I am a Big Player
Chapter 608 - 602, Brown Consortium_1

Chapter 608: 602, Brown Consortium_1

United States, New York.

A total of 21 people from the Qinghe Investment M&A Department were on this trip. Ordinary people might find getting a visa somewhat difficult, but for the Qinghe team, applying for visas in the name of investment and also with an invitation letter from an American airline, it was much easier.

The world always proves with facts that there are few doors money can’t open.

The leader of the team was Nie Ting, the current vice president in charge of the Investment M&A Department at Qinghe. Because the acquisition of the American airline was extraordinary, he personally led the team, which was an unprecedentedly large group of 21 people—nearly half of the Investment M&A Department.

"The market cap of the American airline closed at 27.9 billion yesterday, which is a decrease. Recently, there has been a lot of negative news about the American airline in the media, which is beneficial for us," said someone next to Nie Ting.

Nie Ting calmly responded to the bustling scene outside the airport, "It’s too early to draw conclusions now. The financial troubles of the American airline might attract other capitals; we may not be without competition. Thus, everyone needs to stay sharp."

He was determined to secure this acquisition. Others might not be fully aware, but Nie Ting had a mission from Ren He that seemed quite bizarre.

The staff from the American airline came to pick them up, with four business vans waiting and someone holding a sign with the word "Qinghe" on it.

Nie Ting was the first to shake hands with the staff from the American airline, exchanged pleasantries, boarded the vehicle, and then they were taken to their accommodations arranged by the American airline’s staff, though the hotel expenses were to be covered by Qinghe—a likely American custom...

However, even though they came to purchase shares of the American airline, they declined the first negotiation invitation from the board of directors of the American airline. Nie Ting had only one additional request: he would only talk with people from the Brown Consortium.

In a past life, some said the American consortia were fictional, as were the Fraternity and the External Relations Committee. But what is the reality? The reality is that they all objectively exist.

However, whether in the past or present life, the Fraternity was never as influential as imagined, in contrast to the Trilateral Committee and the External Relations Committee, which held an unimaginable amount of influence.

For instance, during the Reagan era, 64 members of the cabinet were part of the External Relations Committee. When Bush was elected president, many members of the External Relations Committee assumed significant government positions. Whoever was in power, held influence.

They aren’t as mysterious as one might think, but their influence is undoubtedly extraordinary and is not to be doubted.

In this life, Ren He didn’t know what the situation in the United States was; the names of the top ten consortia had changed, but just considering the country’s largest oil company, 8 out of 16 belonged to the Brown Consortium, which also controlled, together with other consortia, United Airlines, Pan American Airlines, the American airline, Trans Global Airlines, and Eastern Airlines—five of America’s largest airlines.

Ren He had already understood that the political ecosystem in America hadn’t changed much in this life; the consortia were still the real economic lifelines within the country.

The amount involved in the acquisition talks with the Brown Consortium was just ten billion RMB, which was a significant sum for Qinghe, but just a small part for the consortium. However, the issue was that these consortia’s obsession with money long ago surpassed imagination. For an acquisition worth ten billion, creating a win-win situation in exchange for canceling a warrant for arrest, Ren He believed the other party would definitely be willing to complete the deal.

For these consortia, what was a warrant compared to cold hard cash?

Nie Ting was somewhat uncertain, after all, this was his first time facing the legendary American family-owned consortia, but he had to persist. Otherwise, he might fail in the task that the big boss had trusted him with.

Although Ren He had told him before leaving that it was okay to try his best, since not everyone truly understood the American ecosystem, and that it didn’t matter if they failed, as long as they returned, Qinghe would eventually have the power to influence the world.

If it didn’t work out this time, Ren He would consider taking Qinghe to NASDAQ in the United States like Tencent. Once Qinghe attained the market value of several hundred billion from his past life, he believed the consortia would reassess the trade. After all, the combined market value of Tencent and Alibaba once exceeded 500 billion US dollars, and in this life, Qinghe was a true internet aircraft carrier, one that no one could ignore.

The people from the American airline didn’t come to the hotel to look for Nie Ting again; for a full three days, Nie Ting calmly watched TV in the hotel.

The team members didn’t understand why Nie Ting did this, and he couldn’t explain directly, but the Qinghe team had one good trait—they had learned to trust their colleagues.

The reason Nie Ting stood out among others to become the vice president responsible for Investment & Acquisition at Qinghe was due to his calm determination and excellent business abilities. At least, no one in the team was stronger than he was.

In many companies, the top management are laymen; they either flatter or have a relationship with the boss, or there are other factors at play. This is quite normal. However, when the entire team is aiming for a business breakthrough, if the team leader is a layman, too many drawbacks arise: shirking responsibilities, not knowing what to do, randomly directing after receiving subordinates’ suggestions, and being unable to guide internal staff.

Many people think that as long as the higher-ups can manage, they don’t need to be stronger than their subordinates, but Ren He had witnessed this theory being proven wrong.

In a past life, Alibaba suddenly realized one day that the middle management didn’t even know their own customers, becoming disconnected from the team and leading to a decline in company efficiency. A reform was initiated immediately.

And the companies that underwent such transformations weren’t limited just to Alibaba.

Therefore, from the beginning, Qinghe had a rule: laymen must not lead experts.

As he waited, no matter how uneasy Nie Ting felt inside, he maintained a calm exterior. He couldn’t allow his subordinates to worry along with him.

Ren He had said that it was okay if they didn’t succeed, but internally at Qinghe, failure was not an option.

If everyone else could successfully handle their projects and only he failed, then it would be a reflection of his own incompetence. Nie Ting had decided that if he disappointed the big boss this time around, he would resign upon his return.

But he wouldn’t leave Qinghe; he planned to return to the inner team and continue to hone his skills. He had been at Qinghe for three years, never once considering leaving.

On the third day, a call suddenly came to Nie Ting’s cell phone, the caller speaking with a southern American accent, "Mr. Nie, good morning. Are you available at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning? I believe I can represent the Brown Consortium and discuss matters with you."

...

It’s a bit choppy; I don’t want to force it, so I’ll owe one Chapter and make it up tomorrow.