After the weekend, Simon arranged for Veronica to be in charge of the financial audit of Ygritte on the West Coast, and left Los Angeles again, followed by another round-the-world trip, the first stop was New York.

Manhattan.

The Raybould family was in their mansion on the Upper West Side, and it was the evening of April 9.

There's a small networking party going on here, and most of the people who come are the top members of the Big Apple.

"Simon, on the Nasdaq side, things seem to be terrible lately, so feel free to open up if you have any financial needs on your side. ”

The one who spoke was a taller, round-faced, gray-haired middle-aged man named Thomas Renyi, the CEO of the Bank of New York.

Simon smiled and raised his glass to the other: "Of course, Tom, I will definitely not be polite if I need to. ”

The reason why the two are so enthusiastic at this time is because of a series of previous events.

After the turmoil in February, the takeover and annexation of Mellon Financial Group by the Bank of New York was not very smooth, and the collapse of the Nasdaq in March hit the financial market hard, so that the Mellon Financial Group has no resistance at all, and the two sides have basically negotiated the merger price.

$12 billion.

Mainly after a series of positive news such as the takeover of Mellon Financial, Mellon's share price rebounded again, returning to more than $10 billion from the lowest point of $8.6 billion.

Even so, the Bank of New York has taken advantage of a huge advantage.

You know, last year, the Bank of New York tried to buy Mellon Financial, and considering the premium, the budget made at that time reached $20 billion. Now, it is equivalent to saving $8 billion in the purchase price, how can this not be happy.

More importantly, with the tacit understanding between the two sides this time, the Bank of New York also caught up with the Westeros system.

Shareholders, investors and the board of directors have responded enthusiastically.

Because before that, the Bank of New York, which had assets of only 70 billion US dollars, could not even enter the Bank of America ranking in the previous life, this time, after the merger and acquisition of Mellon Financial Group, which has assets of more than 40 billion US dollars, not only the asset scale exceeded 100 billion, which is considered to have entered the world-class level, but also the total asset scale jumped to the seventh place of the Bank of America, which is also a very important threshold.

The combination of these two, coupled with the many cooperation with the Westeros system in the foreseeable future, will not be a problem for the Bank of New York to hit the top of the pyramid in the United States and even the World Bank in the future.

After a few more conversations with Thomas Reny, Simon entertained some other guests, and then came to James Raybould again.

It's still a matter of the Bank of New York.

"After the merger, the new bank will be named Bank of New York Mellon, Simon, you should be okay here, right?"

"Oh, of course not. ”

Simon shook his head with a smile, he didn't expect James to mention this kind of triviality, or, it should be a little too much on the side of the Bank of New York, thinking that the conflict between him and the Mellon family may be deep, and I don't know if keeping the Mellon prefix will make him unhappy.

Of course, Simon doesn't care about this kind of thing.

James was also expecting it, just smiled and said: "Also, after the merger, the new bank board of directors will increase from the current 7 to 11, I have already negotiated with Thomas, we can get two places, Simon, what are your arrangements?"

Both the Bank of New York and Mellon Financial Group are privately owned by the public, that is, they do not have an absolute majority of shareholders.

Such an enterprise, which seems to have many shareholders belonging to the joint boss, is in fact controlled by the board of directors of the enterprise.

Just like before that, the entire Mellon family held only 7% of the total stake in Mellon Financial Group, but by controlling five of the eight board seats, it maintained absolute control over the old bank for a long time.

Simon has long understood this rule behind the scenes of many old corporate giants in the United States, so over the years, under the premise of maintaining absolute control over the core enterprises of the Westeros system, he has been directly or indirectly fighting for various board seats through various companies in the system.

In fact, it is tantamount to quietly striving for control of the US economy.

This time, the Westeros system helped to lead the Bank of New York to annex Mellon Financial Group, of course, it can't be in vain, even if it has no shareholding in the two companies, it still puts forward conditions to ask for a place on the board of directors of the new bank after the merger. After all, the more fundamental purpose of winning over a descendant money bag is not only the interest of future cooperation between the two sides, but also needs to be supported by real power.

Even if the board of directors of the new bank were to be increased to 11 and there were two seats, it would be equivalent to getting 18% of the voting rights, which is definitely not optional.

It is also clear that this is some kind of power fundamental, even if Simon has a lot of trust in James, he still did not casually hand over this kind of personnel power to the other party, but said: "I will think about it, and I will give you a list of candidates soon." ”

It was not the first time that the two had discussed similar things, and when James heard this, he just smiled and nodded, and didn't say anything, because he gradually understood the thoughts of his daughter. If it were him, he would not easily let go of this power, just like in ancient times, no king would let his courtiers appoint officials.

It was ten o'clock in the evening when I left the party at the Raybould house and returned to the apartment on Fifth Avenue.

After entering the door, I quickly found two women in a small living room next to the bedroom on the third floor of the duplex apartment, Grace, who was six months pregnant, and Bryce Levison, who ran with Grace.

Seeing that Grace was still holding her stomach and watching TV while waiting for her, and the other woman was sleeping soundly on Grace's laps, Simon walked over and easily picked up Bryce, gently threw it on the carpet, and sat down in the position just now.

Bryce Levison woke up, opened her eyes in a daze, saw someone on the couch and her own situation, dissatisfiedly leaned over a small foot and kicked the man twice in the leg before she got up, leaned back on the other side of the man, curled up and crooked over Simon's lap to continue sleeping.

Simon didn't throw her away this time, pressed it against the woman's smooth face, and then let a finger be bitten by the woman, and said to Grace: "How are you feeling tonight, is the little guy making a fuss?"

Before Grace could answer, Bryce had already spit out the man's finger and hurriedly said, "It's a fuss, I've been kicked, otherwise why do you think Grey isn't asleep now, so I'm not waiting for you." ”

Grace waited for Bryce to finish speaking, and explained with a smile: "She stuck to my stomach to listen to the baby's movements, and then she was kicked." ”

Bryce hurriedly added: "In the future, he will definitely be like his father, bad fellow." ”

Simon simply blocked Blythe's small mouth with his fingers again, and let the woman on his lap whine and didn't let go, so he was able to talk to Grace for a while, and after a while, he remembered the incident at the drinking party again, and said to Grace with a smile: "By the way, do you know about the acquisition of Mellon Finance by the Bank of New York?"

"You know, you're in charge. ”

"That's right, get two board seats this time, just right, give you one. ”

Grace shook her head suddenly: "How can this work, I don't understand the bank's business." ”

Hearing this time, Bryce finally broke free of the man's clutches again, and hurriedly said: "This kind of thing, you don't need to understand anything at all, Gray, he just needs you to be a puppet." ”

Grace saw Bryce say this, but looked at Simon.

If that's the case, she certainly doesn't mind, or rather willingly, be his puppet.

Simon also nodded: "In fact, the boards of directors of many large enterprises are like this, nominally in order to maintain independence, they will choose some people who have nothing to do with the industry as directors, such as academics, Shimono politicians, athletes, etc. As for my side, indeed, what I need is someone I can trust, because then you will have the right to vote. ”

Grace was about to agree, but remembered the little guy in her belly and gestured: "But, I'm pregnant now, and the Elite doesn't care too much?"

"It doesn't matter, it will take some time for the two companies to fully merge, and by then, the little one will probably be born. ”

Bryce, who was still pillowed on Simon's lap, said again: "Actually, I can too, Simon, let me earn some pocket money too?"

Simon looked down and said with a smile: "I don't need to bother you, if I want to spend money, I'll give you 100 million first." ”

For the two places, Grace is absolutely trusted, and the other person must not give this lazy woman in her arms, but intends to choose a more professional agent.

Bryce was stunned for a moment, until Grace patted the man's shoulder and chuckled, that she reacted and wanted to rebel again, but she was quickly suppressed by the man again, and her mouth was gagged.

Because the man is leaving tomorrow, it is difficult to get along, even if he is a little sleepy, Grace did not think about resting, and continued to talk about another thing: "This year's Elite model contest has been launched in various sub-divisions, mainly my former assistant, Michelle, you have met, she is in charge, and I will also help you keep an eye on it." However, if you have any other needs, you can also talk to her directly. ”

Simon just nodded slightly.

"Also, that Angela Lindwo, and last year's Michelle Alves, I haven't seen you touch it, so why don't you take it to Europe this time, Fashion Week hasn't been long in the past, and they're very idle now. ”

Bryce really couldn't look past it, and once again broke free from the man's clutches, hating iron and steel: "Gray, you are just his lover, not his old bustard, why do you always help him find women." ”

Grace simply ignored Bryce's poisonous tongue, and leaned lightly on his shoulder with the strength of the man's hand, looking very satisfied.

I don't care what I am.

As long as it's his 'what'.

This completely hopeless appearance made Bryce even more annoyed, or, she didn't know if she was angry, or something else, seeing that Grace also followed the man's appearance and reached over to gag her mouth, she couldn't help but open her mouth, but, after the man glanced at it lightly, she suddenly didn't dare to use the slightest force.

Alas, is it impossible to save yourself?

The next day is Thursday, April 10.

After breakfast, saying goodbye to Grace and the others, Simon boarded the first flight to London.

The UK will hold a new general election on May 1.

The current Westeros system, because of its growing scale, is becoming more and more affected by a country's macro policies, and Simon has to spend more time in this area.

This time, I had an early exchange with some politician candidates.

In fact, the construction of a network is like this, far less complicated than some people think, meet each other at the party reception, even if it is not painful to talk about something, as long as they express certain inclinations and wills to each other, a line is considered to be built, of course, next, if you want to maintain, you need all kinds of substantial mutual benefit.

After Britain, there is Finland.

Nokia's headquarters needs to be visited.

And then there's Italy.

And, the last stop in Europe, Ukraine.

The schedule is still arranged in advance, Simon's stay in Ukraine, the Rivni Free Trade Zone will be officially established, and Kuchma has also confirmed that he will personally attend the official ceremony of signing the free trade agreement with the first batch of representatives of the 17 countries that have been negotiated with the Rivni Free Trade Zone, of course, Simon will not appear in public, but the two will definitely contact in private.

After last year's assassination in Scherban, it became increasingly clear that Prime Minister Lazarenko was not only becoming more and more restless, but also threatening his own power, and Kuchma was basically certain to take Lazarenko.

However, although they both belong to the Petrovsk Gang, Lazarenko is not able to win it if he wants to, and the two sides are playing at this time.

Simon and the Rivneos of the Westeros system in Ukraine are completely on the sidelines.

Of course, it's just a cold spectator on the surface.

Because even this kind of cold bystander actually represents Simon's attitude, he doesn't want the evidence of Ukraine to be too stable, and once Kyiv stabilizes, it will inevitably feel that the Rivne gang is becoming more and more eye-catching.

Again, that's the same sentence.

People can't be too idle, and if they are too idle, something will happen.

In the cabin of the Boeing 767, Simon was in his study looking through a copy of Anthony Blair's resume, while writing and drawing with a pencil on scratch paper at hand.

Two more names had been written on the scratch paper.

A combination of spice girls.

Harry Potter.

In an old capitalist country like the United Kingdom, the political system has a fairly strong continuity, so even his big butterfly has not been able to affect Anthony Blair's candidate for the new British prime minister, and according to the British polls, he will basically be the next prime minister.

However, such as the famous hot girl group in memory, and another "Harry Potter" fantasy series that made a certain female writer who was once so depressed that she lived on relief that her wealth surpassed that of the Queen of England was lost.

Neither let Simon arrive at the accident.

The Spice Girls group was supposed to be born last year, however, after the popularity of "American Idol", it was quickly introduced in the UK last year, which also caused a sensation. As a result, last year, the British music scene attracted most of the attention of "British Idol", including the rising music newcomers, who were also won by Daenerys Records, which also expanded to the United Kingdom.

With so many changes, it's no surprise that the Spice Girls group has disappeared.

And then there's Harry Potter

The former "Harry Potter" is similar to Simon's "Huanzhu Gege" that was just handed over to Ren Jingxi some time ago. During a train ride, K. Rowling stumbled upon a little boy with black-rimmed glasses outside the window, and a series of ideas sparked her.

This time, J· K. Rowling's desire to have the same chance again, is basically no longer possible.