On the other side, Buffett was sizing up Huang He.
“It seems Huang He has no desire to sell Jiangnan Group unless I can put it in a severe cash crisis!” Buffett calculated in his heart.
Huang He’s series of actions were telling Buffett that he had no intention of relying on Buffett to get Jiangnan Group listed.
However, this was an extremely difficult task. Buffett had meticulously investigated the assets of Jiangnan Group. Firstly, the profitability of Jiangnan Group’s assets was astonishing, and the market was primarily within China with no other strong competitors. It was difficult for Buffett to use other means to suppress it.
The only business that had expanded overseas was the server business, but the cost-effectiveness of the server business was simply too high. Commercial competition could not defeat Jiangnan Group’s server business. Thus, Jiangnan Group had become an iron turtle. Even with Buffett’s capabilities, it was difficult to make Boss Huang short of money, unless Huang He personally took out his own money for investment. In that case, there would be ways and means.
“Bill, what did you remind Huang He about?” Buffett asked Bill Ackman afterwards, and learned the answer from him.
“Soybeans!” A faint smile appeared on Buffett’s lips. He knew what to do.
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“Mr. Buffett, as per the usual convention, could you please predict the economic focus that the market is currently paying attention to?” A reporter asked. This was also a fixed segment of Buffett’s charity dinner: predicting and commenting on a current hot financial issue, with the prediction and comments to be published publicly.
As for the question for the prediction, it was proposed by all attendees, and then the question with the highest similarity was chosen.
“Alright, ask away!” Buffett nodded.
“What is your strategy for the current oil futures market?” This was a quite normal question and a focal point for many people present, as everyone was quite anxious about this issue.
“Actually, I’ve already told Mr. Little Swift about this earlier. We need patience. Generally speaking, the oil futures market will continue to rise. We just need to wait until after August!” Buffett replied. His answer was flawless, and it was indeed the case.
“Then, Mr. Little Swift, what are your thoughts?” To Buffett’s surprise, the reporter took the initiative and handed the microphone back to Little Swift.
Buffett swore that this was not arranged by him at all. It was entirely the reporter’s own initiative, wanting to create a big scoop.
“I think…” Little Swift was about to say something in agreement with Buffett, but then he heard Huang He beside him chuckle, “Little Swift just told me that he believes the oil futures market will see a huge rebound in no more than 10 days. So now is a good opportunity to buy at the bottom. Our Western Mustang Foundation is ready to re-enter the futures market and reclaim everything we’ve lost!”
“I see!” The reporter was overjoyed, ecstatic deep down. This was the effect he wanted.
On one hand, Buffett said the market would wait until after August to rebound, while on the other hand, Little Swift said it would bottom out and rebound in 10 days. One could hardly say they were diametrically opposed, but they were certainly going in opposite directions.
Therefore, as soon as this news was released, it would immediately attract the attention of the entire market. He had already thought of the headline: “Little Swift Challenges Buffett: Who is the True God of Finance!”
If this headline didn’t blow up the entire event, he would chop off his head and use it as a soccer ball for his editor.
“This Little Swift is going too far. The market will teach him a harsh lesson!” Bill Ackman said indignantly upon seeing Little Swift’s boastful demeanor. How dare this guy question his idol, it was simply courting death.
“Let’s go!” However, Buffett’s face was ashen. He said to Bill Ackman beside him and led the way out of the steak restaurant.
“Sir seems a bit strange today!” Bill Ackman felt confused, but he didn’t know that Buffett was muttering to himself in a voice only he could hear, “I didn’t expect this black man to actually have such foresight. Those old guys thought everyone else was a fool, but they didn’t realize they were seen through by a black man.”
“Never mind. I’ve already provided them with a smokescreen. If they’re still seen through like this, it has nothing to do with me!”
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The next day at noon, the story and news that happened at the steak restaurant yesterday were written out by the impatient reporter and published on his own media outlet.
The result was as expected, the article went viral.
Buffett’s lunch was always a piece of news that ordinary people paid a lot of attention to. They couldn’t understand the various professional financial data, but they were full of interest in who Buffett had lunch with and how much this lunch could be sold for.
However, usually, the attention for this news was only a notch above that of regular news. But this time, the news about Buffett’s lunch had exploded several notches because another important factor had been added to the news: the confrontation between Little Swift, who was recently hyped as a fallen new god, and Buffett.
That’s right, the most important selling point and attention in the entire news report was that Little Swift and Buffett made two completely different predictions. Then, with the sensationalized description by this news reporter, it became a confrontation between Wall Street’s new god and old god.
The new god was naturally our Little Swift, and the old god was naturally Buffett. As for the outcome of this war, it was whose prediction would come true.
With the reporter’s flowery and tragic writing style, many people felt as if they were immersed in a historical epic, eagerly wanting to know who would win between the new god and the old god.
It is worth mentioning that, unknowingly, Little Swift was actually being compared to Buffett on the same level, with both being given the title of god. This is a common tactic in publicity – forcefully蹭咖位, directly placing Little Swift in the same position as Buffett.
Of course, if Little Swift failed, he would become a complete joke.
But if Little Swift succeeded and won, Buffett might not become a joke, but Little Swift would solidify his position. From a joking black financial god, he would become a true financial god. This was an unparalleled effect.
Moreover, this article contained not only the struggle between these two gods, but also revealed a lot of important information. For the first time, most Americans learned that behind the Western Mustang Foundation stood a Chinese boss, and that was Huang He, the chairman of Jiangnan Group, who had gained some fame last year for offering a huge reward of 100 million US dollars. This further boosted Huang He’s popularity in the United States.
What concerned the Black community in the United States even more was not Huang He’s identity, but a few words Huang He said at that event.
“I have always believed that Little Swift is the most outstanding investment manager. Black people, like all other ethnic groups in the world, are outstanding and intelligent people.”
“Pity is an insult to these homeless people. They are still independent individuals with their own dignity, they are free beings. We have no right to look at them with pity and condescension. They are equal to us!”
“No! Please note, it’s not donation, it’s sharing!”
“I believe this money should be shared with those who need it more, such as Black people in the United States, because due to the prejudice of some people in society, they live in difficulties and cannot unleash their intelligence and talent. Therefore, I want to specifically share this money with my Black friends.”
These words, published in newspapers and media, instantly moved all the Black people across the United States. When had they ever heard such warm words? When had they ever heard such soul-stirring words?
Although there were many so-called affirmative action policies for Black people in the United States at this time, in the eyes of Black people, these policies were basically condescending, given to them with an arrogant gaze from white people.
But Huang He was different. He always spoke of sharing, not donating, and always respected the freedom and independence of every individual. In Huang He, they truly felt a different kind of greatness and kindness!
Moreover, in the eyes of these Black people, Huang He had no vested interest in doing so.
Jiangnan Group was a Chinese enterprise, and its main base was in China. At the same time, according to media reports, Jiangnan Group had no direct business in the United States. At most, it sold some servers and ran some games online. Therefore, they did not need to rely on promoting Black people to gain the Black market.
So this was definitely genuine support and kindness. This allowed Boss Huang to gain a large amount of goodwill from Black Americans in a short period. Of course, correspondingly, some Americans would feel quite displeased because of such remarks.
But these people were only a small fraction. More white Americans actually supported Huang He’s remarks very much. After all, they were “saint mothers,” and saint mothers liked such remarks the most. Therefore, Boss Huang gained a lot of goodwill and reputation in the United States because of such a report.
“Boss, these media outlets are now speculating whether your ancestors had Black blood, otherwise why would you empathize so much with Black people!” Hu Jing said with a smile in the setting sun’s rays that afternoon.
She had the latest American newspapers in her hands, including various interesting comments about our Boss Huang.
“These newspapers don’t understand America!” Huang He grinned and said, “They don’t know that I’m winning over the biggest backer in the entire United States. With these lovely Black brothers, no one in the United States will dare to touch us anymore!”