50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 407 Taking Over Cathay
By the evening of April 12, Sun Zhiwei had finally reached an agreement with the shareholders of Cathay Bank.

The main content includes the following points:

First, Sun Zhiwei used gold (190 standard 400-ounce gold bars) worth $2000 million to acquire a 35% stake in Cathay Bank at the price of $262 per ounce that day.

Secondly, after becoming a shareholder of Cathay Bank, Sun Zhiwei will deposit 3.5 tons of gold into Cathay Bank within one year as Cathay Bank's gold reserves, and promises not to withdraw it before withdrawing his shares.

Third, Sun Zhiwei's 35% stake will be linked to the gold reserves he has deposited with Cathay Bank. If the shares are diluted, the corresponding shareholders will need to inject a corresponding proportion of their gold reserves into Cathay Bank.

One of the clauses was required by Sun Zhiwei to protect his own equity interests.

He linked his shares to gold, meaning that if his shares decreased by 5%, he would have the right to withdraw 0.5 tons of reserve gold.

The new shareholders who acquire the 5% stake will need to make up for the withdrawn gold reserves and also promise not to withdraw them again.

Currently, 1% of the shares are linked to 0.5 tons of gold, and he plans to gradually increase this amount to 1 ton, then 2 tons.
The gradually increasing threshold will better ensure that his shareholding ratio will not be easily diluted.

Anyway, he doesn't have much of anything except gold, and people know he has two gold mines, so they don't doubt the source of the gold.

At the same time, he could deposit the gold in the space, but he couldn't take it away. However, he could convert it into a credit line within Cathay Bank, which was better than letting it sit in the space gathering dust.

Fourth, Sun Zhiwei entrusted Chen Damin to hold the voting rights of his 35% stake on his behalf.

This last point reminded him of something: Chen Damin was already quite old, and he was originally supposed to retire in 85, after which Zheng Jiafa would succeed him as the next president.

Once a new president is appointed, it will be necessary to re-sign an equity entrustment agreement with Sun Zhiwei, which is his way of maintaining his influence in the bank.

With 35% of the shares, he is already the largest shareholder. Any newly appointed president must obtain his support to secure their position.

After Sun Zhiwei and the shareholders signed the agreement, the transaction was completed, and everyone applauded.

“Mr. James, from now on Cathay Bank is your own bank, and you can trust it completely.”

Chen Damin was referring to what Sun Zhiwei had just mentioned: the lack of trust in foreign banks.

"I've heard that you usually store the gold mined from your mine in a bank vault. I hope you'll take good care of me in the future."

Chen Damin did not make any demands, but it was tantamount to making a demand: that he should deposit the gold he mined in his own bank in the future.

"Mr. Chen, you are a qualified president." Sun Zhiwei was never stingy with his praise for talented people.

"However, if you want me to keep depositing gold from the gold mine into Cathay, then you'll have to wait until the San Francisco branch opens."

“Transporting large quantities of gold across 500 kilometers every month is too risky.”

“I understand, the next batch of branches will definitely include San Francisco.”

Chen Damin had a clear idea: it would be worth it to open a branch specifically for this purpose, in order to deposit tens of thousands of ounces of gold every month.

This means a stable and continuous inflow of gold, and once the San Francisco branch opens, they won't have to worry about gold reserves anymore.

After that, the other shareholders divided up the gold. Sun Zhiwei brought a total of 8 ounces of gold, which is equivalent to US$2096 million.

The other shareholders divided the $2000 million worth of gold among themselves according to the shares they relinquished, with the smaller amounts paid by the bank in US dollars.

Thus, 10 gold bars remained. Sun Zhiwei, too lazy to take them with him, sold them all to a bank and exchanged them for US dollars. After receiving the gold, most of the shareholders deposited it in a bank vault.

Wealth is tempting; so many people know they have gold. If word gets out, it'll cause problems sooner or later. It's safer to keep it in a bank vault.

Only a small number of shareholders allowed their subordinates to take the gold directly away.

It was just lunchtime, and since everyone had become business partners, it was natural to catch up on each other's pace.

So, Chen Damin arranged for everyone to go to a Cantonese restaurant in Chinatown to celebrate.

Sun Zhiwei then dismissed the bodyguards he had previously hired from Gavin de Becker (GDBA).

Since the restaurant was only a few hundred meters away, everyone decided to walk there.

On the way, Sun Zhiwei and Chen Damin talked about GDBA.

"Although this company has only been established for a short time, their professional competence is significantly higher than that of other similar companies on the market."

"I'd like you to keep an eye on them for me. I can invest in them when the time is right. I'll deposit the investment amount in gold into Cathay Pacific and pay it in US dollars through Cathay Pacific."

“I understand, James. I will keep an eye on their moves and will contact you immediately if there are any investment opportunities.”

Soon, the group arrived at the restaurant where they were having dinner. The restaurant's first floor catered to foreigners and individual diners, and the menu featured various modified Chinese dishes.

Sun Zhiwei knew that these modified dishes were mainly sweet, sour, and slightly spicy.

Dishes like orange peel chicken, Kung Pao chicken, sweet and sour chicken, beef with kale, and egg custard have become representative of Chinese cuisine and are very much to the liking of older generations.

But a true Chinese palate wouldn't be used to these flavors, so when Chen Damin recommended some modified dishes to him, he immediately rejected them.

“Let’s have some authentic Cantonese food, not those things like General Tso’s Chicken. They’re like pig swill. Even Old M is a rough man, and he can’t stomach them.”

These words amused many of the shareholders present.

When they first heard Sun Zhiwei's English name, they thought he grew up in the US and preferred modified flavors, little did they know he also had a genuine Chinese tongue.

Then we don't need to accommodate him. Let's all go upstairs and eat authentic Cantonese food.

When it was time to eat, Sun Zhiwei took out two bottles of 20-year-old Moutai. These were the old stock he had taken from the basement of his house when he returned home this time.

Before China and the United States established diplomatic relations, trade routes were disrupted, and these overseas Chinese merchants rarely had the opportunity to drink Moutai, let alone a 20-year-old vintage.

Everyone enjoyed a delicious meal and fine wine, which immediately brought them closer together. I believe that future collaborations will be very pleasant.

Sun Zhiwei only felt comfortable communicating with them after learning their identities.

These shareholders aren't really big shots in Chinatown; they're more like mid-to-high-level executives. They're a group of businessmen with some money, but they don't have any significant influence.

Most of the top-performing bigwigs have connections to the Hongmen (Triads), but they don't belong to the same group as these businessmen.

(End of this chapter)