The Tyrant Billionaire

Never mind that Dewey made his own mistakes.

Without Hardy, the major backer pushing things along, how could Dewey's issues have come to light?

Many would rather believe that Hardy orchestrated Arnold's situation.

Hardy not only had money but also influence.

Now, the major backer extended an olive branch to him. How could Anthony not be excited? He immediately said, "Thank you, Mr. Hardy. If I become a senator and enter Congress, I will certainly strive for even greater benefits for you."

Anthony's statement wasn't servile because almost every senator has a backer behind them. No, they all have backers.

Hardy smiled and extended his hand, "We will work well together."

"Gladly," Anthony quickly shook Hardy's hand.

In politics, Hardy was just getting started. He had explicitly supported only two senators so far: Nickolson from New York and Anthony from Nevada. And, of course, his biggest investment was in Johnson.

Compared to other major consortia, his influence in politic was still relatively thin.

Anthony bid farewell and left, while Hardy made his way to the casino. The casino was bustling with activity, filled with a crowd of guests, and it was just in time for the lottery drawing. The jackpot for this round had reached over $90,000, and a large crowd had gathered around, eagerly waiting for the draw.

The lottery began.

The cameras of the Las Vegas TV station focused on the lottery machine.

After three rounds of drawing, the winning numbers appeared.

A cheer erupted from the representatives of the proxy betting company—once again, their client had won the grand prize. There were both envious and amazed spectators present.

Hardy suddenly thought of something.

He called over a waiter.

"Mr. Hardy, what can I do for you?" the waiter asked respectfully.

"Go and get Manager Upton for me," Hardy instructed.

"Yes, Mr. Hardy," the waiter replied.

It didn't take long for the casino manager, Upton, to come jogging over. "Mr. Hardy, you were looking for me?"

"I'm planning to open a betting line on who will win the presidency this time around. Get the casino's actuaries to calculate the odds. Oh, and not just for President Dewey and Johnson—all the other candidates as well," Hardy said.

The casino manager's mouth opened slightly in surprise. Betting on who would win the presidency? The boss really dared to take risks.

"Alright, I'll get everything ready," Upton responded.

After two days of preparation, Las Vegas TV broadcasted advertisements announcing that Hardy's casino had opened a betting line on who would win this election. There were a total of eleven candidates this time, and, of course, President Johnson and Dewey were the hot favorites, with the others seen mainly as also-rans.

However, even the also-rans had a place in the betting list.

President Johnson's odds were set at 1.46.

Dewey's odds were 2.16.

Hawkins, 5.35.

Perot, 6.88.

Hughes, and so on the further down the list, the higher the odds, indicating that the casino believed those candidates had a lower chance of winning.

Once Hardy's casino opened this betting line, it instantly captured the attention of people across America.

Betting on who would win the presidency no one had ever done this before; it was the first time in history. Hardy was pioneering something new. Read new chapters at empire

However, people also saw something in these odds; it was clear that Hardy's casino favored President Johnson for re-election, given that his odds were the lowest.

With the betting line open, many people started placing bets, naturally through the proxy betting companies. Soon, a significant amount of money flowed in.

Within a week, the betting amounts had astonishingly reached over $30 million, with most of the bets placed on President Johnson and Dewey. The other candidates only attracted small bets, with the third highest amount being just a few tens of thousands of dollars.

The newspapers updated the betting amounts on the presidential race daily. Upon seeing this, Johnson smiled and said to his campaign team, "Look, most people are betting on me to win now. What does that tell you? It shows that people's confidence in my victory is growing."

Indeed, that was the case.

The scandal involving Dewey accepting foreign political donations had severely damaged his reputation. Hardy further exacerbated the situation by producing a documentary titled Black Gold 1948, which caused Dewey's support rate to plummet. In the last poll, Johnson had already surpassed Dewey, much to Johnson's delight.

Johnson picked up the phone and called Hardy. When Hardy answered, Johnson laughed, "Hardy, I'll be in Los Angeles tomorrow. Are the preparations ready over there?"

"Of course, everything is set. Don't worry. This Los Angeles speech tour will be the most grandiose speech event ever," Hardy replied with a smile.

President Johnson was preparing to continue his national tour, with Los Angeles being the next stop.

Hardy had made extensive preparations in advance.

The venue was chosen to be Hollywood Boulevard.

A few days prior, ABC Television had already announced the date of President Johnson's speech to the public.

There would also be numerous guest appearances on the day.

This included the four coaches from the 'Super Idol' talent show and the 32 contestants who made it to the finals, all of whom would perform on stage.

Additionally, a large number of celebrities were expected to show up to support the event.

ABC Television would broadcast the speech live across the United States.

HD Security was responsible for the on-site security.

There was also a perk: all attendees would receive a free bottle of Pepsi.

The team estimated that more than 100,000 people would attend.

However, they underestimated the draw of the celebrities. On the day of the speech, Hollywood Boulevard was packed with a sea of people, and the initial stock of 100,000 bottles of Pepsi was quickly snapped up, prompting an emergency shipment of another 100,000 bottles.

But even that wasn't enough.

"Keep the supply coming; we're not afraid of large crowds. If people take more than one bottle, so be it. What could be better advertising than this?" Walter Mack, Chairman and CEO of Pepsi, shouted excitedly.