In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Chapter 702 Target: Hong Kong Grand Hotel, Soros's Excitement!
The official commercialization of mobile communications in Hong Kong made it the world's first city to commercialize mobile communications, an event that indeed attracted global attention.

The city of Hong Kong, and Lin Haoran, also gained significant exposure in front of the world's media.

In developed countries such as Europe, America, and Japan, this issue has been widely discussed, and major mainstream media outlets have placed it in the most prominent positions, making it an undisputed headline news story.

This was absolutely a groundbreaking invention, marking the beginning of a new era in human communication technology.

As one of the main figures at this press conference, Lin Haoran naturally became the focus of global media attention.

This wealthy Eastern businessman, who is only in his early twenties, has already made a name for himself in the American investment world thanks to his keen business sense and forward-thinking investment vision.

His successful collaboration with Motorola to commercialize mobile communication technology has further boosted his international reputation.

Lin Haoran got up early as usual.

After having breakfast with Guo Xiaohan, Lin Haoran started reading the newspaper.

Lin Haoran casually picked up a copy of the Asian Wall Street Journal and, sure enough, saw that the headline on the front page was about Motorola mobile phones being officially launched for commercial use in Hong Kong.

The article also specifically mentions how Lin Haoran personally went to Motorola's headquarters in Chicago and finally persuaded Motorola to cooperate with him in Hong Kong, as well as his past brilliant achievements in the investment field.

These must have been obtained by reporters during interviews with Motorola executives, because Lin Haoran had not disclosed these matters to the public.

The Oriental Daily also published a news item that Lin Haoran had David arrange to extend the lottery draw time. Originally, the draw was to be held on the third day, but now it has become the fifth day.

The reason given by Hong Kong Mobile Communications Company is quite simple: the lottery was more complicated than expected, and in order to prevent errors, the first lottery had to be extended by two days. Future lotteries will be changed back to once every three days.

This was a good reason, and Lin Haoran was very satisfied.

It's not that there were too many people participating in the lottery.

A couple more or a couple less shouldn't have any major impact, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Just as Lin Haoran was engrossed in reading the newspaper, the phone rang.

This time it was Su Zhixue calling. At this time, it was a little after 8 p.m. in New York, USA. Obviously, the other party knew that the boss should be up at this time.

While they spent the night in Hong Kong, they spent a whole day in the United States.

"Boss, I need to report something to you. Motorola's stock price plummeted at the opening of trading in New York this morning. Although it rebounded somewhat throughout the day, it mainly continued to decline, accumulating a drop of over 18% by the end of the day."

Lin Haoran raised an eyebrow: "Looks like those short sellers are still adding to their positions."

"Yes, and according to our information, several major investment banks on Wall Street are downgrading Motorola's rating, citing a cautious outlook on the mobile phone market," Ma Shimin reported.

Lin Haoran's lips curled into a meaningful smile: "Very well, let them continue to talk their bad luck. By the way, how many shares did you acquire today?"

"The acquired shares represent approximately 1.32% of Motorola's issued shares, and the cost is not significantly different from today's lowest trading price," Su Zhixue reported.

“Very good. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Motorola’s shares will continue to fall tomorrow. Seize the opportunity and continue to increase your holdings!” Lin Haoran nodded and smiled.

The reason he didn't let Su Zhixue wait until Motorola's stock price dropped to its lowest point before acquiring shares was simple: it would be impossible to acquire a significant number of shares that way, and it would be difficult to pinpoint exactly the lowest point. Acquiring shares now, at a price lower than before, would naturally be better to acquire as many as possible.

For him, whatever he acquires now, regardless of the price, will make him money in the future.

Even if the lowest price is known, the stock price cannot be maintained for long.

The lower the stock price is now, the higher it will rise when good news reaches the United States.

Just like a bow and arrow, the more it is drawn, the farther it flies!
"Yes, boss." Su Zhixue nodded upon hearing this.

"Be careful, although we don't yet know which capital is behind this shorting of Motorola, you should be careful not to alert them or make them think something is amiss. It's probably getting late on your end, so you should get some rest," Lin Haoran chuckled.

Having experienced so many stock market strategies, Lin Haoran naturally understands that in the financial market, to reap huge profits, one must have enough patience and not be greedy for short-term gains.

"Goodbye boss."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Haoran sat on the sofa and pondered. He was quite curious about the capital behind this and wondered which capital was behind the scheme.

If the other party found out that I secretly bought up Motorola stock while they were setting up a scheme and divided up their profits, I wonder what they would think?

Not long after I hung up the phone, another phone rang.

This time it was Cui Zilong who called.

Cui Zilong was reporting on the matter concerning Li Jiacheng and others.

Since yesterday, when Cui Zilong's investigation revealed that Li Jiacheng, Brown, Laurence Kadoorie, Henry Keswick, and others were secretly plotting against him, Lin Haoran instructed Cui Zilong to intensify his investigation.

According to Cui Zilong's investigation, these individuals later visited the Xiangjiang Grand Hotel, Xiangjiang Sheraton Hotel, Miramar Hotel, and Regent Hotel separately, though their purpose remains unknown.

"This is interesting," Lin Haoran murmured after hanging up the phone.

Without giving it any further thought, Lin Haoran and Guo Xiaohan left the Shi Xun Road villa and Lin Haoran drove his Rolls-Royce directly to the Kang Le Building.

Kang Le Building, President's Office of Hong Kong Land Group.

Lin Haoran recounted Cui Zilong's report to Ma Shimin in detail.

After listening, Ma Shimin seemed to be deep in thought.

Then, Ma Shimin slowly said, "Boss, recently our Mandarin Oriental Hotel launched the 'Strategic Partner Program,' which provides exclusive discounts and customized services to senior executives of companies that cooperate with your various enterprises."

For example, senior executives from these overseas partner companies often travel to Hong Kong for business. In the past, they would choose their own hotels, but now they all stay at the Mandarin Oriental. More importantly, we have deeply integrated hotel accommodation discounts with the business cooperation of our subsidiaries, forming a closed-loop ecosystem.

This is precisely why Mandarin Oriental's occupancy rate surged this month, naturally leading to a sharp increase in profits. Perhaps their recent troubles are related to this.

"Oh? Is that so?" Lin Haoran was slightly surprised.

However, this is indeed a good approach, directly and significantly increasing the hotel's occupancy rate.

“Yes, I discussed this matter with Mr. Burton, Mr. Chen Shulin, and other heads of your group in June. They did not object, so the process went very smoothly and it was implemented in the middle of last month,” Ma Shimin explained.

Lin Haoran nodded.

"So it seems they're planning to start with the hotel industry, joining forces with Hong Kong's luxury hotel power to target the Mandarin Oriental Hotel?" Lin Haoran said thoughtfully.

“If that’s the case, then the hotel industry is definitely just the beginning. They might want to use the hotel industry to test the waters and see your reaction, or perhaps they want to join forces with other industry giants. If they succeed, they can defeat the other industries one by one.” Ma Shimin frowned, his fingers tapping lightly on the table. “After all, the hotel industry is relatively independent, so even if it fails, it won’t be crippling.”

Lin Haoran walked to the window, overlooking the magnificent view of Victoria Harbour, a cold smile appearing on his lips: "Interesting. It seems our old friend has finally lost his patience."

"I just don't know what kind of method they will implement," Ma Shimin nodded and said.

"It's alright. They'll find out what they're planning sooner or later. However, these luxury hotels are trying to unite against the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. If we don't do something, we'll be letting them down." A sharp glint flashed in Lin Haoran's eyes.

Upon hearing this, Ma Shimin asked with interest, "What are your thoughts, boss?"

"I heard you say before that the Mandarin Oriental Hotel is trying to acquire the Raffles Hotel in Singapore?" Lin Haoran asked in return.

“That’s right. I personally contacted the owner of Raffles Hotel several times. At first, they had no intention of selling, but after several phone calls, they showed signs of softening their stance and even made an offer to us. However, the price they offered is a bit too high, so we haven’t reached an agreement on the sale yet.”

“I hold 12.73% of the shares in Xiangjiang Hotel Company. Do you think that if Mandarin Oriental Hotel were to acquire Xiangjiang Hotel Company, its strength would increase significantly?” Lin Haoran said with a smile.

This 12.73% was also absorbed by Galaxy Securities when Lin Haoran took advantage of the collective plunge in the market value of those companies due to the impact of Huifeng Bank.

The Xiangjiang Hotel is located in Hong Kong. In terms of market capitalization, it can even rank among the top 20 listed companies in Hong Kong, with a market value of over HK$3 billion. It is a well-known giant enterprise in Hong Kong.

The reason, of course, is that today's Xiangjiang Hotel is not just a hotel business, but a diversified enterprise with wholly-owned subsidiaries including the five-star Peninsula Hotel and the four-star Kowloon Hotel, Repulse Bay Park in Hong Kong Island, St. John's Building in Central, The Peak Building and The Peak Tram Company, etc.

Moreover, Xiangjiang Hotel Company now operates hotel businesses in New York, Manila, and in major Chinese cities such as Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing.

In particular, The Peninsula Hotel is not only the most prestigious luxury hotel in Hong Kong, but also one of the world's top hotel brands, and has been selected as one of the world's top ten hotels for many consecutive years.

For Kadoorie, The Hong Kong Hotel is a symbol of unparalleled wealth and achievement, and a source of family glory.

Upon hearing this, Ma Shimin frowned and said, "Boss, I have considered acquiring the Xiangjiang Hotel. After all, once the Peninsula Hotel is in our hands, our Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group will definitely become the No.1 luxury hotel in Hong Kong."

However, the shareholder structure of Xiangjiang Hotel is too special. The management of the hotel is in the hands of the Kadoorie family, but the major shareholder is not actually the Kadoorie family, but Mr. Leung Chung-ho.

The Kadoorie family holds approximately 12% of the shares in Hong Kong Grand Hotel, while Mr. Leung Chung-ho holds as much as 34%, making him the undisputed largest shareholder of Hong Kong Grand Hotel.

However, Leung Chung-ho's focus has always been on the company's real estate, so the management of the hotel business has always been in the hands of the Kadoorie family, and the two have always coexisted peacefully on the board of directors of the Hong Kong Grand Hotel.

The Kadoorie family has always been so confident in controlling the Hong Kong Hotel with only a minority stake because they have always known that the Leung Chung-ho family has no intention of controlling the Hong Kong Hotel.

With their combined shareholdings exceeding 40%, acquiring a stake in Xiangjiang Hotel will be no easy feat.

Lin Haoran was somewhat surprised upon hearing this.

Surprisingly, the major shareholder of the Xiangjiang Hotel is not the Kadoorie family.

This really surprised him.

After all, everyone knows that the Kadoorie family has always considered the Hong Kong Hotel as their own.

Surprisingly, they only held a mere 12% of the shares.

Doesn't this mean that Galaxy Securities' current 12.73% stake exceeds that of the Kadoorie family? Doesn't that make him the second-largest shareholder of Hong Kong Grand Hotel?

This is interesting.

Liang Zhonghao?
Lin Haoran had a vague impression of this person. He had met him before at the Hong Kong Chinese Chamber of Commerce. The other party seemed to be a director and shareholder of New World Development, and also one of the wealthy families in Hong Kong, much stronger than the Lin family before Lin Haoran's rise to power.

Of course, the Leung Chung-ho family is not considered a top-tier wealthy family in Hong Kong; they are somewhere between first-class and second-class.

Lin Haoran associates almost exclusively with the most elite wealthy families, so he doesn't have much of a connection with Liang Zhonghao.

“If that’s the case, perhaps there’s a chance,” Lin Haoran suddenly said with a smile.

He had a fairly good relationship with Zheng Yutong, the chairman of New World Development. Although they rarely interacted, Zheng always gave him face.

Moreover, New World's financial operations have always been conducted in cooperation with Hengsheng Bank.

Now that he has acquired Hengsheng Bank, it means that New World is also considered his partner.

He recalled that Liang Zhonghao seemed to have sold off all his shares in Xiangjiang Hotel later, and among the buyers was his younger brother Liu Luanxiong.

In order to regain control of the Xiangjiang Hotel, Kadoorie was extorted by Liu Luanxiong and ultimately paid a heavy price to successfully retain control of the Xiangjiang Hotel.

In that case, we might actually be able to persuade the other party to buy the shares he holds.

In this way, wouldn't it be a joke for the Kadoorie family to join forces with Li Ka-shing and others in the hotel industry to target his Mandarin Oriental?
Thinking of this, Lin Haoran couldn't help but laugh.

Although it's unclear whether we can persuade them to sell, we'll find out by trying.

Even if it doesn't succeed, it's okay.

He's already the second-largest shareholder, so it's quite reasonable for him to compete with the Kadoorie family for control of the hotel industry, right?

To be honest, Lin Haoran actually quite liked the Peninsula Hotel. Its architectural style had a unique sense of luxury that made people linger.

Bringing it under its wing would be a significant leap forward for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group.

Moreover, he had never provoked Laurence Kadoorie. Since Kadoorie had chosen to collude with the likes of Li Ka-shing, Brown, and Henry Keswick, he shouldn't blame him for forcibly taking over the Hong Kong Grand Hotel.

Lin Haoran was indeed surprised that the Laurence Kadoorie family only held 12% of the shares of the Hong Kong Grand Hotel.

This is purely about wanting to gain control while minimizing the cost.

Although the Leung Chung-ho family is not interested in control, did the Kadoorie family ever consider whether Leung Chung-ho could sell his shares?

Once it's sold off and a more ambitious shareholder takes over, how will the Kadoorie family maintain control over the Hong Kong Grand Hotel Company?
However, none of this mattered to Lin Haoran; in fact, he felt that this was a good opportunity.

If the Kadoorie family held more than 40% of the shares in Hong Kong Grand Hotel, it might be difficult for him to acquire Hong Kong Grand Hotel.

But now, the major shareholder is a family that has no desire to control the Xiangjiang Hotel, and the second largest shareholder is himself. This is simply a golden opportunity.

Thinking of this, Lin Haoran smiled and said to Ma Shimin, "Mr. Ma Shimin, I will entrust the Raffles Hotel in Singapore to you. As for Xiangjiang Hotel Company, I will find a way to acquire it. Once we acquire these two world-renowned luxury hotels, our hotel industry will definitely be one of the giants in the global hotel industry."

"Okay, boss, then I'll leave it to you." Ma Shimin was also a little excited at the thought of the two world-renowned luxury hotels that the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group would soon be opening.

After chatting with Ma Shimin for a few minutes, Lin Haoran stopped bothering him and went to the office of Galaxy Securities.

The office was already bustling with activity. It was around nine o'clock in the morning, and the major stock exchanges in Hong Kong were about to open.

As I entered Dai Shi's office, I happened to see him just about to stand up with a document in his hand.

"Oh, boss, you're here. I was just about to go to a meeting," Dai Shi said.

"Well, I won't take up too much of your time. Have the recruitment teams from Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa been assembled yet?" Lin Haoran asked.

“I had already made preparations yesterday afternoon. They are all the most trusted traders. As soon as the market opens today, we will secretly begin accumulating shares in these two groups. I am currently preparing to hold a meeting with these two teams and assign them their respective tasks,” Dai Shi replied.

"Okay, let's go together then. I'll just watch from the sidelines," Lin Haoran said with a smile.

“Let’s go over there!” Dai Shi said, and took the lead, soon arriving at a medium-sized conference room.

At this moment, there are more than a dozen traders sitting in the conference room.

Lin Haoran glanced over and activated his cheat system, quickly revealing the loyalty of everyone present.

The lowest loyalty score was a whopping 88, while the highest reached 94.
Lin Haoran nodded in satisfaction. No wonder Dai Shi said these people were the most trustworthy traders.

These dozen or so people had basically been with him since the beginning of 1979; they were all long-time employees.

Lin Haoran basically knows them all.

Upon seeing Lin Haoran, everyone greeted him.

Lin Haoran nodded and said with a smile, "You guys have your meeting, don't worry about me too much."

……

Before we knew it, it was evening.

Meanwhile, in faraway New York City, it was already morning.

As a new day dawns on the streets, the newsstands along the way are at their busiest time.

Popular newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post continue to be purchased by customers.

Today, all these newspapers are reporting on the same news about Hong Kong Mobile Communications Company.

Motorola is a well-known technology company in the United States, and the release of this new product naturally caused a huge sensation in the country.

Many people regret that the first city to commercialize mobile communications was not a city in the United States, but Hong Kong, a city in faraway Asia.

But it has garnered a lot of attention.

Yesterday, many people were pessimistic about Motorola, believing that the launch of Motorola's new product was destined to fail because the price was too high.

Today, these media outlets all reported on the announcement from Hong Kong Mobile Communications Company that the lottery results would be announced on the fifth day instead of the third!
Although Hong Kong Mobile Communications Corporation gave a reason, these newspapers all published their own analytical articles at this moment.

What is relatively consistent is that the number of people participating in the reservation lottery on the first day is definitely less than expected, otherwise the lottery time would not be extended.

Furthermore, many economic experts have expressed their opinions, believing that Motorola's massive investment in developing this mobile phone is destined to fail and will not be profitable.

Motorola's stock price had already fallen by 18% yesterday.

Now, after seeing these reports, many investors are even more worried about Motorola's future.

When the opening bell rang at the New York Stock Exchange, Motorola's stock price plummeted, quickly falling by 5%.

After that, the stock price continued to decline slowly.

The pessimistic outlook from major media outlets and economic experts has caused considerable anxiety among many Motorola shareholders.

Some choose to cut their losses while the stock price hasn't fallen too much.

Others, however, choose to take a gamble.

Regardless, nothing could stop the downward trend in Motorola's stock price.

At the headquarters of the Quantum Fund, Soros stared intently at the real-time stock prices printed out by his subordinates, a very excited smile on his face.

He was very excited when he received the news early in the morning.

The news from Hong Kong was like a godsend for him!

He never expected that Hong Kong Mobile Communications Company would be so cooperative, changing the three-day period to five days.

This gives him more time to plan.

As one of Wall Street's most famous financial figures, Soros may not be considered a top-tier figure, but having worked in the industry for decades, he naturally possesses a wide network of connections.

So after making the decision, he quickly borrowed enough Motorola stock and then sold it off as soon as the market opened, thus obtaining a large sum of money.

The reason why Motorola's stock plummeted by a full 18% yesterday, and had already fallen by about 10% at the opening, was not only due to the negative rumors about Motorola in the market, but also largely due to the dumping of shares by the Quantum Fund.

Therefore, by selling those shares, the more Motorola's stock price fell afterward, the more profit Soros would make!

His chief trader strode over: "George, the stock price has fallen below our expected support level. Should we start adding to our position?"

"No, wait a bit longer. I believe Motorola's stock price will fall even further. Don't rush, don't be in a hurry!" Soros said, shaking his head.

Based on the information we have, Motorola's stock price will definitely fall even more today.

Meanwhile, in another skyscraper in New York, Su Zhixue was directing the trading team at Huanyu Investment: "Buy in batches, no more than 10 shares each time, and don't attract market attention."

He looked at the continuously falling stock price and smiled, "The boss was right, he's got a lot of shares to buy at a low price today."

(End of this chapter)