America's Road to Wealth

Chapter 348 The flexible shrub family
When Abel was "singing" with Britney and Avril Lavigne.

A sub-channel of the AMC television group is broadcasting its programs.

The name of this TV station is AMC Bloomberg Television.

The reorganized AMC Cable TV station belongs to the AMC Television Group.

AMC Television Group is owned by Smith Media Group.

Today's AMC TV Group is no longer the AMC cable TV station with only two channels at the beginning.

As Abel's TV network plans unfold.

In a very short period of time, AMC TV Group has annexed many independent TV stations.

The seven TV stations that originally belonged to Bloomberg have also become sub-TV stations under the AMC Group.

For example, Bloomberg TV, which had the highest ratings and was the most popular under Bloomberg, has now changed its name to AMC Bloomberg TV.

The name of AMC Television Group is named in front.

This TV station broadcasts content programs 24 hours a day around the world.

Due to the powerful energy of Bloomberg News, it is often possible to invite top-line big-name economists to conduct interviews.

This makes the programs and content of this TV station deeply loved by financial elites from all over the world.

The governments of many countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America even regard it as a window to understand Europe, America, or the world economic situation.

Compared with mass media, the main content of this TV station is naturally more professional.

Professional finance, politics, and economics of various countries around the world, and relatively academic program content are the characteristics of this station.

In other words, the worst people who watch it all over the world can be regarded as half elites.

Or there is a drive to work towards the elite.

Otherwise, who would look at these things?
Movies, TV shows, Hollywood, Grammys, NBA and Major League Baseball aren't they popular?
Are variety shows and talk shows not good-looking?

Because of this, that night, when AMC Bloomberg TV was broadcasting domestic business news in the United States.

The latest news about the battle for American Express was broadcast, and it was quickly known to most business elites across the United States.

The content of this piece of news is very simple, it mainly uses a photo as the core to tell.

The photo shows Soros, the famous financial tycoon, and another financial tycoon, Abel Smith, smiling and shaking hands.

In this photo, the expressions of the two people are very friendly, as if they hit it off.

In the news, the host said that this photo was secretly taken by a passer-by, and then sold to the TV station.

The passer-by claimed that this photo was taken this afternoon in Manhattan and was freshly released.

Passers-by said he was in a pizzeria when he took the photo.

The two big guys in the photo seemed to be discussing some business or cooperation at that time, and it seemed to be going well.

The news host added fuel and vinegar.

Although the specific content was not mentioned, it was heard in the eyes and ears of the audience.

Basically, it is telling everyone that Abe Smith has reached a cooperation with Soros.

Otherwise, how can I explain this photo taken today?
candid?Hehe, the candid shots at such a close distance are not the two of them, who can do it?
These two are the two most important in terms of personal safety and security work in the United States.

With the security strength of these two people, what about candid shots, or such close-up candid shots.

That's being funny.

Everyone knows why AMC Bloomberg TV said this.

The broadcast of this news also suddenly made the battle for American Express once again a topic of conversation among most ordinary American business elites.

But for the American Express board of directors who are in the whirlpool.

The broadcast and appearance of this news made many of them break out in a cold sweat.

new York,

Midtown Manhattan.

In a mansion with an interior area of ​​about 2000 square feet.

After reading the news, Kenneth Chenault broke out in cold sweat.

Wait for the show host to release all the content.

Kenneth Chenault immediately got up crazily.

He ran to the study and quickly dialed Tims, the general manager of Soros Fund Company.

The call was quickly connected.

"Hello?"

"Ah~ Tims is me, I'm Kenneth Chenault."

"Oh, hello. Mr. Chenault."

Hear the phrase "Mr. Chenault" from Timms' mouth.

Kenneth Chenault's heart suddenly "gardened" and sank.

the original time.

That's not what Tims called Kenneth Chenault when he asked Kenneth to stand up and die.

At that time, he was called Kenneth Chenault directly, that is, Kenneth.

Americans are the same as Chinese people. People who are not familiar with or not in place are generally referred to as Mr. So-and-so.

This so-and-so is often a surname.

The relationship is good, or the superior is against the subordinate.That title will directly become a name.

It turned out that Timms called Kenneth directly by name, whether it was a good relationship or treating him as a subordinate.

This is not a bad thing for the desperate Kenneth.

But after that news was broadcast, it was now Mr. Chenault.

This made the CEO of American Express think a lot for a moment, and the cold sweat was even more drenched.

"That. Timms."

Kenneth already had a bad premonition, but now he can only bite the bullet and ask:
"I want to ask, is the news on Bloomberg TV true?"

Bloomberg Television has just changed its name not long ago.And it just added an AMC prefix.

Everyone still likes to call it Bloomberg Television, or Bloomberg Business Station.

"What news?"

"Uh..." Kenneth heard the other party's perfunctory, so he could only resist and said:

"It's Mr. Soros, shaking hands with Abel Smith. This violates Mr. Soros's portrait rights, I think you"

"No violation."

Tims interrupted Kenneth directly.

"I want to say that there is no infringement. Mr. Soros allowed Bloomberg Television to use this photo. Mr. Chenault, do you understand what I mean when I say so much?"

Kenneth Chenault is not stupid, of course he understands what Timms means.

But even if he understood, Kenneth still had to continue to say:
"Tims, I know I know. What do you mean"

"That's not what I meant." Timms interrupted Kenneth roughly again:
"That's what Mr. Soros meant. Mr. Chenault, I'm sorry. I'm still busy, so I'll contact you when I have time."

Without waiting for Kenneth Chenault to speak.

Tims has already hung up his phone.

"Fack you!"

"Fake! Fake!"

Listening to the busy tone coming from the phone, Kenneth Chenault growled angrily.

This Tims obviously received multiple travel VIP tickets from Amex that he sent out, worth 10,000+ US dollars.

As a result, when the incident happened, he was so ruthless.

Not even a small favor for Kenneth to make things clear.

Of course Kenneth was furious.

But after the angry roar, Kenneth knew that he had nothing to do with Tims.

When Kenneth gave away those VIP tickets for AmEx's premium travel services, he gave them away in a "sweepstakes."

That is to say, on the surface, Timms got these highest-level VIP tickets through the "lottery" of the credit card of the American Express Bank.

Even if Kenneth wanted to take it back, he couldn't do it, because that would conflict with many customers of American Express Bank.

Kenneth knew Timms was going nowhere.

He has no contact information for Soros.

At this moment, Kenneth can only shift the direction of his efforts to other shareholders of American Express.

He made a few more phone calls to those shareholders who supported him and held more shares.

Like Mr. Jim Walton of the Walton family.

After calling these people around, Kenneth felt a little relieved.

At least on the phone, although these people have relaxed a lot, their positions have not changed for the time being.

Kenneth knew he was really in danger this time, but he still had to work hard.

With this in mind, he started calling the rest of the American Express board of directors.

How could it be possible to sleep at such a time?

Kenneth couldn't sleep at all, and he didn't give the grasshoppers on the other line a chance to sleep.

Of course, everyone came out to a meeting together to study how to tide over the difficulties together.

The most important thing is Soros, the most important white knight.

His "sudden betrayal" made Kenneth Chenault look all of a sudden.

The board members were all in New York, and Kenneth Chenault quickly called them together.

They went directly to the headquarters of American Express in New York overnight for a meeting.

This meeting was held from late at night to the early morning of the next day, when the sky was bright.

The result is still somewhat unsatisfactory, the method everyone came up with, or the various strategies everyone prepared.

There are all kinds of defects, and it seems that there is no operability.

This is also normal.

After all, these people, on the surface, are directors of the board of directors of American Express.

But except for the two minority shareholders, the other seven people are all pure migrant workers or representatives.

With the support of the major shareholders behind it, the board of directors can run well.

When the shareholders behind it do not support it, or start fighting among themselves.

Then they are the first victims.

But now, it's time for the victims to sacrifice.

This very bad mood reached its peak later when a company executive reported a "bad news" to the directors.

It was only six o'clock in the morning.

Most of the newspapers in the United States have not yet come out, or have just been delivered to newsstands and bookstores.

The "bad news" reported by the executive of AmEx.

It was from a friend of his who was in a high position on the editorial staff of The New York Times.

"Jack is an important editor of the New York Times. He just told me that there is bad news about American Express in the New York Times today!"

"What news?"

Kenneth Chenault, who hadn't slept all night, already had a bad feeling.

"It's news about Soros and Abel Smith. It seems that Soros has formally invested in Smith Capital and sold 6.9% of his shares in American Express to Abel Smith."

Snapped--

Kenneth slapped himself on the forehead, and he knew he was doomed.

In fact it is.

It was broad daylight when most of the American newspapers were on the market.

Soros took a stake in Smith Capital, becoming the sixth public shareholder of Smith Capital.

And to Abel Smith, the matter of selling the shares of American Express.

Along with these American newspapers, they were sent to the whole United States.

This made leeks and investors who were eager for Abel Smith to take over the offer and rushed to raise a lot of shares of American Express, and there was a sudden uproar.

If it didn't happen to be Saturday today, the stock market would be closed.

It is estimated that before noon, the stock price of American Express will drop to 40 US dollars or even lower.

But even if the market is closed on weekends, the stock market cannot be traded.

But most leeks and investors also know that this kind of news has been brewing and fermenting for two days.

When the market opens on Monday, the stock price it caused may fall even higher than when it broke out at this time.

More importantly, today is Saturday.

Tomorrow is another Saturday, and it is impossible for Abe Smith to remain indifferent.

He will definitely release news that is unfavorable to the stock price of American Express, and further suppress the current high stock price of American Express.

After the market opens on Monday, the stock of American Express will definitely plummet as soon as the doors open.

Fortunately, Abel's general tender offer is still there.

It lasts for one month, starting on November 11th, and will not end normally until the 6th of the next month.

That is, at least for a while.We all have Abe Smith at $35, which is a blessing in disguise.

And when the leeks were desperate, they were thankful that there was still Abel Tordia.

Abel has left his pinnacle mansion in the Smith Tower and turned up at JFK.

Then he got on his "Smith" Boeing 747, and the plane cut through the sky and flew to Austin International Airport.

The interior cabin of the Boeing 747 is as spacious as a penthouse.

Abel was sitting in the middle, like the emperor's throne, reading a document spread out on his lap.

David Jones and Alan Baker were standing quietly beside him, waiting for his inquiry at any time.

After browsing for about ten minutes, Abel closed the patent technical specification document on the lithium iron phosphate battery.

He said to Alan Baker: "Professor Hans has done a very good job. I didn't expect that the research team he brought back from China is really capable of developing simple finished products so quickly."

Allen smiled and replied:
"Who says it's not? The boss of the Huaxia company that Professor Hans came into contact with is an expert in battery technology. He is a professor who graduated from a well-known university in Huaxia. He came out to start a company. It may be because of this. It will be so efficient."

Abel nodded slightly.

Shortly after the beginning of the year.

Abel's chief technology officer of Tesla, Professor Hans, left the United States and took some students to Neon to investigate technology.

In the current era, in terms of lithium battery technology, the United States is theoretically advanced.

But in actual production and application, Neon is still better.

And the theoretical research on Neon's side is not bad at all.

Professor Hans went over there in order to acquire some patented technologies.

Or take some of Neon's local research teams and bring them back to the United States.

However, during the inspection of Neon, Professor Hans discovered some battery products from China.

The technology of these battery products cannot be said to be excellent, and it can even be said to be a bit backward and not so advanced.

But Professor Hans asked and learned that the cost of these batteries was so low that he couldn't believe it.

The same battery product costs about one hundred dollars in the United States.

These lithium battery products are in Neon, and it costs about fifty dollars to produce them.

Then, if these lithium battery products are in China, their production cost is only about twenty dollars.

When there is not much difference in quality and technology, this cost advantage is too huge.

Professor Hans is full of curiosity about this.

So after reporting to the headquarters, he went to Huaxia to investigate.

After a month of investigation, he reached a cooperation agreement with a company in Huaxia.

The follow-up was the elite research team of the Huaxia company, which was packed and brought back to the United States by Tesla.

Tesla also took advantage of the opportunity to take a stake in that Huaxia company, holding one-third of the other party's shares, and sharing battery technology in this area between the two parties.

Under the cooperation of the two parties, the lithium iron phosphate battery proposed by Abel has achieved a breakthrough.

At present, laboratory lithium iron phosphate batteries with an energy density of about 80-100wh/kg can be achieved.

This energy density is more than twice as high as the average lead-acid battery of 30-40wh/kg.

It is still much worse than the 160-180wh/kg of the ternary lithium that Neon mainly promotes.

However, according to Professor Hans, from an economic point of view, Tesla should study lithium iron phosphate, which is larger and has a lower energy density.

Professor Hans thinks so for two reasons.

One is that lithium iron phosphate is safer than ternary lithium.

This is actually why the professor mainly considers it.

Because this professor is a scholar no matter what, with some humanistic concerns.

In this case, if you really want to develop electric vehicles, Professor Hans thinks more about safety than performance.
The other is the reason Professor Hans used to persuade Abel.

That is compared to ternary lithium batteries that require the use of certain precious metals.

There is no need to use noble metal lithium iron phosphate in the material, which has a very high advantage in mass production cost.

It is that the cost is relatively cheap, and this is often the favorite direction of capitalists.

I have to say that the professor is worthy of being an American, and he understands capitalists.

As for the Huaxia battery company that Professor Hans visited, it has already gained a certain reputation in China.

But it's not well known, and it's a bit bad because its name is a bit weird.

"BYD" Abel read the name of this Huaxia company lightly, shook his head and smiled slightly: "Then continue to study. This direction is very good."

Abel remembered that in the parallel time and space, he later became the boss of China New Energy and started to set out for BYD in the world market.

The battery technology path it chose is finally lithium iron phosphate battery technology.

When Abel first started Tesla, he asked them to study lithium iron phosphate.

Just because he remembered it.

At that time, Abel only knew lithium iron phosphate, which was relatively safe.

But I didn't expect that it would have an advantage in terms of cost.

That made Abel feel that there must be nothing wrong with choosing it.

I didn’t look at the later, Tesla in the parallel time and space, did they also choose lithium iron phosphate batteries later?

At first Abel thought Tesla was doing it for safety.

After all, it seems that there are more news about accidents.

But now it seems that it is probably the cost that made Tesla take the initiative to replace the lithium iron phosphate battery.

A capitalist is a capitalist, and burning someone to death is nothing.

If the cost can be reduced by tens of dollars on average, it will be possible to overcome all difficulties.

Abel closed the patent technical specification document and threw it to David.

He looked up and asked, "How long has it been since you left? How long will it be to Austin."

It takes less than four hours to fly from New York to Austin.

The "Smith" set off at nine o'clock this morning, and it was not yet eleven o'clock.

Halfway to Austin.

Abel was bored, and he said to David: "Then let Maria come over."

David smiled and nodded, and took Alan Baker away.

Soon, the coquettish Ms. Maria, the leader of the private flight attendant team of the Boeing 747 of the "Smith", walked in.

Maria was the senior flight attendant selected by the United Airlines department when Abel didn't have a private jet and took the private flight provided by American Express.

The appearance is charming and sexy, and the figure is very perfect.

Later Catherine Jones, that is, the Hannah Catherine who is now next to little Laura.

She had been on the plane twice since she resigned from United, the flight attendant who served Abel.

In the middle, she went back to get married halfway, and returned to work for United Airlines after getting married.

Abel thinks that she is good at playing the harmonica, and her service attitude is also very good.

After Abel bought his own private jet, he asked Maria to come here as the head stewardess.

When Abel travels without a woman around him.

He occasionally asks Maria, who is married, to come and play the harmonica for him
Cultivate sentiment with art and pass the time of air travel.

Soon after, the "Smith" arrived at Austin International Airport.

As soon as he got out of the airport, Abel saw his father-in-law, little Laura's father.

Neil Bush was standing outside the car waiting for him, and Abel walked over with a smile.

Then they went again to where Herbert lived.

This time Abel's grandparents were not here, they had already returned to Houston.

Abel stayed here that night and left the next day.

When he left, he took little Laura's father with him.

In fact, this is also the reason why Abel's plane chose to stop in Austin.

That is to drop by Neil Shush who has gone to the West Coast to familiarize himself with the situation for a while, and returned to Austin to rest in the middle.

"...What a big plane. Using a Boeing 747 as a private jet, the space is indeed very spacious."

When we got on the plane, the plane hadn't taken off yet.

Neil Shrub looked at the interior decoration of the ultra-rich son-in-law's private jet, and said with a smile.

It's not that Neil Shrub has never taken a private jet, even Air Force One.

But those have nothing to do with him, and this Boeing 747 belongs to his son-in-law, so it has something to do with it.

Neil Bush talked a little more.

Abel smiled and said, "I'll study the plane later. Let's sit down first and wait for the plane to take off."

Neil nodded with a smile.

The two of them sat in the high-class airline business seats, fastened their seat belts and waited for the plane to take off.

This is fair, whether it is a private jet or a public flight, there is some weightlessness and discomfort when the plane takes off.

A fair gravitational force does not make a big difference because it is a private jet and a public flight.

The two in the middle were not silent either, Abel and Neil Bush were talking.

"Neil, what do you think of the West Coast? How does San Francisco make you feel compared to Texas or New York?"

"It's fine. The climate is more comfortable, even more comfortable than Texas. In other respects, I honestly don't like the situation there."

"Oh? It's not easy. Neil, you know. Many times, even if we don't like something, we still have to endure it."

"Of course I understand." Neil Bush was a little upset.

This kid has not yet become his son-in-law, so he educates himself like this.

What is the status of the father-in-law!

But Neil also knew that Abel was doing it for his own good.

And in terms of the status of the two of them at this time, if the private identities of son-in-law and father-in-law are removed.

In front of Abel, he was indeed several grades behind.

Abel is still his big benefactor and the backer for his development on the west coast.

As far as the matter is concerned, Neil Shrub will not discuss personal feelings and affairs when discussing business affairs with Abel.

"I'm trying to fit in. Take it easy, trust me. Give me a little while and I'll be a 'traditional' West Coaster."

Abel laughed.

"If that's the case. Then we can start our plans for the West Coast."

"Hahaha~" Neil Bush laughed happily.

The Boeing 747 finally took off successfully.

Start to climb to the normal altitude, and the normal cruise mode will not start until the stratosphere above 8000 meters.

Looking at the clouds passing by quickly outside the window, Neil Shush's heart surged.

When he thought of himself, after his two brothers and his father, he could finally start to walk on this path.

There are more people paving the way for him, and the road he wants to walk seems easier to walk.

Thinking of this, Neil Shush couldn't help feeling better.

This made Neil's gaze towards Abel, a philandering son-in-law, more gentle.

This proves that Neil has a lot of bush family tradition.

Shrewd and forbearing.

Many times, for profit, you can do most of the things you hate.

Just like his second brother Jeb, in order to get the support of more and more Mexican immigrants in Texas.

A long time ago, he married a Mexican woman as his wife in advance.

This very untraditional, very unblue-blooded approach was done by Jeb, the shrub most similar to Herbert.

There is also strong support from the family.

At the time, this was a joke for a while by many elites in other regions.

Marrying Momo at that time was not much different from marrying a black man for them.

But Herbert let Jeb marry him, and later gave birth to a mixed-race grandson, who was still the eldest grandson.

It can only be said that in this regard, the shrub family is really good at flexibility.

The premise is that the interest is enough for the shrub to be willing to make changes in this regard!
It's like Jeb married a Mexican wife, just like Neil went against tradition and went to the West Coast to develop.

Just like Herbert insisted on marrying little Laura to the big carrot.

Go to Neon to inspect, inspect halfway past

(End of this chapter)