Mediterranean hegemon

When Agnelli Sr. was planning strategies against the United Group and considering taking advantage of Contini's possible financial crisis, the latter was still unaware of this and was still discussing ideas for the next stage of development with Antonio.

"Master, the United States sent a telegram. The second stock purchase of 5 million US dollars has been completed. The overall market is currently stable at a low level. We have a floating loss of about 500,000, and then..."

Contini waved his hand: "Give him three months and continue to buy another 10 million. 70% of the targets will still be those stocks, plus some blue chip stocks."

Antonio was a little surprised. Was he about to take advantage? But since the young master looked very confident, he wisely stopped talking. From the perspective of industry inspection, both General Motors and American Radio are good investment targets. Even if you don’t understand American Radio, you can see the clues by looking at United Radio’s current sales situation-subscribing to newspapers and buying radios given as a gift when buying motorcycles. They are being sent out one after another, and the cumulative number has exceeded 5,000 units, and there is a trend of further growth.

On the one hand, this trend is realized by the joint effect of motorcycles, and on the other hand, it is due to the publicity effect brought by Contini’s large-scale investment in universities, governments, stations, streets and other public places. Although the overall number of radios in Italy is only 5,000, But because at least 1,000 stations are placed in public places, the number of listeners is not measured in thousands, but in tens of thousands. If one listens to it once and is counted as a listener, this number has already exceeded 100,000.

Some keen merchants have realized the business opportunities and placed advertisements on IBC. Although the amount is not large, it is the first revenue outside the joint department. Along with Vivian's sweet voice, it is highly recognizable in the market. However, Contini is very strict about advertising. He will only put up products or services that are really ideal and interesting. He does not want to accept any vulgar and cheap advertisements.

With business expansion, IBC broadcast time has been expanded from 6 hours to 12 hours, achieving uninterrupted coverage and broadcasting from 9 am to 9 pm. The organization has also expanded rapidly, including the editorial department, news department, commentary department, Advertising Department, Technology Department, Planning Department, General Department and other signs were hung up one after another, and the number of employees suddenly expanded from more than 40 to more than 200. Vivian is the chief anchor of the News Department, but does not hold a specific position. Adriana is also the director of commentary and chief host.

It's not that Contini prefers one to the other, but that there are differences in personality and management ability between the two. Adriana, who comes from a family of officials, is obviously more capable of management, so it is okay to hold the position, while Vivian is more suitable for personal development. Feelings are feelings, and Contini is still very strict about work. What he wants is two excellent anchors or hosts, not two beautiful vases. He has criticized the performance of the two people on the show more than once in internal meetings and made suggestions, hoping that they would do better. His criticism was much stronger than that of other announcers, and sometimes it was to the point of being critical. This made his prestige as the director continue to rise. Everyone was discerning, so they could naturally see the ambiguity between the two women and the director. Contini's attitude of distinguishing between public and private things made everyone very satisfied.

In fact, other people have completely overthought it. Vivian and Adriana took these jobs purely because of Contini’s reputation. Far from irritating them, these criticisms made them happier and sweeter—— You see, he is actually following me and paying attention to me. Otherwise, why would he not comment on other people?

On the one hand, the criticism is strong, on the other hand, it is accepted humbly. In addition, most of them are young people, and the working atmosphere of the entire radio station is very good. To use the cliché of the Youth League, it is "enthusiastic and energetic."

Just because he saw the rapid development of IBC, Antonio believed that RCA's stock would not be bad, and it would be terrible if it exploded. As for General Motors, just look at the continuous explosive growth in the number of cars to see the clues, and own Buick, General Motors, which has many brands such as Chevrolet and Cadillac and is mostly positioned as mid-to-high-end, has seen its sales gradually increase during this period, overwhelming the Model T, the representative of cheap cars. He also agreed with Contini's idea of ​​investing in General Motors.

In the original investment plan structure, General Motors and American Radio each held 35% of the position, and other stocks totaled only 30%. But now Contini has directly leveraged it, and he seems not satisfied with this.

Seeing what Antonio was going to say, Contini quickly explained: "I am very optimistic about the performance of these two stocks in the stock market next year, so I want to make a big bet. I will eventually ask for a full purchase of 30 million U.S. dollars, and then Sell ​​off gradually."

He knew that this explanation was very reluctant. Could he still tell Antonio that he was a time traveler and knew that starting in 1924, the U.S. stock market would enter a magnificent era of explosion?

Sure enough, Antonio saw that he was so optimistic and insisted on it, so he stopped arguing - it was meaningless to argue about the rise and fall of the stock market. He could only remind himself to stay in touch and close the position immediately if the situation went wrong.

"Master, the financing matter has basically been negotiated with the Ministry of War and the Prime Minister's Office. They will be responsible for providing soft guarantees with a total amount of 100 million liras and an interest rate of 7%. However, the guarantee period is only 2 years. After 2 years, the bank will either If the bankers call back the loan, they must either provide other properties that can be mortgaged; of course, there is also an inertial tail. Once the bankers believe that our operating conditions have greatly deteriorated, they can terminate the loan three months in advance and require us to provide sufficient guarantees or return the loan in advance. "

Contini smiled: "2 years? 2 years is enough. 7% is a bit high, but it is not unacceptable."

"In addition, I also considered the plan of United Group to go public for financing, but it is currently in a state of large-scale losses. I don't think it is appropriate to launch it unless strategic investors are introduced..."

Contini shook his head: "I don't need strategic investors. They are here to make money, but I don't want to make money, or in other words, my goal is not to make money."

Antonio's face was embarrassed: What is this? Setting up a company is not for making money? Where is the high profile?

"If it is for making money, I don't need to make many things so complicated, and it is not easy to arouse jealousy." Contini explained, "For example, recruiting workers, I can completely follow other companies. Why should I be unique in raising salaries? I just hope to absorb their good workers and technical backbones, and then let them train new ones, so that Italy's technical strength and industrial foundation will become more solid... You say, am I doing it for money or for something else? For example, United Airlines, I can completely not do it, but why should I support it? I just hope to preserve good talents and teams; for example, introducing German Workers and engineers, I don't need to be so complicated. The reason is that I really hope to use the German industrial spirit to help us improve and correct the problems in the Italian industrial system... Italy is not like Britain, France and Germany. Our industrial base is actually very fragile. I must maximize its strength-regardless of whether others understand it or not! "

Antonio was secretly surprised: strengthening the industrial base, expanding the ranks of industrial workers, and making up for the shortcomings of the industrial system are all issues that the Ministry of Industry and Commerce should consider. Now the young master started alone, which made him understand the wildly beating fire of ambition behind him.

"If the young master is for this purpose, I think I can do my best to help you!"

"Becoming a tycoon is not my ideal. I have higher pursuits..." Contini smiled slightly, "Sometimes my ambition can scare myself."

Antonio smiled slightly: "That's not ambition, that's the ambition that a young man has set since childhood..."

The first volume is over.