"So, are we going bankrupt?" In the study of Chatsworth House, Arthur put down the financial report in his hand, looking at the two individuals before him.
"Although it's not to the point of bankruptcy, if we can't recover the money we invested in 'London Star,' then I'm afraid that to cope with the bank loans, we'll need to sell most of our assets. By then..."
The speaker was Yulia Moore, the manager of the Cavendish Family Trust Fund, a lady exuding mature charm. While Yulia's figure was indeed striking, her curves barely concealed even by a business suit, Arthur's mind was elsewhere. He needed to grasp the true, dire situation of the Cavendish family as quickly as possible.
Speaking of which, a major reason for the late Duchess's (Arthur's grandmother's) immense prestige was her business acumen. After World War II, she strategically shifted the family's business approach, managing to preserve most of the Cavendish family's assets. When Arthur's grandfather, the 11th Duke of Devonshire, faced crippling inheritance taxes, he, with the old lady's help, toiled for over 20 years. They famously opened Chatsworth House, one of Britain's few remaining super manors, to the public for visits, and undertook various activities and filming to generate profits, all to pay off the massive inheritance tax.
Many who have seen the renowned British drama "Downton Abbey" are likely deeply impressed by the fictional Downton Abbey. But the land owned by the Duke of Devonshire's family, Chatsworth House, spans an incredible 35,000 acres. What does that mean? It's seven times the area of Highclere Castle, the actual filming location of "Downton Abbey," and equivalent to half of London's urban area! Therefore, Chatsworth House is vastly larger than the beautiful manor in "Downton Abbey," and opening it to the public indeed provided significant benefits to the family. Even so, the entire family only managed a slight profit, barely staying afloat.
Beyond Chatsworth House, the family still owned two manors and adjacent land in Ireland and Scotland. However, in this new era, the output from these estates and lands could no longer easily support a family's lavish lifestyle as before. Moreover, the annual cost of repairing and maintaining these sprawling manors was simply astronomical. Since World War II, countless noble families had gone bankrupt, unable to sustain their traditional luxurious lives, and now living in relative poverty. Fewer and fewer families could maintain the traditional "noble pomp." Surviving noble families often had other industrial investments that fed back into their traditional holdings. Furthermore, government policies had become increasingly unfriendly to the aristocratic class, intentionally or unintentionally weakening their interests through taxation and other measures.
Consequently, the Cavendish family had also attempted to invest in emerging industries. Unfortunately, it seemed Arthur's grandfather and father lacked strong abilities in this area, suffering many large and small losses. However, even these losses wouldn't have brought the Cavendish family to Arthur's current desperate situation.
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The core of the problem lay with his deceased father, who, for reasons unknown, was swayed by the temptation of "high returns." He had mortgaged many of the family's assets to invest in an investment company called "London Star."
Yes, as Arthur correctly surmised, this so-called "London Star" was a complete Ponzi scheme. In the beginning, the late Duke (Old Cavendish) was not too deeply involved, only tentatively investing a small amount of funds. But Ponzi schemes operate by delivering extremely high returns to initial investors using the funds of later customers. These early successes gradually strengthened Old Cavendish's confidence. Moreover, impacted by the Internet bubble two years prior, traditional industries were also heavily affected, making "high returns" even more appealing.
As a result, Old Cavendish began to continuously increase his investment in "London Star." Blinded by the promise of exorbitant returns, he actually mortgaged many of the family's assets and borrowed heavily from the bank to pour money into this fraudulent scheme.
The rest, as one might imagine, was catastrophic. A month ago, "London Star" stopped paying dividends, and many users' requests for redemption were temporarily frozen. At this point, Old Cavendish truly panicked. If "London Star" was indeed confirmed to be a scam, the entire family would plunge into the abyss. He had frantically tried to resolve the issue, but to no avail. "London Star" had exploded!
His trip to London with Arthur's eldest brother was Old Cavendish's desperate attempt to leverage the family's old connections, hoping to meet with "powerful people" in London to at least recover some of the funds invested in "London Star." It seemed the outcome must have been unsatisfactory. By then, the fraudsters' funds had likely been transferred almost entirely, except for what was squandered or returned to early investors.
Then, the car accident happened.
Arthur suspected that his grandmother's sudden death wasn't merely due to the blow of Old Cavendish and his eldest son's demise, but perhaps also because she knew relevant inside information about the impending financial ruin.
But the deceased were gone. Now, it was Arthur who had to face this colossal mess. He couldn't forget that many of the family trust fund's properties, including Chatsworth House where he now resided, had been mortgaged to the bank. If those loans couldn't be repaid, Arthur, the newly promoted Duke, might well be driven out of his family manor, becoming a laughingstock in Britain. He certainly didn't want his deeds to appear when others searched for "The Most Miserable Duke in Britain"—that would be far too humiliating!
"Ms. Moore, please provide me with a directory of the current family trust fund's industries. I need to know which industries have been mortgaged and cannot be used, and which can be sold to raise funds..." Arthur tapped the table lightly, addressing the two people in front of him. "Also, Sean, I need a directory listing the family's assets outside of the family trust fund..."
While most of the family's assets had been put into the trust fund, some properties remained directly under the family's name, and Arthur needed a clear understanding of these.
"Yes, Your Lordship," Yulia readily agreed to Arthur's request.
However, Butler Sean hesitated, as if wanting to say something.
"What's wrong, Sean? Do you have anything to say?"
"Young master, I know that selling some industries is a last resort in the current situation, but..."