Chapter 7

"Getting Baldwin to step down won't be an easy task, Grandfather," Li Xu said at this point, "Moreover, the old-timers like Stanley may not necessarily value the profits from junk bonds. They always talk about corporate culture, and their first thought about any reform is whether it will disrupt this culture. They are not like you, who knows how to make choices and keep up with the times; they are already outdated."

If it weren't for your great ideals, they might not have accepted it, he silently added.

"Besides, Father is now a partner at Stanley," Li Xu continued, "Back when the 'Rude Six' seized power, Father supported them."

"Then find someone from their group to take over. What I require is a leader with broad vision and a willingness to advance," Grandfather immediately replied.

Power struggles are inevitable anywhere, and Morgan Stanley is no exception. As the once influential figures grow old and become conservative, it's time for the young to step onto the stage.

The 'Rude Six' is such a group. Led by Robert Baldwin, these six relatively young partners, compared to the older generation, seized power at Morgan Stanley in the early 1970s and carried out sweeping reforms to the bloated and sluggish company.

They were called the 'Rude Six' because the older generation saw them as rude, lacking humor, and lacking the refined demeanor expected of bankers.

It seems they accomplished a lot, but in reality, there's not much to commend. First, whoever sat in that position would have carried out reforms; without reform, the company would have fallen behind and declined. Second, the 'Rude Six' only began to rebel after many key department heads retired and they took power. Third, ten years later, Baldwin himself has also become conservative.

In fact, in the historical memory, Baldwin was ousted in 1983 for being conservative and unwilling to advance.

Li Xu remembered this so clearly, including the previous example of Milken, because before his rebirth, he had a friend who was an intern trader. This friend would boast about the charm of the industry in QQ groups and post signatures like "Speculation is the most magical job in the world."

This annoying guy would often send him trading charts privately and proudly claim how much he had made, even though it was only a few hundred or even a few dozen dollars. Additionally, he would frequently send him biographical materials about Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to show off his knowledge.

Li Xu, annoyed by the constant pestering, read a few books and didn't expect to use them now. All his prior knowledge about finance, including the Hunt family's silver case, came from those books.

As for why he could still remember after more than a decade of rebirth, don't you know that rebirth comes with a golden finger? Li Xu's golden fingers are two: one is an eidetic memory, allowing him to recall every detail of his past life with time; the other is a very robust physique, never having been sick and easily overwhelming Deng Lijun in bed.

Of course, if you want to say that after 20 years of rebirth, he achieved nothing, had no accumulation, and couldn't even make a short film, but once he got a professional camera, he could perfectly replicate the original, and the weak villains would all fall flat.

Or that before rebirth, he was ordinary, but after rebirth, his acting talent and charisma were maxed out, and with a little effort, his popularity and goodwill were full, and the world became a place where ability spoke, and his long-separated wife in the industry had full affection.

If you say these things are without a golden finger and very realistic... well, you're happy.

So, Li Xu knew he was the protagonist, 100% the protagonist. Okay, he might also be the big villain, but so what? It doesn't stop him from playing this game well.

"But with nearly 30 partners, to get half of them to support, Father must step in. But if he does, he will be seen as betraying Baldwin," Li Xu said.

In 1980, Morgan Stanley was still a partnership, and each partner's opinion was important, unlike in a shareholding system where major shareholders have more say. Morgan Stanley would not integrate into a shareholding system until 1986 or 1987 in his previous life.

Actually, betrayal isn't a big deal; changing allegiances is common. His father in this life initially worked at Goldman Sachs but was forced to return by Grandfather.

But sometimes reputation matters, so unless Father can become the head of Stanley after ousting Baldwin and create more profits, the word 'betrayal' will definitely have negative effects.

As for waiting for Baldwin to step down on his own, like in history, forget it. This is the chaotic 1980s; every year of delay means less profit.

"Don't worry, I'll handle it," Grandfather glanced at him, clearly thinking he couldn't help with this.

Li Xu shrugged and changed the topic: "What about the Glass-Steagall Act?"

"Next year, whoever comes to power will loosen financial regulations; this has already been decided," Grandfather said, his tone relaxed.

The "everyone" naturally refers to those who can attend the Federal Reserve's annual meeting.

"Just loosen regulations?" Li Xu blinked.

"…For now, that's all we can do," Grandfather answered after a moment of silence, suddenly seeming a bit despondent, "The future is up to you."

Seeing his expression, Li Xu couldn't help but grimace. Clearly, Grandfather no longer believed he would live to see his ideals realized.

Even so, he refused to give up; it was his greatest wish and ideal in this life, and he was determined to achieve it.

As for what that wish and ideal were, oh, it's simple and insignificant, just… rebuilding the Morgan Group.

After all, for a bastard, what could be more satisfying and face-saving than being the one who brings the group back to its feet after the legitimate family members are all pushed off the stage and marginalized?

Yes, Li Xu's grandfather in this life, Andrew Charles Li, or Andrew Charles Morgan, is Jack Morgan's bastard son. It's normal; in that era, financial tycoons, except for the freak Rockefeller, all had mistresses and bastards, a tradition inherited from Europe.

For some reason, little Morgan liked Andrew, this bastard son, and always took care of him—well, at least that's what Grandfather said, and he had deep feelings for little Morgan.

However, a bastard is still a bastard. Even though little Morgan liked him, he had no status within the family. After graduating from Harvard, he was marginalized to the West Coast, changed his surname to Li, and started his own business with little Morgan's secret support.

To be honest, this melodramatic plot gave Li Xu goosebumps the first time he learned about it. Is reality stranger than fiction, or is this just a novel?

In any case, Grandfather's greatest hope in this life was to reunite the Morgan Group, which had been split into three due to the Glass-Steagall Act.

Seven years ago, the three Morgan-named groups—Morgan Grenfell, responsible for British and European business; Morgan Stanley, focused on investment banking; and J.P. Morgan, focused on commercial banking—met at the Rockaway Hotel in Bermuda to discuss a merger. He played a significant role in this.

But due to significant differences in interests and the Glass-Steagall Act, the talks ultimately failed.

This was a major blow to Grandfather, second only to the death of Grandmother. Perhaps because of this, he now seriously considers Li Xu's prophetic suggestions.

"The Glass-Steagall Act is a huge obstacle. Without removing it, rebuilding the Morgan Group is just empty talk. But to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act will require constant effort, a long process. Additionally, due to interests, the three groups may not be willing to merge. Instead of considering a merger, we should strengthen ourselves and then吞并他们。”李旭是这么说的。

当然，不是一次说完，而是通过各种插嘴、提问以及灵机一动，在这几年里，夹杂在普通谈话中，直接或间接地传达给爷爷。两世为人的李旭可不是什么大嘴巴。

一两句话，爷爷可能不会在意，但听得多了总会思考一二。加上李旭的话语权和信用度在这些年里一点点增加，这才有了现在的对话，认真对待他的那些零散建议。

然后，李旭就可以从容布置，做自己想做的事情。

“不谈这个了。”爷爷这时摆了摆手，“另一件事，除了那个犹太佬，我还见了澳大利亚人，很有意思的小子。”

李旭当即抽了抽嘴角，好吧，鲁伯特·默多克只比自己父亲大一岁，被你叫小子也是完全可以的。

“很有能力，也很有魄力，喜欢用谈判解决问题，”爷爷继续说道，“我跟他透露了一点你所说的，关于传媒帝国的构思，他很感兴趣。”

“哦？”李旭挑了挑眉，“那么您的意思是……”

然而爷爷没有接话，皱眉寻思了片刻才又道：“没想到默多克不声不响的，已经收购了那么多美国的报纸，那些传媒集团已经迟钝到这个地步了？”

那当然。李旭在心里这么说了句。美国在80年代可是掀起了并购狂潮，他记得一个数据是，80年代初还有300多家各式各样的媒体，到了20年后只剩七八个大型传媒集团。

并购狂潮产生的原因有很多，这里就不一一讨论，但这个时候的好莱坞却是史上最虚弱最茫然的时刻。

华纳还没有和时代合并，联美的《天堂之门》即将上映，米高梅早已落入柯克里安手中，迪斯尼的市值只有20亿左右，福克斯捞到了《星球大战》系列可还是入不敷出，可口可乐无心经营哥伦比亚，环球整体平庸，只有派拉蒙在巴里·迪勒、迈克尔·艾斯纳和杰弗瑞·卡森伯格三个人的带领下还算不错。

所以，想要将好莱坞掌控在手中，现在是最好的下手时机。

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"Let's not talk about this anymore," Grandfather waved his hand. "Another matter, besides the Jew, I also met an Australian, a very interesting young man."

Li Xu immediately twitched his lips. Well, Rupert Murdoch is only a year older than my father, so calling him a young man is completely acceptable.

"Very capable and bold, he likes to solve problems through negotiation," Grandfather continued, "I mentioned a bit of what you said about the media empire, and he was very interested."

"Oh?" Li Xu raised an eyebrow, "So your meaning is…?"

However, Grandfather didn't respond immediately. He frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "I didn't realize Murdoch had quietly acquired so many American newspapers. Have the media groups become this sluggish?"

Of course. Li Xu thought to himself. The 1980s in the United States saw a wave of mergers and acquisitions. He remembered a statistic: there were over 300 various media outlets in the early 1980s, but by 20 years later, only seven or eight large media groups remained.

The reasons for the merger wave are many, but at this time, Hollywood was at its weakest and most uncertain.

Warner Bros. had not yet merged with Time, United Artists' "Heaven's Gate" was about to be released, MGM was already in Kirk Kerkorian's hands, Disney's market value was around $2 billion, Fox had the "Star Wars" series but was still struggling financially, Coca-Cola was not interested in operating Columbia, Universal was generally mediocre, and only Paramount, led by Barry Diller, Michael Eisner, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, was doing relatively well.

So, to control Hollywood, now is the best time to act.