Chapter 667: Choices determine life (Part 2)

'Knock, knock!'

'Knock, knock!'

At the headquarters of Escenazi Co., Ltd., CEO Giuseppe Escenazi is holding a meeting with senior management in the conference room to discuss a way out of the predicament.

He was already in a bad mood, surrounded by worries. As he was speaking, the sound of a hurried knock interrupted his thoughts. His brows furrowed, and in a tone tinged with anger, he said sternly, 'Come in!'

As soon as the words left his mouth, a subordinate walked in with a slightly panicked look on his face, still talking, 'Chairman, something's happened. We just received news from the stock exchange: Bright Fund holds 33.5% of the company's shares and has become the second largest shareholder.'

Giuseppe Eskenazi, who had been about to list his subordinate's flustered behaviour, was suddenly shocked. He stood up abruptly from his seat, and the other senior executives also stood up with grave expressions, looking at the person reporting.

'Are you sure there is no mistake?'

Giuseppe Eskenazi's expression was serious, and his gaze was like a knife as he looked at the subordinate reporting.

'Chairman, I have confirmed it more than three times, I definitely did not make a mistake,'

The subordinate plucked up the courage to answer firmly.

The subordinate's words dispelled the last vestiges of hope he had, and thinking about the seriousness of the matter, Giuseppe Eskenazi had no more heart to attend the meeting.

'The meeting is adjourned!'

He left those words behind and quickly walked out of the meeting room.

Ten minutes later, Giuseppe Eskenazi confirmed the news and also used his connections to find out some of the basics of Guangming Fund. His heart sank.

Before he could think of what to do, a letter from Bright Fund arrived, with the words 'Offer to purchase' written across the top.

He only had to read a portion of it before his face turned pale and he began panting, clearly furious.

The company was the family's core asset, and it was absolutely impossible to sell to Bright Fund. The other party was dreaming if they thought they could buy it!

Giuseppe Eskenazi refused outright.

He was furious just thinking that Bright Fund had acquired 33.5% of the company without his knowledge.

He had had a rough time recently: first, he had been caught up in a media storm, and now his business was in deep trouble.

Could it be that Bright Fund had caused all his previous difficulties?

The thought crossed his mind, and the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. He couldn't help but fall into deep thought...

George Berkeley could not possibly have targeted just one person. After sending someone to Eskenzai Co. to deliver the takeover offer, he went to Sotheby's headquarters in person.

Following his boss Xia Yu's principle of first using diplomacy and then military force, every word he said hung like a sharp knife over Sotheby's chairman Sam Nelson's head, exerting heavy pressure on him.

After just half an hour, Sam Nelson's face became distorted, looking like a mixture of anger, sadness and loss, and George Berkeley felt strangely strange.

Seeing Sam Nelson like this, he generously gave him time to think calmly, leaving behind the words that he would come back tomorrow morning, and then waved his sleeve and turned away.

After George Berkeley left, the current chairman, Sam Nelson, sat in a swivel chair with the back facing the office door. He looked out of the floor-to-ceiling windows, lost in thought, as he watched the cars on the road below and the pedestrians heading home from work. The setting sun cast a glow on his face.

Ron Eric, the general manager, who was standing behind him, could sense a sense of desolation and bleakness emanating from Sam Nelson.

Having witnessed the whole thing, he could understand the chairman's feelings.

But he knew that he could not intervene in such matters. He was just a professional manager, the only special thing about him being that he had worked at Sotheby's for almost fifteen years and had made an indelible contribution to the rise of Sotheby's.

After a long time, Sam Nelson said in a somewhat despondent tone, 'Ron, I never thought that this would happen. Financial pirates like to use their money to take everything from others. I have seen a lot of this kind of thing, but I never thought that it would happen to me one day.'

Ron Eric consoled him, saying, 'Chairman, fate is always so amazing. You don't have to be so pessimistic. Things aren't that bad...'

But then he stopped, as if he didn't know how to continue, or perhaps he didn't believe what he had just said.

Sam Nelson seemed to have come to terms with it. He turned to Ron Eric and shook his head with a bitter smile, 'You don't need to comfort me. Bright Fund holds 58.7% of the shares, and I don't have any chance of resistance. I am in an absolute disadvantage. The result of the confrontation will only be that my wealth will be diluted and swallowed up.'

After saying this, he was silent for a long time, and said regretfully, 'I just regret that I discovered it too late...'

'Maybe this is where I end up. I got into Sotheby's in the same way twenty years ago, except that my stake was not as high as Bright Foundation's, and my methods were relatively gentle...'

'Maybe I should be happy. Bright Foundation is not too cold-hearted. At least they gave me the price before the stock price dropped. Selling to them will get me more than £2 million more than the current market value.'

Ron Eric had mixed feelings when he heard Sam Nelson's self-talk.

'Ron, we've worked together for 15 years, you're an old friend of mine, and now that I've made over two million pounds, I think you should congratulate me.'

'It's been a long time since I went to D'Acquapazza's, I'm about to forget what his steaks taste like, are you interested in going tonight?'

Looking at Sam Nielsen's expectant gaze, Ron Eric sighed inwardly and said with a smile, 'Of course I'm interested.'

After that, the two punched in to clock off work and headed to D'Acquapazza's in Fulham.

That night, in one of the top-class private rooms of the restaurant, one person was drunk and rambling, while the other was quietly listening...

That night, Julian Robertson picked up the phone in his room and made an international call. In a moment, his wife Rebecca answered the phone.

After some greetings, Julian Robertson told his wife about what had happened in the past few days and his decision.

'My dear, I've been researching him for the past two days, and apart from his yellow skin, he's definitely the perfect investor... I feel that with my current reputation and connections, it's almost impossible to find an investor who can give me so much support and trust...'

'My dear, thank you for your support and encouragement. For you and the children, I will definitely succeed. Please believe me, I love you...'

After hanging up the phone, Julian Robertson clenched his fists. With his wife's understanding and support, he finally let go of all his burdens.

'I have no reason to fail!'

Roared Julian Robertson, his eyes full of determination and confidence, as well as infinite expectations for the future.