The Tyrant Billionaire

The Mafia bosses laughed along with him.

The lottery game was an excellent moneymaker, but it was not easy for others to replicate.

It required a place like Las Vegas where gambling was legal, a TV station that covered the whole country, a large casino, countless willing bettors, and the power to protect it.

Hardy had all these things, so he succeeded. Others would find it extremely difficult to replicate this business.

"In addition, I plan to build a hospital and a Las Vegas University. The hospital will be a public facility and part of the service for visitors, while the university will focus on hospitality training to provide staff for the hotel."

"This also counts as city infrastructure, and the government is pleased with such facilities. It's important to maintain good relations with the government."

The family bosses nodded in agreement, knowing the importance of maintaining good relations with the government.

At this point, one impatient boss asked, "Mr. Hardy, I would like to invest in the new casino. How many shares can I buy?"

Hardy glanced at the bosses and smiled, "Many families are here today. I have set a standard: each family can purchase up to 5% of the shares, worth $5 million."

$5 million for just 5% of the shares.

It was expensive.

Hardy painted a beautiful picture of an unlimited future, but many smaller families still found it difficult to come up with the investment.

Not everyone could come up with $5 million. When Sigel sought funding from the three major families in New York, they only contributed $800,000 before stopping, leading to a fallout and even murderous intent over such a small amount.

These Mafia families lacked Hardy's business acumen and money making ability, as well as his vision for the future.

$5 million. Some larger families could scrape it together, but smaller families genuinely couldn't.

However, they were extremely envious of Hardy Casino's profits, knowing Hardy could make millions annually.

"Alright, everyone, discuss it among yourselves. If anyone is interested in investing, let me know by the afternoon. I want to finalize this as soon as possible."

He was on a tight schedule and needed to return to Los Angeles soon.

"But there's one condition: to facilitate management and avoid other issues, anyone purchasing shares must sign a voting rights agreement to ensure the manager's control over the casino. I don't want any problems destabilizing the company internally."

Many hesitated at Hardy's request. Signing the voting rights agreement meant giving Hardy full management control, leaving them with only the right to dividends.

Just moments ago, everyone was full of enthusiasm, but now they were cooling down. Someone asked, "If Mr. Hardy mismanages, and we shareholders have no decision making power, wouldn't we have to watch the casino lose money?"

Hardy spread his hands, "I will be the majority shareholder, and my investment is larger than yours. Would I deliberately lose my own money? As for management capabilities, just look at Hardy Hotel to see my management skills."

"I want decision making power to maintain internal stability at the new casino. You've all seen business tactics. Given our identities, if business competition turns into large scale armed conflict, it would be a loss for everyone. So, I decided to clarify this in advance."

The family bosses realized this point too. Business competition could be just as ruthless as gang conflicts. If someone tried to take control of the new casino, even if they succeeded using business tactics, the families wouldn't stop there, leading to inevitable conflicts and many casualties.

However, this meant their power would be reduced.

How to choose?

The bosses were momentarily indecisive.

At this moment, Tom Hagen stood up and said, "Mr. Hardy, the Corleone family is willing to invest and purchase 5% of the shares, signing the voting rights agreement."

When Tom arrived, the old godfather had instructed him to support Hardy regardless of his decisions. So, Tom was the first to step forward and agree to Hardy's terms.

The head of the Lucchese family also stepped forward, "Mr. Hardy, I am also willing to buy in and purchase 5% of the shares."

This family head was very clear minded. He was in it purely for profit. He had an economist by his side who told him that all of Hardy's maneuvers were strokes of genius. To earn over a hundred million dollars in just two years and to control a company like ABC Television with significant influence was something he greatly admired in Hardy's investment prowess.

He believed Hardy could definitely lead him to make money, so he promptly expressed his agreement.

Soon, several other family heads expressed their willingness to buy shares, while about ten others decided to go back and think it over. They also needed to determine how much they wanted to buy since not every family had that much cash on hand.

Hardy wasn't in a hurry. He took these people to the restaurant for a meal.

In the afternoon, a few more family heads approached Hardy. The remaining ones were small families. Some bought 4%, some 3%, and one family even bought only 2%. It seemed some families were also having tough times.

One family still hadn't approached Hardy, possibly due to financial issues or perhaps they were spying for the Barzini family.

Hardy didn't mind.

In the end, a total of 56% of the new casino shares were sold.

This amount of stock was just right for Hardy. If too many shares were sold, he would own too little, and once the casino started operating, his own earnings would be minimized.

The remaining shares were split, with the Los City Company holding 10% and Hardy himself holding 34%.

Holding 34% of the shares gave him the so called veto power.

However, with the management rights agreement, Hardy wasn't worried about shareholder rebellion. With this agreement, even a small percentage of shares could completely control the company.

With everything settled, Hardy signed the agreement with the mafia family heads in the hotel. An investment plan worth over a hundred million dollars was officially finalized.

As for the investment funds, the other families said they would submit the money gradually after returning home, estimating it would take one to two months in total.