America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 118 Higher Education is a Business

"I need to collaborate on research with universities in Boston."

Ernst, pushing his luck, wanted more.

The Boston Consortium possessed a treasure that Ernst truly coveted: its abundant educational resources.

It can be said that without these educational resources as a solid foundation, the Boston Group would probably have been dismantled and swallowed up by other powerful conglomerates in the fierce competition among them.

Back then, the Boston and Rockefeller financial groups joined forces to successfully send Kennedy to the White House, securing huge profits for both groups.

This sparked strong dissatisfaction among financial groups such as Morgan, as many subsequent policies and actions were aimed at them.

What happened next is well-known: the assassination was a heavy blow to the entire Boston conglomerate, causing its position to decline continuously in competition with other conglomerates.

Furthermore, given that the Boston Group's businesses are primarily focused on light industry, many believe that the Boston Group may soon become history in an era of booming heavy industry and emerging industries.

How did the Boston Consortium later revive, regain its strength, and successfully transform itself? It relied on the educational resources controlled by the Boston Consortium.

They leveraged the talent and technology of MIT to conduct extensive research and development in new fields such as electronics, optics, and missiles. Their subsidiaries, Texstrom, Bell Helicopter, and Raytheon, subsequently expanded rapidly within the American military-industrial complex.

Bell Helicopter secured a major contract from the Pentagon, while Raytheon became the largest radar and missile manufacturer in the United States, ranking among the top five arms dealers.

Harvard and MIT, two world-renowned American universities, both grew and developed with the substantial support of the Boston Consortium.

As the saying goes, "One generation plants the trees, another enjoys the shade," the Boston Group's predecessors invested heavily in education, which later brought back the benefits of education to the group.

"I can't decide." Massim shook his head and gave Ernst a meaningful look. He really hadn't expected the other man to have such a big appetite.

The R&D collaboration Ernst mentioned is not the kind of conventional collaboration between enterprises and universities that people usually understand, but rather a free-for-all collaboration.

Most of these American universities have their own foundations, and the higher the ranking of the school, the more abundant and wealthy the foundation's funds.

Later, when Tang cut off Harvard's funding, why did Harvard dare to stand up to him? One source of their confidence was their foundation.

Cut off my $22 billion annual grant? My foundation has over $50 billion in its coffers.

Of course, this is a trump card, and it won't be revealed right away.

When Old Tang first entered the palace, he had already begun targeting Harvard. Harvard chose to fight back and directly sued him in federal court.

It's worth noting that Harvard Law School has produced 25 Supreme Court justices throughout its history, making it a god-like institution in the American legal system.

As long as the lawsuit goes on, no one thinks Old Tang will win, so he can only disgust Harvard.

Ernst was eyeing the endowments of universities like Harvard and MIT.

These universities are full of talented people and receive donations from all sectors of society year after year, with a continuous flow of funds. The conglomerates that control these universities can then use these funds to develop their own technologies.

This is why most American universities have close ties with conglomerates; almost every well-known university has a conglomerate behind it that has established and funded it.

In the United States, universities are not just places for teaching and nurturing students, but also a business.

Your company wants to collaborate with the universities I control? Sure, but first, let's have a donation.

It's just like doing business: you pay, I put in the effort.

How does this money end up in the pockets of major conglomerates? Through cooperation, of course.

We collaborate, jointly fund technology research and development, and then share the results.

Setting up a project team requires a lot of money to purchase various items and involves multiple aspects, so the company responsible for liaison will naturally not choose an outsider.

In this way, the funds invested by the consortium eventually return to their own hands, while also allowing them to share in the technological achievements developed by universities using social funds.

It's normal that Massim didn't agree; it would have been strange for Ernst if he had.

"I need talent," Ernst stated again, making another condition.

Although universities like Harvard and MIT, controlled by the Boston Consortium, advocate for diversity and do not interfere with students' career choices, as Kennedy championed.

However, with the help of the Boston Consortium, Ernst's company would undoubtedly have a greater advantage in this talent war.

For example, within a reasonable scope, activities can be used to increase students' awareness of Ernst Enterprises, or instructors can provide unintentional guidance during lectures.

"No problem, Boston universities are always open to your business." This time, Massim did not refuse.

At this point, Massim suddenly laughed, as if he had remembered something amusing.

"I heard you have a little quirk when you're having Ernst Asset Management recruit talent?"

Ernst frowned. A little quirk? How come he didn't know?

Massim picked up the coffee on the table in front of him, took a sip, and found it was completely cold, so he put it back.

"I heard that when you're recruiting, you don't care much about these people's academic performance, but rather they're quite interested in their leisure time?"

So that's what it was about. It seems their investigation was quite thorough.

Indeed, Ernst specifically instructed the HR department to give extra points when recruiting employees, as athletes, people with outstanding looks, and people who are good at games would receive bonus points.

Wall Street doesn't pay attention to these things now, but Ernst knows that in a decade or so, Wall Street will place great importance on these aspects when hiring employees.

Those who get interviewed are all graduates of prestigious universities, and their abilities are beyond doubt.

However, determining who is more suitable for the financial industry requires a different set of criteria.

Athletes have good physical fitness, and people with good physical fitness are relatively stable in their emotions, and have stronger stress resistance and awareness.

Especially in team sports like football, basketball, and rugby, players must constantly be aware of their teammates' movements on the field, so their perception is extremely sharp.

In the financial transaction system, awareness is of paramount importance.

People who are good at games have fast reaction speeds, which is also one of the essential qualities of an excellent trader.

As for appearance, that's a plus. Humans are naturally sensory creatures, and a good appearance often brings certain advantages in interpersonal communication.

Whether they are athletes, skilled gamers, or people with outstanding looks, they all have one thing in common: they possess excellent interpersonal skills and perception, which can also be described as high emotional intelligence.

Good grades are certainly good, but rote learning is not a good thing.

Those who have no extracurricular activities and only bury themselves in books often lack common sense and are prone to getting stuck on trivial details.

Those who have participated in school teams and are good at games are obviously not bookworms who only study. This also reflects that they have higher IQs, because they can achieve good results with relatively less effort in their studies.

This is an experience that Wall Street later summarized, but Ernst obviously wouldn't tell Massim these things.

"Perhaps it's a case of loving the house because of the house; I personally enjoy sports and games, so I have a better impression of these people," Ernst said.

Massim raised an eyebrow, not believing Ernst's nonsense at all.

However, since the other party was unwilling to explain the reason, he did not insist on finding out. Instead, his expression suddenly became somewhat lewd. "Then I understand why you still care about appearance."

After looking around the office, I remarked, "Your office has quite a few potential uses."

Ernst rolled his eyes. So this is what elite people are like? What's the difference between them and what I thought?

Indeed, only men truly understand men. Ernst had this thought, otherwise he wouldn't have chosen a secretary with a figure similar to Kardashian's at first glance.

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