After the weekend, Simon arranged for Veronica to be responsible for the financial audit of Ygritte on the West Coast, and left Los Angeles again. What followed was probably another round-the-world trip, with the first stop being New York.
Manhattan.
The Raybould family was in their mansion on the Upper West Side, on the evening of April 9.
A social reception with a small circle is being held here, and the guests are basically the top dignitaries in the Big Apple area.
"Simon, on Nasdaq, the recent situation seems to be very bad. If you have any funding needs, please feel free to ask."
The speaker was a middle-aged man with a round face and gray hair who was over 1.9 meters tall. His name was Thomas Renyi, and he was the CEO of the Bank of New York.
Simon smiled and raised his glass to the other party: "Of course, Tom, I won't be polite if necessary."
The reason why the two of them are so close is because of the incident before.
After the turmoil in February, the takeover and annexation of Mellon Financial Group by the Bank of New York went very smoothly. In addition, the collapse of the Nasdaq in March severely damaged the financial market, leaving Mellon Financial Group without the final confidence to resist. Both parties are currently The merger and acquisition price has basically been negotiated.
$12 billion.
The main reason is that after it was reported that Mellon Financial was taken over by the Bank of New York and a series of positive news, Mellon Financial's stock price rebounded again, from the lowest point of US$8.6 billion to over US$10 billion.
Even so, the Bank of New York took a huge advantage.
You know, last year, the Bank of New York tried to acquire Mellon Financial. Taking into account the premium, the budget made at that time was as high as 20 billion US dollars. Now, it is equivalent to saving 8 billion US dollars for nothing. How can we not be happy about this
More importantly, with the tacit cooperation between the two parties this time, the Bank of New York has also joined the line of the Westeros system.
Shareholders, investors and the board of directors all responded enthusiastically to this positive news.
Because before this, the Bank of New York, with an asset scale of only more than 70 billion U.S. dollars, could not even enter the top 10 U.S. banks. This time, after acquiring Mellon Financial Group, with an asset scale of more than 40 billion U.S. dollars, not only the asset scale exceeded 100 billion, but also crossed the It has entered the level of a first-class international bank, and its asset size has also jumped to the seventh place among American banks.
Coupled with the conceivable future cooperation with the Westeros system, it is not impossible for the Bank of New York to impact the United States and even the top of the World Bank pyramid.
After chatting with Thomas Renyi for a while, Simon entertained some other guests and came to James Raybould again.
It's still a matter of the Bank of New York.
"After the merger, the new bank will be named Bank of New York Mellon. Simon, there should be no problem on your end, right?"
"Oh, of course not."
Simon smiled and shook his head. He didn't expect that James would mention such trivial matters. Or maybe the Bank of New York was a little over-cautious, thinking that he had a deeper conflict with the Mellon family. He didn't know if retaining the Mellon prefix would displease him. .
Simon has always been a pragmatist, and of course he will not care about these false names.
In any case, after this merger, the Mellon family will completely lose influence on the new Bank of New York Mellon.
James also expected it, just smiled and said: "Also, after the merger, the number of new bank board members will increase from the current 7 to 11. I have already talked with Thomas and we can get two places. , Simon, what are your plans?”
Both the Bank of New York and Mellon Financial Group are publicly held private companies with very dispersed ownership, that is, the kind without an absolute majority of shareholders.
In such a company, it seems that many shareholders belong to a common boss, but in fact they are controlled by the company's board of directors.
Just like before, the entire Mellon family's total shareholding in Mellon Financial Group was only 7%, but it was able to maintain long-term absolute control over this old bank by controlling 5 of the 8 board seats.
Simon has long understood the implicit power rules hidden behind the scenes of many established corporate giants in the United States. Therefore, over the years, while maintaining absolute control over the core enterprises of the Westeros system, he has been piecemeal through various enterprises in the system. Directly or indirectly seek more board seats in other companies.
In fact, it is equivalent to quietly fighting for control of the US economy.
This time, the Westeros system helped broker the Bank of New York's annexation of the Mellon Financial Group, and of course it couldn't be in vain.
Even though they did not hold any shares in either company, they still put forward conditions for a seat on the board of directors of the new bank after the merger. If you want to build a direct line of money, in addition to relying on the interest relationship established by the future cooperation between the two parties, more directly, it is real power.
Even if the number of board members of the new bank is increased to 11, having two seats is equivalent to obtaining 18% of the voting rights, which is definitely not optional.
It was clear that this was the basis of some kind of power. Even though Simon had great trust in James, he still did not casually hand over this personnel power to the other party for assignment. Instead, he said: "I will think about it and will give you a candidate soon."
This was not the first time that the two of them discussed similar issues. James just smiled and nodded when he heard this, and didn't say much. If it were him, he would not give up this power easily, just as few kings in ancient times would let their ministers accept orders from officials.
It was already ten o'clock in the night when we left the cocktail party at Raybould's house and returned to the apartment on Fifth Avenue.
After entering the door, I quickly found two women in a small living room next to the bedroom on the third floor of the apartment. Grace Krepp, who was six months pregnant, and Bryce Levison, who had followed Grace again.
Seeing that Grace was still holding her belly while watching TV and waiting for him, while another woman was sleeping soundly with Grace's thigh on her head, Simon walked over, picked up Bryce and threw her gently on the carpet, while he remained He sat down next to the woman's warm fragrance.
Bryce Levison opened her eyes in confusion, aware of someone on the sofa and her situation. She reached out with dissatisfaction and kicked a small foot on the man's leg twice, then got up and sat down again. On the other side of the man, he huddled up in the remaining position, leaned down and continued to sleep on Simon's lap.
Simon did not leave her alone this time. He caressed the woman's smooth face and then let one of his fingers be bitten by the woman. He said to Grace: "How do you feel tonight? Is the little guy naughty?"
Before Grace could answer, Bryce had spat out the man's finger and rushed to say, "But I was kicked because of the commotion. Otherwise, why do you think Gray isn't sleeping now? She wasn't waiting for you."
Grace waited for Bryce to finish, then explained with a smile: "She stuck to my belly to listen to the baby, and then she was kicked."
Bryce rushed to add: "He will definitely be like his father in the future, a bad guy."
Simon simply blocked Bryce's mouth with his fingers again and let the woman on his lap whine. He could talk to Grace for a while. After a while, he remembered what happened at the reception and asked Grace with a smile: "Bank of New York" Do you know about the acquisition of Mellon Financial?"
"I know, you're the one in charge."
"That's right. I got two board seats this time. It just so happens that I'll give you one."
Grace immediately shook her head: "How can this work? I don't understand bank matters."
After hearing this, Bryce once again broke away from the man's clutches and said, "You don't need to know anything about this kind of thing. Gray, he just needs you to be a puppet. The most important thing is to be obedient."
Seeing Bryce say this, Grace looked at Simon.
If that was the case, of course she wouldn't mind, or would be happy to, be his puppet.
Simon nodded: "Actually, the boards of directors of many large companies are like this. In order to maintain their independence, they specifically select people who have nothing to do with the industry to serve as directors, such as scholars, down-and-out politicians, athletes, etc. As for me, indeed, I What is needed is someone you can trust, because then you will have the right to vote.”
Grace was about to agree when she remembered the little one in her belly and lowered her head to indicate: "But, I'm pregnant now, Elite doesn't care about it anymore?"
"It doesn't matter. It will take some time for the two companies to fully merge. You put your name on it first. When the little one is born, it may not be on track yet."
Bryce, who was still sleeping on Simon's lap, said at this time: "Actually, I can do it too, Simon, can you let me earn some pocket money too?"
The board members of giants belong to the core executive level. Not only do they receive generous salaries, but they also receive various benefits. Therefore, even if they are puppets, many people are happy to do so.
However, Grace was trustworthy and believed that women would be considerate, so Simon would give her a place. As for the one in his arms, she is the eldest lady who has come to this world to enjoy a wealthy life and has never done anything serious since she was a child. It would be a bit messy to let her become a director of a bank. Simon also hopes that there will be one spot left to choose a more professional one. agent.
Looking down at Bryce's delicate face, which was more beautiful and well-maintained than Grace, Simon shook his head: "I'll forget about such hard work for you. If you want some pocket money, I'll give you 100 million later."
Bryce was stunned for a moment, and it wasn't until Grace patted the man on the shoulder and laughed that she realized she was about to rebel again, but was quickly suppressed by the man and her mouth was gagged.
Because the man was leaving tomorrow, it was rare to get along with him. Even though she was a little sleepy, Grace didn't want to take a rest. She just hoped to talk to him more and mention another thing: "This year's Elite Model Contest has been held at various points." The competition area has been launched, mainly my former assistant, Michelle, whom you have met. She will be in charge, and I will help you keep an eye on it. However, if you need anything else, you can also talk to her directly. .”
Simon just nodded slightly.
"Also, Angela Lindewald and Michelle Alves from last year have never been seen by you. Why not take them to Europe this time? Fashion Week has not been long ago, and they are very popular now. Leisure."
Bryce couldn't stand it anymore, so she broke free from the man's clutches again and said, "Grey, you are just his lover, not a madam. Why do you always help him find women?"
Grace ignored Bryce's venomous tongue, and followed the man's strength in holding her hand and leaned lightly on his shoulder, looking very satisfied.
He doesn't care what he is.
As long as it's his.
This completely helpless look made Bryce even more angry, or she didn't know whether she was angry or something else. When she saw Grace imitating a man's behavior and reaching out to block her mouth, she couldn't help but open her mouth and want to bite her. But after the man glanced lightly, he suddenly didn't dare to use any force.
well.
Could it be that there was no way he could be saved
The next day is Thursday, April 10th.
After breakfast, he bid farewell to Grace and the two of them, and Simon boarded the next plane to London.
I still haven’t brought the two vases that Grace talked about last night. There is no shortage in Europe and there is no time. After all, it is more business.
The UK will hold a new prime ministerial election on May 1.
The current Westeros system is becoming larger and larger, and it is increasingly affected by a country's macro-policy. Simon has to spend more time in this aspect.
This time I stopped in London specifically to communicate with some political candidates in advance.
In fact, the construction of a human network is like this. It is far less complicated and mysterious than some people think. Just meet each other at a party and drinks, even if the conversation is trivial, as long as each other expresses certain tendencies, a single thread is enough to build a network. Completion, of course, requires all kinds of substantive cooperation, preferably mutual benefit, if it is to be sustained.
In the schedule, after the UK, there is Finland.
Now that you are in Europe, you definitely need to visit Nokia headquarters.
After that comes Italy.
Several of Melisandre's core brands are from Italy. As this fashion giant continues to grow and develop, the Westeros system's layout in Italy will naturally continue to extend, and its influence on this country is also rapidly increasing.
The last stop in Europe is undoubtedly Ukraine.
The schedule is still arranged early. During Simon's arrival in Ukraine, the Rivni Free Trade Zone will be officially established. Kuchma is also sure to attend the Rivni Free Trade Zone in person and sign the free trade agreement with representatives of the first batch of 17 countries that have already been negotiated. As the mastermind behind the official ceremony of the trade agreement, Simon does not plan to appear in public, and the two will definitely have some contact in private.
After the Shcherban assassination last year, he gradually discovered that his Prime Minister Lazarenko was not only becoming more and more restless, but also posing a threat to his power. Kuchma was determined to take down the opponent.
However, although they both belong to the Petrovsk Gang, Lazarenko's power has become established, and it is not possible to win it just because the two sides are playing a game at this time.
Simon and the Rovno Gang, the representatives of the Westeros system in Ukraine, watched completely with a cold shoulder.
Of course, it was just a cold look on the outside.
Because even this cold look on the side actually represents Simon's attitude. He does not want the political situation in Ukraine to be too stable. Once Kiev stabilizes, it is inevitable that the self-contained Rovne gang will become more and more conspicuous.
Again.
People can't be too idle, otherwise something will happen.
In the cabin of the Boeing 767, Simon was looking through a resume of Anthony Blair in the study, while casually writing and drawing with a pencil on the draft paper at hand.
Two names have been written and scrawled out on the scratch paper.
The Spice Girls.
Harry Potter.
The political system of an old capitalist country like the UK has a very strong continuity, so even Simon’s big butterfly has not been able to affect Anthony Blair, the new candidate for British Prime Minister. According to the polls in the UK , Blair will basically be the next prime minister.
However, such as the famous Spice Girls in memory, and another fantasy series "Harry Potter" that made a female writer who was once so depressed that she was living on charity to be richer than the Queen of England, were dropped by Butterfly.
Neither comes as a surprise to Simon.
The Spice Girls should have been born last year. However, after the popularity of "American Idol", they were introduced to the UK last year and also caused a sensation. As a result, last year the British music scene attracted most of the attention from "British Idol", and the new music talents that emerged as a result were also captured by Daenerys Records, which expanded to the UK at the same time.
In the context of the overall decline of the record industry, industrial resources are quite limited, and "British Idol" accounts for most of them. It is not surprising that the Spice Girls disappeared.
Then there’s Harry Potter
The previous "Harry Potter" is similar to the "Huanzhugege" that Simon just handed over to Ren Jingxi some time ago. It was probably when J.K. Rowling was riding a train and accidentally saw a The little boy wearing black-rimmed glasses was inspired and came up with a series of ideas.
This time, J.K. Rowling is unlikely to have the same fate again.