"Regarding the industries under my name, do you have any questions or suggestions?"
After listening to the reports from the three, Lin Baicheng asked Cheng Yufeng, Kaori Mouri, and Isabella. He hired them as assistants not just to help manage his companies, but also to serve as his think tank.
Although Lin Baicheng knows the major trends of future developments, that knowledge isn't omnipotent—unless he simply bought properties and left them untouched, which would require no action at all.
Of course, the three of them—Cheng Yufeng, Kaori Mouri, and Isabella—had questions and ideas. Otherwise, their capabilities would not be reflected.
The three exchanged glances before Cheng Yufeng spoke first. "Mr. Lin, I want to ask—why are you holding shares in these three companies: Wharf, Hutchison Whampoa, and Cheung Kong Industries? If you wish to acquire a company, shouldn't you focus all your efforts on buying shares of that one company?"
Lin Baicheng did not intend to hide this from them, so he explained, "At the beginning, I wanted to acquire Wharf. I planned to borrow more funds from Goldman Sachs for the acquisition, but unexpectedly, Cheung Kong's Li Jiacheng took an interest in the company as well, secretly buying Wharf's shares. As a result, I failed before the acquisition even started. However, I haven't given up, so I still hold some Wharf shares."
"As for Hutchison Whampoa, I also want to acquire it. But it's a bit difficult to take over—the Keswick family holds around 20% of its shares, and HSBC also holds around 20%. If we don't buy HSBC's shares, acquiring the company would be nearly impossible. So, I bought shares not only with the intent of acquisition but also because I believe the company is undervalued. I plan to wait for appreciation."
"Lastly, Cheung Kong Industries is Li Jiacheng's company. Li holds about 10% of Wharf's shares. I intend to secretly acquire shares of Cheung Kong to threaten his control over the company and negotiate an exchange for his shares in Wharf."
"If that's the case, I believe there's no need to hold Hutchison Whampoa's shares for now," Cheng Yufeng suggested after hearing this. "The company is valued at nearly 3 billion HKD. With your current assets, it's hard to acquire it. Since that's the case, it's better to focus all your effort on acquiring Wharf."
Kaori Mouri nodded in agreement. "Chairman, for you, having one publicly listed company fully under your control is far more valuable than having shares in two companies you can't control."
Isabella added, "Boss, the money you used to buy Hutchison Whampoa shares—whether you put it into Wharf or Cheung Kong—would speed up your acquisition of Wharf."
"A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush."
Hearing their suggestions, Lin Baicheng couldn't help but feel moved. They were right—he was being too greedy. He wanted both Wharf and Hutchison Whampoa without considering how much money he currently had or how long it would take to acquire both.
Rather than ending up with neither, it would be better to fully acquire Wharf first and gain control of it. As for Hutchison Whampoa, if it remained unacquired, he could wait until he had more capital later.
"Alright, then sell the Hutchison Whampoa shares first. Use that money to acquire shares in Cheung Kong Industries."
"As for Wharf, after the last confrontation, Jardine Matheson is likely sensitive to changes in its share price. This isn't the right time for large purchases. I think it's better to wait until we secure the shares from Li Jiacheng before buying more. What do you think?"
Cheng Yufeng, Kaori Mouri, and Isabella did not object.
Isabella added, "Boss, you could have someone look into whether any institutions hold large blocks of shares in either of these companies. If they do, we can buy them at a premium. Once the contract is signed, we don't have to worry about the institution leaking the deal."
Upon hearing this, Lin Baicheng looked to Cheng Yufeng. "Yufeng, look into it. But remember—until our goal is achieved, do not reveal our intentions."
Cheng nodded. "Don't worry, Mr. Lin, I know what to do."
"Any other questions or suggestions?"
Lin looked at the three of them. Clearly, hiring this assistant team was worth it—their advice earlier was excellent.
Kaori Mouri spoke again. "Chairman, from a business management perspective, mortgaging your stakes in the gaming company to take out a $100 million loan and using five-times leverage to go long on gold futures isn't ideal. Xinghe Games is a high-quality company. Using its shares to leverage gold futures is too risky."
"I won't change my position on going long on gold futures. I believe inflation rates in the U.S. and Western countries will continue to rise in the coming years, especially with America's increasing debt ratio. This will support the rise of gold prices. That's the long-term trend."
Lin shook his head. As a reborn man, he knew very clearly that the coming years would be a golden bull market. He would not change this strategy.
Cheng Yufeng and Isabella originally wanted to say the same, but seeing Lin's firm attitude, they didn't bring it up again.
Instead, Isabella said, "Boss, I don't understand futures trading that well, but my friend told me that in the short term, $200 per ounce is a resistance level for gold. It will be hard to break through. So, when the price approaches $200 per ounce, you can sell your long positions, then buy them back after the price dips. Doing this short-term cycle could earn more profit."
"Where does your friend work? How capable is she?" Lin asked.
Isabella immediately shook her head. "Boss, if you're thinking of poaching her, you'll be disappointed. She works at Merrill Lynch and currently manages $100 million in investments."
"Sounds like she's very capable."
Lin was a bit surprised, then said, "If there's a chance, I'd like to meet her. But as for short-term trades, forget it. I believe more in gold's long-term gains. I'd rather skip short-term profits than miss out entirely."
It's not that Lin hadn't considered hiring professional investors for short-term trades, but then he remembered—Wall Street people aren't infallible. They, too, can miss out. If they missed during a short-term trade, he'd cough up blood.
So Lin would rather earn less and avoid such disasters.
After that, the three assistants didn't offer further advice. Instead, they asked Lin about the development direction of all companies in 1978. That way, they could plan accordingly and better assist him.