American Fortune Life

Whether Jobs is willing or not, after the board of directors is over, he will accompany Andy Smith and Schmidt to attend the press conference on the change of directors of listed companies and publicly announce the results of the change.

The reporters at the press conference were naturally in an uproar and excited about the appearance of the three big figures. There was a brief commotion at the scene, but it was quickly replaced by constant flashing lights and various questions.

There is nothing else surrounding Jobs, except his health. This kind of scene not only makes people see the great influence of Jobs, but also makes people see the shadow of American CEO mysticism behind Jobs.

Due to the special nature of CEOs, any actions they take in public may have a certain impact on the company, and opacity has gradually become a norm for most CEOs in the United States.

In the US "Company Law", the CEO's responsibilities are mainly regulated through the company's internal articles of association, and there is no clear system and code of conduct. In terms of corporate governance, most American companies do not have an independent supervisory board to supervise the managers, which also makes CEO mysticism often a source of mismanagement and corruption.

The true meaning of Jobs to Apple is the role of the soul. On the one hand, Jobs shaped Apple's unique temperament, making it a classic. On the other hand, Apple has also experienced ups and downs due to the life and death of Jobs.

Indeed, the secrecy of Jobs' health can reduce the risk for Apple to a certain extent. The non-public behavior of the CEO may have an effect on safeguarding the interests of the company, but it is also a deprivation of the rights and interests of investors, and many corruption factors are hidden in it. CEO mysticism has many dangers. This is why, the current US Securities Regulatory Commission's investigation of Apple's board of directors actually shows this concern.

What's more interesting is that at the end of June, Apple announced to the outside world with great fanfare that Jobs had returned to work at Apple's headquarters. At first, he thought the market would react violently and the stock price would rise. However, the reaction from the social and financial markets was so cold. Jobs was embarrassed. Perhaps because he has been away for too long, people are speculating or preparing to usher in Apple's post-Jobs era!

Under the protection of the bodyguards, Andy broke free from the crowd of reporters, got into the car, and left the press conference. At this moment, Andy was in an extremely comfortable mood, especially when he saw Jobs' expression. With an unhappy and helpless expression, Andy knew that Jobs would find a way to kick him out of the board of directors if he didn't show any signs of being with Jobs.

However, Andy didn't care about the seat on Apple's board of directors, and because of the competition between the Liberty City APP Mall and the Apple App Store, his position as a director would not be very stable. He also looked forward to Jobs finding a way to kick him out, In that way, he, Andy Smith, can really make a name for himself and take revenge on Apple.

For the next two days, Andy sat on INS and Mockingjay Game Company respectively, and dealt with some matters that needed to be decided by himself as the big boss. On August 2nd, he boarded a plane to Los Angeles.

Andy, who was in a good mood at first, received a piece of unhappy news after the plane landed in Los Angeles—the plan to acquire Costco ran into a competitor!

And this opponent is Andy's "old acquaintance", Warren Buffett.

"Boss, our fund-raising action has attracted the attention and follow-up of many parties, and according to the information we have received, Buffett is using his and Gates' "cartel" network to wrap Costco from all directions. All this seems It shows that Berkshire Hathaway, which Buffett is in charge of, may target the future acquisition target at this leader of warehouse supermarkets in the United States."

Alvitre reported to him on the phone the latest situation encountered in the latest plan to cannibalize the shares of Costco, "Currently we already own 6.2% of the shares of Costco, which are scattered in five accounts, so temporarily I did not raise the idea of ​​Costco Corporation,

Boss, you have become the second largest shareholder of Costco.

At present, Capital Research occupies 7.77%, BlackRock holds 5.7%, Vanguard Group holds 4.33%, and Warren Buffett's Berkshire holds 1% of Costco shares.

But in our in-depth research, we found a serious situation. As the main donor of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Buffett, the co-chairman of the foundation, William Gates, is Bill Gates’ father. Is a board member of Costco.

And Buffett's old partner, Charlie Munger, is the vice chairman of Berkshire and a member of the board of directors of Costco.

A similar relationship involves Susan Decker, who sits on both Berkshire's audit committee and Costco's board of directors. On the other hand, as the former department chairman of Microsoft, Jeffrey Lex is also a member of the board of directors of Costco.

And this relationship has been strengthening over the past decade or so, but little attention has been paid to it. If, once Warren Buffett starts the acquisition plan, under the cooperation of the four board members, Costco will have no power to fight back, and the acquisition will have no suspense! "

"Good guy, this old fox is really insidious and calm. He has already hollowed out Costco's board of directors!" Andy opened his mouth after listening to Alvetrie's report, feeling extremely emotional Tucao said, in my heart, I also admire Buffett, an old guy, for his skillful methods, and I feel admiration from the bottom of my heart.

If the savage Warren Buffett really wants to hostilely acquire Costco by that time, if there are four members of the board of directors who support the acquisition at once, it is almost impossible for Costco to fight back. Cheng let the old fox slaughter him.

But thinking that this old guy is robbing him for prey now, Andy became a little angry, but also a little helpless. The old fox's layout is too deep. Opportunity for others.

wait. . . wrong!

Andy frowned, then closed his eyes, and began to turn his brain quickly, recalling the financial fragments of the past, as time passed by, Alvitley on the phone did not disturb, Instead, he quietly waited for the boss to speak, while the corners of Andy's mouth slowly rose, and his brows slowly relaxed.

"He doesn't have that much money!" Andy opened his eyes and said brightly, "Costco should be his candidate target in the muzzle of the elephant gun. He doesn't have the funds to buy two big companies at the same time!"

"Boss, Munger is a director, and he knows Costco's business very well. The acquisition of Costco may use most of Buffett's cash. But Berkshire may issue new shares, and at present, according to the information we have, Buffett has Holding at least 30 billion in cash, it should be searching for M\u0026A targets of similar size."

"Hehe, that's right, he's looking for an acquisition target. As I said, Costco might just be one of his candidate targets. By the way, Al, is there a railroad company called Burlington or something?" Ann Di said with a light smile, and finally asked with a slight frown.

"Is that the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad?"

"Yes, this is this company. From now on, we will quietly buy its stocks and distribute them to 100 accounts. Be careful not to be targeted!" Andy's eyes flickered, and he licked his lips. commanded.

"Boss, what do you mean, Warren Buffett's M\u0026A target will be...?" Alvetrie was very clear, but he still confirmed that after all, he hadn't heard any rumors, and he was a little confused. So sure.

"That's right, I'm 70% sure that he will buy the railway company, but, to be on the safe side, I'll add fuel to the fire and let him die to buy Costco, so let's take out 1 billion Dollars to buy, just in case."

Andy can't confirm whether Buffett, an old fox, will change his mind and change his acquisition target. It will cause the stock price of this railway company to fluctuate, and maybe it will really make Buffett change his mind.

"Okay, I will arrange for someone to buy the stock of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, 100 accounts, 1 billion dollars." Although Alvitley was full of doubts, but as the boss's order, he could only go first After agreeing, let the people in the think tank conduct analysis and research on this railway company. If, once a problem is found, he will give feedback to the boss and terminate the purchase plan.

"Well, by the way, you send me a copy of the information about Buffett's layout of Costco, and I will use it!" Andy narrowed his eyes and smiled slightly.