America's Road to Wealth

Chapter 468 Involved in Britain's Largest Commercial Television Group

2 o'clock in the afternoon, London Financial Street.

In the conference room of the British branch of BMW Financial AG.

Ferdinand Piech, annoyed by Abel's childlike attitude, was in conversation with a German named Joachim Mühlberg.

Joachim Mühlberg is the global chairman of the BMW Group in Germany.

Its position is comparable to that of Ferdinand Piech.

However, Ferdinand Piech is an important figure in the Piech family, equivalent to one of the main shareholders of the Volkswagen Group.

In dealing with group affairs, Ferdinand Piech is more powerful and persuasive than Joachim, a senior wage earner, in the BMW Group.

So the person who acted as the head of the delegation in the morning was naturally Ferdinand Piech.

But for the Rolls-Royce matter, Joachim also came to London.

It's just that I didn't go to the headquarters of Smith Financial Group in person.

"It's getting very troublesome. That Yankee, obviously won't spend money!"

Ferdinand Piech said a little angrily.

The negotiations in the morning broke up unhappy, which made the global chairman of Volkswagen very unhappy.

Faced with Ferdinand's complaints, Joachim, who received news from the boss behind the scenes in the morning, couldn't help frowning.

Joachim thought for a while, and said to Ferdinand Piech in a good voice:
"Mr. Piech, perhaps this time we will have to accept blackmail from that Yankee."

"What do you mean?"

"In the morning, when you went to that Yankee's site. I received a call from Mr. Kwant. During the call, Kwant thought that as long as the conditions are not harsh, then we should give the Rolls-Royce to that Yankee."

After listening to Joachim's words, Ferdinand couldn't help raising his eyebrows.

As one of the important members of the Piëch family, one of the richest men in Germany.

Ferdinand can ignore Joachim, who has the same position as himself.

But Ferdinand had to pay attention to the person standing behind Joachim, or that family.

The "Mr. Kwant" that Joachim said was the richest family in Germany, one of the two core figures of the Kwant family, and his name was Stefan Kwant.

Stefan and his sister Suzanne control the BMW Group with more than 50% of the shares.

If only that were the case, the Kwandt family would be roughly the same as the Porsche family or the Piech family.

But the problem is that the Volkswagen Group is already the most important core property of the Porsche family and the Piech family.

The BMW Group is just one of the many industries of the Covante family.

Because the Kwandt family is probably actually the richest family in Germany...

They are not only engaged in the automotive industry, but also textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and so on.

Can you see it?
These industries are all advantageous industries in Germany!

The companies in these industries controlled by the Kwant family all have leading positions.

For example, who knows that the backing of Wanleike Fashion is the Delton company of the Kwant family?
Does anyone know about Vita Bill Ektidin and Muti Sannostall's company, Altana with the Kwant family behind it?
The status of this family in Germany is roughly equivalent to the status in the United States after the integration of Morgan and Rockefeller.

If you go back to the bottom line, you can even find that this family is actually very related to World War II.

Well... Stefan's father, Herbert Kwant's second wife.

After her divorce from Herbert Kwandt, she married the number three in Third Germany.

Relying on this relationship, Herbert Kwandt was the chairman of the third largest arsenal in Germany...

What's even more powerful is that such a character escaped the liquidation after the war and can continue to be a big oligarch.

It can be said that the Kwant family is one of the masters behind the scenes in Germany.

The Piech family, which looks glamorous, is really nothing in front of Kwante.

So when Joachim mentioned Stefan, Ferdinand couldn't help cheering up, wanting to know what one of the heads of the Kwant family had said to Joachim.

"What does Mr. Kwant mean?"

"Hey--"

Joachim sighed and said with some indignation:
"Rolls-Royce is a conspiracy! A Yankee conspiracy!!"

Ferdinand Piech was a little confused.

"What do you mean?" said Ferdinand:

"Well... I mean, what does Mr. Kwant mean?"

"Hey--"

Joachim sighed again, for the third time today in front of Ferdinand.

"Mr. Kwant means that if possible, let's give the Rolls-Royce to that Yankee."

Ferdinand's white eyebrows were raised into a frown.

Before he could speak again, he heard Joachim say again: "What worries me now is that this Yankee refuses to accept me."

"What on earth do you mean? What on earth are you talking about? Joachim, you mean to give the Rolls-Royce to the Yankee at his request, almost for free? No, that's not a gift at all." , that was snatched away by him!"

Listening to Ferdinand Piech's indignant tone, Joachim was expressionless.

"That's pretty much what it means. But Mr. Piëch, I hope you understand that Rolls-Royce is now BMW's property. Besides, that's what Mr. Kwant meant. Our opinion doesn't matter anymore."

At this moment, Ferdinand Piech would like to say who doesn't know that Rolls-Royce is already your BMW, and has little to do with us.

But this matter happened to involve us the public.

Coupled with the meaning of the Kwant family, we, the general public, were forced to get involved in this turmoil.

We are the most innocent ones.

Fortunately, BMW itself backed down.

It was as if he, Ferdinand Piech, had caused it.

Taking a deep breath, Ferdinand Piech made his voice sound as calm as possible.

"Okay. Since Mr. Kwant meant it, then I won't say anything. Joachim, the Rolls-Royce is yours now. You are willing to let it out and save the troubles of the public. I am too happy. .”

"It must be a pleasant thing for us, for you, and for that Yankee."

Joachim Mühlberg ignored Ferdinand's slightly sarcastic remarks.

He has already started telling representatives of BMW to contact Smith Financial Group again.

night.

Ferdinand Piech and Joachim Mühlberg were about to leave London Heathrow Airport together on their way back to Germany.

Joachim has received "bad news".

"Yankee refused?"

Joachim was surprised.

The representative he sent to contact Smith Financial Group, and the BMW executive who first contacted Abel, Bai Ruide nodded with a wry smile.

"That nasty Yankee is not on Financial Street. Jess, the CEO of Smith UK, received me. Jess claimed that Smith is tired of this matter and will no longer interfere with us and Rolls-Royce."

Baired said.

"Scheie!!!"

Ferdinand cursed a German swear word, and felt extremely angry and dissatisfied with Abel's way of staying out of the matter, as if Abel was an innocent person.

In the afternoon, Ferdinand was still somewhat dissatisfied with what Joachim had said about the request of the Kwant family.

Now, after exchanges with China.

Ferdinand Piech also knew what was going on.

Just because he understood clearly, Ferdinand also understood what it meant for Abel to refuse BMW to give Rolls-Royce for free at this moment.

A sense of humiliation that was greater than the threat of being threatened by Abel with a US military base when the representatives of both sides at the time, Baired and John Wieland, rose in Ferdinand's heart.

Just the same as Baired and John Wieland at the beginning.

Gui is one of the richest men in Germany and one of the most influential tycoons in Europe.

Taishan Beidou in the automotive industry, a giant in the global automotive industry.

Facing the threat of the Yankees, Ferdinand was the same as those two senior wage earners.

In the face of humiliation, they are all helpless to fight back, and can only face it with forbearance.

Small country and rich people?

Hehe, when the rich people of a small country face the robbers of a big country, they are no different from fat pigs in a pigsty.

"Go back to Berlin."

Joachim sighed, "This is no longer something we can solve."

"Ferdinand, I suggest you contact Lower Saxony, or contact Berlin. As for me, this kind of thing can only be referred to Mr. Kwandt."

Ferdinand nodded, and the two set off for London Heathrow Airport.

It was raining again in London on the way.

The clouds were thick and the rain was heavy.

In this ghostly place, the capital of the Great Yin Empire, the most frequent weather in a year is rain.

The dense raindrops seem to indicate the fate and future of the Germans.

The next day, Monday, April 4.

London.

Mick Desmond walked into his luxurious office as usual.

He handed over his windbreaker to his secretary, and patted the little secretary wrapped in a tight skirt, in exchange for a charming look.

Sitting on the boss chair that symbolizes power, Mick Desmond, the CEO and chairman of ITV in the UK, comfortably picked up the neatly arranged documents on the table while drinking steaming aromatic coffee , while checking the briefings sent by various departments of the company.

ITV is the second largest radio and television group in the UK, and its full name is the British Independent Television Broadcasting Group.

In the UK, its scale is second only to the British Broadcasting Group, and it exists under the BBC.

The company, founded in 1955, initially provided competition for the BBC.

To prevent the BBC from dominating the market and monopolizing the entire market.

After decades of development, British ITV has become the largest commercial TV network group in the UK.

Who said that the BBC is funded by the British government and belongs to the public television network.

Then ITV can naturally be the boss of the British commercial television network, which is much more powerful than the British Sky TV station controlled by Murdoch's News Corporation.

Mick Desmond only won the trust of shareholders this year and became the No. 1 person of ITV in the UK.

As the CEO, he has been trying to reform the British ITV into a TV station beyond the BBC.

Lead the British ITV to glory, and become a corporate executive who is trusted by investors like those famous managers.

This kind of thing is easy to say, but it is not easy to do it.

Since taking office, Mick Desmond has been working hard on this, just like now.

"咚咚-"

The hasty knock on the door made Mick, who was still thinking about the problem, frown.

As soon as he raised his head, he saw the company's chief financial officer, Quincy, pushing the door and barging in with a livid face.

Quincy is another important figure trusted by the general meeting.

Seeing that it was Quincy coming in, Mick put away the anger on his face and showed a kind smile.

"What's the matter? Look, Quincy, I'm busy. I'm pretty pissed off by the ITV Digital shit."

ITV Digital is the name of a paid digital channel under ITV in the UK, similar to pay TV stations such as HBO in the United States.

It is one of the main broadcasters of the Premier League, but recently it has been unable to make ends meet and has been losing money, even to the point where it has implicated the head office ITV in the UK.

Mick Desmond was able to take office this year because the former CEO of ITV in the UK mishandled the matter of ITV Digital.

But now, the CFO is clearly not in the mood to talk to the CEO about the ITV Digital mess.

Quincy has more urgent matters to report to the CEO.

"Sir, something has happened. It's troublesome."

Mick frowned even tighter, and stretched out his hand to signal for the other party to sit down, but Quincy, who had an extremely ugly expression, did not sit down, but said in a bitter and anxious tone:

"Just now, our stock price fell below 16 pounds and began to plummet. The tracking result is that someone is shorting our stock, and the other party is strong..."

"Mick, just now, Augusto of the British News Corporation, he called to inform us that News Corporation and Sky TV are willing to provide financial assistance to ITV."

After listening to a series of bad news reported by Quincy, Mick stared wide-eyed, "What happened, why did the bad news come one after another. Who is shorting us, Quincy, you are the CFO of the company, you didn't Figure it out?"

"It has been checked." The chief financial officer said bitterly: "The one who shorted us is probably the Yankee, Abel Smith."

"Abel Smith shorted us? Why, we have no conflict with him? And ITV doesn't have much money!"

Mick was a little dazed.

Quincy closed his eyes bitterly, "Obviously, sir."

He opened his eyes: "Abel Smith has taken a fancy to our ITV. His British Smith Media Group has everything, except for an influential TV station group. It just so happens that our ITV is such an influential TV station group. .so……"

"You mean..." Mick Desmond suddenly felt that something was wrong, "Abel Smith shorted us, and his purpose was to buy us?"

"This is the only possibility. Otherwise, as you said earlier, we have nothing to offer and are not suitable as prey for financial giants. Otherwise, Murdoch's people would not be so kind to call us .”

After listening to Quincy's explanation, Mick was silent for a few seconds, and then suddenly cursed: "You son of a bitch!!"

After the chief financial officer's careful explanation, Mick fully understood that this was a planned and premeditated short-selling behavior against ITV by the other party.

The timing he chose made it impossible for them to fight back.

After all, ITV has just gone through internal turmoil, and because of ITV Digital, it lost 5 million pounds in 6 years.

Even the former CEO resigned at a loss, and when the stock market value fell by 30%.

At this time, even if the British ITV wants to spend money to prop up the market, it is just a drop in the bucket, and it is just giving delicious food to the greedy monster that has opened its mouth.

Mick grabbed the phone in a cold sweat and called Cooper, the controlling boss of ITV in the UK. The latter is one of the top ten richest people in the UK and is mainly engaged in the real estate industry.

British ITV is a lot of shares he acquired with huge sums of money five years ago.

This gentleman is also very unlucky. When he entered the market, it was also the moment when the British ITV stock market was at its highest.

British ITV has fallen by 5% of its total market value in five years, which is equivalent to his investment in that year, and it has also lost 30% after a few years...

If you count inflation and company losses, it will be even more.

It is a pity that the call to Mr. Cooper was not connected. We only got a reply from Cooper's secretary, saying that Mr. Cooper is busy and is receiving important partners.

Mick smiled wryly.

One of Tosh may disappear, but now is not the time for him to panic.

Grabbing the mobile phone and taking Quincy in the office, the two hurried to the financial department.

In the financial country of the UK.Almost any company of any size, regardless of industry, has a financial department.

In many cases, stock trading, or investment, is an important business behavior of British companies...

Looking at the constantly beating red numbers on the LCD wall, Mick's face was livid, his fists were clenched tightly, his veins were bulging, and his lips were trembling constantly.

(UK stocks are the same as U.S. stocks, rising is green and falling is red.)
15.9
15.4
14.8
……

When the stock price fell to 13.9.

Mick finally couldn't hold his breath anymore, "Start the repurchase plan..."

This is to use the limited funds of British ITV to avoid a series of uncontrollable chain reactions caused by the company's stock price plummeting.

buzz-

Suddenly, Mick's pocket trembled.

With trembling fingers, Mick Desmond took out the buzzing cell phone from his pocket.

He didn't look obvious, his eyes stared directly at the beating blood-red numbers in front of him.

"Hi, I'm Mick Desmond..."

"Good morning, Mick, I'm John Cooper, and the thing is, I've decided that I will..."

"boom!"

"Fack! You damn son of a bitch..."

Mick, who was still smiling a little, turned off the phone after hearing the other party finish quickly.

His entire face was completely blackened, and he threw his phone directly on the wall with a grim expression, roaring loudly while trembling all over, and stretched out his hand to support the table beside him, so that his shaking body could be supported.

Mick knew that they were abandoned by Cooper, the major shareholder.

I called just now, and the important partner Cooper's secretary mentioned was probably Abel Smith!

Ah, when I think that my ass has just taken the hot CEO position, I will leave myself soon.

Mick Desmond felt a wave of despair just thinking about it.

(End of this chapter)