Chapter 239 Kodak
"How can things go so smoothly? Sheffield had no time to appreciate the scenery of Rockefeller Manor. He rubbed his face fiercely with both hands. "Your father successfully aroused my greed. After all, who can guarantee that I will not be tempted by the market for various raw materials and seven factories? But it is Morgan who wants to reorganize the order of the steel industry. This is difficult to deal with."
"You are also a billionaire, can't you have a little confidence?" Edith Rockefeller pushed the stroller and said with some dissatisfaction, "Besides, Standard Oil is backing you up."
"Billionaire? Are you talking about industry or stocks? Anyway, I definitely don't have any cash. If I want to cash out stocks, who knows how much they are worth?" Sheffield pretended not to have heard about billionaire. "Add to that the supermarket chain, the share of Texas Oil, and the war money. If the opponent is the Vanderbilt family, I dare to confront them head-on, but it's a bit difficult to deal with Morgan. Morgan just completed the operation of Argentine government bonds. Even if your brother John and I stole some of it, their credit was not damaged. If there is any use, it is just a reminder to let them be careful of us two. Just give me another two years. After all, it takes some time to cash out my industry."
Although supermarket chains and oil are both excellent industries for cashing out, he is not the Standard Oil Empire, which has been cashing out for decades and now has more capital reserves than anyone else. How long has he been doing this? Just over a year, how much capital can he have accumulated?
Morgan has invested real money, so Sheffield is talking to his partners about the future? About blessings? Jack Ma is right when he farts, but that's only after he became Jack Ma. When he was Teacher Ma, wasn't he always regarded as a liar?
"Is it really that difficult?" Edith Rockefeller hesitated and said, "How about I sell my stocks and help you?"
A big hand was placed in front of Edith Rockefeller. Sheffield smiled bitterly and said, "I said I didn't want to work hard, but I was just saying it casually. I didn't really mean to hold your skirt for the rest of my life. War makes women go away."
Although both of them opened banks, the Morgan father and son opened one in New York, while I opened one in Los Angeles, which has a population of 100,000. The difference is too great. If I can't think of a solution, this is not a problem that can be solved by just living off others.
"Actually, I'm a little afraid of malicious competition. If a steel war breaks out, you have to know that Morgan owns a huge railway network. In addition to the railways around New York, which are owned by the Vanderbilt family, many major railways are controlled by the Morgan family overtly or covertly. What if he cuts off the railway line and fights to the death?"
Sheffield expressed his concerns and really tore the relationship apart. Back then, old Vanderbilt closed the only railway line in New York, causing congestion for tens of thousands of people. Old Rockefeller and Carnegie's mentor Scott had an oil war. In order to strike back at Scott, old Rockefeller did not allow a drop of oil to be shipped to Pennsylvania, and even closed the refinery in Pittsburgh.
"William, you are too pessimistic. If a war really breaks out, I believe your company and Morgan's company will both face antitrust investigations, which will be a lose-lose situation. Do you know why Standard Oil later reconciled with Carnegie Steel? The two companies had a grudge many years ago."
Rockefeller Jr. came out of nowhere and narrated a process of reconciliation. The Rockefeller family actually got involved in the steel industry earlier than Morgan. The steel industry has two important raw materials, one is high-quality iron ore and the other is high-quality coke. Ten years ago, Carnegie Steel Company made a misjudgment in the layout of the two raw materials, focusing more on coke and less on iron ore.
This gave Standard Oil an opportunity, and Standard Oil then bought the Mesabi Iron Mine, which is the mine that Morgan now wants to buy from the Rockefeller family.
This was just a chance for Rockefeller to demonstrate his expertise in the oil industry. By controlling transportation and using ultra-low prices, Rockefeller successfully controlled the mining industry in just three moves. Even some of Carnegie's old subordinates bought some of Mesabi's shares.
However, another important coke industry in the steel industry was still under Carnegie's control. Finally, Carnegie took the initiative to visit Rockefeller and promised to only buy Rockefeller's iron ore in the Mesabi area and not interfere with the transportation of ore. Rockefeller, of course, understood what Carnegie wanted and immediately responded that he would never enter the steel industry.
"That is to say, the best quality ore in the Great Lakes region is in your hands. Carnegie himself controls the coke industry, and thus established the indestructible steel empire. So Morgan wants to acquire the mine in your hands, and then go to talk to Carnegie?" Sheffield suddenly realized that there was such a little friendship between the oil king and the steel king.
In the end, the steel war did not break out early, perhaps because of the antitrust law, or because Carnegie did not want to repeat the mistakes of his teacher Scott in his early years, and the two sides finally reconciled. He said, why did the Rockefeller father and son say so confidently that as long as he did not agree, Morgan's US Steel Company would not be so easy to become the hegemon.
"At that time, my father attacked the steel industry and the mining industry at the same time. It can be said that the enemies were Carnegie and DuPont. In the end, my father chose to deal with DuPont, but now it seems that he should have gone against the antitrust law and got rid of the DuPont family." When Edith Rockefeller heard her brother talk about this, she definitely added some details.
This made Rockefeller Jr. feel deeply hurt. Could he please consider the issue of his last name?
"John, you said that one of the steel companies in Chicago is controlled by your family. Which one is it?" Sheffield remembered that Rockefeller Jr. had talked about this.
"It's the Superior Union Iron Ore Company. The steel company is..." Edith Rockefeller spoke before Rockefeller Jr., "It's a trade secret!" Rockefeller Jr. glared at his sister and said helplessly, "Edith, you can tell him secretly, and don't leak the company's affairs at Rockefeller Manor anymore."
"This gives me more confidence. It turns out that the basic conditions are still good. There is nothing to hide. Otherwise, I will pay the penalty and cancel our contract regarding the Texas oil field." Sheffield was a little dissatisfied with Rockefeller Jr. and was about to say something else when the baby in the stroller woke up, interrupting the upcoming argument.
"I'm just talking. How can I really say that to Edith's brother?" Sheffield whistled and said frivolously, "John, you need to learn this. You always mix personal feelings into your words."
Sheffield patted his pants, stood up leisurely, grabbed Edith Rockefeller who was holding the baby and left. "I will be working in your house for a while recently. I have a project to discuss."
Little Rockefeller's face was puffed up. He watched Sheffield and the family traitor leave side by side, and said fiercely, "What do you think now? Was the decision to cooperate with the Southern Company a mistake? We also lost a family member."
"Of course I came to New York for something. I was not just inspired by the cooperation between DuPont and Morgan. In fact, there is some business relationship!" Sheffield stood in front of the mirror honestly, like a puppet, allowing Edith Rockefeller to manipulate him. Finally, he said, "I hope you won't blame me for using Rockefeller Manor as a negotiation venue. John can understand!"
"What can't he understand?" Edith Rockefeller adjusted the man's bow tie and nodded with satisfaction. "Go ahead. Don't keep him waiting. It's not easy for Mr. Lovellingland. He came to New York and finally helped you with something."
The distinguished guest who came to Rockefeller's estate was George Eastman, the owner of Kodak. Of course, Sheffield's most famous story about Kodak was that there was a reactor at the company's headquarters, which was detonated by a spy chief in a novel.
Sheffield's original intention was to enjoy the treatment at the top of the pyramid of the United States and use money to make the founder of Kodak bow his head, but now he had to prepare for the upcoming steel war, so the merger was postponed. It became a cooperation between the two parties. Of course, if George Eastman was willing, Sheffield was also willing to make a symbolic investment to help Kodak develop further.
Today, Kodak is a world-famous company. In 1895, Kodak launched a pocket camera on the market for five dollars, which caused a sensation around the world - the dream of "popularizing photography technology" finally became a reality.
Let's do the math. The current per capita annual income in the United States is less than 260 US dollars, but it can buy 50 Kodak pocket cameras. The last time the old man in Paris called, he wanted to order a batch of Kodak cameras. Excluding possible indescribable uses, the old man's cross-border purchasing business is also very good. He even applied for the sales manager position at Kodak's Paris branch and succeeded.
Since there was such a relationship, Sheffield was not shy and introduced himself to George Eastman, "The sales manager of the Paris branch is my father. He is a person who advocates freedom and lives in Paris all year round."
Sheffield saw with his own eyes that a strange look flashed across George Eastman's face. Although it was only for a short time, he heard George Eastman say, "So it's Harry's son. He is a very smart man."
"I just thought that Mr. George Eastman was complimenting me, although most people don't think so." Sheffield didn't think too deeply about this question. "For the sake of cooperation, I won't start with personal relationships. In fact, the reason for inviting Mr. George Eastman is very simple, to talk about cooperation. I have a film patent company in Hollywood, Los Angeles. For a very direct reason, we have today's meeting."
(End of this chapter)
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