Chapter 167: The Hound Project

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While Guo Shouyun was enjoying the New Year, his opponents were not idle.

"Although the other party did not directly agree, judging from the conditions of the last 40% of Apple's common stock, the success plan of the 'Hound Project' is still very high!" Stephen Bryan looked around.

"An Apple company is now worth only $4.5 billion, and even a premium acquisition will not exceed $6 billion. With Bruce Kwok's ability to raise capital, taking a controlling stake in Apple doesn't make his financial risk unbearable. So, I think Amazon, eBay, and RIM are the companies that he's interested in. Moreover, in the context of the Nasdaq crisis, the stock prices of Amazon and eBay are far easier to manipulate than Apple. Jeffrey Jilin began.

As Enron's CEO, he didn't care whether these businesses had value or not. As long as Guo Shouyun's financial risk can be amplified, the further implementation of the 'Hound Plan' is what he is considering at this time.

"Jeffrey, Bay, and Amazon can be used, but they are outside the scope of this discussion!"

A middle-aged man in a black suit, with slender cheeks, who looked a little serious, spoke.

"John, I understand Morgan's expectations for Internet stocks, but you can wait until the Hound program is over and then buy it back. I don't think it's hard for you!" said Jeffrey Gilling.

In fact, they have argued this issue many times. When Enron was preparing to dig a pit for Guo Shouyun, it carefully analyzed his personality traits: talented and accurate. But like the vast majority of talented young people, they are greedy and unrestrained, and blindly expand their business operations.

But the only difference between Guo Shouyun is that the projects he invests in are basically profitable. However, in the eyes of Enron, ****, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, this is just the result of smooth sailing. So, they still choose the old way to deal with such people: magnify the financial risk, and then take the bottom of the pot. When the other party is exhausted and cannot afford to repay the high loan cost and interest, then use negotiation to eat the assets in the other party's hands at a low price.

They have been very proficient in this method of using capital, channels, and connections to crush their opponents in the past 100 years! The corpses that have fallen under this method are also batch after batch.

And in order to swallow the lucrative cake in the hands of this fast-rising Chinese kid, these cannibalistic capitalists used a few months to devise a plan called 'Hound Dogs'.

The first step of the Hound Plan is to amplify the financial risk of the other party. As for the target, it is natural to start with the company that the other party is interested in. That is, the Apple company, eBay, RIM, Goldman Sachs and Amazon that Guo Shouyun is now investing in.

Goldman Sachs, as a conspiracy with the Hound Plan, is too small, and its current market value is only 800 million US dollars, which cannot serve the purpose of amplifying financial risks, so it is also excluded.

The rest is Apple, eBay, and Amazon. The three companies currently have market capitalizations of $4.5 billion, $2.5 billion and $2.8 billion on the NASDAQ, respectively.

It stands to reason that Amazon and eBay are the most suitable. After all, in the context of the Nasdaq crisis, it is easiest to short sell both stocks. But after discussion, the plan was rejected. The reason is that Goldman Sachs and Morgan still have expectations for these two companies.

There is no shortage of smart people in the world. And the top investors like Goldman Sachs and Morgan are more focused on long-term interests than they are interested in profits. Although they do not know how far the Internet will develop in the future. But the change brought about by this new thing is real. Therefore, they want to see the prospects of the top companies in the Internet, and they are not willing to sell their shares early. After all, it's unknown whether what you've sold can be bought back.

Apple, by contrast, is another consideration. It is undeniable that it is excellent, and it is also able to develop new products that are well received by the market. However, in the view of investment institutions such as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, the potential of Apple, which has been established for nearly 30 years, has basically been shown. In terms of explosiveness, it is far less exciting than new Internet companies such as Amazon and eBay. Moreover, in Apple's main laptop business, there are also competitors such as IBM, HP, and Dell.

For a long time, Apple, which insists on developing its own software and systems, is respected by technology enthusiasts, but in the eyes of capital, it is a very strange company and is not favored.

Therefore, after all considerations, Apple, which has seen its stock price plummet due to the decline in sales of the new IMAC/G3, is the most suitable target for operation.

"Jeffrey's concerns are really worth considering!" Paul Turner, chief operating officer of Bank of America, who participated in the discussion, hurriedly said Paul Turner, who participated in the discussion. After attracting the eyes of the two, "With the current situation of Apple, the premium for acquiring it will not be too high." So we really need an alternative!"

Stephen Bryan nodded in agreement, "I'm sure everyone has seen Bruce Guo's asset appraisal." His equity in Thorn Bird alone is worth 8~1 billion. Moreover, Thorn Bird Publishing is only a subsidiary of Matrix, and the total assets of the entire Matrix Holdings, including Matrix Pictures and Matrix Games, are nearly $2.5 billion. The rest, the Kuok Group is worth $400 million. Google, LinkedIn, PayPal, three Internet companies are worth 1.5 billion according to the latest appraisal. Phoenix Capital is worth 450 million. And the Phoenix Fund...!" Speaking of this, Stephen Bryan was stunned, because the main asset of the Phoenix Fund was the income from shorting Enron, so in front of Jeffrey Jilin, he bypassed this problem.

Although Bruce Kwok does not hold all the shares in the above-mentioned enterprises. But even half of it could bring him $3 billion in assets. The most conservative estimate is that if he used these assets to take out loans, he could have received $2 billion or more. In addition, this does not include the ABS bonds he can issue, the revenues of various companies, and the bonds issued. ”

“… You know, whether it's Google, LinkedIn, PayPal, or Kuok Group, Matrix Holdings, their finances are very healthy. And the profitability is also very outstanding. Bonds issued by such companies are very popular on Wall Street. Therefore, after comprehensive calculations, the funds that Bruce Guo can mobilize will be between 3 billion ~ 4.5 billion US dollars. If you want it to be financially ruined, you have to think about it at the highest value. In this way, it is difficult for an Apple company to shake Bruce Guo's finances. ”

“… Also, what we need to face this time is a genius who can grow his assets from $10 million to hundreds of times in one year. We need to leave enough space to prevent unexpected situations from happening. ”

“… In the end, despite the conclusion based on various aspects such as personality traits and investment habits, Bruce Kwok will not sell his short position when Enron's stock is rising. But it's hard to say what he should do if he perceives the unexpected, so that's where we have to be vigilant. ”

"To sum up, if the 'Hound Project' is to succeed, or to guarantee a high probability of success, it must expand Bruce Guo's financial risk to $6.5 billion, or even more! Obviously, one Apple is not enough. ”

After Stephen Bryan finished speaking, the atmosphere in the room became a little silent. Jeffrey Jilin's expression was solemn. John Schwartzman pondered. Paul Turner clasped his hands to his chest with a calm expression. Yolia Moyin, who came on behalf of Citibank, had his eyes closed, and no one guessed what he was thinking.

The bigwigs are like this, and the secretaries who are in charge of recording around them are naturally extra cautious.

Stephen Bryan's gaze slowly swept over the crowd. He knew in his heart that among all the people present, except for Jeffrey Jilin, they were a group of speculators who were tempted by profits. It's hard to say how much you will do in this so-called 'Hound Project'!

It's understandable, though. The essence of capital is to chase high, even ultra-high profits. Even Goldman Sachs, which he represents, is the same.

"One Apple is not enough, but we can also look for complementary solutions from other directions!" After seeing everyone's eyes focused, Jeffrey Jilin continued, "At present, Bruce Guo's investment direction mainly revolves around three major areas: finance, media and the Internet! In addition, there is also a certain layout in the consumer electronics and semiconductor industries. Coincidentally, Steve Jobs, Apple's president, owns Pixar Animation Studios. Apple also currently owns 27% of the UK's ARM shares. These two companies are the right match for the entertainment media and semiconductor industries that Bruce Kwok is interested in!"

"Pixar can, but ARM can't. We must not offer a company with good cash flow. Otherwise, the plan to create a financial crisis will not be established. John Schwartzman shook his head.

"Actually, it's AOL Time Warner that is more suitable than Apple, but it's a pity that it's too big for Bruce to smash the pot and sell iron!" Yolia Moyin smiled and shook his head.

AOL, Time Warner, which is in trouble because of the NASDAQ crisis, is well known. But even after a series of crises, it still has a market value of nearly $100 billion. Even if they were willing to help, Bruce Guo wouldn't be able to swallow such a big cake. Moreover, the other party may not be willing to swallow it.

"While AOL Times Warner as a whole is not good, we can choose a few businesses from it. For example, their loss-making B TV Network and Warner Music, I believe that Richard Parsons is willing to sell some assets to alleviate the current AOL Time Warner's dilemma!"

"Bruce Kwok is not a fool, and if it was all a loss-making business, he probably wouldn't want it. And how do we explain to him why we're so diligently pitching these companies? You know, no one thinks there's a philanthropist on Wall Street!" Stephen Bryan shook his head.

"Since it's hard to pick an industrial company, why don't we start with the financial industry? This is the industry we are most familiar with, and even the healthiest financial companies can be easily crushed by lies. ”

Yoria Moyin's words made everyone's eyes light up. They all know that the capital industry is a game of 'confidence'. If a bank makes depositors lose confidence, a run is enough to bankrupt the bank. If a fund company makes a client lose confidence, a fund redemption is enough to cause a large fund company's share price to plummet and go bankrupt.

Citigroup, *****, Bank of America, and Merrill Lynch together hold at least a quarter of the capital of the United States. And it has a strong industry influence, as well as political and media resources. Many times, they only need to publish a bearish report, which is enough to send a large company's share price down.

Of course, U.S. law will restrict this kind of market manipulation and malicious slander by large corporations. But in many cases, the law is flexible. There's too much room to maneuver in between.

"Our idea is good, but the financial company may not be what Bruce Guo wants!" Stephen Bryan broke everyone's heads and calmed down the people present.

"I don't think we're going to get anything out of our discussions here. It is better to start from the needs of the other party according to the actual situation. In any case, the underwriting of Goldman Sachs' ABS bonds, as well as the equity mortgage of Thornbird Publishing, gave us enough time to track and analyze the direction of each other's investments. ”

John Schwartzman's words gave everyone a look of agreement.

"In that case, let's start with Apple!" Stephen Bryan nodded. With Goldman Sachs, Morgan, Citigroup, plus Bank of America. 40% of Apple stock is not a hard number to come by. Even the Apple shares they now host and own are close to half of that number!

"Jeffrey, you Enron should be ready. As soon as we release enough good news, you will cooperate with us to pull up Enron's stock price!"

Jeffrey Jilin nodded affirmatively at Stephen Bryan.

"Rest assured, we have prepared for any eventuality. ”

Everyone nodded in satisfaction. They're sitting here today, not exactly for a 'hound plan'. Another very important purpose is to play an ancient game of capital 'knocking' with Enron's stock! Of course, 'knocking' can also be called 'insider trading' or 'sitting on the bank'!

In layman's terms, it means that a few capital giants use inside information and control of public opinion to make Enron's shares resell back and forth between several arranged market makers through short selling and longing, and earn a lucrative price difference from ignorant retail investors and small and medium-sized investment institutions.

There is no doubt that this kind of insider trading is illegal, and it is more difficult and dangerous to enforce in the United States, a country with relatively well-established financial laws. However, as Mr. Ma mentioned in "Capital": the rope that hangs the capitalist is sold to us by himself.

So, as long as there is enough money, the law does not exist. And there is no death penalty in the United States. The giants who have powerful legal channels, even if something happens, are just handing over a few scapegoats and then losing some money. And then, Goldman Sachs is still Goldman Sachs, Morgan is still Morgan, nothing will change!

Later, after discussing the 'Hound Plan' again, as well as the details of insider trading, and the future profit distribution plan, they left with their secretaries and bodyguards.

When John Schwartzman returned to ***** headquarters, he was greeted by a young man in a suit with a work badge.

"Mr. Schwartzman, Mr. Parsons asked you to come to his office!"

"Got it, I'll go right away!"

After agreeing and handing the briefcase to the secretary to take back to his office, John Schwartzman took the elevator to the chairman's and CEO's office on the top floor. In this spacious, bright room overlooking Park Avenue and Central Park, Henry Parsons, who controls the entire ***** of the world's top financial empire, is at work.

When John Schwartzman, who knocked on the door, approached, Henry Parsons put down the pen in his hand. Smiled and gestured to the chair in front of his desk.

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