America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 456 The Fall of a Wealthy Family

The seating arrangement at the Al Smith charity dinner was quite interesting. There was a podium directly in front of the table, surrounded by long tables, almost like the setup of the two houses of parliament. If you didn't know better, you might think you were in Parliament.

Below were rows of round tables, giving the impression that a group of behind-the-scenes bigwigs were watching the members of Congress present themselves and then arbitrarily choosing which ones to take the stage in both houses of Congress, depending on their mood.

Ernst was seated at table number 12, which was relatively far back. From there, one had to look up slightly to see the podium.

Such a seat is inconspicuous and even gives the impression of a low status.

But those familiar with the seating arrangements at the Alsmith dinner know that the seating arrangement at this charity dinner is not simply determined by social status.

Bill Gates' seat is behind Ernst's; surely his position can't be lower than those of the charitable organizations in front of him?

Specifically, government officials will be seated in the front row closest to the podium, followed by chairpersons of organizations or institutions with broad influence across various sectors of society, such as chairpersons of women and children protection organizations, the New York Stock Exchange, and sanitation organizations.

Finally, there was the seating area for Ernst and his business associates.

The main problem is that they have too much money but don't donate enough, and they don't want to provoke public outrage on television.

I had just sat down at table number 12, and before I could even take a good look around, I heard a teasing voice say, "I heard you came here with Bill Gates?"

Only when the visitor sat down did he realize that Richard Fuld, the CEO of Lehman Brothers, was sitting right next to him.

"You probably don't know this, but tonight's charity gala is a little different from the past; there's a public auction segment."

"An auction?" Ernst's brow furrowed instantly. He turned slightly to face Richard. "I recall that the Al Smith charity gala never included an auction as a fundraising element, did it?"

The banquet has always raised funds through ticket sales and targeted donations from guests. Why is an auction being added this time?

Upon hearing this, Richard raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in his eyes. He looked at Ernst and slowly said, "Who said there's no auction component? I was referring to the public auction component."

Public auction.

This reminded Ernst of the cocktail party hosted by Citibank not long ago.

After the party ended, a filthy auction took place.

"Why?" Ernst didn't understand.

Ernst was certain that this auction would be a one-time event, and there wouldn't be another one next year.

The Al Smith Foundation simply can't find that many legitimate artworks to auction. Are they relying on these guest donations? Low-priced items lower their prestige, while no one wants to bring out high-priced ones.

With so many people present, including political and business elites, each person's donation was only ten or twenty thousand US dollars each time. Donating thirty or fifty thousand US dollars would have made people shout their names out loud.

If that's the case, why make an exception and hold this auction?

Richard didn't answer immediately, but subconsciously turned his gaze to the table behind him where Bill Gates was.

After looking away, she smiled and asked, "Why do you think you two came together today?"

Ernst frowned even more upon hearing this. Was there some other hidden story?

Seeing Ernst's still confused expression, Richard, with a look of smug satisfaction, lowered his voice and continued, "This public auction was requested at the last minute by a lady, and the item being auctioned is a handwritten letter written to her by someone else."

"A handwritten letter?"

Could it be that the Queen's love letter has been leaked? Otherwise, why would they be so accommodating as to add this extra step?

Just as Ernst was making his own guesses, Richard uttered the woman's name: "That woman's name is Winblad."

Ernst reacted exactly like Richard had earlier, his gaze instantly and instinctively locking onto Bill Gates behind him.

It was at this moment that Bill Gates seemed to sense Ernst's gaze, turned his head, and their eyes met for a moment in the air.

Ernst was slightly taken aback at first, then a meaningful and eerie smile appeared on his face. He then slowly turned around and faced Richard again.

"Is the harem on fire? Is the former emperor trying to force his way out?" Ernst said with a slight smile and a hint of teasing in his tone.

Everyone knows that Winblad is Bill Gates' ex-girlfriend. He even publicly stated that the three best gifts God gave him were his family, Microsoft, and Winblad.

When he married his current wife, Melinda, he even made a show of force at the wedding, stating that he would spend a week every year with Winblad.

It was a handwritten letter from someone else, and although it didn't name anyone, who else could it be but Bill Gates?

"It seems Winblad has bled quite a bit this time."

For Al Smith to make an exception at his dinner party and stage a coup in such a setting, one wonders how much money Winblad donated.

"Can it bleed as much as Bill Gates?" Richard chuckled mischievously, looking impatient.

The IBM people are here today too. He just greeted Jobs, and with Ernst joining them, there are quite a few people today who have both a grudge against Bill Gates and money to back them up.

Richard believed that there must be quite a few people present who would be willing to spend some money to buy the letter.

But Bill Gates would absolutely not agree to that; this letter would inevitably fetch an astronomical price.

Ernst had also thought of this, and shook his head regretfully, "What a pity, Larry Ellison isn't here. If he were here, he would sell everything he owns to buy this letter, and then advertise it on TV."

Richard couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.

"But will this even work?" Ernst asked again, looking at Richard with a hint of confusion in his voice. "Didn't they say Bill Gates' mother completely disapproved of him being with Winblad? And how old is Winblad now?"

Richard's face showed surprise upon hearing Ernst's words. He looked at Ernst as if he were seeing him for the first time, his eyes filled with astonishment. "You don't really believe what people are saying, that their breakup was because Bill Gates' mother disliked Winblad being nine years older than him, do you?"

"Do you think it's possible?" Richard asked immediately afterward.

"Why is that?" Ernst's curiosity was completely piqued, and he involuntarily leaned closer to Richard, completely ignoring the archbishop's opening address that was taking place above the podium.

The archbishop was introducing the Al Smith Charitable Foundation's history and the dinner's charitable goals to the guests, but all of this was irrelevant background noise to Ernst, whose attention was entirely focused on Richard.

Richard was clearly not impressed by this kind of formalistic opening speech. He didn't even glance at the podium and continued in a low voice, "I suspect that Winblad cheated on me, and that Bill Gates' mother, Mary Gates, found out about it. That's the real reason for their breakup."

When Ernst heard this guess, his eyes were instantly filled with shock, and he even had an urge to hit someone. Isn't your guess too outrageous?

Seeing Ernst's reaction, Richard knew he was suspicious and continued, "Back when I represented Lehman Brothers at an IBM board meeting, I overheard Opell making a phone call during a break. Opell mentioned that he was willing to help block Microsoft's business. I didn't hear the specific details clearly, but that was the gist of it."

"Think about it again. Winbrad's financial partner at the time was a strong and healthy NBA player, while Bill Gates was just a thin, inexperienced young man who was focused on his career."

"At an age when he could practically suck up dust from the ground, Bill Gates is a workaholic, and he's spending every day with a strong, muscular Black man. Do you think there's any other connection between these things?"

Following Richard's logic, Ernst analyzed, "You mean, Mary Gates discovered Weinblad's affair, but didn't want her son to be affected by it, impacting his career and emotions, so she threatened him with Microsoft's business, saying that if he didn't break up with Weinblad, she would prevent him from getting IBM's orders?"

Opel and Mary Gates are very good friends, and the two have close ties in both social and business circles.

Bill Gates's ability to secure IBM's contract, laying a solid foundation for Microsoft's development, was largely due to the relationship between Mary Gates and Opell.

Richard overheard Opell's phone call about stalling Microsoft's business, which indirectly confirmed the speculation that Mary Gates might have threatened Bill Gates to force him to break up with Winblad.

"Microsoft's market value is soaring, and Bill Gates' wealth is increasing at an astonishing rate every day. Under these circumstances, Winblad can't sit still." Richard gave a meaningful smile.

"Another coincidence is that John Hammer got married again, just three months ago."

John Hammer is definitely an outlier in the NBA.

Most of the other players squander their earnings, while the better ones invest and manage their finances.

Instead, he went to Stanford to pursue an MBA and then co-founded Hammer Weinblad Investment Company with Weinblad.

This company is the first venture capital firm in the industry to focus on the software field. It has successfully incubated several startups and is quite well-known in the investment community.

If Winblad is indeed the one keeping fish, and Hammer, the easiest target, is now married, then he must find a way to hook Bill Gates, the big silver carp.

Touching his chin, Ernst felt that tonight's dinner party was getting more and more interesting.