The Millennium Semiconductor Survival Guide.

Chapter 304 Zhou Xin’s Thoughts

Zhou Xin recalled that almost every time he saw Madoff was at a Donkey Party fund-raising event, either a fund-raising dinner or a speech by a big shot in Washington.

Because California is the Donkey Party’s traditional sphere of influence, the events held by the Donkey Party in California are far ahead of the Elephant Party in terms of frequency, number of participants, and quality of invitees.

Madoff did not say hello to Zhou Xin in the previous few times, until at a fund-raising event after Zhou Xin sold Quora to Time Warner, the host at the time, Chuck Schumer, introduced them to each other.

Unlike Zhou Xin, Madoff is ostensibly a die-hard supporter of the Donkey Party. He has made political donations to the Donkey Party every year since 1991. His donations include federal candidates, political parties, committees and other areas where donations can be made. .Madoff was also one of the largest donors to the Donkey Party's Senate Candidate Committee.

Zhou Xin, on the other hand, is a pure fence-sitter. Big names from the Donkey Party come to me to participate in the activities, and I also attend the Elephant Party activities. The amount of donations to both parties is exactly the same. The main thing is balance.

Before Chuck Schumer said that this was Bernard Madoff, Zhou Xin was completely unaware that the old white man in a suit and tie in front of him was a world-famous liar. He thought he was a judge because of his The hairstyle is similar to the wigs worn by English judges.

When Madoff's name appeared in Zhou Xin's ears, Zhou Xin didn't know whether it was a psychological effect or whether the other person's eyes really meant this. He read the cunning and greed in the eyes of the Jew in front of him, and he felt that he was being stared at. The illusion.

Madoff was so famous that his Ponzi scheme was almost as iconic as the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in the 08 financial crisis, so Zhou Xin immediately realized who the other party was.

Later, Madoff would talk to Zhou Xin at almost every fund-raising event organized by the Donkey Party. Even in front of his so-called friends, Madoff would often say: "Newman and I are very good friends, and we get along very well."

Including Zhou Xin’s previous attempt to acquire Cymer, a high-tech enterprise that manufactures light sources for lithography machines. Madoff heard somewhere that the acquisition had not been approved. He said: “I am familiar with many donkey party senators, like Cha. Schumer, Chris Dodd, etc., do you need me to help you find a lobbying agency to lobby in Washington?"

With God's perspective, Zhou Xin was naturally wary of Madoff. The two could be said to be superficial friends.

In Zhou Xin's plan, Madoff's positioning was that if he gave the other party more sources of funds, he could create a bigger hole and cause more serious consequences in the financial crisis.

Now the opportunity came. When Zhou Xin in Zhangjiang heard Madoff's intention, he felt happy in his heart.

"Bernard, I no longer care about the specific operations of NewPay. Madoff's products sound very good, but you have to talk to Peter Thiel about the specific cooperation. He is the CEO of NewPay. I am here most of the time. China." Zhou Xin said.

Zhou Xin actually wanted to agree to help Madoff sell his financial products, which meant that more middle-class Americans would fall into the trap. When the bubble bursts, everyone's assets would evaporate instantly.

In particular, the longer Madoff carried it, the more people he fell into.In the original time and space, because of Madoff's minimum purchase price of US$100 million and the dual mechanism of referrals from acquaintances, wealthy people were eligible to be recruited.

This is the same as when a trust storm occurs, and only middle-class people and above are eligible to be deceived.As the saying goes: The poor fall into Big A’s trap, the middle class falls into trust’s trap, and the rich fall into private equity’s trap.

There are levels of cheating, and if you don’t have enough level, you won’t be able to step on them even if you want to.Through online channels, the threshold is lowered and more people can participate. This is a trick that future generations of ants will not dare to play. Ants will not dare to sell private equity products on Alipay, allowing users to buy at a minimum of 1 yuan, and 100 million yuan. Departs above.

It is also possible to play like this in this chaotic era without supervision.

Zhou Xin had a hunch that once NewPay cooperates with Madoff, it only needs to do a good job in risk control and draft the contract. In other words, user losses have nothing to do with the channel and are the responsibility of Madoff Investment Company.In this case, NewPay will gain huge profits, Madoff will have more funds to move around, and Lei will accumulate to a greater extent before exploding.

Of course, the cooperation between NewPay and Madoff does not only have advantages, but also disadvantages, that is, it consumes credibility. NewPay's credibility will be greatly consumed.

It’s just that Zhou Xin doesn’t care that much, because after reaching a certain level, he can’t keep NewPay. Amerikan can allow him to enjoy the benefits brought by NewPay, but it will not allow him to keep control of NewPay.

Since the launch of Yu'e Bao, various voices have reached Zhou Xin's ears, whether from Washington or Wall Street. Almost every board meeting has directors saying that the current structure of A/B shares with different rights for the same shares is inappropriate. .

Zhou Xin knew that it would be a matter of time before he lost control of NewPay.

After hearing this, Madoff laughed heartily on the other end of the phone: "Newman, you are kidding. If you can't control NewPay, then no one in the world can control NewPay.

As long as you speak, Peter will not refuse. "

After Madoff finished speaking, he paused for a moment: "Newman, if you agree to purchase Madoff's investment products through the NewPay channel, I will give you 1% every year as a personal thank you.

I will use this part of the proceeds as proceeds from the Madoff products you purchase. "

In other words, Zhou Xin did not purchase Madoff's investment products, but he was able to enjoy the benefits.

Zhou Xin thought to himself that scammers are really not stingy with all kinds of promises when they deceive people. As long as they can continue to deceive, they will make promises.

This is why honest people are no better than Huang Mao, because Huang Mao's promises do not need to be considered. Honest people always think about what I will do if I can't do it, and their sense of responsibility and moral bottom line are always easily frustrated emotionally.

In addition, Zhou Xin could hear another meaning from Madoff's remarks. The benefit fee he paid to Zhou Xin was through the income of Madoff's fund, which meant that Madoff could use Zhou Xin as the flagship of his company's financial products.

Look, Newman has bought financial products from me, what do you have to be suspicious of?

At the same time, it can also avoid many unnecessary user runs.

After Zhou Xin read this meaning, he sneered in his heart. The people on Wall Street are indeed very evil.

"Bernard, although I don't want to admit it, I really can't interfere with the specific operations of NewPay.

Especially after the launch of Yu'e Bao, Washington has hinted to me many times that I have to take care of myself and not cause trouble for them.

So after I returned to China, my plenipotentiary was mute on NewPay's board of directors, only listening but not taking a stand. "

From Zhou Xin's original intention, he really wanted to cooperate with Madoff. After the cooperation, the Occupy Wall Street movement might break out together with the 08 financial crisis.

Zhou Xin was just a student during the 08 financial crisis. He liked to read some leisure books at that time, including many magazines. He was deeply impressed by an article about the Madoff incident. The impression was not about this incident, but about the incident. That title:

"Bernard Madoff - Stealing Wall Street's Last Trust"

Zhou Xin thought, if Madoff and NewPay cooperate not only to defraud the rich, but also to the general public of Amerikan, could the title be changed to: Stealing Amerikan’s last ray of trust?
After listening to Zhou Xin's explanation, Madoff thought to himself, the little fox is really cautious and does not give me any chance.Zhou Xin continued: "But Bernard, I will help you tell Peter that you need to talk to him about the specific cooperation.

I'm just playing a matchmaking role. This is purely to help you personally because of our 'friendship'. No need to thank you. "

If he wasn't worried that this was fishing, Zhou Xin actually wanted to make the decision and agreed.

But this matter is a huge pit, with huge risks. Once it is caused by him, he is afraid of being caught by the federation if there is a subsequent thunderstorm.

In addition, I am worried that this is fishing, because to be honest, the return rate of Madoff's financial products exceeds 12%, and some people in the federal financial regulatory agencies suspect that there is something wrong with him.

Bill Gates often attended the Donkey Party's fund-raising dinners. Once, Bill Gates saw Zhou Xin and Madoff chatting happily, so he raised his glass to Zhou Xin from a distance, and then reminded him the next day:

"Newman, Bernard is very dangerous. You'd better be careful about him."

Zhou Xin pretended to be stupid: "Oh? Bill, what do you mean?"

"He was targeted by Harry, Harry Markopolos, the CEO of the Barrier Option Investment Company. Although Harry is the CEO of the investment company, he likes to report the most, including the tax department, the Ministry of National Defense, and medical institutions. He reported it.

These institutions he said had huge inappropriate expenditures.

He has also been eyeing Madoff from a long time ago and has been reporting Madoff's problems to the federal government in real name. I have read the report he wrote. The data is very detailed and the logical reasoning is very strict.

Even so, I dare not conclude that Madoff is a liar, but there is no doubt that he is definitely a dangerous person. "

Zhou Xin was very grateful to Bill Gates in his heart. We were competing in business, and he did regard him as a friend in private. "So, did the institutions reported by Harry have any huge improper expenditures?"

This is a reasoning. If one thing said by a person is true, it can be inferred that other things are also true.

Bill Gates smiled bitterly: "This is a secret that cannot be told. Even if these departments really have huge improper expenditures, it is not something Harry can reveal.

Not to mention Harry, even Bush cannot lift the lid, otherwise there will be serious consequences. The content of his report involves front-line procurement in the Middle East.

It is precisely because Harry did not understand the seriousness and offended people who should not have been offended. Therefore, even if his report on Bernard was written very logically, the federal government still did not investigate Madoff in a real sense. "

Bill Gates was able to see the report of Harry Markopolos. Harry's report was reported by his real name, which means that many people have seen this report and cast doubt on Madoff.

What if someone in Washington takes advantage of this matter, and once he intervenes, Madoff gets angry, and Washington takes advantage of the situation to take away control of NewPay?
He even went a step further and smashed into pieces the golden statue that Zhou Xin had spent several years working on Amerikan and even around the world.

So Zhou Xin played no role in it, not even as a matchmaker. The matchmaker was just a way to appease Madoff on the phone.

Sure enough, within a few days, Peter Thiel flew to Shenhai to find Zhou Xin for this matter: "Newman, you can't agree to Bernard's request.

I know you have a good personal relationship with Bernard, but you can't mix your personal emotions into the company's operations. Financial products with 10% returns are not normal.

He has a problem. We cannot sell Bernard's financial products on NewPay. Once there is a problem, it will have a significant impact on NewPay's credibility. "

Zhou Xin realized that Madoff went to find Peter Thiel, but still used his name. There was a high probability that it was Newman’s intention to cooperate with Madoff.

This made Peter Thiel rush to Shenhai to find him, fearing that he would be bewitched by Madoff.

Moreover, Peter Thiel is also a supporter of the Donkey Party. He has seen Zhou Xin chatting with Madoff several times, so Peter Thiel is very worried that Zhou Xin will be persuaded by Madoff.

Zhou Xin did not expose it, but asked: "Peter, Buffett's annualized return exceeds 20%. Is it strange that Bernard can give an interest rate of 12%?"

Peter Thiel knew that his boss was a genius in the Internet field, but was slow in other fields. Even in the financial field, Zhou Xin's talent was only reflected in areas related to the Internet.

"This is different. The source of Buffett's income is clearly visible. At the same time, the 20% rate of return is averaged. If spread to a specific year, there will still be an income of less than 10%, or even a loss. He was in Nasdaq in the millennium. When the Gram bubble burst, he lost 0.5%. During the years of the Nasdaq bubble, his income was only 5%.

Bernard is different. No matter what the market is like, he says he has a rate of return of more than 10%. No matter how financial crisis or market depression happens, it will not affect his income fluctuations.

At the same time, Madoff's underlying assets were a black hole. No one knew what stocks he bought or what risk hedging measures he took.

Buffett likes to buy Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and American Express, but what about Madoff?no one knows. "Peter Thiel explained patiently: "They are completely different. "

Peter doesn't know which one is harder, whether it's more difficult to level the annualized interest rate at 20% in 20 years or to earn more than 10% annually no matter how the market changes. Peter doesn't know, but Peter knows that there must be something wrong with a product that is not transparent enough.

Therefore, when Chinese middle-class people buy trusts in later generations, they buy them without thinking about the underlying asset structure of the trust. They just buy it after listening to the sales introduction. It would be strange not to step on the wrong side.

After listening, Zhou Xin nodded repeatedly: "Peter, I understand, I didn't make any promises to Bernard.

I just said that I would make an introduction to him. I told you before I replied to Shen Hai that I would not interfere in the daily operations of NewPay.

This is part of NewPay's daily operations. I will not interfere. You have the final say whether you want to cooperate with Madoff. "

　It’s not over yet. Madoff is a big coherent plot, and it’s also related to the subsequent financial crisis.

　　Then there will be another chapter tomorrow morning

　　
　
(End of this chapter)