Chapter 272 Assembly
May 2, 1998, Saturday.
When the first ray of sunshine in the morning wakes up the sleeping earth, and the radiance rising from the horizon is like a diamond, casting a dazzling light and casting a layer of golden brilliance on the white clouds in the sky, the 455 North 10th Street in downtown Omaha At the entrance of the Century Link Center, the black crowd was like a long circling dragon, extending continuously from the entrance of the venue.
It bends to the right when it touches the street lamp, and winds around the huge bronze clock statue. Guys with different clothes line up and gather together in groups of three or four. Hanging is a sign with a comic book portrait of Warren Buffett printed on it.
That's right, there are people queuing here before the sun rises.
In other words, after the opening of the ticket redemption service on the morning of May 1st, many people were waiting here that night.
And they all have a common name—
'Pilgrims'
In this era when the mobile Internet has yet to come, a night of waiting can draw the distance between many people. When the fatigue gradually subsides with the darkness away, and the fire of faith rises and burns like the scorching sun, the unfinished topics of last night are still continue.
"Wow! Did you guys buy so much stuff at See's?"
Beside the bronze statue of the clock, two men and two women gathered together and sat on the ground.
When the blond lady with ponytail saw the man in the gray casual T-shirt took out box after box of See’s candies from his backpack, and invited them to enjoy them together, filling their bellies, she suddenly asked with a clear question. .
"Didn't you buy it? You can get a 20% discount with your ID card!" The red-haired woman with a shawl next to the man smiled and took out bottles and cans to quench his thirst from her husband's backpack, "Coke? Sprite? Or Fanta ?Although it is heavy on the back, we thought that the door would not open for breakfast until seven o’clock, so we bought some to prepare.”
"My God! Are you too careful?"
Faced with the kindness offered by the two, the couple did not refuse, and at the same time they took it, they also showed each other their achievements, "We bought two pairs of deerskin gloves at the exhibition area of WellsLamont yesterday, and also bought a Set of Quikutknives, which were too heavy so I put them in the car, then my husband and I bought a pair of shoes, and as for the food..."
"Look, we didn't take anything except the shoes on our feet..."
"Wow! Looking at you like this, you are going to eat sponsorship for three days in a row!" The man in a gray casual T-shirt laughed.
"No way! Who makes the food provided by the sponsor better than the restaurant? The point is that it doesn't cost money!"
The red-haired woman made a grimace, and the appearance of a wealthy family made several people laugh together.
"Then did you buy jewelry last night?" the blond lady asked, "We looked at it last night, and there were half discounts there."
"No..." The red-haired woman shook her head like a rattle, "Even if it's 50% off, it's so expensive!"
That's right, although Berkshire Hathaway's shareholder meeting is officially held on the first rest day in May every year, in fact, the activities have already started the day before, and the entire Friday is the shareholder procurement Today, the special products of various companies under the name of the textile factory are all on sale at a discount. As long as you have a ticket, you can enter the venue. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to go.
On Friday night, from 6:00 am to 9:00 pm, there will be a shareholder reception reception. Shareholders who have bought for a day can enjoy the meticulous service of the textile factory, eat and drink as much as they want, and the audience is free. After listening to the business philosophy of Borsheims Jewelry under the name of Warren Buffett, take a product manual and accept a green '-50%' coupon by the way.
Don't think too much, there is no fat G smile on the coupon.
If someone becomes interested in Borsheims jewelry because of this, and spends 100,000...
Then Warren Buffett, who feels the strong support of shareholders for the company, will appear and take a photo with him.
Just imagine, jewelry worth 200,000 yuan can now be bought for 100,000 yuan. Not only that, but you can also have close contact with the stock god, and take a close look at the investment aura of the other party...
This is blood money!
The stock **** who gave you a 50% discount and took the time to meet and take a photo with you, that is a blood loss!
In short, the 0th day of the general meeting of shareholders is to give back to the shareholders of the company!
Really not for making money!
While the group of people just outside the venue were eating the high-calorie candy chocolates they bought yesterday, and chatting about various topics, the sun rising from the horizon was also gradually rising. When the time quietly approached seven o'clock, the venue The door also opened on time.
The staff in charge of checking identities are familiar with checking the identities of people from all walks of life. Since the conference does not set seats, the rhythm of seating is actually the same as that of movie theaters, which is first-come-first-served.
In this way, after taking the loving breakfast provided by the stock god, a bunch of people headed straight for the infield.
Except for one row of seats reserved for the most front-end board members, two rows of seats for core shareholders, and fixed seats for media reporters and long-term analysts, the rest of the positions are all based on hand speed.
At this time, if you say "the fifth floor is not supported", no one will ignore you.
Of course, grabbing the position from the very beginning is something for a newbie.
The real old fritters yelled 'I'll take the lead! ’, while walking in snakeskin, jumped over the seats in the venue, and went straight to the question area at the front of the stage.
There are twelve microphones there, targeting three investment analysts who have long-term contacts with the company, three journalists who have good business contacts with the company, and eighteen lucky viewers.
As long as you register with the staff there, you can participate in the lottery before the meeting. If you are lucky enough to have your pants removed by the goddess of luck, you can shoot a fierce arrow in your life to the stock **** during the Q&A stage of the shareholders meeting.
Because of this, even if everyone is a civilized person wearing a suit, many times, they will knock out the dog's brain for this.
Even if you don’t ask questions yourself, it’s okay to let your children ask questions!
"Wow, there are more and more guys coming to the shareholders meeting..."
"Yeah, at this rate of growth, a branch venue will be opened soon..."
"No way, who made Berkshire Hathaway's stock price keep rising? In 1990, various analysts believed that their stock price was at most 10,000 yuan, but now it is 70,000 yuan. Now, if I bought 100 shares at a price of 7,000 yuan at that time, I can achieve financial freedom now..."
"What are you thinking? Seven thousand yuan and one hundred shares are 700,000 yuan. Those who can spend 700,000 yuan to buy stocks and wait for them to appreciate in value have already achieved financial freedom! Will you buy them at the beginning of your career? Berkshire Hathaway is either crazy or a fool! Don't have liquidity? Do you want to expand your business?"
"Right…"
After talking here, the two people sitting in the reporter area also turned their eyes away from the lottery area.
While sorting out the materials, the identity tags hanging around the neck also appeared. Unlike those "pilgrims", the name tags of this group of guys are their own press cards. Below the head portraits, there is also the logo of the company they work for—CNBC.
If it is said that the zeroth day is the bloodletting of the textile factory to give back to its shareholders, then the first day is the highlight.
The venue opens at 7:00, the lucky draw starts at 8:15, and a short film about the company starts at 8:30. In the short film, the chairman of the company is the object of narration. Very boldly complaining about himself, his comedian-like style made everyone in the venue laugh.
To be honest, many of the old man's jokes are actually not funny.
For ordinary people, it will definitely cause a chill effect.
It’s like Bill Gates queuing up to buy hamburgers can get headlines, and those entrepreneurs have worked hard to spend a lot of money to buy newspaper pages. Most of the time, status is the root of determining attention.
When everyone was amused by the old man's humor, the 30-minute short film finally came to an end. As the lights of the venue were turned off and the stage spotlights were turned on, the invited performers also came on stage to warm up the scene.
Dances and songs took turns, and the supposedly serious shareholder meeting directly turned into a party scene. When the atmosphere of the scene reached its peak with the music High, the headlights on the stage suddenly went out with a bang.
First-timers are overwhelmed by the action, but for those who have been here for years—
"They're coming."
Excited words blurted out.
"What?"
Silly Mengxin couldn't figure out the situation.
"They're coming!"
The old bird who was staring at the front of the venue yelled.
Although he didn't explain too much, when his voice fell, the roaring lights also hit the blue curtain.
The opening like a godsend aroused applause in the arena, but the two old men who suddenly appeared in the center of the stage calmly accepted the enthusiasm of everyone. After the applause gradually faded, the old man adjusted his sitting posture , into the microphone and said simply to the guests, "Thank you."
And Charlie Munger, who was sitting next to him, was cold and did not respond.
If it was a star in the entertainment industry, the guy on the stage would have been sprayed to death by the audience, but for the investors present, they didn't think there was anything wrong with the old man's approach.
After all, investment is not entertainment. The latter can laugh and laugh, but if the former really does this, it will be unsteady.
No one can escape the custom of setting up such a thing.
No matter which circle you are in, you will use the character design in the end.
After a brief thank you, the old man recited the familiar opening remarks, and then introduced the members of the board of directors to everyone. The directors who were named stood up with a smile and greeted the guests.
Following their actions, the camera zoomed up. When everyone thought it was just a routine, the human background of the last director made everyone on the scene exclaim.
"What?"
"Wow!"
"Oh!"
Behind the director on the left, sat a gentle man in a pink shirt and glasses, and on the right, sat a handsome and charming young man in a black T-shirt. When the camera swept over them, they were Smiling and clapping, and when they found out that they actually appeared on the big screen, the expected surprise also clung to their faces.
Seeing that the camera was unwilling to move away, the two guys got up at the same time and waved to the surroundings. This situation also made the old man on the rostrum explain a lot, "William, the founder of Microsoft, my good friend, and also shareholders of the company."
"Roland, a well-known Hollywood actor, is also a shareholder of the company. His uncle came here for him last year. The position is correct."
Although the old man said it lightly, it seems that the existence of two people is a matter of course.
But for the public at the scene, this is undoubtedly a thunderbolt!
Bill Gates is not the first time, so after seeing him, everyone was surprised, but not surprised.
But the earthball grass that stirred up the wind and rain in the first half of the year turned out to be one of the top 20 shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway?
This, this, this...
"What thefuck? Does Roland hold so many shares?"
"The one who can sit in front of that has at least 10,000 shares, right? The unit price is 70,000, so that's 700 million?"
"My God! Is he so rich?"
"No wonder you can afford such expensive jewelry at the Oscars!"
"So handsome and so rich? Is this really a way to survive?"
With the old man's confirmation, discussions arose one after another. As loyal pilgrims, they would not question the authenticity of the other party's words at all, but only lamented Roland's sudden display of strength.
In the past eight years, Roland has given people the feeling that he has been a record-breaking actor. Although he has been on the "Forbes" Hollywood power list every year, because he has never disclosed his net worth, people have always regarded it as influence. That's all.
At most, they are actors who can make money.
As for how much he earned, no one knows.
But now, when a predictable amount appeared, and the amount was large enough, the feeling of re-acquaintance flooded their hearts—eight years in the industry, with a net worth of 700 million?
Grab the grass!
Is it so scary?
Although most investors understand that the net worth of 700 million yuan will definitely include the increase in the stocks they hold.
But this is actually not the point!
At what price Roland bought the stock, and how much it cost, these are not important at all!
Because he is now sitting next to Bill Gates, the 20 seats that symbolize his status!
This special code is the key!
It's like you find out that the neighbor next door doesn't go to work every day, but stays at home and starts his own business.
You think that the other party is just doing a small business, making a living, and at most it is financial freedom.
But one day, after you find out that the other party’s self-employed project is Taobao, your mentality will collapse.
Knowing that the other party is rich, but the special code does not know that the other party is so rich!
After all, being rich is a very broad concept. A person with millions of dollars is rich, someone with hundreds of millions of assets is also rich, and being mixed with the richest man is also called rich, but... the level is different!
(end of this chapter)