America's Road to Wealth

As one of the well-known cities in the world, London, the capital of the United Kingdom, has always been known as the Fog City.

Within the city limits, there is fog for more than a hundred days a year.

Foggy weather covers the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Fortunately, August is the best month in London.

London fog in August is also the best fog.

In the early morning at No. 1 Kensington Palace Gardens, a light mist enveloped the courtyard.

It looks vaguely like a flower fairy dancing in the forest.

The soft sunshine shines on the flowers, trees, and grass in the courtyard, and the lush leaves have deep and light green.

The garden is full of grass, and clusters of famous flowers that are well taken care of are bathed in the sunshine and blooming with smiles. The dew on the petals flashes with colorful light in the morning light.

In the morning mist, Abel returned to the living room after exercising for a while.

It was only around eight o'clock in the morning, and little Laura hadn't woken up yet.

Abel didn't bother her. He finished washing himself, changed into a more formal suit, and left No. 1 Kensington Palace Gardens.

The convoy drove for about ten minutes and soon arrived at the City of London as there was no traffic jam.

In this small square mile in the center of London, the most famous financial companies and business giants in the UK and even the world are gathered.

In this place where land is at a premium, there are more than 500 foreign banks and more than 180 foreign securities trading centers.

More than 300,000 financial elites work here together with Britain's long-established banks and exchanges.

75% of the world's top 500 multinational companies have established branches or offices here.

When the motorcade drove in, Abel looked through the car window and saw that it was so early, but there were many people on the road who seemed to be giving speeches.

David on the passenger side noticed the boss's gaze, and he said easily:

"They're giving a campaign speech for the mayor of London. It's going to be like this for a few days."

"Mayor's campaign speech?" Abel asked curiously:

"Is there a mayoral race in London? The current mayor of London seems to be Livingstone? Wait a minute, didn't this guy take office last year?"

"Yes." David Jones smiled from the front: "Livingstone is the mayor of London. But what is running here is the mayor of London here."

"What do you mean?" Abel asked curiously, "There is also a Mayor of London here? Two Mayors of London?"

David Jones was quick to explain to his boss.

Simply put, London has two mayors.

One is the Mayor of the "City of London" and the other is the Mayor of the "City of London".

The Mayor of the City of London (City of London) and the Mayor of London are two different positions in the UK.

The former has a long history and is the head of the City of London in the center of London.

The latter was founded at the end of the 20th century and is the head of the entire Greater London.

The Mayor of the City of London, has a separate office from the Mayor of London and is much older than the Mayor of Greater London.

In addition, this square mile of land has its own court, nearly a thousand police officers, and a strict management system.

Even according to the provisions of the British Royal Charter, even if the "supreme power" of the Queen of England enters the city, she must obtain the consent of the Mayor of the City of London in advance.

At the subway exits of the Financial City, people can see eye-catching signs showing the jurisdiction of the Financial City, and even the unique emblem of the Financial City government is cast on the "fence" of the Financial City.

It has a very strong flavor of a country within a country, as if this place does not belong to London, or even to the British.

So it is absolutely correct to say that modern financial capital originated in London.

The unique regulations of the City of London are obviously the story of what happened when capital began to dominate the royal family.

Otherwise, how could the majesty of the feudal royal power allow such a thing to happen?

This kind of state within a state was later turned into a tradition and has been passed down over the years.

After hearing these allusions from David, Abel could only lament that the European and American nations were so tormented.

Normally, the Mayor of Greater London is elected only once every four years.

The Little London Mayor of this financial city is elected once a year, and the election takes half a month.

The term of office is only one year. In other words, the mayor will be replaced in more than 300 days.

What can a mayor do with such a short term? Most of them can only follow the rules and do nothing.

Abel felt that this was like what Humphrey said - "The advantage of cooking is that no one is responsible."

This kind of dishonesty is obviously what financial capital likes best.

Xiaozhengfu is taken to the extreme. It has no real rights, only obligations.

This is the kind of government that capitalists like most.

After David's allusion was finished, Abel's motorcade also arrived in front of a skyscraper in the "Square Mile".

This building is located at the Forey Building at 19 Fenchurch Street, London. It is 15 floors high and looks somewhat historical. It is a building from the middle to late last century.

The area of ​​each floor of Furui Building is about 1,000 square meters.

Last month, the British branch of Abel's New Starting Real Estate Company purchased the 13th, 14th and 15th floors here for 18 million pounds.

Subsequently, the three floors here were leased to two companies, Smith Capital (UK) and Smith Media (UK).

Smith Media (UK) occupies two floors.

Smith Capital (UK) is on level 15.

Abel came to London and his main office was here.

But the third floor was just rented not long ago.

In the past few days, we have been rushing to install the 15th floor so that Smith Capital (UK) can have an office immediately.

So at this time, the 13th and 14th floors were still being renovated, and Smith Media (UK) had not yet officially moved in.

The fifteenth floor of the building is the headquarters of Smith Capital (UK).

This company is jointly controlled by Smith Capital and Abel, with Smith Capital holding 60% and Abel personally holding 40%. It is registered in Ireland.

The company's staff currently number over a hundred people.

Fifty of them were half-recruited and half-deployed by Smith Capital, sent from New York.

The other more than fifty people were recruited locally in London, and most of them were hired by headhunters.

After entering the 21st century, the British elite is the same as the American elite.

The smartest people in these two countries have found that engineering and science majors are useless. After graduation, they will do the most work and earn the least money.

But in IT and finance, not only do the jobs seem easy, but the remuneration is also higher than the other.

In addition, after Mrs. Thatcher carried out financial reforms, the UK established a national policy of building a financial country at that time and held finance in high esteem.

Therefore, gradually, smart people in the UK are crowding into the financial field.

Just one "Square Mile", the City of London, has about 300,000 financial practitioners.

There are several places like this in London. For example, Canary Wharf is not far from here.

In other words, the smartest people in the UK, hundreds of thousands of them, have entered the financial field.

So can the UK’s financial sector not be strong?

So can the UK not be weak in other fields?

So can it not be finished?

It is easier to recruit financial elites in the UK than on Wall Street.

It's been a few days, but not all the people from Smith Capital's Wall Street side have arrived.

However, all the London or European people recruited locally have already arrived.

Already working here under the leadership of Jed, one of the presidents of Smith Capital headquarters.

Jed, the president of Smith Capital, has also been appointed by Abel as CEO of Smith Capital (UK).

As long as nothing goes wrong, Jed will most likely become the main person in charge of Smith Capital in Europe in the future.

The office area of ​​more than 1,000 square meters is not very spacious to accommodate more than 100 people.

This makes Abel's office here not particularly spacious, only more than 100 square meters.

Taking David and the Four King Kongs, Abel went directly to his British office.

As always, there is always a huge floor-to-ceiling window in his office.

This is not only Abel's personal hobby, but also the hobby of most business and professional elites.

People like them always like to stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of tall skyscrapers and look down at all the living beings on the ground.

This will give these people a sense of seeing everything at a glance.

It seems to have elevated their class.

Not long after I sat down in the office.

Jed, CEO of Smith Capital (UK), knocked on the door and walked in with a smile.

"Hi, Jade, good morning." Abel greeted him with a smile.

Jed is a Wall Street elite recruited by Smith Capital during its recruitment expansion this year.

It turned out that he was the director of the futures department of Bellstone, one of the six major investment banks on Wall Street (with one more Smith).

After he came to Smith Capital, because of his sufficient ability and qualifications, he immediately became the second deputy manager.

Now he has been promoted even more and has become the CEO of Smith Capital's London subsidiary.

"BOSS, good morning." Jade said with a respectful smile, holding a thick thing that looked like a book in his hand, "How about you take a look at this?"

"What is it?" Abel was curious and motioned for Edward to take it.

"It's Forbes magazine. The latest issue of "Forbes Rankings" has just been launched globally this morning."

"Oh?" Abel also became a little curious and took the magazine handed over by Edward.

The "Forbes Rankings" released by "Forbes" magazine are not just a long list of names, plus the wealth figures of these people.

It may be to show their rigor and professionalism, or it may be to earn more sales.

The annual "Forbes Rankings" is an additional special issue published in addition to "Forbes" magazine.

It is a new magazine that mainly talks about the world's richest people. There is only one issue every year.

In this magazine, it will list in detail the data of each wealthy person searched by the magazine company.

It is so detailed that almost every rich man has it. Rather than being a magazine, it is actually a book.

So it looks relatively thick, with more than 400 pages and more than 200 sheets.

"Have you already read it?" Abel asked Jade while holding the latest issue of "Forbes Rankings" without opening it immediately.

"Yes." Jade kept smiling, smiling very happily.

"Who is the richest man this year?" Abel said with a smile.

"Please allow me to explain it." Jade said to the boss with a smile and respect, "You will find out after you turn it over. The richest man is on the fourth page."

The first page is the cover, the second page is the table of contents, the third page is the preface, and the fourth page is the official content.

Having said that, Abel also wanted to know how much money Forbes said he had.

He turned directly to the table of contents on the second page, which had detailed guidance.

Abel looked at it.

1. Financial Moses - Abel Smith

2. The Overlord of the Era—William Henry Gates III

3. The King of Investment and Value—Warren Buffett

4. Playboy - Paul Allen

5. The egomaniac who surpassed Gates - Larry Ellison

6. The kings of German retail—the Albrecht brothers

7. Desert Buffett-Waleed

8

387. Red Capitalist——Yi Ren Rong

452. Asian Gambling King——Hong Shen He

"."

I flipped through the table of contents.

Even if Abel knew his name, he would definitely be at the top.

But he didn't expect it either. This year, Forbes ranked him as the richest man in the world.

Seeing his name on the first place, Abel felt a little dazed.

Even if he actually knows that the world's richest man listed by "Forbes" is often not the real world's richest man.

Those who really control the world secretly will never be on the list.

The world's richest people listed in this magazine are only superficial at best.

It's just the so-called richest man in the world that "Forbes" uses to increase the magazine's sales and attract the public's attention.

In front of the title of the world's richest man, Abel felt that the prefix "Forbes" should be added, which means Forbes' richest man in the world.

This is the truth about the so-called richest man in the world.

Although Abel knew this, at this moment, he saw that he was first.

He couldn't help but feel a little happy and excited.

No matter how stupid he is, the world's richest man is also the world's richest man in name only.

Even if the actual financial resources and influence do not reach the level of being the first on the planet.

But at least more than 99% of human beings in the world recognize this title and deeply yearn for it!

In the past, even though I said I didn't care.

But Abel knew that when he got this title.

My own influence and my own "power" are really achieved!

Abel took a deep breath to suppress his slightly excited mood.

He opened the third page of this thick magazine, the preface.

The preface of "Forbes Rankings" did not invite any well-known editors or writers to be lengthy.

It's obvious, in front of these people in this magazine.

No matter how famous the great literary giants or writers in the world are, they will appear to lack confidence in front of these people.

In the preface of this magazine, "Forbes" just lists the wealth data of many of the world's richest people they surveyed.

For example, this year in 2001, Forbes expanded the scope of selection of the world's richest people.

The number of members in the Billion Dollar Club this year increased from 482 in 2000 to 539.

The average age of the 539 billionaires on the list is 62, and 32 of them are under 40 years old.

The youngest is 21-year-old Abel Smith, and the second youngest is Daniel Ziff.

The average net worth of these 539 individuals is $3.2 billion.

If all their assets were added up, the total would be $1.73 trillion.

It exceeds the UK's annual GDP of US$1.66 trillion last year, making it a truly "incredibly rich country".

In 2001, the United States had the largest number of billionaires, with 272, accounting for over 51%.

23% in Europe and 14% in Asia.

The Americas outside the United States accounted for 8%; the Middle East and Africa accounted for 4%.

Neon lost 14 billionaires, but still ranked second with 29 people on the list.

Germany is third with 28 people on the list; Italy is fourth with 17 people on the list; Switzerland is fifth with 16 people on the list.

Hong Kong Island has the most billionaires in China, with a total of 14, one more than in 2000.

This kind of preface was concise and clear, and Abel looked at it a few more times, and then turned to the fourth page.

On the fourth page, what comes into view is a photo of himself.

This photo impressed Abel.

He remembered that this was his first interview with a magazine, and it was taken by the best photographer of the New York Observer at the time.

In this photo, he is sitting on the 33rd floor of what was then the Woolworth Building.

It was on the throne of the former Smith Capital headquarters and the chairman's office.

In front of him is a thick dark wood desk, and outside the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him are the bustling skyscrapers of Manhattan and the blue sky and white clouds.

Wearing a black suit, he sat upright with his tall and straight upper body, his hands crossed on the desk, and his eyes looking forward.

In the photo, his perfectly handsome face is expressionless, but he is full of elitism and looks like a synonym for the so-called Wall Street elite.

This photo doesn't capture his imposing manner.

Of course, Abel didn't have much momentum at that time.

At that time, he even felt a little careless. The senior photographer at that time could only choose to highlight his handsomeness and elite style.

It didn't capture that solemn big-shot vibe at all.

But because this photo of his is open to the public, it is the only photo that does not require payment of copyright fees.

So this photo became the one that the media would choose when reprinting news about Abel across the United States and even around the world.

Over time, this photo, which looked like a still from a Hollywood movie about Wall Street, became the first impression of him for most people around the world.

"Forbes" is probably afraid of trouble, or doesn't want to pay royalties.

Obviously, in the later period, Abel had more and better photos that could highlight the temperament of a big boss.

"Forbes" magazine chose this one, and chose this photo that looks like a still from a Hollywood movie.

In this photo, Abel is more handsome and Wall Street elite.

There is also confidence and vitality that permeates the whole body.

However, the video does not have the temperament of many big shots, financial tycoons, or business tycoons.

He looks like a big star in a movie.

Abel himself was a little dissatisfied when he saw it.

Compared with the temperament of a big boss, he doesn't want the temperament of a star.

“I don’t have the temperament of a big boss at all.”

He couldn't help but mutter, and then looked at a number marked next to his name - $70billion+.

The word billion in English mainly means "billion".

The $ symbol is the dollar sign.

$70 billion means seventy billion dollars.

+ This symbol, I don’t know what Forbes is doing.

"Forbes" magazine this year's "Forbes Rankings" said he has a net worth of $60 billion.