Although the ten-hour flight was long, it wasn't too tiring.
The seats on the business jet were very comfortable. Even someone like Li Mu, who was over 1.8 meters tall, could comfortably lie down on them.
As for the separate bedroom at the back, Li Mu wanted to give it to Anne Hathaway, but the latter wouldn't accept it no matter what. Li Mu wanted to give it to Li Ziwei, but Li Ziwei wouldn't accept it no matter what.
If it was just Li Ziwei on the plane, Li Mu could rest in the bedroom with a clear conscience. However, Anne Hathaway was also there. He had to be more of a gentleman, so he simply accompanied her and the others outside to chat. It was relaxing and happy.
The plane was expected to arrive in London at 4: 30 p.m. local time. Half an hour before the plane landed, Li Mu changed out of his standard coder clothes and changed into a custom-made dark blue suit.
The plane landed at Heathrow Airport. Under the guidance of the control tower, the plane taxied all the way to the designated hangar.
Steve Johnson, who had successfully invited Li Mu and Anne Hathaway, had been waiting in the hangar for a long time.
Waiting in the hangar with him were a few middle-aged men in full suits.
As the plane slowly taxied into the hangar, Li Mu already saw Steve Johnson, who was dressed like a gentleman, outside the cabin. When the plane came to a stop, the cabin door was lowered and turned into an escalator that was less than a meter tall. The few of them walked forward and stood on the left and right sides of the escalator, waiting for Li Mu, who was still on the plane.
Li Mu, who was wearing a suit, was the first to step down from the plane. Steve Johnson raised his head and looked at him with a smile of an old friend. When Li Mu stood on the ground, he immediately took the initiative to shake hands with Li Mu and said with a smile, "Li, welcome to London!"
Li Mu smiled and said, "Thank you, I didn't expect you to make a trip here in person."
"It's my honor." Steve Johnson smiled and asked Li Mu, "Is this Mr. Li's first time in London?"
Li Mu smiled and said, "It's my first time in England."
Steve Johnson said in surprise, "I thought you had been here before. If there's enough time this time, I can accompany you around."
Li Mu said lightly, "Thank you, Steve. We'll see how it goes."
Steve Johnson nodded and then introduced the people around him to Li Mu. He first introduced a middle-aged man next to him and said, "Li Zong, this is the CEO of HSBC Holdings, Mark Blunt."
Li Mu looked at the middle-aged man in his forties opposite him and was slightly surprised. Since Steve Johnson mentioned HSBC Bank last time, Li Mu had studied some information about HSBC Bank. HSBC Holdings was HSBC Holdings, the parent company of HSBC Bank. At the same time, it was also one of the world's top 500 companies. The latest ranking had also entered the top 100 of the world's top 500.
As the CEO of HSBC Holdings, Mark Blunt's high status was needless to say. For him to greet Li Mu at the airport with Steve Johnson, it seemed that he really regarded Li Mu as a distinguished guest.
However, Li Mu was also very clear that the biggest reason why the other party attached so much importance to him was that they wanted to lead the listing of Makino Technology on NASDAQ.
Li Mu shook hands with Mark Blunt very politely and said with a smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Blunt."
Mark Blunt took off his hat with one hand and said very politely, "It's my pleasure to meet you, Mr Li. Welcome to London."
Steve Johnson then introduced the remaining people to Li Mu. Among these people, one was the person in charge of Sequoia Capital in the UK, one was a senior executive of HSBC Holdings, and the last, according to Steve Johnson, was a member of an old aristocratic family in the UK. This aristocratic member's name was Jimmy Goldberg, which sounded like a Jewish surname.
After that, Steve Johnson introduced Anne Hathaway, who had alighted from the plane behind Li Mu. Li Mu also introduced his personal assistant, Li Ziwei, to the group.
After exchanging greetings and pleasantries, Steve Johnson led Li Mu and the group to the VIP building of Heathrow Airport in a fleet of Rolls-Royces. According to him, there was a special customs building in the VIP building. It was much more convenient to cross the border from there, and it could guarantee a great degree of privacy. Basically, all they had to do was go through the motions and stamp their passports, and they would be able to cross the border.
The fleet consisted of eight Rolls-Royces. When it was time to assign the cars, Steve Johnson tentatively asked Li Mu, "Li Zong, if you don't mind, shall we share a car? I just happen to have something to discuss with you in person. "
Li Mu nodded and said, "No problem."
Then, the two of them sat in the same car.
There were still a few kilometers between the hangar and the VIP building, and it was on the internal roads of the airport, so the speed of the car was relatively slow. On the way, Steve Johnson said to Li Mu, "Li Zong, the scale of this party is bigger than expected, so we temporarily changed from a manor in North London to another manor in South London. Rooms for you and your staff have been arranged. Also, the owners of these two manors are the Goldberg family, and they are also the hosts of this party."
Li Mu nodded slightly and asked him, "Can you give me a general introduction of the Goldberg family?"
Steve Johnson smiled and said, "The Goldberg family is a typical old-money family. During World War I, they were already very rich. Before World War II, they moved the entire family from Germany to England, and since then, they have been rooted in England. During World War II, the Goldberg family donated a lot of money to England in order to support England's resistance against the Nazis. At that time, the royal family, in order to thank them, gave the Goldberg family a hereditary title of Earl. However, at the end of the last century, the British royal family abolished the hereditary title of Duke, so their family is the last Earl."
As he spoke, Steve Johnson continued, "The Goldbergs are engaged in many fields. In the early years, they were in banking, finance, oil, and industrial manufacturing. In recent years, they have gradually shifted their focus to finance. They have seats on the boards of many well-known financial companies, including HSBC Holdings. They also hold shares through many shell companies and individuals. Even the largest shareholder behind HSBC, Blackrock, has a certain share."
Li Mu nodded thoughtfully and said, "A Jewish family like the Rothschild family?"
Steve Johnson smiled and said, "Their family's assets are much larger than the Rothschild family's, but compared to you, they are still a lot worse."
Li Mu had always been in the internet circle, and he rarely even dabbled in the capital circle, so he lacked a deep understanding of the international capital market. His focus was on the domestic and US markets, and he lacked knowledge of Europe as a whole. Therefore, in his mind, the most powerful family in Europe seemed to be the Rothschild family, which had been rumored to be superb in his previous life. But listening to Steve Johnson, it seemed that the Rothschild family was not as powerful as he had imagined, and even vaguely sounded a little useless.
At this time, Steve Johnson saw the confusion on Li Mu's face. He smiled and said, "The world has a lot of misunderstandings about the Rothschild family. This family does have a long history, and it was indeed very powerful. However, since the 20th century, this former big family has been going downhill. Many mistakes in judgment at key points have caused this family to be unable to recover. The only thing they can do now is a little banking business. To be honest, the whole family is now divided. Even so, the total assets of the family are less than 10 billion US dollars. However, the total assets of the Goldberg family are about 50 billion US dollars, which is several times that of the Rothschild family."
Steve Johnson added, "Oh, by the way, Li Zong, a member of the Rothschild family, is not even on the invitation list for this party."
Li Mu was surprised to hear this. It seemed that many of the so-called anecdotes were not credible. The Chinese said that the Rothschild family controlled trillions of US dollars, but in the mouth of a British-born capitalist, the Rothschild family had already fallen out of the ranks of the top players.
However, it was obvious that Steve Johnson's words were more credible than those so-called financial experts in China.
Steve Johnson continued, "This time, not only did many representatives of the top families from various countries come, but also many members of the royal family. Basically all the important royal families in Europe have sent representatives. Even the royal family of Dubai has sent several princes."
Li Mu asked curiously, "The princes of Dubai? Then they must be very ostentatious, right? "
"It's more than ostentatious." Steve Johnson rubbed his temples helplessly and said, "They have more than a hundred people, and most of them are security personnel, servants, and staff. There is not one private plane, but a fleet of five. Among them, three transport planes are specially used to transport the personal belongings of the princes, including more than ten luxury cars of various types, and a large number of strange animals. Recently, the British media has been reporting on them, and most of them are sarcastic, which has made the people very dissatisfied. They think that their extravagance will have a great impact on the United Kingdom, and at the same time, it will bring a huge share of the public resources of the United Kingdom."
Li Mu suddenly thought of some news he had seen in his previous life. The procession of the Dubai princes was indeed amazing, especially the luxury cars. Every time they went out, they would bring all kinds of Rolls-Royces and all kinds of supercars, including Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and other top supercars. It seemed that this was also the routine standard of the Dubai royal family.
Speaking of this, Steve Johnson sighed and said, "I don't know why these oil princes are so fond of the United Kingdom. The food in the United Kingdom is not delicious, and the environment and natural scenery are not as good as those in other European countries, but they will come to the United Kingdom for a holiday every year."
Li Mu smiled and said, "Even if the environment and natural scenery in the United Kingdom are not as good as those in Northern Europe, it is still much better than the deserts in the Middle East. I heard that the temperature in the Middle East is above 38 degrees Celsius for 300 days a year, and it can easily reach 50 degrees Celsius. After living in such a place for a long time, you will feel that everywhere is good except for your own home."
Steve Johnson said in agreement, "You are right, Li Zong. In the Middle East, it is a luxury to want to ride a horse. The horses of the royal family are usually raised in Dubai and run in the United Kingdom."
Li Mu smiled and asked him, "By the way, are there people from the Internet industry attending this party?"
"Yes, of course," Steve Johnson said with a smile, "Bill Gates."
Li Mu asked curiously, "Only him?"
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