1novels Chapter 299 Another Year of Ups and Downs
Chapter 299 Another Year of Ups and Downs
"According to our analysis of Merrill Lynch's financial situation in the last five years, even without the subprime mortgage crisis, Merrill Lynch may be on the verge of bankruptcy in the next five years."
In an inconspicuous building, in a high-security room, Jed and several executives from Waring Investment Bank were looking at the analysis of the man in front of him.He is the most famous and least famous financial analyst in the United States. The reason why he is famous is because his analysis is never without a target. When it comes to not famous, he is neither a columnist for financial newspapers nor the chief analyst of the financial channel. , he is often just a dead otaku in an office on Wall Street who is addicted to piles of old papers.
But if you underestimate him because of this, it will be a big mistake. His hourly salary is the envy of many executives.This time he got an analysis task on Merrill Lynch. To his surprise, many top commercial spies in the industry kept providing him with the confidential information he needed, making his analysis more effective.It is only today that he knows who he is serving.
The middle-aged man in front of him named Jed Sherman, some people call him a media jerk, and some say he is an entertainment tycoon, but he knows better that he is an investment genius.Although he has few investment companies on the surface, he knows from different channels that the wealth of the man in front of him is definitely in the top [-] of the list of real rich people in the United States.Because of his rise, within the California consortium, the Los Angeles department finally has a higher capital than the San Francisco department; at the same time, it also changed the California consortium from a purely Italian consortium to a mixed consortium composed of Italians and Asians.
He calmed down a little, and continued to analyze, "As far as the current situation is concerned, Merrill Lynch has survived mainly by relying on AIG and Bank of America, but after the subprime mortgage crisis hit, AIG has been unable to protect itself. , and Bank of America has also stipulated that it will continue to provide assistance only when it is acquired. Therefore, compared with Bank of America, we have no advantages or disadvantages. But I do not recommend that we focus on emotional cards when acquiring, after all, for Merrill Lynch For the partners, how to keep their principal is the most important. Originally, they could still hope for assistance from the US federal government, but the recent public opinion is very unfavorable for the Obama administration, so Obama adjusted his so-called "package The bailout plan' not only reduced the bailout scale, but also strengthened the supervision of bailout investment banks. According to the latest bailout plan, if you want to participate in the federal government's trusteeship, you must not only reduce the damage caused by the subprime mortgage crisis within the specified time Debt must be subject to the strictest monitoring during the period of custody. Simply put, during the period of custody of the federal government, the regulatory measures of investment banks are no less than that of ordinary commercial banks. If they do not escape supervision for a day, they can only retain the name of investment banks. This move has made many investment banks cautious, including Merrill Lynch."
Jed looked at the analysis report made by this man, and after listening to his explanation for so long, he felt more confident about the acquisition of Merrill Lynch.The full name of Merrill Lynch should be "Merrill and Lynch Investment Management Company", which was established in 1885. After the successful acquisition of British Mercury Investment Management Company in 1997, Merrill Lynch became a well-known investment management and brokerage company in the United States in one fell swoop.It is the new BlackRock Group established after the merger with BlackRock that allowed Merrill Lynch to establish its position as the world's top five investment banks.BlackRock Group was originally the investment management department of Barclays Bank Group, and later sold to the BlackRock Fund of the United States to form BlackRock Corporation.
Jed is well aware that the merger between Merrill Lynch and Bank of America was as high as US$42 billion, which was the most beloved acquisition in the United States that year.If East West Bank is used to acquire Merrill Lynch, of course there is no problem.You should know that East West Bank's main market is in Southeast Asia and Greater China, while in North America it focuses on the Asian market.The Asian ethnic group, especially the Chinese, has a traditional habit of saving, so the deposit amount of East West Bank is one of the best among American banks.Therefore, all Chinese banks are envious of Bank of America. You must know that China Construction Bank, the runner-up of the world's top 5, has an annual sales of 1213 billion U.S. dollars and a terrifying net profit of 342 billion U.S. dollars.Although East West Bank is not as good as CCB, it is still a leader.
It's just that although East West Bank is an asset under Jade's name, its main shareholders are consortiums such as the Chinese American Historical Society and the US-China Foundation, and Jed's shares have only reached a critical minority.A bank with a high savings rate means that there is not much aggressiveness, so even if East West Bank could easily buy Merrill Lynch, they would not agree.
After pondering for a long time, Jed finally said, "I want to know, do you have any good operation methods?"
The man was slightly taken aback, and finally said: "On the one hand, try to force Merrill Lynch to death as much as possible, and on the other hand, start from Hualin to play the emotional card. It is too difficult for Hualin Investment to acquire Merrill Lynch Securities, but reorganizing with them It is very possible to merge into a new Merrill Lynch investment bank. For the partners of Merrill Lynch investment bank, they are nothing more than one more equity partner, but they can keep all their wealth, so why not? But I My suggestion is that Hualing Securities must occupy a simple majority of shares, otherwise the new Merrill Lynch Securities will also support it soon."
This year's awards season in Hollywood has paled as the negative news surrounding the subprime mortgage crisis has spread stateside.Not only were the bigwigs from all walks of life absent, but even some celebrities declined many awards ceremonies.But at this time, Jed was enjoying a moment of leisure in a top-floor restaurant in New York with the top executives of the BlackRock Group. The purpose of Jed's visit at this time was naturally for Merrill Lynch.In any case, Merrill Lynch was still a wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock Group at this time, and it was inevitable to say hello to BlackRock Group in order to acquire Merrill Lynch.The BlackRock Group is divided into Merrill Lynch and BlackRock Funds. BlackRock Fund mainly makes targeted investments in some emerging markets and emerging fields, while Merrill Lynch sticks to its home base in the United States.Sullivan, the official chairman of the BlackRock Group who met Jed, naturally guessed the reason for Jed's visit.
"Mr. Sherman, let's be honest. Merrill Lynch is an important asset of the BlackRock Group." Sullivan took a sip of red wine, savored it carefully, and then smiled, "Since we have an agreement with Merrill Lynch If the securities are merged, then we will not give up Merrill Lynch. Please rest assured, Mr. Sherman, not only will we not sell to you, but everyone will not sell."
If Jed hadn't hired commercial spies to investigate, he might have been deceived by Sullivan's stern attitude.Jed knew very well that the BlackRock Group was very dissatisfied with Merrill Lynch's debt ratio at this time, and even had the urge to fire the entire Merrill Lynch executive.Jed believes that Sullivan is very aware of this point. If Merrill Lynch is not given up, then the BlackRock Group will only sink into the sea along with it.Now Sullivan's attitude is nothing more than an attitude to ask the price for the time.Jed sneered, and ordered his assistant to bring a document to Sullivan.Then Jed stood up and said, "I believe that Mr. Sullivan will change his mind after reading it. If Mr. Sullivan likes red wine so much, why don't you take the time to come to Bramble Winery in Los Angeles?"
After leaving an unexplained sentence, Jed hurried back to Los Angeles with his assistant team.With the babysitters out of need for babysitters, Jed and John decided to move back to the Hockey Lane cottage.Although the residential area of Hockey Road is also a high-end residential area in Los Angeles, it is definitely not as exaggerated as the so-called platinum triangle of Beverly Hills, Bel Air, and Mount Holly.Most of the people living on Hockey Road are upper-middle-income middle-class people in Los Angeles, but they are more open-minded than Orange County, so this community will not discriminate against couples like Jed and John.Both Jed and John believe that their children should not experience an overly luxurious life prematurely. They can give their children a comfortable enough environment to grow up, but it should definitely not be extravagant.More importantly, the house on Hockey Lane made Jed and John feel more like home.
While Jed was playing pitching with his two kids in the backyard of his home, an assistant called John to say that Sullivan and several senior executives from BlackRock had arrived at Waring Investment Bank in Santa Monica. Headquarters, hoping to meet Jed.Jed handed the basketball to Matthew, then took the towel handed over by John, and said with a smile: "It seems that Dad is going to be busy again today, and you should be good when you are with Dad John. If you are not good , there will be no good night story tonight."
After kissing the two babies one by one, Jed drove to Santa Monica in a hurry.After arriving at the company headquarters, with the help of assistants, he hurriedly changed into home clothes.When Jed saw Sullivan, he immediately smiled and said, "Mr. Sullivan, you came to Los Angeles within 24 hours of our separation! What, do you miss my red wine?"
Sullivan only laughed awkwardly at Jed's teasing.When he got Jed's file yesterday, he knew something was wrong.And when he finished reading, he realized that he had already prepared for it.So after Sullivan hastily convened the board of directors, he decided to talk to Jade about the acquisition of Merrill Lynch.Sullivan knows that Merrill Lynch is very likely to go bankrupt, but as one of the most famous investment banks in the United States and even the world, Merrill Lynch is still very valuable.According to BlackRock's internal estimates, Merrill Lynch is worth at least US$3 billion, so Sullivan's psychological price is US$4 billion to US$5 billion.If Jed refused, Sullivan believed that AIG or someone else would pay that price.
"52 billion dollars!" Jed couldn't help but sneer when he saw the quotation, "Did Mr. Sullivan come here to tell jokes? If you want to watch stand-up comedy, there are many comedy bars in New York to choose from. We Los Angeles people still like to watch a ball game or a movie at night, or go to a nightclub to see if there are any beautiful and handsome guys. If Mr. Sullivan has no sincerity, let's not continue this topic, lest our fragile friendship Like thin ice under the scorching sun."
"That's not what I meant." Sullivan hurriedly said, "If Mr. Sherman thinks the price is too much, we also look forward to Mr. Sherman's quotation. After all, isn't doing business about finding our compromise point and then reaching a contract? "
"US$3 billion, including all debts but excluding future employee welfare risks." Jed quickly gave his quotation, "Merrill Lynch's subprime mortgage bonds are the worst, Mr. Sullivan should be very clear Bar?"