Chapter 110: Key points

On 20 September 2014, a minibus pulled up at the famous State Street intersection in Brighton. A middle-aged man got out with a group of students, and they walked along the street to the entrance of a very spectacular financial building.

'Isn't this the Brighton Bank Building?' the students exclaimed, after all, the Brighton Bank Building has always been a symbol of the city of Brighton, and it is relatively difficult not to recognise it.

However, some students were curious about the purpose of their visit: 'Teacher, what are you bringing us here for? Are you going to let us do an internship here? But we haven't started our internships yet, so isn't it a bit too early to come here? And we're already in our first year of graduate school, not too young and not too old, but it seems like our internship positions aren't going to be easy to arrange.'

Facing the students' questions, the middle-aged man just shook his head and didn't answer. He took the students to the café across from the bank building and found a private room with a view of the bank building.

After the middle-aged man and his students sat down in the private room, he said, 'Today's lesson is about understanding corporate mergers and acquisitions. Although I'm not sure where you will go after graduating from school, whether it's a fund company or another company, you must understand corporate mergers and acquisitions, otherwise you will be no different from an idiot.'

The middle-aged man then pointed to the bank building across the street: 'That is the Brighton Bank Building, one of the three pillar banks in our country. Its total assets exceed one trillion U.S. dollars, which is second to none in the world. But even such a giant was acquired through a $3 million merger 20 years ago, which can be called a textbook leveraged merger.'

This remark was like a bombshell, stunning everyone. The students exclaimed in astonishment, 'Teacher, this is impossible. Even after accounting for development and inflation, Brighton Bank's assets were still worth hundreds of billions of dollars twenty years ago. No matter how much debt it had, it should not have been acquired for just US$3 million. This figure is simply unbelievable!'

Another student said, 'This is not so much a merger as a robbery. I think it's more accurate to say that this is not a textbook leveraged buyout. Because even the most exaggerated novel could never write it like this, could it?'

Facing the students' amazement and doubts, the middle-aged man just calmly sat there drinking coffee. He waited until the students were tired of talking before he said, 'If someone had told me 25 years ago that I could merge Brighton Bank for 3 million US dollars, no matter who that person was or what his achievements in the field of economics were, I would have poured coffee in his face and said even more outrageous things than you did.'

Hearing the middle-aged man speak, all the students stopped talking at the same time and listened quietly to what he had to say.

The middle-aged man sighed and finally gave a helpless laugh, 'But now I can't help believing, because I was an eyewitness to that incredible merger.'

As the middle-aged man spoke, there was an exclamation of surprise in the compartment, but the middle-aged man had no reason to turn his head and look out the window at the tall bank building and mutter, 'It was because of that merger that I came to believe that there are truly geniuses in this world. That was the year that Chinese man who had slapped everyone down with one slap after another.'

...

Time travelled back to 1990, to a seaside vacation villa in Rhode Island. This was a type of vacation villa in Rhode Island that was specially rented out to outsiders. Since many people only came to Rhode Island for vacations and did not need to purchase property here, there were many rental villas in Rhode Island of all kinds and prices.

Although Zhou Ming had negotiated an alliance with the three families of Kennedey Lawrence and Lowell, he was in no hurry to return to Brighton, so he rented a luxury villa in Rhode Island, where Edward, Lawrence and Louis also lived.

In the morning, Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing watched TV in the living room of the villa. Edward Lawrence and Louis walked downstairs together and took down a kraft paper bag.

'Mr. Zhou Ming, here are the property documents you requested on the Adams family. Although it was impossible to find out in such a short time which member of the Adams family controlled which property or company, we have roughly recorded which properties they control. Here they are,' said Edward as he handed Zhou Ming the kraft paper bag.

Zhou Ming took the kraft paper bag and glanced at Edward. He knew very well in his heart that although the Brighton Consortium included hundreds of companies, as the three families that also controlled the Brighton Consortium, they could not really not know who in the Adams family controlled which company. After all, there were so many companies, and only so many that the Adams family would really want to take a fancy to and firmly control.

Edward's words probably meant that the three families wanted to leave themselves a way out. In case the plan to deal with the Adams family failed, the situation would not be completely hopeless.

Leave a way out for the future, so that you can meet again.

Zhou Ming understood this truth, so he didn't expose it. Zhou Ming opened the kraft paper bag. Although he had been prepared, he still gasped when he saw the contents.

'Brighton Bank, Massachusetts Insurance Company, Massachusetts Securities Company, Bell Aircraft Company, Phoenix Corporation, Massachusetts Cotton Company, Northeast Mining Company, Brighton Media Company...'

Zhou Ming read out the names of these companies one by one. Each of the companies above is a very famous company in Massachusetts or even the entire United States. It is unbelievable that they are all holding companies of the Adams family. These companies together take care of almost every aspect of the industry. No wonder Brighton can be called a consortium that monopolises one side, and the Adams family is even more of a family that monopolises the consortium. This tentacle spread is unbelievable.

Zhou Ming remembered that he had read an interesting comment online, saying that the reason Li Cheng would become the richest Chinese person in the world in the future was because no matter how much money he spent in Gangcheng, it would eventually come back to him through his industries.

This is undoubtedly a joke, but it does illustrate one of the most important economic laws, which is monopoly.

Imagine that Li Cheng has monopolised many of the industries in Hong Kong and has become the richest Chinese in the world. Now the Adams family, through the Brighton Consortium, has monopolised the clothing, food, housing and transportation of the entire state of Massachusetts, from a button to an aircraft missile, and even participated in the moon landing project. How can a monopoly of this magnitude not be huge and shocking?

Without waiting until the end, Zhou Ming closed the file and said with a wry smile, 'It seems that the Adams family really has a lot of resources!'

'These are just the companies they control,' Lawrence reminded Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming looked up at Lawrence and Lawrence reminded him again, "Mr Zhou Ming, I think you remember Congressman Brook, don't you?'

Reminded by Lawrence's words, Zhou Ming remembered, "You mean the congressman they support?'

'Not only the congressmen, but also the people they groomed in various departments of the state government. These people may not have the surname Adams, but since they are always surrounded by friends or relatives with the surname Adams, it is much more convenient for them to obtain loans and other things, so these people are also very happy to work for the Adams family,' Louis explained for Ming.

Zhou Ming let out a breath and said, 'In other words, the Adams family has, through three hundred years of control, firmly bound itself to this Massachusetts, right? If you want to forcibly get rid of the Adams family, it would be the same as getting rid of the entire Massachusetts.'

'Since you, Zhou Ming, have decided to deal with the Adams family, then you should have thought of this situation as well,' Edward said.

Zhou Ming did not reply because he simply did not know how to reply. Indeed, as Edward said, when he decided to take on the Adams family, he had thought about what kind of giant he was dealing with. But now, when he saw the companies controlled by the Adams family and thought about his possible control over the state legislature and government, it was too overwhelming.

The reason is simple: the companies controlled by the Adams family, combined, form a very complete and benign industrial chain. No matter which link in the chain one destroys, the other party can recover in a very short period of time. If one unites the three families, not to mention whether they can work together, even if they can, once things get out of hand and the state government and state legislature intervene forcibly, things will be very difficult.

For Zhou Ming, the current Adams family is like a round ice hockey puck, and he only has a sewing needle. He has no idea where to start in order to destroy the puck all at once.

Seeing Zhou Ming's distressed appearance, Edward Lawrence and Louis were very happy: 'It seems that the Adams family's three hundred years of arrangements have not been made in vain, at least even someone as smart as you, Mr. Zhou Ming, is stumped. But there is no way around it. After all, the Adams family's control is too complete. I don't know how many people have tried to get rid of the Adams family many times, but unfortunately they have all failed. How could an outsider succeed with just a slogan?'

Facing the mockery of the three, Zhou Ming did not say a word, but Lin Muqing, who was with Zhou Ming, could not sit still. She said discontentedly, 'What's wrong with you guys? What's the point of sitting here and making sarcastic comments instead of helping to think of a solution? Is it that if Zhou Ming can't think of a solution, it's good for you guys? After all, you are all from the Brighton Consortium!'

Lin Muqing's words reminded Zhou Ming, who immediately looked up and said to Edward Lawrence and Louis, 'Yes! I still have you, don't I?'

The three men were caught off guard. They looked at each other, and in the end Edward, the most talkative one, stepped forward and said, 'Don't worry, Zhou Ming, since we have formed an alliance, we will definitely help you think...'

Edward's words had not finished when Zhou Ming interrupted him, saying, 'I think I'm sorry, Mr. Governor, because I don't intend to let you help me think, but I want you to tell me directly where the key point of the Adams family is.'

Zhou Ming's words left Edward Lawrence and Louis stunned. They could never have imagined that Zhou Ming would say such a thing. Louis shrugged and said, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, that's a strange thing to say. How could we possibly know what the key point is? You can't just blame it on us if you can't think of it!'

'I'm not blaming it on you, but you definitely know it!' Zhou Ming said very decisively, 'As the three families that control the Brighton consortium, you are married to each other, and the industrial companies you control basically overlap. For 300 years in the Brighton consortium, you have not been so peaceful with each other, so you definitely know it.'

Edward Lawrence and Louis wanted to explain something more, but Zhou Ming said again, 'Or do I not see the problem at a glance, and you three hundred years have not been able to find it? Then this is no longer a matter of intelligence.'

Faced with Zhou Ming's words, Edward Lawrence and Louis could not help but feel a little embarrassed. They looked at each other, and in the end, Edward replied, 'Okay, it seems that Mr. Zhou Ming is worthy of the name. I tell you, the key point of the Adams family is in the Brighton Bank.'