Chapter 2548: A Ruthless Man Who Doesn’t Talk Much

When people are in a desperate situation, they will not have any additional requirements. Therefore, no matter what conditions are attached to the extended hand, they will choose to hold it.

But once you escape the desperate situation, it's another story.

A week after the news that JJMo would acquire Bear Stearns was announced, Bear Stearns employees were extremely angry.

The reason why Bear Stearns employees are so angry is because they hold more than one-third of Bear Stearns' shares at $2 a share, which means that their overall losses are in the billions of dollars.

Therefore, they firmly opposed the purchase price of US$2, believing that it was simply taking advantage of the situation.

The market is generally sympathetic to them. These days, many TV station interview cars are parked at the gate of Bear Stearns. They have a history of 85 years and have been successful in making profits for 83 years. But now it seems that it will be very difficult. Comprehensive interviews with companies that are about to cease to exist.

In these days, investors, mainly institutional investors, took full advantage of Bear Stearns' stock price, pulling up and down at times. At the lowest point, it was only $2.50 per share, but then it started to rise again. It has risen and is currently stable at around $8.

In addition to those institutions, there are also some bold retail investors who are driving up the stock price. They are betting that Bear Stearns will raise the price to JPMorgan, and JPMorgan will agree to the price increase. This can be said to be an act of practice. As Buffett famously said, "Be greedy when others are fearful."

Xiaomo, in the conference room, Jamie Dimon glanced at the building opposite and ended everyone's argument. "I agree to their request for a price increase," he said.

"But it's a dollar-for-dollar deal,"

Some people want to speak out against it, because under current conditions, even a dollar increase in price means that the acquisition cost has increased by 50%.

"At the same time, the human resources department immediately began to prepare severance letters. Those who felt they could be retained were notified to come for interviews, but the total number of retained personnel must not exceed one-third of the total number of employees."

Knowing that you don't have to go bankrupt, you are clamoring to increase the purchase price and blackmail me?

Am I so easy to handle?

Could it be that you all think you are Feng Yiping?

Don’t you want me to increase the purchase price in order to make the shares I hold more valuable? Okay, I'll satisfy you, but don't expect to stay and work.

After hearing what he said, those who were on the opposite side suddenly looked satisfied.

Bear Stearns has more than 14,000 employees. Such a move means that they will lay off more than 10,000 people. In terms of Wall Street salaries, this will undoubtedly save huge costs.

If it weren't for this opportunity, which merger and acquisition in the United States could lay off so many employees?

According to the original agreement, this acquisition will be completed within the next quarter, and tens of thousands of people will be laid off tomorrow, which is equivalent to saving hundreds of millions in salary expenses for the next few months.

"I hope that at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning, the first severance letter will be delivered to the target target," Jamie Dimon said lightly, "That's it, the meeting is over!"

The executives slowly dispersed with excitement.

A meeting directly determines the fate of tens of thousands of people. For them, this is also a very rare experience, and it is an experience that allows them to fully realize their rights.

This experience is really not comparable to the feelings brought about by some successful transactions.

As for raising the price, although an increase of one dollar means an increase of 50%, to put it bluntly, how about an increase of a few dollars?

At best, it is still a transaction of about US$1 billion. Not to mention that it is too common for the people present at the meeting. Let’s just say that Bear Stearns was purchased for US$1 billion. Is this price still high?

Again, the price of their building is over $1 billion, right?

So, if it goes up, let it go up, and it won’t look bad or ugly.

Jamie Dimon was standing in the corridor outside the door. A secretary was standing next to him, recording what he dictated. When he saw a person, Dimon waved, "Brad,"

He asked the head of the asset department who came over after hearing the news, "How is Hilton's current situation compared to when it was acquired?"

"According to our assessment, the overall decline has been 29%," Bullard said.

"29%," Dimon pondered for a moment, that is, it has fallen by nearly one-third.

"You form a team and go negotiate with John about the selling price for our loan to Blackstone," Dimon crossed his hands on his chest. "We'll start negotiating the price from 80%."

Didn’t you offer 55%? Then let’s take our time.

"80%?" Brad hesitated.

He understood the specific situation, so he felt that it was impossible for the other party to accept such an offer.

Damon smiled, "Let's talk, talk slowly, and when the talk can't go on, give in slowly,"

"Can I know what our bottom line is?" Brad asked.

He really didn't want to take on such a task, because it must be a job that is difficult to achieve results but easy to get scolded.

At this time, he was somewhat doubting whether he had done some work poorly recently, so Damon arranged such a task for himself.

"Below 70%, you have to consult me," Dimon said.

Brad wants to ask him for advice now, because he knows that John and the others will not accept 70% of the plan.

He bravely called John.

…………

That afternoon, Brad met John, who had come again by appointment. Seeing that John also brought several people with him on this trip, Brad felt a little relieved.

This shows that John obviously knew that the focus of the meeting between them was bargaining.

But he could only feel at ease for a while.

After the pleasantries, he quickly turned to the topic, "Based on our in-depth investigation and evaluation of Hilton's current operating conditions and future development, we believe that the US$5.5 billion loan to Blackstone has shrunk by a certain percentage, but The shrinkage is within 20%, so it is undoubtedly appropriate to sell to you with a 20% shrinkage,"

John's reaction immediately made him uneasy.

"That is, 80%?" John smiled and glanced at Xiaomo's group, "Are you sure this is not a joke?"

Seeing John's smile, Brad was a little panicked, "John, we think this is a very sincere offer, and we will also provide for..." in the follow-up process.

John was already packing his things with one hand, "Then I think there is no need for us to waste time,"

As he spoke, he had already stood up.

The few people he brought also followed suit and put things into their bags one after another.

Brad and the others looked at each other in confusion. Is this style too tough? If you really disagree, you'll flip the table over.

However, the terms set by the boss had to be spoken out even on one’s knees. “Everyone, everyone,” he walked up to John, “With all due respect, Hilton is to Feng just like Bear Stearns is to us. Good goals are very rare,"

"We believe that the benefits from the successful acquisition of Hilton will definitely be higher than your efforts,"

"Of course, we are also very happy to hear your opinions,"

You'll pay back the price anyway, right?

John shook his head, "First of all, I want to say that Bear Stearns may be unique to your company, but Hilton is not unique to us."

"Secondly, the reason why we proposed such a plan is mainly to take care of Wall Street, which is facing unprecedented challenges at this time,"

“But since your company treats us with such kindness, what else is there to talk about?”

"Please tell Dimon to prepare our nearly 2.75 billion fund income as soon as possible. If we don't get the news within a week, a lawyer will contact you,"

"John," Brad said anxiously, "we'd really like to hear your offer,"

"Damon is very clear about our quotation. Goodbye, stay." John actually took his few people and walked away so resolutely.

Brad said to himself, it would be unreliable for me to say not to do this, but you let me do it. He immediately picked up the phone and said, "Damon..." Because he was a little emotional, he explained the situation of the meeting in a few words. .

Damon was also a little confused. He reacted so violently? "Invite him to come over tomorrow and lower it to 70%."

He believed that Feng Yiping was interested in Hilton, so he would definitely be interested in the loan in his hand.

A few minutes later, Dimon received a call back from Brad. "John said that he didn't have time these days because Steve Jobs was going to come to the fund to listen to relevant reports,"

Damon:…

Do you want me to be so cruel?