Hollywood Hunter

"Norman attended a reception for a foreign investor in the Kremlin last week. When he met Yeltsin, he mentioned your recent selection of girls in Russia."

Dumei Point Estate.

The time is Friday, January 21.

Simon and Anthony Johnston just sat down in the reception area with a great view of the sea next to the curtain wall of the Shell Villa. Anthony talked about this.

Janet personally brought coffee to her husband and brother. She was supposed to sit down next to Simon. After hearing the words, she lost a look of'My brother gave me a breath, and be careful.'

Simon had no guilty conscience, and he was not surprised that Yeltsin knew that he was recruiting Uighur maids in Russia. The thin and dead camels were bigger than horses. If Russia, which inherited the KGB intelligence system of the former Soviet Union, could not detect such things, There may be worries about completely covering the country.

Simon also knows that he has been the focus of attention from all over the world, both secretly and secretly, from a very early age.

After all, he is the only billionaire billionaire from scratch, and he is the only one in the world.

Taking a sip of the coffee from Janet, Simon smiled and asked, "What did Ye Liqin say?"

Anthony didn’t mean to ask the younger sister for guilt. For the unusual existence of his brother-in-law, it’s hard for him to take the elder brother’s shelf: “Yelgin said that Russian girls are excellent, and your screening criteria are too strict. In addition, he also invites you to have the opportunity to be a guest in Moscow."

"Have a chance, I actually want to go to Moscow to see it."

Anthony nodded and couldn't help saying: "What do you do with so many girls?"

Simon did not conceal, said: "I intend to train some maids for the family, you know, you must be more reliable."

Anthony said: "Sophia Fissi, Alice Ferguson and Claire Gein?"

Sofia, who is in charge of Melisandre's company, Alice, who is in charge of Egret's e-commerce business, and Claire, who founded Tinco Baier, are all female waitresses of the Westeros.

Although the public media rarely discuss these, but in the circle, one of the women around Westero is very talked about one by one, because of this reason, the women who want to join Simon are too numerous to mention.

Sophia Fessie’s women were only selected by Simon after their personal abilities were basically finalized. Now, her brother-in-law is planning to train from scratch.Anthony thinks about his brother Norman, who is in charge of the Russian business, and he talked about this and Yeltsin said that Simon’s screening criteria are too strict, and they can be sure that these girls will only be better in the future.

Almost couldn't help asking Simon for one or two to be assistants, Anthony said it to his lips.

As brother-in-law and brother-in-law, it seems that this is not too solemn.

So he turned to the topic and said: "Speaking of Russia, Dad scolded Norman at Christmas last year. He said that you should not show too much political sphere to our agent Mikhail Friedman in Russia. The ambition reminder is correct, and also warns Norman to break his leg if he is too close to Yeltsin."

In recent years, the collapse of Russia has created a large number of capital oligarchs, taking advantage of the country’s opportunity to promote privatization and circulate assets in various fields.

The emerging oligarchs in Russia are unlikely to have much of their own funds, so they all rely on overseas capital for blood transfusion, and the Westeros system has not let this gluttonous feast go.

Simon selected Mikhail Friedman, one of Russia's seven oligarchs in the 1990s, as the spokesperson of the Westeros system, including the Johnston family in Russia.The reason for this is because Mikhail Friedman is the only'survivor' among the seven old oligarchs after the emperor came to power.

This is not accidental.

Mikhail Friedman is a businessman who is very good at judging the situation and taking the initiative to avoid too much involvement in politics.Although this made him the bottom of the strength of the seven old Russian oligarchs, however,

Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Westeros system has contacted Friedman before other capital to fund the establishment of the Alpha Group. In recent years, the businessman has bet more than 500 million US dollars.This money is nothing to the Westeros system, but it is enough to buy too much in Russia.

Although the memory of Mikhail Friedman has no political ambitions, Simon is not sure whether the other party is still the same after the time shift, so he has reminded the other party more than once.

Listening to Anthony's tone at this point, Simon asked: "Tony, don't you understand?"

"Norman has always been responsible for things in Russia. I was not there that day, and my father didn't explain it to me later." Anthony shook his head and said, "I just think this is not your previous layout style?"

Simon has always attached great importance to the layout of political fields on both sides of North America and Australia. Anthony also knows that the Westeros system has secretly funded the current President Clinton.Therefore, Russia, which is still in a state of turmoil, is logically the best platform for political layout.

Simon sorted out his thoughts and explained: "Russia is different from us. Although the federal system is implemented, the political genes of this country that have lasted for almost a century cannot be changed. This is destined to make Russia a more suitable country for strongman politics. At this point, I actually don’t like Yeltsin very much. He is more of a speculator than a qualified politician."

Anthony thought for a while and said, "You mean, Russia is likely to have another strong national leader in the future?"

Simon nodded: "This kind of chance is very big, and once it appears, this kind of person will inevitably not allow commercial oligarchs who like to interfere in national politics to exist, which will be the moment when the oligarchs encounter liquidation. So, in Russia, we only try to Do business, not talk about politics."

Anthony probably understood Simon's thinking and said, "It's impossible not to talk about politics at all?"

"Of course, so we fund Yeltsin's participation in the election and at the same time expand our political connections as much as possible, but do not interfere or even manipulate. I understand that doing so may prevent us from fully integrating into the core circle of Moscow, Friedman in recent years The results are not as good as other oligarchs, but this is the long-term way."

Anthony nodded and said, "I will explain your point of view with my father."

Simon wondered: "Huh?"

Anthony laughed: "Since my father didn't explain it to me last time, he probably didn't understand it. He only warned Norman out of trust in you."

Simon also laughed.

With the character of the old man, even if he does not understand this matter, he will not ask him directly, which is even simpler and more rude to his son.

Simon also found a small mistake of his own. When he reminded Mikhail Friedman, he forgot to explain his intention to Norman Johnston.

Simon has a lot of memories of the two lives, and the previous life lived across the ocean, so it is easy to understand these joints.

By comparison, Raymond Johnston, who has been living in an open political environment such as Australia, is used to protecting his family's interests by exerting influence on the government, so even if he has enough life experience, it may not be easy to understand. The thinking patterns of politicians in a system are even less likely to see the future like Simon.

In the final analysis, Simon is indeed a different number.

All things are learned.

Human life is limited, and even a savvy person cannot be all-round, and will inevitably have his own knowledge and thinking limitations.

Simon is equivalent to having someone else's life resurrected for more than ten years, and it is a super bug for the future.

Talking like this, Anthony remembered another thing: "The office of Westeros in Russia is set up in St. Petersburg, and the headquarters of Viper Communications is also over there. Is there any special arrangement?"

Simon did not expect Anthony to mention this detail.

The answer is of course yes.

Someone is working as an assistant to the mayor of St. Petersburg at this time. The core of Moscow used to be from the St. Petersburg department. Perhaps some things will change in this time and space, but there is no harm in playing a good relationship at this time.Even if the Westeros system can provide assistance at certain critical moments in the future, it will definitely receive a more generous return.

It's just that it's impossible to explain Anthony frankly anyway.

Fortunately, this question is also easy to answer.

"Vistello's current investment in Russia is mainly telecommunications. As you know, St. Petersburg is very close to Helsinki. Both cities are on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, less than 300 kilometers away, which is convenient for Nokia to cooperate with Russia. "

Anthony nodded and felt nothing wrong with Simon's explanation.

Verizon Telecom of the Westeros system and two agents in Russia, Mikhail Friedman, established the Vippel Communication Company () two years ago. The registered place of Vippel Communication is in Europe The Dutch capital Amsterdam, one of the tax havens, mainly develops mobile communication services in Russia, but of course also includes other services such as Internet services. However, at this stage, the PC penetration rate in Russia is too low, and the focus in the short term is mobile communication.

Nokia, which also belongs to the Westeros system, is naturally the only base station and terminal equipment supplier of Viper Communications.

Verizon Telecom provides technical and operational support, Nokia is responsible for equipment supply, and the two companies have joined forces. At present, they are already the largest mobile communications operator in Russia. They have a considerable number of users in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Eastern Europe, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Poland and other countries expand their business.

In terms of equity, Verizon Telecom and Alpha Group each hold 50% of the shares, and Verizon Telecom is responsible for corporate operations.

No one seems to have a controlling stake, but in fact, Westeros also holds 15% of the Alpha Group, and the Johnston family also holds 15% of the Alpha Group. Mikhail Fried Man nominally holds 60% of the shares, but only 30% of the shares actually belong to him, and the remaining 40% is only held on behalf of others.

Not to mention Alpha Group's secret shareholding structure, through indirect shareholding, the Westero system actually has absolute control over Wiper Communications.Similarly, using this indirect shareholding model, the Johnston family actually absolutely controls the oil and mining assets of the Alpha Group.

According to estimates by the Johnston family, the actual total value of oil and mining assets acquired by Alpha Group and its low price is more than 5 billion U.S. dollars, while the cash input for the acquisition of these assets is less than 300 million U.S. dollars.

The Westeros system's penetration into the Russian telecommunications market is far more simple than Simon's imagination, and even'rashness' is not enough to describe it.

The carelessness here certainly does not refer to the Westeros system itself.

For a few years in a row, watching an empire collapse and dissipate in the hands of ambitionists and speculators, Simon has developed strong compassion more than once.

Feel like a crocodile.

Having said that, if it were not for the distribution of the Westeros system in Eastern Europe and Russia in recent years, the selection of the Maid of the Uyghur family would not be so smooth this time.The staff team is ready-made, Simon only needs to be instructed and someone will execute it.Otherwise, if it is other upstarts who only have large sums of money and lack the background strength, it would be strange to dare to play this way without being eaten and wiped by a large number of ground snakes.

Simon knew very early that he wanted to get rid of the labels of "upstart" and "fat sheep", the most critical link is that he must convert the capital he owns into a real voice.

From 1986 to the present, in more than seven years, Simon has not only owned more than 100 billion US dollars of personal assets, but also these personal assets have been successfully transformed into the Westeros system in media, fashion, entertainment, politics, finance, telecommunications , Science and technology and other omnipresent strong influence.

In addition to personal wealth, this transformation of strength is what makes Simon most satisfied.

Anthony Johnston did not appear in Los Angeles for no reason.

Preparations began in the middle of last year, the acquisition was formally initiated in August, the two sides reached an agreement in October, and then went through a government review of more than three months. On this Wednesday, the Australian authorities officially approved the consortium represented by Johnston Holdings Capital's acquisition of Australian mining giant Bituto.

This transaction also means the further integration of the Johnston family and the Westeros system.

The transaction is approved and the next step is to pay.

Anthony came to North America to deal with this matter.

Because of the continued downturn of the Australian economy in the past half a year and the depreciation of the Australian dollar against the US dollar, BHP Billiton’s acquisition transaction price was finally 21.6 billion Australian dollars, equivalent to 15.1 billion US dollars, which was lower than the initial cost forecast of 16 billion to 17 billion US dollars. estimate.

However, the valuation of Johnston Holdings’ own mining assets in this merger also fell to 3.9 billion Australian dollars, equivalent to 2.8 billion US dollars, which is lower than the initial valuation of 3 billion US dollars.

The final transaction size was 25.5 billion Australian dollars, equivalent to 17.9 billion U.S. dollars.

Worldwide, the total scale of this transaction is second only to the US$33 billion Reynolds Nabesk merger and acquisition of US$18 billion and the merger of Philip Morris and Kraft Foods in the late 1980s.Moreover, unlike the first two leveraged buyouts that have created huge debts of tens of billions of dollars, Johnston Holdings and its allies will all use their own funds this time, and will basically not generate additional debt, so it seems more generous.

Since the two sides reached an agreement in October last year, this acquisition has been receiving strong media attention.

On the other hand, the Johnston Holdings Group initially only wanted to acquire 35% of the shares of the new company, but due to the continued decline of the Australian economic environment and the downturn in the steel industry, Morgan Stanley and other external parties that originally intended to jointly participate in this merger and acquisition Capital has reduced the investment share, resulting in Johnston Holdings and Westeros having to bear more funds.

Therefore, in the final plan, Johnston Holdings' original mining assets were integrated into the new company, and the converted shareholding was 15.6%.

The transaction price of Rio 15.1 billion is still the original cash plus stock payment model. The cash payment is 8 billion US dollars determined when the acquisition was initially prepared, and the remaining 7.1 billion US dollars is converted into new company stock.

After completing the acquisition and integration, the new company will continue to remain listed.

However, the originally determined plan, the Johnston family and Westeros only need to contribute $1.5 billion each, and the rest of the funds are responsible for other shareholders and external capital of Johnston.Now, due to a reduction in the original share of capital contributed by Morgan and other allied capital, the total cash that the Johnston family and Westeros need to pay has increased to $4 billion.

4 billion US dollars is not too much for Simon, but the Johnston family is a bit difficult, even if the initial 1.5 billion US dollars need to be part of the loan.After negotiation, it was finally decided that the share of capital contribution of the Johnston family remained unchanged, and Westeros’ share of investment increased from 1.5 billion US dollars to 2.5 billion US dollars.

This also means that after the acquisition is completed, Westeros's shareholding in the new company will reach 13.9%. This is already a very high proportion for a large mining group. The original BHP Billiton as a public holding company There are few shareholders holding more than 5% of the shares.

The US$1.5 billion of the Johnston family and the US$1 billion of other shareholders of the Johnston Holding Company also received a 13.9% stake.

Counting 15.6% of the original mining assets of Johnston Holdings placed in the new company, the total shareholding of Johnston Holdings will reach 43.4%, far exceeding the originally expected 35% shareholding ratio, which is far from absolute holdings. Not far away.

In order to avoid monopoly capital controlling the country’s core industries and then manipulating the market to affect the economy, the Australian government reviewed the acquisition for more than three months and finally passed it.

Moreover, this is already considered lucky.

Because the World Trade Organization will be formally established in April this year.

If it is delayed for a few more months, it will involve a core resource industry such as iron ore, which is very sensitive all over the world, and a huge merger and acquisition with a total transaction size of 17.9 billion US dollars. The approval can only be released and will only become more protracted.

After completing this merger, Johnston Holdings wants to go further according to Simon's vision and build the original BHP Billiton Group in time and space. Could it be increased significantly.Therefore, the first thing to do next is to intensify efforts to lobby the Australian government to formulate a looser anti-monopoly regulation bill for the iron ore industry.

Heavy capital, strong supervision, and periodicity.

These are important shortcomings in the field of energy and mining. If it is not that the Westeros system already has sufficient capital accumulation, and there are partners such as the Johnston family that can be trusted absolutely, Simon is not willing to get involved in this field. .

However, investing in capital-intensive fields such as energy and mining is another necessity for the Westeros system.Because of the current size of the Westeros system, it is impossible to focus on the tens of millions of dollars.

In the rough annual financial report, only in the past year, the annual net profit of Daenerys Group reached 2.27 billion US dollars.

The core profits of Westeros, such as Verizon Telecom, Melisandre Corporation, Cersei Capital, etc., cannot be compared with Daenerys Entertainment, but they also continue to generate considerable profits.Even the companies such as Igret and AOL, which are still losing money, do not need Westeros to invest too much because of the increase in turnover and the development of external equity debt financing.

This makes the Westeros system continue to generate more and more capital surpluses.

Simon continued to buy luxury properties like sweeping goods all over the world, buying large areas of land that could not be developed at all, spending as much as the cost of training princesses to train Uighur waitresses, and giving millions of vases around him. The expensive gifts of the US dollar are so various that some people seem to have extravagance and resentment, but the private expenses in the past year have also been less than 500 million US dollars. This money is only equivalent to the annual profit scale of Verizon Telecom, and even Companies like Daenerys Entertainment, Cersei Capital, and Melisandre are all not available.

So, what should we do if the entire Westeros system receives huge amounts of cash every year?

Of course you have to invest!

Otherwise, these funds will only continue to depreciate in dollar inflation.

In memory, Buffett's massive purchase of tens of billions of dollars of Apple stock is considered unwise by many people. The key is that these people have overlooked a little, and the cash reserve reaches 100 billion. Berkshire Hathaway, who has a large amount of cash every year The only investment target is the Big Mac, a company with a trillion dollar market value.

In the early 1990s, the gold content of the US dollar is still very high, and most corporate giants generally only have 120 billion US dollars.As a result, the Westeros system, which has billions of dollars a year, is already facing the problems of Berkshire Hathaway twenty years later.

After completing the layout of relatively familiar industries such as entertainment, technology, fashion, etc., the Westero system wants to continue to expand, and Simon can only expand into other unfamiliar fields.

Moreover, if you still want to seek the right to speak in the investment process, there are not many areas where you can invest.

For example, Simon is very eager to buy Boeing with a market value of only about $20 billion, but Westeros and Cersei Capital's funds that continue to absorb Boeing's stock have not yet reached 10% of the aviation and giant's shares. , Has received an inquiry letter from the Federal Department of Justice, asking Westeros and Cersei Capital to explain their intention to buy Boeing shares.

After several negotiations between the two sides, although the Westeros system was not prohibited from continuing to buy Boeing stock, the Ministry of Justice restricted the Westeros system to obtain at most one Boeing board of directors.It is conceivable that if Simon wants to buy Boeing in its entirety, it will only get a 100% veto.