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The panic buying spree began; Franz sent people to spread rumors that prices were going to rise.
This was well-founded.
Vienna, which had always had the highest prices in Austria-Hungary, had actually had lower prices than other regions for the past six months.
Everyone knew this wasn’t normal.
Capitalists are not philanthropists; this situation could not continue.
The citizens of Vienna believed it; the half-year of good times they had just experienced was about to come to an end.
Naturally, there was a frenzy of panic buying.
Before dawn, long queues had formed at the entrances of every supermarket in Vienna; the panic buying spree had arrived.
Volvo, having prepared in advance, had naturally moved many goods, and items like long-term storable daily necessities were no longer in stock.
What was prepared were mostly crafts and short-term consumables like bread and various snacks.
They were quickly bought out.
Volvo’s service staff opened the warehouse, and when the crowd saw there were no daily necessities, they were naturally no longer the target of the ordinary citizens’ panic buying.
Then they left one after another, swarming to other supermarkets.
Soon, many supermarkets were emptied.
Looking at the empty shelves, many Capitalists were on the verge of tears.
One must know that supermarket inventory purchases are mostly on credit, usually settled monthly; owing for half a year or a year is normal.
Now they were selling at a loss; the more they sold, the more they lost, but the debts had to be paid in full.
If you had the strength to continue operating, then to retain customers, delaying payment for a while was no problem.
But if the losses were severe and you wanted to close down, you couldn’t blame them for kicking you while you were down.
Koteff Department Store, which had just emerged from difficulties, was hit with another blow.
The hoarded goods were bought out, and an awkward situation arose: there was nothing left to sell! Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
The retail industry in Vienna suffered a heavy blow, and many Capitalists faced a problem: poor capital turnover.
Department stores were losing more money the more they sold; the proceeds from clearing out stock weren’t even enough to pay the debts owed to manufacturers.
Forced into a corner, they borrowed money one after another.
The banks in Vienna naturally wouldn’t miss this feast of capital; for a time, they arrived to loot, rob, and kick them while they were down.
Even worse, small Capitalists faced the danger of insolvency; many simply embezzled the funds and ran away, as there was no capability for cross-border recovery of stolen assets in that era anyway.
It also implicated the manufacturing industry; many factories were caught in the crossfire and went bankrupt one after another.
The Capitalists who escaped the disaster were naturally not willing to give up.
Many had a flash of inspiration and came up with all sorts of clothing malls, dining malls, and machinery malls, intending to make a quick buck to recoup their losses.
Thinking that the buildings were already there and couldn’t be sold, they decided to fight for survival.
Relying on the popularity accumulated earlier, the pioneers naturally made money, but the aftermath was that the entire retail industry suffered.
A massive wave of bankruptcies was set off; a large number of Capitalists went bankrupt, one implicating another.
The number of unemployed people grew day by day, Vienna was in a depression, and the economic crisis had arrived.
The financial giants who were gloating just a moment ago might not have been familiar with this operation; they started by eating big chunks of meat, then choked and had indigestion.
Holding a large pile of collateral, they encountered the financial crisis but couldn’t liquidate it, watching it depreciate day by day, wanting to cry but having no tears.
Then it spread to the stock market; due to the lack of funds in the market, the stock market began to plummet, and countless wealth was evaporated.
The financial crisis in Vienna soon spread to the entire Austria-Hungary.
A large number of enterprises went bankrupt, workers became unemployed, and society was in turmoil.
Bank deposits also began to flow out significantly, and finally, a small bank named Boston ran out of capital and went bankrupt.
Due to the improper handling by the Austria Government, a run on the banks began, and more banks were implicated.
Many that previously had insufficient capital reserves now followed in Boston’s footsteps.
At this time, the slow-to-react Austria-Hungary finally realized it needed to save the market.
On December 8, the Minister of Finance of Austria-Hungary, Lauren Holman, held a press conference and announced the launch of a market rescue plan.
Ferdinand knew the harvest season had arrived.
The economic development of Austria-Hungary was still quite good; as long as there was sufficient capital injection, this financial crisis would soon pass.
Taking advantage of the stock market downturn, Ferdinand fully exercised his buy, buy, buy strategy, acquiring many valuable enterprises at dirt-cheap prices.
Of course, Skoda was not as impressive as it would be in later generations; its real explosion would begin in 1899, reaching its peak in 1937, with artillery production surpassing the entire British Isles.
Ferdinand was just laying the groundwork in advance.
Koteff Department Store, which was already in Ferdinand’s pocket, naturally could not escape his grasp.
Koteff Department Store first suffered heavy losses in the retail sector; after the financial crisis broke out, the banks demanded early repayment, dealing it another fatal blow.
The 200,000 pounds loan once sent by the Capitalists of Hungary had now become Koteff’s death warrant.
Since its reputation was ruined, Koteff Department Store was required to pay cash for all the goods it purchased, tying up a large amount of capital.
Now that the banks were demanding early repayment, the capital chain snapped, and Koteff Department Store was beyond saving.
After holding on for a bit, the Heard Family finally decided to give up.
After all, they were the fuse that ignited this financial crisis; most likely, the blame would be heaped upon them, and being a scapegoat was not easy.
Selling the company now would allow everyone to get a share, and the key was that Ferdinand could pay in cash, which they could then use to bail out their other industries.
With 50,000 pounds in cash and the assumption of all debts, Ferdinand easily acquired Koteff Department Store, this giant company valued at 800,000 pounds.
Such opportunities only exist during a financial crisis, with a large number of bankruptcies.
Everyone was busy with mergers and reorganizations, so naturally, no one went to compete with Ferdinand.
Ten years of effort is not as good as one moment of explosion.
This time perfectly illustrated this saying; Ferdinand made a fortune.
Just the gains from this one time were enough for the House of Koháry to strive for ten years.
The occurrence of the economic crisis was still somewhat unexpected for Ferdinand; the power of the butterfly effect exceeded his imagination.
As the butterfly effect fermented, the power of foresight would become smaller and smaller.
Ferdinand felt a bit panicked; he seemed to need to prepare more fallback plans.
Austria-Hungary was out of the question; although this was the base of the House of Koháry, unfortunately, it was destined to have no future.
The Central Powers were also out of the question; Ferdinand did not yet have the confidence that he alone could change the outcome of the World War.
It seemed that casting his gaze outside of Europe and developing in the colonies was also a good choice.
After all, many places were currently blank slates with absolutely no competitors, and he probably still remembered a few famous mineral deposits in the world; at worst, he could be a mining tycoon.
Time was running out; it seemed the trip to London had to be brought forward, Ferdinand said to himself.