America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 632 The Second Trump Card

While Setonburg had already raised the initial price of the seat to $40 million, Ernst was meeting with Citigroup CEO Sandy Weir in a small conference room.

Normally, something like signing a contract wouldn't require the top leader to come in person; sending a securities business manager would have sufficed.

However, the price demanded by China Telecom for Citibank was too high, so high that Sandy Weir had to make a personal trip.

"Ernst, this is discriminatory treatment."

Inside the meeting room, executives from Citibank and Continental Telecom sat facing each other. Sandy Weir looked both angry and helpless.

Ernst, however, had an expression that said, "Citibank isn't a child. If they make a mistake, they should bear the consequences."

"But that was done by John Reed and his associates, not by Citibank."

Ernst nodded, seemingly agreeing with Sandy Weir's statement, his tone calm yet sharp, "So, my pricing strategy this time is also aimed at their group."

Ernst nodded. "So that's what I'm targeting."

Citibank's internal structure is also complex and intertwined with various factions, but the influence of Zionist Judaism mainly came from the acquisition of the Solomon Brothers.

The company's founder is a standard Zionist Jew, and it is a core underwriter of Israeli government bonds and also provides foreign exchange management consulting to the Bank of Israel.

Most importantly, Solomon Islands traders used bond market information to provide Israel with early warnings of geopolitical risks and cooperated with Mossad intelligence personnel.

The company was later acquired by Travellers Group, and then merged with Citigroup, allowing the influence of Fuguoju to successfully penetrate Citigroup's internal structure.

The media storm that Goldman Sachs and Citigroup orchestrated to expose his personal problems was actually spearheaded by Citigroup's shareholders, who joined forces with the dying John Reed.

The business of China Telecom in mainland China is exactly what Salomon Brothers is doing, so Ernst's statement that they are targeting them is not wrong.

"But $1000 million a year for one seat? This isn't punishment, it's extortion." Even the well-mannered Sandy Weir thought he had misheard when he heard this number.

According to a message sent by Ernst through Buffett this morning, Continental Telecom has reserved trading seats for major Wall Street institutions, with each seat valued at $400 million per year and $2000 million over five years.

At Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, the price of each seat doubled.

Citibank has 12 seats available, which is 4.8 million yuan, and it has to be paid in advance, in full.

$4.8 million, even now, with financial stocks plummeting, Russian debt defaulting, and all banks short of cash.

This would be a significant financial burden for any institution.

"I have a good idea," Ernst said with a smile, offering his advice. "Why don't we give up some of the seats at Citibank and keep just one or two?"

Sandy Weir remained silent; he knew Ernst was making fun of him and Citibank.

One or two seats are enough for Citibank.

But what Citibank wants is not a seat; it wants to take advantage of this industry reshuffle to seize a larger share of the futures market.

For futures trading institutions that haven't secured trading seats, there's only one way to survive: rely on the institutional giants that do have trading seats.

Citigroup cannot afford to miss this opportunity; they will not give up a single seat.

"At this price, Citibank wouldn't even be as good as participating in an auction." Sandy Weir glared at Ernst, gritting his teeth as he changed his approach.

He already knew that the seat auction mechanism launched by China Telecom had an initial bid of only US$3000 million for the publicly auctioned seats.

China Telecom uses the Dutch auction method, where the auction price is gradually lowered from high to low until a bidder makes a bid. Under this auction model, the final transaction price is much lower, even lower than the price Ernst offered them.

"Then I warmly welcome them." Ernst maintained his nonchalant smile and said in a relaxed tone, "So, Citibank is now going to forgo these 12 designated seats and immediately participate in the public auction?"

Ernst glanced at his watch and continued, "At this time, the auction for seats is probably only halfway through."

"If Citibank enters the market now, they might be able to secure even more seats."

Sandy Weir's brow furrowed instantly, a strong sense of unease rising within him.

Ernst's reaction was somewhat unusual; he sensed that something was amiss.

Just as his thoughts were racing, his personal secretary sitting next to him suddenly nudged his arm under the table and quietly handed him a folded note.

Sandy Weir calmly unfolded the notepad, glanced at it, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

The note contained only one short sentence: The initial price for the trading seat in the public auction has been raised to $4800 million.

Although this price is higher than Citibank's price, the final price will definitely not exceed Citibank's price of $4000.

But he also knew that as the number of seats decreased, the price would definitely continue to rise.

After reading it, Sandy Weir saw that Ernst seemed indifferent, as if he didn't care whether he signed it or not.

Taking a deep breath to suppress his anger and resentment, he grabbed the contract on the table, signed it, and then, almost through gritted teeth, said to Ernst, "I hope to secure the second round of financing for AiTech as soon as possible."

Today he finally saw how petty and vindictive this capitalist tycoon, described by the public as generous, really was. He didn't want to stay here for another minute.

"Don't worry, we'll have the results soon."

Sandy Weir didn't say another word. He stood up and left with his entourage from Citigroup. The conference room door slowly closed behind them, leaving behind a room full of senior managers from China Telecom.

Unlike Setonberg, who had gone through negotiations with Ernst and Lehman Brothers, and with the Telephone and Telegraph Corporation, they were not used to it.

Some of these people had never even met Ernst.

After watching this negotiation today, I have only one feeling.

Are these Wall Street giants now so adept at taking advantage of each other?

How many times did it take to achieve such mastery?

The executives' hearts raced at the thought that just 12 trading seats had generated $4.8 million in revenue, as if decades of industry knowledge had been completely overturned.

Such a direct and forceful premium harvesting is simply unheard of.

As the executives from China Telecom left the conference room one by one, only Ernst and Anne, who had been sitting quietly beside him, remained in the large room.

At this moment, her face held an undisguised curiosity as she asked, "Is it possible to so completely control these powerful Wall Street tycoons and make their backers submit to you just by relying on the secret of Santoya Island?"

Ernst turned to look at her, which made her eyes dart away. She even subconsciously touched her cheek, wondering if there was something on her face.

"You've really changed," Ernst remarked sincerely.

If Anne of the past had known about the filth and horrors of Saint Toa Island, she would have been furious, perhaps even questioning her father or Massim about whether they were clients there and had also harmed minors—acting like a moral guardian.

But now, all she thinks about is power struggles, and she feels nothing for the victims.

"Isn't it good?" Annie turned her head away and said softly.

Ernst laughed, reached out and pinched her chin, forcing her to look directly at him.

After her face flushed red, she said, "It's good."

He doesn't need this woman to be cunning or scheming.

At least they're not naive and innocent; they understand the essence of this world and accept its true nature.

After putting his hand down, Ernst rubbed his fingers together a couple of times to get a feel for it.

Another thing that pleased him was the other person's skin.

She has a very delicate demeanor, unlike that of Western women; she feels more like a Japanese woman.

In his past life, he had visited some unique brothels in Japan. The women there not only had the naturally delicate skin of people of Asian descent, but they also took special care of their skin.

After applying the essential oil to your body, it feels so smooth and oily that you could almost squeeze oil out of it; it's even more delicate than a baby's skin.

He picked up the coffee cup on the table, took a sip, and put it down. He said slowly, "They are not only afraid of being disgraced, but also afraid that capital cannot escape the cage of the state."