Chapter 749: Merrill Lynch's Great Change (I)

……

"Bruce!"

Seeing Guo Shouyun who pushed the door in, Stan O'Neill smiled and strode up. Looking at his outstretched arms, Guo Shouyun also smiled and hugged him.

"We haven't seen each other for almost a year, haven't we?" said Stan O'Neill.

"I remember the last time we met was at the annual meeting of entrepreneurs organized by the Ministry of Finance. Guo Shouyun nodded and said.

"You're still so handsome after so long. However, people also appear more mature and steady. ”

"Haha, I am a little ashamed of such a compliment!"

Stan O'Neill smiled and pointed with his left hand toward the nearby reception area.

"You may be seated!"

"Please!"

After the two sat down, O'Neill's assistant Jack had already brought the tea that had been prepared in advance.

"Knowing that you are coming, I have specially prepared a 'big red robe' from Huaxia, I hope you can like it. ”

"Of course! The special red robe is the top black tea in China, and it is rare for you to buy it to entertain me. ”

"If you're satisfied, come!"

After grabbing the teacup and gesturing to O'Neill, the two of them took a sip each.

"To be honest, I still prefer coffee, which is mellow and bittersweet. And it can make me feel more energetic all day long, and ensure a high level of work efficiency. ”

"Everybody has different tastes, it's just normal. ”

"Then why do you like tea?"

"Maybe it's because I've been drinking it for a long time! I'm used to the softness of the tea! The coffee is too intense for me. Guo Shouyun casually pointed to his lips.

Stan O'Neill nodded knowingly.

"Sure enough, each has its own merits! But for Merrill Lynch, we both seem to like it. ”

"The second largest investment bank in the United States and the largest securities broker in the world. No one can not dislike. Guo Shouyun said.

"Don't you already have a phoenix, why do you still want Merrill Lynch?"

Facing Stan O'Neill's eyes staring at him, Guo Shouyun calmly picked up the teacup and took a sip, "Who told you that I plan to buy Merrill Lynch?"

"Bruce, there's no need to cover it up now. Your ambitions for Merrill Lynch began as early as three years ago when you joined Merrill Lynch's board of directors. I can guess that I have been tolerating just to win over you, a big customer, to improve Merrill Lynch's profitability, and to ensure that my transformation of Merrill Lynch can be carried out smoothly. By now, the appearance of the phoenix has given you a better choice. And my transformation of Merrill Lynch has been completed, and it is time for you to leave Merrill Lynch and avoid this great company falling into your hands. ”

"O'Neal, I've always invested in Merrill Lynch, and I've never thought of snatching it from you!"

"If it weren't for the acquisition of Merrill Lynch, how could you have secretly acquired nearly 13% of its shares in three years?"

Looking at O'Neill's mocking and victorious eyes, Guo Shouyun's eyes jumped violently. His acquisition of Merrill Lynch is undoubtedly the top secret of top secrets. From the beginning to the present, there are definitely no more people who know about this than the number of palms. So who exactly leaked the news?

"Bruce, aren't you going to admit it yet?"

"O'Neill, I don't know where you got the news. But I'm sure its instigators are intent on driving a wedge between us, so don't be fooled!"

Guo Shouyun will not easily let go of the other party's few words. And he also wants to learn the source from the other party's mouth, and then find out this spy buried next to him.

However, Stan O'Neill is obviously more calculating, and although he is proud, he has not lost his mind. In addition, Guo Shouyun's always calm performance made him feel a little uneasy inexplicably.

"Bruce, I trust my own judgment. So, I'm ready to issue new shares!"

When he said the last few words, O'Neill stared at the expression of the guy opposite, but unfortunately he couldn't see the slightest panic except for the calm as always.

It made his heart hang all at once.

"Issuing new shares?" Guo Shouyun smiled faintly, "Why? Is it just to dilute my equity in Merrill Lynch?"

"That's one of the reasons why we need to expand Merrill Lynch's investment in real estate. ”

"O'Neill, Merrill Lynch should have its own investment strategy. It's not a good thing to keep up with Goldman Sachs and Lehman. ”

Stan O'Neill's pupils constricted. The other party is criticizing his business strategy against Merrill Lynch.

After he became the CEO of Merrill Lynch, he ruthlessly laid off employees internally, won 'Mullah O'Neill' for himself, and made the Merrill Lynch management team centered on him become the 'tower ~ li~ class organization' in the mouths of employees. In terms of specific business operations, he chose to keep an eye on Goldman Sachs, closely follow the footsteps of Goldman Sachs, use his account funds to conduct high-risk and high-return risk transactions, and has become a big player in private equity investment in just a few years. It has brought rich benefits to Merrill Lynch.

But that didn't satisfy O'Neal. Driven by greed, he fell in love with Lehman, who had made a fortune through mortgage investment. Then he began to follow in Lehman's footsteps and enter the mortgage space. In just two years, Merrill Lynch has become the largest issuer of collateralized debt certificates on Wall Street.

Like other banks, the structuring and issuance of secured debt certificates has yielded significant benefits to Merrill Lynch. But the rolling money further whetted O'Neal's appetite. Merrill Lynch began to want to be a full-fledged producer: making mortgages, packaging loans into securities, and then splitting them and generating collateralized debt debentures, and to do so, it began buying mortgage servicers and commercial real estate companies on a large scale.

Merrill Lynch's increasingly aggressive strategy in the real estate field finally made Guo Shouyun, who originally planned to wait a little longer and eat Merrill Lynch when he had a bigger grasp, couldn't help it.

Now that Merrill Lynch's exposure to real estate and related sectors has reached $12 billion and is still expanding rapidly, he fears that Merrill Lynch's catastrophe will be out of his way if it is a little later.

"Bruce, what you think is the wrong business strategy has brought in $14 billion in revenue for Merrill Lynch in the last three years. Moreover, Thunder Fund has been making high-risk investments under your auspices, and its risk exposure is several times that of Merrill Lynch. Is it as long as you can choose a better deal for yourself, and Merrill Lynch, which I lead, can't?"

Looking at O'Neill's eyes and expression, Guo Shouyun knew that he couldn't convince him at all. Of course, this is also to be expected. If O'Neill had been so easily convinced, he wouldn't have had to wait until now to buy Merrill Lynch.

"It seems that it is still the same as before, neither of us can succumb to each other's opinions!" Guo Shouyun shrugged.

"If it weren't for work, we could have been good friends!" Stan O'Neill also sighed.

"It's a pity that that's God's arrangement, and we don't have any other choice, do we?"

Looking at the man opposite, after a long silence, Stan O'Neill suddenly asked, "If I choose to issue new shares, will you continue to acquire Merrill Lynch's equity?"

"No!" Guo Shouyun shook his head, "My interest in Merrill Lynch is just an investment!"

"Even now, won't you let go?"

"O'Neill, my interest in Merrill Lynch from the beginning to the end has only been an investment, and I have no intention of acquiring it, so don't let outsiders take advantage of it. Guo Shouyun smiled.

As long as the dust does not settle, he will not take the initiative to solve the mystery.

"Well, I respect your perseverance to the end. O'Neill looked at his watch on his left hand, "It's almost time, the rest of the board should have arrived, let's go." ”

"Okay!"

After Guo Shouyun answered, he stood up with him.

Stan O'Neill, who had always been paying attention to his look, was dull in his heart. Because he didn't see the slightest panic and loss in Guo Shouyun. This is really abnormal for a person who is about to usher in three years of painstaking planning, but in the end fails. He didn't believe that Guo Shouyun had such a good psychological quality and could do 'Mount Tai collapse in front without changing his face'.

"Maybe he still thinks I'm testing his bottom line!"

This is the most plausible explanation that Stan O'Neill thinks. He never wanted to believe that the other party had an absolute controlling stake in Merrill Lynch. Or maybe he subconsciously wanted to avoid this possibility.

As the two of them got closer to the conference room, the more Guo Shouyun's calm expression made Stan O'Neill feel the pressure.

"Squeak...!"

With the slightly hoarse sound of the door opening, the voice that was originally whispering in the conference room suddenly stopped.

Facing everyone's attention, Guo Shouyun and Stan O'Neill strode in.

As Merrill Lynch's chairman and chief executive officer, there is no doubt that the central position belongs to him. Guo Shouyun rarely participates in Merrill Lynch's board of directors, and most of them are represented through the Bruce Foundation. So after a brief look at the situation, I casually chose an empty seat at the end and sat down.

Merrill Lynch's board of directors has 23 people, and except for two who did not arrive, the rest have basically arrived.

"Why didn't representatives from the Morgan Family Foundation and Fidelity arrive?"

Looking at the empty seat, Stan O'Neill asked with a slight frown.

"I've called and asked, and they said they weren't there for today's board!"

Assistant Jack Brown hurriedly replied.

"Why?"

"The Morgan Family Foundation and Fidelity didn't give an answer!"

Hearing this, Stan O'Neill subconsciously glanced at Guo Shouyun, who was sitting at the end.

"Keep calling and be sure to ask why. ”

"Yes!"

The assistant hurriedly went out to make a call. Stan O'Neill looked at the eyes of everyone focused on him, and his heart suddenly became apprehensive.

took a deep breath and suppressed the excess complex emotions in his heart, now he is ready to send it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, since Merrill Lynch experienced a low ebb at the beginning of the 21st century, in the three years of 02~04, we have achieved remarkable results. Not only has Merrill Lynch strengthened its position as the largest securities dealer on Wall Street, but it has also achieved an average annual growth of 28.3%. This shows that our reform of Merrill Lynch has been fruitful and successful!"

"Bang Bang...!"

The applause ranged from sparse to intense, and O'Neill was pleased with the initiative of board member Ahmes Fakhani. The board member he single-handedly promoted to manage Merrill Lynch's risk exposure is undoubtedly his trusted descendant.

After smiling and waving to calm the crowd, Stan O'Neill continued: "A large part of Merrill Lynch's success is due to our investment in real estate. But in the current market, we still lag behind Lehman and Bear Stearns in mortgage loans and derivative bonds in the real estate sector. We should focus on changing that. Therefore, I decided to issue a 150 million share to raise $5.3 billion to invest in real estate mortgages and derivatives. ”

After finishing speaking, he still saw Guo Shouyun at first sight, but the latter had nothing to do with himself. What he planned painstakingly, wanting to sabotage the other party's plan for more than three years in public, and using the other party's panic, anger, and despair to satisfy his inner power** plan failed.

It wasn't the script he wanted to see.