Chapter 723? Speed ​​Up

Song Ya naturally wouldn't know that Russell Simmons was annoyed and scolding his mother. In fact, from his point of view, Russell Simmons was the most difficult one to deal with.

I forced the Manhattan Gang to give in without much effort, Pierre Sutton gave in, Def Jam records panicked, Quincy Jones father and daughter had a big fight at home, LL Cool J hid in Hollywood, Puff Daddy didn't even dare to enter the game, Only Russell Simmons, he was momentarily at a loss for words.

That guy has been in the music industry for many years. When he was in charge of Def Jam records, old-fashioned, hardcore, and political rap was brilliant for almost the entire 1980s. Musicians in New York and even the East Coast respected him, and he was neither like Quincy Jones. With such a big mouth and no bad habits, it is extremely difficult to be caught, and he has a good relationship with New York political circles, which is recognized by Dinkins and others.

Rooted in New York for many years, he has countless connections within the inner city broadcasting company, Billy Taylor, a jazz pianist, composer, media and education activist, and Roberta Flack, a jazz pianist, composer and songstress All African-American musicians are his close friends, not to mention LL Cool J and a large group of veteran rappers from Def Jam. He knows each other with the inner city broadcasting company and the Manhattan Gang.

In the past, his status might not have reached the top among the black group, but after receiving Polygram's nearly 50 million cash and his net worth exceeding 100 million, everything is different. Billionaires are rare these days, and black billionaires are even more rare. He cherishes animals. Once he crossed that threshold, he instantly became one of the representatives of all black people in the whole meter, and his prestige and influence all jumped rapidly.

With a capital injection of 30 million yuan, half of his subscription is only 15 million yuan. It's a bit painful, but it shouldn't be difficult to afford, at least Song Ya thinks so.

But what Song Ya didn't know was that Russell Simmons had just felt the troubles he had gradually gotten used to in the past two years. Countless people who wanted to make money from billionaires surrounded them like flies. What did social activists do? Funds or charitable organizations solicit donations, politicians need funds for their campaigns, brokers who sell mansions, yachts, and luxury goods, Wall Street elites who encourage them to buy investment products, etc. It will take time to adapt.

"Oh, by the way, congratulations on winning the party primary."

Back in Chicago, after he endorsed Peter Flock's gubernatorial campaign platform, the two came to Alicia's law firm together.

Or that freight elevator.

"Thanks."

Peter Flock said thanks, but the two of them didn't come here to gossip,

He began to talk about Vic's case, "There have only been two trials so far. It is the old case of the two unimportant members of the stormtroopers. There is no danger for the time being. I found out that the FBI has replaced a detective named Mahon." Responsible, he is rampant in Chicago, and he doesn't even pay attention to procedural justice in many cases, it is difficult to deal with..."

"In that case, send him to the dock?" Song Ya asked.

Peter shook his head, and lowered his voice to the point where the noise of the freight elevator was almost overwhelmed, "The commander-in-chief has already helped, forcing the FBI to transfer the leadership of this case to the Chicago branch. The director here has a certain tacit understanding with us, so, at present Everyone is making do with it, and it is inconvenient for us to move the front-line investigators..."

"This is good news." Song Ya smiled.

"Yes, but there are still great unpredictable risks. After winning from the party, my opponent is only the last one. The elephant party candidate is the chairman of the Chicago Bar Association. His public opinion base is far inferior to mine, but the social There's so much energy, it's impossible not to use this case to attack me."

Peter looked very frank, "This is the main risk we face in the second half of this year. Fortunately, there will be no redistricting issues during the next governor's term. The elephant party will have less support for the governor's candidate, otherwise it will be more difficult. "

Song Ya knows that the United States will redraw the electoral district every ten years, that is, 1990/2000 and other integer years. The governors of each state have great power in this matter. For example, there are two congressional constituencies, and one constituency is like two parties. The hard-core supporters of their respective groups are open on September 1st, and one constituency is open on March 7th. Through very simple mathematical calculations, it is possible to re-plan the two constituencies so that both of them are open on June 4th. , Regarding seats, the game between the two parties is very fierce.

"Okay, I see, if you need me, just say it, Peter."

Now the interests of the two are highly bound, and Song Ya is not stingy in providing generous promises.

"Well, can you get Pastor Allison to endorse me? It's crucial for me to get the African-American vote."

Peter also made a direct request very simply.

"I know Pastor Alison very well. I'll go say hello tomorrow." Song Ya nodded in agreement.

"Then I'll count on you." Peter happily patted him on the shoulder, "Go out, Alicia is waiting for you."

"OK."

Pierre Sutton has given Alicia's law firm and Morningstar the operating status of the inner-city broadcasting company he requested, and they are currently doing statistical work outside.

Peter and his wife hurried away after saying hello, while Song Ya stayed in her office.

"This is the basic statistical result. If you want to read it, you can read it first. The first page is the briefing. I will continue to work..."

Alicia put a large stack of folders in front of Song Ya.

"Okay, thank you Alicia."

After thanking Song Ya, he started to look through it alone.

Generally speaking, the inner city broadcasting company is not a standard private company. It receives government funding every year, and it also accepts social donations, most of which come from wealthy African Americans. It provides some social obligations, such as giving to Malcolm Eck His widow has a high-paying idle job to provide for the elderly. For example, it has injected capital into many small media that do not make money in various parts of the United States and speak out for African Americans. It is also the pocketbook of many politicians. Of course, the twelve self-owned radio stations in normal operation, eight joint-venture radio stations and some small local TV stations are still the main body.

All of these are most evident in the Apollo Theater. The owner of the property, the New York City Government, provides a very cheap lease on the one hand, and on the other hand, there are various subsidies for cultural and ethnic minority projects every year. This theater is located in Harlem. The ancient theater on 125th Street also earns a lot of money from tickets and visits. In addition to maintaining normal operations, the profits are also used to support many "idle people" who get paid for nothing, such as retired jazz musicians, African-American politicians and celebrity family members, retired politicians who walked through the revolving door, and so on. The remaining part was handed over to the inner city broadcasting company, and some of it flowed into several foundations, and the foundation chaired by the powerful federal congressman Rangel took the lead. Although these foundations have legitimate reasons such as equal rights and charity, these funds The salaries for directors and other positions are very generous, and how much is actually used in practical matters depends on one's conscience.

The same is probably true of other small institutions scattered all over the country.

This is a big net. Even if Pierre turned to cooperate sincerely and informed some things in advance that could not be reflected in the official accounts when he visited the Malibu seaside villa, what he got here is still a foggy one. report, and the Manhattan gang also sternly warned that it must not be leaked.

But on the other hand, the big net woven by the Manhattan Gang since the 1970s is also very attractive to Song Ya. Isn’t this the source of social influence?

"The loan alone is as high as nearly 60 million, and the interest is not low. The more than 10 million borrowed by the First Bank of New Jersey has been called for many times, and the deadline is coming in October this year..."

Song Ya shook his head while watching. The name of the First Bank of New Jersey brought back his memories. When he was threatened by Motura, this bank forced him to pay back the money...

He shook his head and put the bad past behind him. The Inner City Broadcasting Company was almost unable to go on. No wonder the Sutton family refused to let go of the 30 million figure. Without the 30 million, once the loan defaulted, immediately is about to face bankruptcy.

Of course, he does not lack high-quality assets, such as the Apollo Theater, the two major radio stations in New York, and the Washington sub-station that has been hollowed out by himself...

"How? What do you think? APLUS."

When he was dizzy and doubtful, Alicia finished her work and came in with two cups of coffee.

"I don't know... oh, thanks."

Song Ya took the coffee and took a sip, "My mind is in a mess now."

"That's true." Alicia smiled. "This fruit has a mottled appearance and bitter flesh, but it's still nutritious..."

"It's a good metaphor, at least it's not really a simple bottomless pit." Song Ya smiled wryly.

"The 30 million they received is estimated to be mainly used to repay and replace the loan..." Alicia said.

Song Ya nodded in agreement, "Yes, so I will definitely stick to Ms. Sloan's four-point proposal. You must get the power to spin off, sell, and shut down non-performing assets, and you must not be trapped in the Apollo Theater being held by New York City. In the big risk of the government forcibly taking it back."

"It's more difficult."

Alicia said: "I mean the Apollo Theater. Although Congressman Rangel has important interests in it, you must know that the second term of the elephant party mayor Giuliani is coming soon. There should be no pressure to re-elect the strongman who reversed the law and order situation in New York. The political influence of the Manhattan Gang as a whole is rapidly weakening, and it is becoming more and more difficult to maintain the interests of the theater every year."

"Well, I see the same thing."

Song Ya naturally agreed, "However, I noticed that former New York Secretary of State Basil Patterson's affiliated foundation still gets a lot of money from the inner city broadcasting company every year. His son, New York State Senator David Patterson It should be the future star that the Manhattan Gang placed high hopes on. The reason why the father and son seem to draw a clear line from Percy Sutton and Dinkins is probably because they don’t want to be defeated politically and the public’s perception is not good. Ex-politicians are involved."

"It's just a state senator. There are dozens or hundreds of politicians of this status in each state, let alone New York State, which has a super city with severe decentralization like New York City."

Alicia disagreed. "It's hard for that David Patterson to stand out."

"That's right..." Song Ya also knew the truth.

"Alicia." A staff member knocked on the door and came in. "What's going on with this sum of millions? Receivables? Or bad debts?"

"What money?"

Alicia took a glance at the document in his hand, "Oh, this is a donation pledge that they have not actually received over the years. It is nothing. It is placed in the attachment. According to the nature of the operation of the inner city broadcasting company, it does not even need to be paid. Disclose to the outside world, maybe I misplaced it.”

"Okay." The staff went out, and she put the documents on the table casually.

"Isn't this a fraudulent donation?" Song Ya picked up the document and looked through it.

"Ha, it sounds so ugly. In fact, this kind of phenomenon is not uncommon. Some of them have a tacit understanding with each other. After all, celebrities take the lead, and ordinary people will follow." Alicia is not surprised at all.

"Um?"

Song Ya saw the names of some African-American celebrities in the list of pledges. Among them, the most famous talk show host, Oprah, appeared the most frequently. He became interested in an instant, sat up straight, and looked carefully. Go on, "Whoa whoa whoa whoa... From the time she came to New York to promote the film Purple in 1985, she has 'donated' millions of dollars to various affiliated units of the inner city broadcasting company in the past ten years, all of which are empty words ?”

"Of course, otherwise her name would not appear in this document." Alicia replied casually.

Song Ya's eyes lit up, "Alicia."

"Um?"

"Speed ​​up, speed up the progress of the capital injection negotiations with Pierre!"

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