Reinventing the Millennium

On the last day of September, ICBC submitted a new strategic cooperation plan.

According to normal procedures, the ICBC will sign a strategic investment and cooperation agreement with the two consortiums, and then it will be seen whether the agreement can pass the review of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

Of course, processes are processes, and internal research and decisions are usually done long ago, and the signed agreement is just waiting for execution - this is the case with Bank of China.

What ICBC means here is to wait until the leadership's opinions are released, and then several parties will attend the signing and press conference together to finalize this cooperation.

However, Fang Zhuo and President Jiang had a small communication and proposed to downplay the "MIGA Fund" requirement as much as possible. At that time, it would be better to highlight Deutsche Bank's status and business level in Europe.

President Jiang was a little surprised by Mr. Fang's low-key style at this time, but his goal of checking Goldman Sachs had been achieved. Since there would be no problem with funding, there would be no problem if the publicity tended to be focused.

On October 1st, the National Day holiday begins.

Fang Zhuo gave himself two days off.

He has to wait for ICBC's opinion on the plan and Goldman Sachs' move on Merrill Lynch. He is also waiting for the latest report on the arrival of Tesco executives in Beijing, and he has to cash out stocks in compliance with U.S. SEC regulations.

These all require time and process.

Therefore, taking advantage of this waiting opportunity, Fang Zhuo recorded the sports program that he had previously promised to Yao Ming.

The Rockets won the championship this season with their new Trident, which made the domestic sports media and fans cheer. The reports about Yao Ming were not limited to sports. They were even reported on the 7 o'clock news. .

As a team owner and a well-known figure in the domestic business community, Fang Zhuo was also mentioned in the news.

However, what made him feel a little embarrassed was that the news broadcast at 7 o'clock in the evening, whether intentionally or unintentionally, showed the scene of him scolding the referee while watching the finals.

Although it is just a picture without sound, everyone can easily see this quintessence of Chinese lip sync.

Fang Zhuo felt in his heart that it would affect his personal image to some extent.

During the recording of five CCTV programs on the night of the 2nd, Fang Zhuo and Yao Ming were interviewed together. They mainly talked about the Rockets' performance and future prospects this year. During this period, they were inevitably asked about the last game of the finals.

"Boss Fang, our media colleagues in the United States released your remarks to player Nazr Muhammad last month, saying that the Pistons were stolen from the championship. What do you think of this?" the host mentioned. A life-or-death conflict on the field.

At that time, Yao Ming was injured by a flagrant foul. The team owner shouted at the substitute center who came on the court. Then Nazr responded with a vicious foul to the Pistons player.

Such a foul led to a conflict on the court. Nazr and the opponent's main player Ben were both ejected. In the end, the Rockets successfully won the game.

Last month, the US media reviewed and released the content of the Rockets owner's shouting - "Nazir, did you see how they treated Yao? Did you see it? Did you see it?"

This was regarded by the American media as an extremely obvious hint, and they criticized the Pistons verbally and in writing.

After listening to the host's introduction, Fang Zhuo learned that there was such a situation. He was busy working all day and didn't pay attention to sports at all after returning to China. Now he was quite surprised to hear it.

He responded nonchalantly: "The league didn't say anything, the referee didn't say anything, just like the Pistons fouled Dayao in that game. Fouls and conflicts are part of the game. We got the championship trophy back. Now we're talking about it." It’s boring if you don’t steal anything.”

"We among us often say, 'The winner is the king and the loser is the enemy.' This is what competitive sports are all about."

"I hope Dayao can win more honors while the team has a good lineup."

"Speaking of which, Dayao should protect his body more during the offseason. His level is among the highest in the world. He should not waste it on some low-level competitions and leave more opportunities to domestic players."

Fang Zhuo chatted with Yao Ming before recording the show and learned that he had devoted himself to preparing for the Men's Basketball Asian Championships without much rest after returning to China. There is nothing to say about such an event, but other small events should be avoided as much as possible.

The host did not expect that Boss Fang would turn the topic to the use of Yao Ming in domestic competitions, so he quickly dismissed it and returned to talking about his expectations for the future.

Because the league's salary cap for the new season has been released, it is $6 million higher than originally predicted. This gives the defending champion Rockets more room to operate and can continue to maintain first-class competitiveness.

Fang Zhuo was much more relaxed when talking about sports in front of the camera. As the boss who knows the most about football, what he said was first-hand information. Some of the opinions based on the operation level were unknown to Yao Ming. His talk made everyone happy. Listen with gusto.

After the recording ended, Fang Zhuo invited the host, guests, Yao Ming and others to have supper together and talk about the offseason issues that he mentioned during the show.

"To bring glory to the country, I must participate in the Asian Championships, but don't participate in the Stankovic Intercontinental Basketball Champions Cup."

Fang Zhuo named him more clearly.

Yang Yi, deputy editor-in-chief of "Basketball Pioneer News", was a guest on today's program. Hearing this sentence, he smiled and said: "This event was just held this year, and the intensity is not high. Yao Yao cannot participate this year because of the playoffs and the Asian Championships. , our team only finished fourth this time, and I heard that some leaders thought it was not good-looking, so they might let Dayao play next year."

The Stankovic Intercontinental Basketball Champions Cup was founded in 2005. Only 6 teams were invited to participate. This year's champion is Lithuania.

Fang Zhuo shrugged, looked at Yao Ming, and asked, "Will you participate next year?"

Yao Ming pondered for a second before he had a clue when he heard his boss continue talking.

"Okay, no matter what your answer is now, my meaning is very clear. There is no need to participate in such a game. This matter will be communicated between the team and the country. I will bear any pressure from the leadership." Fang Zhuo immediately agreed. .

Several hosts and commentators in the sports circle looked at each other, and judging by the nature of sports leaders... I am afraid they would name Dayao to play.

But in fact, they also believe from the bottom of their hearts that small events do not need to consume big money. They have already played in the Doha Asian Championship this year, took a break in 2006, the Tokushima Asian Championship in 2007, and the Olympics in 2008. Look at the Rockets in recent years. I'm afraid the lineup will have to play a lot of playoff games, so Yao's body needs to be taken care of.

It still depends on whether Fang Zong can protect Dayao.

When they thought about it, they felt relaxed. After the Rockets changed ownership, the new owner's gossip would appear in the sports circle after dinner. There is no doubt that Mr. Fang has energy.

Since President Fang has spoken, I will definitely have a good rest next year and see if I can take advantage of the team's golden period to gain more honors.

At 11 o'clock in the evening, the dinner ends.

Before Fang Zhuo got off the car and entered the hotel, he received a call from Paulson.

"It's half done," Paulson said. "One hedge fund has basically reached an agreement with Merrill Lynch, and the other one is still preparing."

Fang Zhuo was surprised, so fast? Isn’t this too efficient?

Or maybe Merrill Lynch was too eager to change hands.

Looking at it this way, did Merrill Lynch intend to be a second-rate dealer from the beginning?

Fang Zhuo's thoughts flashed and he said: "I'm looking for a hedge fund. That's really... right."

Paulson was indeed doing well, and actually drove hedge funds to take over Merrill Lynch.

Hedge funds are a type of private securities investment funds that eliminate systemic risks by hedging long and short positions, thereby obtaining absolute returns.

Domestic banks will never welcome highly speculative hedge funds, which will neither help IPO nor improve banking business.

It can be said that once a hedge fund becomes a strategic investor of the Bank of China, it will definitely be a major scandal for it and the domestic and even international banking industry.