Manhattan, between Central Park Plaza and Bucklai Street, above Broadway.

Inside the Smith Building.

Abel met David Mellon, who had been lost for a long time.

Once upon a time, David Mellon was Abel's most important subordinate and his most relied on assistant.

At the time of the inception of Smith Capital.

The existence of David Mellon has prevented Abel from taking many detours.

Avoid Abel and step on all the pitfalls that Wall Street is all about.

It can be said that without David Mellon's words, Abel's entrepreneurial period would definitely not have been smooth sailing.

Coupled with David Mellon's personality and three views, he is very consistent with Abel.

There is also the identity of being born in the Mellon family.

Jean Abel had a good relationship with David.

A small stake in Smith Capital was also given as an option award to attract and encourage David to work hard for him.

After all, at that time, David jumped from Goldman Sachs to the little-known and newly established Smith Capital.

Without the lucrative conditions, it would be difficult for Abel to attract this kind of real Wall Street elite.

You must know that at that time, David's job change was ridiculed for a long time by many Wall Street people who knew about it.

It's been months.

What now? Now these people who laughed at David at that time are eager to pat David's ass one by one.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of them now find it difficult to see David in person.

Today, David Mellon is the CEO of Smith Capital.

In Smith Capital, there are more than one person and more than a thousand.

It has tens of billions of dollars in capital flows, and it can also influence the decision-making of many banks and financial companies.

On Wall Street, today's David Mellon is undoubtedly one of the big names.

"You're finally back."

In Abel's office.

David half-jokingly and half-complaining, "You didn't come back, those Texans, but they didn't listen to me, a New Yorker."

"Haha-"

Drinking coffee master David Mellon, specially prepared for himself, in the mellow aroma of coffee beans, there is also a plant-flavored rose summer coffee.

After Abel laughed, he said softly:

"Not really. Besides, they are mainly in commercial banks, but also in insurance companies."

"That's right. But you also told me to restrain them, the problem is that I don't have that power." David said.

Abel nodded in understanding.

With Abel in Houston, he signed a large number of equity exchanges and mutual share holding contracts with the Texas consortium families.

The Smith Consortium, which is still in its infancy, has actually been merged into the Texas Consortium.

It's just that in this merger, Abel occupies the initiative.

while maintaining control over the energy side.

Abel has also become the financial core, media core, and Internet leader of the New Texas consortium.

In these areas that Abel is responsible for, the old guys of the former Texas consortium do not pay much attention to the Internet and media.

In this era, the old guys have not yet realized what kind of power the Internet and media will burst out after the combination of the two in the future.

….

So Abel asked for it, and they gave it over.

As for handing over financial power to Abel. This in itself is the core factor of their willingness to compromise with Abel.

Who is called in the field of finance, it has only been more than two years.

Abel's achievements and plundered wealth have surpassed the decades of accumulation by Buffett and Soros themselves.

They also hope that Abel, the god of investment, will take the financial development of the New Texas consortium away.

Take them with you, too.

New Texas after the merger

Consortium, all insurance, banking, investment-related business.

Except for Abel's direct line.

In other respects, Abel had the same right of moderation and jurisdiction.

Because of this, Smith's financial companies have the upper hand in the merger.

The CEO of Smith Capital, David Mellon, naturally has a certain degree of restraint over the financial companies of the former Texas consortium in New York.

It's just that this group of Texans in New York are convinced by Abel, the Texas elder.

But they are not so obedient to David Mellon, who has taken the "shit luck".

In fact, it's not just Texans who see David that way.

It's the whole Wall Street, and most people see David Mellon that way.

Everyone thinks that this member of the New York Mellon family is just lucky.

happened to meet Abel Smith, who started the business, and was also valued and relied on by the other party, so he had everything he has now.

If only not met Abel Smith.

That David Mellon, now at most a Goldman Sachs middle and high-level personnel.

David himself knew this.

He knew that if he was on his own, he was.

Fortunately, David was very self-aware.

David feels that good luck is also a kind of strength.

Since it was him, David Mellon, appeared in Abel's eyes when he needed it.

It's his luck, but it's also his strength.

Envy, jealousy, hatred?

Then let them envy and hate them.

In this way, it also made him helpless against those Texans.

That's when David complained about this to Abel.

"In the future, each subsidiary of Smiths Financial Group will operate independently."

Abel thought for a moment and told him what he had planned.

"David, you still continue to be in charge of the operations of Smith Capital. You can say that this job belongs to you."

Hearing Abel say this, David breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

All his present glory and status, and his wealth.

The main reason is because he is the CEO of Smith Capital.

For this position, David takes it more seriously than anyone else.

Getting Abel's words was more important to David than anything else.

"The problem now is Smith Bank and Smith Insurance."

"Because of the presence of Smith Capital, Smith Bank will not have an investment department, it will only be a pure commercial bank."

"As for Smith Insurance, I'm not very familiar with insurance."

"So I'm thinking about who is going to be in charge of these two very important subsidiaries for the group."

Abel was not afraid to say these words to David.

….

According to Abel's plan, in the future, there will not be an independent CEO at the headquarters of Smith Financial Group.

For this hand, the most important core enterprise.

Abel will act as the chairman himself, as well as the CEO.

The departments within the group, as well as its subsidiaries, are only responsible to him and follow his will.

Among the many divisions and subsidiaries, banking, insurance and investment are naturally the most important.

Among them, the most important thing he attaches to is not Smith Capital, but Smith Bank.

Because to put it bluntly, as long as Smith Capital has him, everything will be fine.

However, the operation and expansion of commercial banks need to rely on long-term word-of-mouth accumulation, as well as stable interest and other services.

These things, his talent can't affect him.

Most of them can only be accumulated, or constantly annexed.

The four commercial banks of the former Texas consortium, as well as the Pacific Commercial Bank on the side of Smith Capital, were merged

After Smith Bank.

It will no longer have an investment department.

The operation of capital will be handed over to Smith Capital in the future.

This aspect is easy to solve, but it is difficult to solve because Abel found that he did not have a good person in charge of a commercial bank for the time being.

The original Pacific Commercial Bank was set up with the position of general manager.

But this position is empty, and most of its original jobs are held by senior executives on the side of Smith Capital.

It used to be possible, but now it can't.

So Abel is now going to find a CEO or general manager role for Smith Insurance and Smith Bank.

He doesn't have this kind of talent here, except for relying on headhunters and Smith's intelligence to find them.

He also thought of David Mellon.

Including many core figures in the Smith Intelligence Group, a large number of talents in the finance department on Abel's side were discovered by David at the beginning.

Abel thinks that maybe David is digging talents, and maybe he has some unique talents.

He simply decided to let David push a few candidates, and he would weigh and consider it again.

Hearing Abel's request, David Mellon nodded and pondered for a while.

"How's Charlie Scharf? I'm talking about the CEO of Smith Bank." David said.

"Charlie Scharf?"

Abel thought for a moment, and he quickly remembered that this seemed to have been the chief financial officer of Merrill Lynch.

But this one is on the wrong side. At the end of the previous year, Charlie Scharaff was forced to marginalize with the ouster of Stanley O'Neill, the most influential black president on Wall Street.

David nodded and said to Abel:

"Charlie Scharf used to be the number one on Wall Street. This is also the first person in Merrill Lynch to see the crisis. That didn't listen to him, which would cause Merrill Lynch to suffer serious losses. Charlie Scharf has also been forced to take on responsibilities that don't belong to him, and he is still a marginal figure at Merrill Lynch."

Abel had a good impression of Charlie Scharf.

Remember when I was still not famous.

Charlie Scharf is the best of the top executives of several big investment banks on Wall Street.

….

"Then appoint a Charlie Scharf for the time being, and I'll send someone to contact him."

Abel said with a smile.

"Hmm." David said, "As for the insurance company, I think maybe we should consider Frank Berg."

"Frank Berg?"

This name, Abel had not heard, and he looked at David.

The latter whispered, "Frank Berg, the son of Grimmberg."

Frank Berg, the name Abel had never heard.

Greenberg, the name Abel has heard of.

This is the famous godfather of insurance in the United States.

It took him decades to successfully develop AIG, an insurance group, from a small company to a Fortune 500 company.

He is one of the giants of the commercial insurance industry, he is very old, and it is said that he will retire in the next few years.

"Frank Berg and his father were on a bad relationship. So I didn't work at AIG. He is now the General Manager of Sales at UnitedHealth Insurance, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group."

David Mellon whispered, "I think he can do the job at Smith Insurance."

Abel looked at David, his eyes were a little panicked, and then he smiled and said, "Tell me the real reason."

"Okay, okay......"

David Mellon had no choice but to say, "Frank Berg, he is also my uncle, and he married my aunt, the kind of dear."

"Wait, I remember you said, isn't your uncle in which state is he a senator or a representative?"

"My father didn't have any brothers, but he had three sisters. That is, I

I have three aunts."

David shrugged and said, "Except for an uncle from Congress, an uncle from an insurance company. I also have an aunt whose husband works in the District of Columbia and is a broker on K Street."

Abel nodded, thinking that it was no wonder that he wanted to find someone from K Street.

David Mellon had it as soon as he looked for it. is also particularly powerful, it only cost a few million dollars, which makes Sony movies all kinds of unhappy.

It turns out that there is this layer of relationship.

"That's right." Suddenly, David added:

"Frank Berg's aunt, married to Robert Morgenthau, is Peggy Morgenthau's grandmother, but has been dead for a long time, and Greene Berg and Morgenthau's family relationship is average. But Frank Berg is said to have a good relationship with his aunt. Even my current work has the influence of Robert Morgenthau."

Abel nodded after listening.

This group of old American giants is this kind of virtue.

After hundreds of years of marriage, even if many people have conflicts of interest, in fact, if you check carefully, you will find that everyone is actually relatives.

This is how the wealthy ecological chain came about.

It's like that on the East Coast, and it's a bird on the Texas side.

California, which has only risen in recent decades, is the same.

Perhaps it should be said that this is one of human natures in the first place.

That is, vested interests will use various methods to protect their own interests as much as possible.

This includes but is not limited to marriages within the same group and class.

….

Ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, it is as good as that.

"Then add a Frank Berg. I'll put him on the list of candidates." Abel said.

"That's right." Abel suddenly added:

"David, what do you think if I go public at this time?"

David Mellon was stunned, feeling that he had misheard.

He asked again, "Did I hear me right? My King, you're saying you're going to take Smith Media public?"

Able nodded, "I found out that I haven't listed a company until now. It's a bit of a failure. So I thought maybe it's time for my own company to go public and see how it goes."

Abel's name, although he now has a large number of shares in listed companies.

He personally occupies a large proportion, and there are quite a few absolute controls.

For example, Pacific Electric in California, which is still in the process of tossing and has not yet completely merged with Pacific Energy, is a large listed energy company.

There is also Smith Bank, which will operate independently in the future, which was originally a listed company, but was privatized by Abel.

In addition to these, Smith Capital now holds more than 200 listed companies with a shareholding ratio of more than 5%.

It is wrong to say that Abel does not have a listed company, from this point of view.

He is an executive director or an independent director of more than 200 listed companies.

On the other hand, this is true.

That is the company that Abel founded or merged with him so far, not the company he robbed, it is really not a listed company.

"Storm, it's going to be a storm."

In an aria-like voice, David said excitedly:

"I've seen that on Wall Street, across the United States, around the world, there will be a rush of buying in the U.S. stock market."

"I believe Smith Media, if it does go public. It will become the world's No. 1 media group in the shortest possible time."

"Of course, it's the world's No. 1 in terms of stock market value alone."

"Of course, its number one has little to do with its own strength."

"We all know it's all because of you."

"Because you are Abel Smith, our King!"

Looking at David Mellon, who was a little excited, Abel chuckled and shook his head.

He knew why David was so excited.

Because Smith Media really wants to IPO.

There will be a need for underwriters.

Fertilizer water does not flow into the fields of outsiders, and this underwriter will definitely be Smith Capital.

Not to mention the fees that can be earned here.

It's just the honor of listing the world's most valuable media company.

is enough for David Mellon, on Wall Street, to leave a heavy mark.

All financial professionals aspire to such honors.

"Prepare. Let the news go out to the outside world."

Able stood up and looked at the sky outside the floor-to-ceiling window, and then at the clock hanging on the wall next to him.

Before he knew it, he and David had been talking for almost an hour.

"Let's talk about Smith Media, which may go public this year. I'm going to let Robert Iger go along with the Smith Media annual report."

….

David Mellon clenched his fists excitedly and waved them fiercely.

"No problem!"

Abel smiled and nodded, motioning for David to go out to work.

He himself turned on the computer and looked at the recent capital market situation.

With the advancement of technology, coupled with a close relationship with Bloomberg.

Smith Capital, on its part, has access to the most advanced financial information processing system.

To put it simply, Abel can query the latest real-time data of most of the investment products in the capital market that he wants to see as long as he is on the computer.

Unlike before, you still need to use Bloomberg's terminals, and you have to check them one by one.

The current Smith Capital has also departed from the self-employed appearance at the beginning.

Abel no longer needs to go through David, he can directly give orders to the traders of the entire company.

And, of course, when the operation begins.

It still needs David Mellon and a few other CEOs to keep an eye on the market and be ready at any time.

Looking at the time on the computer, it was February 23, 2002.

Abel first looked at the international crude oil futures market.

The impact of the war on oil was short-term.

Everyone knows that there is no oil there.

Therefore, not many people are worried about the possible impact of the war on oil supplies.

As a result, in the international oil futures market, with the exception of the first few days of the war, oil prices began to fluctuate again.

Under the observation of Abel's talent, he also found that the international situation has not been very good recently.

Nothing to worry about.

He turned his gaze back to the precious metal.

If there is a war, gold will surely rise.

Today's international spot gold has risen by 50% faster than when Abel was first reborn.

But this is not the end, it is only the beginning.

After thinking about it, Abel picked up the phone and gave an order:

"I'm Abel Smith, and I'm an international spot gold. Stable position opening and long-term holding. The goal is ...... Within a year, $50 billion."

When it was confirmed, he hung up the phone.

Continue to look at the market.

This time, his attention was on his favorite international foreign exchange market.

Then again, it's more than the stock market, futures or something.

Abel feels that the terrifying foreign exchange market is the happiest place for his big fish to swim.

"Huh?"

In a large number of currency pairs.

Abel took a fancy to the neon yen system and its series of currency pairs.

"The small cupboard, this is the amount found

The sweetness of relaxation. This method is now used in the United States, so you can start using it boldly?"

Then don't blame him, the father, for bleeding the dog's son.

A new thought