Chicago 1990

"Use your brain!"

On June 20, 2000, at nine o'clock in the morning French time, the new Vivendi Global Group CEO Messier pinched his thumb, index finger and **** together, and turned to the entangled rich three generations and nodded himself. On his forehead, his tone was very impatient, "10 billion euros, where can I hide it!? Under the bed?"

The entourage of the surrounding stars Gongyue laughed depressed, "Wall Street rumors are nothing but a normal trick Edgar for short sellers." A senior Vivendi smiled and persuaded: "This just shows. They are no more, they are in a hurry."

As usual, as soon as these people ridicule themselves with Messier, the little Bronfman will have an attack on the spot, but now...

He restrained his unhappiness and stood still, waiting for the people from Merrill Lynch and Arthur Andersen, which provided services for the entire merger of the two companies. Messier didn't believe a word of his words. He stayed overnight last night. I didn't sleep carefully recalling and thinking, and I felt a little aftertaste.

In the beginning, I didn’t want cash but 100% share swap. Although I proposed it first, I think about it afterwards. Messier was fully cooperating with Vivendi’s people. Some of their words when they were there were very similar. Using psychological hints to lure themselves to achieve their goals, they didn't want to cash in from the beginning.

The reason for not wanting cash is probably that Vivendi’s financial situation is far from the health that he saw when it was merged.

Last night, the circle of Wall Street rumors spread was very high-level and should be based on the spectrum. The news came suddenly but it was impossible to completely catch the wind, otherwise Barry Diller would not care so much.

Little Bronfman has regretted it a bit, he felt like a fool now, "What about you? Is there anything to say?" He asked Merrill Lynch and Andersen with a straight face.

"There should be no big problem, Mr. Bronfman. If you have any doubts, we will review it. Let's go first and follow along." Merrill Lynch and Andersen shook their heads at the same time, and Andersen's people spoke comfortingly while softly. Hold his elbow and persuade: "Today is a big day, the most important thing is to give the market confidence."

Little Bronfman looked in the direction indicated by the other party. Messier and his party were still walking towards the gate of the Paris Stock Exchange, and they had already thrown their group a long way away.

Engaging in infighting now will only make the relatives hurt the enemy quickly. He has a clear interest and the primary and secondary relationship, so he can only quickly follow the past, and Messier side by side in front of the reporters' cameras, squeezing a confident smile.

"This noble son seems to have deliberately used some foundation today..."

He is very demeanor, because his face was slightly bruised by his cousin’s punch, he gave his younger sister a layer of concealer today, which is more photogenic and more charming. The reporter on the station saw him from the viewfinder. Quite frustrated, "Others, nothing can be seen, everyone is calm."

"I see, continue to observe."

Song Zecheng on the other end of the phone closed his cell phone. As Vivendi’s global resumption news could not be seen until the local French TV station’s ten o’clock on the hour at the earliest, he and Song Ya asked the head of the station to send capable reporters to the Paris Exchange. , On-site monitoring.

"Thank you."

He patted the security director of Highland Park, who was in a wheelchair and a silencer shutting the door, then walked out of the room and nodded to the checkered shirt technicians who were staying in the room downstairs.

This is not far from the exchange. He contracted a small building and provided it to the Tiger Fund trader group led by Bill Huang. They live and work here. Bill Huang and the others have been completely isolated from the outside world by Song Ya’s bodyguards since the beginning of the United States. Contacts, confiscated mobile phones, flew to Tokyo and Paris, and the old blacks monitored the whole process.

The big long table at the scene is Bill Huang's workstation, which is equipped with computers and all the things needed for the trader. They even have their own small switch cabinets. There is also a network security team seconded from the American music website.

The head of the technical house next to the cabinet got Song Zecheng's order and immediately pressed the enter key of the laptop connected to the switch.

All the networks and landlines of the trading team were quickly connected, and Song Zecheng went back to help them enter the passwords required to use the trading account, and then led the bodyguards to quietly patrol behind them, who were immediately engaged in intense work.

"Boss." Bill Wong called Julian Robertson in Manhattan. "They told me that things changed last night..."

"Yes, but it's probably a trap deliberately released by the bulls, tempting us to rush harder..."

Julian Robertson stared at the Tiger Fund trading room outside and replied: "I talked to APLUS and agreed that we should follow the previous plan. In short, take care of Bill today!"

"Yes! Boss." Bill Huang promised loudly, never leaving the software trading interface on the computer screen.

In Barcelona, ​​Song Ya, Old Mike, Halle, and Director Skinner were still dealing with breakfast at the table. None of the four had a chat. There was only the sound of a knife and fork colliding with the dinner plate in the room.

"You will let the rich three generations know in the future, is this the price he paid for humiliating you in public last time?"

In Washington, Claire asked his husband, Congressman Underwood.

"We haven't won yet." Underwood shook his head. "And I won't be so naive. Not only did the rich three-generation lose, at most, his net worth has shrunk with Vivendi Global."

"It's a pity," Claire said coldly, "You have been preparing for so long."

"The Bronfman family is the world's top giant Claire anyway." Underwood smiled. "I heard from APLUS that some Wall Street predators have made an unprecedented preparation period for more than three years...We are not too long this time."

Claire said: "Now we have to wait for news from APLUS."

"Yes, it's all up to him."

Underwood touched the ring in his hand.

At Jack Warner Estate in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, David Geffen sits alone by the pool, listening to the radio with headphones on, taking a sip from a wine glass from time to time.

Before the pre-market trading stage, Halle had already expertly opened the YAHOO securities page and kept refreshing it.

The hotel network was a bit slow, Song Ya stared at the screen, waiting for Vivendi Global's data to load.

Everything is now, and his nervousness has reached the peak, and he even feels that he can hear the sound of blood flowing to the brain.

Suddenly, his pupils shrank sharply and became red. He saw the red, and his frown immediately stretched out.

"No accidents! No accidents happened! Selling orders far outnumbered buying orders, and there are signs of large amounts of funds escaping!"

Bill Huang was faster over there, he shouted excitedly at the transaction icon, "Start! Let's start!"

The trader team, each holding two landline microphones, began to tap the keyboard, selling, shorting, and maintaining communication with their hometown in Manhattan throughout the process.

Eighty-nine euros, eighty-eight euros, eighty-seven euros...

Vivendi Global Group made its first official debut and the stock price went all the way down.

"Don't be such a little Edgar, the company's operators can't fully focus on the capital market, otherwise our daily work is left to watch." Messier said to the rich three generations who are obsessed with their necks.

However, there was no laughter around this time.

"I don't want to lose, maybe you can't realize my desire to win."

Little Bronfman turned his head and gave him a cold look, but soon he didn't have time to say anything more, because the cousin in the crowd was about to move, and there were signs of making a fuss, he could only go out and talk to his men. Let them pay close attention to their relatives.

"Smile, keep smiling."

Messier and his party quickly followed out, "Let's go to the trading floor, the bell ringing ceremony is about to begin."

Before leaving, he turned his head and glanced for the last time. Vivendi Global's stock price has fallen below 85 euros, and it is still going straight down.

"Eighty-three euros!"

At exactly 9:30, the Paris Stock Exchange opened on time, and Halle shouted out the Vivendi Global's return price.

"You don't have to keep reporting like an announcer... it makes me a headache."

It fell by nearly seven points before the market, which means that the danger of being cleared by many parties is temporarily gone. Song Ya has already come back to life, and he has a leisurely spit.

‘Clang clang...’

At ten o’clock exactly, Vivendi Global changed hands near the 15-minute trading suspension line at eighty-one euros, ten o’clock. This is the first time that Messier, rich three generations and others opened the market for the Paris Stock Exchange. Zhong's news screen.

"Barry, the rumor from last night is probably true, right?"

In Montreal, Canada, the old Bronfman looked at his son who was applauding and laughing on the TV screen. He started to feel sorry for him again. Even if he had fed his sleeping pills in France before, he dialed Barry Diller’s phone, “Otherwise, Vivendi Global It will not fall so abnormally."

"Well, it seems that there are other short-selling funds, and some predators are taking advantage of Julian Robertson... Maybe with the rush of APLUS to join the short-selling arbitrage." Barry Diller replied.

"Or their hidden ally deeper?" Old Bronfman asked.

"I don't know... but I haven't heard of it."

Barry Diller smiled bitterly: "My sense of smell has always been insensitive in this regard, otherwise I won't lose to Redstone twice."

"Did you know? In the early days I thought that APLUS was a white glove in Chicago politics, or simply a pure cash machine with the handle held by Jr. Daley, Underwood, and Peter. He spent too much money on local politicians. Up."

Viacom, Redstone, who has won Barry Diller twice, is also paying attention to this long-air battle in France. If the current situation can be called a war...

"What happened later?" asked the cronies.

"That kid proved his ability."

Redstone replied, paused and cursed again, "Damn it! The Titanic cake should have been divided between us and Fox Pictures instead of him!" Redstone would still regret it from time to time over the years.

"That angry bull..."

In Washington, Al Gore, the deputy commander who is fully engaged in the general election and ruling the country by the way, also took the time to pay attention. He asked his men, "Is someone using APLUS's impulsive hatred again?"

"It seems that Goldman Sachs, Solomon Smith Barney, Lehman Brothers... Edison Mitchell, the boss of the Deutsche Bank Merrill Lynch Group, should also have a share. Deutsche Bank knows both Universal and Vivendi well..."

The governors of the world’s only superpower naturally have more abundant and accurate sources of information, and their subordinates replied: “However, according to their usual greed, it is impossible to share the meat with others. It stands to reason that they should first share the Tiger Fund and APLUS. Cleared out..."

"Ha ha."

Gore smiled, "Maybe they are also a little bit crazy about APLUS's rampage like a wild boar, right? He can mobilize a lot of funds?"

"Yes, his clothing company is already at a stage where it can complete the sale at any time, and there is also a wine business? Recently, companies such as YAHOO have rebounded again. If the open market sells, there is no shortage of people to take over... Maybe the Chicago consortium such as Northern Trust will also do it. Provide support. Add to the South Bank Bank and those chaotic blind admirers... Besides, he is your staunch supporter, deputy leader."

"Shhh!" Gore interrupted his men.

'Vivendi Universal suffered a waterloo-like failure on the first day of its debut with a new attitude. Just now, at 11 am local time in France, Vivendi Universal fell by as much as 10% within two and a half hours, and was approved by the Paris Exchange. Forced to suspend trading for fifteen minutes...'

Little Bronfman's chest seemed to have been hit by a wild boar. He unbuttoned his suit and tie, breathing quickly, and his eyes were bloodshot. "Let him stand." He ordered the bodyguard.

The bodyguards framed his cousin Sam up, "Ah!" Little Bronfman hit the opponent's lower abdomen with an uppercut, and the cousin bent down again in pain, "Stay steady." He continued to order, continuing the pain. Fight, pour out all frustration and anger.

"What are you doing, little Edgar!?" Messier pushed the door and walked in. Seeing this scene, he immediately closed the door to prevent the attendants from entering. …You must bear the responsibility for the short report, and Vivendi will thoroughly investigate it!"

"Explain your ten billion!" Little Bronfman yelled at him.

"Don't be like a gambler who can't afford to lose, wanting to take a bite? Haha..."

Messier pointed to him with a sneer. At this moment, the cell phone in his pocket rang. He saw the number of the caller and immediately turned around to answer the call, and his tone instantly became gentle, "Mr. Prime Minister..."

(End of this chapter)