Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 890 Famous in America
This IPO released a total of 16% of the liquid shares.
Yang Wendong had raised funds twice before, the first time for 20% and the second time for 15%, leaving him with a total of 68% of the shares.
This time, 16% of the shares were released, leaving the company with 57.12% of the shares, making it still the absolute controlling shareholder.

Unlike Commonwealth companies, in places like Hong Kong, the UK, or Australia, there are maximum shareholding limits for major shareholders. For example, in the past, the maximum shareholding of a major shareholder in a Hong Kong listed company was 49.9%. Once this was exceeded, a takeover bid would be triggered. Later, in order to protect British companies, the Hong Kong government changed this figure to 34.9%.

In the United States, however, there are no such restrictions; major shareholders can hold shares at will, with no upper limit.
Of course, there are other regulations as well, such as restrictions on the number of shareholders, the shareholding of each shareholder, and the number of shares in circulation. Best Buy naturally meets these requirements.

In theory, the maximum number of shareholders in a US-listed company should be slightly over 60. If it's more than that, the number of shares in circulation will be too small, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will intervene.

Therefore, holding nearly 60% of the shares is basically enough for Yang Wendong to maintain strict control.
Nowadays, many investment banks and large fund companies have become shareholders of Best Buy, so they will naturally provide appropriate assistance to Best Buy in many ways, which is also one of the responsibilities of shareholders.

As for the board of directors, Yang Wendong also established a nine-member board in accordance with US law, but five of them belong to Yang Wendong, and the other four are other shareholders, and the other two are invited IT and financial experts.
Thus, a new American business giant was born.

That evening, at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, Yang Wendong personally hosted a banquet to entertain some New York City officials, Best Buy shareholders, several investment banks, journalists and media, and some Best Buy suppliers, etc. The entire venue had about 500 people and occupied an entire floor of the hotel. Including security personnel, there were more than 100 people. He also contacted the NYPD and dispatched several patrol teams to park at the hotel entrance.
In the United States, capitalists are the dominant group, and the safety of big capitalists is naturally a major issue. Now that so many political and business figures are gathered in New York City, the NYPD naturally has to pay attention to it. If anything happens, the FBI may even intervene.
New York City Mayor Ed Koch walked over with a glass of wine in hand and said with a smile, "Mr. Yang, I've heard so much about you. I first heard of you a few years ago, but unfortunately, I never had the chance to meet you. Thank you for choosing the New York Stock Exchange as Best Buy's listing venue."

Yang Wendong also raised his glass: "Mayor, you are too kind. As the largest stock exchange in the United States, the New York Stock Exchange is naturally my first choice."

Best Buy had previously hesitated between choosing New York or Nasdaq for its IPO. The former aligns with traditional business practices, where many giants have listed; the latter is more suited to the IT industry.

Best Buy can be seen as a combination of the IT industry and traditional industries, with some connection to both.

Ultimately, after various investigations, the New York Stock Exchange was chosen because although the IT industry on Nasdaq will be very hot in the future, it is still far behind New York at this time. When it comes to IPOs, the priority is to consider how much to raise.

As for the future, Best Buy may not benefit much from the Nasdaq bubble, because it is mostly composed of asset-light IT companies, while Best Buy is an asset-heavy industry, which may not be appealing.

And as we approached the last major bubble of the 20th century, online shopping had become a promising trend, which was actually detrimental to Best Buy.

So after careful consideration, I finally decided to choose New York.

Edkoch smiled and said, "Then Mr. Yang can consider investing in New York City. New York City is very welcoming to foreign investment."

“I plan to purchase a building in New York City as the headquarters for Future Group in the eastern United States,” Yang Wendong replied.

Edkoch said, "What about your company's manufacturing sector? I've heard that you have several large factories in Asia."

"I need to think about that. Red Bull might consider investing in a factory in the US." Yang Wendong didn't directly refuse; in this situation, it was important to give them face.

Investing in manufacturing in the US at this time would be foolish, wouldn't it?
However, a very few industries are still okay, such as the beverage industry, where transportation costs account for a very high percentage. Companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi have a large number of production plants around the world.

Red Bull has a high profit margin, which is actually acceptable given the labor costs in the United States. The only problem is the American labor unions.

Best Buy and KFC are already facing this problem. The unions are always causing trouble, and some of these issues have even alarmed Yang Wendong. But there's nothing they can do. When you're making money in the US, you have to adapt to local customs. Many American companies are also being tormented by unions to the point of near collapse.

The success of China's reform and opening up in its previous life was also thanks to many labor unions in Europe and America, who frequently and ruthlessly targeted factories, forcing them to relocate their manufacturing industries overseas.
Edkoch didn't press further, and said with a smile, "Okay, I hope New York City can meet your investment needs."

"Thank you," Yang Wendong replied politely.

After that, Yang Wendong had some verbal conversations with several other officials, which were mostly about attracting investment.
Politicians in capitalist countries are very concerned about employment rates, and the manufacturing conglomerate held by Yang Wendong has greatly helped regional employment rates, so politicians in various places naturally give him a lot of face.

Of course, they were smart people too, and they could roughly tell that Yang Wendong was not very willing to invest in factories in the United States. They understood this, but there was no harm in asking, and what if it worked out?
"Eric, how does it feel to be the center of attention?" Barney, vice president of Goldman Sachs, asked with a smile.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "It's not bad, but it's nothing. I experienced it a long time ago when I was in Asia."

“Haha, that’s different. These are all top American politicians, even senators,” Barney said with a smile. “With your current status, if you went to Washington, you might be invited into the White House.”

"Forget it, I don't have any major investments or plans in the US for the time being, so there's no need to bother the president," Yang Wendong said, shaking his head.

"Meeting the president is certainly possible, but you need to have a reason. You can't just go over for a chat, can you?" Barney said with a smile, "That's true, unless you're planning to bring a large amount of capital to the United States for investment."

Yang Wendong said, "It's unlikely that funds can be transferred from overseas. However, I have invested in many companies in the United States. If I cash out in the stock market one day, I might be able to make a large investment in the United States."

He naturally planned to continue investing the money he earned in the United States, since it would remain the world's largest market for the next few decades, even if it wasn't suitable for real estate investment.

Barney asked, "You mean Chrysler stock? They've been doing a really good job cutting their losses lately, Eric. Your investment is going to make a killing again."

"I just think highly of Li Iacocca as a person," Yang Wendong said with a smile.
Two years ago, Yang Wendong invested in Chrysler. Last year, Chrysler received $15 billion from the U.S. Congress. Combined with the more than 300 car dealerships that Yang Wendong acquired, Chrysler received a total of $20 billion in funding.

However, this amount of money was still insufficient for Chrysler, which was suffering heavy losses. As a result, Lee Iacocca cashed out a large amount of assets, selling off all non-automotive businesses, such as aircraft parts factories, tank factories, South American and European operations, and some properties and buildings.

This is how Chrysler finally came to its senses, and with the end of the oil crisis, it gradually recovered.
This is also why Yang Wendong is very cautious about the automotive industry. If such a level of loss were to occur in his own business, his other industries would also have to suffer greatly to save the car company. Moreover, he would need a shrewd and capable leader like Li Iacocca, otherwise, even some countries would not be able to withstand continuous losses of one billion US dollars every year.

Of course, after suffering such a severe blow, Chrysler will need some time to recover, but the situation is already quite clear.

Barney praised, "You're really amazing. Your investment performance over the years can't even compare to mine. Do you have a next target? Why don't you share it with Goldman Sachs?"

"Haha, I just bought some stocks casually in the US. I still favor large American companies. You can consider them, such as the two major cola companies, manufacturing giants, and pharmaceutical giants," Yang Wendong suggested rather cryptically.

It's impossible for him to reveal his exact future investment goals, but the general direction is fine, since he's about to announce the acquisition of Coca-Cola and General Electric shares.

As for whether Goldman Sachs or other companies follow suit, that's up to them. Not following suit won't hurt them, but following suit can increase the stock value and bring more benefits to their investment.

Barney smiled and didn't take it seriously. The companies Yang Wendong mentioned were all American giants. In the eyes of investment banks like theirs, these companies were suitable for safe, long-term investments with low risk and generally low returns, since they were already giants.

Then he added, "Best Buy's IPO is over, so can KFC's financing be finalized as soon as possible?"

“Okay, I’m here in the US to sort this out. Tomorrow at 10 a.m., in the conference room at the Four Seasons Hotel, all the investors will be there. Let’s discuss it together then,” Yang Wendong nodded in agreement.

His two major asset-heavy businesses in the United States are Best Buy and KFC. Both of these businesses make money in the United States, so naturally they are preparing to go public in the United States.

Best Buy is a bit better off, as it doesn't have many strong competitors. But KFC has too many competitors, such as the well-known McDonald's and Burger King. Any fast food chain, even if it's not burgers or chicken nuggets, is a competitor, since customers will only choose one at a time.

The next morning, major newspapers in New York City carried photos of Yang Wendong at the New York Stock Exchange.
The New York Times headline went even further, stating: "The Asian man who conquered a new U.S. IPO record."

This IPO broke Apple's previous record and is second only to Ford's IPO decades ago, even taking inflation into account.
The following article also describes Best Buy's corporate structure and development history;
Back in the 60s, Yang Wendong, a rising star in Asia, came to Los Angeles, USA, and established the first Best Buy before his business in Asia had fully taken off.

Over the next decade or so, it quietly invested funds and gradually became a major home appliance sales company in several American cities.
With the rise of Apple's personal computers, Best Buy's business model gradually shifted from traditional home appliances to personal computers, game consoles, personal music players, and so on, and the new industry brought unlimited new business opportunities.

No one knows whether Yang Wendong was simply lucky to have bet on the market, or whether he had enough foresight to see the huge opportunities in the electronics industry in the 60s. But it should be the latter, because he also had a large electronics company in Hong Kong, which was a global leader in the gaming industry.
Best Buy now has 327 large electronics retail centers in more than 200 cities in the United States, covering half of the US population and accounting for at least 75% of the economy. Moreover, all of its properties are self-owned, and its operating costs have been reduced to a very low level, making it almost impossible for newcomers to catch up unless a completely new business model emerges.
This introduction allowed many Americans to fully understand Best Buy, which increased Best Buy's brand awareness and was essentially a free advertisement.

At the same time, Yang Wendong's fame once again caused a sensation in the United States;

Based on the shareholding ratio on the second day, Yang Wendong held 57% of Best Buy's stock, with a market value of up to $16.1 billion;
This one company alone is enough to make Yang Wendong one of the top billionaires in the United States. It should be noted that Wang An, who is known as the richest Chinese American, has a company valued at only $20 billion.

Other media outlets reported on this matter in an even more exaggerated manner. For example, Fortune magazine investigated Yang Wendong's other companies in the United States, such as his holdings in Walmart, Intel, Apple, and the giant KFC.
Although they didn't know KFC's valuation, it was easy to count the number of stores. In terms of quantity, KFC had more stores than McDonald's, and their business should be about the same. McDonald's market value was $8 million.

A simple calculation shows that Yang Wendong's total assets in the United States are at least over $30 billion.

The news shocked newspaper readers throughout New York, and these newspapers would soon be distributed to other parts of the United States and even the world.

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