Chapter 870 - Governor’s Party
In the evening, Governor Jerry Brown invited Jiang Chen to the governor’s residence along with Richard Fox, Vice President of Warner Bros., and elites from all industries in Los Santos.
For the wealthiest man in the world on the Forbes list with wealth enough to match a nation, Jiang Chen naturally became the central figure at the banquet. Everyone around him was either envious, jealous, or friendly. Many entrepreneurs who wished to establish a connection with Future Group did all they could to befriend him.
Jiang Chen never thought that he would embark on the UA in such a stance, but when this day came, he didn’t feel too surprised.
“Welcome to the UA, Mr. Jiang Chen. This is the wealthy’s paradise. You will love it here.” Mr. Fox smiled and lifted his champagne, gently toasting with Jiang Chen.
For Warner Bros. and the only virtual image production company – Virtual Image’s co-produced “The Time Curtain,” Mr. Fox, as one of the shareholders, had high hopes. The film was in its final stage and would hit the screens by January of next year at the latest.
Major movie critics’ websites all gave quite optimistic forecasts for this next-generation film. After all, it would be the first film produced using VR technology. Even just for this novelty, the box office would not perform poorly
“If you are referring to Mr. Brown’s party.” Jiang Chen laughed and drank the glass of champagne.
At this time, the governor and a middle-aged man in a suit came to their side.
Brown with a shaved head asked Jiang Chen with a smile, “Are you pleased with the drink?”
“Very pleased. Thank you for your hospitality.” Jiang Chen replied courteously.
“Haha, thank you for your compliment. Please allow me to introduce this gentleman. This is Andi Giannini, the sponsor of this banquet,” Brown smiled and told Jiang Chen about the middle-aged man standing next to him. “Chairman of Bank of America, and a major shareholder of Pacific Insurance.”
“It’s too boring to write your business on your business card. I’d rather others refer to me as a golfer.” Andi grinned and rolled his eyes, extending his hand to Jiang Chen. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Jiang Chen.”
Jiang Chen noticed that Mr. Fox, a shareholder of Warner Bros., appeared to be rather restrained.
“My pleasure, Mr. Giannini.” Jiang Chen took his hand.
To be honest, this last name was quite a mouthful. He almost bit his tongue the first time he said it.
But Jiang Chen was no stranger to this last name.
After all, before coming to the UA, he had done enough homework.
Bank of America was the centerpiece of the Cali consortium. Its predecessor was the bank founded by the descendant of Italian immigrants, A.P. Giannini in the early 20th century. The Giannini standing in front him was one of individual that possessed the real powers of the UA. In this country dominated by Wall Street, the capitalists were the people that controlled the nation. Although the status of the Cali consortium was slightly inferior to that of the consortium on the east, its accumulated wealth in the past 100 years still could not be underestimated.
Many people knew that Los Santos in Cali was renowned for its film industry, but few people knew that Cali was also the largest arms production base in the UA. Including the famous Lockheed and Northrop Grumman, the nation’s largest and second-largest arms companies belonged to this family. Although the shares were also diluted by other consortium, their status as military overlords remained untouchable.
The banquet this scale was definitely not possible to be funded by the state government’s vault. Disregarding everything else, just the champagnes on the table all came from famous Italian wineries. The expense of the alcohol would cost more than hundreds of thousands of dollars. If journalists knew that the governor took the taxpayer’s money to party, the media would pounce on it immediately.
However, the party being sponsored by the Giannini family also showed that the relationship between the governor and the Cali Consortium was not shallow.
It could even be said that the party itself was held based on the directions of this important figure.
The two chatted casually and made no mention about business. Giannini seemed to be very interested in golf. When Jiang Chen mentioned that he owned a golf course at the foot of Mount Fuji, his eyes lit up and he said with a smile.
“Mr. Jiang Chen is certainly confident having dared to buy at the dip during the Yoto Crisis. If I have the opportunity to go to Yoto, I must check your golf course out.”
Jiang Chen did not believe that he was the only one who divided up the assets of Nippon at that time. The consortium on the west coast had always been interested in the affairs of East Asia and it would be impossible for them to let such a good opportunity pass. Although it was certainly a gamble, a few billion was nothing for a consortium this size.
“Haha, I look forward to your arrival,” Jiang Chen responded courteously.
The small talk lasted for about ten minutes. The governor and Mr. Fox left one after another and joined other circles with champagne. Mr. Giannini, however, finally began talking about “business”.
“I’ve heard… Mr. Jiang has had some frictions with the Freemasonry. I don’t know if it is true or not?”
After asking this, Giannini seemed to feel that it was not appropriate to ask such a question directly, so he added another sentence.
“Of course, I didn’t mean to offend. Our ancestors came from Italy. Although the Giannini family is no longer within the WASP faction, we also have reservations .”
“Frictions, of course, and not small frictions either. If Mr. Giannini has read the news, you will certainly know about this.” Jiang Chen smiled.
Giannini smiled and did not respond.
Of course, he had read the news, and he obviously knew about the public events. It was just that the meaning was completely different when the parties involved directly speak of it. Because their assets were mostly located on the west coast, the Giannini family was far from the Capital, the economic and political center of the UA. In the view of the Eastern Consortium, they were more like the “rich landlords” of the countryside than their competition.
It was also the reason for the gradual decline of the Cali Consortium. It was now almost ranked at the end of the top ten consortiums in the UA. If it weren’t for the behemoth known as the Bank of America, the Texas Consortium that emerged after World War II could even stand toe-to-toe with them.
This sense of alienation from the mainstream world made the Giannini family quite restless and this was also the reason as to why they were keen to invest in Asia. If they couldn’t go eastward, they must at least find a way out in the west.
The friction between Future Group and Freemasonry made them see opportunities.
If the Freemasonry was to fall, the Freemasonry headed by Goldman Sachs would face liquidation, and the situation of the Wall Street divided by the two would completely change. This would undoubtedly be a rare opportunity for the West Coast Consortium away from the center of power.
Of course, all this was based on the premise that the Future Group would be the eventual victor.
Andi Giannini was convinced. With his foresight, he thought that this young man would be worthy of his chips on the table.