Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 939 Los Angeles Olympics
Of the three major global markets in the future—China, the US, and Europe—Yang Wendong has invested the least in Europe.

This is because Europe indeed doesn't have many large companies with great potential in the future. Anyone with a basic understanding of technology will know that 99% of the top giants that emerged after the 1980s have no connection with Europe, whether it's computers, mobile phones, the Internet, mobile Internet, new energy, robots, AI, etc.

Europe has been living off the wealth it had before the 70s for decades.

However, this is still a good end-market, after all, Europe was a robber for hundreds of years, so it still has a strong historical foundation.

Therefore, Yang Wendong's investments in Europe are mainly in various terminal retail stores, or a few promising companies, such as retail companies like Auchan and Metro, or large companies with stable future prospects like Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

In terms of positioning, it is not as good as the UK. At least the UK's language and culture are more convenient with Hong Kong, and the UK also has some electronic technology companies.

The European interior is a true desert, with only a few oases occasionally, such as SAP and Nokia.

The expansion into Eastern Europe is only a temporary measure, mainly aimed at market expansion.
Comparatively speaking, Yang Wendong is also very interested in some industries in Germany, such as BMW, Volkswagen, Siemens, Bosch and other future industrial giants. Although the future growth of these companies is limited, they are at least a good place to invest and store funds.
However, none of these companies were publicly listed, and they were rejected even when Deutsche Bank approached them for talks.
In Europe, there is considerable resistance to the financialization of Britain and the United States. This situation will only gradually improve after the formation of the European Union.
Having no other choice, Yang Wendong temporarily gave up. After spending a few days in Germany, he boarded a plane and returned to Hong Kong.

Time flies, and July is here soon;
Yang Wendong summoned Yang Zhiwen, who had returned to Hong Kong, and asked, "How is the acquisition in the UK progressing?"

For the past two months, Yang Wendong has mainly had his son stay with the team in the UK to learn and organize materials, and to act as his mouthpiece.

This was also to test his son and allow him to learn from it;

It's important to understand that finding the core and key points from a mountain of trivial matters is also a skill. Only by accurately finding the right information can you formulate the right response plan.

Yang Zhiwen replied: "We have been in talks with the British government to purchase a total of 15% of British Telecom's shares and 10% of British Airways' shares, for a total value of £1.6 million. This is not the final price yet, and negotiations are still ongoing."

On the Rolls-Royce side, Langley's asking price is very high; they want £1.3 million, while our offer is £8000 million. There are also some issues to discuss regarding employment and supplier selection.

"So there haven't been any results yet?" Yang Wendong asked.

Yang Zhiwen said, "Yes, that's certainly the case right now. Rolls-Royce is fine, but there are many competitors in British Telecom and aviation. The British government is obviously looking for the best option while it's still struggling.

“Yes, that’s normal. If it were me, I would definitely do the same.” Yang Wendong nodded and said, “Inform Fang Xianming that British Telecom and aviation are not in a hurry, but Rolls-Royce needs to get things done as soon as possible. I’m worried that if it takes too long, other automotive giants will get involved, and that will be troublesome.”

While their financial resources may be comparable to those of automotive giants, their experience and technological expertise in related fields are certainly far superior.
Once they get involved, Rolls-Royce itself might be inclined to cooperate with other automotive giants, to say nothing of other matters.

Fortunately, the oil crisis has had a significant impact on major global automakers. Even though oil prices have fallen now, the damage to their businesses will not be recovered quickly.
This is why Yang Wendong wanted to make a move as soon as possible. Historically, after 85, the European automotive industry entered a period of frenzied mergers and acquisitions. This was because low oil prices brought huge profits to many automotive giants, who then acquired other small and medium-sized companies on a large scale to fill gaps in their industrial chain.

By the time that time comes, your advantage will be gone.

“Okay, Daddy,” Yang Zhiwen replied.

Yang Wendong continued, "The Los Angeles Olympics are about to begin. Tell your family that we'd like to go together and have some fun. Your younger siblings are also on summer vacation, so let's all go together."

The Yang family has a total of 8 children, the youngest of whom is in kindergarten. They only have time to go out and play together during winter and summer vacations.

However, due to various reasons, they did not actually go out to sea together on a yacht quite often.
Yang Zhiwen asked, "The Olympics? Our group has also invested a lot in advertising on it, right?"

“Yes, we spent tens of millions of dollars to buy exclusive advertising for several individual brands.” Yang Wendong nodded and said, “This is a rare project that has attracted global attention. Many of our group’s products are for consumer use, so we naturally have to seize the opportunity.”

This year's Olympics is one of the most successful in Olympic history, attracting global attention.
At the same time, it was also the first time China had participated in the Olympics since the reform and opening up, and it was very popular in China.
Sponsoring this Olympic Games will be of great help to both the international and domestic markets.

"I heard that securing advertising deals for this Olympics is extremely difficult; Daddy's foresight is truly remarkable," Yang Zhiwen said with a smile.

“For a company like ours, we often can’t just think about the short term; we need to consider the long term,” Yang Wendong said with a light laugh. “Since you’re going to the US this time, you can also take the opportunity to familiarize yourself with the group’s various businesses there.”
Once things are settled in the UK, I'll arrange for you to work on several similar projects in the US, and the same applies to projects in mainland China later.

Yang Zhiwen replied, "Okay, thank you, Daddy."

"Okay, you go ahead and go to the secretariat. Get some information about the group in the US and take a look. Don't go to the US and find out nothing," Yang Wendong reminded him.

Yang Zhiwen immediately laughed and said, "Daddy, it's perfectly normal that you don't know much about the group. It's just that you've made the company successful in so many fields over the years that even Forbes claims they can't figure out exactly how much wealth you have."

Yang Wendong laughed and said, "Alright, stop flattering me. Go and take a look. The group's internal information is quite complete."

In fact, over the years, with the development of the group, many of its subsequent businesses have become so complex that even he himself is no longer clear about them; the scale is simply too large.

Besides the investments he personally decided on, many others were delegated to his subordinates. After all, no matter how capable he was, he was still just one person. Even the most skilled captain couldn't control every part of the ship; at most, he could only steer it. Therefore, the group's secretariat had over 60 people, divided into 6 groups, each corresponding to different locations and businesses globally, integrating data to facilitate timely access to information for Yang Wendong and other senior executives.

However, the group is now starting to implement electronic office practices and gradually putting data into computers. But computers in this era are not as advanced as those of the next few decades. It can only be said that this process is underway.

From July 15 to 20, the entire Yang family traveled to the United States in two separate private planes, in batches for safety reasons.
This will be the norm for the Yang family from now on. At the same time, security has been strengthened considerably. In any case, for the Yang family, the extra money spent is just a number. Ensuring the safety of family members and minimizing the probability of extreme accidents is the most important thing.

On the 22nd, Yang Wendong brought Yang Zhiwen to the Lakers' headquarters:

"Do you like basketball?" Yang Wendong asked his son.

Yang Zhiwen shook his head and said, "I don't really like it. I still prefer badminton and swimming. You wouldn't let me participate in any of the more dangerous competitive sports when I was a child."

“That’s true, but you were too young back then. If you like it now, you can play basketball occasionally.” Yang Wendong laughed. “An adult sometimes needs to have their own opinions.”

Basketball is actually a bit better, but soccer and American football are much more dangerous, which is why Yang Wendong forbids his children from participating in them.

"Okay," Yang Zhiwen replied.
Yang Wendong added, "See that black man over there? His name is Jordan. He's very talented. In the future, he might become one of our group's core assets. When you manage American affairs in the future, you can pay some attention to him."

Back then, he arranged for people to search for top basketball talent in high schools across the United States, and after spending more than half a year, he finally found Jordan.

However, NBA rules prohibit contacting potential talents in advance, but Yang Wendong was prepared and determined to get the player, so he was able to secure Jordan within the rules.
From then on, Jordan joined the Lakers;

However, he has not yet participated in any official games and is not well-known at the moment. Even within the Lakers team, he is just a promising newcomer.

"This person is truly remarkable to be valued by you, Daddy," Yang Zhiwen said in surprise.

"I'm just guessing, and I hope my guess is right," Yang Wendong said with a smile. "After Li Xiaolong faded out of the film industry, our group urgently needs a global superstar."
We've been trying to promote new Chinese stars in Hollywood, but the results haven't been great. If we could create a superstar in the sports field, that would be a good option.

Li Xiaolong's fate was rewritten by Yang Wendong, but the enormous damage that his early hard work caused to his body was irreversible.
Fortunately, over the past ten years or so, Yang Wendong has arranged for a medical team to follow him closely, which has prevented any major health problems from arising.

Now that he's older, he can no longer continuously shoot high-intensity films, so he has to move behind the scenes, and his fame has naturally declined a lot.
There are many other Chinese entertainment stars, including a few kung fu stars, but no matter how much they are promoted, it is difficult for them to achieve the same level of success as Bruce Lee.

Historically, Jackie Chan and Jet Li also spent one or two decades establishing themselves in Hollywood, and their fame was still no match for Bruce Lee.

It's still too difficult for Chinese celebrities to get top-tier treatment in Europe and America, so investing in local celebrities might be a good option.

Yang Zhiwen asked, "This Jordan, can he really be that famous? Basketball in America isn't as popular as baseball or American football."

"Maybe. It would be better if we could, but it wouldn't be a big loss if we couldn't," Yang Wendong said nonchalantly. "Basketball isn't the most popular sport in the US, but it's quite well-known abroad. Overall, basketball stars are the biggest help we can get."

Americans are quite unique in this respect; many things are different from other countries, including sports and units of measurement.
"Yes, that's true." Yang Zhiwen nodded and said.

"Let's go, let's get to know the team members, and let them get to know you too," Yang Wendong said.

After visiting the Lakers, Yang Wendong took Chen Zhiwen to several branches in Los Angeles. On the one hand, they wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the group's business in the United States, and on the other hand, they also needed to introduce the group's basic situation to their son and exchange information.
People within the group naturally knew Yang Zhiwen's identity, and everyone acted very cautiously.
On the 26th, after Yang Wendong returned to the hotel with his son, he said, "You know the general situation now. In the future, you will also need to stay in the United States for a period of time to familiarize yourself with the group's business in the United States and the entire Americas."

“Yes, Daddy,” Yang Zhiwen replied.

Yang Wendong added, "The Olympics start tomorrow. Don't think about anything else for now. Consider this our official vacation. Watch all the competitions and relax."
However, I will take you to a sports facility for athletes in China. Our group has a significant amount of business in mainland China in the future, and we may need to collaborate with these athletes.

“Domestic athletes? That’s good. I was thinking of going to China once things are settled in the UK,” Yang Zhiwen continued.

Yang Wendong said, "Yes, there will be an opportunity. I will go there at the end of this year and I will take you with me. Just like here, you will also need to know about our group's business in China."

As a future successor, you don't necessarily need to be very familiar with the group's businesses, but you should at least know that they exist.

Currently, I have invested quite a bit in China, and in the future, I will only invest more.

On the 27th, Yang Wendong, Yang Zhiwen, and some members of the Yang family arrived at the accommodation of the mainland athletes. Upon learning of Yang Wendong's arrival, Director Zheng of the General Administration of Sport, who was leading the team, hurriedly came out to greet them: "Mr. Yang, Mrs. Yang, welcome, welcome. My name is Zheng, and I am in charge of domestic affairs for this Olympic Games."

"Hello, Director Zheng. I've brought some small gifts to express my appreciation to the athletes from across the country," Yang Wendong said with a smile.

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