Reborn in Hong Kong: The Tycoon Grows Up

Being united around Shen Bi during such a sensitive period, the relationship is naturally unusual; to be precise, they both have some issues with Bao Zixuan. Birds of a feather flock together, and people flock together, this is the truth. Even though Bao Zixuan has not been in Xiangjiang in the past two years, the strength of Heiyun Group lies there; Shen Bi and the others cannot afford to offend him, and Bao Shaofou dare not offend him.

Most people will choose to rely on neither. To be precise, they will not deliberately approach HSBC, and of course they will not have much contact with Heiyun Group. But there are a few exceptions, such as Zheng Yutong, Charter King and others; of course, there are also Simon Keswick of Jardine Matheson and John Schweizer of Swire Matheson.

The Zheng family had not had an easy time in the past few years, and the mess of Far East Bank almost made them unable to breathe; but they had to admit that there was really nothing to say about the family's heritage. There are still three thousand nails left in the ruined ship. Zheng Yutong, who inherited the Zhou family's assets and connections, still has many people willing to support him.

There are many top rich people in Xiangjiang, but there are only a few core ones; a tacit understanding has been formed in the distribution of interests, so naturally they don't want to see the Zheng family fall. In addition, Zheng Yutong is indeed a ruthless person. He knows how to cut off the strength of a strong man and knows the trade-offs. He sold some properties to realize cash, and with the support of HSBC and the charter king, he managed to survive.

After two years of digestion, the family assets not only did not shrink, but actually increased a lot. Although it is nothing compared to the increase of other families, it was good enough to avoid bankruptcy at that time; to maintain the current situation, it can be said that Zheng Yutong's ability is really good.

As for the charter king, the family assets have grown exponentially in recent years; even as a reborn person, he has to admit that his vision is indeed very advanced.

In 1955, the charter king entered the shipping industry. At that time, he spent 200,000 yuan to buy an old ship named Jin'an that had been beaten by wind and waves for 28 years. This move was strongly opposed by almost all his relatives and friends. Because the shipping industry not only requires huge funds, but is also extremely risky.

However, Bao Yugang defied all opinions and resolutely devoted himself to the shipping industry. He believes that the Xiangjiang River has natural deep-water berths and sufficient docks. Since China fell into turbulent times in 1911, the calm sea surface of the Xiangjiang River has provided a reliable gateway for international trade.

Operating shipping has great potential in Hong Kong. After World War II, the world economy recovered and trade between various places increased. Therefore, Bao firmly believes that shipping is the cheapest mode of transportation and will definitely make a difference. After more than 20 years of hard work, by 1978, it had a huge fleet with a transportation capacity of 20 million tons, and was crowned the world's shipping king.

But just when he had a fleet of more than 200 ships, Bao made a surprising decision: to reduce the number of ships and land. With this move, he successfully escaped the disaster of the Great Shipping Depression. The first battle of the Bao family's strategic shift of "reducing ships and landing" can be called a classic in the history of world commercial wars.

Pao Yugang has been in the shipping business for more than 20 years and is well aware of the value of terminals; so the first step he took to reduce shipping costs and embark on a new journey was to choose Wharf. In just over 80 days, Pao Yugang controlled more than 20% of the shares of Wharf, far exceeding the 20% of Jardine Matheson. Later, in the transaction with Bao Zixuan, he took the absolute controlling stake in Wharf and achieved the feat of abandoning ship and landing in one fell swoop.

In the ups and downs of the business world for decades, Bao Yugang has established great influence, management ability, foresight and business reputation. The two American magazines "Fortune" and "Newsweek" called Pao "The Ruler of the Sea" and "The King of the Sea" respectively.

Although he has now lost his throne as the shipping king, he has also escaped the shipping crisis; and because of his investment in the rare earth industry and the acquisition of banks, his family assets have been greatly increased, and he has firmly become the second richest person in Hong Kong.

Although I don't want to have too much contact with Shen Bi and others, there are too many interests involved; it is difficult to let go easily. Even now, the Zheng family owes a lot of money to the Bao family; it will be difficult to pay it off in a short time; unless the Zheng family is willing to sell its core industry, it is simply impossible.

There are also a lot of financial transactions with HSBC. Sometimes the three parties try to undermine each other, so they have to endure it.

As for Jardine Matheson and HSBC, they are inextricably linked and have formed a community of interests.

In the 100 years from the British occupation of Hong Kong to the outbreak of the Pacific War, the most important force that dominated the economy of Hong Kong was the financial trade of Western ocean companies such as Jardine Matheson and Swire.

When the Second World War ended, HSBC returned to Hong Kong to operate its old business. It never imagined that in the future development, this city would transform from an entrepot trade port into an industrial city with vibrant manufacturing industries.

In Hong Kong in the 1960s and 1970s, a whole set of economic activities related to port trade, including shipping, shipbuilding, loading and unloading, and insurance, were like teenagers growing up in adolescence.

As Xiangjiang transformed from an entrepot to an industrialized city, the foreign companies that relied on entrepot trade also began to survive and integrate. In the fierce merger and acquisition battle, several powerful British-owned foreign companies emerged and gradually developed into a comprehensive consortium that monopolized the economic lifeline of Xiangjiang.

The most well-known among them are the four major British-owned foreign companies: Jardine Matheson, Hutchison Whampoa, Swire \u0026 Co. and Wheelock.

However, without exception, they all have the most important backing - HSBC.

The biggest driving force behind Jardine Matheson's expansion was HSBC; in 1974, before Jardine Matheson's century-long expansion, Jardine Matheson and HSBC exchanged shares; HSBC held 5% of Jardine Matheson's shares, and Jardine Matheson held 3% of HSBC's shares.

At that time, Central, Hong Kong Island and Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon were the most eye-catching sites on both sides of Victoria Harbor, the most prosperous area in Hong Kong. They were all owned by two associated companies under Jardine Matheson - Hong Kong Land and Wharf. In addition, Jardine Matheson also acquired the Star Ferry Company and Xiangjiang Tramway Company through Wharf in 1974; in 1975, it successively acquired Kinmen Port Co., Ltd., a powerful construction and civil engineering company in Hong Kong.

Since the 1970s, Jardine Matheson Group has had nearly 400 affiliated and intermodal transport companies; its business spans import and export trade, finance and insurance, retail, real estate, terminals, aviation, shipping, hotels, etc.; it basically controls the entire Hong Kong. Food, clothing, housing and transportation.

Among the other three major foreign banks, HSBC is also the backing support: in 1969, HSBC cooperated with Wheelock and Hutchison to jointly invest in the undersea tunnel from Hong Kong Island to Wharf; in 1971, HSBC acquired a 25% stake in Cathay Pacific Airways, a subsidiary of Swire Pacific .

But in the 1980s, the situation changed; Hutchison Whampoa was acquired by the richest man in the world; it has now become the listed company with the highest market value in Hong Kong. The majority shareholder of Wheelock has also become the Zhang family.

Of the four major foreign banks, only Jardine Matheson and Swire are still in the hands of the founding families; of course they are the two most powerful ones. Facing the rise of Chinese businessmen, especially the growing Heiyun Group, the two companies are also very nervous. Not to say walking on thin ice, but full of sense of crisis.

The five of them cannot be said to be Bao Zixuan's enemies, but they all have some conflicts and misunderstandings. Naturally, I feel uncomfortable when I see people being sought after just after they come back.

John Shihuaiya said with a smile: "People do have the capital to be arrogant. The media reported that Bao Zixuan made more than 100 billion US dollars in profits with the help of the Japanese stock market and property market dividends. But that is just an estimate, how much money he really made. ;Only he knows best."

"Heiyun Group and Blackstone Fund began to invest in the Japanese market as early as ten years ago. The stocks and real estate purchased at that time have doubled; it is simply unimaginable."

"I don't know if you have noticed, but the scale of Heiyun Town has been expanding; now no one can shake Bao Zixuan's status as the world's richest man."

The words are a bit sour, but they are not unreasonable.

Zheng Yutong thought for a while and said: "Is there no way at all? Seeing the villain succeed will make him angry all over the place."

Hearing this, the other four people were speechless for a while; they were still thinking of causing trouble for Bao Zixuan. The scars are so healed that they forget about the pain. I wonder if in the face of absolute strength, any conspiracy trajectory will seem in vain!

However, Zheng Yutong's words made Shen Bi see an opportunity.

If it were before, there might not be anything he could do with Bao Zixuan; but today is different from the past, even if he can't do anything to him, he can still do it if he makes the other party feel disgusted.

Shen Bi said with a smile: "Although Bao Zixuan has made a lot of money, the expenses are also not small; not only to support the construction of Heiyun Town, but also the construction cost of Fucaira; it is an astronomical sum."

"Some countries in Europe are preparing to launch antitrust investigations into Heiyun Group; this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us."

A big tree attracts wind, which has always been the truth since ancient times; Heiyun Group has penetrated into all walks of life, so it will naturally attract jealousy. They can't compete with you on the surface, but they stab you in the back; European and American countries are very good at it.

HSBC's information is definitely much better than those of them; after all, it is a global company. Although several of them also have branches abroad, their scale is limited, and the information they have is naturally not very comprehensive.

Simon Keswick immediately became energetic and said very seriously: "Is the news reliable?"

"If you can, you can make good use of it."

Heiyun Group does not have much competition with Jardine Matheson, but Hutchison Whampoa has too much overlap in its business scope; the competition between the two parties is fierce.

The market value of Jardine Matheson is indeed not as good as that of Hutchison Whampoa, but its strength and influence in Hong Kong are definitely stronger than that of the other company. But because of the relationship between Bao Zixuan and Heiyun Group, they were always at a disadvantage in the competition between the two parties.

Bao Zixuan can make money without relying on Hutchison Whampoa, but Simon Keswick cannot; apart from Jardine Matheson, the family has no other strong assets. As a result, the annual dividends are not very ideal; unexpectedly, just as I fell asleep, someone sent me a pillow.

Heiyun Group is suppressed in Europe and the United States, which will inevitably affect the construction of Heiyun Town; Bao Zixuan is likely to make a choice, and Hutchison Whampoa will not be able to get much support; for Jardine Matheson, this is major good news.

Shen Bi: "Europe mainly relied on manufacturing and did not have many resources."

"But now that the Heiyun Group and Japanese products have been severely impacted, it is natural to launch a counterattack. Direct competition may not be the opponent of Heiyun Group and Japanese companies, but there are still no problems if some laws and regulations are introduced to restrict it."

For this reason, Chief Shen has already said what he said, proving that it is not wrong.

With the current situation, normal business competition really has nothing to do with Heiyun Group; but anti-monopoly investigations of state actions are definitely a nightmare for large companies.

It was as powerful as IBM at the time, but after the U.S. Department of Commerce launched an antitrust investigation against it, it fell into depression for more than ten years. If Heiyun Group had not risen strongly and had competitors, it is estimated that the U.S. Department of Commerce would never give up. I don’t know what the situation would be like by then.

The whole of Europe has begun to launch an antitrust investigation against Heiyun Group. It’s scary to think about it. I’m sure the show will be exciting when the time comes.

Simon Keswick said with a smile: "If it is true what Shen Taipan said, it is definitely a good opportunity; but you have to plan carefully. Normal business methods will hardly pose a threat to Heiyun Group and Bao Zixuan. If If you don’t want to be annexed, you must find a way to crack it and take the initiative.”

Even Pao Yugang, who didn't say a word, strongly agreed with Simon Keswick's statement. The feud between Bao Zixuan and Bao Zixuan has been forged for a long time; it is almost impossible to ease it. Not wanting to be dealt with, he could only try his best to create trouble for Heiyun Group and Bao Zixuan.

As a young man, Bao Zixuan has much better eyesight than other tycoons; he has long seen the five of them chatting together. Moreover, several people glanced at him intentionally or unintentionally, and they were all noticed.

Suddenly I thought that I could disgust a few people, and I immediately became interested!

Without any hesitation, he came directly to the five people.

The richest man Bao was the center of attention, even more so than the Governor. Everyone in Xiangjiang knows what kind of relationship Shen Bi and others have with him; if you go by this time, don't you take the initiative to stir up trouble!

Everyone was trying hard to breathe, with the mentality of watching a good show. When several people meet together, it can be said that Mars collides with the earth; naturally, a story will happen.

Shen Bi and others did not expect that Bao Zixuan would come; but they were all people with status, and it was impossible to push people away. If that were the case, it would still appear that they were stingy; no matter how many conflicts there are, they must not lose in terms of momentum. Several people were also waiting closely, wanting to see what this kid was going to do!

Bao Zixuan smiled and said: "Senior Shen, Bao Sheng, Zheng Sheng, Mr. Keswick, Mr. Shi Huaiya; long time no see!"

As the saying goes, don't reach out to hit someone with a smiling face, but come over to say hello to you; it's also not good to just push the person away.

After everyone exchanged glances, Shen Bi smiled and said, "Student Bao, long time no see!"

"I didn't expect that the style remains the same. It seems that we are really old."

Both of them have Oxford backgrounds and are inseparable. Moreover, they have all been listed as well-known alumni and are the targets of vigorous promotion by the school. There is no problem at all in calling them this way, and no one can find fault with them.

However, Bao Zixuan's attitude made everyone present feel incredible; after not seeing each other for two years, this kid has matured a lot; he even became a little unbelievable.

If it were before, when seeing Shen Bi and others, they would not give any smile at all; the two sides must be at war with each other, and their words would be thorny. Not only did he take the initiative to say hello today, but he was also very polite, which is really hard to understand.

Happy New Year! May all go well with you!