Rebirth of the Age of Wealth

Although finance can influence the current situation, it is difficult to achieve this level.

For Li Weidong, finance is just one leg of his many-legged walk, and it is impossible to bet all his wealth on it.

If you want long-term development, you naturally need to walk on many legs. You must have finance, industry, virtual economy, and real economy to gain a foothold.

Chase Bank is headquartered in New York and is an industry owned by the Rockefeller family, a world-class family.

There are rumors that Chase Bank may merge with JPMorgan Bank, and selling the retail business in Hong Kong Island at this juncture is likely to prepare for the merger.

There are many overlaps in the business of these two banks on Hong Kong Island. If they merge, they will not be able to achieve the 1+12 effect. If they are sold in advance, they will naturally gain a lot of profits.

After all, the valuation was over US$1 billion, which was not a small amount of money in 2000. After all, the foreign exchange reserves announced by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority at the beginning of the year were only over US$100 billion.

This transaction can no longer be considered a small transaction, and the price is definitely not low.

After acquiring some of the assets of Changtai Bank, Minsheng Bank has basically established a firm foothold on Hong Kong Island after rapid development in the past few years.

Banks on Hong Kong Island are divided into three categories, with the largest number being branches established by foreign multinational banks.

Next are the branches opened by mainland Chinese banks on Hong Kong Island.

There are also some local banks on Hong Kong Island, the most famous of which is naturally HSBC.

Secondly, there are Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and Bank of East Asia. These banks were established earlier, have been operating in Hong Kong Island for a longer period of time, have a good reputation, and have developed relatively smoothly.

Because Minsheng Bank acquired Changtai Bank, it also belongs to the category of local banks. At the same time, because it participated in the establishment of new Minsheng Bank in China, it is similar to Chinese banks such as Bank of China International.

Although it was established during the time period and its background was not deep, Minsheng Bank has developed rapidly in recent years, and its assets and reputation rankings have skyrocketed.

Now it is faintly among the leaders of the second tier of banks in Hong Kong Island, and is only one step away from the first tier.

Now that we are one step away, this is also one of Li Shihui's main motivations for acquiring Chase Bank's retail business on Hong Kong Island.

Although these businesses will partially overlap with Minsheng Bank and cannot achieve the effect of 1+1>2, the completion of the acquisition will allow Minsheng Bank to become the first echelon of Hong Kong Island.

Hearing what Li Weidong said at this time, Li Shihui felt a little heavy in his heart. This sentence was so in line with Chinese traditional culture.

To refuse, do not refuse directly, but use euphemisms such as research, consideration, pondering, taking time to take a look, and so on.

In Li Shihui's view, this was Li Weidong's euphemistic expression of rejecting him.

But Li Shihui was a little reluctant. People's desires are always infinite. Now that he is engaged in this business, he always wants to make it first-rate.

And he knew that Li Weidong was not short of money. This was not the only balance in his Minsheng Bank account, and this was only part of it.

Li Shihui couldn't help but said: "Chairman, the financial industry on Hong Kong Island is recovering. The banks on Hong Kong Island have raised bank interest rates twice in a row. This is a huge support for the development of the banking industry!"

"If we can acquire the business of Chase Bank, it will be of great benefit to the development and growth of China Minsheng Bank!"

Li Weidong's right finger tapped the document seemingly unintentionally, making a thumping sound. This was a sign that Li Weidong was thinking about the problem.

Li Weidong said: "Shi Hui, I agree with your judgment. Although I haven't looked at the specific data of Chase Bank, I know that acquiring Chase Bank will definitely bring a lot of benefits to Minsheng Bank!"

"To be honest, more than a billion US dollars is more or less. Maybe if you use some financial means to operate it, you may only need a few hundred million!"

“I don’t mean by this that I don’t want to invest money in Minsheng Bank, but I think Minsheng Bank’s branches on Hong Kong Island are enough!”

"It's just that its marginal curve has tended to be saturated. Even if you add other branches, the marginal cost will increase!"

"Actually, I have long said that for us, online banking and online payment may be an opportunity for us to overtake around the corner!"

Li Shihui interrupted and said: "Chairman, we are already ahead of almost all banks in online banking and online payment!"

Li Weidong waved his hand and said: "I know that many domestic e-commerce companies, including big companies like eBay, use our payment system!"

"We should praise this point, but it is far from enough. It can even be said that it is only an embryonic stage of online payment and has not yet demonstrated its charm!"

"So, your main business now should be investment and research in online banking and online payment, instead of just focusing on capital growth!"

Although Li Shihui was still a little frustrated, he still said respectfully: "Yes, Chairman, you are right. Thank you for your advice!"

Li Weidong took a sip of tea and said with emotion: "In my opinion, not only the banking industry, but also other financial industries will gradually shift from offline to online. This is the result of the development of the times and cannot be based on our personal experience.

Will is transferred!"

"What we have to do is to lead the development of this era. Even if we cannot lead, we must keep up with this pace!" Li Weidong finally said with a hint.

Li Shihui was shocked. Li Weidong said these words very lightly, but they carried a heavy weight.

To Li Shihui's ears, it was almost similar to the saying, "If you don't change your thoughts, change the people."

"In the future, as Chairman, we will definitely vigorously develop online business and make it the company's main goal in recent years!"

At this time, how can you care about your face? You have to give in when you should give in, let alone surrender in front of Li Weidong without being embarrassed.

If the major shareholder asks you to do this, how dare you disagree? In other words, when has there ever been a problem with the development direction directed by Li Weidong?

Li Weidong nodded happily, knowing that mistakes can be corrected, and there is no greater good.

Li Shihui hesitated for a moment and continued to report: "Chairman, a few days ago, some shareholders proposed that Minsheng Bank be listed?"

"Listing? This is a good thing. I fully support it!" Li Weidong disagreed without reason.

And for a relatively formal bank like them, the advantages of going public definitely outweigh the disadvantages.

In the past, Li Weidong was opposed to going public. A large part of the reason was that listed companies were required to publish annual reports, quarterly and semi-annual reports every year, which exposed his privacy.

Now that his identity has been revealed, he is not afraid of being bitten by more lice, but having more or less lice means nothing to him anymore.

But for the small companies that participated in the establishment of Minsheng Bank, the value of this share is still quite high.

They have no say anyway. Whether these stocks are used for pledge or sale, it seems that they can reflect the wisdom of their original investment.

"Thank you, Chairman, for your support!" Li Shihui also left Li Weidong's office with a smile.

According to today's schedule, Li Weidong's morning work is basically over.

Of course, the work of just listening to the work report is over, and there is still a pile of documents on the desk that require Li Weidong's signature.

Although there are many documents that only require a signature, and these documents that require signatures have been reviewed and approved layer by layer, in principle there is no problem.

Asking Li Wendong to sign for approval is more meaningful as a symbol of Li Weidong's power.

But that's not all. Some documents still need to be read carefully by Li Weidong. He is not a puppet on strings and has his own ideas.

If Li Weidong becomes serious one day, he will send back a lot of documents.

These documents that he typed back all had Li Weidong's opinions, and these opinions would bring benefits to the company's development.

The directors of the various functional departments below are sometimes quite conflicted. They want their documents to be approved at once, but also want Li Weidong to call them back.

Every time I see the documents reviewed by Li Weidong, I always feel enlightened that there is such a solution.

"Chairman, it's already twelve o'clock. How about we eat first and then deal with these documents?" Chen Jun asked tentatively.

Li Weidong looked up at the clock hanging on the wall. Sure enough, it was already very late and he was a little hungry. It was time to go eat.

"Hey, it's so late. Let's go see if Mr. Zou and the others have eaten. If not, I'll treat you!" Li Weidong pinched his neck and relaxed.

He hasn't been to the company for so long, and it's hard to come here once. Out of courtesy and affection, he should treat the employees to a meal.

"Okay!" Although Chen Jun knew that several senior leaders of the company had not eaten, he still nodded and walked outside.

It's not easy for the boss to come here. Naturally, these executives cannot eat alone. They have to communicate with the boss no matter what.

Outside Li Weidong's large office is a lounge and secretary's office. Logically, this is where Chen Jun works.

Zhang Dongshuo used to be Li Weidong's secretary and the company's office director, equivalent to the chairman's assistant.

The position of secretary is now held by Chen Jun. It seems that the two roles of assistant and secretary are fulfilled.

But Li Weidong never plays by the rules. His secretary is not only responsible for some paperwork, but also has certain professional qualities, which is equivalent to the company's middle managers.

Therefore, it is naturally impossible for Chen Jun to just sit at his secretary's desk and receive some visiting guests.

As soon as he pushed open the door of Li Weidong's office, several people sitting on the sofa in the outside lounge immediately stood up. When they saw it was Chen Jun, their movements slowed down.

Chen Jun took a look and saw that it was quite complete. The three leaders who reported to Li Weidong in the morning were all there.

"Secretary Chen, it's already 12 o'clock, it's time to remind the chairman to have lunch!" Zou Yi pointed to his watch and said.

"What Mr. Zou said is that the chairman asked me to see if the leaders had lunch. If not, I would like to invite everyone to have lunch together. Since everyone is here, I will tell the chairman right away!"

"Let's go, I'm treating you, everyone can eat as you like!" Li Weidong also heard the noise and walked out and said.

Zheng Sijing echoed: "Then we will be disrespectful. There is a Shandong restaurant next to it, and the taste is really authentic!"

"This is Hong Kong Island, and I came all the way here to eat Shandong cuisine?" Li Weidong curled his lips and said.

"Yes, yes, yes, I know a Cantonese restaurant that is very authentic, and its braised Feilong, Eastern star spotted, and pangolin dishes are very unique!" Li Shihui added.

"What kind of food are these? They are all viruses!" Li Weidong shook his head and said.

Li Weidong usually doesn't order these weird dishes. Every time he takes a bite, he feels like he's eating a virus. No matter how delicious it is, he can't even notice it.

Li Shihui was a little stunned when he heard what Li Weidong said. Aren't these dishes very normal? He didn't even mention monkey heads or anything like that.

It seems that you have to be careful when inviting the boss to dinner and ordering food in the future, and you have to understand the boss's routine first, otherwise you will feel uncomfortable.

When several people were discussing what to eat for lunch, Ding Yuan walked in quickly from outside and looked at Li Weidong with a hesitant look on his face.

"Is something wrong?" Li Weidong asked curiously.

Ding Yuan nodded, glanced at the people around him, but still didn't speak.

Zou Yi and Zheng Sijing were all observant people, so they could naturally see Ding Yuan's concerns.

"Chairman, please go ahead, we will wait for you outside!" Zou Yi said, and several people also echoed.

After a few people went out, Ding Yuan said softly: "Uncle Li has been traveling in Myanmar these days. Something happened and he was injured!"

"What's going on? Is it serious?" Li Weidong's face turned serious and he said, this is his biological father.

"Two stitches on my head!" Ding Yuan's face looked ugly, and his voice sounded a little apologetic.

He is Li Weidong's security captain. The safety of Li Weidong, including his family, is within his scope of responsibility. This time Li Weidong's parents and father-in-law traveled abroad, and he also arranged the bodyguards.

Now that something happened outside and he was injured, no matter who was responsible, Ding Yuan could not escape his involvement.

Moreover, Li Chengwen was usually very kind to these bodyguards and had no airs at all. He did not treat them as bodyguards at all.

Now that he made a mistake at work and injured the old man, he naturally felt guilty.

"Two stitches, what happened?" Li Weidong asked in a louder voice.

"There is a market for betting on rough stones over in Myanmar. Uncle Li and Uncle Yang went for a walk this morning, and Uncle Li fell in love with a rough stone!"

"The store said that he would be able to get jadeite for sure, so Uncle Li bought it, which is equivalent to more than 3,000 yuan, but nothing came out!"

"So I got into an argument with the stone seller, and then they started fighting again. They were outnumbered, and Uncle Li's head was scratched!"

Ding Yuan felt a little embarrassed as he said that. The people he sent were ineffective and caused injuries to his employer. He couldn't justify it no matter what.

"Is everything okay elsewhere? Is my father-in-law not injured?" Li Weidong asked quickly after hearing this.

"Everything else is fine. Uncle Yang was a soldier and suffered some skin injuries!" Ding Yuan explained.

When Li Weidong heard this, he felt relieved. Fortunately, he only needed two stitches and his father-in-law was not seriously injured. Otherwise, he would feel so guilty and unable to explain to his mother and daughter-in-law.

Then Li Weidong said with a sinister look on his face: "This is a black shop!"