America's Road to Wealth

Manhattan, between Center Park Place and Barclay Street, above Broadway.

In Smith Tower.

Abel met David Mellon after a long absence.

Once upon a time, David Mellon was Abel's most important subordinate and his most trusted assistant.

At the time when Smith Capital was founded.

The existence of David Mellon also prevented Abel from taking many detours.

Avoid Abel and step into the various pitfalls everywhere on Wall Street.

It can be said that without David Mellon, Abel's entrepreneurial period would never have been smooth sailing.

In addition, David Mellon's character and outlook are very consistent with Abel's.

There is also the identity of being from the Mellon family.

Let Abel have a good relationship with David.

A small share of Smith Capital shares will be given as option rewards to attract and encourage David to work hard for him.

After all, David had switched jobs from Goldman Sachs to the little-known Smith Capital, which had just been established.

Without sufficiently generous conditions, it would be difficult for Abel to attract such real Wall Street elites.

You must know that at that time, David's job hopping was ridiculed for a long time by many Wall Street people who knew about it.

Several months.

What now? Now these people who laughed at David at that time are eager to flatter David.

Unfortunately, it is now difficult for most of them to see David again.

Today, David Mellon is the CEO of Smith Capital.

There is more than one person in Smith Capital and more than thousands of people.

He controls the flow of funds worth tens of billions of dollars, and can also influence the decisions of many banks and financial companies.

In Wall Street, today's David Mellon is undoubtedly one of the big names.

"You are finally back."

In Abel's office.

David half-joked and half-complained: "You didn't come back. Those Texans didn't listen to me, a New Yorker, at all."

"Ha ha--"

Drinking the rose coffee specially prepared for me by coffee master David Mellon, among the mellow aroma of coffee beans, there is also a plant scent.

After Abel laughed, he said softly:

"That's not true. Besides, they are mainly in commercial banks and insurance companies."

"That's true. But you also asked me to control them. The problem is that I don't have that power." David said.

Abel nodded, expressing understanding.

With Abel in Houston, he signed a large number of equity exchange and share holding contracts with several families in the Texas consortium.

The Smith Consortium, which was still in its infancy, had actually been merged into the Texas Consortium.

But in this merger, Abel took the initiative.

while maintaining control over the energy side.

Abel also became the financial core, media core, and the main person in charge of the Internet of the New Texas Consortium.

In these fields that Abel is responsible for, the old guys from the original Texas Consortium don't pay much attention to the Internet and the media.

In this era, the old guys have not yet realized what kind of power will emerge when the Internet and media are combined in the future.

So Abel asked for it, so they handed it over.

As for handing over financial power to Abel. This in itself was the core factor why they were willing to compromise with Abel.

Who said that in the field of finance, it only took more than two years.

Abel's achievements and plundered wealth have exceeded what Buffett and Soros have accumulated over the past few decades.

They also hope that Abel, the god of investment, will take the finance of the New Texas Consortium into flight.

Take them flying too.

After the merger, the New Dezhou Group will handle all insurance, banking, and investment-related businesses.

Except for the direct line of Abel.

In other respects, Abel also had the power of moderation and jurisdiction.

It is precisely for this reason that the financial companies of the Smith family have the upper hand in mergers.

David Mellon, the CEO of Smith Capital, naturally has a certain degree of control over the financial companies in New York that were originally Texas conglomerates.

It's just that these Texans in New York are convinced by Abel, the Texas boss.

But they were not so obedient to David Mellon, who had "shit luck".

In fact, it's not just Texans who view David this way.

Most people on Wall Street view David Mellon this way.

Everyone thinks that this member of the New York Mellon family is just lucky.

I just happened to meet Abe Smith, who was starting a business, and was favored by him, and that's how I got everything I have now.

If he hadn't met Abel Smith.

Then David Mellon is now at most a mid- to senior-level employee of Goldman Sachs.

David himself knew this.

He knew that if he relied on his own ability, it would actually be true.

Fortunately, David is very self-aware.

David believes that good luck is also a form of strength.

Since it was him, David Mellon, he appeared in front of Abel when he needed it.

This is his luck, but it is also his strength.

envy, jealousy, hate?

Then let them be envious and jealous.

In this way, he was helpless against those Texans.

Only now would David complain to Abel.

"In the future, each subsidiary of Smith Financial Group will operate independently."

Abel thought for a while and expressed his plan.

"David, you will continue to be responsible for the operations of Smith Capital. This job can be said to be yours."

Hearing Abel say this, David was greatly relieved.

All his current glory, status, and wealth.

The main reason is because he is the CEO of Smith Capital.

David takes this position more seriously than anyone else.

Getting these words from Abel was more important to David than anything else.

"The problem now is Smith Bank and Smith Insurance."

"Because of Smith Capital, Smith Bank will not have an investment arm and will only be a purely commercial bank."

"As for Smith's insurance, I'm not very familiar with insurance."

"So I am considering who should be responsible for these two subsidiaries that are very important to the group."

Abel was not afraid to say these words to David.

According to Abel's plan, in the future, there will not be an independent CEO at the headquarters of Smith Financial Group.

The most important core enterprise in our hands.

Abel will act as chairman himself, as well as CEO.

All departments within the group, as well as its subsidiaries, only need to be responsible to him and follow his will.

Among the many departments and subsidiaries, the three businesses of banking, insurance and investment are naturally the most important.

Among them, what he values ​​most is not Smith Capital, but Smith Bank.

Because to put it bluntly, as long as Smith Capital has him, everything will be fine.

However, the operation and expansion of commercial banks require long-term reputation accumulation, stable interest rates and other services.

His talent has no way of affecting these things.

Most of them can only rely on accumulation or continuous annexation.

The four commercial banks of the original Texas consortium, as well as Pacific Commercial Bank on the Smith Capital side, became Smith Bank after the merger of the two parties.

It will no longer have an investment arm within it.

From now on, all capital operations will be handed over to Smith Capital.

This aspect is easy to solve, but what is not easy to solve is that Abel found that he currently does not have a good person in charge of a commercial bank.

The original Pacific Commercial Bank had a general manager position.

But this position is vacant, and most of its original jobs are held concurrently by senior executives from Smith Capital.

It used to be possible to do this, but now it's no longer possible.

So now Abel is looking for a CEO or general manager role for Smith Insurance and Smith Bank respectively.

He doesn't have such talents here, except for relying on headhunting companies and Smith Intelligence Group to find them.

He also thought of David Mellon.

Including many of the core figures in the Smith Intelligence Group, a large number of talents in Abel's finance department were originally discovered by David.

Abel felt that maybe David was looking for talents, and maybe he had some unique talent.

He simply decided to let David recommend a few candidates, and he would consider them again.

Hearing Abel's request, David Mellon nodded and thought for a while.

"How about Charlie Scharf? I mean the CEO of Smith Bank," David said.

"Charlie Scharf?"

Abel thought for a moment, and he quickly remembered that this person seemed to have been the chief financial officer of Merrill Lynch.

But this guy is on the wrong team. At the end of the previous year, with the resignation of Stanley O'Neal, the most influential black president on Wall Street, Charlie Scharf was also forced to be marginalized.

David nodded and said to Abel:

"Charlie Scharf was once the number one nigger on Wall Street. He was also the first person in Merrill Lynch to see the crisis. That nigger didn't listen to him, which led to serious losses for Merrill Lynch. Charlie Scharf was forced to shoulder responsibilities that were not his, and he is still a marginal figure at Merrill Lynch."

Abel had a good impression of Charlie Scharf.

I remember when I was still not famous.

Charlie Scharf is the one with the best attitude towards himself among the senior executives of several major Wall Street investment banks.

"Then let's temporarily choose Charlie Scharf, and I will send someone to contact him."

Abel said with a smile.

"Hmm." David said, "As for insurance companies, I think we might consider Frank Berg."

"Frank Berg?"

Abel had never heard of this name, and he looked at David.

The latter introduced softly: "Frank Berg is the son of Green Berg."

Frank Berg, this name is something Abel has never heard of.

Greenberg, Abel has heard of this name.

This is the famous insurance godfather in the United States.

He spent decades successfully developing AIG, an insurance group, from a small company into one of the Fortune 500 companies.

He is one of the leading figures in the commercial insurance industry. He is very old and is said to be retiring in the next few years.

"Frank Berger had a troubled relationship with his father and so did not work at AIG. He now works at UnitedHealthcare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, as general manager of sales."

David Mellon introduced softly: "I think he can do the job of Smith Insurance."

Abel looked at David, his gaze making David a little panicked, and then he smiled and said, "Tell me the real reason."

"Alright alright……"

David Mellon could only say: "Frank Berg, he is also my uncle. He married my aunt, the kind of kiss."

"Wait a minute, I remember you said which state your uncle is in, is he a senator or representative?"

"My father has no biological brothers, but he has three biological sisters. In other words, I have three biological aunts."

David shrugged and said, "In addition to an uncle who is a congressman and an uncle who is an insurance company, I also have an aunt whose husband works in the District of Columbia and is a broker on K Street."

Abel nodded, thinking that no wonder he wanted to find someone from K Street.

Find David Mellon. It's also particularly impressive. It only cost a few million dollars to make Sony Pictures unhappy in all kinds of ways.

It turns out that there is such a relationship.

"That's right." David suddenly added:

"Frank Berg's biological aunt married Robert Morgenthal and was Peggy Morgenthal's grandmother. However, she has passed away for a long time. The relationship between Green Berg and the Morgenthal family is average. But Frank Berg , and it is said that he has a very good relationship with his aunt. Even his current work is influenced by Robert Morgenthau.”

Abel nodded after hearing this.

This is the kind of virtue that these established wealthy families in the United States have.

After hundreds of years of mutual marriage, even if many people have conflicts of interest, in fact, if you check carefully, you will find that everyone is actually related.

This is how the wealthy ecological chain came about.

It's like this on the East Coast, and it's the same over in Texas.

California, which has only emerged in recent decades, is also in the same situation.

Perhaps it should be said that this is one of human nature.

That is, those with vested interests will use various methods to protect their interests as much as possible.

Including but not limited to marriages within the same group and the same class.

This is the case at all times and in all countries.

"Then add Frank Berg. I will list him as a candidate for inspection." Abel said.

"That's right." Abel suddenly added:

"David, what do you think if I list Smith Media at this time?"

David Mellon was stunned and felt that he had heard wrongly.

He also asked again: "Did I hear correctly? My king, you said you want to list Smith Media?"

Abel nodded, "I found that I have never listed a company before. This is a bit of a failure. So I thought, maybe it's time to list my own company and see how it goes."

Although Abel now has a large number of shares in listed companies under his name.

He personally occupies a large proportion, and many of them have absolute control.

For example, California Pacific Electric, which is still in the process of being merged with Pacific Energy, is a large listed energy company.

There is also American American Express Company, which is part of Smith Bank and will operate independently in the future. It was originally a listed company, but was privatized by Abel.

In addition to these, Smith Capital currently holds more than 200 listed companies with a shareholding ratio of more than 5%.

It is wrong from this perspective to say that Abel does not have a listed company.

He is an executive director or independent director of more than 200 listed companies.

But from another perspective, this statement is correct.

That is, until now, Abel has not created or merged any company that he has single-handedly created, and it is not a company that he has snatched away. There is really no company that has gone public.

"Storm, that's going to be a storm."

David said excitedly in a voice like an aria:

"I have seen that on Wall Street, across the United States, and around the world, there will be a storm of panic buying in the U.S. stock market."

"I believe in Smith Media. If it really goes public, it will become the world's number one media group in the shortest possible time."

"Of course, it is number one in the world in terms of stock market value alone."

"Of course, its number one ranking has little to do with its own strength."

"We all know that all this is just because of you."

"Because you are Abel Smith, our king!"

Looking at David Mellon who was a little excited, Abel chuckled and shook his head.

He knew why David was so excited.

Because if Smith Media really wants to IPO.

Underwriters will be needed.

If the money does not go to outsiders, the underwriter will definitely be Smith Capital.

Not to mention the handling fees that can be earned here.

It is just the honor of listing the media company with the highest market value in the world.

It was enough for David Mellon to leave a huge mark on Wall Street.

All financial professionals yearn for such an honor.

"Get ready. Let's spread the word to the outside world."

Abel stood up, looked at the sky outside the French window, and then looked at the clock hanging on the wall next to him.

Before he knew it, he and David had been chatting for almost an hour.

"Let's just say that Smith Media may go public this year. I will ask Robert Iger to cooperate in reporting Smith Media's annual report."

David Mellon clenched his fists excitedly and waved them hard.

"no problem!"

Abel smiled and nodded, signaling David to go out to work.

He himself turned on his computer and looked at the recent capital market conditions.

With the advancement of technology, coupled with the close relationship with Bloomberg.

Smith Capital can use the most advanced financial information processing system.

Simply put, as long as Abel is on the computer, he can query the latest real-time data on most investment products in the capital market that he wants to see.

Unlike before, you still need to use Bloomberg’s terminal and check them one by one slowly.

Today’s Smith Capital is no longer the self-employed business it was at the beginning.

Abel no longer needs to go through David. He can directly issue trading orders to the traders in the entire company.

Of course, when the operation starts.

David Mellon and several other CEOs are still needed to keep an eye on the market so that they can be prepared at any time.

I looked at the time on my computer and saw that it was February 23, 2002.

Abel first looked at the market situation of international crude oil futures.

The outbreak of the war in Afghanistan will have a short-term impact on oil.

Everyone knows there is no oil there.

Therefore, not many people are worried about the impact of the war in Afghanistan on oil supply.

As a result, in the international oil futures market, except for the first few days of the war, oil prices began to remain stable again.

Under Abel's talented observation, he also discovered that the international crude oil market has not been strong recently.

Nothing to start with.

He turned his attention back to precious metals.

If there is a war, gold will definitely rise.

Today's international spot gold has risen by almost 50% compared to when Abel was first reborn.

But it's not the end, it's just the beginning.

After thinking about it, Abel picked up the phone and gave the order:

"I am Abel Smith, entering international spot gold. Open positions steadily and hold them for a long time. The goal is... to reach US$50 billion within one year."

After he was sure, he hung up the phone.

Continue to watch the market.

This time, his focus was on his favorite international foreign exchange market.

Having said that, compared to the stock market, futures and so on.

Abel felt that the terrifying foreign exchange market was the happiest place for his big fish to swim.

"Um?"

In a large number of currency exchanges.

Abel took a fancy to the neon Japanese yen series and its series of currency exchanges.

"Small cabinet has discovered the sweetness of quantitative easing. The United States is now using this method, so you can start using it boldly?"

Then don't blame him, the father, for bleeding his dog son.