Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet

When William returned home, Abigail, who had been extremely worried, finally relaxed upon seeing him unharmed. She clung to his arm and wouldn't let go, clearly shaken.

Seeing this, William, who had been tense all morning, finally felt at ease. He made a video call to his mother in Oxford to let her know he was safe.

When Lena saw her son back at the estate, she finally relaxed too. In an unusual turn, she didn't scold Abigail, who was still clinging tightly to William. Before the video call ended, Lena gave Abigail strict instructions to keep an eye on William and not let him step outside the estate. She added that if he did, she'd personally see to it that Abigail was dismissed once she returned to London.

Following the orders from her boss, Abigail readily agreed. After the call ended, she looked at William with a triumphant smile. "From now on, you have to listen to me, darling."

"Alright, alright, I'll listen to you," William replied, rolling his eyes at her cheerful grin. He collapsed onto the sofa, feigning exhaustion. "I'm hungry. Could you make me something to eat?"

"I'm not falling for that," Abigail replied with a smirk, pulling out her phone to call the estate's chef. She dialed, but after several beeps, the call didn't connect.

"Are you serious?" William chuckled at her confusion. "There's a blackout across all of London. The signal towers are down, so calls won't go through. Now, stop stalling and make me something to eat."

"Fine, but you're helping," she said, tugging on his hand, trying to get him to come with her to the kitchen. When she couldn't move him, she gave him a mischievous look and jumped onto him playfully.

"Boss, are you avoiding me?" she pouted.

William, who wasn't planning to go anywhere that afternoon and had only been considering whether to assist Benjamin Arthur, the American leader, later that night, rolled his eyes at Abigail's theatrics. "Alright, alright. I promise I won't leave the estate this afternoon."

"Ha! So that means you're planning to go out tonight!" Abigail, a double PhD, immediately picked up on his wordplay.

Annoyed, William gave her a light smack. "If you don't get moving, I'm going to starve here."

"You jerk!" Abigail said, rubbing the spot where he'd slapped her. "That hurt!"

"I'm going to take a shower while you get lunch ready. And let's be clear—stay out of men's affairs, or you'll find yourself bedridden," he warned, standing up with her in his arms.

After setting her down, he went upstairs, ignoring her protests. He undressed and left his clothes on the floor, then stepped into the bathroom to fill the tub. Stretching out in the oversized bathtub, he relaxed and closed his eyes before asking his AI, "Sunday, when will London's power be back on?"

"Sir, unless we secure access to Barkawi's team's control systems, it will take at least 24 hours."

"Damn, so once this is over, England Power's stock will definitely take a hit."

"No, sir," Sunday replied. "Barkawi's team hacked into the control system of the England Grid Company. The London blackout has nothing to do with your electricity company. Based on my analysis, the power company is operating normally. Once the authorities bypass the code Barkawi left in the grid's mainframe, the electricity will resume immediately."

"Huh?" William opened his eyes and sat up. "So you're saying England Power only generates power without handling distribution?"

"Not exactly, sir. England Power's main business is power generation and sales. The distribution and transmission networks are managed by the England Grid, which operates in England and Wales. Due to the challenges in storing electricity, unified grid management is essential to balance output and avoid waste, preventing damage to equipment like power lines and generators."

"Then who are the other companies in this sector?" William asked.

"Besides England Power, there's Electric Power and Nuclear Power, which control 42%, 31%, and 27% of the market, respectively."

"What's England Grid's market valuation?" William asked, suddenly interested.

"Based on yesterday's NYSE closing price, the valuation is $2.1 billion. However, if you acquire England Grid, there's an 80% likelihood you'll face an antitrust investigation."

"That could be a problem," William nodded thoughtfully. Unless the government held a majority stake, consolidating the entire power industry under one company would undoubtedly raise monopoly concerns. Not to mention, Electric Power and Nuclear Power would certainly oppose his ownership of England Power if he moved to buy England Grid. If William successfully acquired it, he'd effectively have them under his control—a situation no company would tolerate.

As William considered how to avoid monopoly concerns, Sunday chimed in, "One more thing, sir: electricity sales in England are currently regulated by generation quotas. You can't generate as much power as you want."

"Oh?" Instead of being frustrated, William's face lit up as he thought about it. "If I reform England Power and fully commercialize electricity, allowing customers to choose which company they buy from, then as long as my rates are always lower than the others, wouldn't I be able to avoid monopoly issues?"

Sunday paused for a few seconds. "I can't definitively answer that, sir. But according to antitrust law, as long as you're not lowering prices below cost or offering non-profitable rates, it won't be considered monopolistic behavior."

"Moreover, if you can reduce costs lower than the other two companies—even by just 10%—they'll likely go bankrupt in a few years. Electricity is a consumable, and most people will switch providers even for a 1% price reduction. If that happens, acquiring England Grid would become unnecessary. Plus, if you unify power generation across England and Wales, you'd be at risk of monopoly charges again."

William chuckled, amused rather than worried. "That's a problem for the future. If my rates are lower than other countries' too, the government might even support me in expanding beyond England to bring in foreign revenue. And don't forget that my mother holds the Devonshire Family Fund. I could make the purchase through the fund, which might help me avoid monopoly charges."

Sunday hesitated for a few seconds. "I'd suggest leaving those issues to Attorney Anthony."

"Alright, so you're not all-knowing after all."

William lay back in the tub, considering whether he should seize this opportunity to buy England Grid while its stock was likely to plummet due to the blackout.

Still, he couldn't resist the temptation to create a bit of trouble. Closing his eyes, he asked, "How much would a three-day power outage in London cost?"

"One moment, sir."

After about ten seconds, Sunday replied, "Last year, the GDP of Greater London was $204.7 billion. Based on that, a three-day blackout would result in a direct loss of at least $1.7 billion, with indirect losses impossible to estimate. Please note, London is a financial center. The stock market losses alone could easily surpass $10 billion. And if the blackout lasts too long, the government might reevaluate the risks of unified distribution, which could turn your England Grid acquisition into a worthless asset."

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