Chapter 270 Stock God Gives Money
"This is... a joke?" David Gottesman took the lead in breaking the atmosphere of surprise on his side.
"When you said that at the time, you probably meant to gain Steve's trust?" Although Charlie Munger was shocked by Roland's unconventional explanation, after all, he had been in the financial circle for many years, and soon thought of He gave a reasonable explanation, "That guy Steve couldn't trust Wall Street the most. He was kicked away by those guys at the time. If you open your mouth for profit, then Steve will definitely not care about Steven." I will try my best to drive you away..."
After hearing the analysis of two old friends, Warren Buffett also nodded in agreement.
Glanced at Bill Gates, who was still being stunned by him just now, wanting to get the correct answer from him.
"That's right, Steve didn't believe it at the time." Bill Gates said empathetically: "All of us thought he was joking, and under Steve's pressure, he also said the reason. And convinced Steve to…”
"What's the reason?" Warren Buffett became interested, "That guy Steve will be persuaded one day?"
David Gottesman and Charlie Munger also cast curious eyes.
"Steve's cow can be persuaded? It's a miracle!"
"You have done something that no one on Wall Street has done? If this matter gets out, those guys will probably jump off the building!"
The bare eyes cast by the three made Roland extremely helpless.
And after seeing his smirking face, the revealing Bill Gates continued: "He said that the home computer market has stabilized, no one can pose a threat to Windows, and Apple wants to make a comeback. , it is necessary to find new business growth points...Of course, everyone can say this, and Steve was rejected by those investors because he was stuck in the field of home computers and did not lead Apple to find new business growth points. The vote was kicked out... And after saying this, he had a brief communication with Steve. Although I didn't understand what the new business he was talking about, I witnessed it with my own eyes. Steve Steve told him to shut up, because Steve was worried that after I understood it, I would be interested in the new business they were looking at at the same time, and then...forcibly intervene..."
ah!
I see!
Three old men who add up to nearly two hundred years old suddenly realized.
Although Roland has always believed that age is his biggest protective color.
But with the blessing of the background, this thing is not worth mentioning.
If an ordinary person made such an achievement at Roland's age, they would definitely have surprises and be full of admiration for the result, and even if those guys didn't say that everything was luck, these old men would attribute part of their success to luck That little **** of Goddess has to take off the pants of ordinary people.
But if it’s people like Roland, they don’t believe it. All success is due to luck. If you still say that luck is the result of luck when you have money and resources, then this is really an insult to their IQ.
Seeing that the three old men gradually accepted Bill Gates' rhetoric, Roland really looked helpless.
‘What I said is obviously the truth! '
‘I was aiming at hugging my legs from the very beginning! '
‘Why don’t you believe it! '
In order to prove what he said was true, Roland directly moved out of the deal he had just negotiated, "William, what you said is wrong..."
"I also said before that investing in Yahoo is to make some money, and then sell it for Marvel."
"And I'm doing these things right now?"
Although there were 'outsiders' present, Roland was not worried about leaking the secret at all.
Needless to say, the relationship between Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, Charlie Munger is Warren Buffett’s golden partner, since Warren Buffett met him when he was 29 years old, the two have never been together again. Haven't been apart, and David Gottesman...
Roland didn't recognize him at first, but when he heard the name, he directly defaulted him to his own camp.
The reason is simple.
Because David Gottesman is a Benjamin Graham faction.
Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of financial analysis', a second-generation Jewish immigrant in the United States, Warren Buffett is his student, and his classmates, as well as Sequoia Fund founder Bill Ruane, 'super Investor' Walter Schloss, from 1967 to 1982, when countless investors on Wall Street lost money and jumped off the building, Tom Knapp, a diversified investor who still made crazy money, and David, a partner of the First Manhattan Fund - Gottesman blah blah blah.
These guys are all wearing a pair of trousers, and Roland is not worried at all that rumors of insider trading will leak out.
It doesn’t matter if it gets leaked...
Because the SEC will never believe it!
And when Roland pulled out the shield of Marvel, cheerful laughter suddenly resounded in the entertainment room.
The four guys, who are 250 years old together, laughed and shivered. They didn't believe Roland's words at all. In their view, this guy in front of him was a comedian, trying to show his last stubbornness.
"Okay, we understand what you mean, no need to explain..."
Charlie Munger waved his hand and signaled Roland not to pretend, "Invest in Berkshire Hathaway because of Warren, invest in Yahoo because of Marvel, invest in Apple because of Pixar, invest in Microsoft because of William, invest in Amazon It's because of Ronald..."
"We all understand! You are not going to these companies at all!"
"Okay, okay, that's the end of this topic! I'm afraid if you go on, I'm going to die laughing here today..."
"Ha ha ha ha…"
Seeing those old guys who pursed their lips in joy and got up one after another, and wanted to calm down with juice drinks, Roland, who was sitting there, felt that life was gloomy—‘Is this the trouble of the rich? '
‘Only lies that are biased toward logic are the truth that people believe? '
'ah! This is really too difficult for me who is honest and trustworthy! '
It seemed that he had noticed Roland's mournful appearance, but it was more like Roland was the only one sitting there without moving, so when getting drinks, a bunch of old men took the initiative to turn around and ask the actor who brought him happiness what he wanted.
"Coke? Fanta? Sprite? Minute Maid?" Warren Buffett listed the products in his refrigerator. "I only drink Coca-Cola, and I don't think you like Pepsi, do you?"
"Huh? Yes! Sprite will do..."
Compared with Warren Buffett, Roland's previous life delivery master was simply weak.
No matter what the occasion, Warren Buffett's thirst-quenching tool is always Coca-Cola.
Although the spokespersons of Coca-Cola have changed one after another, those celebrities are really just tools.
Fans are there to tear up endorsements for their idols, but this behavior of buying, buying, and buying will never change the symbol of a company, just like Apple and Steve Jobs, Microsoft and Bill Gates, Coca-Cola and Like Warren Buffett...
They are the real carriers and irreplaceable.
After rejecting Roland's sincere explanation, a group of happy guys chatted about other things.
Maybe it was because Roland's 'childish thinking' inspired them, but maybe it was the age gap that allowed them to see their own youth, so the most difficult and ridiculous moments in life became the topic of several people as it should be. starting point.
Although Roland had never experienced World War II, and Black Monday, which was closest to him, existed in unfamiliar cognition, this did not prevent Roland from leaning back in his chair, crossing his legs and listening to the story.
Because of the diverse backgrounds, and the positions of many backers are biased towards these old men, the atmosphere on the scene is still very harmonious.
When one stranger's name after another came out of these guys' mouths, the old guys who thought that Roland might not understand would stop and give a brief introduction, and with the current chairman of the President's Economic Advisory Council, Janet Yellen , Kenneth Chenault, the future chairman of the Amex board of directors, and Louis Gerstner, who took over IBM in 1993, all these guys, Roland, who just listened to the story and didn't pretend to beep, felt very high.
He took time out of his busy schedule to attend the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting just for this moment.
These people who gathered together and mastered trillions of capital are the core of the shareholders meeting.
Of course, always bragging in front of the juniors will also make you tired, so after briefly recalling the youthful years, the current charity work, the public policy that is being discussed, and the investment fields that you want to plan in the future, all appeared logically. , and when talking about investment, Warren Buffett also asked Bill Gates very bluntly: "Microsoft really wants to buy Yahoo?"
"Yes, the Internet is the future." Bill Gates nodded without hiding, "Do you want to try it too?"
"He doesn't understand the Internet, so he won't vote for now." Before Warren Buffett could answer, Charlie Munger said regretfully: "If he is willing to vote, then Roland's stake in Amazon will be ours."
"Well, it's still the same..." David Gottesman shrugged and said to his old friend: "I thought you would try to analyze this industry for the sake of the crazy rise in the stock prices of Internet companies. "
"All Internet companies are burning money now, and I can't see their profit points." Warren Buffett doesn't want to get involved.
"All industries have to burn money at the beginning of their birth." Bill Gates shook his head and did not agree with his friends.
But just when everyone felt that the stubborn old man didn’t want to continue on this controversial issue, Warren Buffett suddenly denied Bill Gates’ statement, “That’s right, all industries were born with We have to burn money, but when many companies are burning money, we can already see their future profits."
"Just like the R&K that Roland proposed a month ago, this kind of company is the type I like."
What?
Roland, who has been pretending to be cute and listening carefully to the boss's nonsense, has countless question marks on his forehead.
‘This topic is chatting, why did it come to me? '
‘R&K? Isn't this my impromptu personal brand? '
For Roland, turning himself into a brand is just a temporary idea after confirming that he can win an Oscar.
For Warren Buffett, this is actually a surprise.
At first he called Roland over, but it was because Roland beeped for a long time in front of his old opponent, and later Bill Gates invited him, and it was just because the old man wanted to see with his own eyes the young man who dared to let his pigeons go.
Except for these two points, the two sides have no intersection. To put it bluntly, even if Roland spends huge sums of money to become the thirteenth largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway, then Warren Buffett and him have nothing to talk about. yes!
Guys in Hollywood have spare money and want to increase their value, so they bought stocks. This kind of layman-like investment makes them unable to urinate together. Stock return, dividend yield, price-earnings ratio, current ratio, acid test ratio, it must become a classroom, since the professional knowledge does not match, then...
Really can only chat about gossip.
It is really a waste of life to gossip with someone you just met.
If it wasn’t because Roland had a deal with Microsoft, and his teacher Steven was acquainted with Catherine of the Washington Post, and he was his own inside and out, then Warren Buffett really didn’t want to call him home.
Just meet at the shareholder meeting, and don't waste each other's time.
However, after the Oscars, when the major print media frequently mentioned R&K, the old man became curious about the strange brand name. After careful research, the old man was surprised to find that Roland was actually a business genius?
"The annual transaction volume of jewelry in the world has reached 90 billion yuan, but our jewelry market has always been importing more than exporting, and there is a large trade deficit. Taking 1992 as an example, jewelry imports were 6.6% 500 million US dollars, exports 133 million, and the annual sales of the entire market is 1.4 billion."
"That is to say, nearly 50% of the sales are occupied by foreign jewelry companies."
"In 1993, our jewelry took the first step since the economic recovery. According to the statistics of the Rhode Island Jewelry Business Council, the number of jewelers increased by 9% in that year, pushing the total number to 8,800. Among them, 78% are retailers, 11% are manufacturers, and 10% are wholesalers, and the objects they serve are between 20 and 45 years old. Customers with an annual income of $20,000 or more."
"In fact, in our country, there is a jewelry exhibition every week. More than 90% of people can name one or two jewelry brands, and more than 70% of people will spend at least 2,000 on jewelry. knife."
"However, jewelers in our country, or jewelers all over the world, have a problem."
"That is, rough diamonds are a seller's market. Diamond buyers need to persuade big sellers such as De Beers to add themselves to the company's selected customer list, and then participate in the ten diamond auctions a year on time. At the auction, buyers must Buy rough diamonds at the price and quantity set by De Beers, and if you default, the buyer is out of the business."
"Such harsh conditions make countless jewelers die every year. Not only that, all the companies that sell jewelry, the meaning they give to jewelry, has never been actually displayed in front of customers."
“People only know that diamonds have a corresponding sentimental value, but they have never seen it.”
"This also makes the jewelry industry has been fighting endlessly, and no one can achieve monopoly."
"However, this multi-party melee situation is about to end."
"When your R&K appears, I believe that those jewelers who have no way to give realistic meaning to the jewelry in their hands will die completely. If you have to give an accurate estimate, I believe that when the funds are sufficient, when the R&K jewelry goes on the market After that, 80% of the jewelry market in America will be consumed within five years. Based on the 1.4 billion in 1992, the annual sales will not be less than 1.1 billion. Of course, this is not the point, etc. After R&K's overseas expansion, as long as the funds are sufficient, I believe that those jewelry brands that also have no stories can only go bankrupt. Within ten years, R&K's global annual sales will reach at least 45 billion, and the brand value, I Personally, I think it can surpass Microsoft."
"I can't give an accurate valuation of this brand, but I believe that as long as you and Kate continue to maintain it, I think R&K has a chance to become the most valuable brand in the world..."
Yes, this is the real reason why Warren Buffett is willing to laugh and laugh with Roland!
Because after figuring out the birth idea of R&K, all jewelry brands are garbage in his eyes!
Harry Winston, a super jewelry brand that has been famous all over the world for more than 100 years?
Cartier, known as "the emperor's jeweler, the emperor of jewelers"?
May I ask, with Napoleon III gone, will anyone still follow your tricks?
Buccellati who continues the noble blood?
Young people can't control the strong historical atmosphere!
After researching the world's first-line jewelry brands, Warren Buffett suddenly discovered that these century-old brands sell all the history that has passed away, and then match them with a beautiful marriage that is almost mythical!
All brands are emphasizing that Marilyn Monroe once wore our products! Napoleon III loved our masterpiece! Popes Pius XI and XII loved our jewelry! Our jewelry has seen countless loves!
but-
All brands cannot be moved beyond words!
To put it bluntly, no one can impress customers anyway, so who can brag!
No one can expose anyone!
Then whoever blows up the customers will make money!
The current jewelry market is so chaotic!
But with the emergence of R&K, Warren Buffett felt that the braggarts would definitely be crushed by the real ones!
Calculated according to the ever-changing Hollywood revenue ratio, "Titanic" has a box office of 2 billion, which can drive at least 10 billion in the surrounding market, that is to say, after excluding a series of film peripherals such as DVD sales and single CDs. , there are at least 5 billion hidden income, which will be collected by the producer.
But after considering that the real selling point of Titanic wasn't a movie at all...
All peripherals cannot be included in R&K's expected revenue.
Because the guys who have watched the movie are all potential customers of R&K, and the guys who have not watched the movie will also have to choose this brand after R&K eats up the potential customers and grows wildly.
"This is actually a very simple truth."
"After R&K's products go on the market, because of the "Titanic", the sales will definitely not be low. Assuming that 10% of the market is eaten up in the first year, then the 10% of the jewelry that should have been eaten Because of the trading model of rough diamonds, they will fall into a situation of bankruptcy because the products cannot be sold, but De Beers forces them to buy rough diamonds, and with their death, R&K can continue to eat them In the empty market, in the end, unless De Beers changes its trading model, the ten jewelry auctions every year will be the sword of Damocles hanging over the jewelers who have no stories to sell."
"Actually, I knew you were going to go into jewelry when I saw your constant reference to R&K in Time magazine, so when William told me he'd have the bodyguards pick you up straight away, I agreed with his approach, so now, do you have any intention to cooperate?"
"I know your uncle David will help you with all this again, but his way of operating is too slow. You need an angel investor now, an angel investor who can help you open up the jewelry market, and I I think our Berkshire Hathaway is very suitable for this kind of thing, one billion, 20% of the shares, what do you think?"
"Of course, although I offered one billion yuan, I will not ask you to do things like repurchase shares. I don't have much requirements for this brand. I only have requirements for you. I hope You can marry Kate within two years, and then you can live a peaceful life. As long as you can agree to this, we can talk. You can find a professional to come to Omaha and work on the details with me slowly..."
When Warren Buffett smiled and said the words he had already calculated to Roland in front of David Gottesman, Charlie Munger, and Bill Gates, Roland, who had listened for a while, was extremely excited. .
'Hold the grass! This girl is really professional! '
‘This special code is the biggest gain this time, right? '
‘Warren Buffett sending me money? What to do! Waiting online, very urgent! '
Roland does know that when his name becomes a brand, this transformation from a person to a symbol can bring him huge economic benefits, but the problem is that he has no idea how much this decision can make him earn. money.
Because he doesn't know much about the jewelry industry, and even he doesn't understand how it works.
Because of this, he will throw all this to David Olsen and let him frown.
But now, after facing Warren Buffett, the gap between the two sides suddenly appeared.
The old man can tell him about the trading method of rough diamonds, the selling point value of other brands, and the expected market share after the product is launched, and how to use the rough diamond trading method to seize market share, thereby dragging down competitors and realizing self-expansion again...
Although what the old man said was very simple and he didn't quote a mathematical model, it was this simple words that allowed Roland to see the gap between himself and the boss again—some things cannot be made up by the background.
Of course, Roland was not discouraged, because he never felt how awesome he was.
If he was really awesome, he would have developed in his previous life.
As for Warren Buffett's requirement to be married and not divorced?
This Roland can understand.
It's like the rich generation usually don't get divorced.
When Yang Lan interviewed Bill Gates, the old man said——
‘The smartest decision in life is not to create Microsoft, let alone a large-scale charity, but to find a suitable person to marry. '
Similarly, the old man Warren Buffett also expressed the same opinion—
‘The most important decision in life is not investing, but whom to marry. '
For these capitalists, marriage is the most important investment in life, not one of them.
If the woman has no added value other than beauty, then this kind of beauty is a commodity that is constantly depreciating.
The value starts to depreciate at the age of 30, and falls to the bottom at the age of 40. If the holder does not stop the loss in time, isn't it a disease of the brain?
But if the loss is stopped in time, the expenses incurred due to the stop loss can cause huge losses in other investments.
And if the other party has sustainable development resources, which can generate greater income over time, then this is the most ideal investment in the eyes of capital.
Because of this, the wives these two old guys found actually have the same commonality.
That is to turn a blind eye to the third party.
This kind of added value may not seem to have much meaning, but not doing things when they are busy with their careers is actually the biggest support, because they can't tolerate having a beautiful wife come back to stab them when they are making money Of course, not everyone can directly turn themselves into a symbol like Roland.
It is precisely because this symbol is too scarce, and it can even be said that the R&K brand has no possibility of being copied at all, so the old man wanted to get a foot in this business after seeing an opportunity.
This is a transaction that can see expected returns, and it is a profitable transaction.
Of course, although Warren Buffett is sending money to Roland now, and Roland also understands that after receiving this guy's money, he can not only realize his ambition of hugging the opponent's thigh, but also allow R&K to develop on a rocket, but...
"Although R&K is my brand, it is currently under the name of the Olsen sisters' Double Star Group. Not only that, this company is actually split in half between me and Kate, so...I have to go back and discuss with them whether to accept investment .”
Roland felt that there was nothing wrong with his answer, and Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, and David Gottesman also felt the same, but when they were about to reach a verbal agreement, Bill Gates was sour.
"Oh! Roland, shouldn't you reject Warren?"
"What? Why should I reject him?"
Roland was shocked, and the other three old men were also dumbfounded.
Everyone looked at Bill Gates with strange eyes, they thought there was something in this guy's words!
Roland was obviously brought here by him. If so, then Roland and him should be in the same camp!
Why did this guy tear down Roland while discussing cooperation?
After seeing the doubtful eyes of the four, Bill Gates turned over the old account directly.
"Last year, when I wanted to vote for Blizzard, didn't you just reject me with Apple? You didn't even choose to let me in when you didn't have enough liquidity. Now that you have money, why bother to pull Wo Lun to play with?"
'Hold the grass...'
'It turned out to be this matter? '
Roland rolled his eyes, and he suddenly felt that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett were exactly the same.
All special vengeance!
But just when Roland thought that Warren Buffett would change his attitude towards him because of his friend's words, when Bill Gates talked about the "unfair treatment" he suffered last year, the three old men once again His eyes widened.
Everyone had a weird smile on their faces. After looking at the two of them for a while, Charlie Munger asked, "William, are you sure you are very optimistic about his game company?"
"Of course!" Bill Gates replied without hesitation.
"Oh! Shit! Are you misleading him?" David Gottesman scolded with a smile.
Even Warren Buffett agrees with them, "William, when did Microsoft get so scared that it lacked content?"
"Aren't you all playing with hardware manufacturers?"
"I thought you brought Roland to invest in something?"
"As a result, after you cheated him of Yahoo, you let him burn money in fields that you are not involved in?"
"You are too bad!"
'etc! '
Seeing the three old men complaining about Bill Gates' black hearts without any scruples, Roland, who was still happy because Warren Buffett gave him money, frowned, "I was cheated? What are you talking about?"
After the puzzled words appeared, the three old men immediately burst into laughter.
They thought it was really interesting to talk business with a guy like Roland who was rich but didn't know how to invest!
"Roland."
"Um?"
"William told you that Microsoft is going to make home consoles, right?"
"That's right! So I bought a lot of game studios, and I'm going to develop games for Microsoft consoles! Any questions?"
"Ah, it doesn't seem to be a problem, but it's not the most profitable business." Looking at Roland's beeping face, Warren Buffett smiled and said: "A home console, and a home console that sells games. Mainframe, the most important thing is performance, right? And performance is accumulated by hardware, so buying shares of hardware manufacturers is the most profitable business..."
"If you buy it now, when Microsoft gives them the order, won't the stock price skyrocket?"
"Then cash out and leave, won't the money just come?"
"Although I don't do this kind of short-term business, this kind of business is much safer than Paul throwing your money to George Soros!"
"Don't look at him providing you with a sum of cash, but in fact, he hasn't told you the simplest business yet..."
Speaking of this, Bill Gates also showed a helpless wry smile. After sweeping his eyes, Warren Buffett even mentioned the hardware manufacturers that Microsoft is cooperating with. Nvidia is playing hot, right?"
"Nvidia is also seeking to go public next year, right?"
“They were going to IPO before announcing the order from Microsoft, right?”
"Are you embarrassed to ask him to make content while not earning development funds with him?"
When Warren Buffett joked about Bill Gates’ old background and named Nvidia, Roland, who was still wondering what these old fritters had done to him, rolled his eyes...
'Hi! Why do I think so! It turned out to be Nvidia! '
‘I know this stuff! '
Note: ①In 1968, Buffett organized a well-known meeting in Coronado, California. That meeting was Buffett’s closest circle of contacts, including Sequoia Fund, Mutual Fund, etc. Big guys who are active in the head market. After that, the meeting became a study group party held every two years. Katherine Graham and Bill Gates also joined. So far, there are nearly 80 people , controlling more than five trillion yuan of funds. When they went to England on a cruise ship one year, there was a joke that if the cruise ship crashed, 15% of the GDP of the United States would have evaporated that year. ②Berkshire Hathaway controls the second largest jeweler in North America. Not only that, they have also acquired five Italian brands. In reality, they are just making jewelry. The article is not a temporary idea. ③I couldn’t find the jewelry data from 1996 to 1997. The database was out of stock since 1995, so I just used the previous data, and the growth rate was about 40%.
(end of this chapter)