This morning, the chairman of GH received a phone call. After the call, it was said that Mr. GH's chairman showed no change in his expression and appeared very calm, as if there were no issues.
However, a few seconds later, in front of his secretary and a department head, his hand trembled, and he dropped the cigarette he was holding. That was not all. The problem was when this chairman picked up the cigarette butt and put it back into his mouth to smoke, he screamed in pain the next second. He had somehow managed to smoke the burning end. For the specific feeling, you can consult PDD; he understands this better.
Afterward, the chairman dismissed his secretary and department head. Then, the distinct sound of shattering porcelain was heard from the office. A pair of Jingdezhen large blue and white porcelain vases, bought for 1 million yuan, were smashed.
The news came from the United States. The President of the United States publicly announced that the current president of the World Bank would absolutely not be a Chinese person. The matter began more than ten days ago. For some unknown reason, an American reporter dug up the nomination list and quickly made it public. Soon, news spread across the entire American internet that the President of the United States intended to appoint a Chinese person as the president of the World Bank.
This news instantly triggered widespread dissatisfaction in the country. First of all, ordinary Americans had long regarded the position of World Bank president as their own. Even if it wasn't given to an American, it should be given to an American's dog, so how could it be given to a Chinese person? Furthermore, many American elites and financial institutions were also very dissatisfied. They had long wanted to push their own people for the position, so how could a Chinese person suddenly appear out of nowhere?
Within a few days, the entire American public opinion was in an uproar. The President of the United States was repeatedly pressed by reporters on this issue during several press conferences, and for a time, his approval rating even dropped significantly. This president really wanted to tell these reporters that he had merely put this Chinese person's name on the nomination list, which did not mean he intended to make him the World Bank president. This was just to cooperate with some American companies in acquiring advanced technology. Once the technology was obtained, this Chinese person could go wherever he pleased. He would be the first to object to a Chinese person becoming the World Bank president!
Unfortunately, such words could not be spoken directly. Moreover, the original five-party alliance had started to fight among themselves, each wanting to monopolize the technology. So, the president simply stopped pretending. He directly ordered the deletion of this chairman's name and publicly stated in an interview with reporters that this Chinese person's name appearing on the list was entirely added by the relevant departments, and he had no knowledge of the matter. Then he assured reporters that this Chinese person would not become the World Bank president, and such an important position must belong to his own people!
Thus, a few minutes after the press conference ended, this conversation reached the chairman's ears, leading to the classic reverse smoking and outburst of rage. The chairman immediately called the five-party alliance, demanding an explanation. At this time, the five-party alliance should have at least comforted the chairman, saying that the president was just placating reporters and that the position of World Bank president would still be yours in the future, anything to appease the chairman's emotions.
However, the five-party alliance had been so disrupted by Huang He's single sentence that it had fractured. Samsung and HP Compaq had been bidding against each other for the past few days, to the point where they were practically tearing each other apart. Kingston, with a market cap of only $2 billion, had its valuation soar to $2.5 billion, making it more valuable than Kingston itself. They might as well have disappeared. As for HSBC and Citibank, they might still have harbored the idea of maintaining the five-party alliance, but they could only provide financial support and profit from the equity of the joint venture in the future. But ultimately, a joint venture still needed to be established, and a physical enterprise to take over these technologies. They themselves could not operate a technology company. Therefore, the five-party alliance had been torn to shreds, and no one was interested in making any promises to this chairman, nor could they.
Thus, the chairman became enraged again, completely abandoning his usual demeanor of being refined, sophisticated, and cunning. His mind was solely focused on revenge against the five-party alliance. In the chairman's eyes, Jiangnan Group was no longer important; the most detestable were the five-party alliance. They had tricked him into this path of harming users, and now they refused to fulfill their promises, while he had no way to turn back.
It is said that the higher authorities expressed serious dissatisfaction with this matter. After all, such behavior, collaborating with foreign forces to seize domestic high-tech assets, is something that no country's leadership can tolerate. It was only because he had a relatively clean record and acted within the law that they couldn't find a suitable reason to remove him for the time being. However, his position was no longer stable. It was estimated that he would be replaced within a few months, and he would likely be transferred to a seemingly powerful but actually low-responsibility government department to live out his remaining years.
Originally, if he had been able to advance further by seizing this opportunity to become the World Bank president, the higher authorities, considering his position, would have grudgingly continued to support him, giving him infinite possibilities. But now, such an opportunity was impossible. He was destined to fail.
"You fools, you seem to have forgotten who forced Jiangnan Group to sell Jiangnan Optoelectronics!" The chairman's eyes turned cold, and then he summoned his confidant, the representative from before, and issued an order. Upon hearing this order, the representative's expression was very complicated. It seemed all his previous efforts were in vain, and he had even gotten He Chao involved. What was this all about! However, it was good that He Chao was out of the picture; only then would he have a chance to be promoted. This was a good thing.
"Mr. Huang, we, HP Compaq, can offer you $2.7 billion, which is $200 million more than Microsoft's offer. This price is sufficient to demonstrate our sincerity!" Facing Huang He, the representative from HP Compaq said, clenching his fists tightly. "Therefore, Mr. Huang, please put away your boring auction game and sign with us now, or HP Compaq will completely withdraw and will no longer play with you!"
"Also, I have already communicated with Samsung before coming. They have also indicated that $2.7 billion exceeds their bottom line, and they will not follow." HP Compaq revealed their trump card. He believed Huang He had already earned enough and should learn to stop while he was ahead.
"Well, I am very satisfied with this price!" Huang He nodded, then shook his head. "But it's a pity, this transaction is no longer necessary! We are not selling Jiangnan Optoelectronics!"
"What did you say?" HP Compaq's eyes widened in disbelief.
"If you did not hear clearly, I can repeat it. We are not selling Jiangnan Optoelectronics!" Huang He said with a slight smile, then placed a notice in front of the other party. "This is a notice from GH just now. They said that after internal investigation, they found that our fund usage is reasonable and there are no violations. Therefore, they have voluntarily withdrawn the related lawsuits, and we only need to continue repaying annually according to the previous terms!"
"We, Jiangnan Group, have $250 million in funds, so there is no need to sell Jiangnan Optoelectronics, and naturally, we will not sell it. No matter how high you bid, it will be meaningless!"
"You... you... you..." The representative from HP Compaq stammered "you" three times before fainting from anger. Huang He promptly sent him to the hospital. Huang He personally apologized to all the companies that had made offers, stating that the company's crisis had been resolved and Jiangnan Optoelectronics would not be sold. Those companies that had made offers, such as Intel and Microsoft, cursed inwardly, but the entire process only involved making offers, and there were no actual losses, so it was dropped.
Only the members of the five-party alliance were disgusted. When they realized they had gained nothing, they discovered that after all their calculations, their efforts were overturned by Huang He's single statement. Every time they thought of this, they felt like spitting blood. Of course, some suspected that this was Huang He's scheme, but they believed that they had not revealed anything from beginning to end, so Huang He could not have discovered them. They could only blame others for their greed and unwillingness to cooperate with them, insisting on competing with them, which caused them to forget to appease that chairman. In short, all mistakes were the fault of the other party.
Indeed, after this incident, the members of the five-party alliance instead hated the other four members within the alliance, especially HP Compaq and Samsung, who became bitter enemies. The two parties already had numerous disagreements and struggles in many markets. This time, they had only temporarily joined forces, and they still fell out. Furthermore, both sides believed that the other was the primary culprit for their failure, so how could that hatred dissipate?
Thus, this farce ended in such a muddled way. Everything returned to its original state. Except for Mr. Huang's hard work and a trip around the world, there were no other losses. On the other hand, the chairman of GH was reportedly going into early retirement. He had become invisible within GH, and everyone knew he was about to step down, so no one paid attention to his orders anymore.
Frankly speaking, if he had not stopped in time this time, it wouldn't have been early retirement but direct dismissal. It is said that the higher authorities were furious upon learning about the entire incident, even calling him a "traitor!" Being allowed to retire was already his greatest fortune.
However, this matter was not entirely without impact on Jiangnan Group. In just one month, Jiangnan Optoelectronics successively received orders worth nearly $200 million, all for memory chips. After the frenzied bidding by several companies, many people realized that the most advanced memory chip technology was held by Chinese people, by Jiangnan Group, and at a price cheaper than that of Americans and Koreans, offering unbeatable cost-effectiveness. Orders naturally poured in, forcing Jiangnan Optoelectronics to announce an investment of another $200 million to expand its production line. Who would have thought that this was a company that was supposed to be sold for $1 billion? Huang He had not yet produced his money when they themselves had failed.