"Yes and no." Pierce took a sip of strong coffee, shook his head with a smile and said: "To become the CEO of such a powerful company, who wants to leave, but there is no way to get older, even in the past two years, I obviously feel that my physical fitness is much worse than when Costco was first established." ”

"You're only 70 now, although you're not young, but in the United States, there are still some CEOs at this age, is there something wrong with your body?" Chen Zhiwen asked again.

If it is an ordinary worker, a heavy manual laborer, basically in his 60s, people are definitely not good, but managers or technical positions, generally there is no big problem, for example, many technical personnel in later generations were rehired after retirement, such as doctors, teachers, etc., management personnel are not a problem, before Chen Zhiwen crossed, Buffett was in his 80s and was still managing Berkshire Hathaway, Li Jiacheng was also almost 90 years old before retiring, and several wealthy families in Hong Kong also retired in their seventies and eighties.

As long as it does not reach the point of large-scale deterioration of brain function, then with the right assistant, there is no big problem with the management company, but I am afraid that there is a physical problem, such as Jobs, then the rich have cancer and hang.

"It's not true, it's just a simple inadequacy." Pierce smiled and said: "And it's not just me, many of the company's senior executives, not too young, more than half are older than me, Eric, you know for a large company, this is very dangerous, any company, the most important asset is people, we also need a large number of young people, capable people as a reserve force, let them slowly take over the entire company." In this way, after many years, when our group of people really retires, they will take over, and the process must be slow, not too hasty. ”

"You mean, we're going to prepare the next generation?" Chen Zhiwen also understood.

This is indeed very true, not to mention a large company with a turnover of billions of dollars, even if it is a small company, choosing the right general manager, many times have to be examined for a year and a half, and now Costco is facing not the aging of a CEO, but the entire existing management.

In fact, as early as when he invested in Costco many years ago, he knew that he would definitely need to consider this issue in the next ten years, because Peirce's management followed him to start a business as early as the 50s, and he was not young, but it also came with an advantage, that is, when Costco became larger, they would not be able to stay in power for a long time, and the second-generation management, Chen Zhiwen, the boss, could easily handle it, which is also because, no matter what company, the management of the company will be bigger, There will be a very large network of rights and relationships, even if it is a boss, it is difficult to move them.

In addition, in the original history, it was these people who made the warehouse supermarket bigger, Chen Zhiwen did not understand the industry very well, and it was impossible to stay in the United States for a long time, so it was the best choice for them to operate and manage.

"Yes, otherwise it will be very troublesome if something goes wrong in the future." Pierce nodded and said, running the company for ten years, seeing Costco grow, he naturally hopes that even after his retirement, the company can develop smoothly, not to mention, ten years of operation, plus the agreement signed with Chen Zhiwen, he already has more than 5% of Costco shares in his hands, which will also be a shocking wealth, he also needs to consider for his family's descendants, Costco continues to develop smoothly, so his descendants can also enjoy this infinite wealth.

"It's not a problem to train new people, whether it's internal selective training or external recruitment, as long as you have time, you can always find the right one, but the question is, Pierce can you put down the power in your hands, what about the others?" Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

People are selfish, who is willing to give up the power in their hands? For example, Kodak and Nokia, who were abandoned by the times, do they really not know that the times have changed?

No, they all know that the vested interests are too great, and millions of workers can't change their food and clothing, and even after decades of tram reform, companies like Volkswagen and Toyota are also facing such problems.

Of course, the problems that Costco is facing now are much smaller than the problems caused by the reform of the times, but they are also much more troublesome than other companies changing management, after all, other large companies have a long history and have sufficient talent reserves of all ages, and Costco is like the Internet companies of later generations, rising in a short period of time.

"There will definitely be a lot of troubles, but this is what we have to face, solve them one by one, so we need to do this a few years in advance." Pierce said.

Dozens of people who followed themselves to fight the world at the beginning, now they are all at the top level, in the case of consistent interests, everyone gets along very well, but there are definitely some people, may not be willing to give up the power in their hands, not everyone, when they are old, they want to retire, some people just like to control power, and the training of the next generation of successors, will inevitably infringe on the rights of these people, because cultivating people is not just going to school to stay in the classroom to study, it must also need practical operation, and then select the right person from many people, That is, to a certain extent, to decentralize power.

"This thing does require a long time to prepare, but the core of Costco is not in the headquarters, but in each branch, logistics and distribution department, as well as the purchasing department, let's start with the branches, and the branches built in the future, try to arrange younger people to manage, and then select the right talents, slowly manage the area, and then come to the headquarters." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

This kind of thing, in fact, is not only Costco, but also connected to its own companies in Hong Kong, maybe not needed now, but it will be the same in ten or twenty years, but fortunately in Hong Kong, he has absolute prestige, and at the same time, the essence of Hutchison Land is a large amount of asset investment, and the demand for people is not as high as Costco.

"Well, actually, in recent years, I have been doing this, and the new stores that have been built since the 80s are basically managed by the younger generation, as well as the purchasing department and the warehouse management department, and I am also arranging in this direction." Pierce said with a smile.

"It's you, you're doing a great job." Chen Zhiwen smiled and said.

At the beginning, he was more at ease with Pierce, a big reason is that in his original history, also at the end of the 80s, he sold his company to others and did not let his children take over the company, although there are certain reasons for this, it may be that their descendants do not have this ability, but this is already stronger than most people, for example, Wang An, a Chinese who is more famous in the United States.

The decline of Wang An's computer, there are reasons of the times, and the opportunity of the new era is not seized, in fact, it is also the work of personal reasons, Wang Antie wants to pass the company to the incapable children, which leads to the company's senior management to deviate from morality, and is busy with infighting, and then misses the era of personal computer development, and is finally eliminated.

"Before, I could only lean a little bit, but now I want to support the younger generation on a large scale, but I need your support." Pierce said with a smile.

"Of course I'll support you, but there will be others." Chen Zhiwen paused and said: "Pierce, Costco has developed to become one of the top ten retail companies in the United States, and the scale is so large, especially since the major shareholder is still me, a Chinese, I think it's time to go public." ”

At present, the relationship between China and the United States is not bad, and there is no problem in the recent period, and his identity in Hong Kong still has a certain degree of background in the Commonwealth.

Therefore, at present, their investment and industrial problems in the United States are still not big, after all, there is no sensitive area involved, but the problem is that Costco's scale is a little too large, and the future potential is even greater.

Listing, not only can attract a group of consortiums, but also can attract a lot of shareholders, although the presidential election or parliamentary election is really not absolutely fair, but the number is more or less a little influential, at the same time, after listing, it is also convenient for themselves to cash out a certain amount of funds.

"Since last year, the inflation problem in the United States has slowly improved, the benchmark interest rate has fallen, and the stock market has begun to recover. Pierce nodded.

After listing, not only can you get a sum of money when you raise funds for the first time, but you can also gather funds through a lot of financial means in the future, which is the benefit of listing, otherwise more than 9% of the world's large companies will choose to go public.

"But I want to raise money again before going public, and one last time, to attract some American consortiums, and European, I think it's time to enter the European market." Chen Zhiwen said again.

Although in the original history, whether it was Wal-Mart or Costco, the results after entering other continents were not very good, but that only said that they could not do the results in the United States, not that they did poorly.

Take Wal-Mart as an example, except for some countries, other places are doing okay, even if the foreign branch is not profitable, but the headquarters here? Not necessarily, you know, Wal-Mart's procurement, the benefit chain is in the United States, and it is very simple to transfer profits.

This is just like Costco's procurement chain, except for the purchase of some local products, most of them are in Hong Kong, which is also a way for Chen Zhiwen to control Costco's profits, through this model to transfer profits, even if Costco's equity is diluted after listing in the future, it can also ensure that its losses are not large.

Of course, there is a degree to everything, and it is too obvious that other shareholders and the government tax department are not stupid. There are unspoken rules in any industry, but they can't go too far.

"The European market? You can open a few branches to give it a try. Pierce didn't care about this, thought about it and said: "Since you want to raise money, then I'll release the news and see the attitude of the capital market." ”

"Not only financing, but also the news of preparing for listing, let's also release it together." Chen Zhiwen said with a light smile.

(End of chapter)