Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1433 Everything is ready, all we need is the east wind

Wall Street institutions vote with their feet: will they hype up traditional tobacco, which has a terrible reputation and no room for speculation, or will they hype up e-cigarettes, which are like a blue ocean with huge profits and plenty of room for speculation?
This is similar to the question: should we focus on promoting gasoline-powered cars or new energy electric vehicles? Is there even a choice to be made?
Reynolds e-cigarettes haven't been launched yet, but that doesn't stop Wall Street institutions from hyping it up first, treating Reynolds as an e-cigarette concept stock and speculating on it, just to practice their skills.

Furthermore, Reynolds' market capitalization is much lower than Morris's, which gives Wall Street institutions room to speculate.

Before the market opened today, Reynolds' stock price had already surged by 14%, so it's easy to imagine that Reynolds will be heavily speculated on by Wall Street!
Upon hearing that Reynolds' pre-market stock price had surged 14%, Baiber's expression darkened even further.

In America, Wall Street's attitude is a bellwether; whether a concept or an industry can take off depends on whether Wall Street institutions are willing to hype it up.

As long as it's willing, rules and regulations are no problem. When Wall Street institutions, Capitol Hill officials, and investors big and small in America all make money from this industry, who dares to say that this industry is not compliant? Do they want to drink seaweed and egg drop soup without any vegetables or soup?

Or perhaps you accidentally drown yourself while taking a shower, or get into a close encounter with a terminally ill truck driver in his 100-ton truck or dump truck while walking on the street, or accidentally leave the gas stove on before going to bed at night, get high and never wake up.
Baiber knew that while the current e-cigarettes, such as Ruyan and various other off-brand e-cigarettes, seemed popular, they had not yet gained mainstream acceptance.

Before Bai Bo, he did not consider e-cigarettes a major threat. As a veteran in the industry for decades, he had plenty of ways to target Ruyan e-cigarettes.

Previously, it was just because Morris was facing a class-action lawsuit and couldn't spare the time. As for the tricks that Ruyan e-cigarettes have been up to, such as touting that e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking and do not affect their health, do they really think that traditional tobacco has never done these things?

Back in the 1920s, traditional tobacco companies dared to advertise in newspapers that traditional tobacco could improve health, stimulate appetite, aid digestion, and beautify the skin—they were practically shouting that tobacco could make people live longer!

As for why traditional tobacco companies dared to advertise so aggressively, it all depended on the environment at the time. Back then, it was an era when contraband was rampant, and opium dens were everywhere in America.

If traditional tobacco companies didn't resort to unorthodox methods, how could they possibly lure people out of opium dens?

It's all about profit. Of course, to put it in a ridiculous way, traditional tobacco is less harmful than the stuff in opium dens...

As the head of the industry's leading company, Baiber is well aware of the dark history of the traditional tobacco industry, so he doesn't care about the advertisements for e-cigarettes at all.

Baiber has some ideas on how to deal with e-cigarettes, the most important of which is to start with the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and list e-cigarettes as prohibited items.

Then, they launched a propaganda war, attacking e-cigarettes in various states of America and finding experts to prove that Ruyan e-cigarettes were falsely advertised.

The final, decisive blow was to hire a public relations firm and brokers to get members of Congress on Capitol Hill to initiate a vote to completely ban Ruyan e-cigarettes from America.

After this smooth series of moves, even if the e-cigarette doesn't die, it will be severely crippled. Morris only needs to continue pressing forward and compress the e-cigarette's living space.

But now, before Baiber's plan could even be implemented, a traitor has emerged within the traditional tobacco industry, and from America's second-largest tobacco company no less!
Reynolds's defection split the traditional tobacco industry, and Baiber's plan to unite the entire traditional tobacco industry and crush e-cigarettes with overwhelming force also became a bubble.

Adding to the frustration was the talk from Wall Street about driving Ruyan e-cigarettes out of America; he needed to reassess Ruyan e-cigarettes.

"The people who manipulated the Ruyan e-cigarette market are indeed skilled!"

Finally, Baiber had no choice but to speak to Moxler.

Ruyan e-cigarettes managed to turn Reynolds against them, a move that Baiber found truly ingenious. He realized that crushing Ruyan e-cigarettes in a short time would probably not be so easy or smooth.

"Proceed according to plan. We need to let Ruyan e-cigarettes know the rules of the American tobacco industry!"

After much deliberation, Biber decided to take action. Morris couldn't just stand by and watch as Ruyan e-cigarettes climbed over Morris's company.

……

"Up!"

Unlike Morris, which was on high alert, Reynolds, the perennial runner-up in the American tobacco industry, had its executives watching Reynolds' stock price as soon as the market opened.

As soon as the market opened, Reynolds' stock price soared like an arrow, with large amounts of capital continuously flowing into the company's shares.

"President Andrew has saved Reynolds!"

"The transition to e-cigarettes is the greatest strategic move in the American tobacco industry in the last two decades!"

When Reynolds' stock price surged to 18%, the company was filled with effusive praise. Andrew, hearing this chorus of compliments and watching the soaring stock price, maintained a composed expression, but the corners of his mouth were practically curling into a wide, uncontrollable grin.

"The media has already started reporting that Reynolds is about to begin a transformation."

The Reynolds PR president told Andrew that Reynolds was now launching a large-scale publicity campaign announcing its transformation and its collaboration with Ruyan, the world's largest e-cigarette company, to jointly develop e-cigarettes.

Of course, that's all the rhetoric they're spouting. Andrew has no intention of reducing production of traditional tobacco brands like Camel. At most, he'll just make a show of it, adjusting shipments from America and sending more overseas.

The phone on the table suddenly rang. After answering it, Andrew glanced at the executive in front of him before saying, "President Martin!"

The caller was none other than Martin Brighton, the president of British Tobacco and a major shareholder of Reynolds.

During the phone call, Martin also praised Andrew highly. Reynolds was not the only company whose stock price surged after the market opened today. British Tobacco, a major shareholder of Reynolds, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and the London Stock Exchange. Today, British Tobacco's stock price surged on all of these exchanges!
The stock price is the best proof. Even Martin couldn't help but admire Reynolds' collaboration with Ruyan, using the gimmick of transforming into an e-cigarette company, was indeed a brilliant move.

This move not only relieved them of public pressure but also directly boosted their stock price. It also worked on British Tobacco!

With just a single statement, the stock prices of both Reynolds and British Tobacco surged, demonstrating to the tobacco industry that the tide has indeed turned...

For three consecutive days, Reynolds' stock price has surged, rising by more than 29% and reaching its highest level in three years!
Not only did Reynolds' stock price soar, but it was also heavily praised by the American media. Even the American anti-tobacco organizations approved of Reynolds' decision, giving the impression that he had laid down his weapons and become a saint.

Following Ruyan's suggestion, Andrew, in the name of Reynolds, donated five million US dollars to several American anti-tobacco and tobacco control organizations for the purpose of providing medical assistance to people harmed by tobacco.

In fact, Ruyan e-cigarettes have been regularly donated to major tobacco organizations in America since they were first launched in the country.

Yes, anti-tobacco organizations don't accept dirty dollars from traditional tobacco companies, but what does that have to do with Ruyan Company? Every penny Ruyan donates is clean and honest.

As for which dollar bill is dirty and which is clean, don't worry about that. They have a discerning eye and can tell the difference...

Dongke and its subsidiaries have always been adept at understanding the unwritten rules of the business world overseas. Companies like Dongling High-Tech, Torch Group, and Hanxi New Materials are now making annual donations to environmental and animal welfare organizations in Europe.

We firmly support environmental protection efforts in old Europe and resolutely oppose the egregious behavior of certain unscrupulous companies that disregard the environmental protection of all humankind.

After announcing the change of ownership, Reynolds' stock price soared, and a host of media outlets and anti-tobacco organizations sang praises to Reynolds. Andrew was even being touted as the greatest professional manager of the 20th century in America, almost to the point of being hailed as a saint.

Reynolds' changes have signaled a shift in the global economic landscape to traditional tobacco companies like American Tobacco.

Reynolds enjoyed immense success for a time, and as an e-cigarette concept stock, it officially began its listing on the American Stock Exchange and Wall Street.

What Wall Street is even more excited about is the listing of Ruyan e-cigarettes. Reynolds Tobacco and British Tobacco have both opened up sales channels to Ruyan e-cigarettes, and Ruyan e-cigarettes' revenue is expected to see explosive growth this year.

Given the current hot trend of e-cigarette concept stocks and their explosive revenue, how can Wall Street not look forward to Ruyan e-cigarette's listing?

Reynolds' changes have truly made the concept of e-cigarettes a reality in America, rather than just generating sales without any real impact!
……

"With the listing of Ruyan, all obstacles have been cleared!"

In Hong Kong, Li Dongling was looking through the documents sent to him by Zhou Hualiang, president of Dongke America, and Chen Yali, president of Torch Group North America and also the person in charge of Ruyan e-cigarettes in North America. He said something to Zhang Xiaocheng.

In North America, everything is ready for Ruyan e-cigarettes to be launched.

Even news from North America indicates that some small and medium-sized tobacco companies in America are considering switching to Ruyan e-cigarettes!
"but……"

After flipping through the document to the end, Li Dongling paused for a moment. "Ruyan e-cigarettes are still a bit troublesome, but it shouldn't be a big problem!"

Zhang Xiaocheng took the document and saw that the last report in the document stated that the Mississippi Department of Health had questioned the safety of Ruyan e-cigarettes and threatened to launch an investigation.

(End of this chapter)