America's Road to Wealth

New York,

Manhattan.

Soros Fund Management Company Headquarters.

A well-known financial gangster, but he is a kind-looking guy who looks like the white-haired grandpa on the street.

In the office, Soros was frowning. He was looking at the newspaper reports one after another with deep and gloomy eyes.

"Dong dong——"

Soros looked up and saw Tims pushing in the door. He couldn't help but frown and asked, "Is there any latest news?"

"Well, just now, American Express Company officially publicly sent a letter to all shareholders, believing that American Express shareholders should reject Abel Smith's acquisition, calling Abel Smith a disruptor of the normal order of American finance, and calling on investors and stockholders They resisted him and spoke very violently."

Tims said, handed a document in his hand to Soros, and then sat on the chair opposite him, his eyes full of schadenfreude and pride.

The general manager of Soros Fund Management Company feels that Kenneth Chenault and the board of directors of American Express are being forced into a hurry.

He actually called Abel a disruptor of the normal financial order in the United States.

Didn't you see that a while ago, the owner of the White House openly declared on TV that Abel Smith was the mainstay of American finance?

Even those who haven’t seen the White House say that Abel Smith is the savior of this stock market crash?

Kenneth did this because he planned to never compromise!

Timms knew who gave Kenneth the courage.

Because it was Tims who was in contact with Kenneth these days.

It was George Soros who stepped forward, and other Wall Street institutions hiding behind the scenes, who gave the desperate Kenneth Chenault and other American Express executives the last, seemingly good, escape route.

It's a pity that Kenneth Chenault didn't know, and maybe there was nothing he could do if he knew.

That's this last resort, and it really just looks good.

Soros took the document and browsed it quickly.

In this open letter to all shareholders, the Board of Directors of American Express criticized Abel Smith's acquisitions, saying that their acquisitions contained serious malice.

The letter also stated that Abel Smith's statement of "immediate cash payments to shareholders" is "completely unrealistic."

Abe Smith lacked the necessary comprehensive management experience at a large bank.

In the letter, American Express also refuted the operations of American Pacific Bank of Commerce.

It is claimed that this commercial bank owned by Abel Smith has an extremely opaque business operation model.

It is claimed that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, FDIC, the Federal Reserve and other relevant banking and financial industry regulatory authorities should enter as soon as possible to investigate the US Pacific Commercial Bank.

American Express concluded: "We believe that supporting Abel Smith's hostile takeover makes no sense to American Express shareholders. Moreover, if the transaction is not approved, American Express may face the risk of inestimable loss of value." .”

Compared with the previous statement, there is also a gesture of goodwill to Soros.

With this open letter to shareholders, it can be said that the American Express board of directors, headed by Kenneth Chenault, completely broke with Abel.

"Idiot, a stupid approach. But it is also a helpless last resort."

After reading the letter, Soros, who looked a little indifferent, made a comment and put the document in his hand aside.

The old guy took off his glasses and gently pinched the bridge of his nose.

"There's nothing they can do. If they don't want to be fired by Abel Smith, they can only show their loyalty to us."

Timms heard Soros' conclusion and put in a good word for Kenneth.

Soros glanced sharply at Tims, knowing that his confidant must have had some communication with Kenneth.

The other party may even have promised Timms some benefit.

But Soros didn't care. He was confident that he could control Timms and the company.

Giving Timms a little freedom and a little benefit can give the other party more subjective initiative.

"What's the reaction from Abel Smith?" Soros asked softly.

Timms shook his head, "There hasn't been much reaction yet. They haven't raised the tender offer again."

"This guy!"

George Soros said unhappily: "He doesn't look like a young man at all! So many newspapers are talking about him, and he can actually bear it?"

In the past few days, after Soros entered the market.

There is a huge amount of financial media that has shifted gears.

They exaggerated the American Express incident into a financial war between Soros and Abel.

The prize is American Express. Whoever can get control of American Express will be the winner.

Who is the real uncrowned king of finance in the United States.

These media almost described American Express as the most important company on Wall Street.

It seems that only if Abel really wins American Express, then he can keep pace with Buffett, Soros and other big guys.

This change of trend in the financial media is obviously the work of Soros Fund Management Company.

Those Wall Street institutions that have joined must also contribute a lot.

They just wanted to provoke Abel so that Abel would definitely win the American Express Company.

A very simple method is to get Abel, who looks young and must be very energetic, to be more competitive and stimulate Abel.

After a few days, Soros was a little disappointed.

The reason is because on Abel's side, except for the occasional casual scolding from the New York Observer.

In other respects, Abel is basically quiet, almost as tolerant as Buffett.

Fortunately, from beginning to end, Soros did not expect to fool Abel so easily.

The old guy thought for a while and asked Tims: "I remember this guy's company's annual meeting this year, it's the day after tomorrow, right?"

"Yes." Timms said: "Last year it was November 15th, and this year Smith Capital's year-end reception will also be November 15th."

"Then he should come back from Los Angeles." Soros showed a confident smile: "We will go find him then and meet this guy for a while!"

"Forehead"

Tims looked a little embarrassed and looked at his confident boss. He couldn't help but whisper:

"Well, BOSS, I want to tell you one thing. That is that David Mellon did not send us an invitation letter."

"What did you say?" Soros was stunned. The old guy frowned and said, "I remember didn't you send it to us last year?"

Last year, Smith Capital did send an invitation letter to Soros for its first year-end investment reception.

But at that time, Abel's fame was far from what it is now.

At that time, the Soros people were in Asia and were busy operating the Tokyo stock market.

So I didn’t rush back to participate.

It was the investment reception that Timms went to. But there were too many people there, including Wall Street giants.

Soros Fund Management Company is basically Soros's boss. Soros's position in the company is similar to Abel's position in Smith Capital.

Tims, the general manager, had as little presence as David Mellon at Smith Capital, and Abel didn't notice him at all at the time.

Invitations were sent out last year, and Soros thinks they should be sent out this year as well.

After all, his status is here.

As a result, Tims now told him that Smith Capital did not send an invitation letter to this company this year.

Timms answered the boss's question honestly: "Well, there really isn't any. Unless they deliver it today or tomorrow."

Because the reception starts the day after tomorrow, there is no reason to send invitations until the day of the reception.

"Farke!"

Soros couldn't help but cursed. He guessed that Abel must have done it on purpose.

"Go get an invitation letter. If he doesn't invite us, we'll go there by ourselves!" Soros was angry. He thought it would be a good idea to meet him.

Even if it is an opponent, it should not be like this.

He wanted to go to Abel to question him!

"Okay." Timms agreed directly. The general manager of Soros Fund Management Company saw that his boss was a little angry.

It's not difficult anyway, given Soros Fund Management's status on Wall Street.

With Soros's position in the Oilers, it can be said that it is very easy for others to send out one or two invitations.

The next day is November 14th.

In one day, Smith Capital’s year-end investment reception will be held.

Even if you don’t want to go back to cold New York at this time, breathe the air polluted by the Twin Towers in Manhattan.

Abel also had to take his own Boeing 747 from Los Angeles International Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, which took eight hours.

Abel got on the plane at nine o'clock in the morning local time in Los Angeles.

But when he returned to New York after a nine-hour flight.

The local time here in New York is already nine o'clock in the evening.

The reason is that there is a time difference of about three hours between Los Angeles and New York.

It was past six o'clock in the evening in Los Angeles, and it was naturally past nine o'clock in the evening here in New York.

When Abel returned to the "pinnacle" mansion on the top floor of the Woolworth Building in Manhattan.

Sophie Marceau and the Spanish national treasure goddess are no longer here.

The two of them stayed with Abel for more than a week last month. After Abel went to Los Angeles, they both returned to Europe.

It's not like they're going home for vacation or anything.

It's because of the "European Rising Stars" plan jointly launched by Smith Media and Vivendi that the first phase of the cooperation plan has already begun.

In the first phase of European Rising Stars, a total of 6 films will be shot.

The investment budget for two of them will be more than 50 million US dollars and less than 80 million US dollars.

The estimated investment for the other four is less than US$10 million.

Sophie Marceau and the others have signed Abel's short-term employee agreement.

For this reason, they easily secured the leading roles in two films with investments exceeding $50 million.

Now it’s time to go back to shoot blockbusters co-produced by Europe and the United States.

There is currently only one Avril living in the top mansion.

It was just when Abel came out of the independent elevator of the Summit mansion at about ten o'clock.

But in the living room of the Summit mansion, I saw Avril Lavigne and Britney Spears drinking.

I saw two girls sitting on the sofa in the middle of the living room.

There were empty beer bottles and unopened beers piled next to the sofa.

No appetizers.

Because unlike Europeans and Asians, Americans really eat when they eat and drink when they drink.

It means that you will not drink while eating, and you will not eat while drinking.

Abel's appearance naturally attracted the attention of the two girls whose cheeks were already blushing.

"Ah, Abel! You're back!" Avril, who looked like she had obviously drunk a lot, shouted happily.

Normally, she would still be a little afraid when talking to Abel.

The main reason is that the two of them didn't get along for long, only a few days.

During those few days, the way the two got along was mostly the most primitive state of human beings.

The place to get along is either on the sofa in the living room, the bathtub in the bathroom, or simply on Simmons.

Let alone feelings, even normal friendship is unfamiliar.

Abel's status and power were there, so it was normal for her to be afraid.

But now he looked like an old friend, without any fear at all, and he couldn't explain it unless he was drunk.

Next to her, Britney Spears wasn't much better.

This little girl with some mental problems was smiling stupidly next to her. She didn't look sweet at all, just like a drunk little girl on the street.

Well, punk girls are pretty much the same at this point.

Abel frowned, and a female bodyguard from Rock Security arranged by him had no choice but to come up and report:

"Miss Lavigne and Miss Spears have been drinking for more than three hours, starting at three o'clock. According to the regulations, we can't stop her, so..."

Rock security stipulates that all women related to Abel. As long as they don't endanger their own personal safety and don't do anything that puts Abel at risk of wearing a hat.

Rock security has no right to stop most of their actions and actions.

Drinking alcohol is obviously not prohibited by the regulations, so the female bodyguard naturally has no way to stop it.

"Two crazy bitches."

Abel didn't like drinking, and he didn't like the smell of alcohol.

"Hel them into the room and let them sleep. By the way, give them a wash. Forget it, after drinking so much wine, it's better not to let them take a shower directly."

Abel thought for a while and then continued: "Just ask the maid to wipe their bodies, wash their faces, and put on their pajamas."

"Understood." The female bodyguard agreed quickly, and the boss looked a little angry.

But he didn't blame her, and the female bodyguard breathed a sigh of relief.

Abel was turned off by two female drunken lunatics.

He originally wanted to drag Avril to the bathroom or Simmons as soon as he came back.

I have experienced more magnificent ups and downs, and occasionally have a taste of a flat life, which is also a new experience.

But now he lost interest and simply went to the study room.

"Hi Michael, I'm back."

In the study, Abel called Bloomberg.

"Hi! My dear friend, are you finally willing to come back from the sunny west coast?"

"Don't make such wisecracks. Michael, you know what matters most to me."

"Hahahaha~ Of course I know. But wouldn't you know this kind of thing if you asked your subordinates to make some inquiries?"

Abel said impatiently: "Nonsense, of course I still want to hear you tell me this kind of thing in person."

"Hahaha~"

Bloomberg laughed again there.

"Okay. My dear friend, I will tell you myself."

Abel's friend seemed to be in a good mood.

It seems that the election results are not bad.

"The result is... I am in the lead! About 1.8 million people have voted so far. I am leading by a lot. I am ahead of the second place by 100,000 votes, 14.3% percentage points!"

"So many?" Abel was surprised.

The election for mayor of New York City is different from the general election. There are no electoral votes.

All New Yorkers over the age of 18 have the right to vote.

New York now has a population of almost six million.

Exclude about a quarter of citizens under the age of 18.

If everyone came to vote, there would be a total of about 4.5 million votes.

But the problem is that it is simply impossible for all 4.5 million people to vote.

At least one-third of the people here are indifferent to who becomes the mayor of New York City.

In other words, at most three million people would vote, half the city's population.

And among these three million people, about one-third did not vote due to various reasons during the voting period.

Therefore, in every New York election, only 2 to 2.5 million people usually vote.

Under normal circumstances, there will be 4-8 candidates in each New York election.

This is the same as electing a general. In fact, there are more than four or five candidates participating in the general election every time.

At its peak, there were nine people running for election.

But except for those two people, the other participants are really just participants.

99.5% of the time, the outcome of these elections will be decided between the donkey and the elephant.

The same goes for New York. There are six people running for mayor of New York City this time.

But the votes of the first four combined were not as many as those of Bloomberg and Mark Green from the Donkey Party alone.

As long as Bloomberg defeats Mark Green, the candidate of the Donkey Party, he will win 100%.

The other participants can only be said to be participating.

Abel knew that Bloomberg would most likely win this time.

In parallel time and space, Bloomberg originally won.

After this time and space has its own support.

Bloomberg's side is stronger, and his chances of winning will only increase.

But Abel didn't expect that Bloomberg could win so much.

100,000 votes, 14.3%, when there are already 1.8 million voters.

This almost declares that Bloomberg is the final winner.

After all, it is still 2001, and Donkey and Elephant are actually still on good terms internally, and have not yet begun to break up.

At this time, the conditions for the Donkey Party to play dirty tricks and come out of the cage have not yet been formed.

Momo in New York has not yet taken shape, and most of the Momo people are still in the southern states and the West Coast.

In other words, Bloomberg has basically won more than half of the battle.

No wonder the old man was so happy. Abel was a little happy now after hearing this.

"This is really good news. How about we come to my cocktail party tomorrow night and discuss it in detail?"

During the election, Bloomberg had his hands full. As a candidate, he needs to run up and down New York all day long, canvassing votes for himself.

For a whole month, I was so busy that no one in good health would be able to handle it.

But it’s already the late stages of the election.

And it's still night.

No matter how busy you are, it's still okay to come over for a cocktail party in the evening.

"Of course! I would have attended even if you didn't tell me. My dear friend, I really don't know what I would do without you!"

What the old guy said was a bit disgusting.

Abel said directly: "Then see you tomorrow night, dear Mayor Bloomberg!"

"Hahaha~ Okay, dear Mr. Abel Smith, see you tomorrow night!"

Abel hung up the phone on his own initiative. He smiled and shook his head.

Bloomberg finally came to power.

Then you can start your big plan for New York.

Apart from Bloomberg himself, Abel is probably the second happiest person.

He felt that he should celebrate. After thinking about it, Abel put his phone away and turned around and left the study.

Abel first went to the bathroom of the master bedroom to take a shower.

After taking a shower, Abel, wearing a bath towel, turned around and left the master bedroom.

He stood in the corridor and looked around, hesitated for a while, and finally chose a room and walked in.

When he entered, the female bodyguard responsible for Avril's safety not far away couldn't help but want to speak.

Because the room Abel entered was not Avril's room.

The female bodyguard opened her mouth halfway, but before the words came out, she was held down by the sharp-sighted female bodyguard captain Duoni.

After Abel opened the door and went in, Duni let go of the female bodyguard's mouth and whispered:

"Don't meddle too much in what you don't care about. Mr. Smith, he is our boss, do you understand?"

Avril's female bodyguard nodded hurriedly, "I understand, I'm sorry, Captain Dorni."

Tony nodded and pointed to Avril's room next to her.

"Look here. If your mistress comes out, tell her that Mr. Smith is sleeping in his room."

"Oh, okay." The female bodyguard agreed.

Then she looked at Duoni, walked over to the master bedroom, closed the door and locked the empty master bedroom.

Naturally, the rest of the night was silent.

Only the flowers are blooming.

And the quiet Manhattan night.