After meeting with the vice president of Westinghouse Electric, John was distraught for several days. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 Info He and the company's decision-makers are inclined to take over Westinghouse's big business, but they don't accept their capital injection. Of course, John would not have raised money through a commercial bank controlled by the Rockefeller family. Doing so is undoubtedly luring the wolf into the house, and John is not short of money now. More than half of the $1.2 million he raised to start the company still lay on the company's books. The real headache for the company's decision-makers is how to avoid interstate barriers and build a logistics and transportation network covering the whole United States.

The company's think tank team discussed it for several days before finally coming up with a solution. After reading this plan, John felt that he had a headache even more than before he got the plan, because the risk of this plan was too high. The think tank team's plan is for FedEx to use the rail networks of several major railroads to avoid interstate barriers. Bang Express needs to set up large storage centers near several important railway hubs, and all goods are concentrated in the storage centers first. FedEx then transports the goods from the fulfillment center through the rail network to the company's fulfillment centers in various states according to the customer's order, and finally the truck distribution team in the fulfillment center to each destination.

To implement this plan, John would not only have to make large additional investments, but also make a series of equity deals with the railroad giants. While the slightest mistake could lead to the loss of control of the company, if they don't, the railroad giants could kill FedEx at any time by raising freight rates and adjusting transportation plans. After weighing it for several days, and after carefully taking stock of all his assets, John gritted his teeth and agreed to what he called the "earth-shattering plan". Die for the bold, starve for the cowardly, do it!

At the end of June, John sold the Bimore estate, which his father had spent $16 million to build that year, to the Astor family's real estate company in exchange for a large sum of cash and the Astor family's 3.7 percent stake in the United Pacific Railroad. After that, John ordered another 300 Dodge trucks from Chrysler. Originally, FedEx had been purchasing Ford's two-and-a-half-ton trucks. John has a lot of affection for this kind of car, because in his previous life, when he was young, his father drove this kind of car in the third-line arsenal. That's right, this is the famous old Gas. During World War II, these trucks were exported to the Soviet Union in large quantities as part of the U.S. aid program to the Soviet Union, along with production lines. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was brought to China by Soviet specialists, and for a long time it was the main model of Chinese trucks. The reason why John switched to Dodge trucks this time was to get in touch with Chrysler himself.

The founder of the Chrysler Corporation, Walter Chrysler, is a legend in the American business community. He began his career as an apprentice mechanic for the Pacific Railroad, and later rose through the ranks from foreman, chief engineer, and chief technician to the head of the Great Western Railroad in Chicago at the age of 33. Compared to him, John's achievements at the Cincinnati branch are nothing compared to him. Later, Chrysler moved to a Buick plant owned by General Motors as a factory manager. Chrysler's career curve didn't stop there, and he soon became president of Buick and eventually became senior executive vice president of production at General Motors Co., Ltd., which oversaw production at all plants.

In 1919, Chrysler announced his retirement due to a disagreement with William Durant, the president of General Motors. But his fame in the auto industry was so great that he was soon asked out by a bankrupt company, Willis. It took Chrysler just two years to bring the company back to life, earning it a reputation as "the company's doctor" in the industry. After the company returned to normal, Chrysler began his second retirement with a sky-high commission of $2 million. But soon, he was approached by another terminally ill company - Maxwell Motorcycle Group. This time, Chrysler simply bought it and established its own Chrysler Automobile Company through mergers and acquisitions.

By 1937, Chrysler had overtaken Ford to become the second-largest automaker in the United States after General Motors. Walter Chrysler himself is now preparing for his third retirement. John's relationship with Chrysler stems from his long-standing relationship with Union Pacific Railroad and its trucking company, Overnite Transportation. The Union Pacific Railroad, in turn, controls the main railroad artery connecting the east and west of the United States. In early July, with Chrysler's lead, John successfully used his 3.7 percent stake in Pacific Railroad in exchange for de facto control of the immediate transportation company through a share swap agreement. But that's only half the story.

On July 16, John returned to the headquarters of the Central Railroad in New York. In preparation for the company, Harold offered John a sale of a portion of his shares to the New York Central Railroad. James, the treasurer, had previously been in talks with the New York Central Railroad on the matter. The original idea was for the New York Central Railroad to acquire a 20 percent stake in FedEx for $750,000. But now, thanks to John's massive additional capital investment, FedEx's equity has grown from $1.2 million to more than $10 million, and it's clear that this plan is not the right fit. So, John came up with a new plan this time.

John's proposal to Harrow to change the unilateral capital injection to a cross-share swap. John plans to swap out 40 percent of FedEx shares this time. Prior to this, John had transferred a portion of the company's equity to his wife, Adele. So once the replacement is completed, the New York Central Railroad, which holds a 40% stake, will become the largest shareholder of FedEx. Correspondingly, FedEx has become a relatively controlling subsidiary of the New York Central Railroad. John knew that doing so would likely cost him control of the company, but he had no choice but to make the most of New York Central Railroad's rail network across the Mideastern states.

However, John will not cheapen the New York Central Railroad for nothing. He demanded that at least 5 percent of the New York Central Railroad be acquired in the share swap. This, combined with the shares he entrusted his father-in-law, Degallo, to acquire on the secondary market, allowed John to occupy a seat on the board of directors of the New York Central Railroad. There is an even greater advantage of this, that is, John and Harold can hold more than 30% of the shares together, although they are still far from absolute control, but they are already the largest shareholder of the New York Central Railroad, and can control the direction of the company's shareholders' meeting to a large extent.

Harold was shocked by John's magnanimity. But Harold was personally excited at the thought that the Vanderbilt family would be able to further regain control of the New York Central Railroad and fulfill his long-cherished wish. He said he would do his best to facilitate the cross-swap agreement, and personally called several family leaders to provide financial support for John's acquisition of the company's shares in the secondary market.

On September 10, after more than a month of painstaking negotiations, FedEx finally signed a cross-swap agreement with the New York Central Railroad. On September 25, at the company's shareholders' meeting, John successfully entered the board of directors of the New York Central Railway Company with his 7.5% stake in the company. On the same day, John was appointed chairman of its subsidiary, FedEx Corporation. At this point, John's entire plan was completed, and he successfully established a logistics and transportation network connecting several major industrial areas in the United States.

On October 1, FedEx officially signed a package of logistics and transportation service agreements with Westinghouse Electric Company. In mid-October, FedEx opened five mega warehouse centers in Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, St. Louis and San Francisco, as well as operations centers and truck delivery teams in the northeastern United States, the Great Lakes region and western coastal states. In the last three months of 1937, FedEx grew at an astonishing rate. By the time Westinghouse's first shipments arrived in Los Angeles from the Pittsburgh plant on Christmas Eve, FedEx had a staggering 8,000 employees.