Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 875 Investing in ARM
“A small European country?” Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, “I will investigate, but such small countries generally don’t have any large-scale industries, let alone trucks.”

Thatcher laughed and said, "That's true, and many businesses that are doing well may not be willing to sell. It all depends on your luck."

"Okay, thanks for reminding me." Yang Wendong nodded;
This period is still in the later stages of the oil crisis, which is the best time for me to acquire car companies or other car manufacturers. After a few years, when inflation in Europe and the United States declines and oil prices drop, the automotive industry will recover, and it will be even more difficult for me to acquire them.
Thatcher then asked, "Mr. Yang, there's another reason I invited you here. You're from Hong Kong, and we're getting closer to the Hong Kong lease agreement between our Great British Empire and the Qing Dynasty. I'd like to know your opinion."

"Damn it, go find the Qing Dynasty then~" Yang Wendong thought to himself, but he knew that with his status, it would be difficult for him to escape this kind of thing, so he said, "Madam Prime Minister, this matter involves two of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. As a businessman, I do not want to get involved. Even if I did get involved, it would not have any substantial impact on this matter."

A businessman is always a businessman;

Historically, many Hong Kong businessmen have become arrogant, believing they could interfere in national affairs. In reality, their existence is like a few small insects flying around when two tigers are fighting.

"You want to remain neutral?" Thatcher understood what Yang Wendong meant.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Yes, I will not help either side. This is my choice."

In the early days, when questioned, he would often try to dodge the question by blinking.

But as the time draws closer, given his status, he will become a key target for united front work. There are still three or four years to go, and he can't continue like this forever.
The wisest choice is to admit neutrality. Neither side should come looking for me. I can just focus on doing business and enjoying my life.

On the mainland side, he certainly supports it in his heart. Although he may not do anything on the surface, he can support it with actions, such as large-scale investment, which will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and generate huge foreign exchange earnings. This is actually more meaningful to the mainland.

Thatcher was not surprised: "Judging from your previous words and your investments in the UK and mainland China, I guessed you would make this choice."

"Not getting too involved in politics is my principle," Yang Wendong said with a smile. "I hope the Prime Minister can understand."

Thatcher said, "But don't forget, Hong Kong's current status and your entrepreneurial success are all thanks to the rule of the British Empire. If Hong Kong is taken back by the mainland, aren't you afraid that the events of 1949 will happen again?"

Yang Wendong said, "Even if it happens, a large portion of my assets are overseas, so I'm not too worried. Besides, the mainland is on good terms with the Western world now, so they would never do such a thing."

This is actually quite frustrating, since it really happened. So it's normal for many Hong Kong people to be afraid. In 83/84, many Hong Kong people emigrated, and even some super-rich people fled, all for this reason.
Furthermore, Hong Kong's shipping industry is highly developed. In addition to its advantageous geographical location, another reason is that ships are not real estate. Many wealthy people invest in ships when they have money in order to avoid a repeat of what happened in 49.
Of course, this also caused many wealthy people to miss out on Hong Kong's real estate industry.
As a time traveler, Yang Wendong was naturally not worried about these things, but he couldn't convince others either.

Thatcher frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and then said, "Alright, think it over yourself."

"Okay." Yang Wendong didn't say anything more.
Hopefully, after this statement, people in the UK will stop bothering me.

Historically, there have been many wealthy individuals like him who were centrists or two-faced, neither offending nor supporting either side, while also placing some of their assets overseas to minimize risk.

After Yang Wendong left, Thatcher said to a blond foreigner next to her, "Yang Wendong has too much influence in Hong Kong. He is absolutely number one among the Chinese and controls Hong Kong's public opinion. We need to find a way to continue to win him over."

A single rejection is nothing to a political party. Negotiations between countries often start with many conflicts, but many eventually reach an agreement after dozens of rounds of negotiations.

Yang Wendong has not yet refused, but he simply does not want to participate.

The blond foreigner said, "He's a businessman. As long as we offer him enough benefits, he'll agree. However, given his status, satisfying his appetite won't be easy."

"Giving me British interests is naturally out of the question, but Hong Kong's interests are not a problem," Thatcher laughed. "Anyway, if our negotiations fail, Hong Kong will no longer belong to us. Exchanging Hong Kong's interests for Yang Wendong's support is still a good deal."

The blond foreigner said, "You mean real estate?"

Thatcher hesitated for a moment, then said, "Or some infrastructure projects, but I'll have to discuss the specifics with the Governor of Hong Kong."

“McLeigh?” the blond foreigner asked.

Thatcher shook her head and said, "It's not Murray MacLehose. He's stepping down next year, and the next governor of Hong Kong hasn't been confirmed yet. This is a good opportunity for me to talk to a few candidates in advance and hear their opinions."

The blond foreigner said, "Okay, I'll make the arrangements."

“Hmm,” Thatcher nodded.

Yang Wendong, after leaving Buckingham Palace, sat alone in the back seat of the car, lost in thought.

He has made his stance clear regarding future Sino-British negotiations: no matter what happens, he will not directly participate to avoid getting himself entangled. In his previous life, Li Ka-shing was involved in too much politics, and although he profited at times, he ultimately ended up in a mess.

The other three families focused on their own businesses, and in terms of scale, Li Shau-kee's business was not much smaller than Li Ka-shing's, yet he lived a carefree and comfortable life.
Of course, it depends on one's pursuits. Some people like power, some like to be high-profile, and some are the complete opposite. It's not a matter of absolute right or wrong, but if you get involved in politics and choose the wrong direction, then it's all over.

As a time traveler, one reason he doesn't participate in politics is that if he does, the impact on future history will be greater, which will be more detrimental to his business operations; and if history changes and he gets caught up in an unknown political vortex, it will be even more unprofitable.

More importantly, he knew the outcome of the future Sino-British negotiations, and whether he participated or not would have little impact.
Another issue that gave him a headache was the acquisition of truck companies. The truck and bus market in mainland China is huge, and the mainland itself needs investment in this area, but overseas controls are very strict.
It seems that the only options are to do what Thatcher did: look for truck companies in countries with little military strength, or look for companies in normal European and American countries that have little cooperation with the military. However, generally speaking, companies with real strength have some connection with the military, which is pretty much the norm.

If it's not possible for now, then so be it. That's just how the world is; money doesn't automatically buy you a company. If you can't acquire it, then that's just how it is. There are plenty of industries that can make money or increase influence; losing a few won't matter much, there's no need to force it.

That afternoon, Yang Wendong returned to his Four Seasons Hotel, which is currently one of his properties in Europe.

The hotel's food was also very good, and Yang Wendong enjoyed a high-end steak with Liu Weimin, the head of the UK business.

This person was formerly a senior executive of Hong Kong Changxing Financial Group. Because he had studied in the UK, he was sent to the UK to be in charge of overall business. His group's main business in the UK was also in the financial field.

"Old Liu, how's the acquisition going in the UK?" Yang Wendong asked. "How many shares have Standard Chartered and Rio Tinto each acquired?"

Last year, Yang Wendong instructed his UK-based financial team to secretly acquire shares of Standard Chartered and Rio Tinto. However, they were not in a hurry and were to acquire them slowly to ensure that the market or competitors would not discover them.

Liu Weimin replied, "We have already acquired 5.1% of Standard Chartered's shares and about 4.2% of Rio Tinto's shares. The acquisition has been slow, mainly because these two companies are century-old enterprises and their share prices have never been very passive. We dare not be too aggressive."

"This speed is acceptable." Yang Wendong was also very satisfied.

As for Rio Tinto, he intends to hold it long-term and does not plan to acquire it, so there is no time limit. However, since Rio Tinto took off in the 90s, it is enough for him to acquire a certain number of shares within 10 years.
As for Standard Chartered, although it had some ideas, it would not take the initiative to act, but would wait until Litecoin launched a hostile takeover attempt against it in 1986 before stepping in.
Of course, given the butterfly effect of history, he didn't know if his influence would prevent this event from happening. If it didn't happen, then he would have to play the villain, or incite Litecoin to do it. How exactly to do that would be discussed later.

Liu Weimin replied, "Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Yang. Theoretically speaking, our speed will decrease as we progress."

"Well, it's alright, we can take it slow. Later on, we can try contacting some shareholders," Yang Wendong said casually.

Liu Weimin replied, "Yes."

Yang Wendong then asked, "Besides these two companies, what other investments do you think we could make in the UK?"

As his assets increased rapidly, although he would still provide strategic guidance to the company, he would also try to listen to the opinions of his subordinates or give them certain powers to be in charge of their own business.
Liu Weimin replied, "I think a Tesco supermarket in the UK is doing very well, somewhat similar to Walmart in the US."

“Tesco? I know that company too.” Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, “Alright then, like Standard Chartered and Rio Tinto, you can also buy some of their shares.”

In the supermarket industry, although Carrefour has begun to try to enter Europe, it is not very optimistic. Based on the experience summarized from the future of the global supermarket industry, retail giants have not been very successful in their overseas development.

Yang Wendong is fairly confident that Carrefour can develop in mainland China in the future. There are also some opportunities in Southeast Asia, but it will be very difficult in Europe, and as for the United States, forget about it.

Therefore, when operations are difficult, investing in local retail giants and obtaining daily light industrial orders through Changxing Trade is a good option. This was the consideration behind my early investment in Walmart, and it has been very successful.

In his mind, Tesco was one of the future global retail giants, so investing in it now couldn't hurt.

"Okay, I'll get ready right away," Liu Weimin replied.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Okay, you make the decision on this matter. Report back to me in six months."

These investments in non-core industries are no longer a big deal for him; he can just leave them to his subordinates to handle and then observe the results.

"Understood," Liu Weimin said with a smile.

Yang Wendong then asked, "How's the investigation on Acorn going?"

Those who had some knowledge of electronic product technology in their previous lives knew about Acorn, also known as ARM; this company is destined to be one of the giants in the chip industry.

Previously, he was also an employee of Intel, and he told Yang Wendong about a company in the UK that intended to develop its own chips and bypass Intel. This reminded Yang Wendong of ARM.

Of course, the current Acorn is very different from the future ARM. In the past, ARM also went through multiple rounds of financing and investment before it achieved its future success.
Investing in ARM now may not guarantee that ARM will replicate its future success, but even if the probability is low, it's worth a try. After all, it's a small company right now, and the investment won't cost him much.

So more than a month ago, he asked the British side to investigate the company's situation. His main purpose in coming to the UK this time was to invest in the company and also to understand its current situation and see if he could help.
If Britain can be more successful in the chip industry, it will also benefit Britain. At least it won't be completely tied to the US supply chain. Having more options is never a bad thing. Moreover, the relationship between Britain and the US is relatively good, and British chips are unlikely to pose the same threat to the US as Japanese chips, so their security is very high.

Liu Weimin replied, "We've already investigated. This company is currently small, with only 12 people. They've been researching and developing chips, but we don't know the specifics. What small companies like this are doing is the hardest to investigate."

"Should we inform them that I'm coming?" Yang Wendong asked again.

Liu Weimin said, "We have already notified them. They know you are a big boss and have your own computer company, so they would be happy to meet you."

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Okay, let's go together tomorrow. I also want to get to know them."

Each of those who could become founders of giant companies in the future is someone Yang Wendong should befriend.

PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)