Chapter 552 Meeting with Warren Buffett

"Okay, let's go." Su Yiyi said with a smile after hearing this;

Even though she is already a mother of two children, she still has a girlish mentality because her life became carefree after Yang Wendong's successful business in the early years. She is also very happy to have a private jet.
The Yang family does not pursue extreme luxury, but they still like to enjoy things. Life is only a hundred years at most, and the time for leisure and enjoyment may not be even half of that. All we can say is that we need to cherish and enjoy our time. Otherwise, what is the point of working so hard to start a business?

Yang Wendong also smiled and said, "It's not that fast. You need to apply for a flight route, but there will be a special company that can take care of it."

Unlike cars and ships, private planes cannot fly at will. They must strictly follow airspace requirements. If you fly the wrong way or fly recklessly, you will face escort from the Air Force and penalties. After 911/, things are even more serious.

However, money talks. As long as there is enough money, the route can usually be arranged urgently. After all, the United States is not like China, which relies heavily on air travel. This aspect is not very strict at present, and there are not many private planes.

On the 22nd, Yang Wendong and others arrived at the headquarters of Berkshire Hathaway as scheduled;

Buffett, David Joseph and other major shareholders and management of the company also came to the company headquarters to meet with the new shareholder.

"Hello, Mr. Buffett." Yang Wendong said with a smile and shook hands.

Yang Wendong still had some respect for this stock god. Although he had no actual output in finance, reaching the pinnacle was also a manifestation of ability. It was just that this ability was a little different from what Yang Wendong thought.
However, everyone has their own aspirations. Since finance exists and supports so many large companies and people on Wall Street, it naturally has its strengths. Finance is not only a tool to make money very quickly, but it can also be a weapon. There is no hot weapon war, but financial weapons will also be one of the synonyms of power.

Buffett also shook hands and said, “Mr. Yang, I have checked your information these days, and I have to say that I also admire your process of starting from scratch.

If you were an American and developed in the United States, your achievements today would definitely be higher, and you might even have the opportunity to become a guest of the White House. "

Buffett is not a self-made man in the strict sense, but he thinks so. Many super-rich people are unwilling to admit that they have developed by relying on the influence of their parents. This is also a very strange social mentality.
Therefore, he also admired Yang Wendong, a person who started from scratch, and most people would like him very much as long as he was not his rival.

Yang Wendong said with a smile: "Every place has its own advantages. Maybe you can't start your business in the same way in the United States."

"With Mr. Yang's ability, a different approach would work," Buffett said.

"Maybe." Yang Wendong did not deny it. As a time traveler, as long as he got the first pot of gold, there would be basically no problem in the future.

Seeing that the two major shareholders had finished their greetings, CEO David Joseph quickly said, "Mr. Yang, please come in. We will introduce our company to you first."

As a listed company, Berkshire Hathaway has a lot of information publicly available, but that is just basic operating data. In order to attract shareholders, it is natural to introduce a little more.
Of course, no core secrets will be involved, and they are not fools. At most, it will be some more detailed information that can be made public.

Soon, everyone came to the conference room, and David personally introduced the operation of Berkshire to everyone. After a while, David said: "Mr. Yang, the company's current situation is a bit serious, and the funds are not very good. If you are interested in increasing the capital, why not consider giving the funds directly to the company?"

If Yang Wendong continues to make acquisitions on the stock market, the money will eventually be taken away by some shareholders; but through a targeted share increase, the company can get this money.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "If your board of directors and shareholders agree, then there is no problem. However, I can only acquire another 4.9% of the shares at most. This number is not much and it cannot solve the current problem of Berkshire."

The decline of an old company is mostly due to problems in the industry or being eliminated by the market. In the 70s, engaging in the textile industry in the United States was equivalent to chronic suicide. There was no way out. More funds would only slow down the company's development.

Buffett asked: "Mr. Yang, do you have any way to help Berkshire get rid of its current problems?"

It is not surprising for a successful overseas person to come to the United States to invest, but it is a bit strange to invest in a sunset industry; this is also something Buffett needs to know because it may affect his future plans.

Yang Wendong said: "Labor costs in the United States are getting higher and higher, and the power of labor unions is growing. In addition, the popularity of global trade and the reduction of shipping costs by containers are all things that you all know without me saying much. Capital, like water, flows to lower places. The textile industry requires a lot of labor costs, which is no longer feasible in the United States and must be relocated.
So my suggestion is that we cooperate, Berkshire and my company in Hong Kong, to build a large high-end textile factory in Hong Kong, from the earliest chemical material production and dyeing to the later clothing products. Only in this way can we minimize the cost. "

This is also his second major purpose of investing in Berkshire, to move the equipment and technology of this old textile group to Hong Kong;

You know, Berkshire currently controls more than 10,000 jobs in the United States. If it moves to Hong Kong, labor costs will be reduced and the market will expand, and the number of jobs may increase several times, which can even be said to be equivalent to building another half of Changxing Industrial.
After a dozen years, if they migrate back to China, it may create jobs for tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people, and the output value will be very large.

It is essentially similar to my collaboration with RCA, except that it is not as important. However, it is also very helpful for controlling my own employment.

"Invest in Asia?" Buffett and David were silent for a moment. David asked, "Mr. Yang, I have actually considered investing overseas. For example, we once invested in Mexico, but we found that the quality management and management costs there were not very good. As a result, the total cost was not much worse than that in the United States."

"That's because that's Mexico, and I'm talking about Hong Kong." Yang Wendong said with a faint smile: "You can send someone to Hong Kong to take a look. I also have many factories in Hong Kong. You can go and see the capabilities of the local workers.

You should also know that RCA has already built a factory in Hong Kong, and some of the televisions they produce will be sold back to the United States. They are all approved by RCA. Could it be that your textile industry is more complicated than color TV? Is it more difficult? "

Countries like Mexico and India can be said to be hopeless. As early as the 50s, Europe and the United States had already discovered that many of their industries were not suitable to continue to be retained, especially some simple industries with heavy pollution or high labor costs;
Mexico is close to the United States and Europe, and the native language of India is English. The labor costs in both countries are very low, making them the most suitable investment targets.
As a result, decades later, in 2020, they are still thinking about taking over some industries in the mainland. You know, the mainland was reformed and opened up in 78, but the real large-scale development of industry was not until after the 90s.

"RCA?" Buffett, David and others were also a little hesitant. If a large home appliance company dared to invest, it at least showed that the local environment and policies were good.

Yang Wendong then took out a document and gave it to a few people, saying: “This is the cooperation model between me and RCA. You can take a look. We can still adopt this cooperation model. The shares and investment amount can be negotiated.

If you think the risk is too high, you can start by investing in a smaller factory. I welcome that.”

I have had experience working with a large American company, and this is a good example of how to persuade others.

David and his friends took the information and looked at it, then said, "Mr. Yang, RCA's factory in Hong Kong is mainly for the Commonwealth market. If we go there, will we also focus on developing the Commonwealth market?"

"Both are fine, but the traditional industry is already seriously saturated. If you want to expand, the investment will probably be much higher than the cost of building a factory." Yang Wendong added: "The safest way is to supply the US market in the early stage. If you are sure that this line is feasible and can stabilize the market, then consider the Commonwealth."

Buffett suddenly asked, "Mr. Yang, I heard that you have a lot of resources in Asia and the Commonwealth countries. If we cooperate, you should be able to help us open up some channels, right?"

"In the long run, yes, but not in the short run. It is impossible to invest so many resources into the sales channels of the clothing industry in the next few years." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "But I am also constantly developing in this field, and I may achieve certain results in the future."

The biggest cost for clothing chain stores is rent, but as long as you have already laid out some real estate in major Asian cities, this problem can be easily solved;
However, our own funds are limited. Core industries such as KFC, Carrefour, home appliance stores, and cinemas are our top priorities. As for clothing sales, they are mainly based on franchising, so it is difficult to guarantee how fast they can develop.

However, when he has enough funds in the future, he also hopes to establish large chain enterprises like ZARA and UNIQLO, because such enterprises can easily control the fate of the textile industry in many small countries, even decades later.

David and Buffett lowered their heads and chatted for a while, and finally said: "Mr. Yang, we also need to investigate this matter carefully before we can have an answer."

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Of course."

PS: Ask for monthly ticket

(End of this chapter)

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