America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 597 The Tacit Understanding from Sandy Weir

As the year draws to a close, America is already enveloped in the warm glow and rich atmosphere of Christmas.

From Manhattan in New York City on the East Coast to Beverly Hills in California on the West Coast, the plane trees lining the streets are adorned with flashing neon lights, red and green Christmas decorations are displayed in shop windows, and the aroma of pine needles and cinnamon mingles with the sweetness of hot cocoa, permeating the fabric of every city.

Christmas is often said to be an important holiday in Western society, carrying religious beliefs and family sentiments.

But when it comes to the fervor of nationwide participation and religious culture, New Year's Eve truly deserves to be called a collective carnival that transcends social classes and regions.

Christmas is more about family, while on New Year's Eve, people leave their cozy family homes and flock to the city's central gathering places.

Led by the priest, participants sang hymns and prayed, sincerely repenting for the mistakes of the past year and praying for peace and prosperity in the new year, as they respectfully welcomed the ringing of the midnight bell.

Every year at midnight on December 31st, church bells across the United States ring out simultaneously, their distant and solemn tolling echoing through the night sky, piercing the hustle and bustle of the city.

Major cities will also invite professional bands to play classic nostalgic songs.

For the upper class, the biggest event of the day is the White House New Year's Eve dinner.

Receiving an invitation to a White House dinner signifies that the invitee holds a significant position in the political, economic, or cultural spheres.

This was not only an honor, but also a golden opportunity to expand one's network and consolidate power. Therefore, Daphne Barnes was not at all surprised when she received the invitation bearing the White House emblem.

Ernst, as a leader of the younger generation in the United States and the future successor to the richest man in the country, rightfully deserves to receive this invitation.

To her surprise, Ernst glanced at the invitation and said without hesitation, "Please decline it for me. Just say that I will be returning to California to reunite with my family during the New Year."

Daphne's fingers, which were holding the invitation, paused slightly, and a look of undisguised surprise appeared on her face.

The White House New Year's Eve dinner is a top-tier social event that many people dream of. Even without deliberately trying to curry favor, the exposure and potential resources that come from attending the dinner are enough to make countless corporate executives flock to it.

Family reunions are important, and this reason is perfectly reasonable; the White House will certainly not be dissatisfied with it.

But Daphne simply couldn't understand why Ernst would so easily give up such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

His mere presence is enough to solidify his position as the number one figure among America's younger generation.

He gave up this immense honor.

This changed her opinion of him a lot again.

He shook his head slightly, suppressing his doubts, and respectfully replied, "Yes, I will reply to the White House immediately."

After finishing discussing the White House invitation, Daphne turned to the next document and continued reporting to Ernst, "Also, Mr. Sandy Weill, CEO of Citigroup, would like to invite you to his housewarming party tomorrow night." Upon hearing the name Sandy Weill, Ernst tapped his fingertips lightly on the armrest of the sofa, a barely perceptible glint flashing in his deep eyes.

His first thought was that Sandy Weir was there to lobby for Citibank, but he quickly dismissed the idea.

According to information he obtained through various channels, Citigroup's short selling amount this time was far lower than Goldman Sachs', and Citigroup itself holds a considerable number of shares in YueDong Games. Theoretically, they could have easily settled this short selling transaction through internal share liquidation without needing to rely on too many external forces.

Unlike Goldman Sachs, which borrowed a large amount of securities for short selling and had to repay them upon maturity.

Therefore, Citigroup can be said to be the most in a position of ease among all the institutions that shorted Jumpgame.

It makes no sense for Citibank to ask him for help closing out their positions, because at this point in time, he will inevitably ask for a high price, otherwise there will be no way to negotiate with other institutions.

Rather than being fleeced, Citigroup would rather liquidate its own stock holdings and buy back YueDong Games after this battle between bulls and bears ends and the stock price returns to normal.

Sandy Weir is a shrewd man; he couldn't possibly be unaware of this.

Thinking of this, Ernst looked up at Daphne and asked calmly, "What about the list? Besides me, who else was invited?"

Daphne took out a neatly printed slip of paper from her folder and handed it to Ernst, saying with a hint of confusion, "It's strange, judging from the list, this is clearly a private party, but they specifically sent the list over."

In high-end social circles, only formal dinners, charity events, and other public occasions will have a detailed list of invitees provided by the organizers, so that guests can learn about the backgrounds of the participants in advance.

Private parties typically don't provide a guest list, emphasizing privacy. Daphne investigated the names on the list and found that the people on it were either Sandy Weir's core subordinates at Citigroup or his longtime personal friends, clearly indicating it was a private gathering.

Ernst took the list, quickly glanced through it, then casually placed the note on the armrest of the sofa beside him, saying in a flat tone, "Nothing strange about it, he's just conveying a message to me."

"To convey a message?" Daphne frowned, somewhat puzzled.

"Yes." Ernst nodded and patiently explained, "He was telling me that this was just a personal invitation to get to know me, without any complicated business motives, and that the purpose was to establish a personal connection."

"At the same time, this is also sending me a signal that John Reed's days at Citibank are numbered, and in the future, Sandy Weir will become the real person in charge of Citibank. In the future, for any matters related to Citibank, you can contact him directly."

Ultimately, it's more about a tacit understanding between the two parties.

"Teamwork?" Daphne pressed. "What kind of teamwork?"

Ernst's lips curled into a slight smile, his eyes gleaming with victory. "That's because I blocked John Reed, preventing him from closing his positions at a low price. In return, Sandy Weill will set an example for Wall Street."

"example?"

"A model of closing out positions at high prices," Ernst said, emphasizing each word.

"Why?" Daphne poured out her doubts. "Citibank could easily close the positions internally, so why would they spend a huge sum of money to have you close them? Doing so wouldn't benefit them at all; on the contrary, it would cause them enormous losses."

Ernst looked at his personal secretary with a hint of approval in his eyes. Daphne was young and beautiful, possessing not only outstanding physical attributes but also keen observation skills and a strong thirst for knowledge.

However, having only recently entered the workforce, they still lack sufficient social experience and cannot yet see through the undercurrents and power struggles hidden beneath the rules.

Ernst stood up, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, and aimed it at Wall Street.

This is the heart of global finance, where not only is wealth created and destroyed every day, but also power struggles and conflicts occur.

"Remember this: in any company and in any position, the most dangerous enemy is never outside, but inside."

"As long as you are steady enough and do not give external enemies any opportunity to take advantage, you can remain invincible in market competition."

"But internally, a colleague who was smiling and calling you brother one second may turn around and want to kill you because of the struggle for power and interests."

"The workplace is like a battlefield, especially in a top financial institution like Citibank, where the internal power struggles are more brutal and intense than you can imagine."

Ernst turned around and continued, "The higher the price at which Citibank closes its positions, the greater the losses it suffers, and the more unstable John Reed's position becomes."

"As the driving force behind this short-selling of Jump Games, without the strong support of the board of directors, he would likely have left Citigroup for good because of this incident."

"Sandy Weir saw this, which is why he was willing to sacrifice the company's short-term interests to achieve his own power demands."

Daphne quietly processed Ernst's words, and the image of a classmate from university with whom she had a fairly good relationship involuntarily surfaced in her mind. Every time they met, the classmate would greet her warmly, ask about her well-being, and act very friendly.

But behind her back, she would tell others that she was a slut who seduced boys and that she was just pretending to be virtuous.

"But how could the Citigroup board agree to Sandy Weir doing this, closing out shorted stocks at a high price instead of choosing a lower-cost internal liquidation? This is clearly harming the company's interests."

Ernst looked at Daphne's innocent expression and couldn't help but find it a little funny.

Ernst felt that Daphne Barnes' heart wasn't dirty enough, lacking the ruthlessness and insight that a capitalist should possess.

"Because Citibank's fixed income department is in his hands, the fixed income department has a lot of asset allocation and trading authority over the company. Even if Citibank itself holds enough shares in YueDong Games to complete the liquidation, he has countless ways to make that number impossible to liquidate."

"For example, through complex asset transfers and derivative transactions, equity that could originally be used for liquidation can be pledged, split, or a series of seemingly reasonable transaction obstacles can be created, making internal liquidation infeasible at the operational level."

"So he sacrificed the company's interests for power?" In her understanding, the primary responsibility of corporate executives is to create value for the company and safeguard its interests.

"Harm interests?" Ernst sneered. "Aren't company interests meant to be harmed?"

In the world of capital, a company's profits are essentially meant to be used rationally.

"It's the same for any company, including mine."

"The only difference is that a foolish person, even if they steal something, will leave evidence." "But a clever person can make a fortune and satisfy their own interests while doing so legally and compliantly, leaving you with absolutely no leverage."