Chapter 181

Chapter 181

Op-ed: “The Jonathan Investment and Finance Group has shut their mortgage loan business this time.”

「Jonathan Hunter, “We have kept our promise to resolve the Pray crisis as soon as possible. It’s a tragic but inevitable decision.”」

In order to settle the Pray crisis, the Jonathan Group has begun withdrawing from the crude oil market and has also started aggressively selling their core assets. The Jonathan Group’s SOB[1] has sold their entire mortgage business unit which is worth 2.7 trillion dollars to Rothschild Chain for only thirty billion dollars.

◇ Was selling the mortgage business necessary? First doubtful point.

Considering the large-scale selling of current spots and futures across the oil market, the rumor that the Jonathan Group is one of the members of Cartel Oil Group has been proven to be true. Hence, the Jonathan Group would have been able to handle their crisis with a fraction of the profits they gained from liquidating the oil market.

◇ Was selling the mortgage business necessary? Second doubtful point.

It is not enough to describe the Jonathan Group’s market domination as ‘unbelievable.’ Since the dotcom bubble, the Jonathan Group has reinvested their profits into IT, telecommunications, food, and energy markets. Moreover, they entered the markets when promising companies such as Googol, FaceNote and Nile weren’t famous, so they secured a controlling stake in them with greater authority than the companies’ management teams. As the Jonathan Group has a fifty percent stake in Googol, whose market capitalization is 350 billion dollars, they could’ve assuaged the incident just by withdrawing from Googol. This applies to dozens of companies that they own such as Nanosoft and Berry.

◇ Was selling the mortgage business necessary? Third doubtful point.

If the Pray crisis spreads throughout the groups and imposes danger on the Jonathan Group, everyone would agree that the crisis will spread throughout the United States and around the world. TOO BIG TO FAIL. Big financial companies will never collapse. Until now, the country has had to spend the taxpayers’ money to revive the companies with large assets when they went bankrupt, fearing that the situation would detrimentally impact the economy. If the Jonathan Group fails to settle the crisis despite their boasting, they could have expected a blood transfusion from the government even though the morals of doing so are suspect.

◇ Was selling the mortgage business necessary? Fourth doubtful point.

The Jonathan Group’s SOB was the king of derivatives markets associated with the subprime mortgage market as they had occupied thirty-five percent of the real estate mortgage market that led to the property boom, especially eighty percent in the subprime mortgage market. They had sold 256 billion dollars in 2003, 272 billion in 2004, thirty-two billion in 2005, four hundred billion in 2006, and 512 billion in 2007. In total, that is 1.76 trillion dollars of loans and related derivatives only in the subprime mortgage market alone, and it is estimated that their cumulative profits and fees earned since 2003 are close to one trillion dollars. If they decided to impignorate their mortgage division instead, which has been making astronomical profits, it wouldn’t have been difficult to raise funds to resolve the Pray crisis.

◇ Turning crisis into opportunity.

The reason for the Jonathan Group’s withdrawal from the crude oil and mortgage markets isn’t solely because of the Pray crisis. It seems to be their method to reduce costs and increase capital returns by simplifying the management structure. It is natural to pay attention to the Jonathan Group’s movements after they settle the Pray situation since they have retrieved the astronomical profits. Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained!

***

“Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained… hahahaha!”

Isaac burst into laughter as he folded today’s Wall Street Journal.

Why didn’t Na Seon-Hu sell the existing shares? Because of his greed. Why didn't he expect a blood transfusion from the government? Because he knew that the U.S. authorities would never help companies managed by Asians unless the crisis actually escalated.

Lilliputians would never know what was going on in Brobdingnag.

Isaac had been enjoying every single day. It was a kind of joy he had only felt on the day he had become the head of the Rothschild family after defeating his distinguished relatives.

This year’s Bilderberg Club conference was held on May 15th at the Westfields Marriott hotel in Washington D.C. It was located in a secluded suburb and had already been prepared to greet the members.

After a routine inspection by CIA agents, Isaac’s vehicle stopped at the hotel entrance. The warm sunshine revealed his happy smile. He was guided to his room where he would stay for the next few days, then he headed to the garden where the members who had arrived a day earlier were mingling.

The bond between the members had been broken since 2003. Even then, there was an invisible barrier between the North American and European members. Years had passed, and it had become more complicated now. A new force had been created within the Bilderberg Club, and their voices were tremendously influential. They were Joshua von Karjan from the Karjan family, Colton Spencer Goldstein from the Goldstein family, the Gillian couple from the Gillian Group and Telestar Investment, Daniel from Gold and Silver Investment, and Jamie from the Jamie Corporation.

Isaac looked at the table where those six were sitting.

They must be Na Seon-Hu’s groups.

Gillian’s Group had been kicked out from the Cartel Oil group due to the Pray incident. Isaac was planning to look at Gillian’s defeated face and ridicule him, but Joshua caught his eyes instead.

Every time I see him, his eyes get more intense. It must be good to be young.

However, Isaac wasn’t jealous because the world was now revolving around his family, the Rothschilds. He had finally succeeded in revealing the glory that had been hidden by Na Seon-Hu’s groups.

There were various members who greeted Isaac, and he joined a table after a member invited him. When Isaac sat down, members began to celebrate.

“Congratulations. I’ve heard only good news about the Rothschild family lately.”

“The Holy Grail sure goes to the person who is ready. I knew things would go like this, haha.”

Then, one man interjected, “Shouldn’t we cancel Jonathan’s invitation?”

Isaac shook his head while smiling.

“Even if the Jonathan Group has lost the oil and mortgage market, he is still the largest shareholder of some members’ companies and his money…”

Then, Isaac gestured at the table where Na Seon-Hu’s groups were sitting with his eyes. People nodded as if they understood. Their expressions were rude to the people from Na Seon-Hu’s group, but the members there were busy having a serious conversation so they didn’t notice that others were mocking them.

“Did you hear that, Isaac? Jonathan accepted this year’s invitation.”

Isaac reacted calmly, but he was screaming inwardly with excitement as he wanted to see Jonathan’s crying face as soon as possible. In addition, the fact that Jonathan joined the Bilderberg Club when the Rothschild family had the most authority in the club meant that Jonathan now intended to comply with their order.

“What about Na Seon-Hu?” he asked casually.

It had been difficult to exclude Na Seon-Hu and the capitals associated with him. Therefore, the club had decided to incorporate his people in 2005, invited Jamie in 2006, and invited Daniel in 2007.

“Well, given that there’s been no reply, I think he’s going to refuse this year again.”

“You guys should all know that Na Seon-Hu is the one moving that group. We should bring him here even if we have to drag him. Also, we will have to clarify the sources of funding of the Gillian Group, Telestar Investment, and Gold and Silver Investment. If the money is not just Na Seon-Hu’s support fund, but if he is directly involved in that…”

Isaac clipped his wings when he saw the members’ expressions. It was obvious that everyone was thinking his idea was a ridiculous assumption, and he personally actually felt the same. Even if it was Na Seon-Hu, it was impossible for him to have entered the City along with Wall Street. Their tentative conclusion was that there was someone behind the scenes who controlled all the funds that supported Na Seon-Hu.

“Does the Rothschild family have any more means to put pressure on Na Seon-Hu?”

“If there was, I would have brought him here already,” Isaac replied coldly.

“Ah, he’s an ominous guy.”

“We need your cooperation for this. May I count on you to comply with my wishes at this conference?” Isaac asked.

“To what extent are you planning to proceed?”

“I’m going to take Na Seon-Hu out, then we will be able to identify the source of the funds that support him.”

“What do you mean by taking him out?”

“I’m planning to reveal him to the world and make him public.”

“The resistance will be difficult to handle.”

The members’ eyes naturally flickered towards Na Seon-Hu’s group.

“The Asian boy is the one who continues rejecting our invitation. Actually, he should have taken it way earlier. When we tried taking him out to the world in the White House many years ago, we should have fully supported it. If we miss this year, we’ll regret it and this situation will repeat itself over and over again.”

Regardless of Isaac’s strong claim, none of the members showed any response.

Isaac said as if he understood them, “We, the Rothschilds, guarantee that Na Seon-Hu won’t be able to expand this situation to a currency war. If all of you don’t break your promise to cooperate with us, we can either make him accept our invitation or force him to do so. He will have no way to escape this situation.”

“If you say so, I will have to trust you and the Rothschilds.”

“I agree.”

“Yes, me too.”

“Then, I believe in you guys that you will tell the others about my intentions…”

Isac suddenly cut himself off and turned his head back because the members were looking over his shoulder. He saw Jonathan just getting out of the car. There had been many twists and turns bringing Jonathan to the Bilderberg Club. All of the members in the garden were looking at him due to his reputation and capital strength. Like the cover of his autobiography he had published years ago, the man had appeared with a gentle smile.

You are smiling?

Isaac rose with a smile.