Reborn Tycoon Rise

In a large parking lot in the southwest suburbs of Los Angeles, a Rolls-Royce Ghost stopped slowly, and the rear door opened. A handsome young man in his 20s and a middle-aged white man about 50 years old Got out of the car.

The middle-aged white man glanced at a building not far away and said with a smile: "Eric, your mall is indeed big enough. It is larger than the Kmart and Sears I often go to."

Kmart and Sears were the largest department store chains in the United States before the 1980s. In the 1970s, the sales of these two supermarkets reached tens of billions of dollars.

Both supermarkets ranked among the top ten companies in the United States in the Forbes ranking of companies by sales volume.

It was not until the 1980s and 1990s that the rise of Wal-Mart wiped out all American retail supermarkets and department stores, and the two companies declined.

Xu Zhi said with a smile: "This cannot be compared. This mall is the flagship store of Best Buy, so it is naturally much larger in area. If it is a mall in other places, it will be about the same size as an ordinary supermarket."

After nearly a year of development, the electronics supermarket chain Best Buy has opened 17 stores in the United States, and another 25 are under construction.

This store in the suburbs of Los Angeles is the flagship store of the entire brand. It is located in the southwest suburbs of Los Angeles. It only takes 10 kilometers to drive from here to the city's business circle, and there are also a large number of residential areas around it. It has been extremely popular since it opened.

Other shopping malls are much simpler. Many of them directly acquire existing large warehouses in good locations and then carry out internal modifications. Not only are the costs low, but the opening speed is also fast.

After all, Best Buy's main business is to sell electrical appliances, not home decoration materials. The environment of the entire mall only needs to be simple and clear. Low-cost property investment can reduce the operating costs of the entire company, so that there will be more low-cost products in the market competition. Advantage.

The white man nodded and said: "The retail market in the United States seems to have changed a lot now. Sears' revenue and profits have been getting lower and lower in recent years, while several small supermarkets seem to have begun to rise. We have noticed this phenomenon. ."

"Has Goldman Sachs invested in Sears?" Xu Zhi asked. The person who accompanied him to the Best Buy shopping mall today was Corey, the vice president of investment of Goldman Sachs. The two parties have always had a lot of cooperation.

Currie shook his head and said: "No, we at Goldman Sachs rarely invest in a company directly, but Sears has a close relationship with Goldman Sachs, and many of my investment clients have also purchased some Sears stocks. In recent years, The returns on Sears stock have not been very satisfactory, and performance has been slow to develop."

Xu Zhi smiled and said: "I heard that President Reagan has signed a large-scale tax cut bill, and the benefit group covers all the American middle class. The most direct beneficiary of this bill is the retail industry, especially supermarkets. In recent years, Investing in Sears stock should still provide good returns.”

In the 1980s, the U.S. economy was booming. After the second oil crisis, the economy began to slowly recover, and oil prices began to fall. Coupled with a series of domestic tax cuts in the United States, the retail industry became the most direct beneficiary. Warming up significantly, Wal-Mart also entered its peak state in the 1980s, with sales increasing by nearly 50% every year. In 10 years, it transformed from a regional supermarket to the leader of supermarkets in the United States.

At the same time, the benefits of other supermarkets are pretty good, provided of course that there is no Wal-Mart nearby.

Xu Zhi had already purchased a large number of Wal-Mart stocks as an economic investment, but he did not tell anyone about this.

"What we at Goldman Sachs are pursuing is not very good." Currie shook his head and smiled: "It's a pity that Eric's company didn't invest in it at the beginning. Otherwise, the current rate of return must be higher."

"Goldman Sachs's policy is to make profits through indirect investment. If you give up, you will get something." Xu Zhi said with a smile.

Two years ago, Xu Zhi intended to introduce capital from Goldman Sachs to Hutchison Whampoa to find allies with certain influence for future internationalization. However, Goldman Sachs was unwilling to invest directly, and even Vice President Curry was unable to do anything.

The Goldman Sachs Group has a history of more than 100 years since its establishment in 1869. Even in 2019, Goldman Sachs is still the world's largest investment bank and has endured for a century. The fundamental reason is that it adopts two A special way: partnership mechanism and light capital development.

Goldman Sachs is the last investment bank on Wall Street to retain a partnership mechanism. Simply put, it is like the platform of later generations of Apple, and all partners are like countless APP developers.

The asset-light model means that Goldman Sachs does not use its own funds for investment, but relies on its own brand and the capabilities of its partners to persuade third parties to invest.

For example, a partner is optimistic about the future of a company, but Goldman Sachs will not contribute money. According to the rules, the partners themselves are not allowed to contribute money. The method of investment is for the partners to rely on their own abilities and relationship channels to find a third party and use them. funds to invest.

If the investment makes money, the partners will get a commission from the investors, and Goldman Sachs will get its own commission according to the contract with the partners.

This approach is actually that Goldman Sachs transfers the risk to its partners, and the partners transfer the risk to third-party investors. In this way, no matter what era, Goldman Sachs is guaranteed to make profits without losing money.

But if it encounters a business that makes a huge profit, Goldman Sachs will also end it personally, but Hutchison Whampoa is obviously not so optimistic.

Curry asked: "Eric, as far as I know, the funds you invested in General Electric were raised on the Hong Kong stock market, and the interest rates are very high. The risk of investing so much money in a stock can be said to be extremely high. May I know why you were so optimistic about General Electric at that time?"

"It's nothing, I'm just optimistic about Welch." Xu Zhi smiled and replied, this kind of thing only depends on the prophet and there is no way to explain it.

Welch was later called the greatest CEO of the 20th century. During his 17 years in office, he led GE to the top of the world. By 1999, its market value ranked second in the United States, second only to Microsoft. This was because The crazy impact of the Internet bubble at that time, otherwise it is not certain who will win.

After Welch took office, he carried out a series of reforms, layoffs, and sold non-core assets. In less than a year, GE's profits soared, the company's operating efficiency improved, and its stock price naturally rose for two consecutive years. Year.

Xu Zhi’s initial investment of US$600 million has now exceeded US$1 billion, and looking at the rise in General Electric’s stock, it is clear that this is not the end.

Currie smiled and said: "It seems that we at Goldman Sachs missed a great opportunity!"

"Welch's reforms have just begun. I think GE's stocks will be worthy of long-term investment for a long time to come." Xu Zhi said with a smile, at least before the 21st century, if you buy GE's stocks, then It is a guarantee of profits but no losses. As for after the 21st century, it will be completely opposite.

"There are some partners at Goldman Sachs who have invested in some GE stock, but I'm talking about Hutchison Whampoa stock," Currie said.

Xu Zhi smiled in surprise: "Goldman Sachs is now willing to invest in Hutchison Whampoa?"

Curry nodded and said, "Yes, we at Goldman Sachs are very optimistic about your investment vision, Eric, so the board of directors has agreed to invest in Hutchison Whampoa. Of course, if Midea can accept our investment, that would be great."

"Midea has no plans to accept external investment for the time being." Xu Zhi thought for a moment and said, "It is possible to invest in Hutchison Whampoa, but the price may be much higher than before."

Two years ago, Hutchison Whampoa did not invest in General Electric, but now it has received huge returns, and its market value is naturally different.

Corey nodded and agreed: "No problem, we will follow the rules."

Xu Zhi nodded and smiled: "Okay, let's go in first. We can discuss the investment in detail later!"