America 1982-Chapter 588 - 127: Keeping Promises, Good Moral Character_3

Tommy Hawk was now knocking on the door, demanding the repayment of matured debts, and the consequences were about to trigger a chain reaction. Murdoch, in addition to the nearly five hundred million US Dollars in short-term debt held by Tommy through a dozen or so Californian banks, had nearly four billion US Dollars in debts held by over a hundred other banks, most of which were short-term debts. It was a major blunder committed by Murdoch out of greed, as he had hoped to convert these short-term debts into long-term ones when the interest rates fell, to take advantage of the banks.

However, with Japanese capital withdrawing and a shift toward conservative investments, all loan interest rates were sure to skyrocket, and the process of converting to long-term debts was unlikely to be as easy as before. Simply put, creditors now preferred borrowers to pay back on time to ensure the safety of their principal, rather than chasing after small interest earnings.

If Murdoch chose to issue new shares or sell off stocks to raise funds to pay off the debts, the number of new shares needed and the proportion of stocks sold for the four billion in debt would be astronomical. It would be so large that it could cause the Murdoch family to lose controlling interest in the News Corp. Murdoch would never accept this option; the empire had to be his, he would not abdicate.

If Murdoch chose to initiate debt restructuring negotiations, it meant that he needed to find a sufficiently powerful creditor, one who had lent him the most money and also had robust funding, to lead the formation of a committee. This committee would publicize an asset evaluation report of all News Corp subsidiaries and prepare for the restructuring of News Corp. The main objective was to convince over a hundred creditors to allow an extension of News Corp’s debts. Currently, Citibank was the only choice, and it would definitely promote debt restructuring on Murdoch’s behalf, having lent him eleven billion and being the largest creditor.

But this path was also impossible because, regardless of whether others agreed or not, the four hundred million held by Tommy would absolutely not agree to an extension unless Citibank, willing to stick its neck out for Murdoch, was prepared to buy Tommy’s debt at a high enough price to satisfy him and make him leave the stage. But even Citibank, wealthy as it was, would not satisfy Tommy’s appetite since once this precedent was set and Tommy was fed, other creditors would swarm in, making the extension of debt even less likely.

Only two options remained. One, Murdoch would declare News Corp unable to repay its matured debts and go into bankruptcy liquidation. Two, Murdoch would sell some of News Corp’s premium assets to raise funds to tide over the crisis.

These thoughts were becoming increasingly clear to Benjamin Rosen as the situation developed, but the problem was that even though he was a capitalist who had worked on Wall Street for half his life, he only saw the situation for what it was now. Meanwhile, Tommy Hawk, across from him, had begun planning around these two outcomes several years ago.

The most critical point to understand here was the eastward shift in Japanese consortium capital. A few years ago, the Japanese were still arrogantly declaring that they would buy the entire Western Hemisphere. Not even the most astute financial experts would have believed that Japanese funds could withdraw so abruptly, from the United States, from Australia, from the Netherlands, from England, and flooding into China.

A few weeks before, no one would have dared make such a prediction, especially since the United States had just taught Japan a lesson and assisted in appointing a more compliant Prime Minister!

Yet now Japan had given its answer, and clearly, having a Prime Minister who was more amenable didn’t mean that Japanese funds were also willing to obey the Americans.

Australia was Murdoch’s stronghold; he could not possibly sell assets from his homeland, as it held not only newspapers but also many high-quality mineral resources. It was also impossible to sell assets in England, as his base there was his tool for manipulating British politicians. Without those, he could no longer continue his European expansion, not to mention his burning ambition to dominate Europe with Sky Television Network.

Only the American assets were his best choice—whether it was the film and television assets of Fox Television Network and Fox Film Corporation, or the publishing assets of The Washington Post and New York Post. Selling any one of these groups would easily get him through this crisis.

Because Murdoch News Corp had not yet achieved complete dominance in the United States as it had in Australia and England, and could not yet fully control the fate of political figures through the media as it did there. For Murdoch, he could afford to let go of this part, retreating like a snake back into his safe den to slowly plan his next opportunity to land in America.

Australia and England were his dens.

The problem was that, although the sale of either Fox or the newspapers would be enough to see Murdoch through this difficulty, Tommy Hawk had also made preparations for either scenario.

He had a television network, Stephen had a film company, which allowed them to confidently join the feast to carve up the Fox assets. At the same time, SSD’s Ted owned The Washington Star. If Murdoch chose to sell the two renowned newspapers, Ted could join the negotiations for acquiring the papers, ready to catch whatever part of the assets Murdoch decided to sell.

Years ago, when the kid told him he was going to swallow up Fox, Benjamin took it as a little joke from an arrogant youngster.

Now, everything happening before his eyes told him that Tommy Hawk, the kid, had turned that impossible joke into reality.

"Murdoch must hate me a lot. I’ve never even met him face to face and I rudely gave him a heavy blow. He must think I’m a bastard, a barbaric country boy from the sticks," said Tommy as he put the solved Rubik’s cube back in place and picked up a cigarette to light it, continuing,

"But he’s worse than me—he’s from the Australian outback."

"I think the consequence of his hatred for you is that he would rather sell his assets to someone else but you. Those American magnates are now united against you. They’ll be the first to drop... Oh my God...," Benjamin intended to remind Tommy casually, although he felt Tommy must have already thought about this issue. It was just a subconscious act. But as he spoke, he suddenly paused, his grey-blue eyes locking intensely onto Tommy Hawk’s serene face:

"The actions you had Wolfe Tucker and Odelia, Jim and the rest take are like giving Murdoch the rope, allowing him to pick it up in his panic and put it around his own neck, then go and pull the lever of the noose himself. You’re not the one waiting at the gallows ready to search the body’s pockets for silver coins; you’re the vulture waiting to eat the rotting flesh."

Tommy nodded, "The layout for the past few years should be credited to the advancement of the ages. What you said at the end, that’s my original, you’re right—a vulture, even eating rotting flesh can make me stronger."

"Actions speak louder than words, a beautiful virtue," Benjamin Rosen even felt a sense of defeat. As the young man gradually matured, the advice he could offer became less and less, and it seemed his life experience wasn’t so important in front of Tommy.

He slowly stood up, "I’m going to talk with Stephen, to see if we should discuss picking a good day to knock on Murdoch’s door to collect a debt. In the future, I should visit your office less often, because being here makes me feel like I’m aging too fast."

"You know I can’t do without you, Benjamin. Without you, I couldn’t have come this far, and you’re absolutely right, I do like to honour my word," replied Tommy as he also got up and patted Benjamin’s broad back, accompanying him towards the exit.

After a few steps, Benjamin suddenly turned to Tommy, "Actions speak louder than words, I still remember the one you mentioned at the meeting years ago, it better be just a joke."

"I won’t give up on this excellent virtue," smiled Tommy, "You’ll witness it."

Benjamin sighed, shaking his head to come back to his senses, and continued walking forward, "God, I hope I don’t live to witness that day; you’re a madman, Tommy."