Chapter 602
"Good morning, Warren. Michael said you're coming to Washington?"
After looking at the photos of her and little Aria sent by Charlize, and sighing with emotion, Abel was about to step forward to chat with his wife, father-in-law, and mother-in-law, but was stopped by a call from Warren Buffett.
Abel had no choice but to wave his hand towards little Laura, smile and talk on the phone, walk back to the living room, reach out and signal to the maid in the living room.
The maid in the living room nodded respectfully and went to make coffee for the master.
"Abel, since Michael told you in advance, he should have also told you about my interest in the Kansas City Southern Railway Company."
"Yes, Michael did tell me. But I'm really curious, dear Warren, why did you suddenly fall in love with an old and broken asset like the railway? You know it's not 100 years ago, even the railway kings ran away Sell financial products and sell securities. You are such a successful Wall Street businessman, but you want to be a railroad king. Can you tell me your journey? You know that in a while, even my rocket will go into space."
The corners of Abel's mouth raised slightly, his tone was deliberately very curious, and he asked knowingly.
Half a month ago, Michael Bloomberg suddenly called Abel in Los Angeles.
On the phone, the Oilers boss told Abel that he and Warren Buffett, another giant of the Hydra Gang, wanted to take action against the Kansas City Southern Railway.
Kansas City Southern Railroad Company is a railroad company with a long history and one of the seven Class I railroad companies in the United States.
It was founded in Delaware in 1887 and is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. The Kansas in its name is also the Kansas, not the Kansas next door to Texas.
This company is a transportation holding company whose main business is investing in railway construction in the United States, Mexico and Panama. Its main holding company in the United States is the Kansas Southern Railway Company, which serves the central and south-central United States.
It has been serving the northeastern United States, central, south-central and central Mexico, the port cities of Rock Cardenas, Tampico and Veracruz and owns 50% of the Panama Canal Railway Company Equity, providing ocean-to-ocean passenger and passenger services along the Panama Canal.
In addition, Kansas Southern's "North American Railroad Holdings and Strategic Alliance" is a major component of the NAFTA rail system, connecting commercial and industrial centers in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
If the railroad system is the blood vessel of this country, then the Kansas City Southern Railway Company is an important sub-vessel system among many blood vessels.
It is particularly important in the U.S. railway system. Together with Amtrak, Union Pacific Railway, Norfolk Southern Railway, Burlington Northern-Santa Fe NS and other railway groups, it is also known as the seven major railway groups in the United States. Together they monopolize more than 50% of the country's railway operations.
In fact, it is mainly for transporting materials and cargo. After all, the United States has a very complete commercial flight system for manned flights.
In a country of capital, railroad companies are all listed companies, even the Federal Reserve is a private bank, and the same goes for Amtrak, which bears the national name.
Not to mention the Kansas City Southern Railroad.
It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has an annual turnover of between 25 and 30 billion US dollars, and a total market value of about 45 billion US dollars. It is well-known on the list of the top 500 companies in the United States.
At first, Abel was curious as to why Bloomberg and Buffett, two Wall Street tycoons, were suddenly interested in an asset-heavy sunset company like Kansas City Southern Railroad.
Fortunately, Buffett can say that his investment philosophy is relatively conservative and it is possible to invest in the railway transportation sector.
But as an Oiler, Bloomberg should generally have no interest in companies like Kansas City Southern Railroad. Even if he is interested, he will still be very worried because of his identity as an Oiler.
Although it is not stated clearly, the group-based orthodox American forces have actually been restricting the Oilers.
It's okay for the Oilers to engage in finance, high technology, media and real estate.
But if there are oil people who want to engage in industries such as energy that involve the lifeblood of the country, it will not be that easy.
Later, because Abel was the leader of the "New York Hydra" after all, or because he knew he couldn't hide it from Abel, Bloomberg told him the truth to a certain extent.
Old Meyer was pushed out.
It is precisely because of the multiple restrictions placed on the Oilers by the orthodox forces in the United States that the Oilers have always wanted to break the situation.
They don't want to be completely white gloves, they also want to be one of the masters of the country.
Now, as the Oilers who work most closely with Abel, the Oilers internally feel that Bloomberg can gain Abel's support. They used their interests to convince Buffett and then pushed Bloomberg out.
I hope to get help from Abel and then put my hands into this important industry.
Even if the shareholding ratio is smaller, it doesn't matter. The most important thing is to maintain a sense of presence.
This is what the knowledgeable people in the Oilers think.
"..."
Listening to Abel's knowing question, Buffett on the other end of the phone fell into a brief silence. After a while, he said, "If I said it was profitable, you would not believe it. But if I said I wanted to be a railroad king, you would be even more convinced. I don't believe it. Given the relationship between us, I'll just say it bluntly. The reason is very simple, that is, the huge influence brought by your continuous investment in heavy assets makes me and the people around me feel very good."
"We also want to try it to see if we can strengthen our influence in this area. Of course, making money is also important. The seven major railway companies are all very good cash cows. Although the profits are not as good as other industries, they are better than Stable. From this perspective, they are also high-quality assets."
"I don't have high hopes for National Railroad and Union Pacific, but I'm somewhat sure about Kansas City Southern and Burlington Northern-Santa Fe NS. If you're willing to help, I'd be even more sure."
Abel pouted, thinking that I am also interested in National Railway and Union Pacific, but that is the territory of Morgan and the old overlords. To move these two companies is to say to Morgan, "Let's fight to the death." "Bar!
Even Abel wouldn't have thought about them unless necessary.
Just like Morgan and Rockefeller, they would not express their thoughts directly to Smith Financial Group.
"Then why Kansas City Southern? Isn't there also a Burlington Northern-Santa Fe NS?"
Abel was not disturbed by Warren's frank attitude. Instead, he raised the corners of his mouth and asked in a tone that did not know what Warren meant.
Abel would not completely trust dealing with a scheming old fox like Warren Buffett, even if he was one of his allies.
In fact, let alone Buffett and the others, Abel was on guard even if it was a shrub.
In this super social country, there are never any eternal relationships. The only thing that remains unchanged is interest, and everyone's desire for interest.
And from the perspective of real interests, they are just allies. Buffett and others only belong to the periphery of the Texas United Consortium.
The same goes for the entire New York Hydra gang.
If Abel had to choose between the Hydra Gang and the Texas United Consortium, he would definitely choose Texas.
Because that is his basic base, and the New York Hydra Gang is just a peripheral organization that he uses to exert his influence and strengthen his power.
Now that the other party wanted something from him, how could Abel hand over the initiative so easily? If he wanted to help, he could only do it at his pace.
Because he wants things like railways too!
To some extent, it is even more important than energy and belongs to the real lifeblood of the country.
Given the opportunity, Abel would naturally not let it go.