National Tide 1980.

Chapter 1288: Europe's First Business War

Huge wealth is not only the most effective weapon to resolve disputes, but sometimes it is also a magic weapon to rebuild confidence.

Pierre Cardon was now conquered by Ning Weimin, and his confidence in Ning Weimin was restored.

Of course, we cannot say that this old French man is blinded by money. The key point is that he has encountered problems, and it is human nature.

Ning Weimin's method was very simple. He was afraid that the old French man would not believe it, so he took the initiative to call the head office of Banque de l'Indochine on the spot.

Then he reported his account balance and asked the bank staff to use the figures on the account to personally prove to the master that he was not lying and that the master was not daydreaming.

"Hey, I never thought that in my own company, there would be a billionaire like me among my subordinates. Young man, your life is destined to be more exciting than mine."

After hanging up the phone with the bank, Pierre Caton spoke in a trembling tone, but then he felt a sense of satisfaction as if he had achieved something in life.

Then he looked at Ning Weimin and said with relief, "But I think, despite this, this should be the most self-satisfying achievement for any business owner. This is enough to prove that I have indeed discovered a business genius, and I have not delayed his future by keeping him in my company. Young man, I am very glad that I met you in the Republic. Now, I can finally be worthy of my employees, just like Mr. Dior who cultivated me..."

"Oh, a man like you shouldn't doubt yourself like that. You've done so much for me, and it's been a boon to me to be able to work for you."

Ning Weimin was deeply moved by the master's words. He was extremely respectful and polite, saying, "So, now you should let me help you. Go ahead, please go ahead. I will follow your instructions."

"Oh," Pierre Cardon replied with a smile, "my friend, I am very happy to hear you say that. Since it seems that you have enough ability and are willing to lend me the money, then I will tell you about this matter. However, I still have to state in advance that I just want to help others in this matter. It does not mean that you must do it. You should listen to the specific situation first, and then seriously think about the business risks involved in this matter. I am very touched by your friendship, but everyone is responsible for his own wealth, and you have the right to refuse me."

So next, the master finally revealed everything that was hidden in his heart.

As it turned out, this incident was also a big win for Ning Weimin.

Because he found that this incident not only involved him in what was arguably the most intense business war in Europe at the time, but also that the core of the battle was far beyond his expectations.

It turned out to be a luxury brand that will be the world's number one and most commercially valuable in the future - Louis Vuitton.

To fully understand this first business war in Europe, we must first briefly introduce the development history and current business status of Louis Vuitton, a world-renowned brand.

The Louis Vuitton brand was founded in 1854.

Founder Louis Vuitton was a leather goods maker born in 1821.

In 1837, Louis Vuitton, an uneducated poor boy, went to Paris to pack luggage for the nobility.

In 1852, he invented a flat-top square leather trunk and was later chosen as the Queen's personal bundler, thus entering the upper class society.

In 1854, he opened the first suitcase shop named after himself in Paris. It can be said that he started his business with suitcases, so Louis Vuitton's business at that time was quite simple and completely specialized.

Louis Vuitton trunks were first covered in grey canvas.

As there were more and more poor imitators and fakes were rampant, in 1896, Louis Vuitton's son Georges began to use the abbreviations of his father's name, L and V, with floral patterns to design the Monogram Canvas style, which is still internationally famous today.

By 1900, Louis Vuitton's company had one hundred employees and continued to grow year after year.

All employees undergo a long period of training to become box-making experts.

To this day, Louis Vuitton employees undergo eighteen months to two years of training before they are qualified to create products on their own.

In 1925, Louis Vuitton also opened up a new production line due to his collaboration with another fashion icon, Coco Chanel, which found a new development direction for the company's business.

Initially, Coco Chanel ordered a small, dome-shaped handbag from Louis Vuitton.

This was originally designed by her for her own use only, but later, this design became widely sought after.

Louis Vuitton began mass production and named the handbag Alma.

The design was so successful that Louis Vuitton decided to make more compact handbags.

Before this, handbags were often seen as inelegant and too bulky.

But Louis Vuitton's entry into this field gradually changed all that.

From then on, Louis Vuitton's business gradually expanded, from a pure box-making company to a leather goods brand that produces both large and small bags.

In 1936, Georges Vuitton, the second-generation heir of Louis Vuitton, died and the company was subsequently taken over by his son Gaston Vuitton.

But Gaston took over the company at a very difficult time. Due to frequent wars, Louis Vuitton's business development was almost stagnant until the end of World War II.

Even in order to survive, Gaston, like Coco Chanel, chose to cooperate with the German Nazis to ensure that his career in Paris would not be destroyed.

When Gaston Vuitton died in 1970, Louis Vuitton finally welcomed the fourth generation of management who made Louis Vuitton shine again.

Gaston Vuitton's son-in-law Henri Lacamier became the head of Louis Vuitton and took over the management of the company and the Louis Vuitton brand.

The biggest difference between Henry and previous managers is that Henry has accumulated a lot of business experience in the companies he previously ran.

So when he took over the company, he took the Louis Vuitton brand to a whole new level.

After taking over the power, Henry made drastic and significant changes to the Louis Vuitton brand in an effort to develop it from a family business into a modern large company.

Henri changed Louis Vuitton's business model from wholesale to retail, and by 1978, he had expanded Louis Vuitton to many countries, including Japan.

In six years, he successfully increased Louis Vuitton's sales from $20 million per year to $260 million per year.

So in 1984, Henry successfully listed Louis Vuitton, making Louis Vuitton the first listed company in the fashion industry.

On the day of listing, Louis Vuitton sold one million shares at $63 per share.

Next, Henry used stock market financing to continue adding stores in different countries and expanding the company's business territory.

By 1987, Louis Vuitton's sales had reached $ billion per year.

In 1986, Louis Vuitton had another important opportunity for business development. Henri Lacamier, then General Manager of Louis Vuitton, made a bold business strategy decision.

The Louis Vuitton Group merged with the Moët & Chandon, Dom Perignon and Hennessy Cognac-producing high-end drinks company Moët Hennessy Group to form LVMH Moet Hennessy·Louis Vuitton, or LVMH for short.

The newly merged group is headed by Henri Lacamier, the general manager of Louis Vuitton.

Alain Chevalier, former general manager of Moët Hennessy, will serve as chairman of the new company's management meeting.

Perhaps in the eyes of many people, there is no connection between luggage and high-end wine, and this merger is completely illogical and incomprehensible.

However, the commonality of the two in "luxury goods" and their complementarity in product composition, financial system, etc. make the merger a perfect combination of the two.

The clothing-related industries are easily affected by sudden events such as global economic crises and wars.

The liquor business, however, is stable.

It is precisely based on the two parties' shared understanding of establishing a complementary and mutually beneficial relationship that both Louis Vuitton Group and Moët Hennessy Group willingly chose to merge.

Theoretically, the merger of the two companies can not only take advantage of scale to effectively prevent malicious takeovers by others, but also allow the two companies, which were originally doing well, to concentrate their resources and achieve faster expansion.

But unfortunately, after the merger, the fourth generation of Louis Vuitton and the original president of Moët Hennessy did not get along well.

It has to be admitted that although there are many benefits to the merger of the two companies, from the perspective of "corporate culture", the attributes of the two companies actually have too many disagreements and differences.

LV is an old family business that habitually carries the pride of a French time-honored brand and a condescending attitude.

MH is a corporate brand managed by professional managers.

Therefore, no matter what the value concept or the way of doing business, the two companies cannot agree on anything.

As a result, the adjustment period after the merger was completely difficult to overcome. The group was divided into two distinct camps, and they quarreled with each other over big and small issues all day long.

Once, just because of printing souvenirs, LV put Henri Lacamier's name before Alain Chevalier's name of MH, which greatly angered the other party.

Soon, Alain Chevalier of MH retaliated by rejecting LV's request to hire Chanel's designers to design for LV.

There is no doubt that the conflict between the two sides became increasingly serious under such circumstances, and soon broke out completely, even without being concealed in the open.

At a public conference, Louis Vuitton's Henri Lacamier told reporters that "the merger of LVMH is obviously a merger and absorption for MH, not an equal brand marriage. For us at LV, it is very important to maintain the autonomy of the brand."

Such remarks were reported by the media, which of course made MH's Alain Chevalier extremely unhappy. Not only did he feel humiliated, but he also began to worry that the two companies might eventually part ways.

In order to prevent this from happening, MH's Alain Chevalier decided to bring in the allies.

He went to find another big brewery - GUINNESS.

They conspired with Guinness in the hope that it would acquire up to 20% of LVMH shares and then send Guinness people to the board of directors to help MH firmly grasp control of LVMH.

You know, LV originally had 30% of the shares.

MH has a 24% stake.

But if this plan comes true, the situation will be completely reversed and LV's advantage in voice within the company will completely disappear.

Fortunately, the news was leaked in advance and was known by Henri Lacamier before the other party could take any action.

However, this action was tantamount to a sneak attack from the back, and of course it further stimulated Henri Lacamier.

As a result, LVMH became a big battlefield. The contradictions between the two companies could no longer be concealed. The possibility of "talking things out nicely" disappeared. The original minor frictions were officially upgraded to an internal battle for equity over who had more money.

  What should LV do next?

The simplest way, of course, is to repay evil with evil.

  It would be easy for Henri Lacamier to have such thoughts - Grandson! You are trying to attract allies, so I will do the same!

You want to pull a winery together and create your own small circle of wine alliance?

OK! As a shining pearl in the fashion industry, I also want to find some fashion brands to form an alliance with me.

Thus, Dior, another pearl in the French fashion industry, successfully attracted the attention of Henri Lacamier.

Soon, through the introduction of others, he took the initiative to make tentative contact with Bernard Arnault, the current owner of Dior clothing.

Unexpectedly, the meeting went very smoothly and we had a very pleasant conversation.

  Bernard Arnault was nearly 40 years old, at the age when a businessman was most energetic and charming, and he had just brought Dior, which was in debt, out of bankruptcy.

The business difficulties have made this brand, which had been somewhat declining in recent years, shine again.

So whether in appearance or conversation, Bernard Arnault was a handsome man, and he got along particularly well with Henri Lacamier.

Even Henri Lacamier felt that the Bernard Arnault he met for the first time was exactly like his younger self.

Soon, Henri Racamier decided to cooperate with Bernard Arnault and asked him to find a way to raise funds and secretly acquire 21% of the shares through the open market.

Then he joined LVMH, became a member of the board of directors and formed an alliance with himself, so as to compete with the MH and Guinness camps and use his absolute advantage to completely consolidate the control of LVMH.

But to be honest, although Henri Lacamier was happy about this matter, he definitely made an irreparable mistake, which eventually led to the situation being out of his control.

You know, this kind of cooperation involves internal company struggles and vying for power.

If you are not careful and encounter a stupid teammate or a traitor, you will lose everything.

Henri Lacamier was too hasty in choosing his allies.

As the saying goes, you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. He should have been more cautious and selected carefully.

He really shouldn't have let his anger blind him and rushed to throw out his fist in counterattack.