Chapter 571 Too Much Money
"Take off!" With Sheffield's command, the airship rose from the ground. Although it was huge in size, it did not occupy any space. Its ability to take off and land vertically was also an advantage of the airship. In fact, the airship could completely decline slowly and be replaced by passenger planes, and it could still retain some of its business.
But we have to say that the Hindenburg accident happened at a very good time. It was just before the explosion of airplanes, which caused an avalanche-like collapse of the airship market. In fact, this transition could have been smoother!
But now in the United States at the beginning of the century, everything is not a problem. Although the cost of filling with helium is a bit higher, compared with the construction cost of hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, this cost is not a big deal.
Besides, now that the slave owner is negotiating a billion-dollar deal, he has to show some sincerity. A million-dollar airship launching into the air and hovering in the air are very different conditions.
"When the time comes, we will paint the front of our airship with a shark pattern. I will then give you the drawing and you can make it according to it." Before entering the airship cabin, Sheffield slapped his head and remembered why he always felt that something was missing. It turned out that the classic shark mouth paint was missing. He said that when he saw the airship, he always felt that something was wrong.
Some dried fruits and red wine were also stored in the cabin of the airship. The cabin did not look large due to the 50-meter-long airbag, but in fact the space inside was still very considerable. Louisa Morgan, who boarded the airship for the first time and witnessed the liftoff with her own eyes, was still very curious about everything and looked down from the cabin window timidly.
"Why is it a bit hot here?" Louisa Morgan covered her forehead with her hands. Her black mink coat seemed a little inappropriate.
"Helium heating can increase lift, and of course it is very safe. Helium is an inert gas and very safe." Sheffield took out two wine glasses and poured a glass for Louisa Morgan. "You should be the first guest to board the airship besides our company. You should feel honored for this."
"Louisa feels very honored!" Louisa Morgan took off her coat, clinked her wine glass with Sheffield, and said with a smile, "What a novel flying machine."
Can't these women be more stable? It seemed that not long had passed since the tears in the corners of the woman's eyes, as if it was just... a few minutes ago! Sheffield drank the red wine helplessly and said, "Ms. Louisa, you are my brother and maybe even my father. You are jealous of my business and want to make a profit. You can't blame me for this? Don't look at me like that. You know very well whether what I said is the truth or not!"
Sheffield, who received a cold eye from Louisa Morgan, did not change his words. He used some rhetoric to package the stock market's iconic stock, saying that financial institutions needed such a stock. Of course, what he said made sense, and it was also part of the truth, but in fact, didn't he want to get a piece of the pie?
If not, why did they set up General Motors to compete? Of course, the Morgan family cannot be blamed for this. Sheffield took advantage of the more favorable political environment in the United States during the World War to soar to the sky, so he took the initiative to seek help from other powerful tycoons, which gave the other party the opportunity to submit the application.
In the final analysis, this was not a big loss as Anne said, nor was it a matter of one party swallowing the other. Sheffield looked at this issue very calmly. The problem now was that Louisa Morgan actually felt that she had suffered a loss before she felt anything.
Everything has to be reasonable, Sheffield thought, but was quickly slapped in the face by the speed of light. Louisa Morgan said unconvincedly, "But I am now in charge of American International Shipping Company, and this will have an impact on me."
"It seems that I overestimated the unity of the Morgan family!" Sheffield snorted and stopped Louisa Morgan from speaking directly, saying that he was not interested in whether the Morgan family had any family feuds or family secrets.
The airship that disappeared many days ago reappeared in the sky above New York. This time the altitude was not very high, which once again caused many citizens to look up at the stars. No one knew that there were two absolute upper-class people living in it.
"You still think it's too much now. Let me tell you, even if United Motors is acquired by you, the Morgan Alliance, I will retain more than 40% of the voting rights. On the other hand, if American International Shipping Company is under my name, the Morgan family's voting rights must not exceed mine." Sheffield said calmly, "After listening to my words, do you think I am even more greedy? Don't disbelieve it. I will not change this requirement."
Shareholder voting rights are the power of shareholders in a limited liability company or a joint stock company to vote on company affairs according to the shares they hold.
The size of a shareholder's voting rights depends on the shares held by the shareholder. In a limited liability company, shareholders exercise voting rights in proportion to their investment in the shareholders' meeting; in a joint stock company, shareholders attend the shareholders' meeting and have one vote for each share they hold. Common shares generally represent one vote per share. Preferred shares have the right to receive dividends and residual property first.
In this way, major shareholders do not need to have controlling rights. As long as they have common shares, they can influence the voting rights of the shareholders' meeting and thus control the joint-stock company. The Ford family retained 40% of the voting rights.
Therefore, although Ford Motor Company finally went public, it is still a listed company with a strong family business, and the Ford family still has influence on Ford Motor Company. Dong Ge, the founder of JD.com, has more than half of the voting rights in his hands, achieving the goal of controlling the company.
There are many benefits to controlling voting rights. Many Korean chaebols in later generations, although they paid a lot of taxes to Wall Street, were essentially still in control of their own company's industries. The only difference was that the profits had to be paid to Wall Street as dividends first, and the remaining money was theirs.
Before being swallowed by Wall Street, South Korea had a law that did not allow foreign capital to hold more than 5% of the shares of South Korean companies. Of course, this no longer exists after the financial crisis. The South Korean Daewoo Group, which did not hand over its shares, simply disappeared.
Sheffield did not put his joint company into the role of the Koreans. The slave owners did not feel coerced by the Morgan family's merger and acquisition and could go back on their word at any time.
Talking about this with Louisa Morgan just shows the importance of retaining voting rights! It is not impossible to go public, but control over United Motors must continue.
"I don't really understand these things, but I have a very simple feeling that you are a very greedy person." Louisa Morgan looked at Sheffield steadily and said with emotion, "No wonder United Company, a second-rate enterprise, has grown to its current size in just over a decade under your leadership."
If you knew the gold reserves in our basement, you would definitely not say that the United Company is a second-rate enterprise! Sheffield did not refute this ignorant woman, and said, "I don't have the ability to make a lot of money. Would Edith Rockefeller take the initiative to follow me and have children with a fortune of 30 million US dollars?"
"What's the benefit of bearing children for you?" Louisa Morgan said sarcastically, "As if asking for something in return. Only we women are so stupid and lose our heads for so-called love."
Sheffield fiddled with his ears and said faintly, "The stocks Edith Rockefeller holds are worth 50 million US dollars. I think she has a good eye. She can see that I am a gold that will shine sooner or later. No, don't look at me like that..."
In Morgan Building's office, several people standing by the window saw the airship floating in the air. Morgan coughed to draw their attention back, cleared his throat and said, "Dear gentlemen, this business does not include the newly established United Airship Company. We have not yet seen the potential of this company."
The few people who came to Morgan Jr.'s office were all important representatives of the Morgan Alliance. There were nearly two hundred people from the Morgan Alliance who were qualified to come. Of course, Morgan Jr.'s office could not accommodate so many people, so he could only select a few important representatives to discuss this matter.
Some of these people were bankers, some were insurance tycoons, and some were owners of electrical companies, but they were all part of the Morgan system that J.P. Morgan was proud of.
After several important representatives took their seats, J.P. Morgan Jr. laid out his idea of taking United Motors public. As expected, everyone showed great interest in this company that was like a money printing machine.
"I believe everyone knows about the performance of United Motors. Please don't ask me why William said we can talk. I can only say that I have to pay a price other than money." Morgan Jr. briefly mentioned the reason and focused on the profit. "With annual sales of more than one million cars, the performance is even better than that of Carnegie Steel. Everyone should understand what this means. To be honest, do we have enough money for the merger?"
Before the representatives could speak, Morgan Jr. continued, "Let's put aside the huge amount of M&A funds for now. This is what I think. We can use some industrial companies to exchange with William to ease the pressure of our M&A this time. For now, I plan to merge General Motors into United Motors at a discount. Of course, this is far from enough. On the one hand, we need to raise funds, and on the other hand, we must cross-hold shares with William. Preparations must be made on both sides."
"If we accept the premium from United Automotive Corporation, even if we take out one billion dollars, how are we going to recover the cost and to what extent can we push the stock price? This is a very important question." A banker frowned.
"So William may not necessarily accept one billion dollars in cash. When the money reaches a certain level, it will also cause fear in people." Morgan Jr. indicated that all the cash would pose huge risks to both parties. Just leaving it there would be daunting.
(End of this chapter)
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