The Tyrant Billionaire

Hardy approached a Commerce Department official, "Mr. Pierce, could you help me get in touch with someone from Mardi Shipping Company? I'd like to discuss a potential investment."

The Commerce Department official was very pleased this was the first businessman willing to invest in shipping so he nodded immediately, "Of course, no problem. I'll notify them right away. They can be here within a day."

As the official was about to leave, Hardy called out, "Oh, one more thing. I'm also interested in investing in the luxury goods industry, but I don't see any such entries on this list. Could you help me connect with some companies in that sector?"

"Investing in luxury goods?" The official was somewhat surprised.

Given the current economic climate, luxury goods companies were struggling. People were focused on survival, with few willing to purchase luxury items.

"Certainly, but are you sure you want to invest in the luxury goods sector?" the official asked again.

"Yes, I'm sure."

After the official left, Andy and the president of Wells Fargo approached Hardy. Hardy looked at them and asked, "Have you found any promising sectors?"

Andy said, "I think Fiat is quite appealing, but they're a large entity. The Italian government intends for Fiat to acquire most domestic brands to revive the national automotive industry. They also have restrictions on foreign share sales, limiting them to 30%. And we're not the only ones interested, several other companies are as well."

Hardy knew that Fiat would develop quite well in the future.

"What's your plan?"

"I hope to acquire at least 5%, which would require about $30 million," Andy replied.

Hardy nodded, "Alright, I support your decision. Go ahead and do it. Try to secure as much as possible."

As for the president of Wells Fargo, he was interested in a small bank.

This small bank had already gone bankrupt. Its headquarters were in Rome, and it had branches in Milan, Naples, Florence, Venice, Turin, and Palermo, the capital of Sicily, known as the Mafia's home.

He wanted to acquire this bank and turn it into Wells Fargo's branch in Italy.

"If you think it's feasible, then go ahead. You're the president," Hardy said with a smile.

The next afternoon.

Representatives from Mardi Shipping arrived in Rome and met Hardy at the hotel. The person who came was the current president, Gerry Mardi, the second generation heir of the Mardi family.

"Hello, Mr. Hardy, I'm Gerry Mardi," the middle aged man greeted warmly, shaking Hardy's hand with both hands.

The two sat down to talk.

Gerry Mardi made it clear that they were open to any form of investment. They had so little capital on hand that they could barely maintain operations and feared it would take a long time to return to their former status.

"I have a batch of Liberty ships and Victory ships, mostly bulk carriers. I have two proposals: one is to lease them to you, and the other is to use the ships as equity in your company," Hardy suggested.

The only asset Mardi Shipping currently held was its management rights and routes. Hardy's investment would certainly make him the major shareholder.

Eventually, Mardi presented his plan. He proposed valuing the company's existing total assets and working with Hardy, who would contribute three Liberty ships and two Victory ships, holding 66% of the shares, while also leasing 20 Liberty ships and 10 Victory ships to Mardi Shipping.

Since the company was broke, they could only defer payment for the leases.

Gerry Mardi was indeed shrewd, this way, he could retain a significant amount of shares while acquiring enough ships to instantly become the largest shipping company in the Mediterranean, essentially "borrowing chickens to lay eggs" and "using no money to make money."

Hardy saw through his plan but agreed to the proposal anyway.

Gerry might think he was getting a great deal.

But in fact, Hardy would gain even more.

Although the lease payments were deferred, it wasn't like they wouldn't be paid eventually. Those ships would only rust if docked, but renting them out meant generating income.

Hardy now controlled a major shipping company.

Regarding Hardy's interest in investing in luxury goods, the Commerce Department took it very seriously, but they currently had no list of such companies.

Having no idea how to proceed, they finally escalated it to the Minister of Commerce.

The Minister had an idea: "Publish a notice in the newspaper stating that Mr. Hardy, Chairman of the Hardy Group from the U.S., intends to invest in Italy's luxury goods industry. Interested parties can call the Commerce Department to register. Leave your department's phone number, and set the registration period for three days."

An official immediately went to post the news.

The announcement quickly caught the attention of luxury goods industry professionals, even if the general public didn't notice.

After all, the strongest country post war was the United States.

The highest level of consumer spending was also in the United States.

So, the luxury market was naturally in the United States.

If they could enter the U.S. market, it would be an excellent opportunity for these luxury brands. Moreover, Hardy Group was a major American corporation, which could significantly promote their industry.

Many luxury brands quickly called the Commerce Department.

Within two days, the Commerce Department prepared a list of over sixty luxury brands. Some were well known throughout Italy, while others were obscure, the department suspected some of these brands were merely trying to fool wealthy Americans.

They were right—some of these luxury brands were indeed hoping for speculative investment.

The list was laid out before Hardy.

"Mr. Hardy, this is the list we compiled. Please see if there are any companies you'd like to invest in. If there are, we have their contact details, and we can arrange for their representatives to come over for a face to face discussion."

Hardy picked up the list and began reading.

Some of the names were unfamiliar, but others were well known in later years.

Seeing these names, Hardy's heart couldn't help but skip a beat.

If he invested in these brands now, a $10,000 investment could yield $1 million in the future. He looked to see which names were on the list.

Bulgari, Gucci, Fendi, Prada, Zegna.