America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 452 Interval

As the sightseeing bus slowly drove away, Darzel's figure gradually disappeared into the distance, finally vanishing from sight.

Ernst stood there, his gaze fixed on the car until it completely disappeared, before slowly turning around to look at Affili, who had remained silent and waiting beside him. "Find a way to let Glass know about our meeting today, but don't do it deliberately. Don't let him suspect that we intentionally leaked information to him."

Upon hearing this, Affili frowned slightly, hesitated for a moment, and then couldn't help but ask, "Do we really need to focus solely on him? There are other people in the retail industry with logistics management experience. Perhaps we can consider other candidates, just to have a backup plan, right?"

Ernst asked calmly, yet with a hint of a rhetorical question, "So, in your opinion, besides Dalzel, do we have any better options right now?"

"Our flash sale delivery system is a completely new model that has never appeared in the entire retail industry before. Whether it is the complexity of the system, the breadth of coverage, or the scale of business it will undertake in the future, it far exceeds the scope of any existing delivery model."

"To ensure that such an unprecedented delivery system can operate smoothly and efficiently without any major errors after it is officially put into operation, it places extremely high demands on the professional competence, overall coordination ability, and past practical experience of the person in charge."

"Whether it's me," Ernst pointed to himself, then to Affil, "or you, who can perfectly manage such a vast and complex delivery system?"

Seeing the other person deep in thought, Ernst continued, "Looking at the industry as a whole, there are indeed many talented people with logistics management experience among other retail giants. But if we want to find someone of Dahlzel's caliber from these companies, the difficulty is not fundamentally different from poaching Dahlzel from Walmart."

"Given this, given the similar level of difficulty in finding suitable candidates, why don't we select the best of the best and focus on the candidates who best meet our needs?"

"Walmart's logistics system is in a leading position in the industry. Whether it is the overall scale of the system, the maturity of its operation, or its adaptability to various retail businesses in actual operation, it has been tested by long-term market practice."

Looking once more in the direction of the now-disappeared sightseeing bus, Ernst murmured, "And this guy was personally recruited into Walmart by Sam Walton back in the day. I'm sure the retail tycoon saw something special in him that could bring unexpected value to our flash sale business."

"Okay, you have a point," Affili waved his hand in agreement. "But how can you be sure he'll join the flash sale?"

"I'm not sure." Ernst's face showed an honest expression, and he said without any hesitation, "To be honest, I can't be completely sure that Dalzel will choose to join us, so I have prepared backup plans, but he is the result I hope to see the most."

Affiel nodded, then frowned slightly, a troubled look on his face.

Although he understood Ernst's intentions, he couldn't come up with a suitable way to let him know about the meeting with Dalzel without arousing Glass's suspicion.

Just as Afiel was deep in thought, his gaze inadvertently swept over the waiter who was clearing the table, and his eyes suddenly lit up as an idea instantly formed in his mind.

......

The day after returning to Amazon's headquarters in Bentonville, Dahlzel was called into CEO Glass's office.

After briefly inquiring about the new distribution center in California, he suddenly asked, "I heard you went to see Ernst?"

Glass's tone was devoid of emotion as he tapped his fingers lightly on the desk, his gaze casually fixed on Dalzel's face, a hint of scrutiny hidden in his calm eyes.

"I'm just going to find out about our competitors."

"Competitors?" Upon hearing this word, Glass's lips curled into a subtle, knowing laugh. "Shouldn't our main competitor right now be Amazon?"

Dalzel picked up the coffee cup on the table in front of him, took a small sip, and his gaze unconsciously drifted towards the office window. It was unclear whether he was deliberately avoiding Glass's gaze or simply admiring the view outside.

"Is there a difference?" After a moment, Dalzel slowly turned his head and met Glass's gaze.

"In my opinion, whether it's Amazon or the e-commerce website that Ernst is planning, they are essentially the same. Once you understand one of them, you've figured out the details of their operation."

"Furthermore," Dahlzel paused, his tone becoming somewhat serious, "I don't believe Amazon will become Walmart's strongest competitor in e-commerce. That man has never failed in the internet world."

Glass's expression also turned serious. If Walmart wants to achieve the same brilliant success in online e-commerce as it has in offline retail and continue to dominate the industry, in addition to facing competitors like Amazon, which has been deeply involved in e-commerce for many years and has a mature operating model and a huge customer base, Ernst is indeed a stumbling block that must be overcome.

"The King of the Internet?" The title involuntarily popped into Glass's mind.

He recalled how the New York Times referred to Ernst after Google's successful acquisition of Alexa.

In its competition with Amazon, Google demonstrated the influence of Silicon Valley's largest company at a lower cost.

Ernst, who created this behemoth and achieved successive successes in the Internet field, was even crowned with the honorary title of "King of the Internet" by The New York Times.

This title is not only a high recognition of Ernst's personal abilities and achievements, but also reflects his enormous influence and appeal in the Internet field.

He recalled a detailed report that Robert Davis had previously submitted to him, comparing Amazon and Walmart in various aspects.

In 1997, Walmart's revenue had already reached an astonishing $1050 billion, with a profit of $35 billion. In terms of both revenue scale and profitability, it was in a leading position in the global retail industry.

In stark contrast, Amazon's sales were only $1.48 million, and it even lost $1.2 million.

Based on this financial data, Amazon and Walmart are not even in the same league; the difference between them is like heaven and earth.

But one key statistic is particularly glaring: Walmart's revenue is projected to grow by 1.2% this year, while Amazon's sales are projected to surge by over 200%.

Although in Glass's view, Amazon is still just a small company that relies on continuous capital investment to expand its market share, and its business model and profitability are still subject to many uncertainties, it cannot pose a substantial threat to Walmart's market position for the time being.

However, the rapid development trend of the e-commerce industry is irreversible, and it has fully demonstrated the huge development potential and market space contained in the e-commerce industry.

In this context, a man who can mobilize substantial financial resources and has never failed in the internet field would pose a significant threat if he decided to fully commit to e-commerce.

Thinking of this, Glass's eyes sharpened further. "I also heard that Ernst offered you extremely generous terms to join his team, with a salary twice what you had at Walmart, and a certain number of company stock options. Is that true?"

Darzel's fingers tightened around his coffee cup, his heart aching but his face betraying his true feelings. "Isn't this normal? Isn't this how it always happens when you want to poach someone?"

Glass glanced at him, his tone turning serious. "No matter who the opponent is, protecting our own logistics system is more important than anything else."

Darzel left, returned to his office, slumped into his chair, and stared at the ceiling for a long time without saying a word.

He knew someone had leaked the information to Glass, otherwise the other party wouldn't have known so many details.

It doesn't matter who leaked the information anymore. The key point is that the moment Glass asked that question, it meant that the other party didn't even want to hide it anymore, and their trust in him had begun to waver.

"What a clever scheme." Dalzel knew that Ernst was involved in this matter, and that his path to promotion at Walmart would likely be blocked after this incident.

However, he didn't hate Ernst, because such poaching tactics were common in America.

He stood up and took out a book with a somewhat worn cover from the bookshelf behind him.

This is Sam Walton's autobiography, which he considers a guiding light in his career, and he has read it countless times.

I skillfully flipped through the pages, found one of them, and saw that familiar quote.

"If an idea is good enough, even if it comes from a competitor, we should be brave enough to accept it."

Perhaps I really should change my environment and try a new challenge?