Chapter 517: Striking it Rich
After becoming the second largest shareholder of Huashang Bank, Wu Hongyi held a board meeting to introduce Xia Yu to the board members and shareholders of the bank. During this introduction, he naturally mentioned Xia Yu's positions as the Chairman of the Xiangjiang Jiuding Cultural Media Group and the Jiuding Financial Group.
The ability to become a shareholder of Huashang Bank typically requires significant influence within the British Chinese community or considerable business prowess. Nearly everyone in that circle had heard of Xia Yu's reputation as a "Stock God" and his remarkable achievements, though this was the first time many had seen him in person.
The reaction was one of enthusiastic welcome, coupled with amazement at Xia Yu's connection with the Wu family.
Following the board meeting, Wu Hongyi promptly convened a high-level meeting at Huashang Bank to introduce Xia Yu as the new director. The details of this process were not elaborated upon.
In summary, as Xia Yu officially appeared at Huashang Bank, news about him quickly spread in all directions. Almost all Chinese in London knew that a formidable figure from Xiangjiang had arrived, and many started to have various thoughts.
Of course, Xia Yu's arrival caused a stir only within the Chinese community. It did not create a sensation among the British. At most, only a few British people took notice. The top families in Britain did not pay much attention.
After all, although Huashang Bank is the leading bank among Chinese businesses, London alone has over six hundred banks, with more than five hundred being multinational banks. The bank's strength is not particularly outstanding among the more than one hundred local banks.
To be blunt, its strength is average. Adding a new director does not attract the attention of the capital market.
Unless top newspapers in Britain made a national announcement and introduced Xia Yu's background, it was unlikely to capture the attention of the top British families.
However, Xia Yu saw no need to do so. Once his strength became evident, his reputation would naturally spread. Any such action would only make him look foolish.
While Xia Yu was busy acquiring shares in Huashang Bank, Liu Xiao and others from the Galaxy Fund continued to quietly implement their plan.
After Xia Yu successfully joined Huashang Bank and attended two meetings, Liu Xiao and his team were nearing the end of their tasks.
Xia Yu left Huashang Bank and went to the Galaxy Fund's office on the other side of the London financial district, where he met with Liu Xiao and others.
"How's it going?" Xia Yu asked directly as he sat down.
"Boss, we have already invested 2.2 billion USD. The first billion was invested with five times leverage, the next 1.1 billion USD was invested with principal, and the last 100 million USD was invested with five times leverage. We still have 96 million USD in cash that hasn't been invested yet."
"Initially, before entering the market, the London gold price was 244.7 USD per ounce. With our accumulated 6.6 billion USD in the market, the gold price quickly rose to 246.6 USD per ounce."
Liu Xiao paused, frowning, and said, "Boss, we have been very cautious. The funds were spread across more than 200 banks, with each bank's amount not being too noticeable. However, we feel that someone might have noticed something unusual."
Xia Yu furrowed his brow and asked, "When did you start feeling this way?"
"It was yesterday afternoon when we invested 20 million USD in gold at Bahrain Bank."
"We only bought 10 million USD of gold from the Barclays Bank and Lloyds Bank, as you specifically instructed. Most of the gold was purchased from foreign banks such as Morgan Bank, Citibank, and UBS Group."
Liu Xiao immediately responded.
After hearing Liu Xiao's explanation, Xia Yu let out a slight sigh of relief. It seemed that Liu Xiao had followed his instructions.
Fortunately, the banks that noticed were not Barclays or Lloyds.
Bahrain Bank, being a core asset of the Bahrain family, which holds two noble titles, would not be a big issue even if they noticed something.
Moreover, honestly speaking, buying 20 million USD in gold is not a large amount for Bahrain Bank. After all, Bahrain Bank is one of the leading old banks in the UK. If not for some caution, buying hundreds of millions of USD in gold would not be a problem.
However, Barclays and Lloyds are different. They are backed by the Rothschild family and other major British families, whose influence is significant. Saying they have vast influence in the UK is not an exaggeration.
Although all of Xia Yu's gold orders eventually consolidated through the four major market makers, dealing with so many multinational banks made it difficult to trace. No bank would share its client information with competitors.
Thus, buying gold from major multinational banks has the highest level of confidentiality and security.
"Don't invest the remaining money for now. Wait until the revolution really erupts and then act accordingly. It will be less conspicuous at that time."
Xia Yu thought about the nearly 100 million USD yet to be invested and instructed.
"Understood!"
Liu Xiao and others responded in unison.
After a moment of contemplation, Liu Xiao suddenly asked, "Boss, does this mean we don't have anything to do for now?"
"Just right. I've established a Bright Fund. You'll be responsible for helping me set it up and improve it, then you can withdraw. Meanwhile, discreetly gather information on Rolls-Royce and the British financial and media industries. The more detailed, the better. I have great use for it."
Xia Yu thought for a moment and issued the order again.
"Got it!"
Afterward, Xia Yu left the Galaxy Fund's office.
Although he had tasked Liu Xiao and others with refining the structure of the Bright Fund, Xia Yu did not fully relinquish control. He entrusted a headhunting firm to find a general manager with sufficient connections and capabilities in the UK.
Coincidentally, the headhunting firm had made progress and recommended five candidates to Xia Yu.
Over the next two days, Xia Yu interviewed each candidate and ultimately hired a 37-year-old Briton—George Berkeley.
George Berkeley held a Ph.D. in Economics and Management from Oxford University and had experience as a stock market trader, fund investment manager, and bank department head. He passed all the tests Xia Yu set and had a broad international perspective, a certain strategic vision, and a strong network. Xia Yu greatly appreciated him.
Of course, the most important factor was that Xia Yu had relevant memories of George Berkeley and knew that Berkeley would later become the head of Goldman Sachs's UK branch, standing at the pinnacle of the UK financial industry.
George Berkeley's future position was a promising talent who had not yet fully shone, and Xia Yu certainly would not miss the opportunity.
After hiring George Berkeley as the general manager, Xia Yu tasked him with setting up and perfecting the company's structure and leveraging his extensive network to recruit talent.
Given the poor overall economic environment in the UK in recent years, the financial industry was in even worse shape.
Xia Yu knew that after Margaret Thatcher came to power and implemented a series of reforms, the UK would gradually emerge from the mire, and the financial industry's golden age would return, with salaries rising.
Therefore, offering high salaries to attract talent was an effective approach, as George Berkeley himself had been attracted by Xia Yu's high salary.
Time flew by when one was busy.
Before he knew it, it was December 26.
That morning, perhaps due to last night's heavy rain, the sky over London was shrouded in mist.
On this day, the world was stunned by the eruption of the YSL revolution, and Iran ceased oil exports. News agencies stationed in Iran promptly reported the news back to their respective countries.
By midday, the BBC suddenly interrupted its programming with international news. The news quickly spread throughout the UK, with capitalists reacting the fastest.
The London gold price surged from 248.7 USD per ounce to 267.5 USD per ounce. As news spread through television and newspapers, the price continued to rise.
On this day, Xia Yu stayed in front of the television, and upon seeing the BBC news, he felt completely at ease.
When he saw the drastic fluctuation in London gold prices, Xia Yu's smile was uncontrollable.
He had struck it rich!
Before the day was over, the floating profit had already exceeded 500 million USD!