Hearing Ajit's words, Zhang Chen smiled, "Ajit, you and I both understand that the shares of Salomon Brothers have no value to Berkshire Hathaway or Mr. Warren Buffett, except for the use of valuable funds. ”

Ajit shook his head: "No, Zack, you don't understand, Solomon Brothers has a very special meaning to Warren, and he is not in a hurry to sell his shares unless there is a suitable price. ”

Zhang Chen laughed and said: "In our business, there is only one meaning of any company, which is to make money!"

Ajit also smiled: "Yes, so you also think that you can make money by buying Solomon Brothers at this price, right? Now Solomon Brothers is at a low level, and it is the best opportunity to buy." However, you should have heard of Warren's investment philosophy, he never sells his own stocks at a low price, preferring to wait. ”

Zhang Chen waved his hand: "No, this is different, whether it is for GM or Procter & Gamble, the temporary change in stock price is to improve performance by reorganizing the board of directors and splitting and merging the business." But the Solomon brothers are different, and the company is now dying. At the beginning of the year, the board of directors of Salomon Brothers wanted Mr. Buffett to be the chairman of the board again, but Buffett refused, which is enough to prove that Mr. Buffett does not have optimistic expectations for the future of Salomon Brothers. ”

Ajit said slyly: "Then what about you? Why do you want to buy Solomon Brothers' shares? You already hold a lot of shares in your hands, aren't you optimistic about the future of Solomon Brothers?"

Zhang Chen shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter why I want to buy Solomon Brothers, the important thing is that this is a win-win deal for both parties." Let's put it this way, I want a seat on the board of directors of Salomon Brothers, you know, I had too few shares before, although after buying the shares held by Wells Fargo, Tinder received a director nomination, but among the 19 directors, Tinder was the least vocal. In addition, there is less than a year left in the term of this board of directors, and I am replaced by Belankefen. In the next re-election, Tinder Source will inevitably lose this seat. This is something I can't accept. ”

Ajit was curious: "Why do you value Solomon's board seat so much?" I apologize for my offense, but as far as I know, Tinder's own funds are completely insufficient to support this acquisition, and it needs to be leveraged to make it possible. What made you take such a big risk to buy a stake in Salomon Brothers?"

Zhang Chen smiled mysteriously: "Make money." There are many times when identity itself makes money. Although this money does not have to be earned from Brother Solomon. ”

In fact, Zhang Chen really didn't take advantage of Buffett, although Buffett's shares held by Buffett in history lasted until they were acquired by the Traveler Group, but the purchase price was only the market price at that time. He is now selling the shares in his hand at the price proposed by Zhang Chen, which is not much different from his previous life.

It even recovered the funds a year ahead of schedule, and based on the annual return on investment of 20%, it was an extra $10 million.

As for why Buffett doesn't pursue Citi's directorship, it's because he simply doesn't need it.

The 66-year-old man has held too many directorships in his more than 40-year investment career. Even his executives are directors of Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Amex.

Zhang Chen didn't lie to Ajit, he really didn't expect to make money from Solomon Brothers, after Buffett sold Solomon Brothers, it would definitely cause turmoil in the stock market, and another 10% drop may not be able to stop. Judging from this business alone, it must be a loss.

But if you can become a director of the Travelers Group, it's a different story. At present, the market value of the Voyager Group is $34 billion, and if it buys Salomon Brothers for tens of billions of dollars, he will definitely be able to get a seat on the board of directors of Voyager Brothers, as the largest shareholder of Solomon Brothers.

Wait until Voyager and Citi merge, and the value of their shares will more than triple. And this will happen in more than a year.

Although it is unlikely that Citi will win a seat on the board of directors of Citi, as the largest bank in the United States, Citi serves as a director of old fritters who have proven themselves countless times in the business world, and the number of shares in Citi does not affect the determination of the board of directors, which is essentially different from Salomon Brothers, a company that has sunset.

But after all, it is not hopeless, after all, no one can say what will happen in two or three years, and when Zhang Chen's companies IPO one after another, his personal assets will usher in a geometric multiple. With this momentum, it is not impossible to obtain a director nomination.

To enter the real upper capital space, it is essential to master or even control a top-tier bank.

Even if you don't have the opportunity to control Citi, you can use Citi's aura to find other opportunities, such as First Bank of America.

In short, it all starts with getting a stable board seat for Salomon Brothers, and the only way to ensure that is to become the largest single shareholder of Salomon Brothers.

If it happens, it will completely open up Zhang Chen's upward channel in the field of capital.

It's a risk worth taking.

Ajit turned around in his heart a thousand times, not making money from the shares of the Solomon brothers?

But thinking about Zhang Chen's Chinese background, Ajit believes that the only reasonable explanation he found is that Zhang Chen has the instructions of the Huaxia high-level behind him, or represents the overall interests of a certain interest group in Huaxia.

Ajit tried to drive away the chaotic thoughts in his mind as much as possible, just like Zhang Chen said, why he bought Solomon's shares is not important, what matters is whether the price is reasonable.

Jay Clayton played a round, "Ajit, this should be a win-win proposition. It's better to report this matter to Warren and let him decide. ”

Ajit nodded, he had already done so, before he and Zhang Chen discussed the stock price, it was nothing more than that when he didn't want Buffett to come forward in person, Zhang Chen made concessions again, giving Buffett the impression that he didn't do his best.

Zhang Chen laughed and said: "The next hole is in front, it's a par three, Ajit, if you're lucky enough, you have a chance to get into the hole." ”

Ajit shrugged: "Berkshire Hathaway's purpose is not to pursue every shot to be an eagle, as long as you get a Par, you will be considered a pass." Winning is not about a good shot or two, it's about consistent play. ”

Zhang Chen smiled and said, "But no one can resist the temptation of a hole-in-one, right?"

Ajit lamented, "Yes, that's human nature. ”

(End of chapter)