[Chapter 905: The Skill of Slandering]
In this world, it's hard to say which country is the richest, but when it comes to being pretentious, the English certainly take the cake.
William White had a conversation with Ruth, using the language suited for nobles, which was quite inappropriate. Even if your ancestors were wealthy, it didn't mean you could just talk casually.
Of course, given his current status, he could pretty much say anything, even to someone like Charles.
"This jerk is deliberately teasing me, huh? Well, at least I don't have to sacrifice for the sake of art," William White said as he excused himself. Kate Winslet kept muttering about someone under her breath.
Some expenses still needed to be covered. Just think, if you had gone straight to bed instead of hesitating, you wouldn't be facing this gossip now.
In truth, William White was dealing with his own pain. Although his back was troublesome, it was manageable. He just had to avoid overexerting himself. Besides, he was the one paying, so there was no need to please anyone else.
As for the issue of insufficient resources, squeezing a little out was always an option. Even if resources were tight, it wasn't a significant loss if it happened once or twice. The key issue was timing; he had heard there would soon be a cleanup, and if one dared to write recklessly, the next consequence would be dire.
"Fujita, is this what Little Paradise came up with?"
William White was genuinely surprised. "Come on, this thing is barely at PS2 level. Are you trying to fool an innocent?"
"Yes, boss, Little Paradise is lacking. I've heard the board is very noisy about it. This Sony gaming console is okay, but their supporting games aren't anything special."
William White thought to himself that it wasn't just 'not special'; it was because all the good ones had been snatched up by him. In terms of soccer, you couldn't get FIFA or the UEFA. Basketball? No NBA. Football? No leagues either.
Without a significant sports title, where's the fun in gaming? Fighting games also weren't breaking any new ground.
William White considered himself lucky. If Sony and Little Paradise partnered up, there definitely wouldn't be this situation.
To be honest, Little Paradise had decent playability, even if the graphics were somewhat cheap. Sony had exquisite graphics; even though its hardware couldn't compare with Legendary World, the visuals were better than that.
"Fujita, if these two companies team up, we will have big trouble.
Do you know why there's urgency to develop the next generation of the PS?"
"I know, boss. That would disrupt their rhythm. If they used DVDs, the game's graphics would see a substantial improvement."
"That's still not enough, Fujita. Sony's specs aren't as good as ours, yet their graphics are better.
Don't even say it, I don't need any explanations. I'll give you six months to at least get us on par."
"Don't worry, boss. We've revamped that Need for Speed, just take a look at the results."
"Okay. By the way, who developed the 3D engine for Sony? Acquire the company, and if that doesn't work, recruit the talent."
"Understood. You can count on me."
It's not about courage; there were two guys chasing after, and for Legendary World, they had to exert themselves. Falling behind while in a strong lead would simply be too shameful.
It was true that Sony and Little Paradise's emergence had messed with William White's territory. A company once worth nearly three hundred billion was now down to half that.
You couldn't blame the Justice Department for being so hated. Whether it was William White or the shareholders who suffered significant losses, none of them spared the Justice Department from scrutiny.
It was all about slandering. What's so difficult about that? Every one of them had something to say, and he even mentioned a collaboration with the foot washing industry.
Settlement? Not a chance. If you replace the boss and stir the pot once more, that had become routine. He might as well go all out and slander you all the way to the end.
Through a Simpson case, the U.S. Justice Department got folded outside domestic borders.
Now everyone in the world knew that rich people in America could kill without facing legal consequences. As long as you had money, and if you could find a reliable lawyer, you could act with impunity in America.
Who was to blame? The Justice Department! Everyone knew that.
"This guy really holds a grudge."
"Warren, if you lost tens of billions, there'd likely be murderous thoughts, right?"
Buffett rolled his eyes. Tens or hundreds of billions, they were all just paper wealth. Who knew how much that jerk truly had in paper wealth?
"Allen, the Justice Department isn't very reliable. If you can eliminate your wife to skip divorce payments, what order is left in this world?
And what is it with all the racial discrimination? It circles back to religious disputes. That's not a good thing."
Greenspan chuckled bitterly. It seemed that William White's internal rules, indeed, were not unfounded fears.
A completely neutral media outlet was something no power dared to annoy. No matter what your color or faith was, once you entered White Media, all would be toned down.
What? You have complaints? Are you sure?
If your leader spoke a word, any news that concerned you would never be aired. You, a mere underling, had no right to complain; get your big boss to speak up in three days, or bear the consequences.
"Warren, the issue of race is a disaster zone now. This is unavoidable; some discrimination is objectively present.
Look at that 7-11; it has practically zero African Americans working there."
Buffett smiled and shook his head. "Allen, don't listen to those tabloids' nonsense. I have the data; the proportion of African Americans in warehouse management and freight drivers is very high.
You know, long ago, their HR had quotas. They expressly stipulated that the hiring ratio of African Americans must not be lower than the national average."
"Seriously, such things can be spoken of? This would be a scandal."
"No, there are no written records. The words sound rather inspirational. If one didn't know better, they might think he was encouraging HR to hire African Americans.
This was leaked by a former HR staffer."
"Hahaha, this guy is finished; no company will hire him again."
"Well, small companies might not care, or those without clout."
William White knew exactly how to aggravate people and how to evade risks. Never mind HR; not even executives would hear anything inappropriate from him.
As for those around him, they all had confidentiality agreements. If you blurted out something reckless, you might land in serious trouble.
"Warren, I'm not familiar with stocks. How do you think Pixar's IPO will go?"
Buffett rolled his eyes at him. After all these years, he should know how Wall Street firms work. A perfectly fine IPO was getting tangled up unnecessarily.
If you got Jobs to offer more shares or bump up the underwriting price, with a bundled deal, they would absolutely do it smoothly for you.
What of the registration system? That won't stop anyone from being taken advantage of; rules didn't matter if your execution was strong.
"This time, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs really messed up. Luckily, those two idiots didn't keep running their mouths."
"Yeah, Warren. I'm actually pretty curious if William White really planned to take both of them down together?"
"Who knows? That guy is incredibly shrewd. Not only is he good at slandering, but he also excels at extravagant praise. Do you believe he could pretend not to know about this?
Goodness, by then he'd probably say Goldman and Morgan Stanley were highly successful or something."
At that point, Greenspan nearly choked with laughter. If he truly played that card, Goldman and Morgan Stanley's faces would be tossed right into the Pacific.
*****
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