Chapter 1290 Wolf Nature
At this point, Pierre Cardon has basically explained the ins and outs of the whole matter.
Ning Weimin did not interrupt or interrupt at all. He listened with great interest and did not find it boring at all.
For no other reason than because the LVMH group is so awesome.
In Ning Weimin's previous life, he still remembered very clearly that decades later, LVMH had ranked first among the three major luxury goods groups in the world.
With a market value of US$500 billion, it can earn 80 billion euros in profits every year, which is equivalent to more than ten times the profits of Kweichow Moutai Company.
After the three major luxury goods groups, the Richemont Group ranks second and the Kering Group ranks third. Even if the two group companies are combined, the market value is not as large as it.
LVMH is the largest listed company in Europe.
No matter how you look at the overall strength, he is the well-deserved leader.
Why is it so awesome and so profitable?
Just because it owns more than 70 well-known luxury brands and stores all over the world, almost rich people all over the world are sending money to this group company day and night.
Even Ning Weimin himself is not immune to vanity, in order to maintain his appearance and make others look down upon him.
I have used my hard-earned money to buy LV, Bulgari, Hennessy, Zenith...
I don’t know how much profit I have contributed to this group. .
But just like that, LVMH’s brands still raise product prices at every turn, engage in hunger marketing, deliberately create a grand spectacle of queuing at the door, and use this method to deliberately select staunch loyal fans.
Finally, I got a new LV super-size Speedy, which can be sold for a sky-high price of one million US dollars when it goes on sale.
It really grasps the weaknesses of human nature firmly, and it is completely a rhythm of trapping people to death without paying for their lives.
And the LVMH Group will continue to spend money to buy companies, brands, and companies whenever it has the opportunity.
It’s as if you have endless money and insist on buying up all the luxury brands and fashion brands in the world and putting them into the company’s pocket.
How could this make him not envious of such a company?
It's like sleeping on a golden mountain, belonging to a company that is chased and fed by countless fans.
So much money! It’s too easy to make money!
But he was envious because he never knew how this company developed and grew.
Why are so many luxury brands lumped together?
How did this company achieve such a strong accumulation?
Saving famous brands is like saving stamps, which is incredible.
These are questions that have puzzled him for a long time.
And Bernard Arnault, the boss of LVMH Group, is also a quite mysterious figure.
On the Internet, there is little information about him.
It is well known that he has five outstanding children, each one more beautiful than the other.
And his personal background is hidden quite well.
Most people only know that he was originally engaged in real estate. Before the age of thirty-five, his career had almost no intersection with the fashion and luxury goods industries.
He is neither a descendant of any luxury goods family nor has any relevant work experience.
I have no idea how, but after turning forty, I became a tycoon in the fashion industry.
He actually holds the golden knot of LVMH firmly in his own hands.
He was also given an infamous nickname by the public media, with people calling him "The Wolf in Cashmere."
As long as you think about it carefully, you will know that there must be many stories hidden in the process.
But if you want to know what's going on, it's really futile.
Out of curiosity and admiration for successful people, Ning Weimin has searched online several times, hoping to find the secret to Bernard Arnault's success. He should study hard and see what this person has to offer. How wolfish.
But the problem is that all his efforts are in vain, and all he can find is a summary of a few sentences, all official clichés.
In the end, I had to give up. I have to admire how well they did in terms of public relations, and how seamless it was.
Unexpectedly, today, he would actually hear the master explain the establishment of this company to him, and he could actually learn some secrets about the internal structure of the company from the master's mouth.
At this moment, Ning Weimin suddenly became enlightened and his confusion was cleared.
Based on the information he had, it was not difficult for him to speculate on the changes in the trajectory of this matter from beginning to end, the final result of this business war, and what Bernard Arnault did in it.
Bernard Arnault is a profit-seeking, sinister villain with no moral bottom line and no loyalty at all.
Whoever cooperates with him will be unlucky, because he can betray everyone for his own benefit.
But it's a pity that this despicable guy should have won.
Both the fourth generation of LV and the former president of MH are too stupid.
As the saying goes, it is the snipe and the clam that compete with each other that creates opportunities for others to take advantage of the situation.
Let Bernard Arnault become the fisherman who finally made a profit.
I am afraid that thanks to this battle, this Bernard Arnault got his wish, the villain succeeded, and successfully usurped the control of LVMH.
Not only was he able to turn this profound and valuable group company into his own possession.
And in the future, I am afraid that the LV family heirs, as well as the former president of MH and Guinness, will be kicked out of the board of directors.
Even combined with his understanding of the future operating characteristics of LVMH in his previous life, it is not difficult for Ning Weimin to deduce the profit know-how and gold-making model that Bernard Arnault has maintained for a long time after taking control of the company.
To put it bluntly, his three axes are making money, acquisitions, making up stories, raising prices, and hungry marketing...
Then it is not easy to increase the value of the brand day after day, stimulate consumers to pursue it out of vanity, encourage consumerism, and continue this endless cycle.
In short, this guy sucks both in his heart and in his bones. He is just a super bad person.
In fact, if you think about it carefully, you can see that there is an essential difference between the LVMH he manages and the tradition of family businesses.
For example, they never consider the quality and practicality of the product, and have no craftsmanship.
What he plays are all tricks against human nature. He only uses scrap metal and inferior manufacturing to defraud money. He even deliberately adds fuel to the flames. He makes money from everyone, rich or poor, and has always been actively selling class. Anxiety, sucking blood regardless of class.
Especially good at using women's sensibility to kidnap men's wallets.
Even from the perspective of business philosophy, it has reached the point where it has no morals and its heart is to be punished. In the words of Teacher Zhao Lirong and Zhao - Black! That is really dark!
But to be honest, when you understand all this, you can infer the greatest possible objective facts.
Although Ning Weimin felt mentally satisfied by eating melons, he also felt the enjoyment of being a melon-eater.
But to ask him to get involved is a bit overwhelming, and it is indeed a bit timid.
For no other reason than because his business philosophy is that harmony is the most important and harmony brings wealth. He is naturally in conflict with people who want to be able to live alone.
What he pursues in making money is a safe model that is tepid, unnoticed, and can flow slowly.
I don’t want to make enemies for myself at all, let alone stand up and conflict with someone who will do anything for the benefit of others.
And the parties involved in this matter are not the master himself, but just his friends.
Especially when Ning Weimin asked Master about the current situation of the confrontation between the two armies, how much funding gap Master had for the Fourth Generation LV that he wanted to help, and what the chances of winning were.
Unexpectedly, the master told him frankly that the situation was not optimistic, and Ning Weimin lacked the motivation to participate.
First of all, according to the information provided by the master, Bernard Arnault has already increased the LVMH group's stock by 55% because he spent huge sums of money to buy goods. Now, To sell again is to rush to raise funds at a high price, which is destined to consume huge funds.
Don’t look at it. Bernard Arnault got 13.5% of the equity for 600 million US dollars.
But if they want to buy as many chips as their opponents in the short term and regain control of the company for LV, God knows how high the stock price will rise. I'm afraid it will be at least higher than Bernard Al's. No more than spending twice as much money.
Secondly, because the backer behind Bernard Arnault is Lazard Investment Bank.
His congenial partner is also a family business with a long history. He has extensive connections and connections in the French financial community, just like Goldman Sachs in France.
And his main business is designing corporate mergers and acquisitions plans. He is even known as a "corporate sniper". He doesn't even like to do the work of underwriting and listing, because he thinks the profit is too low.
So not only do the targets they target rarely fail, but Lazard also has great powers and can make most French banks sell their faces.
For example, this time they made a move. They identified the weakness of family businesses in the fashion industry that do not like to borrow money and rarely deal with banks. They contacted the major banks in France in advance and almost all financial institutions The field has blocked the financing channels for those LV reinforcements.
No matter whether it was the master, Chanel or the bank, all the loan requests were rejected. They were told that due to the monetary tightening, loan services would not be provided at least next year.
So in view of this situation, Chanel, who originally wanted to lend a helping hand, became too timid to move forward, and was the first to withdraw from the support operation.
Now only the master is still insisting, because he can't bear to see LV's fourth generation bowing to the evil people and making a last-ditch effort for his friends.
As for the only feasible plan at present, which is to buy 4% of the shares in the open market, you can get the same veto power.
But forget about the position of the largest shareholder and the dominance of the group company, there is no hope at all.
But even so, the amount of funds required is still not a small amount.
Although judging from the current stock price, LVMH's market value is approximately US$6.8 billion, and buying 1% of the shares is approximately US$68 million.
But as long as they buy, there is no doubt that on the basis of Bernard Arnault's already raising the stock price, it will stimulate LVMH's stock price to continue to rise rapidly in the short term.
Even if their opponents don't cause trouble, it is expected that they will need at least 300 million US dollars to purchase sufficient quantities.
But everyone knows that it is impossible for Bernard Arnault, a ruthless man, not to do something.
In order to win the final victory and completely control LVMH, he will definitely continue to buy stocks and compete with them for limited chips in the open market regardless of the cost.
So this matter is a little hard to say. I'm afraid it will cost at least US$500 million to get a veto power.
As for the source of funds required by the LV camp, Henry Lacamier, the fourth generation of LV, said that he personally can raise US$120 million.
Master Pierre Cardon has been busy working on this matter recently. He has tried his best and can probably draw 260 million US dollars from Pierre Cardon Company.
So the money still lying around in Ning Weimin's account at Credit Agricole has become the last hope and support of the two old men, the master and the fourth generation of LV.
To be honest, as a businessman, you can do any kind of business, but it is difficult to do business that you know will cost you money.
Although LVMH's future market value will be as high as 500 billion, that is the future after all. The current value of this company is obviously 4 billion US dollars.
Ning Weimin actually had to spend more than 100 million U.S. dollars to buy shares that others bought at an average cost of 45 million U.S. dollars. Isn’t this just taking advantage of others to carry the sedan chair?
How could he be happy?
To put it bluntly, LVMH’s great prospect of a market value of 500 billion was realized after Bernard Arnault achieved his goal.
From a purely profit perspective, if Ning Weimin wanted to take advantage of the situation, he should be happy to see this happen.
Then buy at low prices, and you can eat meat and drink soup.
Otherwise, history has changed its direction. God knows if LVMH could have developed to this point without this greedy boss?
And Ning Weimin also speculated in stocks in his previous life, and he has repeatedly chased the rise. The operating experience of falling was heartbreaking to his bones.
Even if you know that if you buy LVMH with your eyes closed, you will make money back sooner or later, and there will be a fifty-fold increase, but the feeling is another matter.
It’s so unnatural!
So I have to say that this action plan told by the master from LV’s standpoint is a completely bad idea.
Ning Weimin believes that it is completely passive and helpless to be led by others. If you do this, you have already lost.
In addition, he knew that behind Bernard Arnault there was a powerful and experienced M&A investment banker, Lazard, who was collaborating with him, which made him even more worried. Feeling resistant.
As the saying goes, good shoes don’t step on bad shit. People like him don’t have too many opportunities to make money.
It is two different things from Bernard Arnault, who is now like a crazy gambler and has already bet everything on this battle.
When two armies meet, the brave one wins. That group of people are all barefoot villains who are not afraid of wearing shoes. He does not have the courage to draw a sword face to face!
It’s just... Facing the master’s hopeful gaze, thinking about how loudly he boasted just now, he really couldn’t say any regrets.
After all, he is a pure and kind person at heart. In his heart, he worships heroes and yearns for the bright sunflower.
He is a young man with ideals, morality, culture, affection and righteousness.
Emotionally speaking, he sincerely admired the master for such a generous act.
Besides, it is also because of the master’s kindness and tolerance that he is living a good life today.
He has truly received a lot of favors from the master.
Now that this kind-hearted old man has finally spoken to him, can he have the heart to refuse? Is he embarrassed to refuse?
It’s just like Alain Delon said, you can control everything, but when emotions are involved, the problem becomes complicated.
So what to do?
What a difficult choice to make!
(End of this chapter)