The Industrial Giant Reborn

Brad thought for a while and said: "This matter is completely full of conspiracy. Even we haven't figured out the situation yet, but the speed of various media is actually faster than ours. The reaction is also very strange, our RCA is their largest export factory, affecting the employment of tens of thousands of people, and they actually shut it down as soon as they said it, which is too illogical."

"Someone is targeting us?" said the blond secretary.

"Yes, otherwise it would be unreasonable. The people who targeted us must have a lot of influence, otherwise they would not have been able to use such a large amount of media power to hype this matter at the same time, and persuade the Wanwan government." Brad frowned. Said.

"Ding ding ding" the phone rang, and the blond secretary hurried over to answer the phone, but soon her face changed drastically, and after a while, she hung up the phone, and Brad hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"

The blond secretary replied: "It was the director of the administrative department just now. He was notified by JPMorgan Chase Bank. Out of risk considerations, JPMorgan Chase Bank requested to recover the $160 million loan we owed them. At the same time, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Just announced that the rating of our stock has been downgraded from hold to wait-and-see, and the stock price is expected to fall soon.”

"Everything I don't want is here." Brad frowned and said, "I don't care about the stock rating. As long as this matter is resolved, the stock price will come back sooner or later, but JPMorgan Chase's debt collection is the last thing. Troublesome, once something goes wrong, it can easily cause a chain reaction."

160 million US dollars is not much for RCA, which owns NBC TV station. It is less than the net profit of the TV station for one year, but this is the mouth of a dam. Once it is repaid, if other banks follow suit, then what to do? And if it is not repaid, if this juncture spreads, it may cause panic among all creditors, and the consequences will be unimaginable. Although the probability is not high, it is still not a bet. Any company depends on the bank for its development. Debt is a normal behavior, but this It brings risks. Once forced to pay debts, even if the company is not finished, he, a professional manager, will be finished.

"Then what do we do now?" asked the blond secretary.

"Give me an appointment with John, the vice president of JPMorgan Chase, I need to chat with him face to face." Brad thought for a while and said.

"Okay." The blond secretary nodded.

Time flies, and Chen Zhiwen just watched what happened in the United States. He didn't participate in any actions until one month later, several companies under the Morgan consortium jointly acquired 25.6% of the shares in RCA and officially entered RCA. .

"Henry, congratulations, you have become the head of one of the three major TV stations in the United States." In the Hilton Hotel in Hong Kong, Chen Zhiwen smiled and saw Henry Morgan who had just arrived from the United States.

"I still want to thank Eric. If it weren't for your idea, I can't even imagine that I can have the results I have today. You know, before I came to Hong Kong, I had a meal with President Reagan at the White House The Secretary of State also invited me to play golf in Washington, which I never dreamed of doing before." Henry Morgan said with a smile.

Although he knew President Reagan before, it was before the election, and after the other party became president, his status was completely different. Although the president of the United States serves capitalists, he is not a top capitalist He is qualified to mix in this circle, and now, with NBC, he seems to be one of them.

"With this relationship, plus NBC, it will be much more convenient for you to start other businesses, and our cooperation will be smoother." Chen Zhiwen said with a light smile. In his alliance, there is an additional figure with an American TV station. , so many things are so convenient, such as the prime-time advertisements you need, you can easily get them, and before that, it was a special time for the competition of the world's top 500 companies.

The only pity is that I can't control it personally, but I can't control the big TV stations in the United States with the appearance of a yellow race. The powerful ceiling of capital depends on the country behind it. At present, the United States is the world's largest, and only American capital can infiltrate other countries at will. , and vice versa is almost impossible. Of course, except in the future, it is impossible for American capital to enter sensitive areas. This is also one of the fundamental reasons for future friction and decoupling. Countries that are not controlled by the United States are the enemies of the United States, and France in Europe may be the same.

"I came to Hong Kong to seek your cooperation, otherwise the loan pressure on me would be crazy." Henry Morgan said helplessly: "RCA's board of directors has agreed to sell the TV business."

"Didn't your family help you a lot?" Chen Zhiwen asked with a smile. In fact, Chen Zhiwen didn't provide a lot of support for Henry's acquisition of RCA this time. The main reason was that he provided some in the early stage, and the main fund for the acquisition came from loans.

"The family has helped me a lot, but the family's money was also loaned to me through formal bank channels. Looking at the family relationship, the procedures are at most incomplete and the interest is lower, but it still has to be repaid." Henry Morgan said .

In this world, brothers have to settle accounts clearly, let alone family members. Although the family supports their acquisition of RCA, it is not free sponsorship, and there is not even an interest-free loan. At most, it is strong financing support , but this is also normal. Henry Morgan is also unwilling to hand over the RCA stock he originally bought. If he handed over, the Morgan family will definitely support it even more. what is the relationship?

"Well, there's no need for you to keep RCA's TV business. We will sort out the relevant information as soon as possible, and then we will evaluate a price and trade directly. This will reduce the economic pressure on your hands." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

He put forward the whole plan, the most fundamental purpose is RCA's TV business, which is already a sunset industry for American brands, but for Chen Zhiwen, it is a sweet potato, let alone gaining such a large market in the United States, there are so many If the technology is placed in China, it will definitely be able to win a large market share in the future. In the TV business, American technology is no match for Japan, and the US Department of Commerce will not impose any restrictions at all, as long as it does not affect employment too much.

"Okay, that's not a problem, but RCA still has a lot of business under it. I only found out the details recently. Are you interested?" Henry Morgan said again.

"Forget it, I don't want it, you should sell it to someone else." Chen Zhiwen shook his head quickly and said.

Before the emergence of technology giants, in fact, all companies in the world like to diversify their operations. This is because when a large company develops to a certain scale in its own industry, it is difficult to continue to expand. In this case, they will to other fields.

Some will take advantage of their own advantages in the industry, and then enter the business of similar industries, while others expand inexplicably and start irrelevant fields. Of course, there are also mergers and acquisitions. There are many such companies in Hong Kong, as well as in the United States.

RCA belongs to the latter. It has many businesses. In addition to the most well-known NBC and color TV salesmen, there are also aviation business, carpet business, medical equipment business, construction-related business, etc. In the original history, after General Electric acquired RCA , I also kept one NBC, and all the other follow-ups were sold.

When the business gets bigger and bigger, the company will inevitably move towards expansion. Although there are many businesses under Chen Zhiwen, most of them are clear and only focus on electronics, food and beverage, infrastructure, real estate, retail, trade, automobiles and parts. Other small industries are basically not given to him. If there are promising ones, most of them will be invested directly, and it will be enough to make profits from stocks in the future. Companies that are too bloated will only lead to internal friction in the future.

"Okay, if you don't want it, then I can only find a buyer in the United States." Henry Morgan was not surprised. In fact, he probably guessed the result. All this is thanks to Chen Zhiwen.

"I have already asked the directors of Midea and Red Bull in the United States. At present, their advertising contracts are all within the deadline. It is estimated that they will not start to expire until June at the earliest. At that time, I will arrange for them to go to NBC. Find your subordinates, so that we can reach a long-term and mutually beneficial cooperation with each other." Chen Zhiwen said again.

"No problem, I will definitely give you a big discount." Henry Morgan said with a smile: "It's the same here, some prime-time advertisements are also restricted by the contract, and some of them will almost have to wait until a few months later, but the time is almost the same. "

"That's good." Chen Zhiwen nodded. The TV station's advertisements are also booked in advance, especially this kind of big TV station, which has reached a cooperation with Henry, so that their own products will have a strong promotional channel.

"The economic account is easy to calculate. Even here in Wanwan, we made it known to the public to crack down on RCA in order to hype it up. Now that RCA has been acquired, it's not good to just let it go." Henry Morgan He frowned again and said.

"It's a problem. I can only make up for it as much as possible. You can't change the groundwater in Taoyuan City, and even the gods can't do it." Chen Zhiwen shook his head slowly and said.

How did the Morgan family help Henry acquire RCA? This must involve a power struggle in the American business and political circles. Even Wanwan must have been offered very favorable conditions, otherwise it would be impossible for Wanwan to cut off his biggest The factory, he doesn't know the details, and he doesn't want to know, he just needs this result.

But here in Wanwan, the pollution has already been caused, and there will inevitably be victims in the future. Since Henry has acquired RCA, he naturally needs to bear this responsibility.

"I've already talked to the people on the Wanwan side. In fact, they are themselves, and they don't know how to deal with it." Henry said.

"This kind of thing is indeed the first case in the world." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. It is very common in the world for large factories to secretly discharge pollution into rivers, but it is very rare to discharge pollution into groundwater. Just this one, this is simply a matter of cutting off children and grandchildren. Fortunately, the pollution of the TV manufacturing plant is not very large. If a large chemical plant plays like this, it may really ruin a radius of 100 kilometers.

"What do you think?" Henry asked.

"For the compensation, I can't say for the time being, but you can always monitor the local water quality and crops. You can entrust a local company to do this. For the rest, you can only wait how many years later to see what is abnormal in the local area. "Chen Zhiwen said again.

The deal is done, and all we can do is to monitor more, and now that the long-term sewage discharge has been interrupted, the loss of the people of Taoyuan City must be much smaller than it was in the past.

"That's the only way to go. Set up another fund and start it again if there is an abnormal situation. I will negotiate with the Wanwan government on this matter, and then we will trade RCA's TV business." Henry Morgan said again. He would not leave it to Chen Zhiwen. He also knew that it would be better for him to deal with this matter as an American.

"OK, then this is enough, and our goal has been achieved." Chen Zhiwen nodded in satisfaction.

Although he basically didn't participate in the whole thing, most of it was done by the Morgan family, but he also got what he wanted, plus an ally with NBC, which can be said to be a bloody profit.

Of course, Henry Morgan earned more, not in terms of money, but in influence.

"In the future, I may not be so idle. What our family means is to let me manage NBC in person. Is it okay? At least you must know what the company is doing first." Henry said.

"That's actually right. You bought NBC not for money, so it's not convenient to find a professional manager. But if you have someone you trust in NBC in the future, you can let it go." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, NBC The biggest resource is its influence. If Henry does not often participate in the company's operations, it is tantamount to giving up this biggest resource. In this case, the Morgan family definitely disagrees. They support Henry, but they hope that NBC can become the Morgan consortium part.

"That's the only way to go. I also need to learn this slowly." Henry Morgan said with a smile: "After I get familiar with NBC and RCA, after a bunch of businesses are sold, then we can acquire some newspapers and media according to our previous plan. companies. Which ones do you think are more suitable?"

"In my own company, I just set the direction. As for how to do it, it's all done by my subordinates. It's the same with you. The more media companies you can acquire, the better, but how to expand is what you should do. It's about." Chen Zhiwen said. He really doesn't know this. If you want to become a media tycoon, you need to have a certain vision, similar to Murdoch's. Otherwise, you can only guard a TV station.

One month later, after Henry Morgan reached an agreement of understanding with the Wanwan government on unknown terms, RCA sold the global business of RCA color TVs for US$630 million, including the three largest RCA factories in the world, including the Wanwan RCA factory. Factories, a network of sales terminals all over the United States, two technology research centers, thousands of various patents on color TVs, etc.