The Industrial Giant Reborn

"KFC, a company, has actually had many cooperations with NBC. In recent years, KFC has also purchased a lot of advertising on NBC TV stations, but it seems that there are less and less of them." Henry Morgan recalled.

"That's because KFC now belongs to Huberline. You should also know about this company, right?" Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

"Huberline? No wonder, their liquor business has been declining over the years. Does that mean they are drawing blood from KFC?" Henry Morgan said with sudden realization.

"Yes, Huberline's business has been getting worse and worse, and I don't think it can survive for a few more years, so I thought of acquiring KFC first while there is still time. I am quite optimistic about KFC's future. "Chen Zhiwen said.

Huberline is a large group focusing on the liquor business. At its peak, it controlled nearly 20% of the liquor business in the United States. It also has a certain scale in Europe and Asia, with a total market value of up to 2 billion U.S. dollars, which is even weaker than Coca-Cola. Not much.

However, with the arrival of the 1970s, the new generation of young people in the United States did not like to drink liquor. Instead, they pursued beer, Red Bull, wine, etc. This gradually led to the inevitable decline of Hubline.

Although liquor groups in the United States and even Europe are still desperately trying to restore the market, this trend is impossible. The same will be true for mainland liquor in a few decades, because young people no longer like it.

"I'm afraid such a company may not be willing to sell its almost only cash cow, right?" Henry Morgan frowned and said. Although he still doesn't know the specific situation of KFC and Huberline, companies with major losses generally will It may be the last hope to seize those businesses or subsidiaries that can still make money. If you sell them, you may be able to get more funds, but you will only die worse in the future. Just like the RCA company before, although it has many businesses, it can The only core TV station left is NBC. If it hadn't been caught in a scandal, it wouldn't have been so easy to be completely acquired by the Morgan consortium.

"Wrong, this Huberline company still wants to save its liquor business. Over the years, a large amount of KFC's profits have been taken away, which has caused its own development to be in trouble. It has already caused dissatisfaction among the entire KFC company's senior management. So both the current KFC boss and the management are willing to sell," Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

In fact, in the early 1970s, although KFC was not as good as McDonald's, the gap was not that big. Later, Huberline acquired KFC and diverted KFC's profits. As a result, KFC had only US$25 million a year to expand. McDonald's is US$400 million, a gap of 16 times, which has led to a rapid widening of the gap in less than ten years.

Of course, investing so much money every year is not really spent. It is just a reuse of funds, or the money invested before will be quickly recovered in the next few years. Otherwise, McDonald's would not be able to spend 4 With a capital of US$100 million, KFC’s financial difficulties can also be seen.

Because there is no money, we can only implement the franchise system. However, franchise also requires management costs. If management is not in place, it is easy for local franchisees to rip off customers or do things that damage reputation in order to save costs. This As a result, KFC has gradually declined in the domestic market of the United States, and even failed in some overseas countries.

If it hadn't been acquired by Pepsi a few years later and was lucky enough to enter the mainland market first, KFC's future would probably have been just a third-rate fast food restaurant.

"In that case, that's not bad. I'll arrange for someone to check the information first, and then I'll test it out with them later." Henry Morgan nodded and asked again: "I remember that Huberline is a listed company, and its market value shouldn't be high. , otherwise, you can try to acquire it directly, so that KFC can get it more easily."

"This won't work. I only want KFC and a large liquor company like Hubline. I don't understand it. I can't save it even if I take over." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said.

If it is a beer company, Chen Zhiwen does not recommend accepting it as well, because Americans in the future will be more inclined to drink beer, and the difference is that liquor is on the table, but beer is not. To be precise, beer The competitors may be Coke and Sprite. At the same time, the demand for beer is also high among the next generation of people who prefer bars.

One of the reasons why young people don’t like liquor anymore is that in the wine table culture, whether in the West or Asia, drinking represents surrender. This is a manifestation of power. The older generation likes to use this kind of Whether it is cultural heritage or other reasons, young people obviously don't like this custom.

Second, in ancient times when supplies were scarce, people generally had nothing to stimulate their nerves. Therefore, wine, especially hard liquor, became a drink for enjoyment. The same is true for cigarettes to a certain extent. With the development of science and technology, , especially electronic technology, already has so many entertainment methods that there is no need for tobacco and alcohol at all. This is also one of the fundamental reasons why young people have gradually begun to reduce their interest in research.

The mainland is 20 to 30 years behind the West in terms of technology. Therefore, people generally still like to drink alcohol, especially liquor. But when the post-80s/90s grow up, they will gradually abandon liquor. The post-00s will only become more powerful. , only those who need to do business, or the older generation, like liquor. During normal family dinners or wedding banquets, those who drink are basically the older generation.

Of course, high-concentration liquor also has a heating effect, which is also very important in cold northern regions where energy is scarce. However, the same logic applies. When the economy develops and people have heating, young people will still abandon liquor.

It cannot be said that it will definitely not be possible in the future, but with the entire market shrinking, Chen Zhiwen will never touch this sunset industry. Even if there is a market in the mainland, this kind of product that can be manufactured locally and has no economic significance requires foreign investment. It is also unlikely to develop.

"Well, that's right. The liquor industry is really not doing well." Henry nodded and said, "Okay, leave this to me."

This is a small transaction, at least for Chen Zhiwen, but Henry also knows that such a small acquisition will be given to him casually as a result of years of cooperation, and those financial companies that really have a big impact will Mergers and acquisitions or listings must still follow the rules.

"By the way, there is one more little thing." Chen Zhiwen smiled and said: "I am planning to cooperate with the Brazilian government to develop the edge of the Amazon forest in the future and transform it into a farm or pasture. The scale is still very large. Just buying land is conservative. There will be tens of millions of dollars, are you interested in participating?"

"Tens of millions of dollars to buy land, Eric, are you playing too big a game?" Henry said in surprise. The large-scale development of the Amazon forest is not a big news in the United States. As NBC Naturally, the boss of the TV station also knew about it, and NBC even reported it specifically.

In order to develop the economy, the Brazilian government has developed the edges of the Amazon forest on a large scale. However, this requires a huge amount of funds. Because it involves environmental damage, it is opposed by European and American governments. Naturally, it cannot get loans from international banks. Therefore, the Brazilian government will It began to attract foreign investment, and the price of land was very low, basically ranging from a few dollars to dozens of acres. If it was tens of millions of dollars, it would not be millions of acres (tens of thousands of square kilometers).

You know, the largest farm in the United States is only 2,000 square kilometers, but it was also acquired by Chen Zhiwen.

"It's only tens of millions of dollars. This land is actually not valuable. The later development will be more expensive. It will probably cost dozens of times the land price." Chen Zhiwen smiled and said, "This is a rare opportunity. , I guess we won’t have this opportunity in a few years.”

In a few years, the Brazilian government will change, and a pro-Western government will come to power, starting a pattern of being harvested by the West. As a politically correct environmental issue, it is naturally of concern to Western countries. The Brazilian government will have to stop or scale back the development of the Amazon. The rainforest, in other words, is the only chance in recent years.

In recent months, Chen Zhiwen has sent several inspection teams to Brazil. As long as the location is not very difficult and there is a road out, and the Brazilian government is willing to sell it, then he will take it. Anyway, his own land does not have much money. As for the future As for the development costs, we will have to wait until funds from the Japanese real estate market are available before large-scale development.

"It's nothing to you, but it's not to me. I have so much money." Henry shook his head and said. Although he can be regarded as the most popular among the richest Americans, he is still far behind Chen Zhiwen. Besides, even if he has a little Funds can be used for many purposes, but unlike Chen Zhiwen, they can only invest in land.

"You don't need to invest much, you just need to hold a certain share, just like our farm in Argentina." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. He doesn't care how much other people's funds are, the main thing is to bring in American capital.

"I can invest, but don't tell others about this. I am the boss of NBC. If my involvement in the development of the Amazon forest is exposed, there will be some trouble, at least in the short term. If it is done in the future, it will be fine. Henry said after thinking for a while.

"Okay, I won't develop it now. I'll buy the land first and talk about it later." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. In a few years, not only will there be funds for development, but also when the Brazilian government reconciles with the West, what happened before? No one cares about the land that has been sold. It doesn't matter if it is developed again. Maybe even American capital will be happy to participate in this matter, especially the four major grain merchants. They will definitely have such a big cake. interest.

"OK, I'm very happy to be able to reach these cooperations with Eric today." Henry Morgan said with a smile. It would be impossible to handle the listing of Costco immediately, and other cooperations are not considered small. The most important thing is that this is his personal performance. Not only is he profitable, but he can also perform better in the family.

However, the most important thing is his cooperation with Chen Zhiwen in the electronic product terminal market. Midea's achievements in the past two years are really dazzling. Even as a dealer in three states, the profit is very considerable, although it is not as good as NBC But there is no need to worry too much, and Midea is now also entering the computer field. Although he is not from a Silicon Valley technology company, he also knows that the computer market is bigger than game consoles.

After saying goodbye to Henry, Chen Zhiwen and Liu Xiaoli took a walk on the campus of Stanford University.

"The students here are really comfortable." Liu Xiaoli said: "I have been to several universities in China. Basically, they study seriously and don't have much time to play."

"The difference is that the United States is a developed country. Its economy has been developing for hundreds of years. The entire society has no shortage of talents, so most people live a relatively leisurely life. If our country wants to live such a life, it will take at least two years. It is only possible through the hard work of others." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said.

In later generations, many people envy the non-involved life in European and American countries, but the prerequisite for people not to be involuntarily is that they were the earliest in the development of science and technology, and then used high-tech products to harvest the wealth of developing countries. Only in this way can they achieve high wages and long working hours. Short-term, comprehensive social security, low prices and other benefits. In fact, a few decades ago, in the early 20th century, workers in European and American countries were also curled up, and even curled up more exaggeratedly than in East Asia. Only after a few generations did they have a comfortable life.

However, when the kings of East Asia began to rise, various high technologies were broken through one by one, and the technology industry that could originally maintain high welfare collapsed, and various contradictions emerged in Western society. This is why before Chen Zhiwen traveled through time, The essential reason for the poor relations between East Asian powers and the West is that when technological development stagnates, the entire human society can only maintain less than one billion people living the lives of developed countries. There is no possibility for either the East or the West to develop together.

"Well, I don't quite understand." Liu Xiaoli tilted her head and said.

"It's okay if you don't understand. There's no need to worry so much." Chen Zhiwen laughed.

"Where are we going now?" Liu Xiaoli asked again.

"Going to meet an old friend." Chen Zhiwen said calmly.

After a while, the two came to an independent villa at Stanford University. There was no wall. Extending outside, there were some small Silicon Valley companies or the homes of some Silicon Valley bosses.

After ringing the doorbell for a while, a fat man with a beard came out. When he saw Chen Zhiwen, he said in surprise: "Eric, long time no see."

"Yeah, long time no see, Woz." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

The person in front of me was Woz, who was once the earliest technical backbone of Midea. He later went to Apple to start a business with Steve Jobs and became the youngest billionaire in the United States. However, that was before, and he had already resigned from Apple.