Reborn America, this is my time

Merrill Lynch is a well-known investment bank on Wall Street.

Founded in 1914, they have a history of 66 years.

In 1971, when they applied to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and publicly disclosed their financial reports in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission, people discovered that Merrill Lynch actually had operations in more than 40 countries or regions around the world. , the assets under its control exceed 1.8 trillion US dollars.

This news made them the largest securities company in the world.

Of course, Steve Jobs would be relieved to let such a company provide services for him. But even if Ethan Jones gave the 'best' choice, Steve Jobs did not contact him immediately. Instead, he asked Wall Street investment banks to send a working group to Cupertino for interviews in accordance with the order of initial inquiries.

The reason for this is also very simple.

Before you completely break up, you still have to have the necessary peace.

If they only contact Merrill Lynch and no one else.

This kind of unofficial decision will definitely make the financial capital that is forced out of the game extremely confused.

If those jackals smell the abnormality, how will the subsequent work be carried out?

So, after meeting with Goldman Sachs, Lehman and other companies.

Only then did the people from Merrill Lynch appear in front of Steve Jobs.

"Mr. Jobs, nice to meet you."

The representative sent by Merrill Lynch was a middle-aged man in his forties.

Perhaps due to years of hard work, his cheeks are a little thin and his temples are a little white.

After meeting Steve Jobs, he stood up immediately after sitting down and waiting.

Be the first to extend your hand and say a few words of courtesy.

Then he sat down as Jobs wanted and took out the documents he had prepared.

"Mr. Jobs, according to the information I have received, Apple has already communicated with several investment banks before our arrival at Merrill Lynch, so I will not talk about the rigid process."

"Next, what I'm going to show you is our Merrill Lynch quote."

"Due to time constraints, the inquiry quotes we gave during the initial contact were not detailed, so those can be invalidated. The price I will give you next is the final result after discussion by our Merrill Lynch board of directors. We confirm that it will not be If the price is raised during the operation, we also do not accept counter-offers..."

The words that were neither humble nor arrogant made Jobs interested.

And when he opened Merrill Lynch's quotation sheet, the numbers on it made him raise his lips even more.

Previously, when Merrill Lynch quoted prices, the minimum underwriting fee they promised was 2.5 percent.

Now, Merrill Lynch's quotation is 8% for financing amounts below 50 million, 5.5% for financing amounts below 100 million, and a flat rate of 3.1% for financing amounts above 100 million.

This price is similar to the figure from Goldman Sachs.

Compared with Merrill Lynch's initial offer, this figure increased by 0.6 percentage points.

Not only that, their strategic consulting fees have also increased.

From one million at the beginning to two million now.

To be honest, this increase gave Merrill Lynch no advantage in this bid.

After all, there are many investment banks on Wall Street, and in terms of professionalism, the gap between them is actually not that big.

In the case of similar professionalism, each company wants to grab business and relies only on service and profit sharing.

And now, Merrill Lynch refuses to give up profits?

Then they can only impress people with their service.

The same is true.

After Jobs put down the quotation and opened the detailed specifications.

The series of words above made his pupils shrink suddenly.

Because Merrill Lynch promised that as long as Apple is willing to hire them, they will communicate with Apple about listing matters on an equal relationship and attitude, including but not limited to equal discussions on stock underwriting methods, equal discussions on stock pricing methods, and equal discussions. When the company went public...

When this series of promises appeared, classmate Xiao Qiao immediately admired Ethan beyond measure.

"Are you sure?"

Jobs shook the papers in his hands.

Merrill Lynch's representative understood what he meant and nodded: "Yes... we are... sure..."

The hesitant words made Jobs smile. He knew that the person in front of him was just as confused as himself. He didn't know why Merrill Lynch's board of directors made such a decision.

Because in the traditional listing process, investment banks decide which method should be used for stock underwriting and pricing. Companies that want to go public can generally only passively accept it.

Of course, if the company that wants to go public is not satisfied with the price offered by the investment bank, it can be negotiated. If the negotiation cannot produce a satisfactory result, it can also kick the investment bank away and find another person, but that operation is really difficult. It's too troublesome, and to put it bluntly, even if you kick your current partner and find a new one, who can guarantee that you can find a better one?

After all, there are too many profits that can be made here.

No investment bank is willing to give up.

And now, Merrill Lynch has given in?

Did they agree to take dead wages and give up gray income?

"Oh - brother, I have already felt the sincerity of your Merrill Lynch."

Jobs closed the document, stood up and stretched out his hand, "I still have several companies to meet with. I will tell you the results of my selection in up to three working days. Please be patient."

"Okay." The Merrill Lynch representative shook hands with Jobs without saying a word, then said goodbye and left.

After sending Merrill Lynch away, Steve Jobs met with representatives from Morgan, First Boston and other companies to look at their offers and review their commitments.

That roughly similar commission was Wall Street's last insistence.

This situation made Jobs polite to others.

After meeting with all the companies that had submitted cooperation letters, Jobs asked the company's CEO Roger Corian to call Merrill Lynch to inform them that they had won the bid and could come to California to sign contracts.

When this message appears...

The huge Wall Street was immediately shocked!

Ok.

To say they were surprised is nonsense.

Because most people have already guessed this result, they know that Apple will choose Merrill Lynch.

The reason is very simple. Merrill Lynch is one of the few large investment banks on Wall Street that has not had a direct conflict with Ethan Jones, or even had no friction.

Like Morgan Stanley, it is a hatred that is full of physical hatred.

Like Goldman Sachs, it's a battle between hypocrisy and decency.

Like Lehman, as a good brother of Goldman Sachs, it is normal not to choose for the sake of safety.

When North American capital eliminates wrong answers based on this idea, the only companies in front of them that are likely to obtain underwriting rights are Merrill Lynch and First Boston.

However, even if all kinds of capital in North America have already calculated the winning candidate, they are even ready to wait for the official announcement of the official cooperation between Merrill Lynch and Apple to communicate with Merrill Lynch and try to find out Apple's financing amount. When requesting a purchase allotment for a stock...

The details of the cooperation announced by Apple and Merrill Lynch at the signing ceremony made them frown.

"Minimum three point one percent?"

"Consultation fee two million?"

"Compared with the original quotation, Merrill Lynch actually increased the price?"

"What's happening here?"

When everyone discovered that Merrill Lynch seemed to have gained more benefits from the cooperation.

They were suddenly like two-foot-tall monks, confused!

They don't understand!

How can Merrill Lynch get more commission when Apple is in a strong position?

They can't figure it out!

When Merrill Lynch's initial quote was 2.5, why did the final commission come to 3.1?

Is it possible that Apple didn’t bargain?

Oh no!

Is this reverse bargaining by Apple?

Otherwise, how could there be such a result!

While the various capitals in North America were puzzled, Ethan Jones, who heard the news of the signing, leaned back in his seat in awe. He knew what the various capitals were confused about.

And this is actually the help given by Principal Fred Terman.

In June, after making the decision to take Apple public, Ethan went to the school and found the principal. At first, the old principal didn’t understand what kind of help he could give Apple in the matter of going public, but when Ethan said that he needed an investment bank that could take charge of the matter with him, he also expressed that he wanted to choose After the Dutch auction method was used to price Apple...

The old principal immediately saw his madness!

"Do you want to take off Wall Street this year just like you took down the Hollywood poker table last year?"

The old principal, who was sitting in a wheelchair and blowing on the air conditioner, asked with a smile.

"Yes."

Ethan nodded without hesitation.

"Why do this?"

The old principal was very curious.

"Because I hate the feeling of being coveted."

Ethan did not hesitate and told his story.

Although the principal knew everything about Ethan's experience, listening to the person involved and listening to the assistant's official report were two different things. Therefore, when Fred Terman learned that General Tire and the Ford family had broken their pretense and asked Ethan Jones to do things for him despite being disgusted by him, he felt that I could beat you. The feeling of you made him laugh out loud.

Even more relief flashed in those cloudy eyes.

"So you want to fight back?"

"Yes."

"You want to slap them all?"

"Do not."

"Do not?"

"Yes." Ethan nodded and said, "I don't want to slap all of them. What I want to do is, in front of all of them, poke their chests and say-"

"idiot."

"Oh——" The clear words made the old principal laugh.

After a while, the old man who had just celebrated his 80th birthday said: "So, you need an investment bank centered on you to handle Apple's listing?"

"Yes." Ethan nodded.

"Do you have a goal?"

"Can't be the enemy."

The non-nutritious answer made the old principal roll his eyes, then shook his head and said: "Okay, I won't force you anymore, asking you to tell Merrill Lynch is even more difficult than killing you..."

"You're lucky, I know people from Merrill Lynch."

"And they are indeed financial institutions from the military."

"I'll make this call for you." "Tell the truth."

"I've been dealing with those people for almost sixty years."

"I've never seen them get pointed at and scolded..."

As the old principal said, choosing Merrill Lynch was a decision Ethan had already made.

One is because they had no conflict before.

The second reason is that there is no conflict between them, which is related to Merrill Lynch's position.

Although in the future, it is the consensus of people all over the world that Wall Street will be equal to Jewish capital. In other words, it has almost become a mantra in the mouths of children that Jews control American finance and Angsa controls American military. But in fact, camp and position are not the same thing. , can never be simply and roughly divided.

Take Merrill Lynch, for example.

In a previous life, when Ethan was in class, the professor who taught "World Financial History" once mentioned that Merrill Lynch had always been at odds with the U.S. military and was the backbone of the Elephant Party.

Its representative figure is the Bush family, which has one family and two leaders.

The CIA director's maternal grandfather, George Walker, was a Wall Street banker. He founded Walker Banking and Investment Company in 1900, and helped the federal organization organize the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. In 2000, he became the owner of Brown Brothers Harry. Mann Company, which directly controlled all credit for American shipping and acquired American ships, was the founder of the famous Madison Square Garden, and after he retired, he also gave his son-in-law, Old Bush's father, , arranged to enter Brown Harriman.

Became one of the partners.

For countless people, this period of history may be a bit inexplicable, because George Walker has a fierce record but the company he controls is unknown. The reason for this situation is simple, that is, because George Walker's industries were eventually integrated into Merrill Lynch.

After being acquired by Merrill Lynch in the form of an equity swap, Shrub Bush's father became a shareholder and partner of Merrill Lynch. This shareholding is also the basis for the Shrub Bush family to enable their children to embrace finance.

And even if Merrill Lynch was acquired by Bank of America, they didn't take the money and leave.

In a parasitic way, continue to embrace the financial industry.

It was precisely because Merrill Lynch and the military were unclear that Ethan wanted them to be responsible for underwriting.

Ethan felt that as long as the old principal came forward, Merrill Lynch could meet his requirements.

And the fact is...

After getting out of the old principal's place, Ethan made an appointment with Jobs and headed to Alaska.

The east wind has arrived and it’s time to set sail!

When everything went according to plan, Ethan knew that his plan had been half successful, and the remaining half was to watch Merrill Lynch help Apple go through all the listing processes.

The two parties signed the cooperation agreement on August 1.

In mid-August, countless data in various reports have been sorted out.

At the end of August, a preliminary prospectus appeared with the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission.

There is only one most important information among them.

That is, the current total share capital of Apple is 302.43 million shares, and it plans to issue 35 million new shares, accounting for approximately 10.372% of the total share capital.

Aspirations to raise $300 million.

Although the proportion of Apple's new shares issuance is a bit small, in late September, the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission completed its review and issued a registration letter for the new share issuance.

Because Apple ultimately chose Nasdaq, there is no requirement that the initial public offering must not be less than the total share capital. It only requires that the applicant company can offer more than 1.25 million shares for public trading when it is listed. , and those shares do not include shares held by officers, directors, or any beneficial owner who owns more than ten percent of the company, that would pass.

Ever since, after receiving the approval, Apple cooperated with Merrill Lynch and started roadshow pricing.

When things came to this point, the guys who still didn't understand why Apple would bargain in reverse immediately gave up thinking and started chasing Apple's stock crazily.

Because Merrill Lynch adopts the inquiry method.

Therefore, all kinds of capital have quoted their own psychological prices.

Morgan Stanley's offer to Apple is US$7 per share, with a total market value of approximately 2.362 billion;

Goldman Sachs' offer to Apple is 7.2, with a total market value of approximately 2.429 billion;

Citigroup’s offer to Apple is 7.25, with a total market value of approximately 2.446 billion;

The prices given by capital giants such as the Ford Foundation, CBS Public Funds, Citibank, and Clover Fund are all very similar, and no one can give a valuation of more than 2.5 billion;

Among all the quotes, the lowest one was given by Warner Communications.

Steve Ross fired six like he was disgusting.

He felt that Apple was worth only two billion at most.

When the numbers come out…

Ethan immediately sneered.

At the beginning, when he took the graphical user interface, he valued Apple at almost twenty.

Xerox accepted the price.

Now, the patent is obtained, the chip is owned, and we have joined forces with IBM!

As a result, the share price given by Volkswagen to Apple only climbed to 24?

Ah--

These people are simply knocking at the bones and sucking out the marrow!

Because generally speaking, when a company makes its initial public offering of stock, it usually reserves most of its shares for institutional investors, and the ratio between the institutional and retail markets is basically nine to one.

In this case, if the price inquiry method is followed, Apple will issue 35 million shares, and 31.5 million shares will be bought by institutions. On the day of listing, these institutions only need to interpret the previous price. They can make a lot of money by controlling the stock price to rise due to the good news released by Sen.

This is also the reason why many companies' public pricing is much lower than the first day's closing price.

It’s not that capital cannot see value clearly.

Rather, capital is robbing enterprises.

For those people who go public just to sell the company, will the company suffer? That doesn't matter at all. But for people who want to run a good company, this kind of thing is intolerable.

Jobs couldn't stand it, so he agreed to Ethan's plan.

And Ethan...

After discovering that all his enemies, even the foundations controlled by Sony and Philips of North America, had made offers to get a share of the pie, he knew the time was right and called Jobs.

"Call Merrill Lynch."

"Tell them we're not happy with the current price."

"Next, we decided to auction off Apple stock in the Stanford Auditorium."

“The actual controller of the institutional investor who wants to buy must be physically present.”

"If they find it troublesome, they don't have to come."

The powerful words made Jobs nod his head repeatedly.

After Jobs conveyed Ethan's will to Merrill Lynch, the person in charge who had been following up on the matter suddenly became confused, "What the fuck???"

He cursed.

"auction?"

“Or a Dutch auction?”

"Oh! On! This doesn't work!"

"You are breaking the rules!"

The angry voice made Jobs roll his eyes.

He was too lazy to argue with the other party and said directly: "This is what Apple's third largest shareholder means."

"That day he will wield the hammer himself."

"As one of Apple's shareholders, President Fred Terman will be there."

"Mr. Lawrence Rockefeller will be here too."

"so……"

"Dissatisfied?"

"Hold it!"

"Bang -" Before he finished speaking, Jobs had already hung up the phone.

The next second, his pounding heart made him feel an inexplicable sense of relief.

While he was breathing heavily and his eyes were shining, the Merrill Lynch project leader, who felt that the matter was very difficult, immediately reported Apple's problems to the board of directors.

Then, he heard a very outrageous response——

"Just do it."

"What?" he screamed.

But soon, he smelled something unusual.

It reminds me of Steve Jobs’ inquiry when signing the contract before.

"Oh! Sxxt! This was planned!"

When this idea appeared, he no longer struggled with it.

If Fred Terman had said hello beforehand, this was an inning!

A game that suppresses financial capital and prevents them from jumping around!

Thinking of this, he immediately called his assistant.

"You go make the announcement."

"Just one sentence."

"After friendly negotiations between Merrill Lynch and Apple Computer, we now respect Apple Computer's decision to abandon the traditional IPO pricing method and use the Dutch auction method to determine the stock price."

"Time, announced by Apple Computer."

"Location: Stanford Auditorium."

"The hammer bearer, Ethan Jones."

The assistant looked horrified after hearing the brief content!

And when the female subordinate looked at her boss with wide eyes, she nodded cautiously and let her run out!

Immediately afterwards, the surprised emotion was like a whirlwind, sweeping across North America!

When countless capital tycoons learned that Ethan Jones had decided to use a Dutch auction to sell Apple's shares, they immediately smashed what they had in their hands!

Because they understand——

I was tricked by Ethan Jones! (End of chapter)