America's Road to Wealth

Chapter 291 The 2001 Forbes List Released

As one of the famous cities in the world, London, the capital of the United Kingdom, has always been known as the city of fog.

Within the limits of the city, there are more than 100 days of fog a year.

The foggy weather covers the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Fortunately, August is the best month in London.

The fog in London in August is also the best fog.

In the early morning at No. [-] Garden Street, Kensington Palace, a light mist shrouded the courtyard.

It looks like nothing, like a flower fairy in the forest dancing the veil.

The soft sunlight shines on the flowers, trees, and grass in the courtyard, and the lush leaves have shades of green.

The garden is full of fragrant grass, clusters of well-cared-for famous flowers, bathed in the sun, blooming smiling faces, and the dewdrops on the petals are shining in colorful light under the reflection of the morning light.

In the morning mist, Abel, who had been exercising for a while, returned to the living room.

It was only after eight o'clock in the morning, and little Laura hadn't woken up yet.

Abel didn't bother her either. After washing himself, he changed into a set of more formal clothes and left No. [-] Kensington Palace Garden.

The convoy drove for about ten minutes, and soon arrived in the City of London because there was no traffic jam.

In this small one-square-mile location in the center of London, there are gathered the most famous financial companies and business giants in the UK and even in the world.

There are more than 500 foreign banks and more than 180 foreign securities trading centers in this place where every inch of land is precious.

More than 30 financial elites work here together with British banks and exchanges with a long history.

500% of the world's top 75 multinational companies have established branches or offices here.

When the convoy drove in, Abel saw through the car window that many people seemed to be giving speeches on the road so early in the morning.

David in the co-pilot noticed the boss' gaze, and he said easily:

"They're doing a London mayoral campaign speech. It's going to be like that for days."

"The mayor's campaign speech?" Abel asked curiously:

"Is there a mayoral run for London? The current mayor of London seems to be Livingstone? Wait a minute, didn't this guy take office last year?"

"Yes." David Jones smiled in front, "Livingstone is the mayor of London. But it is the mayor of London here who is running for election."

"What do you mean?" Abel asked curiously, "There is also a London mayor here? Two London mayors?"

David Jones immediately explained to his boss.

Simply put, London has two mayors.

One is the mayor of the "City of London" and the other is the mayor of the "City of London".

The Mayor of the City of London (City of London) and the Mayor of London are two different positions in the UK.

The former has a long history and is the head of the City of London in the center of London.

The latter was founded at the end of the 20th century and is the head of the entire Greater London.

The Mayor of the City of London has an office separate from the Mayor of London and has a much longer history than the Mayor of Greater London.

In addition, this square mile of land also has its own court, nearly a thousand police officers, and a strict management system.

Even according to the provisions of the British Royal Charter, even if the "supreme power" Queen of England enters the city, she must obtain the consent of the Mayor of the City of London in advance.

At the subway exit of the Financial City, people can see eye-catching signs showing the jurisdiction of the Financial City, and even the unique emblem of the Financial City government is cast on the landmark "fence" of the Financial City.

It has a very strong taste of a country within a country, as if to say that this place does not belong to London, or even to the British.

So it is true that modern financial capital originated in London.

The unique regulations of the City of London are obviously the story that happened when the capital began to override the royal family.

Otherwise, with the majesty of feudal kingship, how could this kind of thing be allowed to happen?

This kind of country within a country was later turned into a tradition, and it has been passed down for so many years.

After listening to these allusions mentioned by David, Abel can only lament that the democratic countries in Europe and the United States are too troublesome.

The normal mayor of Greater London is elected only once every four years.

The mayor of Little London in this financial city is elected once a year, and the election takes half a month.

The term of office is only one year, in other words, it takes more than 300 days to change a mayor.

What can a mayor with such a short term do?Most of them can only follow Xiao Guicao and can't do anything.

Abel thinks this is like what Humphrey said-"The advantage of democracy is that no one is responsible."

This kind of cooking is obviously the favorite thing of financial capital.

The Xiaozheng Mansion has gone to the extreme, there is no real right, only obligation.

This is the favorite government of capitalists.

After David's allusion was finished, Abel's convoy also came to a skyscraper in "Square Mile".

The location of this building is the Fury Building at 19 Fenchurch Street, London. It is 15 floors high and looks a bit historical, belonging to the middle and late last century.

The area of ​​each floor of Furui Building is about 1000 square meters.

Last month, the British branch of Abel's new start real estate company purchased the 13th, 14th and 15th floors here for 1800 million pounds.

Subsequently, the three floors here were leased to two companies, Smith Capital (UK) and Smith Media (UK).

Smith Media (UK) occupies two floors.

Smith Capital (UK) is on tier 15.

Abel came to London, the main office is here.

But the three-story building has just been rented not long ago.

In the past few days, we have been rushing to install the 15th floor, so that Smith Capital (UK) can have an office immediately.

So at this time, the 13th and 14th floors are still being renovated, and Smith Media (UK) has not yet officially settled in.

The fifteenth floor of the building is the headquarters of Smith Capital (UK).

The company is jointly controlled by Smith Capital and Abel, with Smith Capital holding 60% of the shares and Abel personally holding 40% of the shares. It is registered in Ireland.

The company's staff currently has more than 100 people.

Among them, 50 people were half recruited and half deployed by Smith Capital, and sent from New York.

The other 50 people were recruited locally in London, and most of them were hired by headhunters.

After entering the 21st century, British elites are the same as American elites.

The smartest people in these two countries have discovered that engineering and science are useless, and after graduation, they do the most work and earn the least money.

However, it and finance not only seem to be easy to work, but the salary is higher than the other.

In addition, after Mrs. Thatcher carried out financial reforms, the United Kingdom established a national policy of building a financial country at that time, and held finance very high.

So gradually, the smart people in the UK are squeezing into the financial field.

Just one "Square Mile", that is, the City of London, has about 30 financial practitioners.

There are several places like this in London.For example, Canary Wharf not far from here.

In other words, the smartest people in the UK, tens of thousands of people, have entered the financial field.
So can Britain's finances not be strong?

So is the UK not weak in other areas?

So can it not be over?

It is easier to recruit financial elites in the UK than on Wall Street.

After a few days, not all the people from Smith Capital Wall Street have come over.

All the locally recruited Londoners or Europeans have already arrived.

Under the leadership of Jed, one of the presidents of Smith Capital headquarters, he has been working here.

Jed, the president of Smith Capital, has also been appointed CEO of Smith Capital (UK) by Abel.

As long as nothing goes wrong, there is a high probability that Jed will become the main person in charge of Smith Capital in Europe in the future.

With an office area of ​​more than 1000 square meters, it is not very spacious to accommodate more than [-] people.

This makes Abel's office here not particularly spacious, only more than 100 square meters.

With David and the Four King Kong, Abel came directly to his British office.

As always, there is always a huge floor-to-ceiling window in his office.

This is not only Abel's personal hobby, but also the hobby of most business and professional elites.

People like them always like to stand in front of the French windows of tall skyscrapers and look down at all living beings on the ground.

This will give this kind of people a sense of sight at a glance.

It seems that they have raised their class.

Not long after I sat down in the office.

Jed, CEO of Smith Capital (UK), walked in with a smile after knocking on the door.

"Hi, Jed, good morning." Abel greeted him with a smile.

Jed is a Wall Street elite recruited by Smith Capital this year when it expanded its enrollment.

It turned out to be the head of the futures department of Bear Stone, one of the six major investment banks on Wall Street (one more Smith).

After he came to Smith Capital, because of his ability and qualifications, he immediately became the second deputy manager.

Now he has been promoted even more, becoming the CEO of Smith Capital's London subsidiary.

"Boss, good morning." Jed smiled respectfully, holding a thick thing that looked like a book in his hand, "How about this?"

"What?" Abel was curious and motioned for Edward to take it.

"It's Forbes magazine. The latest issue of "Forbes Ranking" has just been launched globally in the morning."

"Oh?" Abel also raised a little curiosity, and took the magazine that Edward handed over.

The "Forbes Ranking List" released by "Forbes" magazine is not just a long list of people's names, plus the wealth figures of these people.

It may be to show their rigor and professionalism, or it may be to earn more sales.

Every year, the "Forbes Ranking List" is a special issue issued outside of "Forbes" magazine.

It is a new magazine that mainly tells about the richest people in the world, and there is only one issue every year.

In this magazine, it will list in detail the data of each rich man searched by the magazine company.

It is so detailed that almost every rich man has it. Rather than saying it is a magazine, it is actually a book.

So it looks relatively thick, with more than 400 pages and more than 200 sheets.

"Have you read it?" Abel held the latest issue of "Forbes List", and asked Jed instead of opening it immediately.

"Yes." Jed kept smiling, very happily.

"Who is the richest man this year?" Abel asked with a smile.

"Please allow me to keep a secret." Jed said to the boss with a smile and respect, "You can find out after just flipping through it. The richest man is on the fourth page."

The first page is the cover, the second page is the table of contents, the third page is the preface, and the fourth page is the official content.

Then again, Abel also wants to know how much money Forbes says he has.

He directly turned to the table of contents on the second page, which had detailed guidance.

Abel looked over.

1. Financial Moses - Abel Smith
2. Overlord of the era - William Henry Gates III

3. King of investment and value - Warren Buffett
4. Playboy - Paul Allen

5. The megalomaniac beyond Gates - Larry Ellison
6. The king of German retail industry - the Albrecht brothers

7. Desert Buffett - Waleed
8
387. Red Capitalist——Yiren Rong
452. Asian Gambling King——Hongshen He
"."

Roughly flipped through the directory.

Even if Abel knew his name, it would be very high.

But he didn't expect it either.This year, "Forbes" listed itself as the world's richest man.

Looking at his name on No.1, Abel felt a little dazed.

Even if he actually knows that the world's richest man listed by "Forbes" is often not really the world's richest man.

Those who really, secretly control the world will never make the list.

The world's richest man listed in this magazine is at best only on the surface.

It is the so-called richest man in the world that "Forbes" uses to increase the sales of the magazine and to attract the attention of the public.

In front of the title of the richest man in the world, Abel thinks that a prefix of "Forbes" should be added, which means Forbes is the richest man in the world.

This is the truth about the so-called richest man in the world.

Although Abel knew this, at this moment, he saw himself in the first place.

He still couldn't help feeling a little happy and excited.

No matter how much water there is, the world's richest man is also the world's richest man in name.

Even if the actual financial resources and influence have not reached the level of the planet's number one.

But... at least 99% of the human beings in the world recognize this title and yearn for it!
In the past, although he said he didn't care.

But Abel knew that when he got this title.

His own influence, as well as his own "potential", can be regarded as a real accomplishment!
Abel took a deep breath, suppressing his slightly excited mood.

He turned to the third page of this thick magazine, the preface.

The preface of "Forbes Ranking" did not invite any well-known editors, writers, etc. to talk about it.

Obviously, in front of these people in this magazine.

No matter how famous the great writers and writers are alive in the world, they will appear to lack confidence in front of these people.

In the preface of this magazine, "Forbes" just listed the wealth data of many of the world's richest people they surveyed.

For example, in 2001, "Forbes" expanded the selection scope of the world's richest people.

The number of billionaire clubs this year has increased from 2000 in 482 to 539.

The average age of the 539 billionaires on the list is 62, and 32 of them are under 40.

The youngest is Abel Smith, 21, and the next youngest is Daniel Ziv.

These 539 individuals have an average net worth of $32 billion.

If their assets are all added up, the total is $17300 billion.

It surpassed last year's GDP of 16600 trillion U.S. dollars in the United Kingdom, making it a truly "rich country".

Among the billionaires in 2001, the United States had the largest number, reaching 272, accounting for more than 51%.

23% in Europe and 14% in Asia.

8% in the Americas outside the United States; 4% in the Middle East and Africa.

Neon lost 14 billionaires, but still ranked second with 29 people on the list.

Germany is third with 28 people on the list; Italy is fourth with 17 people on the list; Switzerland is fifth with 16 people on the list.

Hong Kong Island has the most billionaires in China, with 14 billionaires, one more than in 2000.

This kind of preface is concise and clear, and Abel read it a few more times before turning to the fourth page.

On the fourth page, a photo of himself came into view.

This picture Abel has an impression.

He remembers that it was taken by the best photographer of the time when he was interviewed by the magazine for the first time.

In this photo, he is sitting on the 33rd floor of what was then the Woolworth Building.

That is, the former headquarters of Smith Capital, on the throne of the chairman's office.

In front of him is a dark wood-colored broad desk, and outside the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him are the bustling skyscrapers of Manhattan and the blue sky and white clouds.

He was wearing a black suit, his tall and straight upper body was sitting upright, his hands were crossed on the desk, and his eyes were looking straight ahead.

In the photo, his perfect handsome face is expressionless, but he is full of elite style, which seems to be synonymous with the so-called Wall Street elite.

This photo doesn't capture his aura.

Of course, Abel didn't have much momentum at that time.

At that time, he even felt a little foolish.At that time, senior photographers could only choose to highlight his handsomeness and that elite style.

It didn't capture the majestic grandeur at all.

But because his photo is public, it is the only photo that does not need to pay copyright fees.

So this photo has become the photo that the media will choose when news about Abel is reposted across the United States and even the world.

Over time, this photo, which looks like a still from a Wall Street movie shot in Hollywood, became the first impression most people in the world have of him.
"Forbes" is probably afraid of trouble, or does not want to pay copyright fees.

Obviously, Abel has more and better photos in the later stage, which can highlight the temperament of a big brother.

"Forbes" magazine chose this one, choosing this photo that looks like a Hollywood movie still.

In this photo, Abel is more handsome and Wall Street elite.

There is also confidence and vitality all over the body.

The video does not have the temperament of many bigwigs, or financial giants, or business tycoons.

It looks like a big star in a movie.

Abel was a little dissatisfied when he saw it.

Compared with the temperament of a big brother, he doesn't want the temperament of a star.

"I don't have any bossy temperament at all."

He couldn't help muttering, and then looked at a number next to his name - $70billion+.

The word billion mainly means "billion" in English.

The $ sign is the dollar sign.

$70 billion means $700 billion.

+ This symbol, I don't know what Forbes is doing.

"Forbes" magazine this year's "Forbes list", said he has a net worth of 600 billion US dollars.

(End of this chapter)