicate the same thing!" Edith Rockefeller was confused. Although it was the first time she had seen such an operation, she immediately thought that other companies could also replicate it.
"I'm dissatisfied because I can't copy it!" Sheffield said nothing more, as if the United Company had its own difficulties.
(End of this chapter)
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