Chapter 325: Chapter 325 Detective Comics

Military archives are typically stored at the National Archives, but these files still belong to the military. The military appoints a senior representative to the National Archives, making them a member of the Archives Committee. By convention, Major General Cooley is the military's senior representative and a member of the Archives Committee.The large collection of footage he manages would be extremely helpful for producing documentaries. The U.S. military even preserved some of Japanese texts, photos, and films, which Hardy was eager to obtain to produce documentaries exposing Japan's war crimes and the lowly tactics he and the Marines had to deal with through the war.

The next day, Hardy flew to Washington.

It was his first time visiting the nation's capital.

At a private club, Hardy met Major General Cooley. They were both genuinely interested in each other and quickly became friends. Find more to read at mvl

When Hardy mentioned his desire to access the materials, Cooley agreed but also warned Hardy that some highly classified materials couldn't be released. He could only provide the data that was publicly available.

Even so, Hardy was satisfied.

After returning from Washington, Hardy instructed ABC Television to contact the National Archives and prepare to produce more documentaries.

...

Hardy Group Headquarters, Chairman's Office

Andy reports to Hardy on his work.

"Due to the Jeep hot sale incident, Willys stock skyrocketed. I sold at $46.5 per share, making a total profit of $9.62 million. Although their stock price has slowed down in growth over the past few days, it has increased by more than a dollar. In hindsight, I could have held onto it a bit longer."

Hardy smiled gently.

"No one can predict the peak of a stock. As long as it meets our expected target, it's fine to sell. You've done an excellent job," Hardy said.

Andy continued his report.

"There's news from the U.K that the pharmaceutical company has been officially registered. It's called 'Hardy Group U.K Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.' The people from Merck Pharma have already begun installing equipment."

"Wells Fargo has found suitable office locations in both Europe and Asia. In Europe, we have branches in major cities of France and England as for Asia, we have one in Hong Kong and another in Japan. In Hong Kong, we acquired a bank that had been closed during the Japanese occupation. After Japan's defeat, the bank reopened but hasn't seen much success.

Wells Fargo contacted them, and they quickly agreed to sell all their assets to us.

"As for Japan, you mentioned earlier that we could consider acquiring some Japanese banks. Many banks went bankrupt after the war, and one of them, 'Chiyo Bank,' was run by the Chiyo family. Wells Fargo has inspected it and feels it's a good acquisition."

"Chiyo Bank's headquarters is in Tokyo, with branches in other major cities. It's a large bank with assets spread across Japan. At its peak, it was ranked as Japan's ninth largest bank. The top banks were mostly owned by large conglomerates. During the war, Chiyo Bank provided substantial funds for Japan's military industry. After Japan's defeat in 1945, their banking activities were strictly limited."

"After the war, with little money in the hands of the Japanese people, there was a rush to withdraw cash. Chiyo Bank originally had hundreds of thousands of depositors, but their cash reserves were insufficient to cover the withdrawals. They've managed to pay out only a small portion, and they're now on the verge of bankruptcy." Searᴄh the ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"After Wells Fargo approached them, Chiyo Bank was very eager to be acquired. The Chiyo family wants to keep a small share but is willing to give the rest to Wells Fargo."

Hardy squinted slightly and said calmly, "Give? They're not being generous, they just want Wells Fargo to take over their bad debts."

"Wells Fargo did the calculations. Taking over Chiyo Bank and becoming the major shareholder would be more cost effective than directly purchasing the assets. It would also give us a mature business network, making it easier to operate. If we were to start a bank from scratch, it would take about a year longer," Andy explained.

Hardy waved his hand dismissively.

"Tell Johnston not to merge, just acquire. Let Chiyo Bank go bankrupt. After they go bankrupt, we'll acquire their assets and establish a new, clean bank. It'll save us a lot of trouble," Hardy instructed.

When a bank goes bankrupt, millions of depositors can't get their money back. But Hardy's was an American capitalist, Japanese depositors problems were none of his concern.

"I understand, boss. I'll inform Johnston," Andy replied.

He continued with his report.

"The Global Times reports operations in Europe are running smoothly, and things have started up in Hong Kong as well. As per your instructions, the Japanese branch will also start running before next year."

Hardy nodded in approval.

"Andy, have ABC Radio send people to London and Paris to prepare for setting up radio and television stations in those places," Hardy instructed.

They already had newspapers there, so they couldn't miss out on radio and TV stations. It's better to act quickly. The Hardy Media must be the first to cover up all of Europe.

"Yes, boss," Andy quickly noted down Hardy's orders.

After making his notes, Andy looked up and continued his report, "Boss, I've already contacted the two comic book companies you selected. 'Detective Comics' said they have no plans to sell. I sent someone to investigate. 'Detective Comics' has four shareholders, and the current president is a publisher named James Gordon, who owns 22% of the shares.

"The other three shareholders include two individuals, but the majority shareholder is Warner, which owns 47% of the company. 'Detective Comics' is now the largest comic book publisher in the United States, with total sales reaching ten million copies last year."

"Two of their comics have already been adapted into films, one being Superman and the other Batman."

At this time, DC wasn't yet known as DC but as 'Detective Comics.' However, when Hardy saw their comics, he knew this was the future renowned DC Comics.