Chen Qing and the two girls left Simon's office and rushed to the Cersei Capital headquarters, also located in Building 1230 of Rockefeller Center.
The floor where Apollo Management Company is located does not look deserted at all because of Sunday, and people are still coming and going between the various office areas.
Chen Qing knew that Apollo Management Company was recently promoting the acquisition of UCAR International, a graphite electrode manufacturer, involving more than US$1 billion.
What UCAR produces is not graphite electrodes in batteries, but a peripheral product for the steel industry. It is used for heating the interior of electric furnace steel. Because this kind of graphite electrode needs to be in contact with the steel solution at a high temperature of more than 2,000 degrees for a long time, it needs to be frequently used. Replacement is a strictly needed consumable. Moreover, there are only two such manufacturers in the world, the other one being Germany's SGL Group.
In the past few years, due to the global economic downturn, the steel industry has entered a trough, and the demand for graphite electrodes has also decreased significantly.
Apollo Management launched the acquisition of UCAR at this time, obviously optimistic about the world economic prospects.
Chen Qing feels that there may be Chinese factors involved.
China's rapid economic growth in recent years is obvious to all, and because it attaches great importance to infrastructure construction, China's demand for steel has continued to increase significantly.
After returning to China two months ago, Chen Qing discovered that Australia's Billiton Group had invested in a large steel company in Jiangsu Province with capital, technology and equipment equivalent to US$500 million, acquiring 30% of the shares and In the next 10 years, it will become the sole supplier of iron ore raw materials to this large steel giant. Not only that, Billiton Group has also invested an additional US$200 million in funds for the expansion and construction of the Lianyungang Terminal, a large seaport in Jiangsu Province.
A total investment of US$700 million is equivalent to 6 billion yuan at the current exchange rate, which shows that the Westeros system is optimistic about the steel industry.
Apollo Management's acquisition of UCAR is obviously an extension of this optimism.
Chen Qing also discovered that many companies in the Westeros system seem to be unrelated, but in fact they are inextricably linked. Just like Apollo Management Company, this company invests in many projects, such as fashion, real estate, Technology, etc., can be regarded as the relatively familiar strengths of the Westeros system.
On the other hand, probably because of the Westeros system's large investment in China, when they returned to China, someone specifically approached them and hoped that the two women would try to invite Simon to make a public visit to China. Obviously, as long as his boss agrees, a formal invitation from Chinese officials will be sent immediately.
Too bad a certain guy wasn't interested.
Returning to their own office within Apollo Management Company, Chen Qing immediately called Leon Black. Her immediate boss was Jared Buckley, who was in charge of China business. However, Scoop was an American company. , if you want to initiate an acquisition, it is best to directly interview Leon Black, CEO of Apollo Management Company.
Black's secretary on the other side of the phone said that BOSS was waiting for a visitor and would be available in an hour.
Chen Qing was not in a hurry, and made an appointment to sit in the office she shared with Lin Su and start reading information about the VCD industry and Scoop Company again.
When she first joined Cersei Capital, Chen Qing was filled with awe of this Wall Street giant.
Even though she appeared to be very confident on the surface, she was actually just emboldening herself. She was just an English major graduate from China, and her knowledge of Wall Street was limited to books and a small amount of hearsay, so she was still very nervous inside, worried that she would do something wrong. Smash.
However, after half a year of getting to know each other, Chen Qing gradually felt relieved.
First of all, Chen Qing made no mistake. Wall Street is indeed a very competitive place, and it has gathered a large number of top smart people from all over the world. The circle is also full of intrigues and predators. Therefore, as long as you don’t work hard, You may be left far behind in the blink of an eye.
This can be seen from the fact that the company headquarters is still crowded today Sunday.
Of course you can rest according to the regulations. However, maybe when you come back from the working day, there will be no room for you here.
Secondly, Chen Qing made another mistake. It is not necessary for graduates of economics and finance to enter Wall Street.
The threshold for this circle is even very low.
Many Wall Street tycoons who shine in this circle, only a few of them majored in economics and finance in college, like Lawrence Fink, CEO of Black Rock Asset Management, who studied political science at the University of Southern California. , Leon Black, CEO of Apollo Management Company, has a philosophy degree from Princeton University; and Chen Qing has just recently read the book "Liar's Poker" that exposes the inside story of Wall Street. The author is Michael Lewis, and the other party's university major is It's art history. However, this guy thrived at Salomon Brothers in its heyday, and became a best-selling financial author after leaving the company.
Chen Qing has raised this issue with some people. She feels that what her immediate boss Jared Buckley said at an internal company party during Christmas last year is very reasonable. What this circle needs is smart minds and hard work. Professional knowledge is secondary, because as long as you are smart and hardworking enough, you can learn whatever knowledge you need while doing it.
After understanding this, Chen Qing no longer had the anxiety she once had.
She has both intelligence and diligence. For new knowledge, even if she cannot have a photographic memory, she can remember it two or three times. In terms of diligence, she is confident that she can surpass most people. Even if it was a connection that no one else told her but she realized on her own, just Simon Westeros, she felt that it was enough to defeat everyone in the building at the moment.
At the appointed time, Chen Qing stood up on time, held a stack of information and left the office. Lin Su, who was behind the desk next to her, saw that she didn't call him, so she paused and didn't follow her.
In any case, she doesn't have Chen Qing's strong ambition in her bones.
I was a little distracted just now.
I wonder if some guy will continue to be abstinent tonight.
So much the better.
Well, it doesn’t seem to be good.
When they came to Leon Black's office, both of them were not idle. They handed the other party some prepared information. Chen Qing briefly stated the project and the results of the meeting with Simon.
In 1994, China's VCD shipments were less than 20,000 units.
However, in January of this year, with the widespread spread of VCD technology, according to the approximate data obtained by Chen Qing during his stay in China, this number has exceeded 30,000 units within one month of the first year, and is expected to reach 500,000 in 1995. Above the stage.
Through professional market research, both Chen Qing and the BBK team believe that this is just the beginning.
Take video recorders, which are relatively popular at this stage, as an example. As of 1994, the number of video recorders in China was about 7 million. This is the best reference.
The lowest price of a video recorder in China is around 3,000 yuan, while more expensive brands can easily cost tens of thousands. That's not even the most important thing. The key is video tapes. The price of video tapes is generally 20 yuan to 40 yuan, and the price is pirated. It is not affordable for ordinary families. Therefore, many people buy video recorders, mostly to open video parlors for business.
Even so, the number of video recorders in China has reached 7 million.
Looking at VCDs again, although the price of VCDs in China is still as high as over 4,000 yuan at this stage, as long as the market demand increases and mass production occurs, the prices of various core components will definitely drop rapidly. In the end, VCDs will not reach the price of 2,000 yuan. impossible.
The cheapest ones are VCD discs.
Compared with the expensive price of 20 yuan to 40 yuan for video tapes, the retail price of VCD discs is less than 10 yuan.
Of course, this refers to piracy.
In fact, everyone knows that this is the current situation in China. At present, ordinary Chinese people cannot afford the high prices of genuine audio and video resources. The rise of VCD must only rely on the cheap pirated content industry chain.
Chen Qing also mentioned this matter in her information to Simon, and she did not hear any objection from her boss, who has a huge industry in Hollywood.
This is obviously the default.
Compared with the absolute advantages of video recorders, coupled with the rapid improvement of national consumption levels driven by China's economic growth, Chen Qing believes that the popularization of VCDs in China is an unstoppable and inevitable trend, and the market capacity will definitely be higher than that of video recorders. .
It's almost noon.
While listening to Chen Qing's introduction, Leon Black spent about 15 minutes quickly browsing through the relevant information. He looked up at Chen Qing and said, "Chen, I'm very busy recently and I don't have time to help you with this case. What are you going to do?" Do?"
Chen Qing directly handed a page of A4 paper with several names written on it to Leon Black: "I know, Leon, I have done a good job in the preliminary work. You just need to give me these people to form an acquisition team." .”
Leon Black picked up the A4 page and glanced at it: "Christopher Dorey, I also want to promote him to be my assistant during this period, and Emmanuel Brandt, the one in Thomas' team The aggressive French chick, ugh, that kick on Chris at the party last weekend almost had a big accident, Nick Mendelsohn, Lloyd McEntire, Kara Hills.”
At this point, Leon Black was shaking his head: "Chen, Simon has arranged for you to be Jared's deputy. I have also agreed to join the two assistants hired by you and Lin. Now, what are your plans? Do it alone?”
Chen Qing looked like a well-behaved girl when asking for pocket money from her parents, and said: "Leon, our company has more than 200 employees, and I only need five."
Leon Black still shook his head: "But these five people you asked for, well, you should know."
Of course Chen Qing knew that this was the result of her quiet observation and review over the past few months. The five people were all under 30 years old, and they were all rising stars with huge potential and rapid rise. Not surprisingly, they were all expected to become the core of this company in the future. backbone. Chen Qing is very clear about her strengths and weaknesses. She is smart enough and hardworking, but because she has only been in this industry for a short time, she ultimately lacks sufficient experience.
The five people on the list can just make up for her disadvantages in these aspects.
However, facing Leon Black at this time, Chen Qing certainly would not show it: "Leon, I think there are many outstanding people in our company, they are just five of them, and this is what Simon agreed to."
Leon Black immediately revealed: "Simon agrees that you are responsible for this acquisition, but he will not agree with you pulling out these five people to form your own team."
Chen Qing immediately took out a delicate Nokia mobile phone, shook it towards Leon Black across the desk, and said, "How about I call him now?"
Leon Black was really unsure when he saw Chen Qing pressing the buttons. His boss could only be described as conniving towards the women around him.
Moreover, he didn't want to poke trouble at Simon because of a trivial matter. In the six months since he joined Apollo Management Company, the oriental girl opposite him was indeed outstanding enough. She was not the kind of vase who relied on Simon's favor to do whatever he wanted, even if it was him. He also recognizes the other party's abilities very much, and believes that his own boss will also weigh them.
This little matter disturbed Simon, and it would be even more troublesome if the big boss felt that he was deliberately making things difficult for Chen Qing to eliminate dissidents.
The case of Black Rock's acquisition of the asset management department of State Street Bank that was finalized a few days ago is on the surface a major expansion for Black Rock. Leon Black knows very well that this is actually a blow to Lawrence Fink. He didn't want to be beaten like this.
In the end, he compromised: "Well, Chen, I'll help you pick a few people. How about Chris's team? That French girl will also be among them."
Seeing Leon Black's relaxed tone, Chen Qing lowered her head and started pressing the buttons: "I think I'd better call Simon."
Leon Black paused for a moment, and seeing Chen Qing's fingertips not stopping, he finally said: "Okay, okay, but I only give you one day to talk to them yourself. If these people are not willing to join your team , you can’t force it.”
Chen Qing immediately put away her phone and looked up with a smile: "Deal."
Leon Black was stunned and quickly understood that the girl opposite must have had contact with the five people on the list, and may have already reached an agreement. The small threshold he set at the end would not work at all. He smiled helplessly and said: "Okay, you have succeeded, I have a dinner party right away."
Chen Qing immediately stood up and said: "I won't disturb you, Leon, goodbye."
It had indeed been negotiated in advance. After leaving Leon Black's office, Chen Qing began to summon his own people. The five people on the list all arrived at the company today. They were all ambitious young people. They all knew who was standing behind Chen Qing and the two women. , and also knew that as long as they cooperated with Chen Qing and the two women, it would be easy to attract the attention of the big boss. This was the best way to get a higher position, so after Chen Qing sent out the invitation, he agreed without much hesitation.
In fact, through this period of communication, Chen Qing has chosen more people, but she also knows that only such a small team will not cause a backlash from her boss and the company's BOSS.
Otherwise, even if the trouble comes to Simon, Leon Black may not agree, and maybe Simon will not agree either.
Moreover, this small team is actually not too small.
In addition to Chen Qing and Lin Su and the five people who have just joined, Chen Qing also hired two top students as their assistants during this period, one from MIT and one from Princeton, both of whom have economic and financial backgrounds. A professional degree can just make up for the two women's lack of professional knowledge.
In addition, the two maids and two female guards that Simon assigned to them, a total of four people, have become their assistants over the past few months. During the New Year's trip to China, Chen Qing also specially brought the four girls back to China. .
After calculation, this is already a team of 13 people.
Many Wall Street financial giants did not necessarily have such a scale when they were first established.
Moreover, Chen Qing actually set up an office of her own in China, employing six people in total. The office is located in Shanghai and is responsible for communication between China and the United States. The salaries of the six people are paid privately by two women. It is precisely because In this office, Lin Su didn't donate all her prepaid salary last time she went back.
Chen Qing also proposed that she would pay for the office alone, and the annual salary of the two would be converted into RMB. With the current salary level in China, it is more than enough to support a team of 60 people in China, let alone only six people. Lin Su instinctively didn't want Chen Qing to succeed, so it became their office.
After having dinner at noon and introducing each other, the team began making final preparations for the acquisition of Scoop in the afternoon.
In this way until the evening, the man's advice was not forgotten. At five o'clock, the two women were about to get off work on time and return to their residence in the Upper West Side to prepare. Suddenly they received a call from Girl A and the dinner was temporarily canceled.
Not knowing the reason, I felt a little regretful and disappointed, so I decided to work overtime.
On the other side, Simon received a call from Grace when he was about to get off work. The woman asked him if she had time to have dinner together. She also said that they could stay out until nine o'clock in the evening. Feeling the cautious expectation in the woman's tone, Simon couldn't bear it. Have some thoughts of rejection.
We made an appointment to have dinner at the apartment on Fifth Avenue.
Simon came home from get off work, but Grace came not alone, but also brought Bryce Levison with her. I generally know the woman’s situation. After the last incident, the Levisons were basically separated. Frances Levison stayed in Miami to handle company affairs, and Bryce Levison took care of her son’s studies in the name of taking care of her son’s studies. Lived in New York.
Bryce followed Grace in, looking confident and confident, and said that her excuse was not in vain.
I probably understand what's going on.
Without letting the waitress take charge, the three of them prepared the dinner themselves. To be precise, there were only two, Simon and Grace. The other one had only been waited on since he was a child and could not tell the difference between salt and sugar. When the dinner was almost ready, he volunteered to light candles and expressed that he wanted to enjoy a candlelight dinner. Simon had to send Grace with him because he was worried that Bryce would burn the house down.
A quirky candlelight dinner for three.
Overall it's quite cozy.
Casually chatting about various recent events, it was already past seven o'clock before I knew it.
Simon's personal cell phone suddenly rang.
After answering, it was an unexpected voice, Irene Lauder. The woman's tone on the phone was very formal, asking Simon if he wanted to attend a circle masquerade in a bar in Midtown.
Simon could only refuse.
At the dinner table, when the man hung up the phone, Bryce looked curious, but Simon had no intention of explaining.
However, Grace heard the name 'Irene' in Simon's conversation, and keenly recalled the Lauder family's cocktail party last night. She couldn't hold back her curiosity, and looked at the man with some strange inquiry: "I have been Think about it, what can a man and a woman do in ten minutes?”
Bryce was confused.
But Simon understood immediately. Thinking of last night's absurdity, of course he would not tell Grace. He just smiled and said: "Actually, five minutes is enough. I will demonstrate it to you personally later."
Bryce looked left and right, and saw that Grace's face was a little more delicate under the candlelight. She seemed to understand something and asked, "Are you talking about some dirty joke that I don't understand?"
Simon nodded: "Yes, it's very pornographic and violent."
Grace's face turned redder.
Bryce continued to ask, but Simon stopped explaining until after dinner.
Nine o'clock.
Grace rejected Simon's request to stay and left on time. However, the other woman had no intention of getting up from the big bed and accused a certain guy of murder.
I thought that would be it tonight.
It was approaching ten o'clock, and I had just come out of the bathroom with a certain woman in my arms when my phone rang again.
It was still Aileen Lauder calling.
The girl's voice was a little distant, indicating that she was drunk. If Simon didn't pick her up in person, she would let anyone pick her up. She also warned not to notify her family, otherwise she would leave home. Running away is definitely not a joke.
Simon had no choice but to rush to the Nazao Bar in Zhongcheng District in person.
The masquerade is still going on.
He also wore a mask when he entered. It was easy to find a certain woman in a corner. Sure enough, she had drunk a lot, but she was not drunk. She looked very clear. Simon remembered that the woman said that because of her family background, she had to participate in the event every year. With more than two hundred parties of various kinds, the drinking capacity is certainly not bad.
But she was unwilling to leave by herself and wanted to be held by Simon before she left.
I can only hold it.
She huddled in a man's arms and started talking, accusing a certain guy of being a devil, turning a Jewish girl who had been pious for more than 20 years into a bad woman in ten minutes, and demanding compensation.
No need to pick any other time, just tonight, pay for it with your flesh.
Simon was unwilling to send her home.
Simon didn't dare take her back to his apartment on Fifth Avenue.
Grace is okay with Bryce's arrogant temperament, but if another woman appears, there may be a fight.
There are quite a few properties in Manhattan, but they are rarely inhabited, and it is troublesome to put them away late at night. In the end, they could only call for a helicopter and rush together to the manor in the northern suburbs of Greenwich.