America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 362 The worldview collapsed

As the cooperation agreement was finalized, the atmosphere in the meeting room instantly became subtle.

Both Humphries, the secretary standing next to Lehman Brothers CEO Richard, and Ivan Setonberg, the new CEO of Continental Telecom, showed an undisguised look on their faces.

His expression was as if he had suddenly stumbled upon a polar bear waltzing on the equator—both absurd and unbelievable.

Labor costs are very high in the United States. Even the lowest-level white-collar workers in office buildings can't be retained without at least two thousand dollars a month, let alone engineers with some technical skills.

Even with such exorbitant labor costs, the dedicated line Ernst wants to build will not exceed one billion US dollars.

Now, Ernst has easily pocketed $4.5 million from Lehman Brothers alone.

$4.5 million! If you converted that into one-cent coins, they could probably bury the Lehman Brothers building.

What's even more astonishing is that the other party explicitly stated that once this dedicated line is completed, it will provide approximately 200 seats.

He couldn't imagine how much money the mainland telecom would get after selling all these seats; at least three billion US dollars was guaranteed.

In Wall Street, a place where every brick is inscribed with greed, as long as there is profit to be made, capitalists don't mind stepping on other people's skulls to swarm in.

Thinking about this, Humphries couldn't help but sigh to himself: This money is too easy to make!

He secretly glanced up and cautiously observed Ernst, who was chatting and laughing with his CEO Richard.

That teacher-like face made him look a few years younger than himself, yet he was already a globally renowned tycoon, and any one of his companies was sought after by capital.

And what about yourself? When you mention that you were Richard Lehman Brothers' CEO's secretary to outsiders, everyone will show an expression of envy and jealousy, feeling that they have hit the jackpot and can work for such a powerful company and such a great boss.

I'm not afraid of comparing goods, I'm afraid of comparing people. I'm nothing compared to others.

Compared to Ernst, I felt like a grain of sand in the desert, insignificant and not worth mentioning.

No wonder the media calls Ernst a symbol of wealth. At that rate of making money, even robbing a bank wouldn't be as fast as him.

Moreover, this is only a five-year contract. Even if other telecom giants covet this lucrative opportunity and launch similar lines, China Telecom's preemptive line will still be a golden goose, continuously generating wealth.

On the other hand, Ivan Setonberg's inner world was equally turbulent.

He never expected Ernst to be so bold as to ask for payment upfront, and for a five-year term in advance.

Ivan Setonbo has only known this new boss for a short time, and to this day he still doesn't understand why Ernst would use a headhunting firm to recruit him.

In the telecommunications industry, there are plenty of people more experienced and capable than him. It's really baffling that Ernst chose him over those industry leaders.

Working for a tycoon like Ernst, I doubt any professional manager in the entire United States could refuse.

Previously, I had only seen Ernst's various deeds in the media, or heard some business tycoons at various high-end gatherings talk about Ernst's legend with great enthusiasm, saying how powerful he was, and how even the usually arrogant financial giants on Wall Street had to bow down in front of him.

At the time, Ivan Setonberg thought there must be a lot of exaggeration involved, since the media always likes to exaggerate.

But having personally experienced this negotiation today, he has truly witnessed Ernst's formidable abilities.

This guy is really rude to Wall Street. He demands high prices right off the bat, leaving no room for negotiation. And these usually domineering capitalists on Wall Street are actually willing to let him rip them off.

At this moment, Richard and Ernst were completely unaware of the turmoil in the hearts of the two people beside them, and continued to chat enthusiastically.

Suddenly, Richard changed the subject, asking, "Ernst, what are your thoughts on PayPay?"

Ernst was taken aback for a moment when he heard the question, clearly not expecting Richard to suddenly bring up PayPal. However, he quickly recovered, raised an eyebrow, and said with a smile, "What, Lehman Brothers wants to invest?"

Goldman Sachs' previously formed BI alliance didn't include Lehman Brothers at all.

The payment software developed by Lehman Brothers, like other similar products developed by other Wall Street giants, became a stepping stone on PayPay's road to success and had no competitiveness whatsoever.

The root cause is that these Wall Street giants all have ulterior motives; none of them want to put their products on someone else's software or sell other people's products on their own platforms.

If it weren't for PayPal's first-mover advantage, which allowed it to quickly accumulate a huge user base, no Wall Street giant would have dared to easily remove their products from PayPal and lose a large number of potential customers. How could Wall Street possibly be a supporter of PayPal?

The reason Goldman Sachs formed the BI alliance instead of focusing on developing the online payment software of one of their existing companies is simply because they couldn't agree on the shareholding.

Whichever company chooses the online payment software, that company wants to gain more shares, more benefits, and a dominant position.

Since that's the case, why not just start from scratch and have everyone hold shares equally? It's a compromise that comes out of necessity.

Even so, not all Wall Street giants joined the BI alliance.

For example, Lehman Brothers was excluded from the Goldman Sachs alliance because of its conflict with Goldman Sachs.

Merrill Lynch had no intention of developing online payment software; they were more focused on their traditional securities business.

Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase have reportedly reached a cooperation agreement to launch their own online payment system in conjunction with some small and medium-sized bond companies.

In comparison, Lehman Brothers was undoubtedly the worst off.

Since he hadn't joined the bi1 alliance and his self-developed payment software had no users, he was left to fight alone. In the field of online payments, he had almost no chance of winning, which is why Richard had the idea of ​​joining the PayPay camp.

Regardless, PayPay remains the dominant player in the online payment field, holding an absolute market share. Forming an alliance with PayPay is much better than messing around on your own.

Moreover, by joining at this point in time, PayPay will definitely support Lehman Brothers, its ally, to some extent. Relying on PayPay's current market share, it can focus on securing its own gains first.

"I heard PayPay is planning to raise funds?"

There are no real secrets in Wall Street.

The news that PayPay was planning to raise funds first reached Madoff through Kredie. Madoff had a complex network of connections on Wall Street, and once the news reached them, basically all the big names on Wall Street knew about it.

It's even possible that Madoff deliberately leaked this news, wanting the whole world to know.

Madoff's investment in PayPal can be seen as Ernst endorsing it, and the more Wall Street giants among PayPal's shareholders, the thicker this endorsement becomes.

Ernst did not hide anything and answered truthfully, "I originally had this plan, but it has been put on hold for the time being."

Richard immediately understood why Ernst had suspended PayPaI's fundraising. It was simply because raising funds at this time would likely result in the embarrassing situation of no one being willing to invest.

Even if some institutions are willing to invest, they are unlikely to offer an ideal price.

Ernst's companies have always been synonymous with financing miracles. Whether it was YueDong Games or other industries, each financing round attracted a lot of capital, and the valuations always shocked everyone.

If PayPaI's valuation is too low this time, causing Ernst's fundraising myth to collapse, it might be better to put it on hold for now and see how the market develops.

However, the establishment of this dedicated line gave Richard a glimmer of hope for PayPay's eventual victory.

Compared to the Trump alliance, these Wall Street financial giants are certainly more concerned about whether they will be reshuffled by the futures market.

The futures market is extremely risky, and any fluctuations could wipe out their entire investment.

Moreover, everyone knows that if PayPay wants to grow further and unify the entire market, it must accept investment from Wall Street giants and gain their support.

However, by then, Wall Street's influence in the online payments sector will shift from being the main player to a mere observer, and the power to influence the market will no longer be in their own hands.

Given Ernst's past assertive attitude towards his own company, he would absolutely not allow Wall Street capital to interfere in the company's internal operations.

Even so, he was unwilling to give up this investment opportunity, because Lehman Brothers had no other choice.

Richard looked at Ernst and said seriously, "Name a price. It won't affect you or PayPay anyway, will it?"

Seeing that Richard's attitude was so resolute and didn't seem to be joking, Ernst frowned and pondered for a moment.

Finally, Ernst sighed, "I think we should talk about this later. I can give you a guarantee that Lehman Brothers will definitely have a place when PayPay starts raising funds."

Richard was clearly not satisfied with this answer and pressed on, asking, "Then why can't it be now?"

Are they waiting for PayPal to start fundraising?

It goes without saying that the time will come when Wall Street will completely surrender to PayPay in the online payment field.

At that time, a large number of investors will flock to PayPal. If Lehman Brothers wants to get a share of the pie, it will have to compete with a group of people, and it is very likely that Ernst will rip it off.

Ernst, however, looked troubled and tried to dissuade them again, saying, "Lehman Brothers cannot accept my offer."

Richard's heart tightened immediately. He felt Ernst raise his knife, but if he didn't extend his neck now, the knife would probably become even bigger and sharper later.

"I told you, just give me a price; you won't lose anything anyway."

Ernst shrugged helplessly, looking reluctant, and held up three fingers, saying, "Three billion dollars, and that's only because Lehman Brothers strongly supported the mainland telecommunications issue."

Before Richard could even respond, his secretary, Humphries, standing behind him, nearly popped his eyes out of their sockets.

He clicked his tongue in disbelief. Three billion US dollars? And that's with giving them face? If they don't give him face, how much money are you planning to ask for?

As expected of Ernst's company, they dare to ask for the highest price, treating Wall Street like a long-term meal ticket, squeezing this sucker dry.

But what happened next completely surprised Humphries.

He expected Richard to change his expression on the spot, but to his surprise, Richard didn't refute him. Instead, he calmly asked, "When does PayPay plan to go public?"

Ernst immediately understood Richard's idea: from 1996 to the present, the market value of almost all Internet companies, whether profitable or loss-making, has been soaring.

This trend has become even more pronounced this year, with almost all internet companies experiencing a surge in market value.

This trend has become even more pronounced, especially after YueDong Games went public.

Given PayPay's current size and its absolute market share in the online payment sector, if it can successfully go public, a market value exceeding 10 billion is definitely not a problem with any maneuvering.

So, if Lehman Brothers invests now, it will likely reap huge returns once PayPay goes public, making this a worthwhile investment.

The only risk is whether Ernst can completely subdue Wall Street capital and whether PayPay can ultimately dominate the entire online payment market in the face of fierce competition.

However, judging from the current situation, it seems that the chances of PayPay going down are very small.

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the IPO should take place next year," Ernst said, not giving a definitive answer.

"Okay, Lehman Brothers wants 20% of the shares."

"Impossible." Ernst refused without even thinking. "5% at most, not a single share more."

Richard seemed to have anticipated Ernst's response of "a pre-money valuation of $35 billion."

"I said, 5%, not a single share more," Ernst emphasized again, his tone domineering and leaving no room for negotiation.

Ivan Setonberg, who was standing nearby, was completely dumbfounded when he saw this.

He had heard before that Wall Street capital was like a cheapskate in front of Ernst, always getting trampled on by him, yet still eagerly handing over money to him.

He hadn't believed it before, thinking it was all just rumors, but seeing it with his own eyes today, he had no choice but to believe it was actually true.

Ivan Setonberg couldn't help but think to himself: What kind of world is this? One person is desperately trying to give more money and taking on the risks of starting a business. The other doesn't want it, taking the money and not appreciating the favor.

And Lehman Brothers, that huge traitor, actually agreed, and judging by the way things are going, they might even beg Ernst to send them more money in the future.

He felt like his worldview was about to collapse.

Just as Ivan Setonberg was still reeling from the sight before him, Richard spoke up again: "Lehman Brothers has priority in the next round of financing."

"make a deal."