Chapter 899: Escalation of the Price War

[Chapter 899: Escalation of the Price War]

In reality, George Soros had his own way of creating mystery. Since it was a publicly raised fund, the notion of secrecy was relative at best. If there wasn't any clear goal, what was the point of holding so much capital?

If Silicon Valley was a myth of wealth, Wall Street was headed towards a different kind of clash altogether.

"Sir, yesterday's Times reported a circulation of only 800,000 copies, and the Daily Telegraph was barely over 700,000. White Media's papers saw varying degrees of increase. On top of that, the number of subscriptions rose concurrently."

"Damn it, this isn't sustainable. William White can hold out for two years, but I can't."

Murdoch was visibly angry; clearly, their little maneuvers had seriously irritated this guy.

"Conrad, I'm afraid the price war is only going to escalate from here."

"Damn it, Rupert, I'm just as angry about this! Should we sue him for unfair competition?"

"Don't even think about it," Murdoch swiftly halted the idiot before he could make an even bigger mess. If William White was committing unfair competition, what did that make their previous activities?

"Rupert, are you really intimidated by that billionaire?"

"Hmph, do what you want; once this is over, he'll likely make a hostile takeover of your company. However, more likely, he'll short-sell your stocks. Trust me, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley won't back you up. Did you know? Citigroup changed its CEO again."

Conrad Black was indeed flapping his lips unnecessarily. He was merely a newly rich tycoon, and compared to William White, even Murdoch could easily leave him behind.

"What are we supposed to do? If this continues, reaching a circulation of 500,000 would be a miracle."

"What else can we do? We have to fight back. No underhand tactics--business competition is normal. Even if he suffers, he won't retaliate immediately."

"Damn it, I just issued new shares! If this continues, how am I going to explain it to the shareholders?"

How to explain that was his own issue; Murdoch didn't care. Peterborough was just a club. Or rather, it was merely a coordinating body.

So what if they were all members? If the benefits weren't clearly laid out, who would know who was who?

This so-called club had only gotten better in the last two years. Before that, those guys weren't particularly fond of Jewish members.

Murdoch felt some frustration. After years of battling with William White, he was truly tired of the bickering. If possible, he wished to restrain this conflict to a certain extent.

So he thought that people needed to be kept in check; failing once meant coming back for more. After enough discipline, they'd naturally behave more.

As for the negative press surrounding William White, the old man certainly wouldn't dare ignore it any longer. Media people have their own sets of rules; outside of deep-seated grudges, no one publicly attacked one another.

This was just business competition. The paper business accounted for a minuscule part of White Media's total operations. Truth be told, if it weren't for your silly antics, William White wouldn't even pay attention.

Prices were lowered, and consumers were quite happy. Don't underestimate a newspaper that costs just a few pennies; many people bought more than one. Two newspapers totaled a pound, and in a month, that added up to several pounds. Some might say that wasn't much, but it really depended on who they were.

Currency was quite magical; fifty pence was analogous to fifty cents. If converted to Yuan, it would be about seven dollars.

Cough. Because of the exchange rates, it was hard to tell what was expensive or cheap. This was simple enough--just stop thinking about the exchange rate. In America, one might earn three thousand a month, while in England, John Bull earned three thousand pounds.

For newspapers, cola, bottled water--if you paid fifty cents, they also paid fifty cents. If you bought a bottle of water for a dollar, they'd buy it for a dollar too. Only large commodities truly reflected income disparity.

Earnings from five hundred thousand pounds a day could plummet to fifty thousand if a price war started.

As for Murdoch, he didn't know much about what William White thought; he realized that his paper business in Europe wasn't particularly profitable.

The three companies started a price war, leading to losses of tens of millions every month. Honestly, within just a few days, the two old men were already getting headaches.

While their coordinated efforts may have resulted in losses, the goal was primarily to squeeze out their competitors.

Now that the weak had collapsed, it was finally time to rake in the profits. Unfortunately, both sides were engaged in the first half, with William White in the second half.

"Warren, any issues with the newspapers you invested in?"

"What could possibly go wrong? Those three idiots aren't even stepping foot in the U.S. Why sell so expensively to Americans anyway?" Buffet replied nonchalantly; his media investment was merely to balance his portfolio, nothing too significant.

In response to Buffet's remarks, Greenspan felt a bit disappointed. What he needed was constructive opinions, not this bland assessment.

When one of their underlings got bullied, the old men naturally had to step in. If they didn't manage those media sources, how would they deceive people in the future?

"I'm telling you, Allen, don't overthink it. The two have been at this for at least a year; this time would be no different. William White is a businessman; those two have already disrupted the implicit agreement unraveling."

Greenspan didn't know how to respond either. Power dynamics within the media club were crucial. Without their support, Murdoch would have already tanked.

Sadly, their choices had been wrong. If they had known it would come to this, they might as well have brought William White in from the start.

Now it's all right--although you might have ideas now, they're of no use.

"Allen, keep investing. If not, market share will surely decline."

"Sigh, the Daily Telegraph just raised capital, and Murdoch has also secured another round of financing."

"Pfft, it can't be that bad, can it? Haha, talk about their misfortune; it's hard to say who plays the media game better. William White definitely has a strategy."

Buffet honestly wanted to say: Stop dreaming! In the media landscape, William White was the strongest player. To change this state of affairs with typical means was completely useless.

Give up on your pathetic pride; just one person had thrown you all for a loop, and you still aimed to be ambitious?

Buffet had recently studied this troublesome guy. Through his observations, he found this man exceptionally cautious.

What was strange was that whether in Silicon Valley or Wall Street, they all perceived William White as a brash cowboy.

Cowboy? Buffet silently chuckled; a bunch of old foxes frequently made mistakes. Had they lost their eyesight entirely?

"Sigh, I got it Warren; let those old men decide. This issue is just too much for me."

"What was that? Didn't you say he was a monopoly? Believe it or not, if you play like this again, Fox and News Corp will be in deep trouble."

Greenspan nodded, absorbing the lesson. Facing a wealthy tycoon, all their little schemes would be for naught. He needed no financing, no loans--their financial tricks scared him not in the least.

William White certainly had his calculations too; this group of oil tycoons was powerful, but now there were numerous financial monstrosities as well.

And this was before taking into account his extensive connections in the political realm.

If that guy didn't have some sort of protection, how could he possibly avoid being disciplined by you all?

Smear campaigns and traps were all in a day's work for these guys. Once your reputation started to crumble, they'd unleash even more shocking content against you.

As for now, they dared not; the mutual back-and-forth would ultimately lead to far worse outcomes for them.

*****

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