Manhattan Reborn 1978

Southeast Texas, Houston.

night~

West of downtown, 19 Piney Point Village, Memorial District, Piney Point Village.

after dinner.

Professor Armstrong Bartlet invited his old friend John Nesbitt to the study. The two sat opposite each other and were silent for a long time until David walked in cautiously with two glasses of juice. .

Professor Bartlet glanced at the juice cup in front of him, tilted his head and asked his old friend Nesbitt.

"You came here this time, didn't you just want to see me?"

"Yes~"

"Then let him sit down and listen too?" Professor Bartley pointed at David who wanted to "escape" and asked.

John Nesbitt shrugged and smiled: "I'm fine."

"Ok!"

"David, sit next to me~"

"Forehead.."

David held the tray in both hands and looked back and forth between the two of them several times. He walked to sit next to his instructor and quietly looked down at his toes. .

Professor Bartlett saw him acting like "no harm to humans and animals", so he suppressed a smile and started talking about the topic.

"General Electric's Begnino Odesset, is he really going to retire?"

"Yes!"

"Where is his successor? Has he been chosen?"

Mr. Nesbitt glanced at David, picked up the juice cup, and replied: "Within the General Electric board of directors, a total of twelve candidates were nominated."

"But Begnino preferred his own young candidate, Jack Welch."

"Huh??" Professor Bartlet asked hesitantly, recalling the name with a confused expression.

"Have I seen him?"

"Probably, no~"

Mr. Nesbitt took a sip of the juice and nodded as he thought it tasted good and explained.

"You also know Begnino's character. He has always insisted that the selection of the successor president must go through a long and careful examination of each candidate, and then rationally select the most qualified candidate."

"Jack Welch was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1935. His father was a railroad worker and his mother was a full-time housewife."

"In 1960, after receiving a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois, Jack Welch entered the Plastics Division of General Electric (GE) and began his GE career."

"At the end of 1971, Jack Welch became general manager of GE's Chemical and Metallurgical Division."

"In the same year, Begnino began to really pay attention to his rapid growth. He deliberately asked him various questions many times and basically got satisfactory answers."

"However, Begnino believes that Jack Welch still lacks some confidence, experience and experience to become a president."

"So through his continuous training and teaching in recent years, Jack Welch has gradually gained a deeper understanding of the problems faced by middle and senior managers within GE."

Mr. Nesbitt put down the juice cup, crossed his legs and sat on the sofa, crossed his hands on his knees, looked at his old friend Professor Bartley and young David, and whispered.

“More than ten years ago, I worked at General Electric’s headquarters for more than half a year.”

"The bureaucracy in the management of GE at that time was very serious, and middle-level managers often had to travel to the headquarters for more than half a month to get approval for a project before they could get some perfunctory answers!"

"Now, more than ten years have passed~"

"Ge, it's still the same as before, even worse..."

"The rigidity of the company's management system + a large number of redundant staff + the solidification of internal hierarchies, etc., have directly led to an increasingly serious trend of overstaffing among middle and lower-level managers."

"..." Professor Bartley nodded silently.

He is also well aware of the "stubborn problems" that have accumulated within ge for many years.

But in recent years, as IBM has begun to promote employee tenure, GE's internal management has generally begun to have a "goofing around" mood, causing the entire company to gradually lose its vitality, like a sluggish old man. .

Professor Bartley thought about this, turned to David and said these words that had been held in his heart for a long time, and quoted many management master Peter Drucker's book "Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practice" published in 74. and "The Effective Manager" published in 66. Explain the classic chapters and paragraphs~

“As a good business manager, the question we face is not what the company should do tomorrow, but what preparations we must make today for the future!”

"In a given plan, if there is no clear way to realize the expenditure, the order of execution, the person in charge of execution, the actual executor, etc."

"Then such a decision is not a real decision, but an immature idea~"

"And like GE...most of the company's top managers are very resistant to change. The root cause is ignorance and fear of the future!"

Professor Bartlet let out a sigh of relief, looked at his old friend, and smiled helplessly.

John Naisbitt was silent for a moment, looked at David and said: "Begnino Odesset has complained to me more than once and wants to make a company development strategic plan for ge and completely rectify the current situation." Management that is almost rotten..."

"But he also knows very well that the company's strategic planning is the application of thinking, analysis, imagination and decision-making, and it is also a heavy responsibility!"

"ge, currently has more than 300 operating units and 8 levels of management with distinct hierarchies."

"GE's overstaffing problem also requires it to consume nearly one billion yuan more in personnel costs every year."

"So~"

"Julie (Judith K. Morgan), I also mentioned to you that the chairman of GE is about to change, and more than ten candidates have been selected, right?"

"Um.."

Uncle Julie's "ugly face" with a "Mediterranean" hairstyle appeared in front of David's eyes, and he tried hard to calm down the strong curiosity in his heart.

He tilted his head and glanced at his mentor, Professor Bartlet, and told how Uncle Julie entrusted Lilith with the equity of his GE company before he and Lilith got engaged, asking her to act as an agent.

After Professor Bartlett frowned and listened, he looked at his old friend and asked.

"You came here this time just for Lilith?"

"Of course not~"

Nesbitt raised his hands and explained that he was "innocent".

"Julie would rather have David join GE to revitalize it."

"Forehead.."

"Haha~" David felt that rejecting Julie's "kindness" was definitely the most correct choice he made this year!

"Ok?"

Professor Bartlet looked at David in surprise, and after changing his expression several times, he said in a heavy nasal voice.

"You go out first, we need to talk alone!"

"Ok!"

David stood up obediently, nodded slightly to the two of them, and walked out of the study quickly.

When Nesbitt saw Professor Bartlet's expression changing from sunny to gloomy, he knew that his goal of coming here must be hopeless~

He said simply and directly: "I can answer all your questions~"

"But only in this room!"

"..."

Professor Bartlet put his hands on the armrests of his wheelchair, staring at his old friend with burning eyes, silent.

. . .

After about an hour.

street.

David watched John Nesbitt get into the car, waved and smiled: "Goodbye!"

"Hehe~"

"We will definitely meet again!"

John Nesbitt patted the driver's backrest with his hand, slowly closed the door, stared at David and whispered again.

“You are so lucky to have found a great teacher!”

"..yes!"

David bared his big white teeth and watched the car drive away in the cool night wind~

John Nesbitt, gone.

David did not feel relaxed. Instead, he stood on the street with a slightly solemn mood, raised his head to look at the sky, and took a deep breath.

----

new York.

night~

Wall Street, Stanley [-]th Floor.

It's still bright in Sam Rogers' office~

The company's financial director, Ervin Barnetta, stood next to Sam, pointing to this month's company financial statements and explaining in detail.

(Erwin Barnetta, appeared in Chapter 159, graduated from Princeton University, lost his last job due to serious illness, and was so depressed that he could only live in his car, until he was lucky enough to get a job at DA Company, and then followed David Came to Wall Street and was responsible for the financial work of a fund company.)

ten minutes later.

Sam signed his name on the last page of the financial statement with a stroke of his pen.

Ervin Barnetta took a deep breath, put away the folder, and asked with a smile: "How long do you want? How about we go out for a drink?"

"Forget it~ Let's do it another day."

Sam rubbed his forehead tiredly and said with a wry smile: "You should go first. I have to use the investment report in my hand tomorrow."

"Okay~"

Erwin glanced at Sam with a somewhat sympathetic look and walked out of the office easily.

. . .

"Ring ring ring~" The phone on Sam's desk suddenly rang.

He casually picked up the phone and asked, "Hello, who's there?"

"Oh...it's you!"

"Yes, I'm in the office."

"Are you coming over?"

"Anything urgent?"

"Ok~I'll wait for you."

Sam put down the phone and suddenly felt a strange uneasy feeling in his heart, but he didn't know where it came from~

. . .

After half an hour.

Sam finally finished the report in hand.

Bernard Madoff, who called just now, also arrived as scheduled.

But this time he came not alone, but also brought with him Mikhail Friedliman, whom Sam had met several times.

"Hi~El!"

Sam deliberately greeted Mikhail in a familiar and affectionate tone.

"Hahaha~ I'll come with you. I won't disturb your work, right?"

"No~"

"I'm ready to go home."

"Come over and sit down first~"

After the three of them sat down chatting and laughing, Sam and Mikhail casually chatted about their respective current situations.

Bernard Madoff waited for a moment, and when he saw that the two of them were almost done talking, he said directly.

"We just came from a friend's party and want to tell you some news."

"Someone is asking around for details about the boss!"

boss? !

Mikhail was a little surprised that his old friend Madoff could actually say this word. .

He sat back on the sofa in silence, listening quietly to the conversation between the two.

Sam pursed his lips and thought for a while, glanced at Mikhail, and asked: "Who is it, do you know?"

"I know ~ the Hunter brothers of the Hunter family."

"..."

Sam immediately controlled his expression vigilantly, tried to use a calm voice, nodded and said: "Then what? What else?"

"And...no one knows where the news came from that the boss is going to order a large amount of silver spot from Phibro Company recently."

"When we were at the party tonight, a lot of people were joking about it~"

"They said: Since the Mexican government's crazy sell-off five years ago, the spot price of silver has been directly smashed into the floor. It has only slowly increased in the past two years~"

"They also said: If the price of gold can continue to maintain an upward trend this time, the price difference between it and silver will continue to increase."

"So, some people really want to know if the boss chose to order a large amount of silver at this time. Did he receive any inside information, or..."

"Huh? Or what?" Sam asked when he saw Madoff hesitated and stopped.

Madao spread his hands and smiled helplessly: "Some of them have met the boss at the engagement ceremony at the Plaza Hotel."

"They think the boss must have gotten accurate information from someone in one of those big families. Silver will rise in line with the price of gold~"

"So, they are all following these speculations, saying that as long as the price of silver rises abnormally, they will definitely follow the trend and buy to make a fortune!"

"Oh~" Sam made a long sound, nodded, and showed an indifferent smile.

"Follow the trend..."

"Ha ha!"

“The futures market has never been short of speculators who adapt to the changing circumstances.”

"But..."

Sam slowly put away his smile, stared at Bernard Madoff, and deliberately lowered his voice.

"Those who can go to the Plaza Hotel to attend the boss's engagement ceremony will definitely leave their names on the guest list!"

"What is the name of this friend you are talking about?"

"Have we seen him that day?"

"Forehead.."

Bernard Madoff did not show any guilty or panic expression, but recalled it very seriously.

"His name is Horn Codling. He is a senior partner and director of Lehman Brothers."

"We did meet him at the Plaza Hotel~"

"It's just that you didn't talk to him at that time, but focused on the boss..."

"Understood!"

"Peter Peterson, right?" Sam tapped his fingers lightly on the leather surface of the sofa and asked with a dull expression and narrowed eyes.

"Forehead.."

Madoff knew very well that Sam had misunderstood, and quickly explained: "No! You got it wrong."

“In the past few years, after Peter Peterson became CEO of Lehman Brothers, many conflicts broke out between him and Horn Codling.”

“The two had many quarrels in executive meetings over the restructuring plan proposed by Peter Peterson~”

"Horn also publicly told friends that Peter Peterson was the culprit who caused Lehman Brothers to enter the cancerous stage."

"If he doesn't leave Lehman Brothers, Lehman will collapse sooner or later~"

"So I think this matter should have nothing to do with Peter Peterson!"

"..."

Sam sat back on the sofa, lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then stood up and said to the two of them.

"It's already very late~"

"I must rush to present an investment report to Mr. Guy Luther, the president of Princeton University, that satisfies him before tomorrow morning."

"I will find a way to inform the boss as soon as possible about the news you brought."

"If he needs your help..."

"Please contact me at any time!" Bernard Madoff stood up and extended his right hand to Sam, smiling.

"ok~"

Sam nodded with satisfaction, looked at Mikhail again, and said apologetically: "Sorry!"

"If you have time this weekend, I would like to invite you to dinner to express my gratitude and apology~"

"Haha ~ deal!"

Mikhail deliberately did not shake hands with Sam, but high-fived him and said with a smile: "Today is Wednesday."

"Let's have dinner at the steakhouse near the Plaza Hotel on Friday... How about it?"

"it is good!"

Sam smiled and made a farewell gesture, stood at the door of the office and watched the two people leave.

5 minute later.

Sam stood by the phone, his fingers resting on the dialing keys, but he immediately did not dial the familiar numbers. .

He frowned and stood quietly, constantly analyzing various guesses and responses in his mind. Finally, he took a deep breath and dialed.