Manhattan Reborn 1978

Boston.

Inside Morgan Manor.

David and Morgan Sr., because they had to wait for Nelent Ramon to arrive from New York, they suspended the topic of venture capital and turned to other things.

"I had a phone call with Old Wharton~"

"He said you told him some stories that surprised him?"

David was not surprised at all~

"Old Uncle Wharton told you that story?"

"Haha~ I said it!"

"But I think... he should have some more that he hasn't said yet~"

"I can feel it!"

David recalled what he had said two days ago at the Los Angeles Airport before sending Walton Sr. off to the plane, and he spread his hands.

"He told me not to mention it to anyone again~"

Although Old Morgan's interest had been aroused, he praised openly: "Okay~ Next time the three of us meet, how about you tell me?"

"Ok!"

"Haha~ I just went out and I still have some things to deal with. The old housekeeper will take you to the guest room to have a rest~"

"Ok~Thank you, I'll just wait here!"

"Here? Okay~ I'll be back in a moment."

Old Morgan stood up, signaled the old housekeeper with his eyes, and walked slowly up to the second floor.

After David watched him leave, he fell into the sofa more relaxedly, closed his eyes, and sorted out his plan. .

What David didn't know was that just above him, in the study on the second floor, a secret conversation was about to begin.

. . .

On the second floor, in the study.

Pine sorted out a large pile of documents, arranged them into several groups, and then checked them carefully.

The study door was opened, and old Morgan walked in.

"Is everything sorted?"

"Yes~"

"Then let's start~"

Pine opened a large folder among the files and placed it in front of the seated old Morgan. He picked up the detailed list of information he had compiled and introduced it in detail.

"What you have before you is the investigation information of David Coleman and his family."

"Oral Accounts from Neighbors in the Hometown of David's Mother, Sierra Flower Coleman."

“The picture at the back is a group photo of Sierra and David Sr. before their wedding, and the picture at the back is a wedding photo they took with their pastor, relatives and friends~”

"David's birth certificate, the doctor's dictation from the hospital at that time, student files from school, some photos from childhood, and information about David that some of his best classmates in high school told when chatting with people, etc."

"Some of David Coleman Sr.'s youth..."

"This is information about David's ex-girlfriend Ruby. She lives in Philadelphia..."

"This is the information of David's current girlfriend, Susan. After she came to New York..."

"This one is the information of several people in the Wildfire Bar. It includes the old Rhett who David sent people to retrieve from Mexico, the big and small Zach who Giovanni brought back from the streets, Erica, Jinji, and Ma Information about Sha and others.”

"This is the information on all the people related to the Sidrich family..."

"This one is the investigation data of all members of the old Malkin family, including the information of the ex-husband who has divorced Polly.~"

"This is the survey data of all current employees of the company~"

"Because there are too many people in DA company, we only prioritized the investigation of a few people who had contact with David and met many times."

"Including Ben Whitcott, Sally, Andy, Ben Likert, Olena, Sugar, Harvey, Erwin and more."

"The following is information about Yuri Orlov, who is in David's current team."

"he.."

if. .

If David were here, he would be extremely shocked by this information!

Pine compiled these detailed information about him, his family, friends and others. .

Investigate almost all the personnel relationships related to David Coleman~

Twenty minutes later.

Old Morgan looked through the documents in his hand. After listening to Pine's introduction, he threw them on the table and asked.

"Tell me the conclusion~"

"Good~"

"As for David and the people around him, after our investigation, we did not find much difference from what he said~"

"However, there is a doubt about David that makes me a little confused~"

"He was able to communicate with people fluently in Chinese in a restaurant in Chinatown... But after our investigation, he probably didn't learn Chinese in a systematic way."

Old Morgan raised his eyebrows: "That's it?"

"..Yes!"

"Haha~ Doesn't he have enough surprises for us? Being able to speak Chinese is nothing~"

"Any more?"

"Yes... We learned from the drinkers who frequented the Wildfire Bar that David did not show any difference in the previous three years~"

"But after he broke up with his ex-girlfriend Ruby, what he showed... was completely different from before!"

After Pine finished speaking, he looked at Old Morgan calmly. .

Old Morgan didn't speak, picked up a pipe without tobacco leaves, put it on his mouth and smoked gently. .

"What do you think?~"

Pine pondered for a moment and said: "From our contact during this period, I feel that he is very similar to the same person?"

"William Billy Durant!"

"Oh? Haha~ Indeed... there is a little bit of similarity~"

When old Morgan heard Billy Durant's name, he couldn't help but picture an old man who was old but still optimistic. A nostalgic smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

----

William Billy Durant was born in Boston in 1861.

His life was filled with ups and downs and was extremely exciting ~

In his childhood, Durant had a particularly unreliable father, just like John Rockefeller Sr., the American oil tycoon and the richest man of that era. .

His father, a gambler, ran away in a panic one day when Durant was five years old because he owed a lot of debt~

Fortunately, Durant's mother's family is very influential.

Because Durant's mother's father, Durant's grandfather, was the governor of Michigan at the time. .

During his childhood, Durant, with the support of his grandfather, returned to his hometown, Flint, Michigan, with his mother after finishing elementary school.

As Durant grew up, his intelligence and talent gradually gave Durant his own ideas.

At the age of 17, Durant chose to drop out of school.

Perhaps it was the tolerance of his family that made Durant so unique at that time. .His rebellious behavior was not understood by his family. .

As a result, there were only two paths before young Durant.

Either go to the lumberyard and become a lumberjack~

Either go to a store and become a salesperson~

Durant decisively chose the former, became a glorious lumberjack, and enjoyed this work very much.

Because this lumberyard is open to the public. .

that's it.

During the day, 17-year-old Durant was in the forest with his co-workers, playing the tree-falling game~

In the evening, he found himself a side job and went to the town to sell small commodities door to door. .

Two years later.

Durant relied on his excellent eloquence and gifted communication and social skills to become the most popular part-time salesman in the town. .

His friend once commented: "Durant's mouth can coax the birds down from the trees."

As Durant’s reputation continues to spread ~

It caught the attention of a local cigar factory owner~

After the two got in touch through a meeting, the cigar factory owner decided to poach Durant and let him change jobs. .

Durant was very satisfied to be able to rely on his own abilities to get this job, which was very rare at the time~

So, 19-year-old Durant readily agreed and became a cigar salesman with a high salary of $120 per month~

He took the travel expenses given by his boss and embarked on a new journey in life. .

a few days later.

Durant returned after a long journey and found the owner of the cigar factory.

The boss was not too surprised at the time~

Durant, this young man, has just started a new job. When opening up a new situation, you always have to give him some time to adapt~

"Boss, I spent a total of 16 dollars and 30 cents on travel expenses and sold 22000 cigars~!"

"what?"

Durant's answer almost made the boss kneel down. .

The cigar from his mouth fell off in shock. .

After that, Durant used his ability to make the cigar factory owner collapse so much that he could only borrow money and borrow money continuously to keep up with Durant's crazy sales speed. .

So much so that the workers at the cigar factory kept complaining to their boss~

"Let that boy Durant rest for a few days! We are almost exhausted!"

hehe~

Durant got married at the age of 25~

He was already a celebrity in the small town of Flint, Michigan. .

Many people are aware of Durant's incredible sales ability, and gave him another evaluation: "Durant can sell sea fish to fishermen on the beach, and then sell them recipes for making seafood."

The next year, a bigger opportunity in Durant's life came to him~

A friend of Durant invited him to ride on the newly improved carriage~

This carriage is very smooth, without any of the bad feeling of the carriages of the same era, which are bumpy enough to make the waist disc protrude. .

Durant is very surprised!

A friend explained to him that it was because a suspension spring was installed between the upper end of the axle and the car body, which acted as a shock absorber and instantly improved the experience of riding a carriage by n levels. .

Durant immediately realized that this was a huge business opportunity.

After some introductions from friends and inquiries, he finally found the manufacturer of the carriage~

But when he met his boss and wanted to offer to become a partner and help sell the newly improved carriage, the boss just said something. .

"Are you really interested in this factory? Otherwise... just buy it!"

"Forehead.."

Durant is confused~

He has always relied on his salesmanship to earn a living. .

I never thought I would become a real boss~

"Sorry... I don't have much money~"

"...This factory is not expensive!"

The two people who met their opponents in chess stared at each other and fell silent. .

After a while.

Durant asked tentatively: "How much does it cost to buy it?"

"For the sake of your sincerity in buying it... 1500 dollars!"

Durant was shocked~

It also. .Too cheap? . .

This damn boss didn’t leave any room for him to bargain~

Faced with this shamefully low price, Durant gritted his teeth and took out his savings, found a partner, applied for a bank loan, and bought the carriage factory that changed the trajectory of his life~

two months later.

William Billy Durant, who became the owner of a carriage factory, took the samples carefully manufactured by his factory to the Commodity Expo held in Wisconsin~

at the fair.

Durant, who had a full level of True Deception, faced everyone in attendance and successfully won the Expo's highest honor, the Blue Ribbon Award. .And brought back an order for 600 carriages~

But when he returned to the factory with great satisfaction, his partners, who were surprised to hear the good news, were stunned for a moment and then asked a small question. .

“Have you ever thought about our production capabilities?”

This time, it was Durant's turn to be confused. .

But after Durant calmed down, an idea flashed in his mind and he came up with the best solution: OEM!

He found the largest local carriage factory and placed an order for 600 carriages with them~

After he obtained these carriages, he arranged for workers in his factory to improve these carriages by installing shock-absorbing springs. .

Use this method. .Durant easily secured an order for 600 carriages~

At this point, Durant figured out one thing from this deal~

There are no orders that cannot be completed in the world, only products that cannot be sold. .

As a result, Durant began to use his really crazy salesmanship and received a large number of orders. .

At the same time, he used the money he earned from completing orders through OEM to continue to expand his acquisition of the entire industry chain in the horse-drawn carriage manufacturing industry. .

In 1900, after 14 years of rapid development, Durant's Carriage Company had become the largest super giant company in the industry in the United States. .Absolute leader in the industry!

Durant also realized his dream of becoming a millionaire. .

He became a big name in his hometown of Flint, and people loved Durant.

Everyone knows that he is a very enthusiastic person who likes to help others, does not care about interests, is very righteous, has no airs of being a millionaire, and does not like to fight for power~

If you hang out with him, it doesn't matter whether you make money or not. The most important thing is that you will never lose money~

Because every time the business lost money, Durant paid out of his own pocket to make up for everyone's losses. .

In 1904, James Whiting, a fellow Flint man, approached Durant and wanted to beg Durant to acquire his automobile company, which was on the verge of bankruptcy. .

As a well-known local entrepreneur in his hometown, Durant has always been very optimistic about the future development of the automobile industry, but due to his personality, he did not immediately refuse~

He proposed that he want to see James' car company with his own eyes. .

a few days later.

James took Durant to visit his car company and invited Durant to test drive the latest car.

Durant readily agreed, and after getting in the car and driving for a few laps, he was surprised to find out. .The development speed of automobiles exceeded his imagination~

This car drives fast and steadily, without the feeling of being killed at all times like in previous years. .

After Durant said goodbye to James, he returned home and collected more detailed information on the development of the automobile industry. He decisively decided to give up the horse-drawn carriage business and invest heavily in the emerging automobile manufacturing industry!

After he saved the company and became the majority shareholder, Durant took the latest car products produced by his family to New York and once again used his natural skills. After an auto show, he sold 1100 cars. .

When Durant returned to the company with orders again, everyone was shocked. .

This order figure is beyond their imagination. .

Because at that time, the newly acquired automobile manufacturing company produced by Durant only produced more than 40 vehicles a year. .

Such a huge order may require continuous production for 20 years. .

Durant couldn't laugh or cry when he heard this concern, and felt a sense of déjà vu. .

But such a small problem can’t trouble Durant~

He once again used the old trick he used when he first took over the carriage factory: OEM!

However, now Durant is no longer the little salesman who spent $1500 and needed a bank loan~

While he was looking for OEMs, he was frantically expanding his production scale and constantly acquiring some small automobile production workshops. .

Just one year later, Durant's factory increased its production capacity to 750 cars per year. .

At this time, Durant was very confident and believed that he could replicate his success in the horse-drawn carriage industry and create a giant company in the automobile manufacturing industry.

In 1907, Durant really successfully copied himself, making this automobile company the largest company in the industry in the United States.

He also designed a large and complete national sales network for this company, laying the foundation for the later automobile dealership franchise system.

This is the second highlight moment in William Billy Durant’s life~

The car company's brand still exists today, and it still bears the name of its founder: David Dunbar Buick, Buick Motors!

. . .

In the same year, 1907, Durant received news that the banking tycoon Morgan family was preparing to invest in the automobile industry.

They are looking for people to negotiate, and want to conduct a major merger and acquisition in the industry and establish a trust-level automobile manufacturing monopoly company. .

As a result, many colleagues in the automotive industry came to ask Durant, the leader in the industry, to hear his views on this matter. .

Durant, who likes to make the company bigger and stronger and expand continuously, realizes the value of this opportunity!

If all automobile brand production companies could be united to form an industry alliance company, what potential would there be?How much room for development will there be?

After a period of serious consideration, Durant decided to hold an unprecedented scale industry meeting ~

At the meeting, he announced the unified merger and acquisition plan to all his domestic colleagues~

This plan was not recognized by colleagues attending the meeting, but Durant was not discouraged.

In 1908, Durant went door-to-door to negotiate with colleagues~

And through a series of equity swaps and cash mergers and acquisitions, a new automobile group was born~

The brands of this new group include: Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Catka, Oakland and more than a dozen brands.

The name of this new group has also been permanently recorded in history because of Durant's unremitting efforts: General Motors!

This is the third highlight moment in William Billy Durant's life!

Durant was therefore evaluated by later generations as: the founder of General Motors!

However, due to various factors, Durant failed to successfully integrate Ford into this new group. .

This has also become a lifelong regret for Durant. .

Of course, William Billy Durant was not a perfect person. .

His character determines his fate for the rest of his life. .

In 1910, under the management of the expansionist Durant, General Motors' sales reached an astonishing figure of 4 million US dollars, but the total profit was only 95 million US dollars. .

The company's shareholders and investors were deceived by the low profit margin despite high sales. .

They began to find someone to calculate the company's finances and found that Durant still acted according to his own personality when managing such a large General Motors company. .

He was very generous in providing financial help to friends in the business world, and even guaranteed loans and debts for others in the name of General Motors. .

In the past, Durant’s Buick Motor Company belonged to him~

Now, General Motors. .It belongs to all shareholders. .

Durant's approach is obviously very inappropriate~

Moreover, at this time, General Motors' old rival, Ford, launched a classic model from the early 20th century: the Ford Model T ~

This Ford Model T car retains only the most core functions and is simplified to the point where it doesn't even have a fuel gauge. .

Is there any fuel left in the car's fuel tank? .The driver needs to have a good memory. .

But its extremely simplified price has directly reduced the sales unit price of the automobile industry by 80%~

General Motors' Durant, faced with such internal and external troubles and criticism from shareholders, finally chose to leave the company. .

But after leaving, Durant was not convinced. .

He believes that those shareholders were blinded by short-term interests. GM will definitely defeat Ford again and become the sales leader in the automobile industry. .

So, after leaving, Durant returned to his hometown and found automotive engineer Louis Chevrolet~

At this time, Louis was also trying to design his own car. One of them contributed the money, the other came up with the design, and they hit it off!

The newly established company, headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, was named Chevrolet Motors after Louis Chevrolet.

In 1911, Durant, who was 50 years old, held a banquet in his hometown, and all celebrities from his hometown were present~

At the banquet, Durant did not use the true deception technique for which he is famous again. .

Instead, he told everyone emotionally about his plan to start a new business. .

People in Durant's hometown all recognized his reputation and character that he has accumulated over the years, and once again gave Durant their full support. .

As a result, Durant received the funds raised from his hometown elders and invested in the development of a new company, Chevrolet Motors.

Two months later, Louis Chevrolet lived up to expectations and took out a Chevrolet prototype car. .

This prototype car, called littlesix, was driven to Detroit by Louis one night and reached a speed of nearly 180 kilometers per hour on a flat suburban road. .

Later, Chevrolet launched the classic C-series luxury car. This car was called luxury because its price was as high as 2150 yuan, which was more than twice the price of ordinary cars at the time. .

Faced with such a high sales price, Durant, who had always been thinking about competing with his old rival Ford for market share, was stunned. .

He directly appointed Louis, a designer who was confident in his design products, as a sales representative. .

And Louis actually came up with several cases in the car sales industry~

Lewis gathered a group of reporters, placed a pencil on the roof of the Chevy, then started the car's engine and let the car idle.

The reporters were surprised to find that the pencil placed in the car had not moved at all. .

They all lamented Lewis's genius design and Chevrolet's superior performance. .

In this way, more than 1000 expensive Chevrolet cars were sold in one year. .

Chevrolet created a miracle in the automotive industry~

However, Durant did not give up the idea of ​​competing for the market with his old rival Ford. .

In 1913, Chevrolet launched a low-priced car to compete with Ford.

In 1915, Chevrolet launched the famous 490 series of cars.

The name of the 490 series of cars comes from the fact that the price of Ford cars at that time was 495 meters. .

This high-performance, low-priced car launched by Chevrolet became popular throughout the United States as soon as it was launched, expanding Chevrolet's annual output from less than 20 vehicles to [-] vehicles. .

Chevrolet's status as a national-level car has been established since then!

After Durant became successful again, he relied on the money he earned at Chevrolet to continue to purchase shares of General Motors.

After many extreme operations.

At the end of 1915, more than half of the General Motors Board of Directors approved Durant, the founder and founder of General Motors, to return to General Motors and take charge of the overall situation. .

Durant once again ushered in the highlight moment of his life!

In 1920, the United States once again faced an economic crisis due to World War I.

When Durant was handling the crisis for General Motors this time, he made the wrong choice to continuously invest a large amount of money to suppress the decline in his own stock price. .

However, in this crisis in the general environment, GM's stock price fell again and again, making Durant's crisis response strategy fall into a vicious cycle~

At the end of 1920, General Motors ceased production across the board.

A month later, when shareholders held a meeting and asked Durant how much money was left in the company, they received desperate news. .

Durant owed $3400 million in debt to General Motors, and every night he had to think of various ways to collect the deposit to be paid the next day. .

Once this negative news came out, various negotiations continued between shareholders, investors, bankers, and major capital groups~

In the end, everyone agreed and gave Durant a decent deal.

All of Durant's GM stock was paid off against the debt owed. .

After the accountants calculated all the debts, Durant, who was on the verge of bankruptcy, had less than $8000 left in his account. .

Durant, who is nearly 60 years old at this time, was a multi-millionaire a few months ago and became a pauper a few months later~

However, people who know Durant do not believe that Durant, who has been extremely optimistic throughout his life and loves to toss, would choose to lie down after this fall. .

In 1921, Durant started his own business again and established the Durant Automobile Company!

It has to be said that Durant, who has been in the automobile industry for decades, succeeded again this time~

Two years later.

After the company's development entered a stable period, he chose to get funds and invest in the hot stock market~

In 1924, with the end of World War I, the world economy recovered, and the Coolidge era of prosperity came, Durant earned 200 million dollars in the stock market in just two days!

It has to be mentioned here.

The German Hermann Lahm, the "father of modern bank robbery" who was a contemporary of Durant, had robbed banks all his life, but he had not robbed enough 100 million dollars. .

From this we can conclude that robbing banks is too inefficient and there is no way to make money at all. .If you don't do it right, you will lose your life!

Let’s go back to Durant.

In 1929, the fateful Great Depression in the United States came as expected. .

Durant received an invitation from a business tycoon to help save the stock market, which was on the verge of collapse. .

This big boss is Rockefeller II!

The result. .

Durant declared bankruptcy in 1936. .

Durant, who went bankrupt again, chose to return to his hometown of Flint and opened a food store. .

Later, with the money he earned from the food store, he opened a bowling alley. .

In 1940, Durant, who was nearly 80 years old, was still enthusiastic about starting a business. .

He believes that the cinnabar mine is a good opportunity to start a business!

So he ran to Nevada and inspected the project.

But the 80-year-old Durant overestimated his physical health and suffered a stroke due to fatigue.

As a last resort, he and his wife chose to move to an apartment in New York.

It was different from the ups and downs in the first half of his life.

Durant, who was ill in his later years, lived a very difficult and difficult life ~

He had to reach out to his daughter, whom he loved most, to pray for living expenses. .

However, the daughter, who has 3600 million yuan in trust assets donated by her father, is extremely stingy. .

For every penny she gave to her elderly father, she asked Durant to put a receipt. .

Even if you buy an extra newspaper, you have to record it in your account. .

Durant's wife, unable to bear the humiliation of her biological daughter, turned to her ex-daughter-in-law, who had donated $500 in trust assets, for help, just to get Durant better treatment.

However, the largest gift their ex-daughter-in-law gave them was twenty dollars. .

However, Durant has worked hard in the mall for many years and has many friends and admirers~

Many of his former subordinates have become new bosses in the business world.

These people all extended a helping hand to him and gave him help, so that he did not become homeless in his later years.

On March 1947, 3, Durant, the founder of General Motors and Chevrolet, died in an apartment in New York at the age of 18.

At the last moment of his life, he wrote his last request: Leave a door on my tombstone, what if I can come back? . .

Facts have proved that Durant thought too much and he couldn’t find his way back~

Many years after Durant's death, the Chevrolet gold bow tie logo he designed himself, along with McDonald's and Coca-Cola, are known as the three representative cultural symbols of the United States.

(ps: William Billy Durant’s several ups and downs in his life were all related to the automobile industry~

After reading his life story, I felt that Durant must have been reborn in the wrong universe. .

He should go to the planet Cybertron and lead the Autobots to save their homeland. .

In that case, there would be nothing wrong with the Decepticons. . )

----

Morgan family estate.

Old Morgan fell into memories.

In Durant's later years, he had just graduated from college and came into contact with the family business.

Along with the family elders, he has visited Durant many times, who has a legendary life and a great reputation for character.

Later, before Durant suffered from aphasia, Morgan Sr. had many in-depth conversations with the old man in his personal capacity as a junior.

Every time, Durant will have some more novel ideas that keep popping up. .

Durant's optimism and his advanced personal insights in the business field gave the old Morgan great help and inspiration in his youth.

Therefore, when old Morgan heard Pine say that David looked like Durant, the nostalgia in his heart escaped. .

Now, he is also old~

Perhaps because of his age, old Morgan often gets caught up in memories of the past.

Of course Pine understands this~

He sat quietly opposite Old Morgan, with a calm expression on his face, but not very calm inside~

Durant and David have many similarities.

But can these similarities make old Morgan completely let down his guard against David and give him trust?

Pine doesn’t know~

But the answer will be there soon!