America's Road to Fame

Chapter 214 Goldman Sachs on the Left, Citigroup on the Right

William Chen also noticed that now in the public opinion in the United States, doubts about his earning such a high income during the subprime mortgage crisis have begun to appear.

However, these voices are very weak at present, and they are only mixed in the tide of public opinion.William Chen didn't care too much about this, because the mainstream view in the United States is like this, you can make money, as long as you don't violate the law, that's your ability.

A few sour chickens with ulterior motives can't do anything, not to mention that he has special preparations for this.

Goldman Sachs didn't make Chen William wait too long, maybe their own situation can't allow them to wait any longer. Under the current situation, if the market can't restore confidence, any run caused by negative news will be a disaster sexual.

It is precisely that Chen Williamlian is one of the richest people known to the American public. Once he chooses to invest in Goldman Sachs and provide them with funds, then Goldman Sachs is more hopeful that the public will increase their trust in them.

So Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, personally called William Chen and told him that the board of directors had agreed to William Chen's investment request, and that they could start negotiations on this matter now.

At the same time, Chen William participated in Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and other investment banks to short the Eurasian stock market for 100 billion U.S. dollars and all profits were also credited, totaling 260 billion U.S. dollars.

In this way, his return of 100 billion US dollars is not high compared to the return of his own Meta investment company from short selling.

However, these investment banks will be very cautious about the leverage of their self-operated business, because at this time, the primary goal is not to make a high profit, but to ensure that there will not be too much loss. Otherwise, for these current investment banks, it will be a Adding insult to injury.

But anyway, there are more than 150% profits, so William Chen did not struggle too much after reading the accounts sent by the other party. As for how much these investment banks earned from this investment, that is also the case. It is difficult to find out too clearly.

On March 3th, William Chen announced that he would donate a fund worth US$14 billion held in Meta Investment Company to the Caitlin Foundation for charity.

According to information disclosure, the Caitlin Foundation was just established by Chen William in his mother's name, which means that this charitable foundation needs to donate at least 10 billion US dollars every year for charity.

This fund, after belonging to the Kettering Foundation, will be renamed the Kettering Fund, managed by Goldman Sachs, and invested by Meta Investment Company.

In fact, this is the original No. 1 fund of William Chen's Meta Investment Company, which allocated US$200 billion in cash from funds.

Then, the next day, on March 3, the news that the Kettering Foundation invested in Goldman Sachs was announced.

After urgent negotiations, the Kettering Foundation will invest US$100 billion to purchase 8700 million additional common shares issued by Goldman Sachs Group, accounting for 18.5% of Goldman Sachs Group's total share capital, thus becoming the largest single shareholder of Goldman Sachs Group.

Also on this day, the Federal Reserve approved Goldman Sachs Group's request to become a bank holding company.Since then, Goldman Sachs Group has been able to open commercial banks to absorb people's deposits, and can obtain emergency loans directly from the Federal Reserve.

At the same time, the Kettering Foundation also reached an agreement with Citigroup to inject $50 billion into Citigroup and purchase a 12.5% ​​stake in Citigroup.

Uh, just four months ago, the UAE’s Abu Dhabi Investment Authority invested US$75 billion to purchase 4% of Citigroup’s shares. At that time, Citigroup’s valuation exceeded US$9 billion. At that time, Citigroup's valuation was only $1500 billion.

Of course, what needs to be distinguished is the difference between Citigroup and Citibank. Citibank belongs to Citigroup. Now after the subprime mortgage crisis and the large-scale capital injection by the American government, most of the shares of Citibank have been nationalized.

Naturally, Citigroup does not want this situation to continue, because this is equivalent to the operation of Citibank, which will be strictly controlled by the government and has many restrictions.

Therefore, in this financing, they also hope to bring Citigroup out of the predicament and seek opportunities to repurchase the government's shares.

William Chen's Meta Investment Company had US$80 billion in cash before, and after acquiring 30th Century Fox, it has US$260 billion left. Adding in the US$290 billion transferred from Goldman Sachs just now, it will be US$[-] billion.

However, after transferring US$200 billion to Fund No. 1, which is now the Caitlin Fund, William Chen returned the US$10 billion low-interest loan from Goldman Sachs in accordance with the previous agreement. $80 billion.

After the Caitlin Foundation invested in Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, there was still 50 billion US dollars left in the fund, which was temporarily invested in gold futures.

After all, according to regulations, the Kettering Foundation must spend at least one billion dollars for charity within a year, so it can't just sit and eat, and it needs to earn the billion dollars first.

It is now mid-March, and the international gold price has risen to $3 per ounce. According to forecasts, it will reach a historical high of $1200 per ounce by the end of April. Therefore, there is no need to take too much risk. Using 1400 times leverage is enough to reach this purpose.

William Chen handed over the financial investment operation of Caitlin Fund to Martin Stephenson. He was the deputy manager of the securities investment department of Meta Investment Company that William Chen recruited through a headhunting company. He is in charge of the multi-contract operation.And John Paulson focused on Fund No. 2 after closing the position of Fund No. 3.

……

When Camillo Hagen met Chen William again, the relationship between the two parties had another subtle change.

After the Caitlin Foundation invested in Goldman Sachs Group, according to the agreement, two directors can be sent to participate in the board of directors, so William Chen and Tom Hanks became the new directors of Goldman Sachs Group.

Therefore, it can be said that William Chen's current status is already the boss of Camillo Hagen.

"Mr. Hagen, what is the situation now?"

When Camillo Hagen sat down in front of William Chen, Annie brought his coffee to him and left, William Chen asked with a smile.

"The New York Times is in a terrible situation. They just let out the news that they are going to sell some floors of their Manhattan headquarters building. The company's debt has reached US$2.5 billion, and US$10 million of it is a loan that is about to mature. Under the current situation, it may be difficult for the bank to grant their request for a moratorium on repayment."

"It looks like they're in serious danger."

"Indeed, I've heard they're even interested in selling the 17.5% stake in the Boston Red Sox owned by The New York Times Group if the situation continues to deteriorate."

"So if I want to buy The New York Times Group, how is it feasible?"

Yes, currently William Chen holds a huge sum of US$80 billion, and the short-selling contract of the No. 2 Fund is about to be closed. It is conservatively estimated that at least another US$200 billion will be added. Therefore, next, he will target the acquisition , on the "New York Times" among the three major newspapers in the United States - "New York Times", "Washington Post" and "Los Angeles Times".

In Chen William's plan, his main development is divided into three directions - Internet, entertainment and media.

These are his main businesses, and other industries, such as real estate and automobiles, can only be carried out through investment.

Well, after he sorted out his current industry, the Internet industry, including Twitter, Siri, HOLA Technology, Reddit, Zoom, and invested in Huaguo companies such as Alibaba, is currently in its early stages and needs continuous development. funds for development.

The entertainment industry mainly includes film and television, sports and games. At present, his main industry divisions are in the film and television industry, including Marvel Entertainment, Twentieth Century Pictures, MGM Pictures and Netflix.

Of course, the Internet and entertainment can be related in the future, especially the game industry, and Netflix, which can be said to be an entertainment company with the development of Internet thinking.

As for the media industry that helps him exert influence on society, he currently only has the "New York Observer" and the Observer APP, which are the shortcomings of his current troika. Therefore, he needs to take advantage of the opportunity of the subprime mortgage crisis to make acquisitions. Strengthen his media strength.

Now he is looking at the "New York Times" newspaper group headquartered in Manhattan, New York.

(End of this chapter)