Reborn as a tycoon in Hong Kong

The four largest foreign banks in Hong Kong are Hutchison Whampoa, Swire Pacific, Jardine Matheson and Wheelock.

Among them, the Swire Group is particularly different from the other three foreign companies. That is, although the Swire Group is also listed in Heung Kong, the company is headquartered in London, England, and is controlled by the British Swire Group. The British Swire Group holds 34% of the Heung Kong Swire Group. of shares.

Given the stake held by the British Swire Group in the Heungkong Swire Group, it is basically impossible for outsiders to seize control of the Heungkong Swire Group from the British Swire Group.

The family that controls the British Swire Group is the Swire Group. The chairman of this company has always been a member of the Swire Group. The Swire family has a strong control over the Swire Group.

The current chairman of the Swire Group is York Kidston Swire, the fourth generation heir of the Swire family. However, he is already 70 years old. Although he serves as the chairman of the Swire Group, he is now basically out of work.

York Swire has two sons, both of whom work in the Swire Group. Among them, the eldest son, John Swire, works for the British Swire Group, and the second son, Siyadi Swire, works in Xiangjiang.

Schwarzenegger Swire was in charge of the Swire Properties business in the past few years. Now, as York Swire has gradually delegated power, he has become the chairman and chief executive of Heungkong Swire Group, and has joined the board of directors. Basically, he has been clearly defined as the next generation successor of the Swire family.

The reason why it is not 100% certain yet is because before the death of York Shwaiya, if Shi Yadi Shuaiya made a major mistake, he would definitely be deprived of the family heir qualification.

For several generations, senior representatives of the Schweizer family have long served as members of the Executive Council or Legislative Council of the Hong Kong government and the United Kingdom, and their strength and connections are not weak.

Lin Baicheng and others began to publicize the Hong Kong government and promote the establishment of Hong Kong Airlines. Although they thought they were doing it covertly, Shi Yadi Shihuaiya learned the relevant news in just two days.

Unlike Hutchison Whampoa, which had hundreds of subsidiaries at the time, Swire Group's business is relatively concentrated, with its main businesses including shipping, real estate, sugar, beverages, aviation, and hotels.

Among them, the aviation business of Cathay Pacific is one of the most stable and profitable businesses and is a pillar industry.

Therefore, upon learning that Lin Baicheng and others wanted to set up an airline and enter the aviation industry to compete with Cathay Pacific, Schiadie Schweizer immediately convened a board of directors to unify the opinions of directors and shareholders and make every effort to prevent Lin Baicheng and others from entering the aviation industry.

The Swire family and some British-owned families holding shares in the Swire Group immediately took action and frequently contacted senior officials of the Hong Kong government.

While doing public relations for the Hong Kong government, Schwarzenegger also asked John Swire in London to walk around with some members of Congress. Once Hong Kong cannot convince the Hong Kong government, the Swire family will have no choice but to put pressure on the Hong Kong government from Downing Street.

However, if you are not forced to do so, it is best not to do so, because doing so will definitely offend many important officials in the Hong Kong government, especially the Governor of Hong Kong, John Malihose, and will inevitably have an adverse impact on the future development of the Swire Group.

Lin Baicheng had already met with Mailihao. Mailihao did not object to Lin Baicheng and others establishing an airline, but he also said that he could not help with this kind of thing. He asked Lin Baicheng and the others to have more public relations people, so that everyone would agree or agree. It is best not to object.

Therefore, Lin Baicheng and the others continued to publicize other important figures in the Hong Kong government. In the process, the news spread and reached Shi Yadi Shihuaiya.

As soon as Shi Yadi Shihuai Ya and other British-owned families moved, Lin Baicheng immediately got the news. He did not make so much money for the top officials of the Hong Kong government in vain, not to mention that there were many people who invested a lot of money in Yum Fund, so some of it was artificial He tipped off the news.

After learning the news, Lin Baicheng and others couldn't actually do much. All they could do was publicize the Hong Kong government officials. This would be a tug-of-war that would be difficult to end in a short time.

Lin Baicheng doesn't need to focus all his energy on this matter. He just needs to make people pay attention to the progress, meet with some important officials when necessary, and persuade them. He can handle other company affairs as usual.

The day after Thanksgiving, Hutchison Hotel was officially completed and the ribbon was cut for business.

Hutchison Hotel, as you can tell from the name, it is a company under the name of Hutchison Whampoa.

The hotel industry is still very promising, but the establishment of Hutchison Hotel was mainly because Lin Baicheng had to go to a hotel under the name of someone else for a party, which was a bit inconvenient, so he wanted to set up a hotel under his own control.

On the day when the Hutchison Hotel opened for business, Lin Baicheng not only invited a number of Chinese-owned families with whom he had contacts, but also sent invitation letters to companies that did business with Hutchison Whampoa, regardless of whether they were British-owned or Chinese-owned.

For the ribbon-cutting of Hutchison Hotel, Lin Baicheng not only invited Mai Lihao, but also Shen Zhou, and both of them agreed with dignity.

Lin Baicheng was naturally one of the ribbon-cutters. He even invited Bao Yugang and Iwasaki Mineryu as ribbon-cutters.

As for Huo Yingdong and the two presidents of Xinhua News Agency, it was difficult to invite them. Hutchison Hotel is affiliated with Hutchison Whampoa. Inviting them is likely to affect Hutchison Whampoa's stock price. He is not only responsible for his own assets, but also for the assets of shareholders, and cannot be willful.

After the ribbon-cutting, guests enter the Hutchison Hotel, where a party will be held.

"Sheng Lin, Sheng Bao, why do you suddenly want to enter the aviation industry?"

Several people chatted with Mai Lihao, and Shen Porridge suddenly said something to Lin Baicheng and Bao Yugang.

Lin Baicheng and Bao Yugang couldn't help but look at each other. Lin Baicheng was the first to speak out: "The main reason is that I am very optimistic about the development of the aviation industry. You should know, Taipan Shen. I had previously entrusted HSBC to acquire Cathay Pacific from the Swire Group. of."

"The Swire Group refused to sell. I thought you, Lin Sheng, had given up. I didn't expect you, Lin Sheng, and Bao Sheng to set up a new airline together with the three of them."

Shen Porridge shook his head, he had not thought of this. This time, he is on the side of the Swire Group. The reason is very simple. HSBC holds some shares of the Swire Group. The damage to the interests of the Swire Group is equivalent to the damage to the interests of HSBC.

"Competition can only lead to development. Cathay Pacific currently has a monopoly on Hong Kong's aviation industry. This is unreasonable."

Lin Baicheng said to Mailihao: "Only when two or even more companies compete, airlines will put customer service first, and the interests of customers can be protected. Under a monopoly, even if customers have some interest in Cathay Pacific I am dissatisfied and have no choice but to swallow my anger."

Maliho couldn't help but feel moved after hearing this. Although he knew that Lin Baicheng said this just to set up an airline and enter the aviation industry to make money, Cathay Pacific monopolizes the aviation industry in Hong Kong, and the people really have no other choice, which is disadvantageous to the people. .

Shen Chow immediately said: "Cathay Pacific has always done a good job in serving the people and listening to their opinions. If there were people who were really dissatisfied with Cathay Pacific, they would have complained to the Hong Kong government long ago."

Bao Yugang told Mailihao: "The establishment of Xiangjiang Airlines will not only provide more choices for the people and provide better services, but also provide more jobs."

"And that's it."

Lin Baicheng said: "The establishment of Xiangjiang Airlines will provide a new route, make Xiangjiang more closely connected with the world, and be conducive to the development of Xiangjiang's economy and tourism."

"Cathay Pacific has been working hard to open more routes to contribute to the development of Hong Kong and serve the people of Hong Kong."

Shi Yadi Shihuaiya walked over while he was talking and raised his wine glass to greet several people.

"Mr. Schweizer!"

Lin Baicheng clinked glasses with Shi Yadi Shihuaiya.

Hutchison Whampoa has business dealings with the Swire Group, mainly shipyard business. The business of the Hutchison Whampoa naturally sent an invitation letter to the Swire Group. And Shi Yadi Shihuai, who knew that Lin Baicheng was leading the establishment of the airline, decided to come and take a look.

"Lin Sheng, you control Hutchison Whampoa. Hutchison Whampoa itself already covers many industries. In addition, you also have Asia Star Media Group, Hong Kong Electric Group, Galaxy Bank, Jupiter Toys and other companies, covering many industries. Why bother? What about entering the aviation industry again?”

"You have entered so many industries, and now you are just like Hutchison Whampoa before losing weight. It is huge, but people's energy is limited. Instead of entering many industries, it is better to concentrate on developing enterprises in a few industries. .”

Shi Yadi Shihuai still hopes to persuade Lin Baicheng to prevent Lin Baicheng from entering the aviation industry to compete with Cathay Pacific.

Lin Baicheng said with a smile: "I am optimistic about the development prospects of Hong Kong's economy, so I believe that no matter which industry we invest in, as long as the company operates well, we can make money, and the aviation industry is no exception."

After hearing this, Shi Yadi Shihuaiye stopped talking to Lin Baicheng, but looked at MacLehose and said: "Sir, airlines are no more important than other industries. It is related to the safety of the people. The new company will definitely not do as well as Cathay Pacific. Once an accident occurs, It’s not good for anyone.”

Bao Yugang immediately said: "We will definitely do a good job in safety work. After the company is established, we will not put it into operation immediately. Instead, we will purchase civil aviation aircraft from the Boeing Company in the United States. At the same time, we will ask the other party to guide our pilots. We will definitely first put them into operation before putting them into operation." Fly for a while and make sure it’s safe.”

"Today is a good day for Hutchison Hotel to open, so we won't talk about it."

Maliho did not respond directly to Lin Baicheng and Shi Yadi Shihuai Ya, but changed the topic.

Seeing this, Lin Baicheng and Shi Yadi Shihuaiya couldn't say anything else. They were not qualified to force Mailihao to take sides. It should be said that they were both fighting for Mailihao's support. It was they who begged Mailihao to do something.

After a while, Lin Baicheng and Bao Yugang left.

Bao Yugang said: "Lin Sheng, HSBC holds a lot of shares in the Swire Group, so it will do its best to stop us. You must be mentally prepared."

"It's obvious, but HSBC won't be the main force. It will only be a sideline, unless HSBC doesn't want to cooperate with me. But Cathay Pacific's interests don't allow HSBC to do this."

Lin Baicheng nodded to express his understanding, but he was not too worried.

If it were Galaxy Bank that affected HSBC's interests, HSBC would be able to suppress it with all its strength. Cathay Pacific's interests would not have a great impact on HSBC, and HSBC would not be able to lose big for a small gain.

"HSBC is definitely not going to do that."

Bao Yugang is very sure of this. It would be great if HSBC can make a small contribution.

After Lin Baicheng chatted with Bao Yugang for a few words, he said hello to Bao Yugang and went to greet and chat with other guests. He is different from Bao Yugang. Hutchison Hotel is a property under his name. He is the owner today and must go to greet the guests.

On Mailihao's side, after Lin Baicheng and Bao Yugang left, other tycoons went to chat with Mailihao. Upon seeing this, Shi Yadi Shihuaiya found an opportunity to call Shen Porridge to a quiet place to talk.

"Taipan, Cathay Pacific is an important industry of the Swire Group. I hope HSBC can support me."

Shi Yadi Shihuaiya seeks the support of HSBC. With HSBC's energy, if HSBC is willing to provide strong assistance, he has great confidence in stopping Lin Baicheng and the others.

"Chairman Shi Yadi, HSBC will definitely support Swire Group, but HSBC has a lot of business dealings with Hutchison Whampoa, so HSBC can only provide limited support."

Shen Zhou expressed his willingness to help, but HSBC would not seriously offend a major customer and have trouble with money.

Shi Yadi Shihuai couldn't help but frown after hearing this: "Taipan, you should know that Lin Baicheng has his own bank in his name, and it is impossible for him and HSBC to continue to cooperate. Besides, he is Chinese, and his current assets are already swollen enough. , we should unite and not let him develop any further."

"Chairman Shi Yadi, even if we know some things, there is still nothing we can do. We can't go too far and can only solve them through commercial means. But you have also seen that the companies under Lin Sheng's name are developing very well. Even if you want to target him, you can't do anything about it." There is no good means.”

Shen Chow is still very clear-headed. Today's Hong Kong is no longer the same as it was in the 1950s and 1960s, or even before the founding of the People's Republic of China. The Hong Kong government and British capital can no longer do whatever they want.

Take Lin Baicheng as an example. Even if the British wanted to deal with Lin Baicheng, who was close to the mainland, it would not work to directly confiscate Lin Baicheng's property or falsely accuse Lin Baicheng of committing a crime. Mainland officials would definitely protect Lin Baicheng to the death.

It is impossible for the British to confront a big country over such a thing, so this method must not be used.

Therefore, to suppress Lin Baicheng, we can only use some administrative means and commercial means to suppress Lin Baicheng, so that his company's business cannot continue.

Take Hutchison Whampoa as an example. If the Hong Kong government wants to suppress it, it can only stop selling land to Hutchison Whampoa. Departments such as the Health Bureau often go to Watsons for inspections. If Hutchison Whampoa has any documents to apply for, try to delay the time as long as possible, etc. and similar means.

"As long as we are willing, we will find a way."

Shi Yadi Shihuaiya disagreed. In his opinion, as long as HSBC was willing to take the lead and many British-owned families worked together, it would not be difficult to suppress Lin Baicheng.

"This is not the place for conversation. Let's find another time to talk about this topic later."

Seeing a guest coming this way, Shen Porridge immediately ended the conversation.

Shen Porridge did not resolutely express his unwillingness to deal with Lin Baicheng. In Shi Yadi Shihuaiya's view, there was a chance, and the chance might not be small.