Understanding Finance from scratch

Chapter 22 Those Who Shake Up the World—Know a little about international financial giants every day (1)
Rothschild family rich over eight generations
Who was the real winner at the Battle of Waterloo?Not Napoleon!Not the Duke of Wellington either!But Mayer Rothschild!The Battle of Waterloo was a battle between Napoleon and the anti-French coalition forces. During the war, Napoleon had a command error and insufficient soldiers, and the anti-French coalition forces came to support him again, so he was bound to lose.At this time, no one saw a person leaving the battlefield. That person went non-stop to the town where Nathan Rothschild lived, and told Nathan Rothschild about the battle.Immediately, Nathan Rothschild, who held most of the British treasury bonds, sold all the British treasury bonds, and others followed suit. In less than half a day, the British treasury bonds fell to the bottom.The next day, Nathan Rothschild bought most of the national bonds at the lowest price and held them steadily.About a few days later, the news of the victory of the anti-French coalition came, and the price of British government bonds rose exponentially.From this, Nathan Rothschild made a lot of money, and then he had the proverbial $60 trillion fortune.

The above is a small fragment of the history of the Rothschild family.The Rothschild family is a prestigious financial family in Europe and the world, known as the "Sixth Empire" in Europe.So how did this family stir up the world's financial situation?

A "Currency War" made many people know the Rothschild family. Today, the Rothschild family is the eighth generation. Although the wealth and power are not as good as in the 19th century, they are still a super rich family. .

The Rothschild family was the richest and most mysterious family in Europe in the 19th century.At that time, the German poet Heine said: "Money is the god of our time, and Rothschild is the mentor of God." However, when the first generation of Rothschild started his business 250 years ago, he was just An ordinary Jewish businessman, it took less than 100 years for the Rothschild family to control the financial lifeline of the whole of Europe. Half, reaching 50 trillion U.S. dollars, which is equivalent to four times the current annual GDP of the United States. The national bonds of the world's major economies are issued by them, and the opening price of gold trading is determined by them every day. The stock markets of all countries in the world follow Rothschild They were known as the Sixth Empire, which was superior to Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Austria at that time in Europe. Their family emblem with five arrows has also become a symbol of world financial power.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Rothschild family established its own strategic intelligence collection and express system.As we mentioned in the previous short story, during the Battle of Waterloo, the Rothschild family made 20 times their profits in public bond speculation in one day, becoming the largest creditor of the British government in one fell swoop, and their wealth even surpassed that of Napoleon and Wellington The sum obtained in decades of war.

After dominating the British financial industry, the Rothschild family did not stop fighting. They then conquered France, aspired to the crown of Austria, and even controlled the finances of Germany and Italy.Its family business not only spreads all over Europe, but even restrains the United States by supporting the Morgan consortium, and strives to fully control the United States.In addition, Citigroup, Morgan, the First National Bank of the United States, and the Second National Bank were all under the indirect control of the Rothschild family. During the "First World War", the Rothschild family reached its peak - controlling the lifeline of global finance.

But the Rothschilds still declined.Many of its assets in Germany, France, and Italy were destroyed during World War I and World War II, and its offices in France were even nationalized after World War II ended melted.As a Jewish family, Rothschild suffered a heavy blow under the Nazi rule. Although the British headquarters basically suffered no losses, the family power in continental Europe was basically wiped out.During the Cold War, many assets of the Rothschild family in Eastern Europe were taken over by the Soviet Union. As a result, it is conceivable that these assets will not be returned.

Of course, there were also operational mistakes that led to the decline: First, the Rothschild family made a strategic misjudgment in 1865, believing that the U.S. economy would not develop substantially, so they abolished all its branches in the United States.This was a fatal mistake, which directly led to the rise of the Morgan family; secondly, Rothschild's insistence on the family business also hindered its continued development.Since the 1960s, large banks in Europe and the United States have been listed one after another, raising a large amount of funds.Rothschild still develops with its own funds, at a slow pace, and gradually falls behind.

Maybe many people are more concerned about the status quo of the Rothschild family.

Now the business of the Rothschild Bank Group is mainly mergers and acquisitions, which is to help large companies acquire and merge other companies, or restructure their asset structures.Rothschild's M&A and restructuring business is mainly in Europe, and it can be ranked 2006th in the 13 world M&A rankings.The annual turnover of Rothschild Banking Group is less than 100 billion US dollars, and the profit is less than 30 billion US dollars. It is estimated that its total capital will not exceed 300 billion US dollars, which is less than a fraction of the big European and American banks.Rothschild has an office in Asia - Hong Kong. However, the official name of this office is "ABN AMRO - Rothschild", because its business in Asia is under the holding of ABN AMRO, and it has no right to speak. big.Even certain personnel rights are managed by ABN Amro.

But if you think that skepticism about the Rothschilds is dead, you're wrong.When the financial tsunami hit, the Rothschild family was unscathed because of their conservative and prudent investment style, and once again wrote a legend in the new era of finance.Whether it is fixed assets or investment, the Rothschild family has not suffered any losses.While international investment banks were struggling to deal with the "sequela" of the financial tsunami, Rothschild assisted Geely in completing the acquisition of Volvo.This is also China's largest overseas auto industry acquisition.In fact, according to Thomson Reuters data, in addition to Geely’s acquisition of Volvo, Rothschild has undertaken a total of US$12 billion in automotive M&A transactions in the past 892.5 months, far exceeding other banks.Recent clients include Volkswagen, BMW and the UK and US governments.

Geely's acquisition of Volvo is neither the beginning nor the end for Rothschild.According to media information, Rothschild participated in the acquisition of Unocal by CNOOC and the merger of Nanjing Automobile and Shanghai Automobile.When taking over financial projects in China, Rothschild was not hesitant to take over projects from various industries, almost "taking all the big and small".As we have seen, even if the halo of the financial empire has faded, the Rothschild family still cannot be underestimated.

最后，还有一点小趣闻要和大家分享：罗斯柴尔德家族不仅在财富上登峰造极，而且在其他方面也同样优秀。有153种或次种类昆虫、58种鸟、18种哺乳动物、14种植物、3种鱼、3种蜘蛛和2种爬行动物被冠以“罗斯柴尔德”之名。爱好红酒的人当然都知道拉菲，这种酒出自罗斯柴尔德名下的拉菲葡萄庄园。

The Rockefeller Consortium marked with world wealth

How rich is the Rockefeller family? In 1975, Nelson Rockefeller bought 1.8 acres of land in Texas, just as "outdoor venues."In another of his villas, there are more than 500 domestic workers on call at all times, including cleaners, security guards, cooks and gardeners. A holiday estate in Harbor has 45 servants, and a private house in Nelson employs 15 servants. people.According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 2500 servants in the Luo family.The Luo family loves to travel, and their whereabouts are unpredictable, so all the manor premises are kept in perfect condition and ready for use, ready for any owner to come and visit.

The Rockefeller consortium operates more investment assets: California Standard Corporation with a value of 8500 million US dollars, IBM with a value of 7200 million US dollars; companies with more than 1000 million US dollars in stock include Chase Manhattan Bank, Mobil Oil, General Electric, Texas Instrumentation, Minnesota Mining Manufacturing, etc.

The Rockefeller consortium was famous and once became a symbol of wealth.So how did the Rockefeller family history get rich?

When people talk about financial history or contemporary American history, it is difficult to avoid the Rockefeller family name: Standard Oil Company, Rockefeller Foundation, Chase Bank, Museum of Modern Art, Rockefeller Center, University of Chicago, Rockefeller University, and the United States. The sad twin towers of the United States that fell in "9".

And when we look back on the history of the Rockefeller family, we find that it is the unremitting efforts of several generations of this family that have achieved the brilliant Rockefeller consortium.

Not long after the end of World War II, the victorious countries decided to establish a United Nations to deal with world affairs.But where to establish this headquarters took a lot of thinking.The location should be chosen in a bustling city, but buying land in any bustling city that can build a huge building like the United Nations Headquarters requires a huge sum of money. Where does this money come from?This made the heads of state feel very embarrassed.When the Rockefeller family heard about this, they immediately bought a large piece of land in New York for US$870 million and donated it to the United Nations unconditionally.This surprised the world.

After the United Nations building was built, the surrounding land prices soared immediately, and when the Rockefeller family bought the piece of land donated to the United Nations, they also bought all the land adjacent to this piece of land.The generosity of the Rockefeller family showed its foresight and superhuman wisdom at this time: with the land adjacent to the United Nations, it received an unknown number of 870 million US dollars.

John Rockefeller (1839-1937), founder of the Rockefeller Foundation, started out working in a dry goods store in Cleveland, Ohio, earning $5 a week.He later created the Standard Oil Company, which was, in effect, the beginning of the American oil industry.

In 1910, when John Rockefeller discovered that his wealth had reached nearly $10 billion, he began to think about how to use this wealth.Since he had no interest in buying French manors or Scottish castles, nor buying art, yachts, or medieval suits and all the things that rich people talk about, he invested a large part of his income in coal mines, Railroads, insurance companies, banks, and various types of manufacturing businesses, most notably the iron ore business.

If John Rockefeller is still alive today, his net worth is about 2000 billion US dollars in today's dollars - according to the 2003 "Forbes" billionaire list, the world's richest man Bill Gates was worth 407 billion US dollars at that time.

70 years ago, Lawrence Rockefeller started his career on Wall Street. He became the pioneer of modern venture capital and successfully multiplied the wealth inherited from the Rockefeller family.During his ten years at the New York Stock Exchange, he often used his innate business instincts to make the next big decision.He is not satisfied with simply making more money, but hopes to make money produce something with long-term meaning.David Rockefeller, the only surviving son of John Rockefeller Jr., commented on his brother: "I admire his extraordinary talent in the business field. I always follow him in the field of venture capital. A true pioneer indeed."

David Rockefeller was born on June 1915, 6 in a family with the most influential surname in two centuries - the Rockefeller family.He is the third generation head of this economic empire.As a descendant of the first family in the United States, David has opportunities that others do not have. He can get in touch with the world's most influential economists, the most powerful families, politicians who affect the entire political situation in Europe and the United States, and every American president. Participated in many important visits that changed the world pattern.He visited the Soviet Union during the Cold War and had direct and sharp face-to-face exchanges with both Khrushchev and Gorbachev. He was also the first group of capitalists to visit China in 12 after the Sino-US relations began to thaw. An international financier who had close contact with China at the beginning of the reform and opening up and successfully carried out business activities.

In 1931, despite the dark clouds of economic depression hanging over North and Western America, John D. Rockefeller Jr. decided to implement a long-cherished plan: to build a group of buildings in the center of Manhattan, making it a classic entertainment center.Rockefeller Center is a 19-acre complex of 22 buildings.Most of the national TV program broadcasting bases are here, and the headquarters of many domestic companies are also located here.Underground shops and restaurants link the various buildings together.The underground square is eye-catching, it is an oasis of peace in the city, flying 159 colorful flags of the United Nations.There is a belt-shaped street garden around the small square for people to have a rest, and various exhibitions are often held.The various buildings in the center are connected by underground passages.The main body of the complex is the GE Building, 70 floors and 259 meters high.The appearance emphasizes the vertical lines, which is the prototype of the slab high-rise building.The whole group of buildings has a compact layout and dense and orderly buildings.Here are the headquarters of NBC News, Time Warner and other major American publishing houses, as well as the world's largest news center - the Associated Press.

A total of 65000 people work here every day.There are restaurants, pharmacies, barbershops, banks, cinemas, bookstores and other facilities here, making it a condensed small society.Due to the comprehensive collocation of work and leisure functional buildings, the nightlife here has just begun at 10 o'clock in the evening.Since 1932, every Christmas Eve, the largest Christmas tree in New York City will be erected in the Rockefeller Center Plaza. The Christmas night scene here is a must-see for tourists who come to New York.

Today, the old Rockefeller's legacy still dominates the world's oil industry, and he himself can be regarded as the personified symbol of today's ubiquitous and omnipotent Western oil industry.

After the energy crisis in 1973, the countries of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries launched a tit-for-tat struggle with the monopoly capital of the United States, which dealt a heavy blow to the Rockefeller consortium.The consortium took various measures to restore this unfavorable situation.Firstly, he participated in the domestic oil development in the United States, and fought for the lease of offshore oil fields in the domestic coastal areas. In 1976, he obtained 130 million acres of oil leases in Alaska and the mid-Atlantic coast.It also jointly developed the British North Sea oilfield with the Anglo-Dutch Shell oil company.It also infiltrates other concerned sectors of the energy industry.In addition, it is also vigorously developing towards the petrochemical industry.

The Rockefeller Foundation not only occupies a dominant position in the economic field, but also has installed a large number of agents in the government, influencing the domestic and foreign policies of the US government.It also penetrates into education, science, health, art and social life through organizations such as the Rockefeller Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation to expand its influence.

The Rockefeller family, which has gone through more than a century, is still writing a glorious history. The descendants of John D. Rockefeller did not hide in the room all day and plan how to keep their wealth and prevent it from falling into other people’s pockets, but It is to actively participate in cultural, health and charity causes, and to use a large amount of money to establish various funds with a sense of guilt, to invest in universities and hospitals, and to let the entire society share their wealth.

Goldman Sachs, the manipulator behind the financial tsunami
When hostile takeovers were just beginning to appear in the United States, one day Goldman Sachs partner Friedman was discussing a case with someone in a law firm.At this time, a staff member of the law firm came in with a sample of the New York Times for the next day and asked his boss to look at it. It was printed on it that a hostile bidder was going to use it to launch a campaign against Gaylock the next day. Advertisement of a tender offer by a company.Friedman hurried out of the conference room and told his colleagues on the phone: "Call Gaylock and tell them two things: first, they will be attacked by hostility tomorrow; second, we are ready Help them.” Since then, Goldman Sachs’ mergers and acquisitions team has had someone take a taxi every night at 10 p.m. to the place closest to the New York Times printing site, waiting for the next day’s paper, fresh out of the oven.In their view, whether a deal is handed over to themselves or to their competitors, the difference may be the few 10 minutes ahead.

This is Goldman Sachs. We have seen the strong side of Goldman Sachs from the small story. It can be said that Goldman Sachs has come from weak to strong step by step.If you are interested in the "Family History" of Goldman Sachs, come with us!
The famous Goldman Sachs was once extremely weak, and as a company run by Jews, it could only conduct business within a very narrow scope. This second-rate company with obvious advantages in independent business has also made mistakes in many investments and decisions and paid a high price... However, in the end, this family-owned company that originated from a humble family has developed into the world's most A well-known investment bank and now a giant in the financial industry.

(End of this chapter)