Chapter 201

Chapter 201 buys an NBA team for two hours

The reason Abel suggested that Pacific Commercial Joint Stock Bank choose American Express.

There's a reason.

American Express' commercial banking business is not the best among banks.

At best, it can be considered middle class.

Can show the company's commercial banking activities. Among banks at this level, thanks to their platforms and systems, they have a very high global coverage.

This is clearly due to the great success of travel services for high-end customers.

In terms of global coverage, American Express, a mid-sized commercial bank, ranks among the top five banks in the U.S. banking industry.

Whether Pacific Bank of Commerce could merge or acquire American Express Company.

Pacific Commercial Joint Stock Bank's current overseas operations are almost non-existent, which could open up the situation immediately. At the same time, American Express Bank's size is right in the range that Pacific Bank hopes to take over.

Even bigger, the Pacific Bank of Commerce and Abel wouldn't be able to swallow it with their current strength.

More importantly, it started last September.

Express performance is very poor.

bank stock price,

Since its peak in 1996, a stock has reached $160. It fell until last September and the highest price was only $27.35 per share.

It declined until the end of January 2001 and was left at only $13.65 per share.

Its total share capital is about 1.36 billion shares.

Use current stock price for calculation.

The market value of American Express is only 1.359 billion X13.65. That means American Express's current market value is only about 18.55 billion USD.

It is currently the cheapest of the Dow Jones component stocks.

Such a company has total assets of more than 20 billion US dollars, deposit assets of more than 160 billion US dollars, and a market value of 18.55 billion US dollars.

This type of company is definitely a very high quality company in the eyes of a "stock sniper" like Da Liu on Hong Kong Island.

However, Renjia Express Company's stock price at its peak exceeded 160 US dollars, and its total market value even exceeded 200 billion US dollars. It once reached its peak but now it has declined and it looks like it will continue to decline.

But his company has always been very stable internally, because it's almost an institutional value.

What is institutional action?

are shareholders, most of whom are institutions, i.e. investment companies, banks and finance companies, as well as financial companies.

As a company with a history of more than 150 years, its brand value is deeply rooted in the hearts of the European and American world. may even be selected as a Dow Jones Services Company.

More than 80% of its shares are owned by various institutions, large and small, and more than 900 institutions hold its shares.

Currently, its main shareholder, named Berkshire, is the Buffett company.

Buffett's company owns 151.61 million shares, equivalent to 11.4% of American Express' total equity capital.

Buffett's love for American Express is well known to later generations. The second largest shareholder is Pioneer Pilot Group, owning more than 9% of shares.

The top 20 shareholders own more than 50% of American Express.

In fact, because of its status as a Dow constituent, it never lacks investors.

Abe and the US Pacific Bank of Commerce, tried to swallow American Express's words.

The difficulty can be said to be very high. But there is good news in the latest USD/JPY battle.

In addition to cash profits, Smith Capital also brings Abel many benefits.

Among these advantages, we see many American Express stocks.

During this period, Abe acquired about 6.9% of AmEx shares.

Partnering with the Pacific Bank of Commerce, they purchased and brought cheap goods to market during this time. Now it's Smith Capital, plus Pacific Bank of Commerce.

American Express shares owned by the two companies currently account for about 8%.

This ratio can be classified as the third largest shareholder group.

The current problem is that American Express's secondary market share is only about 18%.

Abel destroyed about 3% and at most only about 15% remained. Everything else is in the hands of the agency.

This makes Pacific Bank of Commerce want to buy back American Express shares.

Even if 15% of shares are sold, the participation rate will not exceed 25%.

The remaining shares can only be placed on the primary market.

It's about buying from the hands of these organizations. But one day, Abel intended to wipe out the property or to usurp and annex it.

AmEx stock is about to skyrocket.

It is estimated that analyzing just 15% of inventory could cost tens of billions of dollars.

The important thing is that you may not be able to scan it yet.

Because in this process. The smell of capital blood will certainly attract the attention of global investors to US stocks.

American Express itself is a high quality company.

By that time, the total cost of the acquisition could exceed $50 billion.

This makes Abel unacceptable.

Luckily, "Talent" tells Abel that American Express will continue to decline this year. 1:65 pm is not the end.

In September this year, there will be many good opportunities to buy coins across the United States.

Not as good as 2008.

But in 2008, that will be the best opportunity.

Abel's goal is. Before that day comes, raise at least $60 billion+ in funding and start looking for the end result.

As for American Express, you can temporarily put it aside.

February 5, 2001.

Morning.

Los Angeles. MGM, the chairman's office is on the top floor.

Abel is bored lying on the sofa in the office living room, playing on the phone with Snake.

He was waiting for a call from Allen, who was negotiating with Sony Columbia in the foothills of Beverly Hills.

If they can return before noon, they can have lunch together.

At this time, Abel can also ask about the latest situation. Some time ago, on the island of Hawaii, Howard Stringer personally visited him.

Abel gave conditions.

Howard Stringer returned and gave his opinion to Sony headquarters.

Currently, negotiations on this issue have begun.

Alan is the core of the think tank group. Take a few people from the team to conduct final negotiations with the other side.

Spider-Man Parker's next fortune depends on the outcome of this negotiation.

Greedy Snake plays round after round, eventually Abel gets a bit bored.

I don't know why, after experiencing the "delicious food of the mountains" and the happiness that I couldn't experience in my previous life.

Today, he misses the pesticide and chicken eating games he used to play. It's a shame that his talents are limited to financial awareness.

This has no effect on the development of technology.

And there are many things that cannot be produced by spending money on research and development.

This also means, even if he is very rich.

In 2022, normal people can play smart games, but now it is impossible. Thinking of this, Abel lost interest in the greedy snake in his hand.

He threw the phone on the sofa, stood up and walked a few steps to the edge of the table.

He saw his desk placed in the corner of the set of "American Sun".

Abel directly took it out and opened the newspaper.

The American Sun started out as a small newspaper in the New York area. At that time, it was called the New York Sun.

After being bought by Abel, he now caught up with Abel's "Smith Storm".

In addition to many exclusive reveals, there are also very special magazine bonuses.

At its most incredible time last year, it did more than 1 million in sales in just one day.

Single-day sales are in the top 5 in the United States. As Hurricane Smith subsided, his sales gradually declined.

After this year, it finally stabilized at around 500,000 daily sales.

Note, "American Sun" with daily sales of 500,000 copies.

In the current American daily newspaper category, it can only be ranked fifteenth.

The Wall Street Journal has the highest daily sales, with an average daily sale of about 240 copies last year. However, this data is after 2022.

Even the Wall Street Journal, the best-selling daily newspaper, has fewer than 700,000 copies.

The New York Times ranked second in the rankings with only 300,000 copies remaining.

The "Daily News" ranked 22nd, down to more than 50,000 copies.

One can imagine how sluggish the sales of these American newspapers have been over the past two decades. Of course, this is related to the development of mobile Internet.

Before the rise of mobile Internet, although there was an impact of the Internet.

Before 2012, these newspapers still achieved good revenue.

And when the era of mobile Internet will come, as long as you can get on the mobile Internet train in time.

The influence of these newspapers will not diminish much. They simply transfer everyday information to mobile phones.

2001 now.

The "American Sun" could sell 500,000 copies a day and it was a big newspaper at that time.

Its positioning is mass entertainment, like Murdoch's "New York Post".

Of course, most of the above content is loved by the public. At the same time, this newspaper was authorized by Abel.

He liked to cover all kinds of news about boss Abel Smith.

Many other newspapers do not have Abel's documents; they have an imperial charter so they can report.

This is one of the reasons why the company can maintain sales at 500,000 units.

"Smith Storm" is over though. There are still many people who like to read all kinds of information about the super rich and young and beautiful.

Like Cong news, including 2022.

Many people have seen it on their mobile phones and they will watch it a few more times.

Abel anchors today's New York Sun.

The front page headline above is a recent topic of interest to everyone in the United States. He's a Texan who just moved into the White House.

After moving in, the first policy was implemented.

Tax cuts.

Texans claim they will cut taxes for all Americans by $1.3 trillion during his term.

This policy is wonderful. Because in America there are only two inevitable things.

One side is death, the other side is paying taxes.

But it actually looks good.

You should know that in the United States, taxes on the poor and the rich are different.

If it's a targeted tax cut, like a tax cut specifically for the poor, then this type of tax cut is even better. But if that's not the goal, everyone cuts taxes.

In fact, the poor are the ones who suffer the most.

Because the total amount of tax payable by the poor is relatively small, if the total amount of tax payable is reduced, there is no way to reduce it much.

I had to pay 105 yuan in tax but now I only have to pay 100 yuan.

Five dollars less is better than nothing. Rich people pay high taxes. If the total tax payment is reduced, the amount of tax that can be saved will amount to a lot of money.

The tax payment of 1.05 million is only 1 million, which means a saving of 50,000 USD.

The total amount is only 1.3 trillion VND, the estimated final reduction for the poor is at most 100-200 billion VND.

More than a trillion yuan has been cut to benefit the rich and corporations. And the person in the White House is Xiangdang.

Its base cannot side with the poor.

This means his tax cuts cannot be targeted tax cuts.

In other words, everyone has a part, rich and poor, and losses.

This is essentially awareness of the disadvantages of the poor but the poor cannot see them. Or if you see it, there's no way to stop it.

This is somewhat similar to the tax reduction plan passed before British Ali stepped down in 2022.

Ali just announced the plan and it hasn't started yet. He announced just a little, directly causing the UK's debt, currency and shares to collapse into extinction.

Of course, the United States will not be so unfortunate. In 2001, the United States was on solid ground.

The tax reduction at that time will still have a certain promotional effect on the company.

It could also build goodwill among businesses and wealthy individuals toward small bushes.

First, draw a piece of cake. If you want to eat it, remember to choose me next time.

No wonder he talked about it as soon as he got on stage. Looking at the title for a while, Abel shook his head.

Under the rendering of the White House and relevant departments.

This topic is currently of greatest concern to all Americans.

This even upsets the American Sun newspaper, which usually does not publish much information about current events.

The entire front page is filled with similar reports, as well as expert interpretations. Abel was not interested in this so he turned straight to the second page.

Things got better after that, Hollywood and other entertainment news started coming out.

Abel turned to the third page, which had turned to sports news.

Commercial sports in the United States are very developed and the four major leagues have attracted countless sources of capital.

Abel saw in the newspaper that Wizards vs Warriors lost 99:102. It reminded him of the time he suddenly wanted to buy a basketball team last year.

Then, because it was too difficult to buy the Lakers and Knicks, they ended up not being bought.

Currently he is bored playing mobile games.

I thought maybe I could play an NBA game.

He held the newspaper, and on the landline next to him, he pressed button number one. Just then, David Jones walked in with Edward.

"I'm looking for David, that's none of your business, Edward."

Edward nodded and left, while David approached the boss.

"I'm planning on buying a basketball team. This time I'm serious." Abel spoke directly to David.

David's answer was also very brief: "Which team do you want to buy?"

"Rocket." Abel sighed. He really likes the Knicks.

Not because he likes it but because he loves New York.

But the Knicks really aren't that easy to buy.

So buy Rockets.

Team Texas, Abel is a Texan again. He felt he lived up to his name when he bought the Rockets.

"Okay. Then I'll have the consulting team contact Leslie Alexander of the Houston Rockets."

Abel nodded.

Two hours later, before Alan Baker and the others returned.

Another core advisory group, York West. Gephardt's former deputy CEO, a senior lobbyist registered in Washington, went to meet Abe with David Jones.

At that time Abel felt bored and started playing with his snake.

"OWNER." David Jones said.

"Open?" Abel put down the phone and looked up.

"Let York Xi speak, they have completed the task you assigned them."

"Alright." Abel looked at York West. York West is a desert American. It's amazing that an American from the desert could become a lobbyist in Washington.

Either York West is qualified, or York West has a special family background.

"OWNER." York Xi stepped forward and handed over a document:

"This is the result of our conference call with Leslie Alexander earlier."

"OH?" Abel told David to take it, opened the file and said:

"Did Leslie Alexander say yes?"

"The opponent is willing to sell the Houston Rockets." York West calmly said:

"The offer was $255 million. After negotiations, the final price was set at $240 million."

"In 1993, when Leslie Alexander bought 80% of the team from the former owner of the Houston Rockets."

"He only spent $85 million."

"For eight years, Leslie Alexander invested almost nothing in this team."

"And also on the team, I made over 20 million US dollars."

"Leslie Alexander accepted the offer when we insisted on a price of $240 million."

"However, Leslie Alexander only owns 80% of the shares of the Houston Rockets. The remaining shares are dispersed among a number of small shareholders. »

"If you want to do a wholly owned acquisition, you need at least $60 million, which means the total acquisition is about $300 million."

Abel was very pleased with York West's response.

That's right, 2001.

Rockets aren't worth much.

The Rockets are currently one of the least valuable teams in the NBA.

It was certainly deserved as he earned the first pick next year. After acquiring Dai Dao, with the support of Thien Sieu fans, the value has increased several times.

Parallel to time and space.

Even Leslie Alexander said it.

"Dayao brought me a fortune of 1.2 billion."

He said this in 2012, when Dayao had already retired.

At the time, the Rockets' market value was about $1.5 billion. Da Yao has only been with the Rockets for two years.

During these two years, the Rockets' net profits exceeded the total profits of the previous twenty years.

If not, do you think, before 2002, did you know that the NBA had 50 million rabbits?

Have a million people heard of Team Rocket Bunny?

Sure is not. But after 2002, both numbers were at least several hundred million, if not more.

"$300 million? You don't need $300 million. Grandpa Alex and my dad Alexander, they probably both own about 8% of the rocket."

Abel said: "But I think the price is more reasonable. Go sign the contract, York West, and change the name of this NBA team owner to Abel Smith."

(end of this chapter)