Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 941 Gaining Another Excellent General
On the last day of August 12, Yang Wendong arrived at the residence of the mainland athletes, and Director Zheng naturally came to the door to greet him personally.

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "I've come to see the athletes who won the gold medal this time."

"Haha, no problem, I'll arrange for them to assemble right away," Director Zheng said happily.

Winning 18 gold medals at this Olympics is already a pleasant surprise, considering that the original estimate was that we would be lucky to win ten.

The main credit goes to Li Ning, who won six awards, shocking the entire sports world.

Soon, the eleven gold medalists gathered together, shook hands with Yang Wendong one by one, and finally took a group photo.
"Keep this photo and the negative safe; hang them on my office wall later." Yang Wendong handed the camera to his secretary.

On the walls of his office are photos of himself with top political figures and billionaires from around the world, including the highest-ranking figures from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Although athletes may not be as prestigious as politicians, they are still at the pinnacle of their respective fields, and this is the first time a team from mainland China has participated in the Olympics, so it's all worthwhile.

And in the future, with the advent of the internet, this may also become a part of history.

The secretary replied, "Yes, Mr. Yang."

After everyone dispersed, Yang Wendong called out to Li Ning, handed him a business card, and said, "Mr. Li, this is my business card. If you need anything in the future, you can go to the company under Yanjing Changxing Group and find their person in charge. They will help you as appropriate."

Today, Yang Wendong's Phnom Penh business card is rarely distributed; only top political figures and wealthy individuals receive it.

Having this business card signifies a close relationship with Yang Wendong, and by using it to visit Changxing Group, one can naturally obtain certain resources and assistance.

"A business card?" Li Ning was still a little confused about the purpose of this thing;

Director Zheng, who was standing nearby, quickly said, "Comrade Li Ning, please accept it first."

As a bureau-level official in mainland China who has also traveled overseas many times and seen the world, I know that the business cards of a wealthy man like Yang Wendong are very valuable.

It's estimated that only the highest-ranking officials in some departments across the entire mainland would have this business card, and it's unexpected that he would give one to Li Ning.

"Yes." Li Ning accepted the business card somewhat absentmindedly.

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Keep up the good work. If you ever feel the need to use this business card, you can call the number on it, and my secretary will answer."

Li Ning clearly has no intention of starting his own business right now. In fact, he's probably still a bit dazed after winning multiple gold medals, so there's no point in talking business with him now.
However, Yang Wendong is not stingy with his business card. Even if Li Ning, a top athlete, does not start his own business in the future, it is still worthwhile.
It's important to understand that entertainment stars, with the resources under Yang Wendong's company today, can be cultivated in a targeted manner. I wouldn't dare say that supporting just anyone will make them famous, but finding someone with some talent and making them famous is not difficult.

But sports stars are a different story. Like mathematics, they rely heavily on talent. Out of billions of people in the world, only a small number are truly talented, and only these individuals can be nurtured and developed to achieve success.

Later, his team will approach the General Administration of Sport to discuss celebrity endorsements, and will also request Li Ning to be the spokesperson. After this Olympics, Li Ning's fame in China is probably unprecedented, making him an absolute top-tier commercial spokesperson.

However, he didn't need to discuss such a small matter with Li Ning.

"Okay." Li Ning didn't think much of it and put the business card in his pocket.

Then, Director Zheng glanced at Yang Wendong, and after seeing his signal, said, "Comrade Li Ning, you should go back and rest first. Get ready, we'll be heading back tomorrow."

"Yes, Director Zheng." Li Ning replied and left.

Yang Wendong asked, "So rushed? Why not spend a few more days in the US?"

Director Zheng said helplessly, "Mr. Yang, these thousands of people living in the United States consume a lot of US dollars every day. Fortunately, we have your food assistance, otherwise the consumption would be even greater."

Now that the Olympics are over, we can stay here a few more days. If we don't go back, we'll have to stay in a hotel, and those prices are expensive. Even officials from ministries used to find it expensive when traveling abroad, let alone a group of us.

"That's true, there are indeed too many people," Yang Wendong nodded.

Director Zheng added, "Furthermore, we have rules that prohibit unauthorized outings. You may not know this, but in recent years, many teams going abroad have experienced staff members going missing, so..."

“I do know about these things.” Yang Wendong nodded and said, “Alright, everyone, you can go back now. I’ll visit the General Administration of Sport when I go to Beijing.”

In the 80s, the economic gap between mainland China and the United States was so vast that the word "chasm" was hardly enough to describe it.
Many people may have been unable to resist the temptation and stayed illegally, including some university professors, pilots, and leading cadres.
The same applies to Hong Kong. After the 80s, Hong Kong stopped accepting immigrants from the mainland, but a large number of mainlanders still illegally crossed the border there.
It's true, even a small job in Hong Kong pays much better than in mainland China.

This is unavoidable; every era has its own characteristics, and we cannot simply judge right or wrong.

“Okay, Mr. Yang, our bureau welcomes you anytime,” Director Zheng said with a smile.

After leaving, Yang Wendong paid no more attention to the mainland team. With the end of the Olympics, his early sports-related plans in mainland China can be considered a success.
In the future, all that will be needed is for people on the mainland to cooperate with the sports authorities as required.

On the 15th, Yang Wendong visited the headquarters of the Los Angeles Olympic Committee and met again with Peter Ueberroth, one of the committee's organizers. "Mr. Ueberroth, congratulations on the great success of this Olympics," Yang Wendong said with a smile, shaking hands.

Peter Ueberroth also shook hands and smiled, saying, "This is all thanks to Mr. Yang's sponsorship and your support for our advertising."

"This can be considered a win-win situation for everyone," Yang Wendong said with a smile;

"Please have a seat," Peter said. "Mr. Yang, the Olympics are over. What brings you here?"

Yang Wendong took a sip of coffee and said, "Mr. Ueberroth, do you remember two years ago when I told you that I would like to invite you to work for my company after the Olympics?"

The Olympics were so successful, and Peter Ueberroth's ability is beyond doubt; to exaggerate a bit, he even saved the Olympics.

Because of previous Olympic Games, each one has severely damaged the host country's vitality and caused heavy economic losses, it can be said that they have gained face but lost substance;

Following the oil crisis, the economies of various countries were not doing well, and coupled with partisan struggles, many countries and cities lost interest in the Olympics. Under these circumstances, the Olympic Committee had no choice but to seek the commercialization of the Olympics.

The difficulty was considerable, and ultimately, only Peter Ueberroth succeeded. His experience and various business operations earned the Olympic Committee hundreds of millions of dollars, while the host city also made a lot of money.
As a result, the Olympics have once again become a highly competitive event that many countries are vying to host.
Yang Wendong naturally didn't want to miss out on such a capable person. Top-notch employees have a huge impact on companies. For example, some of the top 100 CEOs in history have earned their companies tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars in market value.

"You want to invite me?" Peter smiled and said, "Mr. Yang, actually, I've received quite a few invitations like this."

“That’s normal, I can understand it.” Yang Wendong nodded and said, “But I think you should listen to the conditions I’m proposing.”

Other companies aren't stupid either; someone like that is bound to be popular, even if they're not in the same industry.

For example, Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca, who had previously been in contact with Yang Wendong, received invitations from many companies after being kicked out of Ford by the Ford family. However, these invitations were not from the automotive industry, but from top global giants in paper, aircraft, heavy industry, and chemicals.
Good managers don't actually care much about the industry, but Iacocca still chose the automotive industry, which he knew better, and chose Chrysler, ultimately successfully pulling it out of the abyss.
Yang Wendong's investment in Chrysler has already multiplied several times, with net profits exceeding one billion US dollars. However, it is not yet the best time to cash out.

Peter Ueberroth said, "Please speak."

He also knew that the person in front of him, although an Asian tycoon, was a top-tier conglomerate in the world, with assets in the United States alone exceeding $50 billion.
Forbes has already calculated this: Yang Wendong's businesses involve top giants such as Best Buy, KFC, Walmart, Intel, Nike, Coca-Cola, and General Electric, not to mention some hidden businesses.

Yang Wendong said, "I have established a company with investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Bear Stone, and Lehman Brothers, and we are preparing to make large-scale investments in farms and some mines in South America. We need a person in charge, and I think you are a good candidate. What do you think?"

The economic crisis in South America has already broken out, with several sovereign states defaulting and causing their currencies to depreciate. This has also led to a lot of European and American capital and hot money flowing in to buy at the bottom.

Yang Wendong does not intend to participate in special industries such as oil and heavy industry, as there is too much game involved, and even American capital may run into obstacles. However, he is prepared to participate in farms and some normal mines.
However, to be on the safe side, they still found several top US investment banks to invest together;
The person in charge of this company must be American, and must be a very capable person who is good at management and handling international business.

Peter Ueberroth is clearly a perfect fit; his abilities are beyond question, and he also communicated and exchanged ideas with many countries during the Olympics.
Although it has not been involved in farms or other fields before, anyone who is in management can just spend some extra time learning it.
After all, it's impossible to find a multi-talented individual who understands farms and mines, management, international relations, and capital operations.

No company can find all the right management talent. For example, the CEO who ousted Jobs used to work at PepsiCo and was actually hired by Jobs. That's a huge career change.

"With so many investment banks, how much funding can you raise?" Peter Ueberroth was immediately tempted.

Many companies have indeed hired him, but the authority they grant him is limited. His performance at the Olympics was indeed remarkable, but not enough to qualify him as the CEO of a top company.

The conditions Yang Wendong is offering now, although for a new company, are backed by incredibly strong capital.

Yang Wendong said: "The first batch of funds is 1 billion US dollars. You can leverage your investments as appropriate, but you must control the risks. I think it should be no problem to mobilize 3 billion US dollars."
"As long as you can maintain stability, our future investments will inevitably increase, potentially reaching billions or even tens of billions of dollars. You should be well aware of the strength of investment banks like Goldman Sachs."

The power of investment banks lies in the fact that they do things not with their own funds, but with tens of thousands or even millions of clients, pooling their funds together for investment, and then leveraging them, so that leveraging hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars is not a problem.

This is why some hedge funds and investment banks in the past were able to manipulate the global financial market and even actively attack the currencies of a group of countries.

The shadow of this group of people can be seen behind the collapse of the British pound in 92, the Asian financial crisis in 97, the subprime mortgage crisis in 08, and the Greek debt crisis in 13.
They've even reached the point of being too big to fail. Wall Street has repeatedly pressured the US government to bail out the market or to force the Federal Reserve to change interest rates, which shows how powerful these financial Cthulhus are. They're so powerful that even Tokyo University, the future industrial Cthulhu, doesn't dare to underestimate them.

“That does sound very tempting,” Peter Ueberroth thought for a moment, then said, “but I need more detailed information.”

Yang Wendong said, "Of course. The specific information will be sent over. Meanwhile, you can go to New York to confirm or discuss some details with companies like Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers. As for your airfare, first class, I'll reimburse you."

“Okay, thank you.” Peter Ueberroth didn’t stand on ceremony.
First-class tickets were a piece of cake for him, let alone Yang Wendong; there was no need to refuse such a small matter.

"Then I hope to receive your good news soon," Yang Wendong said with a smile;

Over the next few days, Yang Wendong took his family on another trip to Los Angeles, including to the farm he had previously purchased, where they could hunt and fish.
Later, he went to Hollywood and negotiated some business collaborations with Hollywood giants. However, there are no specific collaborations at present. The main purpose is for the Chinese team led by Li Xiaolong.

Time flew by and it was almost the end of August when Peter Ueberroth sent word that he had accepted Yang Wendong's invitation.

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