The Industrial Giant Reborn.

Chapter 529: Costco prepares to go public
"Yes, and no." Pierce took a sip of strong coffee, smiled and shook his head and said: "Who wants to leave after becoming the CEO of such a powerful company, but there is nothing I can do about it as I get older. Even in the past two years, I have clearly felt By the time Costco was first established, physical fitness was much worse.”

"You are less than 70 now. Although you are not young, there are still some CEOs of your age in the United States. Is there something wrong with your health?" Chen Zhiwen asked again.

If you are an ordinary worker or a heavy manual laborer, you will definitely die when you are in your 60s. But for managers or technical positions, there is generally no big problem. For example, many technical personnel in later generations were rehired after retirement, such as doctors. , teachers, etc., managers are not a problem anymore. Before Chen Zhiwen traveled through time, Buffett was still managing Berkshire Hathaway in his 80s, and Li Jiacheng did not retire until he was almost 90 years old. Several wealthy families in Hong Kong They all retire in their seventies or eighties.

As long as the brain function does not deteriorate on a large scale, and with suitable assistants, there is no big problem in managing the company. However, I am afraid that there will be physical problems, such as Steve Jobs, who died of cancer even if he was so rich.

"That's not true, it's just that I'm simply not able to do what I want." Pierce said with a smile: "And it's not just me, many of the company's top executives are very old, and more than half of them are older than me. Eric, you know that for a big company For a company, this is very dangerous. The most important asset of any company is its people. We also need a large number of young and capable people as a reserve force, so that they can slowly take over the entire company. How many years will it take? , if our group of people really retires, then they will take over, and this process must be done slowly and not too hastily."

"You mean, we have to prepare the next generation of successors?" Chen Zhiwen also understood.

This is indeed true. Not to mention a large company with a turnover of billions of dollars, even a small company, choosing a suitable general manager often requires a year and a half of research. But what Costco is facing now is not The aging of a CEO affects the entire existing management.

In fact, when he invested in Costco many years ago, he knew that he would definitely need to consider this issue in the next ten years or so, because Pierce's management had started his business with him as early as the 50s, and they were all very young. , but it also has a side benefit, that is, when Costco becomes larger, they will not be able to stay in power for a long time, and the second-generation management, boss Chen Zhiwen, can easily handle it. This is also because, No matter what company it is, the management that makes the company bigger will have a very large power and network of relationships. Even the boss will have a hard time touching them.

In addition, in the past, these people were the ones who made warehouse supermarkets bigger. Chen Zhiwen didn't understand this industry very well and couldn't stay in the United States for a long time. So letting them run and manage it was the best choice.

"Yes, otherwise it will be very troublesome if something goes wrong in the future." Pierce nodded and said. After ten years of running the company and watching Costco grow, he naturally hopes that the company can develop smoothly even after he retires, let alone He said that after ten years of operation, plus the agreement he signed with Chen Zhiwen, he already owns more than 5% of Costco stocks. This will also be a huge fortune. He also needs to consider the future generations of his family. If Costco continues to develop smoothly, his descendants can also enjoy this endless wealth.

"Training new people is not a problem. Whether it is selective training internally or recruiting from the outside, as long as you have time, you can always find the right one. But the problem is, Pierce, if you can let go of your power, what about the others?" Chen Zhiwen nodded. said.

People all have selfish motives, so who is willing to give up the rights in their hands?For example, Kodak and Nokia, which have been abandoned by the times, do they really not know that the times have changed?
No, they all know it, but the vested interests are too great. The livelihood of millions of farm workers cannot be changed at all. Even with the tram reform decades later, companies like Volkswagen Toyota will also face the same problem.

Of course, the problems Costco is facing now are much smaller than those caused by the reforms of the times, but it is also more troublesome than other companies changing management. After all, other large companies have a long history, and people of all ages Duan's talent pool is abundant, and Costco, like the Internet companies of later generations, has risen in a short period of time.

"There will definitely be a lot of troublesome problems, but this is what we have to face and solve them one by one, so we need to do this a few years in advance." Pierce said.

The dozens of people who followed him to conquer the world are now in high-level positions. With the same interests, everyone gets along well with each other. However, there are definitely some people who may not be willing to give up their power. Not everyone , all want to retire when they reach age, and some people just like to control power. Training the next generation of successors will inevitably infringe on the rights of these people, because training people does not just go to school and stay in the classroom to study. It requires practical operation and then selecting the right person from among many people, which means decentralizing power to a certain extent.

"This matter does require a long time to prepare. However, the core of Costco is not the headquarters, but each branch, logistics and distribution department, and purchasing department. Let's start with the branches. The branches we will build in the future. Try to arrange younger people to manage, then select suitable talents, slowly manage the area, and then come to the headquarters." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

In fact, this kind of thing is not only true for Costco, but also for its own company in Hong Kong. Maybe it is not needed now, but it will be the same in more than ten or twenty years. But fortunately, it has absolute prestige over there in Hong Kong. At the same time, The essence of Hutchison Land is a large amount of asset investment, but the demand for people is not as high as Costco.

"Well, actually, I have been doing this in recent years. The new stores built since the 80s are basically managed by the younger generation, as well as the purchasing department and warehouse management department. I am also working on this The direction is arranged," Pierce said with a smile.

"As expected of you, you did a great job." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.A big reason why I felt relieved about Pierce at the beginning was that in his original history, in the late 80s, he sold his company to others and did not let his children take over the company. Although there are certain reasons, it may be that their descendants do not have this ability, but it is already stronger than most people, such as Wang An, a Chinese who is relatively famous in the United States.

The decline of Wang An Computer was due to the times. He failed to seize the opportunities of the new era. In fact, it was also due to personal reasons. Wang An was determined to pass the company on to his incompetent children, which caused the company's senior management to become alienated and busy with infighting. It missed the era of personal computer development and was eventually eliminated.

"Before, I could only lean in a little bit, but now if I want to support the younger generation on a large scale, I need your support." Pierce said with a smile.

"Of course I will support you, but there will be others." Chen Zhiwen paused and said, "Pierce, Costco has developed to this day and has become one of the top ten retail companies in the United States. It is so large, especially The major shareholder is still me, a Chinese, and I think it’s time to go public.”

The current relationship between China and the United States is pretty good, and there have been no problems recently. As for my Hong Kong identity, I have a certain degree of background in the Commonwealth.

Therefore, the current investment and industrial problems in the United States are not big. After all, they do not involve sensitive areas. However, the problem is that Costco’s scale is a bit too big, and the potential in the future is even greater. If we do not win over a group of It is unlikely that the United States will directly take action against the wealthy businessmen in the future without the convenience of the government, but it is hard to say about the local consortium. No one will care about a super retail group.

Going public can not only win over a group of consortiums, but also many investors. Although things like presidential elections or parliamentary elections are not absolutely fair, a larger number can still have some influence. At the same time, after being listed, it can also win over a lot of investors. It is convenient for you to cash out a certain amount of funds.

"Since last year, the inflation problem in the United States has slowly begun to improve, the benchmark interest rate has dropped, and the stock market has begun to recover. Going public at this time is a good choice, and only after we go public can we further develop and grow." Pierce nodded and said.

After going public, not only can you get a sum of funds in the first financing, but you can also use many financial means to gather funds in the future. This is the benefit of going public. Otherwise, more than 9% of the world's largest companies would not be able to raise funds. Choose to go public.

"But before I go public, I want to raise money again, for the last time, to attract some consortiums from the United States and Europe. I think it's time to enter the European market." Chen Zhiwen added.

Although in the original history, whether it was Wal-Mart or Costco, the results after entering other continents were not very good, but that only means that they cannot achieve the same results in the United States, not that they do poorly.

Take Wal-Mart as an example. Except for some countries, it is doing well in other places. Even if its foreign branches do not make money, what about the headquarters?Not necessarily. You must know that Wal-Mart's procurement and interest chain are in the United States, and it is very simple to transfer profits.

This is just like Costco's procurement chain. Except for the procurement of some local products, most of them are in Hong Kong. This is also a way for Chen Zhiwen to control Costco's profits. By transferring profits through this model, even if Costco in the future Even if the equity is diluted after the listing, it can ensure that the loss is not large.

Of course, there is a degree to everything. If you do it too obviously, other shareholders and the government tax department are not fools.There are unspoken rules in any industry, but they should not be taken too far.

"European market? You can open a few branches and try it out first." Pierce didn't care about this. He thought about it and said: "Since we are going to raise funds, let me release the news and see the attitude of the capital market."

"Not only the financing, but also the news about preparations for listing should be released together." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)