Chapter 4 Going bankrupt?
“So, we are going bankrupt?”
In the study room of Chatsworth Manor, Barron put down the financial statement in his hand and looked at the two people in front of him and said.
"Although it will not go bankrupt, if we cannot get back the money we invested in the 'London Star', then I am afraid that in order to meet the bank's loan, we will need to sell off most of our assets. By then..."
The person who spoke to Barron was Julia Moore, the administrator of the Cavendish Family Trust Fund. She is a woman who exudes mature charm.
However, although Yulia has a great figure, even wearing a women's suit, it is difficult to hide her body curves, but at this time, Barron has no intention to pay attention to this. He needs to understand the current situation of the Cavendish family as soon as possible. the real situation.
Having said that, the reason why Barron’s grandmother, the old lady in the family, has such prestige is mainly because she is good at business. In the beginning, after World War II, it was she who changed her business ideas. Thus preserving most of the Cavendish family's assets.
Barron’s grandfather, the 11th Duke of Devonshire, faced huge inheritance taxes at the time. With the help of the old lady, he opened Chatsworth Manor through more than 20 years of hard work. This one of the few remaining super estates in the UK allows the public to visit, and hosts various activities and filming to make profits to pay off the inheritance tax.
Many people have watched the British TV series "Downton Abbey" that later became very famous, and I am afraid they are deeply impressed by the Downton Abbey in this TV series.
But the land at Chatsworth Manor owned by the Duke of Devonshire family covers an area of 35,000 acres. What is this concept?
It is seven times the area of Highclere Castle, where "Downton Abbey" was filmed, and is equivalent to half of London!
So it can be said that Chatsworth Manor is far larger than the magnificent manor in "Downton Abbey", so after it is opened, it can also bring certain benefits to the family. .
Even so, the entire family will only make a slight profit and will only maintain it.
Because in addition to Chatsworth Manor, the family now owns two manors and adjacent lands in Northern Ireland and Scotland...
After entering the new era, these manors and The output of the land can no longer be easily squandered by such a family as before.
And the annual repair and maintenance costs of these manors can be said to be astronomical...
Since World War II, countless nobles have gone bankrupt and are unable to maintain their original luxurious lives, thus living in embarrassment. Now they can continue There are fewer and fewer families with traditional "aristocratic pomp".
Those aristocratic families that can survive all have other industrial investments and can feed back traditional industries... What's more, the government's policies are becoming increasingly unfriendly to the aristocracy, whether it is Taxation and policies both intentionally or unintentionally weaken the interests of the aristocratic class.
Therefore, the Cavendish family also tried to invest in some emerging industries - but unfortunately, it seemed that Barron's grandfather and father were not interested in emerging industries. I don’t have any strong ability in investing, but I have suffered a lot of losses, big and small.
But if this were the case, I am afraid that the Cavendish family would not have fallen into Barron's current situation.
The problem lies in his late father, who somehow believed in the temptation of "high returns" and mortgaged many of his family's assets into an investment company called "London Star".
Yes, there is no mistake, this so-called "London Star" is completely a Ponzi scheme.
At the beginning, the old Cavendish had not fallen too deep, and only invested a small amount of funds tentatively... But this is the Ponzi scheme. In the beginning, through the customers who joined later, The funds provided the initial users with extremely high returns... These gradually strengthened the confidence of the old Cavendish. In addition, due to the impact of the Internet bubble two years ago, traditional industries were also severely impacted.
As a result, Cavendish Sr. began to continuously increase his investment in the "London Star". Faced with high return expectations, he actually mortgaged many of the family's assets. , invested in this "Ponzi scheme" from a bank loan...
You can imagine what happened next. A month ago, "London Star" began to stop issuing dividends, and many users' redemption requests were also temporarily frozen.
Now old Cavendish is panicking... If it is really confirmed that this "London Star" is a scam, then the whole family will fall into an abyss...
Therefore, this paragraph He spent a lot of time working on this, but the effect was limited, and the "London Star" still thundered!
This time he took Barron's eldest brother to London. Old Cavendish wanted to rely on the family's previous relationship to go to London to meet "powerful people", and at least try to invest in "London." "Star" can get back part of its funds...
Thinking about it, the result must be unsatisfactory. At this time, in addition to squandering and returning the other party's funds to early investors, in a month's time, I'm afraid It has almost been transferred already.
Then at this moment, a car accident happened!
I am afraid that the sudden death of his grandmother was not only a shock caused by the death of old Cavendish and his eldest son, but also because the other party knew the relevant inside story.
But the deceased is gone, and the one who needs to face this mess now is Barron!
Don’t forget that many properties of the family trust fund, including the Chatsworth Manor where he now lives, are mortgaged to banks. Once those loans cannot be repaid, I am afraid that Barron, the newly minted His Excellency, the Duke, is about to be kicked out of the family manor and become the laughing stock of the whole of England...
He doesn’t want his own name to appear when others search for the term “the worst Duke in England” Deeds... That's too shameful!
"Ms. Moore, please give me a catalog of the current family trust fund properties. I want to know which properties have been mortgaged and cannot be used, and which properties can be sold for funds..."
Ba Lun tapped the table and said to the two people in front of him:
" And Butler Sean, I also need a directory listing the family’s assets outside the family trust fund..."
Although most of the family’s assets have been injected into the family trust fund, there are still There are still some assets that are directly in the family name, and Barron needs to understand these clearly.
"Yes, your lordship."
Regarding Barron's words, Julia Moore agreed very neatly.
But Butler Sean hesitated, as if he wanted to say something...
"What, Butler Sean, do you have anything to say?"
"Master, I know that in this situation, selling off some properties is a last resort, but..."
(End of this chapter)