Chapter 489: Boiled Frogs in Warm Water

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Examining the man across from him with a hint of panic on his face, Stan O'Neill smiled faintly and changed the subject.

"Bruce, I heard that LinkedIn is also preparing to go public?"

"Preparations are underway. Rest assured, with our relationship, the underwriter will definitely have Merrill Lynch. ”

"In that case, why not leave the listing of LinkedIn entirely to Merrill Lynch? I think whether it is Merrill Lynch's ability or the interests of you and me, it is the best choice." And, as far as I know, after you poached Stephen Bryan from Goldman Sachs, your relationship with Goldman Sachs has been much colder. ”

"O'Neill, you know that I am not a person who goes back on my word, what I promised before, even if there are some changes in the middle, I will not regret it!"

Stan O'Neill smiled faintly, "Well, I respect your choice. … Google, what are you going to do? Almost all investors now don't accept your $24 billion valuation!"

"It doesn't matter. Guo Shouyun shrugged, "I'm not in a hurry about Google's listing." Maybe wait a little longer, and they'll accept it. ”

"You're always so confident!"

"Because I believe in my own choice, and I believe in the future of the Internet. ”

"The future of the Internet is really exciting. But it's not just you who see it, Yahoo is developing her search business, Microsoft is also stepping up investment in the Internet, dozens or hundreds of new Internet companies are established in Silicon Valley every day, you... Can it be guaranteed that in the future, in the face of more fierce business competition, Google and Ruby will still be as successful as they are now?"

"That's not supposed to be asking me. It's whether you believe that Google and Ruby will continue to shine? If you doubt, I can't say more. If you believe, even if I don't explain, you will always believe!"

The two looked at each other for a moment, and Stan O'Neill nodded slightly.

"Looks like I'm doing it too much... Come on, try these dishes, they taste very good!"

"yes, I happened to be hungry too!"

During the meal, the two did not continue to talk about work, but simply talked about some gossip. Later, until the end of this meeting, Stan O'Neill did not mention the matter of Merrill Lynch's equity again.

"Boss, is this the end?"

Stan O'Neill glanced out the window of the car and smiled, "He's a smart guy and knows what I mean." And everyone will have to cooperate in the future, and if you talk about it, it will not be good for him, me, or Merrill Lynch. ”

The assistant subconsciously glanced at the black Mercedes Benz next to him and nodded knowingly.

"Let's go, it's not too early, we should go back too!"

"Yes!"

……

While Stan O'Neill was talking about Guo Shouyun, the latter was also talking about him.

"Boss, I feel like you're giving in a bit in front of Stan O'Neill?" After hesitating for a moment, Wang Jue asked.

"He's an old guy with a lot of pride at heart. In front of him, it is easier to solve the problem by showing weakness than by hitting him hard. Guo Shouyun smiled.

"Solve the problem??," Wang Jue asked cautiously.

Glancing at her, Guo Shouyun said indifferently: "You are very smart and observant enough." But there are some questions that should not be asked, should not be asked, should not be said and should not be said!"

"Yes!"

Looking at Wang Jue, who was silent, Guo Shouyun thought about it briefly, "There is a word called 'showing weakness to the enemy'!"

Wang Jue was stunned.

"Boss wise!"

Guo Shouyun didn't say anything more, closed his eyes and leaned on the back seat of the car.

In fact, from the very beginning, whether it was the acquisition of the Herman Fund or the intention to buy the Merrill Lynch stake in the hands of the New York State Retired Teachers Foundation, he made it for Stan O'Neal to see.

In the case that both parties are very clear about each other's purposes, in order to make a certain cover for Liu Zhixing's actions, and at the same time, to make Stan O'Neill 'rest assured'.

The reason is very simple, if you know that a guy who is not dealing with you, who is always by your side, but always quiet, then you will definitely think that he must be plotting something big, and his vigilance will be increased like never before.

But on the other hand, if the opponent makes something hostile that you think can be controlled or defeated by you, then your vigilance will be relaxed. When there are enough of these 'small actions' that you can control, you will naturally think that you are in control of everything, and your vigilance will remain at an even level. This is the same as boiling a frog in warm water.

Guo Shouyun is sure that as long as his use value is still there, as long as his small actions in the acquisition of Merrill Lynch's equity are under his control in Stan O'Neill's opinion, then this balance will always be maintained. Until Liu Zhixing completed the final blow and completely achieved his goal.

Of course, it was not easy to test Stan O'Neill's bottom line, and it took him half a year to carefully select two companies, the Herman Fund and the New York Foundation for Retired Teachers.

They are both two of the top five mutual funds that hold Merrill Lynch stock publicly. The reason why they were chosen by Guo Shouyun. Herman Fund is because her CEO, Paul Cruz, is known on Wall Street as an 'old diehard'. During his 14 years at the helm of Herman Fund, Herman Fund grew steadily and faced more than a dozen acquisitions, including large institutions such as Northern Trust and Wells Fargo, all of which were rejected by him.

As for the New York Foundation for Retired Teachers, her CEO, Piers Markle, is a cryptic McCarthyist who is antipathetic to non-whites.

There is no doubt that with such two people, Guo Shouyun will never get his favorite Merrill Lynch equity from them.

Guo Shouyun knows this, and Stan O'Neill knows this even better! That's why he was so calm when he got the news that Guo Shouyun was in contact with these two companies.

As for whether Guo Shouyun did this on purpose? Alas, young people are always frizzy, aren't they? And successful young people are always proud, thinking that there is nothing they can't solve. Therefore, it has become normal for the young and vigorous Guo Shouyun to contact these two 'difficult households'.

"After a while, I'll make a little bit of a move. Always keep Stan O'Neill's attention on me. Guo Shouyun said in his heart.

……

Everything in the world is connected by cause and effect, and when you are discussing others, others are also discussing you.

"You've really decided?"

"Yes!"

Looking at his son with a determined expression, Frederick Peabody Morgan nodded slightly.

"5% of ConocoPhillips stock, I'll help you get it together. But Harvey, you know the rules. Each Morgan family child can only have one chance to seek help from the family. If you don't succeed this time, you won't get any more financial support other than $500,000 a year for living expenses. ”

"I understand, father. But I want you to help me raise as much equity in ConocoPhillips as you can. ”

"Why?"

"I want to get more shares of Google and Ruby!"

Frederick raised an eyebrow slightly, "Are you really so optimistic about their future?"

"Yes, the future of the world is the future of the Internet. And now half of the best internet companies are in the hands of Bruce Guo, and I can't miss it. Harvey Morgan affirmed.

"Dad doesn't know as much about the Internet as you do. But since you've decided, I'll help you too!"

"Thank you, father!"

"Hmm... If you have time, invite Bruce Guo to your home. I'd love to meet this guy!" Frederick said with interest.

"Don't worry, when the cooperation agreement is signed, I will invite him to my home!"

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