2 p.m., Financial Street, London. 聣

In the conference room of BMW Finance's UK branch.

Ferdinand Piëch, who was made very angry by Abel's childlike attitude, was talking to a German named Joachim Milberg.

Joachim Mühlberg is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the BMW AG Deutsche AG.

His position is comparable to that of Ferdinand Piëch.

However, Ferdinand Piëch is an important figure in the Piëch family and is equivalent to one of the major shareholders of the Volkswagen Group.

In dealing with the affairs of the group, Ferdinand Piëch is more powerful and convincing than Joachim, a high-ranking worker, in the BMW Group.

So the person who led the delegation in the morning was naturally Ferdinand Piëch. 聣

However, for the sake of Rolls-Royce cars, Joachim also rushed to London.

I just didn't go to the headquarters of Smith Financial Group in person.

"Things get very troublesome. That old American, obviously refuses to spend money! ”

Ferdinand Piëch said with some annoyance.

The morning's negotiations broke up unhappily, much to the displeasure of Volkswagen's global chairman.

In the face of Ferdinand's complaints, Joachim, who received the news from the old man behind the scenes in the morning, couldn't help frowning.

Joachim thought for a moment and said to Ferdinand Piëch in a good voice: "Excuse me."

"Mr. Piëch, maybe this time we will have to accept the blackmail of the old American."

"What do you mean?"

"In the morning, when you went to that old American turf. I received a call from Mr. Covant, and in the call, Covant thought that as long as the conditions were not harsh, then we would give the Rolls-Royce to the old American. ”

After hearing Joachim's words, Ferdinand couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

As one of the important members of the Piëch family, he was one of the richest people in Germany.

Ferdinand could not value Joachim, who held the same position as himself.

But Ferdinand had to pay attention to the man who stood behind Joachim, or the family. 聣

Joachim called "Mr. Covante", he is the richest family in Germany, one of the two core figures of the Covant family, his name is Stefan Covante.

Stefan and his sister Susanna, who hold more than 50% of the shares of the BMW Group.

If that were the case, the Covant family would be roughly the same as the Porsche family or the Piëch family.

But the problem is that the Volkswagen Group is already the most important core property of the Porsche and Piëch families.

The BMW Group, on the other hand, is just one of the many industries of the Covant family.

Because the Covant family is likely to be the richest family in Germany......

They are not only engaged in the automotive industry, but also in textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and so on. 聣

Do you see it?

These industries are all Germany's advantageous industries!

And the companies in these industries controlled by the Covant family have the leading ones.

For example, who knew that the backing of Wanlaik fashion was the Delton company of the Covent family?

Does anyone know that Vita Bill Ektiddin and Muti Sanostol have Altana of the Covant family behind them?

The status of this family in Germany is roughly equivalent to the status of Mahogon and Rockphil in the United States after the merger.

If you go back to the roots, you can even find that this family is actually very related to World War II. 聣

Well...... Stefan's father and Herbert Covante's second wife.

After divorcing Herbert Covante, she married the number three in the Third Germany.

Relying on this connection, Herbert Covant was the chairman of the largest arsenal in Third Germany at that time......

What's even more powerful is that such a character has escaped the post-war liquidation and can continue to be a big oligarch.

It can be said that the Covant family is one of the masters behind the scenes of Germany.

The glamorous-looking Piëch family, in front of Covante, is really nothing.

So when Joachim talked about Stefan, Ferdinand couldn't help but cheer up, wanting to know what one of the heads of the Covant family had said to Joachim. 聣

"What does Mr. Covant mean?"

"Hey—"

Joachim sighed, and said in a somewhat indignant tone:

"Rolls-Royce is a conspiracy! An old American conspiracy!

”

Ferdinand Piëch was a little confused.

"What do you mean?" Ferdinand said:

"Hmm...... I mean, what do you mean by Mr. Covante? "Obsess

"Hey—"

Joachim sighed again, the third time he had sighed in front of Ferdinand today.

"Mr. Covante means, if possible. Let's give the Rolls-Royce car to the old American. ”

Ferdinand's eyebrows were white, and he furrowed high.

Before he could speak again, Joachim was heard again: "What I am worried about now is that this American old man will not accept it." ”

What does that mean exactly? What exactly are you talking about? Joachim, do you mean to give him a Rolls-Royce car, almost without money, according to the old American request? No, it wasn't a gift at all, it was snatched by him! ”

Listening to Ferdinand Piëch's indignant tone, Joachim was expressionless. 聣

That's pretty much what it means. But Mr. Piëch, I want you to understand that Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is now a BMW business. And that's what Mr. Covant meant. Our opinion doesn't matter anymore. ”

At the moment, Ferdinand Piëch would like to say that who doesn't know that Rolls-Royce is already your BMW's thing, and it has little to do with us Volkswagen.

But this incident has just touched on us public.

Coupled with the meaning of the Covant family, we are forced to get involved in this turmoil.

We are the most innocent of all.

Now it's good, BMW itself backs down.

It's as if it was Ferdinand Piëch who provoked the incident. 聣

Taking a deep breath, Ferdinand Piëch made his voice sound as calm as possible.

"Okay. Since that's what Mr. Covant meant, then I won't say anything. Joachim, Rolls Royce is yours now. You're willing to let it out and reduce the trouble for the public, and I'm glad it's too late. ”

"This must be a pleasant thing for us, for you, and for that old American."

Joachim Mirberg ignored Ferdinand's slightly mocking words.

He has already begun to instruct representatives of BMW to contact Smith Financial Group again.

At night.

Ferdinand Piëch and Joachim Milberg were about to leave Tun Heathrow Airport together and were about to return to Germany. 聣

Joachim received "bad news".

"The United States has always refused?"

Joachim was surprised.

The representative he sent to contact the Smith Financial Group, the BMW senior executive who was the first to contact Abel, nodded with a wry smile.

"That hateful American old is not on the financial street. Jace, CEO of Smith UK, received me. Jace claimed that Smith had grown tired of the matter and was no longer meddling in our affairs with Rolls Royce. ”

】

Berry said.

“schei?e!！

"Obsess

Ferdinand cursed a German swear word, feeling unusually angry and dissatisfied with Abel's way of staying out of the matter, as if Able was the innocent.

In the afternoon, Ferdinand was still dissatisfied with Joachim's demands from the Covantes.

Now, after an exchange with the country.

Ferdinand Piëch also knew what was going on.

It is precisely because of this clear understanding that Ferdinand also understands what it means for Abel to refuse BMW to give Rolls-Royce for nothing at this moment.

A sense of humiliation greater than that of Barred and John Wieland, the representatives of both sides at that time, was even greater than the humiliation of being threatened by Abel with a US military base when he met Abel, rose in Ferdinand's heart.

It's just the same as Braid and John Wieland. 聣

He was one of the richest men in Germany and one of the most influential tycoons in Europe.

Taishan Beidou in the automotive industry, a giant in the global automotive industry.

In the face of the old American threat, Ferdinand is the same as those two high-ranking wage earners.

In the face of humiliation, they are all powerless to fight back, and they can only face it by forbearance.

A small country rich in people?

Hehe, when the rich people of a small country face the plundering of the robbers of a big country, they are no different from the fat pigs in the pigsty.

"Let's go back to Berlin." 聣

Joachim sighed, "It's not something we can fix anymore. ”

"Ferdinand, I suggest you go and contact Lower Saxony, or contact Berlin. As for me, this is the only thing to do with Mr. Covante. ”

Ferdinand nodded, and the two set off for London Heathrow.

It was raining again on the way to London.

The clouds were thick and the raindrops were heavy.

In this ghost place, the capital of the Great Yin Empire, the most weather of the year is rain.

The dense raindrops seem to indicate the fate and future of the German people. 聣

The next day, Monday, April 20.

London.

Mick Desmond, as usual, walked into his lavish office.

He handed his trench coat to his secretary and patted the little secretary tightly. Body. Cover. Skirt bag. wrapped...., in exchange for a charming white eye.

Sitting in the boss's chair, a symbol of power, Mick Desmond, CEO and chairman of ITV UK, comfortably picked up the neatly arranged documents on the table, sipping steaming fragrant coffee, while reading the briefings sent by various departments of the company.

ITV is the second largest broadcasting group in the United Kingdom, and its full name is the British Independent Television and Broadcasting Group.

In the UK, it is second only to the BBC in size, and it is under the BBC. 聣

The company, founded in 1955, started out as a competition for the BBC.

lest the BBC monopolize the entire market.

After decades of development, ITV UK has become the largest commercial television network group in the UK.

Who called the BBC funded by the British government and belongs to the public television network?

Naturally, ITV can be the boss of the British commercial television network, much more powerful than Sky Britain, which is controlled by Murdoch's News Corp.

Mick Desmond only gained the trust of shareholders this year and became the number one person in the UK's ITV.

As CEO, he has been trying to build ITV UK into a TV station that surpasses the BBC through reform. 聣

Take LinkedIn IT to glory and become a company leader trusted by investors, just like those famous managers.

This kind of thing is easy to say, but it is not easy to do at all.

Mick Desmond has been working on this since he took office, just like now.

"Dongdong—"

A quick knock on the door made Mick, who was still thinking about the problem, frown.

As soon as he looked up, he saw Quincy, the company's chief financial officer, pushing the door open with a grim face.

Quincy is another important person to be trusted by the shareholder meeting. 聣

Seeing that it was Quincy coming in, Mick put away the anger on his face and smiled kindly.

"What's the matter? Quincy, you see, I'm busy. The affair with ITV Digital has left me very anxious. ”

ITV Digital is the name of a paid digital channel owned by ITV in the United Kingdom, similar to HBO and other pay TV stations in the United States.

It is one of the main broadcasters in the Premier League, but it has been struggling to make ends meet lately and has been losing money, even to the point of affecting the head office ITV in the United Kingdom.

Mick Desmond was able to take office this year because the former CEO of ITV in the UK did not handle the matter of ITV Digital properly.

But now, CFOs are clearly not in the mood to talk to the CEO about ITV Digital.

Quincy has more urgent matters to report to the CEO. 聣

"Sir, something is wrong. Things are troublesome. ”

Mick's brows furrowed even tighter, and he stretched out his hand to signal the other party to sit down and speak, but Quincy, who had an unusually ugly expression, did not sit down, but said in a bitter and anxious tone:

"Just now, our share price fell below £16 and started to plummet, and the tracking result is that someone is shorting our stock and the other party is strong......"

"Mick, just now, Augusto of News Corp. in the UK, he called us and said that News Corp. and Sky TV are willing to provide financial help to ITV."

After listening to the series of bad news reported by Quincy, Mick's eyes widened, "What happened, how did the bad news come one by one." Who, exactly, is shorting us, Quincy, you're the CFO of the company, haven't you figured it out? ”

"It's been checked." The CFO said with some bitterness: "The one who shorted us is likely to be the old American, Abel Smith." ”

"Abel Smith shorting us? Why, we don't have any conflict with him? And ITV doesn't have a lot of oil and water! "Obsess

Mick was a little dazed.

Quincy closed her eyes a little bitterly, "Obviously, sir. ”

He opened his eyes: "Abel Smith has taken a fancy to our ITV. His British Smith Media Group has everything, just like an influential TV station group. As it happens, we at ITV are such an influential TV station group. So ......"

"What do you mean......" Mick Desmond suddenly felt very uncomfortable, "Abel Smith shorted us in order to buy us?" ”

"That's the only possibility. Otherwise, as you said earlier, we don't have much oil and water at all, and we are not suitable to be prey to the financial giants. Otherwise, Murdoch's people wouldn't have been so kind to call us. ”

After listening to Quincy's explanation, Mick was silent for a few seconds before he suddenly scolded, "This raised it!"

”

After careful explanation by the CFO, Mick completely understood that this was a planned and premeditated short-selling behavior against ITV. 聣

The timing they chose made it impossible for them to fight back.

After all, ITV has just gone through internal turmoil, and because of the ITV Digital incident, it has lost 600 million pounds in 5 years.

Even the former CEO resigned at a loss, and the stock market fell by 30%.

At this time, even if the British ITV wants to spend money to support the market, it is just a drop in the bucket, and it is just a delicious meal for the greedy monster that has opened its huge mouth.

Mick grabbed the phone in a cold sweat and called Cooper, the controlling boss of the British ITV, who is one of the ten richest people in the UK and mainly works in the real estate industry.

UK ITV is a lot of shares that he spent a lot of money to get five years ago.

The gentleman was also unlucky, and he entered the market at the peak of the UK ITV stock market. 聣

The UK ITV has fallen by 30% of its total market value in five years, which is equivalent to his investment that year, and it has also lost 30% in a few years......

If you take inflation into account, and company losses, it's even more.

Unfortunately, the call to Mr. Cooper did not go through, and only received a reply from Cooper's secretary, saying that Mr. Cooper was busy and was receiving important partners.

Mick smiled wryly.

One of them could be gone, but now wasn't the time for him to panic.

Grabbing their phones and taking Quincy in the office, the two hurried to the financial department.

In the financial country of the United Kingdom. Almost any company that is up to size, regardless of industry, has a financial sector. 聣

In many cases, stock trading, or investment, is an important business activity for British companies......

Looking at the red numbers that kept beating on the LCD wall, Mick's face was pale, his fists were clenched, his muscles were bulging, and his lips were constantly trembling.

(U.K. stocks, like U.S. stocks, are green when they rise and red when they fall.) ）

15.9

15.4

14.8

…… 聣

When the stock price fell to 13.9.

Mick finally couldn't hold his breath anymore and "started the buyback program......

This is to use the small amount of money from the UK ITV to avoid a series of uncontrollable chain reactions caused by the company's share price crash.

Buzz –

Suddenly, Mick's pockets trembled.

Mick Desmond's fingers trembled, and he pulled the buzzing phone out of his pocket.

He didn't look at it, his eyes daring at the blood-red number in front of him. 聣

"Hello, I'm Mick Desmond......"

"Good morning, Mick, I'm John Cooper and here's the thing, I've decided to ......"

"Bang!"

"Fack! You sons of bitch, you damss who deserve ...... hell."

Mick, who was still squeezing out a little smile, turned off the phone after hearing the other party's quick speech.

His whole face was completely blackened, and he slammed the phone directly against the wall with a hideous expression, trembling loudly and roaring, reaching out to support the table on the side, so that his somewhat shaky body could be supported.

Mick knew that they had been abandoned by Cooper, the majority shareholder. 聣

I called just now, and Cooper's secretary said that the important partner was probably Abel Smith!

Ah, the thought of my own fart. The CEO position has just been hot, and he will soon leave him.

Mick Desmond was in despair when he thought about it.