Shadow Empire

Chapter 479 The gentlemen have laid out their napkins and picked up their knives and forks.

When the president arrived at the meeting place, the vice president was chatting happily with several investors.

This made the president's mood slightly better. He simply tidied himself up and strode into the group.

These investors are well-known independent investors, and there are many of them in Detlan.

Someone once tried to find out where the funds of an independent investor came from.

There will always be people who are very interested in these famous or unknown independent investors. They even think that if they can get in touch with the source of funds behind these independent investors, they can bypass these people and talk directly to the capital party.

But the bad times have seen many people who were investigating the source of these funds disappear.

People soon realized that this was a forbidden area that could not be explored casually.

Perhaps behind these ordinary faces are those faces that are high up and often appear in current affairs news.

Even the face that appears in the largest office in the presidential palace is possible.

People no longer care about where the money comes from, they only care about whether the money can be invested in themselves.

"Sorry, something delayed me." He came and sat down at his seat.

The vice president was tactful enough not to take his position but to keep it on purpose. Although he didn't have any special feelings towards the vice president, he thought this guy was a good idea.

But I don’t have any other bad thoughts about him, and I don’t think that this person is a bad person.

Even if you are nice to someone, that person may not remember it.

But if you are mean to someone, he will definitely remember it, and remember it for the rest of his life!

"What were you talking about?" he asked.

The vice president explained, "We talked about the recent malicious short selling of us in the market."

The president immediately followed up the topic, "Yes, malicious short selling, this is bad."

"In fact, you all know that the profits of Liji Group are very stable every year. Especially this year, our financial report will give all investors a huge surprise!"

He glanced at the vice president, who seemed not to see his gaze, which made him relax a little, because it meant that the vice president had not said what he was about to say.

He couldn't always repeat what others had said, as it would make people think that he was a low-level CEO. "The implementation of the Prohibition caused the prices of all crops that can be used to make wine to soar rapidly, especially grapes, which have increased more than twenty times."

“The company’s assessor believes this is not the end of it.”

"We have signed agreements with many vineyards. For two or three years, we will purchase their grapes at a low price according to the contract price."

One investor raised his hand and said, "Sorry, I'll interrupt for a moment."

“What if the price of grapes increases more than twenty times and the vineyard owners are unwilling to sell to you?”

"Do you have any countermeasures?"

The president showed a reserved but smug smile on his face. "We will not allow such an obvious loophole to exist in this deal. If they breach the contract, we will demand liquidated damages from them at three times the market price of the grapes."

“No one will risk bankruptcy by refusing to fulfill a contract!”

They always use various unfair terms and regional monopoly power to frantically exploit the plantations below.

If they default, they can just pay a small sum to break the contract.

But if farmers and the like default, they will face the possibility of bankruptcy. Capital is never sentimental.

Affectionate feelings can never become capital!

The investor was very satisfied. “It looks like your profits in the next few years will be very high!”

The president nodded repeatedly, "Yes, very high."

"So you can fully believe that Liji Group is an investment project that can be held for a long time. The company's rate of return far exceeds the level of its peers!"

Several investors nodded. This was indeed the fact. When it came to shamelessness, Liji Group was indeed number one.

But everyone comes here for profit, not for a good reputation, so in the capital world, the Liji Group is more famous.

The words almost stopped here, and the ripples caused by the remaining little tail spread in everyone's heart.

The president didn't say what he wanted, but everyone knew it. For a moment, the room became unusually quiet, and several people focused more on the food in front of them.

The president glanced at the vice president and gave him a look, and the latter said, "Although our expected profits will continue to rise, the market has become less friendly due to the performance of some hyenas."

"In order to avoid situations that shouldn't happen, we hope to get some help."

One of the investors repeated his words, "Some help?"

The president took over the conversation and nodded, "Yes, some help."

"Help us to maintain our stock price. We may be able to release our full-year financial report, which was originally scheduled for January, two to three weeks earlier."

"So it's not a particularly risky thing to do, and it's quite profitable."

Several investors discussed in low voices for a while, and then the president put forward his goals and ideas, so they naturally wanted to discuss it for a while as well.

A few minutes later, one of the investors said, "Mr. President, what you are saying now is just what you said. We don't actually know the company's situation."

"But we are very willing to trust you and gain benefits from this opportunity for both of us."

"If possible, we want to get a deeper understanding of the Liji Group's situation in the next two days before making a decision. What do you think?"

The president nodded, "No problem, you're most welcome!"

He pursed his lips, "Are you free tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow we can get to know each other more deeply about investment issues."

The so-called mutual understanding must be that these people want to check the company's operating conditions and so on. If it was six hours ago, he would urge the other party to do it as soon as possible, but not so soon!

Now that the chairman of the board is dead, the stock market will inevitably plummet when it opens tomorrow. Coupled with the previous short selling by those financial hyenas, it will inevitably trigger a series of market reactions!
So he now really needs someone to back them up in the market, and these wealthy and mysterious independent investors are the best choice.

It's not just because they are rich, but also because of the connections behind them.

In order to protect their own wealth, these connections will definitely give some help to Liji Group!
Investors naturally would not refuse, so this was considered a successful communication.

After sending these people away, the president's expression immediately became serious. He said to the vice president beside him, "There is something I need to inform you of. The chairman accidentally fell into the water and passed away."

The vice president looked at him and slowly opened his mouth with a look of disbelief on his face.

The president sighed and said, "The company's stock will definitely plummet tomorrow morning. You have to appease the emotions of the employees, the board of directors, and the shareholders."

"We will get through this, and at this critical moment, we all need to unite!"

He patted the vice president on the shoulder and said, "I will propose to give you a portion of the shares left by the chairman."

"When this is over, my position will be reserved for you!"

The vice president quickly lowered his head, his eyes flickering in the darkness, showing little desire for what the president had said, nor any respect for him personally.

There were only some inexplicable emotions surging in his eyes.

He thought that Lance would deal with Mr. Chairman in the same way he dealt with Steven, but he did not expect that this time his methods were so "meticulous" that the President seemed to accept that Mr. Chairman's death was an "accident."

The next morning, just as the president had predicted, the share price of Liji Group began to plummet, falling by 7 percent as soon as the market opened.

For a company with a market value of over one billion, 7% means that 70 million in wealth evaporates in an instant!
And it keeps sliding down, no one knows where it will go!
The president came to the company early in the morning and waited for investors. If a large amount of money was invested in the market at this time, coupled with some public relations influence, people might think that this was a "washout". But no one came, so the president could only take the initiative to call the numbers on the business cards of these investors.

"...Hello, I am..., we met last night." He communicated in a gentle tone with a hint of smile.

But the person on the other end of the phone didn't seem so tactful. "Mr. President, I read the Detland Financial News this morning. You didn't tell me that the chairman of your company's board of directors drowned yesterday."

"Also, I found some reports about a director named Steven who also disappeared recently."

When the president heard these words, his mouth was dry. "I'm sorry, I didn't mention this, but I don't think these things have anything to do with the development of the company."

He emphasized, "Neither the chairman, the board members, nor myself can affect the company's profits and development!"

"We have the largest and most channels in the federal industry. Our profits do not come from the work of a certain management. Do you understand what I mean?"

But the investor on the phone was clearly not interested in investing anymore. “That’s what they said, but the current situation will bring more and greater risks due to the mistakes made by some reporters. You can’t deny that.”

"Every penny we have is very valuable. We can't invest more in a project with huge risks unless..."

The president's eyebrows twitched slightly, "Unless what?"

The sudden loud laughter of the investor in the receiver made the president feel vaguely that this might be a "plan".

"Unless the risks are as great as the rewards, Mr. President!"

The president vaguely realized their thoughts and said in a slightly heavier tone, "I'll think about it."

He hung up the phone and rubbed his temple, but he didn't have much time at the moment. Soon the phone in front of him rang. He said a few words and hung up.

About ten minutes later, several shareholders broke into his office.

"If the newspaper hadn't told me that something had happened in the boardroom, I wouldn't even know what had happened!"

The shareholder who was walking in front of him started to make trouble right away, and the president had to stand up and said, "I can explain..."

"I don't want to hear any explanation. I just want to know how you can deal with the current situation?"

"Many people outside are predicting the company's decline. Our wealth is shrinking rapidly. What we want is a solution, not an explanation!"

This is actually a very bad situation, just like Mr. Jobaf's bank.

If there hadn't been a bank run, he might have been able to hold on.

If depositors trust him and do not run on him, then the public utilities he has invested in, those bonds, those options, all kinds of wealth.

Perhaps when they mature and are redeemed, they will be able to fill everyone's gaps.

Even if it cannot be filled, the size of the hole is not too big, but because the run came too quickly and too crazy, people lost their reason and trust, and he had no way to do anything.

Companies, especially listed companies, and especially listed companies under the capitalist system, are actually similar to banks.

Reputation and confidence are very important factors!

Most companies will borrow money, have debt problems, and have a debt ratio.

A company is considered financially healthy if its debt ratio does not exceed half.

The bigger the company, the more places where money needs to be paid. For example, the trade relationship between Liji Group and the contracted farmers is often not settled immediately.

They will first take the agricultural products from farmers, and then put them on the market without processing them, or after rough processing.

Those big customers will not pay them immediately. They will sell 70% of the goods first and then settle part of the payment.

Only when the goods are almost all sold will we settle the payment when we purchase more goods, and then we will continue to purchase goods and keep the payment.

After receiving the money, the Liji Group has to pay employees' salaries and various expenses. They will not settle the farmers' money immediately, but will settle part of it.

The purpose of doing this is not only to obtain cash flow, but also more of a business strategy.

As long as you don't pay off all the money for the goods, the farmers will endure it if they are treated unfairly.

Because there is still a large sum of money in the hands of the company, if they fall out, the farmer will worry whether he can get the money back.

After all, in the federal government, collecting the balance requires litigation, and litigation means hiring a lawyer, which means overwhelming litigation costs.

The bigger the Liji Group is, the more money it owes.

There are a lot of loans, including payments from farmers, payments from some upstream and downstream companies, and bank loans and private loans.

When Liji Group's operations are normal, these people will not take the initiative to ask them for the payment for the goods. After all, they still have to do business in the future and cannot fall out with them.

However, once problems arise in the operations of the Liji Group, or a large amount of negative news appears, causing creditors to lose trust and confidence in them, they will also face the terrible situation of a "bank run".

Phone calls kept coming in asking for the outstanding debts. Farmers, upstream and downstream companies, and even banks began to urge them to pay back the money as soon as possible!
A company owes you one million. Now you hear that the company is going bankrupt. The only thing you will do is to call them and urge them to pay back the money as soon as possible!
This will exacerbate the company's cash flow and may lead to bankruptcy.

This is also the reason why the president went to find those investors!

He needs someone to back up the stocks and rebuild the trust and confidence of investors and corporate partners!

He wanted to let these people know that this was not an insurmountable difficulty and that business would soon return to normal!

But first, you have to come up with something convincing, and show determination and courage!

Of course, the current situation is not particularly bad. After all, for the company, it is just a little unexpected thing in the board of directors and some rumors outside.

So the president immediately said in a deep voice, "If we ourselves become uncalm, how can we convince the outside world that everything in the company is normal?"

"Trust me, I will solve these problems. I am more worried about the company than you are!"

"But I know better than you that there won't be any accidents in the company. Next week, we will release this year's financial report. I believe everything will be fine when they see it."

He comforted the shareholders, "Three days, I promise, everything will be fine in three days, and everything will be back to its original position in one to two weeks!"

Several shareholders stared at him with slightly red eyes, and the one in front said, "You'd better do what you promised!"

After a good deal of consolation, he calmed down these people and asked the vice president to deal with the shareholders and creditors, while he summoned the heads of several departments to his office.

"I need to respond immediately, to make our position known, to collect comments that are unfavorable to us, and then to sue them!"

"This was clearly premeditated. They were in league with the financial hyenas and asked the news department to release the announcement."

"We will hold all media outlets that maliciously spread rumors accountable, including individuals and organizations. We will hold them accountable."

"We also told people that the board of directors would change. The death of the former chairman of the board was just a replacement in advance. It has nothing to do with our business performance."

"Also, go and pin those most aggressive lackeys to death in their mud!"

"I'll give you a week. If the situation doesn't get better after a week, then you'll have to go back and pack up your things and get out of the company!"

The president’s roar in the conference room became the focus of discussion among all employees. Some people thought that these were minor issues, but others felt that the company had encountered big problems.

They even privately speculated when the company would go bankrupt!

Even people within the company think so, let alone people outside the company.

The president is very busy. He keeps meeting with bank executives, the mayor, congressmen, and all kinds of people.

Within two or three days, he was able to turn the situation around a little.

But just when he breathed a sigh of relief and thought things would get better, another very bad thing, something no one expected, happened...

(End of this chapter)