Edgar Bronfman Jr.'s judgment had not been wrong. Richard Fuld was a smiling tiger.
On the surface, Richard Fuld had contacted Edgar Bronfman Jr. because he wanted the Bronfman family's support and assistance. In reality, however, he was exploiting their vulnerability and using both threats and incentives to force Edgar Bronfman Jr. to help him accomplish his goal.
As for why he did this? It was simple: to survive in this world, you needed influence and a powerful background. Richard Fuld admitted that if he had to confront Isabella one-on-one, he had no confidence that he could win. When Isabella crushed Facebook, she had personally arrested, tried, and sentenced it. Compared with her, what right did a man who had needed ten years just to seize Lehman have to sit at the same table? Even among immortals, there were differences in strength! Right?
Therefore, while the Bronfman family was weakened but still possessed sufficient power, using its banner as a shield was the best solution Richard Fuld could devise in such a short time. He believed there was nothing wrong with his plan.
As for what actually happened: Richard Fuld sent his request for help to Edgar Bronfman Jr. on December 17, 2007. According to the usual procedure for private discussions within their circle, Richard Fuld should have received a reply within three days at most. However, Christmas was already approaching, and everyone was busy at the end of the year, so Richard Fuld did not receive Edgar Bronfman Jr.'s response before the holiday.
Honestly, the complete silence did make Richard Fuld uneasy. After all, he was gambling that the useless Edgar Bronfman Jr. would fall for his deception. But when the sounds of Christmas and family celebration appeared, he still smiled at his wife, children, and grandchildren.
On December 24, 2007, Richard Fuld spent Christmas Eve with his family at his mansion on New York's Upper East Side. On December 25, because he had already made Lehman's fourth-quarter financial report show a profit, he had no pressure hanging over him and spent his free time skiing with his family.
When they returned home that evening, his wife, Kathleen Bailey, learned that her favorite actor, Jack Nicholson, had released a new film with Morgan Freeman, The Bucket List. So, wanting to turn the news his wife had unexpectedly discovered into a surprise, Richard Fuld immediately instructed his secretary to call a New York theater chain and have a print of the film delivered to his home. Then he spent a pleasant evening watching it with his wife in their private theater.
When December 26, 2007, arrived, he returned to Lehman feeling relaxed and cheerful. Then, at ten in the morning, the office phone connected to the company's internal line began ringing on his desk.
He picked it up. His secretary's report made him smile in surprise. "What did you say? Steven Spielberg is calling me? Oh—put him through directly—"
In Richard Fuld's eyes, the unexpected call was good news. After all, the person calling him was Steven Spielberg, who had an excellent relationship with Isabella. This proved that Edgar Bronfman Jr. had already begun helping him.
What? Someone was asking how Richard Fuld had reached that conclusion? The logic was simple. If Edgar Bronfman Jr. did not want to help him, he should have had his secretary call Richard back. He would have said that he could not act as a mediator and told Richard to find someone else. Therefore, since the person calling him belonged to Isabella's side, it proved that Edgar Bronfman Jr. might have recognized his scheme but had still held his nose and accepted it.
As for that—
"Hello? Steven? How are you?"
Once the call connected, Richard Fuld took the initiative to greet him. Unfortunately, his enthusiasm was met with a cold response.
"Oh, sorry, Richard. I'm not doing particularly well right now." Steven Spielberg's serious voice came through the phone.
"?"
Richard Fuld frowned slightly, put away his smile, and asked softly, "Has something terrible happened? Would you be willing to share it with me?"
"Of course!"
The moment Richard Fuld finished speaking, Steven Spielberg continued, "That's exactly why I called you today, Richard. We've known each other for a long time, haven't we? We met sometime in the last century? If I remember correctly, I also purchased many Lehman products in the past? I thought we were friends! But apparently, in your eyes, I'm merely a line of text in a notebook, a card in a holder that can be replaced whenever convenient, a familiar stranger in your social network. Is that right?"
"??"
Richard Fuld froze. Blinking, he said, "Oh—Steven, I don't understand what you mean."
"You don't understand what I mean? That can't be true, can it? You were the one who called Edgar Bronfman Jr.!"
Richard Fuld's response made Steven Spielberg raise his voice. "Don't tell me now that you weren't the one who called Edgar Bronfman Jr.!"
"Wait, wait, wait—"
Before Steven Spielberg could finish, Richard Fuld sensed that something was wrong and immediately interrupted him. "Steven! I don't understand what you mean! I did call Edgar! But I contacted him because I wanted him to mediate the conflict between my friend Isaac Perlmutter and Isabella! My objective! Our objective! Is for the dispute to end peacefully! We have no intention of escalating the situation! To achieve that, my friend Isaac Perlmutter is even willing to surrender every Marvel share he owns, in exchange for his safety!"
"…"
"Is there some misunderstanding between us? Or did my people fail to explain the situation clearly when they spoke with Edgar Bronfman Jr.?"
Although Richard Fuld had now taken responsibility for every possible problem, his brain was also operating like an out-of-control CPU. In his eyes, Steven Spielberg's angry questioning might have had something to do with Edgar Bronfman Jr. After all, if Edgar Bronfman Jr. had been unwilling to submit to his coercion, he could have caused trouble while passing on the message.
But the next second, he discarded that possibility. It was not that he believed Edgar Bronfman Jr. was an idiot who could not detect the threat hidden inside his request for help. Rather, he believed Edgar Bronfman Jr. currently lacked the courage to cause trouble. After all, the Bronfman family had recently taken an enormous shit on the very foundation of its status! Therefore, when the person asking for their help was Isaac Perlmutter, the man who had once fought for the West Bank with a gun in his hands, they might refuse to help, but they absolutely could not sabotage him. If they caused trouble and the truth came out, their loyalties would appear completely twisted! At that point, even if God returned to life and personally forgave them, the other Jewish people would still tear them apart!
So—
"Why is Steven Spielberg angry? This makes no sense!"
Just as Richard Fuld remained completely bewildered, Steven Spielberg responded. "If that's true, then I want to know why you didn't simply have Isaac negotiate directly with Isabella?"
"Oh—that's because I believe the conflict between them runs extremely deep. It cannot be resolved through a simple negotiation."
"Is that so?"
"Of course!"
"But didn't you just say that Isaac is willing to surrender every Marvel share he owns to settle the dispute?"
"Yes—yes!"
"Then have you considered that Isaac donating all his shares to Isabella's charitable foundation would demonstrate far greater sincerity than using Edgar as a messenger?"
"???"
Richard Fuld narrowed his eyes. He was certain that he had detected something unusual. However, just as he began wondering about Steven Spielberg's true purpose in calling him, Steven's questioning continued through the receiver. "Richard! Don't you believe that sincerity can always be demonstrated through a donation? Or before contacting Edgar Jr., did you ever look into how Ted Turner, Steve Case, and Michael Eisner all left Time Warner and Disney only after completely selling off their shares? Even Edgar Jr. only walked away from the conflict after selling all his shares in Vivendi Universal!"
"…"
Richard Fuld licked his lips. "So, Steven, what exactly are you trying to say?"
"I'm not trying to say anything! I only called today to tell you that the dispute between Isaac Perlmutter and Isabella Haywood originally had nothing to do with me! But ever since you contacted Edgar Bronfman Jr., I don't know what you were thinking when you contacted him! But let me make one thing clear! News Corporation was worth far more than five billion dollars! Rupert Murdoch's total fortune was also worth far more than five billion! Richard Fuld! In Isabella's eyes, what you've done means you want to fight this to the bitter end! She refuses to speak with you! Goodbye!"
Before he had even finished, Steven Spielberg hung up!
The moment the electronic busy tone began beeping, Richard Fuld's forehead creased into a knot. It was not that Steven Spielberg's attitude had exceeded his expectations. Rather, he felt that something about the current situation was wrong. According to normal logic, when two sides were in conflict and one discovered that surrendering its entire fortune was the only way to survive, its wisest course of action would be to negotiate with its opponent. It could offer the peaceful transfer of its assets in exchange for a safe exit. At that point, the other side's normal response should be to accept the negotiation.
After all, every conflict caused losses. Obtaining the greatest number of resources at "zero" cost was the smartest possible decision. The Art of the Deal. Ahem.
Moreover, under that logic, the party seeking peace first had to act as though it was capable of mutual destruction. Otherwise, every last piece of its property would genuinely be taken by the opponent. Since the party asking for peace was allowed to reveal its ultimate move of "dying together" before negotiations began, Richard Fuld did not believe that his actions or the advice he had given Isaac Perlmutter were wrong.
Under those circumstances, Isabella's refusal to negotiate was the abnormal part. A normal person's first reaction after seeing the threat of mutual destruction should not be, "Then I'll fucking fight you to the death!" Only a madman would learn that the other party possessed a nuclear bomb and scream hysterically, "Then let's bomb each other to our hearts' content!"
Although Isabella's previous actions had appeared insane, she had never fought a battle without preparation! Therefore, the possibility that she was truly insane was extremely low! And if she was not insane, why was she so determined to fight Isaac Perlmutter to the bitter end?
"Could it be that she's seeking even greater benefits? But what benefits is she after? Isaac Perlmutter's entire fortune is only a little over five billion dollars! Does she intend to take all of it at once?"
After carefully analyzing the current situation again, Richard Fuld's frown deepened. Just as he felt that something about the situation was wrong no matter how he examined it—
"Ring, ring—"
The desk phone rang again. It was another internal call. When he picked it up, his secretary informed him that Comcast chairman Brian Roberts wanted to speak with him.
Since Lehman Brothers and Comcast had no recent business dealings, Richard Fuld's heart immediately skipped a beat when he heard Brian Roberts's name. After the call was connected—
"Richard! Do you have a fucking death wish? Lehman is already drowning in its own problems, and now you want to make a move against Isabella? Are you fucking tired of living? I'm fucking warning you! News Corporation was worth far more than five billion dollars! I control the Fox television network now! If you dare expose what happened, I will personally send the entire Fuld family to hell!"
"Click."
Brian Roberts, chairman of Comcast, hung up immediately after shouting, giving Richard Fuld no opportunity to respond. Richard Fuld's face alternated between green and white! Although he desperately wanted to call back and curse him in return, he could not. Brian Roberts was not an ordinary person. His family was also an established dynasty in the United States.
His maternal grandfather, Alfred Fleisher, was a leading figure in Reform Judaism. Before the 1970s, his family's most famous asset was Eastern State Penitentiary. After the 1970s, his family controlled most of the prisons on the East Coast of the United States. That's right. The Comcast chairman's maternal grandfather had been part of America's military, police, intelligence, and law-enforcement apparatus. His father, Ralph Roberts, came from a family that sold drugs. Literally sold pharmaceuticals.
With Brian Roberts possessing such overwhelming connections, forget calling Richard Fuld and cursing him. He could slap Richard Fuld in public, and Richard would still have to endure it!
Just as Richard Fuld's head began buzzing and he felt as though he had fallen into a trap—
"Ring, ring—"
The desk phone rang for the third time. Another internal call! He picked it up with trembling hands and listened carefully. His secretary said that Viacom owner Sumner Redstone was calling. He accepted the call. Then—
Sumner Redstone got straight to the point. "Richard, I hear you're having a conflict with Isabella? And now you've approached Edgar Bronfman Jr.? I've heard about Isaac Perlmutter. Sometimes, a black glove needs to be discarded. If you can't bring yourself to do it, I can have Isaac Perlmutter thrown into the Atlantic to feed the fish tonight. Of course, if you insist on protecting him, then all I can say is that News Corporation was worth far more than five billion dollars. I control their communications business now."
"…"
"?"
Judging solely from his tone, Sumner Redstone's attitude was considerably better than Brian Roberts's. At the same time, however, his words contained far more information. When Sumner Redstone, just like Steven Spielberg and Brian Roberts, indicated that he had also been involved in the collapse of News Corporation, Richard Fuld instantly realized that he had truly fallen into a fucking trap!
Isabella's determination to fight Isaac Perlmutter to the end really was driven by her desire for even greater benefits! But the dish she had ordered was not Isaac Perlmutter and his five-billion-dollar fortune! It was Lehman Brothers!
"Oh—shit—"
"…"
"How does she dare?"
After discovering that Isabella appeared to be targeting him, Richard Fuld was completely stunned! Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that Isabella was now seeking a position on Wall Street!
It was not that the capital of Wall Street remained eternally unchanged! The Morgan family had once been incredibly powerful, yet had their bank not eventually been taken over by the Rockefeller family? Samuel Osgood had once been a figure equal in stature to George Washington. His family had controlled the City Bank of New York, now Citibank, yet had the family not eventually been absorbed by the Vanderbilts? Earth's pinnacle division was not immutable! Families here could also fall!
But finance was currently the foundation of the United States! So what gave Isabella Haywood the right to seek control of Lehman Brothers? She could not even field an army of ten thousand people! Richard Fuld could not understand it!
And just as the sudden confusion was about to make smoke rise from his head, the desk phone began ringing repeatedly again. He received a fourth call; it came from Jeffrey Bewkes, the new chairman and CEO of Time Warner. His message was simple: Richard Fuld had crossed the line this time.
The fifth call came from John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media. Since his background was comparable to that of Comcast chairman Brian Roberts, his tone was equally hostile. He immediately gave Richard Fuld a vicious scolding for attempting to stir up trouble.
The sixth caller was the true owner of Lionsgate, the genuine heavyweight involved in gold mines and nuclear energy. Perhaps he knew that everyone else had already threatened Richard Fuld, or perhaps he simply could not be bothered wasting words on him. In any case, after the call connected, he immediately began singing Richard Fuld a requiem. "According to certain reports, Isabella recently had a very pleasant conversation with the Duke of Devonshire at the Royal Ascot racecourse in London. So the most important thing you should do now is organize Lehman's most valuable assets and wait for them to take possession."
"…"
"Trust me. You—and Lehman—have no possibility of making a comeback now. Because everyone in the circle already knows that you intend to destroy Isabella for the sake of your black glove. So now, no matter whom Isabella calls to beat you down, no one will come to your aid."
"…"
That's right! The main reason Isabella had gone to such lengths to pressure Isaac Perlmutter and force him to ask his backer for help was to make "everyone in the world" understand that Isaac Perlmutter had attacked her first! Only after "everyone in the world" knew that she had been struck first could she openly call for reinforcements and devour Lehman with complete justification!
As for the logic behind it? It was simple: although Wall Street was not a unified entity, and all the capital there fought independently, the United States was a unified whole, which meant every piece of financial capital was connected beneath the surface. Moreover, every financial institution dreamed of unifying the world, while finance itself was the foundation of the United States.
With these conditions genuinely existing, destroying one of those institutions would create two problems. First, you were attacking one component of a country's fundamental foundation? That would trigger fucking systemic risk! At that point, you would not be facing a single financial institution, but thirteen fucking aircraft carriers! Even if you were Ultraman Tiga, they would still blow you to pieces!
Second, even if your attack did not trigger systemic risk, it would not allow you to consume your opponent's corpse. Don't believe it? Just look at what happened to Barclays during the subprime-mortgage crisis. Even though Barclays's attempt to hunt Lehman had been completely legal and reasonable, the jackals of Wall Street still attacked it afterward!
So, if you wanted to avoid being surrounded and hunted by jackals, you had to make the target in your scope attack first! For example, right now, Lehman's black glove had extended its filthy hand all the way to the Queen? At that point, anyone who attempted to mediate would be fucking evil! Especially after Lehman's actions had also violated the interests of giants such as Comcast, Lionsgate's owner, Time Warner, Liberty Media, and Viacom. Anyone who still dared to seize the dish called Lehman would truly be incapable of recognizing their place!
Yes! Richard Fuld's request for help from Edgar Bronfman Jr. had thrilled Isabella! Of course, the result would have been the same if he had embraced Michael Bloomberg. Warner's current chairman had originally entered Warner through an introduction from Laurence Rockefeller. And Richard Fuld's control of Lehman had only been achieved after he outlasted the Rockefeller family's influence over the company.
So, I lost, you won, and now you still want me to help you? How can you possibly be that shameless?
Hehe~
When every path Richard Fuld could take led to death, the attack on Lehman could finally begin. And that was actually the simplest part.
As for why? Jeffrey Epstein, the most famous broker, had once said: "Finance exists in a symbiotic relationship with two other things. One is military power, and the other is public opinion. When you control absolute military force, you can use finance to harvest the entire world. But at the same time, if you do not control absolute public opinion, your enemies will eliminate you first. Because everyone knows that financial institutions do not actually possess that much money. A financial institution might control one trillion dollars in assets, but once leverage is removed, it may not even have ten billion dollars in cash available for redemption. Under those circumstances, the moment a media outlet the public considers authoritative claims that it has run out of money, it will die instantly."
That's right. Every financial institution feared a panic-driven bank run. That was also the real reason the pinnacle players on the American server had always maintained their remote breeding operations! Promoting the beacon of freedom and engineering regime change were only superficial explanations!
What they truly feared had already been revealed when Rupert Murdoch entered the North American media industry during the 1990s! Rupert Murdoch could change his nationality to own a North American television network! But Fox could not operate a financial-news channel! Later, when Fox finally received permission to launch a financial channel, it was only because Murdoch had wagered his entire fortune on North America!
So Isabella currently controlled the machinery of public opinion? And Lehman was already caught in the turmoil of the subprime-mortgage crisis? Then—
"Boss—something terrible has happened—"
Just as Richard Fuld, having finally understood everything, stood frozen with his eyes nearly splitting from rage and his body trembling helplessly, the door to his office was suddenly thrown open! His secretary rushed toward him holding an Apple laptop and shouted, "Boss! ABC suddenly released damaging information about us! ABC says our finances have serious problems, and—and—"
Before the secretary could finish, Richard Fuld's gaze had already shot toward the computer. Then he saw a bold headline on ABC News's official website.
The main headline read:
[Facing a Crisis, Lehman Brothers Lays Off One Thousand Employees Because of Its Financial Results! Behind the Crisis, Lehman Brothers Chairman Richard Fuld Jr. May Become Wall Street's Highest-Paid Financier of 2007!]
The subheading read:
[Lehman Brothers previously stated that the collapse of New Century and several other companies engaged in subprime lending had caused the company to face a liquidity crisis. At the same time, however, Lehman Brothers chairman and CEO Richard Fuld is receiving an annual compensation package approaching fifty million dollars. So is Lehman Brothers' crisis truly caused by the market—or by its leadership?]
"Clatter—"
The moment ABC's report appeared, the telephone receiver Richard Fuld had been gripping tightly slipped from his hand! He stared blankly at the computer screen in his secretary's hands! And in his ears, the melody of God Save the King began playing uncontrollably!
The game was over.