America 1919

Chapter 825: 282, 130 million US Dollar investment_3

Before the Miami hurricane hit, how crazily had the land prices in Miami skyrocketed?

This year, a lawyer from New York sold a narrow strip of coastal land at Palm Beach for 800 thousand US Dollars, but by next year, the price of this land had already risen to 1.5 million US Dollars, and by the following year, it had soared to 4 million US Dollars!

Such myths of land prices continuously rose in Miami.

Donnie was getting tempted!

But just buying at this time and selling in 1925 wasn’t exactly a grand plan to Donnie; at best, it was a chance to make a windfall!

What truly mattered to Donnie was the blow to the financial sector in the entire Florida after the Miami hurricane hit.

Countless banks went bankrupt and shut down because of the falling house prices and borrowers unable to pay back their mortgages, compounded with various compensation claims.

If Donnie wanted to expand Breton Bank, he must step out of New Jersey, and now it seemed that the Miami hurricane was a perfect opportunity for Breton Bank to advance into Florida!

Walker couldn’t foresee the events that would unfold in Miami, Florida, and naturally didn’t know Donnie’s plans.

Nor could Donnie clearly tell Walker about it.

So, after thinking it over, Walker still declined Donnie’s suggestion: “Forget it, even the investment in these three cities is already a big strain on the cash flow of the Astor Family, I should focus on this matter!”

Hearing Walker’s refusal, Donnie could only nod in resignation.

Now that the cities for development were selected, Walker said he would return to New York to spend some time with Maholi, then discuss with the Astor Family before personally embarking on a journey to scout locations in these three cities.

After Walker left, Donnie called over Robert and Winston Marl.

“Keep the profits from the bootlegging business for the next three months all for me, I have another use for it!” Donnie first spoke to Robert.

Purchasing Sinclair Oil Corporation and Breton Bank had nearly allocated all the cash Donnie had on hand. If Donnie wanted to start buying land in Miami now, he would need to gather cash again. Although important, Donnie wasn’t planning on mobilizing all his available cash, so he only used the profits from the bootlegging business.

Buying land with cash transactions is also quite favorable as it avoids the money laundering process associated with the proceeds from the bootlegging business.

Although Robert did not know what Donnie intended to do with this substantial amount of funds, he still nodded immediately to show his understanding.

Then, Donnie spoke to Winston Marl: “Notify Morgan and Mellon, the two big banks, that I am willing to use ABC, Surf Hotel, and the Apollo Chain’s stock as collateral to borrow one hundred million US Dollars from them with a loan term of two years, to see what their conditions are!”

This time Robert became truly curious about what Donnie was planning to do!

After all, the reallocation of profits from the bootlegging business was only a 30 million US Dollar investment, and now if adding on this one hundred million US Dollar loan, the total would reach an investment of 1.3 billion US Dollars.

This was virtually the largest investment Donnie had ever made!

“Donnie, what kind of project requires such a massive amount of cash?”

Donnie did not answer Robert’s question, but said to Winston Marl: “You’ve been with me for some time now, and I have a task for you that I want you to handle. Do not disappoint me!”

Winston Marl’s face showed surprise; Donnie had just talked about gathering 1.3 billion US Dollars, and now he was entrusting him with a task, which meant he would be handling this huge investment?

“Don’t worry, boss, I will be very careful!”

Donnie nodded, he would definitely still send people to follow Winston Marl, after all, 1.3 billion US Dollars was not a small amount!

Converted to later generations, it’s almost equivalent to 10 billion US Dollars of purchasing power!

“I plan to have Winston Marl buy enough land in Miami!” Donnie finally answered Robert’s earlier question.

Robert thought for a moment, then spoke: “The land in Miami indeed shows a trend of increasing prices, but if we inject this 1.3 billion US Dollars into the market, it will definitely rapidly raise the land prices in Miami, making it hard for us to profit much afterward!”

Donnie nodded, accepting this, but he also believed that even if the land prices in Miami were pushed higher, they would not reach a fivefold increase, and moreover, this fivefold increase was just the minimum; many prime locations nearly saw prices increase by seven or eight times!

“No matter, Miami’s development is going well now, I believe that two years later the land prices there will definitely meet our interest demands, and we’re not investing everything at once, just need to spend this 1.3 billion within one and a half years!”

The last sentence Donnie spoke to Winston Marl.

“So when you contact Morgan and Mellon, make it clear to them that we are not withdrawing so much cash at once, but in stages, let them calculate the interest correctly for us!”

Winston Marl confirmed in his mind that he indeed was the one to manage this 1.3 billion US Dollars, his smile growing brighter.

“I understand!”

This is the advantage of telling these things to your subordinates; no need to explain your reasons, just let them follow your instructions and execute the task!

When Winston Marl made the call to Morgan and Mellon on behalf of Donnie, the heads of the two banks were also shocked…