Hong Kong 1980: The Savage Era

Chapter 567 Chapter 569 [Luo Family Second Generation]

After entering 1999, with the bursting of the global Internet bubble, the Hang Seng Index began to rise sharply, breaking through 1 points in mid-January, and the market value of Hong Kong Telecom Company rose to HK$3000 billion.

However, real estate has only seen a small increase of around 5%, and many people are keeping a wait-and-see attitude towards real estate.

Zhaoan Group is not worried about these and has mobilized tens of billions of funds to invest in real estate properties, with the main areas being Central, Wan Chai and Tsim Sha Tsui, with the greatest efforts in Central.

As the enthusiasm of defeating international speculators had not yet dissipated, many people followed the footsteps of the Zhaoan Group, and the real estate market rebounded to around 10%, which was equivalent to the property prices in early 96.

The Luo Qihong family and the Hong Kong government hold a large number of blue-chip stocks. Luo Qihong is not in a hurry and wants to sell them slowly in the middle of the year. However, the Hong Kong government's finances are already in deficit and they can't wait any longer, so they established the Prosperity Fund, which is specifically responsible for selling the blue-chip stocks held by the Hong Kong government.

Of course, as a Hong Kong government agency, Tracker Investment Fund will not sell off shares on a large scale and affect the market.

Hong Kong government staff also called Luo Qihong to ask when Zhaoan Group and Hengan Investment Company would sell their stocks, because selling them together would inevitably cause adverse reactions in the market.

Luo Qihong did this favor and allowed the Hong Kong government to sell Hong Kong stocks first.

The market is hot enough nowadays and can fully absorb the Hong Kong government's Hong Kong stocks worth nearly 2 billion Hong Kong dollars, which are expected to be sold off by the end of the year.

By mid-March, the Hang Seng Index rose to 3 points, a 14000% increase from September last year. This increase made Hong Kong stock investors forget last year's financial crisis and they began to frantically enter the stock market to make money again.

The media began to criticize Luo Qihong for holding too many stocks, real estate, etc., saying that too much concentration of wealth would be extremely bad for the citizens. Of course, the media company under the Luo family was no pushover, so a war of public opinion began.

In July, Luo Qihong's Zhaoan Group began to sell off its holdings to recover funds.

The Hong Kong government and the Siu On Group sold off shares together. Although the daily selling amount was not large, only HK$50 or HK$60 billion, it also slowed down the rise of the Hang Seng Index.

After a year of planning, Singapore's Frasers Group successfully acquired Singapore's Heineken Group and became a giant in Singapore's beer industry, monopolizing 8% of the beer market in Singapore and Malaysia, and bringing hundreds of millions of Singapore dollars in profits to Frasers Group every year.

At this point, Luo Qihong's layout in Singapore was basically completed. The value of the Luo family in Singapore grew rapidly, and it jumped into the top three family rankings in Singapore, only behind the Huang family and the Lin family.

As for the family business in Australia, it had just begun. When Luo Qihong's private investment in Hong Kong gradually returned, he began to plan Australia's second largest vineyard - Shiton Estate, and launched a massive attack on the Australian wine industry.

By 2000, Luo Qihong knew that the bubble of the global Internet industry had been burst, so he began to urgently sell off his Internet stocks, including his holdings in Hong Kong Telecom.

After March, the Hang Seng Index began to fall from nearly 3 points, but it did not affect real estate and financial stocks too much, and the decline was relatively small.

Luo Qihong made nearly US$120 billion in profits from the global market, which was no longer enough in Hong Kong, so he could only invest in countries such as South Korea and Japan.

In 2001, Luo Qihong was named the world's richest man by Fortune magazine in the United States, with assets worth up to 700 billion US dollars. In fact, these are the Luo family's assets on the surface. The hidden wealth is 2 to 3 times the assets on the surface, with a net worth of up to 2 billion US dollars.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye it is 2008.

The second generation heirs of the Luo family have grown up. Luo Zhichong from the second wife is already 23 years old and has graduated from Harvard University. Luo Zhiying, the eldest son of the first wife, is already 21 years old. They have all returned to Hong Kong to help.

This was Luo Qihong's request. Of course, the second wife's property was not in Hong Kong, and Luo Zhichong would eventually return to Singapore to inherit the family business. But now Luo Qihong was taking him to learn how to do business and manage the company's business.

Zhaoan Group Office.

"Dad, you sold off so many assets in advance, are you worried about the economic recession?" Luo Zhichong asked first. Luo Zhiying has received Luo Qihong's promise that he will inherit Zhaoan Group when his ability is recognized, so he doesn't want to pay too much attention to his elder brother Luo Zhichong's actions, but he will still compete for his favor.

"Well! The situation is still unclear, so don't talk nonsense when you go out." Luo Qihong instructed.

In fact, Luo Qihong still likes his eldest son more than his second son, which may be influenced by Guan Jiahui. But as the eldest son of the eldest house, Luo Qihong cannot be too partial.

"Lehman Brothers in the United States has fallen into a financial crisis, which is likely to cause a crisis. But how did Daddy know that the impact would be so wide-ranging?" Luo Zhiying asked seriously.

Luo Qihong smiled and said, "The Hang Seng Index plummeted by 1 points in January. This is not a good sign. In addition, the US subprime mortgage crisis is very serious. It will collapse at the slightest disturbance. It is better for us to retreat first."

"You must remember that the Luo family must not make the last penny, otherwise there will be big problems."

"Yes, Daddy!" the two sons responded in unison.

The 2008 financial crisis was global, and Luo Qihong had been waiting for it for a long time. This was a good opportunity to buy stocks at the bottom of the world, which would add some foundation to the Luo family.

Ten years ago, Soros and others attacked Hong Kong. Although Luo Qihong also made a lot of money, he still wanted to return the disaster to Soros and others.

Another office.

Luo Zhiying and Luo Zhichong sat on the sofa, and the kindness on their faces was no longer there.

"Brother, how much assets do you think Daddy has? Which industries will Daddy buy up during this crisis?" Luo Zhiying said seriously.

"If you want to know, you can ask Dad directly. I can't estimate it. My mom said that during the Asian financial crisis in 98, Dad and the Hong Kong government resisted the attacks from American and European foundations and mobilized no less than 700 billion Hong Kong dollars. Now ten years have passed. You can think about it." Luo Zhichong smiled faintly.

"700 billion has at least tripled. The 3 billion Hong Kong dollars in cash is enough to buy bottoms all over the world," said Luo Zhiying.

"Zhaoan Group has the most powerful assets among all the family businesses. It has been determined that you will inherit it. Aren't you satisfied? Are you still thinking about your dad's remaining assets?" Luo Zhichong said jokingly.

The first and second wives have always been competing for favor and family property, but so far no one has dared to openly covet Heng'an Investment Company.

"Hmph! Big brother, you misunderstood. Daddy is such a great man, I wouldn't dare. Maybe Second Mom would dare, and Third Mom would dare too." Luo Zhiying laughed.

Luo Zhichong said, "Okay, don't think about it. The United Industrial Group is mine, and I'll leave the other things to others. Daddy doesn't like others to scheme against him, so be careful or you won't get anything."

"Hmm." Luo Zhiying glanced at Luo Zhichong suspiciously. In fact, what he wanted to talk about was not Heng'an Investment, but Dehe Real Estate Company.

Today, the asset value of Dehe Real Estate Company has exceeded HK$3000 billion, ranking second among the Luo family companies in Hong Kong. The first wife is worried that the company will fall into the hands of the second wife.

In fact, Luo Zhiying felt that his father would definitely hand over the company to them, but he didn't think of which brother he would give it to, or he wanted to wait until he was old before handing it over.

But this is what Mommy Bai Jinyan meant. He has to do something, otherwise Mommy will be dissatisfied again.

(End of this chapter)