The Tyrant Billionaire

As a member of the Rockefeller family, Dave did not disappoint Hardy. He reached out to the Morgan family, the Cleveland family, the Texas family, the DuPont family, and the Mellon family.

Though it wasn't the heads of these families who came, they sent significant partners.

For example, the representative of the Morgan family was Harold Stanley, from whom Morgan Stanley gets the "Stanley" in its name.

Many people assume that the top financial groups are always at odds, competing for markets and political resources. But in reality, while competition does exist, cooperation far outweighs it, and the rivalry is not as fierce as outsiders imagine.

For example, though Morgan dominates half of Wall Street, they once borrowed money from Rockefeller. The Cleveland family, whose financial strength isn't as strong, relies on Morgan to raise capital.

Rockefeller and Mellon jointly own several steel companies, and Goodyear Tire is co-controlled by Rockefeller, the Chicago family, and the Cleveland family. The Texas family's oil industry is also partnered with Rockefeller.

There are many overlapping interests among these financial groups.

The same is true in politics. When it comes to endorsing a president, multiple financial groups are often involved.

To be honest, Hardy was envious of the Rockefeller family's connections and influence, but he wasn't concerned—he was just getting started.

He was still young, and the future held great promise.

At Dave Rockefeller's small estate, Hardy met several partners from these financial groups. Though Hardy was a newcomer who had recently risen to prominence, none of them dared to underestimate him.
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To amass billions of dollars in assets in just a few years and become a partner in the California financial group, as well as backing President Johnson's re-election campaign—anyone who approached Hardy with arrogance or prejudice would be making a grave mistake.

These seasoned businessmen were far from ignorant.

Dave Rockefeller invited Hardy to speak, and Hardy reiterated his views, starting from the new world order after World War II. He talked about the bipolar world, the Cold War tensions, Japan's geographical position, and its foundational strengths, predicting Japan's economic resurgence.

"To be honest, we must always remain vigilant with Japan. They are a nation that is humble when they are down, but arrogant when they rise. You could see this from their behavior during World War II, and many historians have pointed this out as well."

"I'm asking everyone to join me in investing in Japan so that we can comprehensively control their industries. On one hand, we can make money from Japan, and on the other, we can limit the development of their domestic industries, turning Japan into a profitable industrial base for us."

"A country with a population of 80 million, a plentiful labor force, and a huge consumer market that also has the potential to extend its reach throughout Asia—if we control it well, we can make a fortune from Japan, and the profits will keep coming."

After Hardy's presentation, everyone present agreed that Japan had great potential. One by one, they expressed their willingness to join Hardy's economic advisory team.

They were not only representing their own industries but also the industries of the financial groups behind them.

Finance, metallurgy, steel, oil, aviation, railroads, automobiles, transportation, rubber, textiles, clothing, food, chemicals, light industries, resources, energy, agriculture, and manufacturing—these industries covered every aspect.

The seven major financial groups combined their efforts and prepared to make a significant push into Japan.

Hardy's goal was not to assist Japan in its resurgence. Since he knew Japan would inevitably recover, he was making early moves, inserting numerous pipelines into its economy, so that once Japan became strong, they could extract profits relentlessly.

He didn't just want Japan to be a military colony.

He wanted it to become an economic colony as well.

With the combined strength of seven major financial groups, Hardy was filled with confidence about the upcoming trip to Japan. He looked around at the people present and said, "Gentlemen, our investments come from different financial families, and there will inevitably be overlapping interests. So, I hope that as we invest, we move forward together."

"If multiple groups are interested in the same project, we can sit down and negotiate privately, perhaps splitting the investment or exchanging resources. Let's avoid any competition, as that would be detrimental to all of us," Hardy preemptively cautioned.

"Of course, when we go to Japan, we are a united front," Dave Rockefeller added.

The others nodded in agreement.

As seasoned investors, they all understood that internal conflict is the worst thing for any investment, as it only benefits others.

"Alright then, now that we've reached an agreement, please go back and prepare your representatives for the inspection team. When the time comes, I'll notify everyone, and we'll head to Japan together."

Hardy raised his glass as he finished speaking.

"To our successful investment and bountiful returns!"

The others laughed and raised their glasses as well.

After everyone left, Hardy continued chatting with Dave Rockefeller for quite a while before bidding farewell and returning to Los Angeles.

Back in Los Angeles, Hardy called Giannini to update him on the progress. When Giannini heard that Hardy had rallied seven financial groups in total, he admired Hardy's abilities.

Though he knew Hardy had leveraged the power of the Rockefeller family, even that required skill. After all, not just anyone could secure such support.

"I'll gather the other companies for a meeting to see who's interested in investing in Japan," Giannini said.

"Great, I'll be waiting for your news," Hardy replied.

In truth, Hardy wasn't in a hurry to go to Japan.

Japan's situation would continue to deteriorate until June of next year, and it would be a hopeless decline. There was still a full year until then.

The more they suffer, the more they'll seek investment. By then, acquiring their industries will be much easier.

In the meantime, it would give the families time to prepare, and Hardy could wait for the necessary information on Japan to be ready. Once he received it, he would distribute it to the financial groups, enabling them to better understand their investment targets and devise targeted strategies.