The Age of Rebirth

Although finance can influence the current situation, it is difficult to achieve this level.

For Li Weidong, finance is just one of his multiple legs, and it is impossible to gamble all his wealth on it.

If you want long-term development, you naturally need to walk on multiple legs. Only with finance, industry, virtual economy, and real economy can you gain a foothold.

Headquartered in New York, Chase Bank is an industry belonging to a world-class family, the Rockefeller family.

There are rumors that Chase Bank may merge with JPMorgan Bank, and the sale of the retail business on Hong Kong Island at this juncture is likely to prepare for the merger.

The businesses of these two banks on Hong Kong Island overlap a lot. If they merge, they won’t be able to achieve the effect of 1+1>2. If they sell them in advance, they will naturally get a lot of money.

After all, the estimated value was more than US$10 billion, which was not a small amount of money in 2000. After all, the foreign exchange reserves announced by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority at the beginning of the year were only more than US$1000 billion.

This transaction can no longer be regarded as a small transaction, and the price is definitely not low.

After acquiring part of the assets of Changtai Bank, Minsheng Bank has developed rapidly in the past few years and has basically gained a firm foothold on Hong Kong Island.

There are three types of banks on Hong Kong Island, the largest number of which are branches established by foreign-funded multinational banks.

The second is the branches opened by mainland Chinese banks on Hong Kong Island.

There are also some local banks in Hong Kong Island, the most famous of which is naturally HSBC.

Secondly, there are OCBC Bank and Bank of East Asia, etc. These banks were established earlier, have operated in Hong Kong Island for a long time, have a good reputation, and have developed relatively smoothly.

Because Minsheng Bank acquired Changtai Bank, it also belongs to the category of local banks. At the same time, because it participated in the establishment of a new Minsheng Bank in China, it is similar to Chinese banks such as Bank of China International.

Although the time period of its establishment and the background is not deep, Minsheng Bank has caught up from behind and developed rapidly in the past few years, and its assets and reputation rankings have risen sharply.

Now faintly belong to the leader of the second echelon of Hong Kong Island Bank, only one step away from the first echelon.

Now that such a step has come, this is also a major motivation for Li Shihui to acquire Chase Bank's retail business in Hong Kong Island.

Although some of these businesses will overlap with Minsheng Bank, and the effect of 1+1>2 cannot be achieved, but after the completion of the acquisition, Minsheng Bank will be able to rank among the first echelons of Hong Kong Island.

Hearing what Li Weidong said at this time, Li Shihui felt slightly depressed. These words fit the traditional Chinese culture too well.

Rejection does not directly refuse, but uses euphemisms such as research, consideration, pondering, taking time to have a look, and so on.

In Li Shihui's view, this was Li Weidong's euphemism for rejecting him.

But Li Shihui was a little reconciled. People's desires are always infinite. Now that he has started this career, he always wants to make it first-class.

And he knows that Li Weidong is not short of money, and the balance in Minsheng Bank's account is not only these, but this is only part of it.

Li Shihui couldn't help but said: "Chairman, Hong Kong Island's financial industry is recovering. Hong Kong Island Bank has raised bank interest rates twice in a row. This is a huge support for the development of the banking industry!"

"If we can acquire Chase Bank's business, it will be of great benefit to the development and growth of Minsheng Bank!"

Li Weidong tapped the document with his right finger seemingly unintentionally, making a thumping sound, which was a sign of Li Weidong's thinking.

Li Weidong said: "Shi Hui, I agree with your judgment. Although I haven't read the specific data of Chase Bank, I know that the acquisition of Chase Bank will definitely benefit Minsheng Bank a lot!"

"To be honest, more than a billion dollars is more or less. Maybe you use some financial means to operate it, and maybe only a few hundred million is enough!"

"I don't mean to say that I don't want to invest money in Minsheng Bank, but I think Minsheng Bank's branch in Hong Kong Island is enough!"

"That is, its marginal curve has become saturated. Even if you add other branches, the marginal cost will increase!"

"Actually, I have already said that for us, online banking and online payment may be an opportunity for us to overtake in a corner!"

Li Shihui interjected: "Chairman, we are ahead of almost all banks in online banking and online payment!"

Li Weidong waved his hand and said, "I know that many e-commerce companies in China, including big companies like eBay, use our payment system!"

"This point needs to be praised, but these are far from enough. It can even be said that it is only an embryonic stage of online payment and has not yet shown its charm!"

"So, now your main business should be online banking, online payment investment and research, not just capital growth!"

Although Li Shihui was still a little frustrated, he still said respectfully: "Yes, Chairman, you are right, thank you for your advice!"

Li Weidong took a sip of tea and said with emotion: "In my opinion, not only the banking industry, but other financial industries will gradually shift from offline to online. This is the result of the development of the times. The will is transferred!"

"What we have to do is to lead the development of this era. Even if we can't lead, we have to keep up with this pace!" Finally, Li Weidong said meaningfully.

Li Shihui's expression was shocked. Li Weidong said these words very easily, but the weight was very heavy.

In Li Shihui's ears, it was almost similar to that sentence, "Change people without changing your mind."

"After the chairman, we will definitely vigorously develop online business and take it as the company's main work goal in recent years!"

At this time, there is no way to care about face. When it is time to admit cowardice, you have to admit cowardice, not to mention being subdued in front of Li Weidong, it is not shameful.

If the major shareholder asks you to do this, how dare you disagree, or when has there been a problem with the development direction indicated by Li Weidong?
Li Weidong nodded in relief, knowing that mistakes can be corrected, there is nothing good about it.

Li Shihui hesitated for a while and continued to report: "Chairman, a few days ago, some shareholders proposed that Minsheng Bank go public?"

"IPO? This is a good thing, I fully support it!" Li Weidong had no reason to disagree.

And for a relatively formal bank like them, the advantages of going public must outweigh the disadvantages.

In the past, Li Weidong’s reluctance to go public was largely due to the fact that listed companies had to publish annual reports, quarterly and semi-annual reports as required, which exposed his privacy.

Now that his identity has been made public, he is not afraid of being bitten if there are too many lice, and it doesn't make much sense for him to have more or less.

But for those small companies that participated in the establishment of Minsheng Bank, the value of this share is quite high.

Anyway, they don't have the right to speak. Whether these stocks are used for pledge or sold, they seem to reflect the wisdom of their original investment.

"Thank you Chairman for your support!" Li Shihui also left Li Weidong's office with a smile.

According to today's schedule, Li Weidong's morning work is basically over.

Of course, the work of listening to the work report is over, and there is still a large pile of documents on the desk that need to be signed by Li Weidong.

Although there are many documents that only need to be signed, and these documents that need to be signed have been reviewed and approved layer by layer, there is no problem in principle.

Let Li Wendong sign for approval, more meaning is a symbol of Li Weidong's power.

But that's not all. Some documents still need to be read carefully by Li Weidong. He is not a marionette and has his own ideas.

If Li Weidong becomes serious one day, there will be a lot of documents he sent back.

These documents returned by him all have Li Weidong's opinions, and these opinions will bring benefits to the company's development.

The directors of the various functional departments below are sometimes quite contradictory. They hope that their documents will be passed at once, and they also hope that Li Weidong will call back.

Every time I see the documents after Li Weidong's review, there will always be a feeling of enlightenment. It turns out that there is such a solution.

"Chairman, it's already twelve o'clock, why don't we have dinner first, and then deal with these documents?" Chen Jun asked tentatively.

Li Weidong looked up at the clock hanging on the wall. It was really late, and he was a little hungry. It was time to eat.

"Hey, it's so late, go and see if Mr. Zou and the others have eaten. If they haven't eaten, I'll treat you!" Li Weidong said while relaxing while pinching his neck.

He hasn't come to the company for so long, and it's hard to come here once. He should treat the employees to a meal out of love and courtesy.

"Okay!" Although Chen Jun knew that several senior leaders of the company hadn't eaten, he still nodded and said, and then walked outside.

It's not easy for the boss to come here once. Naturally, these executives can't eat alone, and they have to communicate with the boss anyway.

The outside of Li Weidong's big office is a lounge and secretary's office, which is logically where Chen Jun works.

In the past, Zhang Dongshuo was Li Weidong's secretary and at the same time the company's office director, equivalent to the assistant to the chairman.

Now the position of secretary is held by Chen Jun. It seems that the two roles of assistant and secretary are fully matched.

But Li Weidong never plays by the rules. His secretary is not only responsible for some uploaded and distributed text work, but also has a certain professional quality, which is equivalent to the middle management of the company.

Therefore, it is naturally impossible for Chen Jun to just sit at the secretary's desk and receive some visiting guests.

As soon as he pushed open the door of Li Weidong's office, several people sitting on the sofa in the outer lounge immediately stood up, and when they saw that it was Chen Jun, their movements slowed down.

Chen Jun saw that it was quite complete, and the three leaders who reported to Li Weidong in the morning were all there.

"Secretary Chen, it's already 12 o'clock, it's time to remind the chairman to have lunch!" Zou Yi pointed to his watch and said.

"What Mr. Zou said is that the chairman ordered me to see if the leaders had lunch. If not, I would like to invite everyone to lunch. Since everyone is here, I will tell the chairman!"

"Let's go, I'm treating guests, everyone can eat whatever they want!" It was Li Weidong who also heard the movement and came out of the room and said.

Zheng Sijing echoed: "Then we will be disrespectful, there is a Shandong restaurant next to it, and the taste is really authentic!"

"This is Hong Kong Island, I came all the way to eat Lu cuisine?" Li Weidong said with a curled lip.

"Yes, yes, yes, I know a Cantonese restaurant, which is very authentic. The stewed flying dragon, Dong Xingban, and pangolin are very special!" Li Shihui added.

"What are these dishes? They are all viruses!" Li Weidong shook his head and said.

For these weird dishes, Li Weidong usually doesn't order them. Every bite feels like eating a virus, no matter how delicious it is, he can't feel it.

Li Shihui was a little dazed when he heard what Li Weidong said. Aren't these dishes normal? He didn't even mention monkey head or anything like that.

It seems that in the future, you have to be cautious when you invite the boss to eat and order food. You have to figure out the boss's routine first, otherwise you will feel uncomfortable.

When several people were discussing what to eat at noon, Ding Yuan walked in quickly from the outside and looked at Li Weidong with a hesitant expression on his face.

"What's the matter?" Li Weidong asked curiously.

Ding Yuan nodded, glanced at the people around him, but still didn't speak.

Zou Yi, Zheng Sijing and the others are masters who keep an eye on the six roads, listen to the eight directions, and observe the words and colors, so they can naturally see Ding Yuan's concerns.

"Chairman, please go ahead, we'll wait for you outside!" Zou Yi said, and several people echoed.

After a few people went out, Ding Yuan said softly: "Uncle Li has been traveling in Myanmar for the past few days. Something just happened and he got hurt!"

"What's the matter, is it serious?" Li Weidong said with a serious face, this is his own father.

"Two stitches on the head!" Ding Yuan's complexion was also ugly, and his voice was somewhat apologetic.

He is Li Weidong's security captain. The safety of Li Weidong, including his family, is his responsibility. This time Li Weidong's parents and father-in-law's family traveled abroad, and he also arranged the bodyguards.

Now that something happened outside and he was injured, no matter who is responsible, Ding Yuan can't get away with it.

Moreover, Li Chengwen is usually kind to these bodyguards and has no airs at all. He doesn't treat them as bodyguards at all.

Now that he made a mistake at work and injured the old man, he naturally felt guilty.

"Two stitches, what's going on?" Li Weidong asked in a higher voice.

"There is a market for gambling rough stones in Myanmar. Uncle Li and Uncle Yang went for a walk this morning, and Uncle Li fell in love with a rough stone!"

"The store said that it would definitely produce jadeite, so Uncle Li bought it, equivalent to more than 3000 yuan, but nothing came out!"

"So I quarreled with the stone seller, and then they fought again. There were so many of them, Uncle Li's head was cut off!"

Ding Yuan felt a little embarrassed when he said that, the people he sent were not strong enough, and the owner was injured, so he couldn't justify it.

"Are you okay in other places? Is my father-in-law not injured?" Li Weidong asked quickly when he heard this.

"Other places are fine. Uncle Yang was a soldier and suffered some skin trauma!" Ding Yuan explained.

Hearing this, Li Weidong was relieved. Fortunately, he only had two stitches, and the father-in-law was not seriously injured, otherwise he would feel so guilty, and he would not be able to explain to his mother and daughter-in-law.

Then Li Weidong said with a dark face: "This is a black shop!"