"Mr. Huang, it seems we'll have to meet in court!" Dr. Cooper said in a chilling tone.
"We'll see you in court then. Our legal team has already studied every clause of the contract multiple times. Whether it's the core system or its functions, Tianzhou terminals have no possibility of being considered the same product as a mobile phone. So, if we meet in court, I'll win!" Boss Huang said cheerfully.
"Is that so?" Dr. Cooper chuckled. "Let me tell you, our definition of a mobile phone in the United States is anything that can make phone calls. As long as your Tianzhou terminal can make calls, the court will consider your damn terminal a mobile phone, and the contract will automatically take effect. I'll make sure you go bankrupt!"
"Is that so! Then I'm actually a little scared!" Huang He said fearfully. "How about this then, I'll disable the phone function of the Tianzhou terminal too, so you won't have anything to say, right!"
"..." Dr. Cooper was stunned for a moment, then continued, "Foolish. Do you think this kind of self-mutilation will save you? We are all intelligent people. The phone is the most core function of your Tianzhou terminal. If your Tianzhou terminal cannot make phone calls, then what is the point of your Tianzhou terminal existing?"
"Oh, Dr. Cooper, why are you so stubborn? For us, as long as we can make internet calls, isn't that enough?" Boss Huang said cheerfully. "As long as a third-party manufacturer develops an internet calling software, wouldn't that suffice? Oh, and internet calls can save quite a bit of money compared to regular phone calls. I think our users will be more than happy to make internet calls."
"..." Dr. Cooper opened his mouth, suddenly realizing he had nothing more to say.
Indeed, internet calls were an unsolvable answer. After all, internet calls were fundamentally just a network program, and users made calls through this program.
This way, even if the Tianzhou terminal prohibited direct calling functions, as long as there was a network, one could still contact others directly using their phone numbers.
Currently, almost all base stations were 2G base stations. Making internet calls was no different from making normal calls. On the contrary, it would save more money.
After all, internet calls were transacted in bulk with communication companies, so there would naturally be some savings on phone bills.
As Dr. Cooper fell silent, the atmosphere in the room also calmed down. No one spoke on the phone, but no one hung up. It was clearly a silent game of chess, with each side wanting to find more ways to force the other to yield.
"Mr. Huang, I admit you are more skillful!" Dr. Cooper finally spoke. "But don't forget, your Jiangnan Group's largest market is in the United States. If you are forced out of the US market, how much massive profit will your Jiangnan Group lose? Have you calculated this?"
"Of course I've calculated it!" Huang He chuckled. "When you came to negotiate with me at the beginning of the year, you already calculated it for me. It seemed I would lose over 30 billion US dollars in revenue each year. But I want to tell you, we actually miscalculated. After all, there are some figures you wouldn't know. If you really drive me out of the market, then our group will probably lose about 50 billion US dollars in revenue each year!"
"Fifty billion..." Dr. Cooper's expression changed slightly. This figure was not much to Goldman Sachs, but 50 billion US dollars in revenue was not an extremely huge amount, considering that Goldman Sachs had trillions in funds.
However, for a single enterprise, and one without any financial income (the Western Mustangs Fund was not under Jiangnan Group's name), achieving 50 billion US dollars in revenue in a year was extremely terrifying.
Although the threshold for the top 100 companies in the 2007 Fortune Global 500 was 60 billion US dollars in revenue, most of these companies were heavy-asset traditional companies, such as automotive, real estate, and insurance. Their revenue looked formidable, but their net profit was not high. About one-third of these companies were even losing money.
But Jiangnan Group was different. Jiangnan Group was an electronic technology company. Although it started in the seemingly bizarre leather goods industry and was still selling bizarre blind boxes, Jiangnan Group had actually shed most of its non-core industrial assets, except for its core technology, the optoelectronics industry. It had given almost all of its production and profits to its affiliated China Electronic Technology Industry Development Alliance, earning an excellent reputation within the alliance.
Therefore, Jiangnan Group had almost no costs associated with physical manufacturing. Its core costs were labor and R&D expenses, which were almost entirely incurred in China. Salaries were paid in RMB, but revenue was earned in USD.
Internally within the United States, although there were some labor costs, the number was small, and these labor costs were almost entirely for hiring Black individuals, further reducing the cost.
Conversely, according to some media reports, the investment in R&D was astonishing for Jiangnan Group, with over 15 billion US dollars in R&D investment in one year. This was Jiangnan Group's biggest cost.
However, this still did not prevent Jiangnan Group from harvesting at least half of its net profit, which was over 25 billion US dollars. If this profit-making ability were compared to the Fortune Global 500,
The first ranked was Walmart, with an annual revenue of 351.1 billion US dollars but an annual profit of only 11.2 billion US dollars.
The fourth ranked was British Petroleum, with an annual revenue of 274.3 billion US dollars and an annual profit of 22 billion US dollars.
The fifth ranked, General Motors, had an annual revenue of 207.3 billion US dollars, but it lost 2 billion US dollars this year.
The seventeenth ranked was China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, with an annual revenue of 132 billion US dollars and an annual profit of 3.7 billion US dollars.
If all companies with annual revenues ranked higher than Jiangnan Group were tallied, only ExxonMobil, ranked second, with an annual profit of 40 billion US dollars, and Shell Petroleum, ranked third, with an annual profit of 25.1 billion US dollars, had profits exceeding Jiangnan Group this year.
And that was it. Jiangnan Group's 25 billion US dollars in annual profit was enough to rank it third in the Fortune Global 500.
In fact, 25 billion US dollars in annual profit was an estimate. No one, except Boss Huang himself, knew precisely what Jiangnan Group's annual profit was.
Of course, this ranking omitted many financial investment institutions and some behemoths that split their financial groups into countless small companies. If all these hidden players were included, Jiangnan Group would still struggle to rank in the top 10 globally in terms of annual profit.
However, since they were hidden, they couldn't be openly recognized. Jiangnan Group was indeed the third most profitable company globally, and in a sense, the third most powerful company in the world. If this news were to spread, all Chinese media would likely go into a frenzy, with news releases flying everywhere.
"..." Upon hearing Huang He's words, Dr. Cooper was forced into silence again. He had long recognized Jiangnan Group's potential, otherwise he wouldn't have tried every possible way to get Jiangnan Group listed and then control it through a controlling stake, ultimately acquiring Jiangnan Group's technology and revenue.
But unexpectedly, all these attempts failed repeatedly in front of Boss Huang. Finally, hearing from his own mouth that the annual profit-making ability had reached 25 billion US dollars, Dr. Cooper couldn't help but sigh, realizing he had raised a tiger that would devour him.
"Are you not afraid that I will make up my mind, regardless of the consequences, and drive you out of the US market by telling you this?" Dr. Cooper asked calmly. In his mind, he was already planning how to contact various forces to quickly drive Jiangnan Group out of the US market.
This was not purely out of personal vendetta. Dr. Cooper actually saw a more terrifying existence behind Jiangnan Group, and Jiangnan Group was merely a small glimpse of this terrifying existence.
It seemed that the time had come to thoroughly suppress this terrifying existence.
"Afraid? Of course I'm afraid!" Boss Huang said very seriously. "The US market is still very important to us. But what benefit is there for Goldman Sachs to suppress us? If your company really does this, then I can tell Mr. Cooper right now that I will sell the company to my friends in the Rockefeller and Rothschild families."
"The harder you suppress, the lower the price I will sell it for. When my company falls into the hands of these two, do you think you'll still be able to suppress them?"
"..." Dr. Cooper was speechless again, even feeling a chill down his spine. Whether it was the Rockefellers or the Rothschilds, they had been rivals for centuries.
Although they smiled on the surface, in secret, they all wished to destroy the other and become the sole behind-the-scenes ruler of the world. If he pushed Jiangnan Group's entire industry into the hands of his opponents, it would truly be a sin against the company.
"Dr. Cooper, I sincerely believe that there is no need for us to engage in such fierce competition. In fact, Jiangnan Group and Goldman Sachs do not have direct conflicts of interest. The industries we are involved in are not where Goldman Sachs' main interests lie. Your company's main interests are in automobiles and banking, which are the core interests of Goldman Sachs Group. Our Jiangnan Group will never manufacture cars, nor will we open banks. We have no direct conflict of interest!" Boss Huang said sincerely.
"But people always want more, don't they?" Dr. Cooper sighed.
"Alright then, I'll give you more!" Huang He nodded. "Hasn't Goldman Sachs always wanted to invest in my Jiangnan Group? Now I'm giving you this opportunity. I plan to have oo Network listed on Nasdaq. This plan can be entirely handled by Goldman Sachs. I will release 40% of oo Network's total shares for circulation on the network. As for how much Goldman Sachs can acquire, it will depend on your company's own operations."
"Can't it be Jiangnan Optoelectronics?" Dr. Cooper licked his lips. "I guarantee that once Jiangnan Optoelectronics is listed, I can make its market value exceed 100 billion US dollars!"
"Jiangnan Optoelectronics is not something I can decide. This is a company that absolutely cannot be listed on Nasdaq. The people behind me will not allow me to do this. This is no longer my company, you understand what I mean, right!"
"Alright!" Dr. Cooper shrugged, seemingly reluctantly accepting the deal.