NOVEL WEB Chapter 752: 752
752
Can you guarantee that it is not?
Sulzberger Jr.'s mask broke when Maurice Greenberg's name was mentioned.
I looked at the distorted Sulzberger Jr. and smiled, one corner of my mouth raised.
"Would Maurice Greenberg really be buying stock in the New York Times with good intentions?"
AIG Chairman Maurice Greenberg has repeatedly criticized the New York Times' management and has talked about restructuring its governance.
"······Is that true?"
"As far as we know, Maurice Greenberg is currently under investigation by the prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission?"
Sulzberger Jr. nodded in response to my question.
"He will probably step down from his position as CEO soon. No, to be exact, he will be kicked out."
"That's not true. Isn't Maurice Greenberg's influence at AIG absolute? No, even if you look at Wall Street as a whole, his influence is legendary."
As the saying goes, Maurice Greenberg was a man who could rightfully be called a living legend of Wall Street.
Because he had enormous influence not only in the financial industry but also in politics.
"The one who has his leash is Eliot Spitzer. He wants to run for governor. And he chose Maurice Greenberg of AIG, a Wall Street giant, as his scapegoat."
"The Grim Reaper of Wall Street······."
Unlike Korea, the United States elects the prosecutor general and the attorney general through a vote of the citizens.
Eliot Spitzer was the Democratic candidate to become Attorney General in 1998.
His target was the governor, and he was exposing Wall Street corruption and practices to show his progressive side.
"Maurice Greenberg will eventually have to step down. This is not a situation where you can just let it slide with the excuse of being a practice. Eliot Spitzer, who needs achievements, will hang on until the end. The AIG board cannot stand by and let this continue."
The New York Times was the scapegoat that the Wall Street titan turned to in an attempt to regain his honor after being disgraced and forced to resign from AIG, where he had worked for decades.
"He will certainly try to shake up the governance of the New York Times."
"But unless we accept it······."
"I know. No one can take the New York Times away from the Sulzbergers. But don't you think so? If that were the case, then they shouldn't have gone public. If you go public and gather investors, it's only natural that you give them the right to participate in management."
"······We disclosed that fact when we went public, and shareholders also knew about it and bought our stocks."
The New York Times went public in 1967.
America does not like hereditary or nepotistic management.
However, the New York Times boldly stated that it would proceed with the succession under the pretext that the situation would be politically and socially sensitive if external forces intervened.
By going public, it offered Class A shares to attract investors and Class B shares to ensure that nine of the fourteen board seats would be filled unconditionally by the Sulzberger family.
But now that the New York Times' financial problems have surfaced, that part has become a weakness.
"That's right. But it's also true that the stock price of the New York Times is not recognized as its true value."
"······."
"That's why no one invests in the New York Times. That's why you turn down the hand of George Soros and seek funding from Carlos Slim. Why don't Wall Street investors invest in the New York Times? It's simple. No one can take you down if you mess up the management."
"I'm not trying to ruin the New York Times! I have to pass the New York Times to my children for the sake of my father's legacy. That's why our family exists."
Sulzberger Jr. raised his voice in protest.
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He's still living in a dream. I snickered as I watched him like that.
"The ideal is different from the reality. Did you expect the Wall Street Journal to fall into Murdoch's hands? If you had said that a few years ago, you would have been called crazy."
Sulzberger Jr. bit his lip as he saw the smile hanging from my lips.
"But what about now? The Bancroft family, which had run the Wall Street Journal for over a hundred years, like the Sulzbergers, has finally given up."
"······."
"I know we had no choice but to join hands with George Soros, but to us it felt like a declaration of war, a willingness to fight."
Sulzberger Jr. countered.
"It was a fair takeover."
It was a fair takeover······. If the same thing happened again, would people say something like that?
"Well, yes. The means were justified. How about this? We help Maurice Greenberg buy stocks. We continue to demand a restructuring of the New York Times through Murdoch's media, and we claim that the stock price of the New York Times is undervalued because of the abnormal governance structure."
"······."
"What would happen if that happened? I know that we can never take away management rights. The Sulzberger family will not accept any reform of the management structure. But you, who have published the New York Times, know very well how scary public opinion is."
Sulzberger Jr.'s face turned pale.
He was the one who knew that I was not just a talker, but a man of action.
Besides, you know very well that Murdoch would not hesitate to attack the New York Times even if it wasn't my request.
"I don't want to be an enemy of the New York Times, so don't make me make that choice."
Sulzberger Jr. looked at me for a long time.
He, who had been glaring at me silently, slowly opened his mouth.
"······What do you want?"
"Don't invest in Carlos Slim, invest in us. That's all that matters."
"······A lot of the story has already been told."
"It's not an investment until you sign the contract."
"Carlos Slim is the largest shareholder of the New York Times, with a 9% stake. It would be a bad thing to go back and forth with him."
I glanced at Han Kyung-young. Han Kyung-young quickly took out some documents from his briefcase.
"This is Dream High's proposal to the New York Times. Read it and decide for yourself."
Sulzberger Jr. opened the proposal that Han Kyung-young had presented.
He studied the proposal carefully for a long time. We waited for him without saying a word.
How much time had passed, he said, closing the proposal.
"The conditions are much better than Carlos Slim's. Not bad."
Han Kyung-young accepted Sulzberger Jr.'s calm words.
"I don't think it's that bad. You're being dishonest."
"Okay. Let me be honest. The conditions are so good that it's scary. What do you want? You must have something you want, so you're offering such good conditions."
Han Kyung-young looked at me. I smiled at his appearance and answered on his behalf.
"The condition is simple. Just don't get in the way of what we're doing."
"That's not right. We are a newspaper that protects journalism. For the people's right to know······."
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I raised my hand and interrupted Sulzberger Jr.
"I think you're mistaken. I'm telling you to report the facts as they are. I'm telling you not to make up stories based on someone's orders and publish feature articles."
"······Are you insulting us?"
"Can you guarantee that it is not?"
Sulzberger Jr. clenched his jaw, seemingly speechless.
"Of course, I don't think you, Sulzberger Jr., would do something like that. It's not a light position to throw away hundreds of years of honor. But some journalists might be tempted to do that. Judith Miller is a prime example."
"she is······."
"Yes. Nothing has been revealed yet. She would never reveal her source. But she is under investigation by the prosecution. So let me ask you one thing. Did she reveal her source to you?"
There was no answer. But I paid no attention and continued speaking in a firm voice.
"Our demands are simple: do not deliberately interfere with our work. We have no intention of stopping you from publishing the article as it is."
Sulzberger Jr. shut his eyes tightly. He still kept his mouth shut and made no reply.
"Accept the reality. We need to get someone to invest, and we've made a good offer. The demands aren't that outrageous. It's not that hard to just publish the story as it is, is it?"
After a long time of not responding to my words, he opened his eyes.
There was a solemn air about him, as if he had finished his worries.
"So, will you support Sulzberger Jr.?"
"We will always be with the Sulzberger family."
"Then I will accept your investment."
I stood up and extended my hand to Sulzberger Jr.
"Dream High and the Sulzberger family will be good partners."
Sulzberger Jr. also stood up and took my hand.
"I look forward to it."
"You can discuss the details with James and the lawyers here. I will be returning to Korea soon."
Han Kyung-young and Sulzberger Jr. also shook hands.
"Oh, and can I give you a good source? Maurice Greenberg's weakness."
At my words, a bright light came into Sulzberger Jr.'s eyes.
"What is Maurice Greenberg's weakness?"
"He's probably preparing to give his wife some stocks, to protect his assets from the lawsuits that might arise from this investigation. With just this much information, I think the New York Times' investigative power should be enough."
If he made a donation, it would eventually become known, but if the fact had been reported in advance through an article, even Maurice Greenberg would not have been able to easily make a donation of stock.
Eliot Spitzer wasn't so incompetent as to let that happen.
The corners of Sulzberger Jr.'s mouth slightly rose as he understood what I meant.
"It's a nice gift. Thank you."
I left the New York Times headquarters with him seeing me off.
"Do they know that the investments they receive from us are shackles that strangle them?"
Han Kyung-young asked, looking around the building.
"Well, since he is a person with more pride than anyone else, he would never even dream of something like that."
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"He identifies himself with the Sulzberger family. The family and he are separate."
"Keep buying stock in the New York Times. To bring down Sulzberger Jr."
Shake it up on the outside, and join hands with Sulzberger Jr.'s competitors on the inside. That was our plan.
It was also the reason I pointed out Maurice Greenberg's weaknesses.
Sulzberger Jr. and Maurice Greenberg are supposed to fight each other like dogs.
"Whose hand are you going to raise? Do you have someone in mind?"
"We're still holding each other together firmly, but if Sulzberger Jr. wavers, someone will move. Then, Hyung will take care of it."
Sulzberger Jr. asked me to support him, but I promised to support the Sulzberger family.
He identified with the Sulzberger family, but the Sulzberger family was not a family with a head.
The structure of selecting a successor through a family meeting strengthened the family unity and made it resistant to external attacks, but it also made them constantly compete with each other internally.
"Give Wilson and Flame a super-luxurious defense team. That's what they need to do to fight the neocons."
"I've already prepared it. I plan to meet them separately soon."
I nodded.
Sulzberger Jr. will continue to defend Judith Miller, as he did in his past life.
They probably don't realize that they're tarnishing the credibility of the New York Times, and they want to turn Judith Miller into a fighter against government oppression.
This was possible because Judith Miller was one of the most important and prominent reporters within the New York Times.
But Miller received information from the neocons in exchange for writing articles that suited their tastes.
'It looks like you haven't even heard who the source is yet.'
It was quite anticipated how shocked Sulzberger Jr. would be when he later discovered the truth about Judith Miller.
It's a fact that will be known for quite some time, but I thought I'd move Wilson and Flame to blow the whistle a little earlier.
"If there is a shake-up from the outside and a rebellion from within, it will not be difficult to bring down Sulzberger Jr."
The Bancroft family sold the Wall Street Journal to Murdoch.
The Graham family will also sell the Washington Post to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos due to financial difficulties.
In a previous life, the Sulzberger family protected the New York Times until the end, but this life will be a little different.
"If you can't have it, you have to change the owner from within."
If you try to interfere with our work, you will pay the price.
I smiled, one corner of my mouth raised as I thought of Sulzberger Jr.
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