National Tide 1980

"...I owe you a little bit about this..."

As Henri Lacamier spoke, he opened a bottle of Macallan single malt whiskey produced decades ago and poured two glasses of wine.

It was the eve of the official start of the banquet. This was the manager's office of Maxim Restaurant. In addition to the joyous sounds of guests in the front hall, there were two security staff guarding the door.

Ning Weimin sat opposite the new LVMH chairman, watching the man who, although he was new to the throne, could be said to be the most powerful person in the French fashion industry, pour him wine, his vanity gained. Quite satisfying.

Yes, the treatment he enjoys now is as good as when he first met Henri Lacamier.

At that time, he was a little transparent person who was looked down upon and almost ignored. Today, because of his "conquering the dragon", he has become a guest of the new king who needs to be treated with a smile and treated with enthusiasm.

For this reason, his brain can't stop secreting dopamine.

This bottle of wine in particular is one of the few treasures in the wine library of Maxim Restaurant.

Someone specially took it out from the double-locked wine cabinet in the wine warehouse.

Although he did not know the specific price of this bottle of wine, Ning Weimin knew that the price must be high just because he saw Henri Lacamier blowing off the thick layer of ash on the bottle. .

So it was great to be treated so favorably. At this moment, what else could he say?

Everyone carried the sedan chair, and the Chinese way of communication prompted him to habitually speak in a formal manner.

"Please don't say that, you're too polite. I just did what I had to do."

However, the French way of talking did make people a little acclimated. Ning Weimin did not expect that Henri Lacamier was not polite, but refuted him, showing his uprightness and persistence.

"No, I'm telling the truth. I'm very grateful to Pierre and you for your help, especially to you. You came up with the idea, and you got the funding. The key is that Pierre and I have a relationship, but you don't. I don’t care if we won the prize in the end, we were extremely lucky. Anyway, without your help, I couldn’t have won this time. This makes me feel even more ashamed, not only because I did underestimate you at the beginning, but also because you saved me. . And I failed to fulfill my promise to you.”

Henri Lacamie took out ice cubes from the ice bucket and put them into two glasses of wine, and handed one of them to Ning Weimin.

What he meant by this was that he failed to take off the Dior clothing and returned it to Bernard Arnault.

Originally this was a condition for everyone to "share the spoils", because Pierre Cardin used to be Dior's assistant and also worked as a designer for Dior clothing.

Henry meant to leave this company to him and Ning Weimin, and not to get involved.

As a result, due to the situation, he was worried that Bernard would really bring in Vivendi, so he discussed it with Pierre Cardon and Ning Weimin, and finally adopted the method of exchanging shares.

Ning Weimin's personal shareholding in LVMH is now 10%, and Pierre Cardin's is 9%.

According to the current market value of LVMHS of 4.1 billion, it is not too bad.

But the problem is that LVMH is a listed company and must retain a corresponding number of public shares.

They still have to sell some more according to the proportion of shareholders' shareholdings, or the board of directors approves the issuance of new shares to the public.

In other words, the duck you get cannot be fully eaten.

So this deal is quite uneconomical for them.

Ning Weimin took the crystal wine glass that was passed to him, imitating Henri Lacamier's style, and took a sip with a smile, savoring it slowly.

As for his mood, it was just like the taste of the drink he came into contact with for the first time. He couldn't tell whether it was sweet or sour, spicy or astringent.

Just as he couldn't tell the difference between good and bad wine, he also didn't understand Henri Lacamier's intention of calling him here alone and taking the initiative to mention this matter.

It sounds like the chairman is blaming himself and offering compensation, but is it really that simple?

Based on Ning Weimin's understanding of Henri Lacamier, he was actually a rather arrogant person.

This kind of person's face is more important than anything else. Even if he makes a mistake, he usually will not admit his mistake.

Besides, if he really wanted to make compensation, wouldn't it be difficult for him to say it in front of Pierre Cardin, unless he...

"...You should understand that I am not the kind of person who breaks promises. This was not my intention. Now that things have turned into this situation, I did not expect it. So of course, you also have the right to ask for additional compensation. So this I still want to have a good chat with you. Do you still want a seat on the board of directors? If you have this idea, maybe we can find a way, but it will take more time and we will have to re-open. Make a promise..."

Coming, coming! That’s how it turns out…

Although Henri Lacamier pretended to be relaxed and tried his best to make a friendly gesture, Ning Weimin still detected some subtle emotions in his twinkling eyes.

There is dodge and flinch, but it is more like fear and defense.

As a Chinese, he immediately understood what the other party was planning.

Don't forget, he has five thousand years of history as a foundation. The emperors of all dynasties in China have almost always followed the same path in founding the country.

And in terms of means, "play hard to get" is not a profound knowledge.

In addition, Ning Weimin has always known the hypocrisy of European "old money" and American wealthy families. Even if these people eat people without spitting out their bones, they always like to pretend to be "I am good for you".

At this time, of course he understood his current situation.

This is a comparison. What Henri Lacamier thought and did at the peak of his life can actually be understood as Song Taizu's "cup of wine to release military power."

Speaking of this, Ning Weimin was really lucky. He was not the founding general who lived in the feudal era. His life and death, honor and disgrace were tied to the emperor, and he was destined to be manipulated and controlled at will.

He does not have Nian Gengyao's ambition and unruly bad temper. His demands for core interests and the means by which he can rise are fundamentally different from those of European and American interest groups.

So he immediately shook his head knowingly without even hesitating.

"No, no, there is absolutely no need for us to talk about this matter anymore. I have no intention of joining the board of directors at all. You should know that the focus of my career is not in France. In Asia, my shares in LVMH are purely financial investments. I am optimistic about the historical heritage and brand culture of LV and MH, and I also believe that LVMH, which has solved its internal conflicts, will definitely get better and better in your hands in the future. It is enough for me to receive considerable dividends every year. , Why should I join the board of directors?”

However, even though his rainbow fart shot was so brilliant and his attitude was correct, he still failed to completely win people's trust.

In order to test the truth and falsehood, Henri Lacamier not only continued to persuade, but even threw out bigger baits.

"What are you doing by joining the board of directors? Of course you can participate in LVMH's decision-making. Don't you want to have a bigger platform to display your talents? Ning, your excellence surprises me. Young people like you are destined to achieve great things. You You know what I think. Recently I have seriously considered that I need help to take over the group company again. Pierre is a good friend, but he is old and has his own company, so he can't help me much. But you are different. You are young and energetic, so I really hope you can join LVMH. Of course, your wife is a big star in Japan, and you definitely don’t want to be separated from her, but we can totally work around it. How about I arrange for you to join the board of directors and hand over all LV’s business in Asia? You only need to come back a few times a year to participate in voting on major issues. Are you interested?”

Henri Lacamier's tone was very sincere, and he looked completely hungry for talents.

And the cakes he painted are indeed delicious. They are the real officials of feudal frontiers, the fat servants who open yamen and build mansions.

Even Ning Weimin's heart did move.

The board members are also responsible for the entire Asia region. This is LVMH, a real money business, the company that can best extract money from the pockets of wealthy people in the world.

The style is good enough, and when it comes to the situation, it means that Beier has face. Not only does his status improve, but he is also full of luck.

The annual salary is several million dollars, right?

If you are a little greedy, you can make more money from this position than the prefect of Qing Dynasty for ten years.

But then again, how can this benefit be so easy to obtain?

He is the one who played Bernard Arnault to death. Henri Lacamier knows this best. Can he trust him?

If he really agreed, Henri Lacamier would not be able to sleep well.

What's more, this kind of job-hopping can destroy his character. He is a member of Pierre Cardon, so he can transfer for profit, which is inconsistent with his personality.

What will the other party think of him?

You will definitely think that he is not telling what he means and is unjust for his own benefit. From now on, you will have to be more careful with him.

If he doesn't even have the other party's trust, how can he really have a future at LVMH?

Moreover, the entire company is now controlled by others, so the rules of the game are not decided by others?

If someone temporarily gives you some benefits to appease you, then turns around and finds some reason to kick you away, what can you do?

If he doesn't do it right, it will be a problem for him to secure dividends based on his equity. People will definitely find ways to dilute his equity or even run him away.

Not to mention, he has been operating in Japan for so long and has a huge budget.

His expected return there was actually far more than Henri Lacamier had promised.

This temptation that most people would think is an opportunity that cannot be missed is actually quite tasteless to him. Wouldn't it be better for him to just sit back and pay the dividends?

You can also enjoy the privileges brought by being a major shareholder and the profits from stock price appreciation.

Why get into trouble and do such a demeaning, thankless job?

He still understands this matter clearly.

So he pretended to be surprised and embarrassed, and this time he pretended to think about it. After worrying about the gain and loss for a while, he made a statement of rejection.

"No, still not. I thank you for your consideration and your appreciation of me, Mr. Lacamier. But I still regret to decline your invitation. I am very satisfied with my current situation. From now on, I will only do LVMH Just the shareholders.”

"Satisfied?" Henry Lacamier showed an incredible expression at first, "LVMH is much better than Pierre Cardon in every aspect."

And then, he seemed to notice that his tone might be a bit hurtful, so he immediately wiped his butt.

"Oh, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with Pierre Cardon's business. However, if you are worried that Pierre will be unhappy or oppose and hinder you, there is no need to do so. In fact, I have already asked him what he meant in advance. , he doesn’t want to hinder your future, that’s why I extended the invitation to you..."

Ning Weimin was stunned again after hearing this.

Henri Lacamier didn't look like he was lying. He seemed to have really communicated with Master Caton.

But even this will change nothing. Neither this temptation nor the master's attitude can make Ning Weimin lose his mind and make the wrong choice.

His backbone was firm, so he reiterated his decision.

"Mr. Lacamier, I thank you again. But I still have to stick to my decision. Because to be honest, the master's feelings are only one reason for my concerns. I have many other reasons, even if the master allows him to leave Pierre. Caton, I personally don’t want to do that.”

Looking at Henri Lacamier's confused look, Ning Weimin couldn't help but smile, "I'm serious. First of all, I am very happy working under Mr. Pierre Carton. Mr. Carton not only achieved He also gave me freedom and trust, gave me shelter, gave me shares, and allowed me to do whatever I wanted. Without him, I would not be where I am today, and I am used to working for him. I don’t want to work for anyone else except him, so if he doesn’t ask me to leave, I won’t leave him. And I am more inclined to start my own business after leaving Pierre Cardon.”

"Secondly, I am actually an outsider to the French high-end fashion industry, because Pierre Cardin not only deals in mass-market clothing, but I have never really been familiar with the clothing industry. You should know that I opened a restaurant in Japan. . If you let me be responsible for running LV's tasks in Asia, you really think too highly of me. To be honest, I even want to vote against it. "

"Also, my wife owns a considerable amount of Yves Saint Laurent shares in her name. When we first reached this investment, we also agreed with each other that we would not intervene in the business. If I hold shares of LVMH now, But joining the board of directors will inevitably lead to misunderstandings on the part of Yves Saint Laurent and they will think that we are people who do not keep our word, which will definitely shake the foundation of trust in our mutual cooperation. "

"On the other hand, what will the LVMH board of directors think of me? A Chinese person will serve as a director of a long-established French brand and be involved in actual operations? Will this have an impact on the style of the brand? Will it affect the trust of customers? I will The wife’s investment will not affect the decision-making. When there is a conflict of interest between LVMH and the Yves Saint Laurent brand, can the interests of LVMH prevail?”

"So I can only keep your kindness in mind. I can't join LVMH, I hope you don't mind. This is good for you, LVMH, and myself. I can't, and I don't want to, become a new member of LVMH." However, what I can guarantee is that when I leave France, my shares will be held by Mr. Catton, so you will not experience the crisis of losing power in LVMH in the future. Shape this company to your heart's content."

These words are absolutely justified and reasonable.

Seeing Ning Weimin's sincere expression, Henri Lacamier immediately expressed regret, but the peace of mind in his eyes and the cordiality from his heart could not be deceived.

He finally believed it and was very satisfied. For him, Ning Weimin did not start to swell and become unsure of his own position just because he became the majority shareholder. This made him infinitely relieved.

"Okay, okay, but even so, I can't let you suffer too much. I still have to find a way to make up for it."