Chapter 922

In a flash,

Time came to 2008.

……

May 2, Marvel Studios' first self-made blockbuster "Iron Man" premiered in North America, with the ground promotion of Umbrella Property, plus the continuous publicity of Facebook and "Freedom Media Group."

On the day of release, the word-of-mouth exploded, with an 89% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.5 score on IMDb.

In just one month, the North American box office exceeded $360 million.

The total global box office exceeded $680 million.

Its success suddenly brought Marvel Studios back to life and opened the Marvel Cinematic Universe that swept the world.

And this naturally aroused the vigilance of the other 6 major film companies in Hollywood.

After knowing that the major shareholder behind Marvel Studios was Umbrella Group Property, combined with the fact that several positive and heavy-scene Chinese roles appeared in "Iron Man," the sharp Hollywood people, Jewish people, and the Department of Education and Cultural Affairs (pushing cultural invasion, ideology) all realized—Chinese people have become more tricky!

……

Director Director Director Guan Zu Zu had long expected the success of "Iron Man."

So he didn't pay much attention to it.

At this time, he was more concerned about 3 things:

1: The East's Olympic Games. He had to go back to Hong Kong, and then go to the Imperial Capital to watch the Olympic Games.

2: The U. S. year-end election, under his intentional push, the rise of Obama.

3: The global financial storm triggered by the subprime mortgage crisis, big bottom-fishing.

January 11, 2008, one of the largest subprime mortgage institutions in the United States, "New Century Financial Corporation," announced that it was unable to repay its debts and applied for bankruptcy protection.

On that day, the U. S. Dow Jones Index fell by 1.5%.

What is subprime mortgage?

Subprime mortgage is "subprime residential mortgage loan," which is a high-interest mortgage loan issued by banks to homebuyers with poor credit records and weak repayment ability.

Core: Homebuyer qualifications are not good, interest rates are higher.

This led to one point—increased risk!

After the 119 incident, in order to stimulate the economy, the United States significantly lowered interest rates, forcing depositors to take out their money to consume, to start businesses, and to revitalize the economy.

A portion of the savings went to real estate.

Then, real estate doubled in a few years. Think about how powerful it is to double in the Chinese real estate market and you will know.

Then this led to a problem, a large number of banks lent funds to people with poor earning ability, which was subprime mortgage.

As subprime mortgages continuously increased.

As the employment situation worsened.

The bank's subprime bad debts became more and more.

Then in 2008, in January, one of the largest subprime mortgage institutions in the United States, "New Century Financial Corporation," exploded.

March 16, investment bank Bear Stearns with tens of billions of dollars in assets, exploded.

June-July, the two major institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, because they held a large amount of subprime-related assets, their stock prices continued to plummet, and their stock prices fell by 75%.

Of course,

The real big king was still Lei Man Brothers behind.

Lei Man Brothers, 158-year-old financial giant.

In 2006, its market value exceeded $60 billion, becoming the fourth largest investment bank in the United States, second only to Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merrill Lynch.

Last year, before the subprime mortgage crisis broke out, the whole United States realized that the subprime mortgage crisis was about to appear.

And Lei Man Brothers was stubborn.

"This is absolutely a great opportunity for rapid growth!"

"Be greedy when others are fearful!"

Then, it acquired a large amount of subprime assets that came out of other banks at low prices.

In the end, it was beaten black and blue by the iron fist of reality.

June, Lei Man released its first quarterly huge loss since listing, with a loss of $2.87 billion.

August, Lei Man tried to strip $30 billion of toxic subprime assets, but it was not approved.

September 7, the U. S. Treasury Department transfused blood to "two houses" Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the whole United States panicked.

September 12, Lei Man Brothers sought help from Buffett, Bank of America, Barclays Bank, Korea…… all failed.

Of course, it also looked for Umbrella Property Group, but was rejected.

Next, needless to say, it went bankrupt.

Before it went bankrupt, various institutions in the United States were like sharks smelling blood, coming to short it.

However, very few could get on the bus, Umbrella Property, Happiness Property, and Family Property laid out in advance and snatched a lot of shorting chips.

1:45 AM on September 15, 2008, Lei Man Brothers officially applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Its business covered more than 40 countries around the world, and financial derivatives were all over the world.

Once it went bankrupt,

The global financial storm officially kicked off!

On the morning of the same day, after the U. S. stock market opened, the Dow Jones Industrial Index plummeted 504 points, a drop of 4.4%, setting the largest single-day drop since the 119 incident.

Lei Man's stock price fell from $86 to $0.21, and its market value evaporated by 99%.

At the end of September, the average weekly drop of global stock markets exceeded 20%.

……

……

White House.

"My luck is too damn black~~"

Bush looked at the news of the financial storm sweeping the United States, looked up and shed tears of despair.

The financial storm appeared,

Who to blame?

Can only blame him!

How did you become President?

Why didn't you discover the financial crisis earlier? Why didn't you introduce policies to stop it earlier?

Now everyone is unemployed, can you still be President?

National support rate -1 -1 -1 -1……

……

October,

The three candidate debate meetings for the U. S. election officially kicked off.

Bush vs Obama!

Because it was an economic crisis, the presidential debate mainly revolved around the collapse of the U. S. economy caused by this subprime mortgage crisis.

Bush/Republican's argument was: propose to take out $300 billion from TARP funds (Economic Stabilization Emergency Act · $700 billion) to buy out bad loans of homebuyers, promise "to provide half-year guarantees for all bank deposits," and at the same time push for corporate tax cuts to "activate market vitality."

Obama refuted his plan as "favoring financial institutions," proposing tax exemptions of $3,000/position for companies with new positions, allowing families to withdraw pension funds early without penalty taxes, and specific measures for tax cuts for 95% of wage earners.

Bush insisted: "This is the only choice to stop the market from collapsing!"

Obama refuted: "Taxpayers' money should save ordinary people's houses and jobs, not fill the bank's hole."

From here, you can see that the styles of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party are completely different.

Bush was wrapped by Republican capital and couldn't move.

And the Democratic Party was a bit more "free."

After the third debate,

The support rate changed to: Obama 58% vs Bush 31%.

And CNN reported the poll data: 72% of voters thought Obama "understood the economy better," and only 28% recognized Bush's economic ability.

……

November 4,

National Voting Day!

Obama took key swing states like Virginia and Ohio, won a total of 28 states + the District of Columbia, and locked in 365 electoral votes.

And his opponent Bush, only 173 votes.

Bush was too miserable!

Simply trampled on the ground by Obama, continuously ravaged.

And this time, it also created a new voting record: the national voter turnout reached 63%, and the participation of African and Latino voters increased by 10 percentage points compared to 2004.

Moreover, this was also the first African-American President, breaking the 232-year racial political barrier in the United States.

At the same time, 47-year-old Obama became the youngest elected President since Kennedy.

Obama,

Can be called the Son of African Luck!

……

Silicon Valley in December, ushered in cold wind.

Here, there was a special company—NVIDIA.

At this time, NVIDIA was in danger: the semiconductor demand collapse triggered by the global financial crisis, the "graphics card gate" quality crisis leading to a decline in user trust, Intel's encirclement and suppression……

Then, NVIDIA collapsed.

Stock price plummeted!

From $37 to $6.5!

NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang had been in a bad mood recently, scolded many employees, causing the voices of a group of subordinates around him to be lower than usual.

Jensen Huang stood in front of the office floor-to-ceiling window, looking at Silicon Valley outside.

Cars coming and going, disturbing him and making him feel restless.

At this time,

The secretary knocked on the door and entered:

"Chairman, Boss Li of Umbrella Group will be here in 10 minutes."

Jensen Huang looked at his watch.

Picked up the clothes on the chair and walked out quickly.

The secretary followed.

Soon,

Arrived downstairs, Jensen Huang waited at the door.

He and Boss Li of Umbrella Group were both Chinese, both on the West Coast, so they had contact, but the friendship was not deep.

This time,

Umbrella Group came to talk about investment.

Soon,

Three cars, one of which was a black Chevrolet, brake—stopped downstairs at the headquarters.

Following Xiao Fu brought secretary Li Qiao out of the car.

Jensen Huang personally welcomed them out.

"Mr. Li! Long time no see."

"Mr. Huang!"

The two shook hands.

At this time, NVIDIA's strength was not very large yet, compared to Intel it was far behind…… well, the market value was 30 times different.

One had a market value of $3 billion.

One had a market value of $90 billion.

And Following Xiao Fu's strength, the undisputed leader in the Chinese circle, plus various acquisitions, his strength had expanded greatly.

From the status point of view, Jensen Huang was just a small fry at this time. Jensen Huang also hoped to get Following Xiao Fu's financial support and resist other shareholders.

And Following Xiao Fu, having received Director Director Director Guan Zu Zu's reminder, came to invest and buy shares.

Of course, it was an investment and share purchase in the name of the Five Star Group.

The relationship between the Five Star Group in Hong Kong and Umbrella Property, after the battle with the Jewish people, many big capitals in the United States already knew about this.

So,

Director Director Director Guan Zu Zu didn't pretend anymore.

Showed his cards.

Now taking advantage of the 2008 financial crisis, he simply bottom-fished some American enterprises in the name of the Five Star Group.

NVIDIA was one of the key bottom-fishing targets.

So he arranged for Following Xiao Fu to come over.

The two walked while chatting.

Soon,

Following Xiao Fu and the others wore anti-static dust-free suits, went to the production workshop, and inspected the production line.

Lunch.

Afternoon, formal meeting and consultation.

Top-floor conference room.

Jensen Huang: "Mr. Li, I won't speak in riddles, the Five Star Group is willing to come to invest at this time, which can be called charcoal in the snow, NVIDIA is very grateful, but the conditions for equity and funds, we will not give very generous ones……"

"Investment is about expectations, now NVIDIA is not short of external investment, the determination is a partner……"

This was his confidence.

Following Xiao Fu naturally understood this point, picked up the coffee cup: "Mr. Huang, I came this time, not to do short-term arbitrage. What the Five Star Group wants to invest in is NVIDIA's future……"

"Although, NVIDIA's strength is only one-thirtieth of Intel's……"

"Although, the technology is also being choked by Intel's moat……"

"Although, the graphics card gate made many consumers disappointed in NVIDIA……"

"Of course, Mr. Huang doesn't have to feel that I only have one choice, I can also invest in Intel, I can invest in AMD……"

Jensen Huang: "…………"

Don't say it, don't say it.

The more you say, the more guilty I feel.

"Okay, I don't know how much equity Mr. Li wants to obtain?"

"At least top three shareholders…… In addition, other powers cannot be less."

Currently, NVIDIA's third-party shareholders are:

SoftBank (4.8%)

Vanguard Group (3.2%)

BlackRock (2.9%)

…

After a week of negotiations.

In the end, the Five Star Group purchased 20.8 million shares of NVIDIA stock for $135 million, with a shareholding ratio of 4.1%.

……

In the next 2 months,

Taking advantage of the financial crisis, the U. S. stock market plummeted.

Following Xiao Fu attacked everywhere.

Then invested in Twitter.

Twitter, Chinese translation "Tui Te", well, it's the Twitter that the tax-paying master uses to govern the country.

It is equivalent to China's Weibo.

At this time, it was still very cheap, with a valuation of only more than $1 billion.

Following Xiao Fu pulled Jimmy Zai to invest together, occupying 30% of the shares.

The gossip about it is that one of the founders had a conflict in philosophy, wanted to make a pure chat tool, and then was swept out of the door.

There is another gossip: CEO Dorsey, leaves work early every afternoon to take yoga classes, and even hired a "CEO coach" to guide his lifestyle, and then, was kicked off the stage.

Quite funny.

……

Acquired Twitter,

"Freedom Media Group" currently owns TV stations, newspapers, traditional media, networks, Hollywood layout, Facebook, the largest social platform in the United States, plus the huge regional control of Umbrella Property and Happiness Property.

It can be said that,

Currently in public opinion control, as long as Chinese people don't rebel, don't split, this faction of Director Director Director Guan Zu Zu is absolutely invincible in public opinion.

……

Then it was investing in the future giant e-commerce platform—Amazon, which is the American version of Alibaba.

Early 2008 was a valuation of $30 billion.

And now the financial crisis, the stock price's maximum drop in the year reached 44%, touching a minimum of $18 billion.

Director Director Director Guan Zu Zu invested 4% of the shares.

Wanted to bottom-fish, but there were too many people snatching such large Internet enterprises.

4% was already Director Director Director Guan Zu Zu's limit for bottom-fishing.

If it weren't for the financial crisis, there would be no way to invest.

……

……

Director Director Director Guan Zu Zu attacked everywhere, bottom-fishing and investing in major companies.

Time, soon came to 2009.

January 20,

The sky in Washington had just brightened, and the square on the west side of Capitol Hill was crowded with people.