[Chapter 730: No Trouble, No Comfort]
Wall Street took the unusual actions of the White Fund very seriously. IBM's standing in the U.S. was far from comparable to that of a re gaming company. William White had seen an undervalued market; others were not fools, either.
And just like that, a company on the brink of severe losses managed to stabilize.
[T/N: Removed minor storyline: Washington asks William White to remove his investnts from China but in response he decides to improve China to the level of 2008 by 2000 and decides to push to compete for the 2000 Olympics to be held in China. He publicly condems Bill Clinton regarding this issue.]
"Charlie, are there any signs of a pullback in IBM's stock?"
"Sorry, no. The investnt departnt calculated that the White Fund roughly acquired 2% of the shares in the secondary market. Including large block trades, they owned at least 3.5% of the shares."
"This is surprising. Why acquire so many shares and not negotiate with the board?"
"Warren, I think he's purely a value investor."
Buffett was montarily speechless. A person of that size suddenly buying up shares in the secondary market? Anyone unaware might assu he was aiming for a hostile takeover.
The White System had always had a tense relationship with IBM, and with IBM in turmoil, it seed only natural that William White would start taking shots.
...
[Chapter 731: I Was Just a rchant]
"Master, Washington is sending more troops to Africa; things are likely to get ssy in Somalia."
"Ah, this is quite the racket. Europe, Africa, Asia, plus xico right next door -- the Donkeys' brilliance was shining globally. Tanner, it's about to get chaotic."
"Master, our troops really were not up to par. If Saddam had fought in urban warfare, a thousand body bags wouldn't have been enough."
"You see, Tanner, this was a classic case of an amateur instructing a professional. Your operations out there with Max, I never interfered with. It wasn't that I didn't care, I simply couldn't guide them.
You think you could win fighting Saddam from the office? Hahaha, once that guy finally sses up, I can't wait to see how it all ends."
Tanner smiled ruefully; a re ntion from Saddam often cost countless lives. The U.S. had taken losses in Africa before. They feared your airplanes and missiles, but never your soldiers.
William White stopped wasting ti on those fools. His car sales barely t demand, and to even ntion exports was ridiculous. As the economic situation improved this year, the issue of insufficient production capacity had reared its head.
...
"Sir, Mr. Filson has arrived."
"Yeah, let him in."
"Sure thing, sir."
"Sir, we can't proceed with the acquisitions anymore; we've already hit the limit. If we keep going, we'd need to launch a public offer."
"Then just halt things. But in the eyes of the Wall Street giants, is this really any kind of secret?"
"It is. But there's still disagreent on what the future holds for the Big Blue."
"Disagreent? It doesn't matter. Compaq and Dell lack R&D ability; they won't have much of a future. The current situation holding together is already quite unexpected."
"Sir, you might have to make a decision by the end of the year."
"Okay, I'll think it over. I'm leaning toward giving up my seat on Dell's board."
The laws just made no sense. If two companies both made computers, you could only serve on the board of one.
If you didn't want to be bothered, you could create seventeen or eighteen funds, and no one would dare say a word.
*****
spatreon/Sayonara816.
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