National Tide 1980

Avenue de Sèvres is an important street in Paris, and it is also a vibrant and charming street that attracts tourists and local residents with its unique charm and rich experience.

This street is home to the famous Le Bon Marché department store, a historic and popular shopping center that provides tourists with a wealth of shopping options.

This street also has a strong artistic atmosphere around it, and there may be galleries, art exhibitions, etc. nearby, allowing tourists to feel the artistic charm of Paris while shopping.

In addition, this street is also connected to other famous attractions and streets in Paris, such as the Champs-Elysées, providing tourists with more options for visiting.

But more importantly, LVMH’s headquarters is also located on this street.

No. 38, a six-story old building with a history of more than 100 years.

Although it has risen and fallen several times, it has always been part of the city’s unique and unified aesthetic, following the style and tradition of "old money".

Like most of the old buildings in Paris, the exterior wall of this building is also made of pure stone.

But unlike the simple doors and windows of earlier times, the arched windows, the gate made of cast iron and frosted glass, and the colorful carvings on the balcony fences make this building show the artistic style left over from a special era in terms of exterior wall style and building materials, and the abundant financial strength symbolizing the golden age of capitalism.

And unlike the United States, where skyscrapers are everywhere, the best floors of traditional French buildings are low-rise, not high.

On the contrary, the higher these Parisian buildings go, the lower the floors are.

Because in the past, the top two floors of each building were used by servants.

So specifically for LVMH’s headquarters, it is not surprising that the first floor is designated as a basement store and exhibition hall for selling and displaying the company’s physical products.

The second to fifth floors above the physical store are the main office areas used by LVMH.

The next floor up and the top attic are used for storage and sundries, and even for employees’ rest and dining areas.

Because of this, LVMH’s meeting room is located in the office area on the third floor.

In October 1987, the 2H Group held a performance disclosure meeting for the third quarter of this year.

Normally, this should be a routine meeting.

In terms of the content of the meeting, it was just a process to announce the financial data and publish it to the public.

However, when the directors arrived at the venue that day, they soon discovered a very unusual scene.

Because before they entered the door, they saw that someone had set up guards at the entrances at both ends of the corridor of the conference room. A total of six security guards were responsible for verifying the identity of the visitors and prohibiting idle people from disturbing them.

Such security specifications are generally only seen in extremely important meetings. They immediately sensed something unusual.

Then when they entered the venue, this feeling was deepened intuitively.

Because in today's meeting, in addition to the members of the board of directors, there were also a few unfamiliar outsiders.

In particular, among these strangers, except for an Asian who no one had ever seen, the other two were actually a well-known Pierre Cardin master in the French fashion industry and the eldest son of former chairman of the board Alain Chevalier.

For this reason, the directors of the LVMH Group had a more mysterious feeling, and they had a premonition that something big would happen today.

So much so that before the meeting, the atmosphere in the meeting room of more than 200 square meters was unusually dull and serious.

Everyone who arrived at the meeting room, in addition to showing a surprised expression, looked at each other, and then sat down quietly.

The people in the room only dared to whisper with their companions sitting next to them.

This obviously formed two completely different worlds with the prosperous and noisy scene on the Safeer Street outside the window.

That's not all. When the last missing person walked in together before the meeting started, everyone was shocked.

Because not only did the chairman and CEO of the group company Bernard Arnault appear at the meeting on time, but also Henri Lacamier, who had been expelled from the board of directors by him, appeared with him.

At this time, even if they were proud and did not make any specific statements.

But from the two different expressions and demeanors, the mental state was obviously contrasting.

Bernard Arnault, in an almost humble manner, respectfully invited Henri Lacamier to the meeting room in front of all the board members.

Everyone present saw this and realized one thing - the board of directors of the LVMH Group should have changed again!

As expected, the meeting of the day should be chaired by Bernard Arnault, the chairman and CEO of the group company, according to convention, but he wanted to hand over the power in his hands as soon as he opened his mouth today.

After looking around at all the participating members, Bernard Arnault made this opening statement, "Gentlemen, after I took over the LVMH Group, after eight months of operation, I regretfully found that I seem to be extremely lacking in relevant knowledge. I have little industry experience and little knowledge of the company’s business, and the so-called artistic talent and talent are not what I have. Under my management, the LVMH Group has achieved some small results, but the current company operations are still in turmoil. model, it seems that the spirit and culture inherited by brands such as LV, Hennessy and Moët are increasingly deviating. Therefore, due to personal reasons and considerations for the future development of the LVMH group, in order to protect the brand style, purchase In order to maintain a responsible attitude towards the shareholders of the group company, I have decided to officially withdraw from the LVMH Group’s board of directors starting today. This is of course not the result I originally expected, but in view of my lack of personal ability, I will not be disappointed with what I have brought to the group company and everyone here. I apologize for the trouble. Now, let’s invite the more experienced and creative Mr. Henri Lacamier to chair the meeting. Let’s welcome him back to the board of directors.”

There is no need to describe the shock brought by this passage in detail. Just from the silence of the venue that lasted for a full two minutes, you can feel the turmoil in the hearts of the participants.

Especially since Bernard Arnault took the lead in giving out the first round of applause with both hands.

Then he took the initiative to stand up and gave up his throne as chairman of the board of directors to Henri Lacamie.

Anyone who knows him even remotely will undoubtedly be shocked by how servile and arrogant he has become today despite being so domineering last week.

I had to use my brain quickly to imagine what his actions today meant?

There is no doubt that this represents a complete reversal of the outcome of the battle for the company's equity, with the original loser Henri Lacamier turning defeat into winner.

And all of this is definitely closely related to the stock market crash that just occurred, but the key question is...how many days has it been?

You know, the former chairman who just stepped down owned two listed companies, and he had all the profits a few days ago.

Even if such a disaster happened, why should he lose so completely in such a short period of time?

What's more, this result is not just about money.

Based on what these board members know about Bernard Arnault, their biggest consensus is that this guy is absolutely arrogant and thinks highly of himself.

Usually in the company, no one dares to do anything contrary to his opinion. Even if he makes friendly suggestions, he must pay attention to the way he speaks.

On the contrary, although Henry Lacamier is persistent and stubborn, his aloof character is more due to a kind of blind narcissism from a noble family.

In terms of character weakness, he does not have the ambition and perseverance of Bernard Arnault.

Therefore, it is not easy for a person like him to make this wolf admit defeat.

As for him being able to accept defeat in such humiliation and actively welcome the winner, it's even more difficult. It's like a miracle.

So what’s going on behind the scenes? Under what conditions they achieved all this, almost everyone is eager to find out.

However, for all board members, it seems that there is no need to spend time thinking about anything at the moment.

Henri Lacamier, who was handsome and elegant, also stood up and nodded politely to the attendees.

Then he walked to the "throne" unceremoniously and sat down.

Not only did he complete the handover of power between the "new king" and the "old king" amidst everyone's applause.

He also immediately introduced the new situation faced by the group company and promulgated the latest national policy after he "ascended to the throne".

Its weight and influence are far beyond the imagination of board members.

Of course, it also explains some of everyone’s inner doubts to a certain extent.

"I am first of all honored to inform you that since Mr. Bernard Arnault has decided to withdraw from LVMH, there are currently some new changes in the company's shareholder rankings."

As he spoke, he took out some documents and handed one copy to everyone.

"Based on this information, you can see that Mr. Bernard Arnault originally held 43.5% of the shares, 34% of which belonged to his tripartite joint venture with MH and Guinness, and 5% was recorded under the name of Dior Clothing , the remaining shares were originally in his personal name, but now both the shares in Dior Clothing and his personal name have been sold by him.”

"In other words, Mr. Bernard Arnault currently only represents 34% of the shares, and he has personally promised that he will dissolve the three-party companies holding these shares within a week. And in the future, the shares that belong to his name will be dissolved. The remaining 8% of LVMH shares were exchanged with these two friends for their 29% stake in Dior clothing, and the British company Guinness was also preparing to sell its shares and withdraw its investment.”

"As of now, I personally own 33% of the company's shares, while my two friends, Mr. Pierre Cardon, already own 5% of the company's shares, and Ning from Asia owns 6%. And this guy, you should all know him, yes, he is the eldest son of Alain Chevalier, and he will soon regain the power to represent 23.5% of the shares of MH.”

"So no matter how you look at it, the dominance of LVMH has now returned to our hands. If everyone has no objection, I will personally become the new decision-maker of the board of directors, and I and the friends I represent will request a new adjustment of the board seats, taking out two seats from the existing board members and replacing them with Pierre Cardin and Mr. Chevalier. Is this request reasonable? And given the relationship between the current board members and Mr. Arnault, I think Mr. Arnault's distant relative Mr. Duroy Gérard and our vice president Mr. John Chavalierin are no longer suitable to stay on the board. What do you think?"

No one raised any objections. The new emperor has his own ministers, and foreigners also understand this truth.

Especially Henri Lacamier took the initiative to find Alain Chevalier's eldest son and recommended him to join the board of directors, which shows his generosity. No one expected it.

You know, the original equity dispute was caused by the discord between the LV and MH factions.

Bernard Arnault took advantage of their internal problems and used his acting skills to get control of the company.

This result is not only ironic, but also makes almost all MH people feel at ease.

No matter which of the two factions is stronger or weaker in the future, at least in their opinion, Henri Lacamier is not a ruthless person who kills everyone, and such an agreement will undoubtedly make the company reach a harmonious state.

This is enough, which is good for the company's future development and stock price.

So all the parties signed the documents in front of them, happily, without dragging their feet, and there was nothing difficult to accept, just as it should be.

These signed documents were immediately taken away by the company's legal staff.

As for the two people who were expelled from the board of directors, they knew that they could not be spared. They all accepted the defeat happily, stood up, and gave up their seats very gentlemanly.

Even this is nothing. At this time, there are people who took the initiative to surrender, raised their hands to indicate that they should speak, and actively suggested that Henri Lacamier should also make corresponding personnel appointments and dismissals for the company's existing senior managers and replace them with his own trusted confidants.

So everything fell into place, and proposals that would help Henri Lacamier regain control of the group company were put forward and passed one by one.

At this moment, in the conference room, the only people who could remain relatively quiet and calm were the three absolute losers headed by Bernard Arnault and Ning Weimin, the cold-eyed bystander.

So the most interesting thing happened in their relative silence. They looked at each other carefully with curiosity. Although no word came out of their mouths, the confrontation of curiosity and eyes was inevitable.

This was a mutual competition and mutual observation in a discordant silence.

The eyes of the three Frenchmen were all locked on Ning Weimin.

Ning Weimin could clearly feel that so many eyes gathered together and clearly focused into many huge question marks-who is he? What role did he play in this matter? Even...why doesn't he want a board seat?

Ning Weimin smiled with interest and looked at the "Wolf King" who was defeated by him.

He saw it with his own eyes today, and he had to admit that this was a scheming guy. It was not easy for him to endure the humiliation like Han Xin.

He knew that Bernard Arnault would never give up, and admitting defeat this time was just a need to save his life.

But he was not afraid at all, he could not lose, so he was looking forward to it.

Bernard Arnault, who did not get LVMH, will only have Dior in his hands in the future, and he will have to face a tight financial situation.

In such a disadvantage, can this guy still have the opportunity to become the overlord of this industry?

Speaking of which, I really feel a bit of anticipation waiting to watch a TV series.

At this time, Henry at the conference table spoke, "So, today's main topic is like this. Please excuse me, I would like to take up a little more of your time. I propose that we toast to our brand new changes."

The staff who had been prepared for this moved at the sound, and in a blink of an eye, several restaurant waiters each carried a plate of red wine into the conference room and respectfully served a glass to everyone in the venue.

Even Ning Weimin and the people opposite him were no exception.

So, when Henry raised his glass and said, "Cheers!"

Ning Weimin also followed his posture and toasted the "Wolf King" very gentlemanly, drinking the wine with an indescribable sense of accomplishment.

He didn't know what the other party felt?

But he did know that he had changed history.

This glass of wine was a toast to his opponent who still didn't know what role he played, and also to himself.