The Goldberg family's breakfast was sumptuous, but it was also cumbersome. There were many patterns, rules, and rules, which made Li Mu feel a little difficult to accept.
He finally understood why most of these European old-money nobles were not doing very well nowadays, especially those nobles who had inherited the title since the 17th and 18th centuries. The most fundamental reason was that they were too particular about living a comfortable life.
Take Li Mu for example. Even if he was already very rich, he had never been as particular as the European nobles. Breakfast took one and a half hours, lunch took two hours, and dinner took at least two or three hours. If a group of nobles got together to have dinner, it was normal to have a meal that took five hours, even if they were eating and bragging. But Li Mu was not a big fan of the nobles in Europe.
These people were very much like the ancient poets of Hua Xia. Every day, they would recite poems, and spend most of their time and energy on their own unique way of life. However, when it came to creating wealth and creating careers, the National People's Congress was lacking.
In the eyes of Li Mu, a royal family like William did not really have any merits that he appreciated. These people were very gentlemanly in their speech and behavior, and the etiquette education they received since childhood could be said to be textbook level. However, these things were too superficial in Li Mu's eyes. At most, it was a skill, not an ability. Otherwise, he would not have shown such sincere surprise and confusion when he heard that he did not need to rely on Twitter to make money.
If it were Elon Musk, he would have understood it without Zhang Heng saying it. If it were Larry Page, it would be the same. Although Mark Zuckerberg was young and immature, his way of thinking was advanced, even surpassing all the members of the Goldberg family and all the European nobles who attended this salon.
Li Mu suddenly missed Bill Gates. Although Bill Gates even wanted to destroy Makino Technology, at least he was the one who really had a common language with Li Mu.
Thinking of Bill Gates, Li Mu looked around, but Bill Gates was not in the restaurant. This big brother was the richest man in the world. The Goldberg family certainly could not have arranged for him to eat with most of the guests in the banquet hall, right? Then why didn't I see him?
Immediately, Li Mu asked William, "William, did you see Mr. Bill Gates today?"
William shook his head and said, "I didn't see him. Why? Are you looking for Mr. Gates? "
"It's nothing, I'm just asking." Li Mu replied, but he couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.
At this time, Davidson came in with several members of the Middle Eastern royal family. Li Mu waved to him. Davidson hurriedly greeted the members of the Middle Eastern royal family. Then he came to Li Mu and asked with a smile, "Mr. Li, did you like breakfast?"
"Pretty good." Li Mu smiled and asked him, "By the way, why didn't I see Mr. Bill Gates?"
Davidson smiled and asked, "Mr. Lee still doesn't know?"
Li Mu was puzzled. "Know what?"
Davidson smiled and said, "Mr. Gates went back to the United States."
"Back to the United States?" Li Mu was even more surprised. "He just arrived. Why did he leave? When did he leave? "
"Last night." Davidson thought for a moment and said, "He should have decided to go back shortly after Twitter went online. He should have arrived in Seattle by now."
Li Mu was stunned. Good lord, he left just like that?
Li Mu sighed helplessly. Why did this old man go back in a hurry? Was he going to regroup and continue to push MSN?
Once Twitter went online, even if MSN had great ability, it would be impossible to bring down YY. Bill Gates should know this in his heart.
So, was he in a hurry to go back because he couldn't keep his face?
This was possible. After all, he was full of confidence before. He always felt that the new MSN ecosystem would bring a huge threat to YY, and even take the initiative to provoke him. But he didn't expect that the MSN ecosystem carefully built by Microsoft would be so vulnerable.
Davidson said at this time, "Mr. Lee, Saudi Arabia's Prince Walid wants to invite you to play golf. I don't know if you have time?"
"Saudi Prince?" Li Mu frowned slightly and subconsciously looked at several Middle Eastern guests wearing red and white checkered headscarves. One of the young men saw Li Mu looking over and smiled and raised his hand to signal to Li Mu.
Davidson said, "That is Prince Walid."
Li Mu nodded and said, "Help me thank him for his kindness, but I don't play golf, so I can't accompany him."
Davidson nodded and said, "Well, I'll tell him later."
Li Mu smiled slightly and said, "By the way, Davidson, please hurry up with the Manchester City club. It's best if it can be done before I leave England."
Davidson was suddenly in a dilemma. Buying a club was at least a huge transaction of tens of millions of pounds. Under normal circumstances, even if the two sides could agree on the price, the follow-up financial audit and handover alone would take a long time. The possibility of Li Mu buying a club in just a few days was slim.
Seeing that Davidson did not speak and his expression was a little conflicted, Li Mu said, "Davidson, you don't have to think too much about the details. Since they have the intention to make a move, then I can take over at 110% of the market price and give them an additional 10% premium. If they agree to this offer, then I can pay immediately. As for the financial audit, we can first base on their book data and let them make a written commitment. Then we can take it slowly later. Such a big club should not have too much deviation in the financial. Even if there is a deviation, we can pursue responsibility according to the agreement."
Davidson knew that Li Mu pursued efficiency. If this matter was dragged on for another month or two, then it would be impossible for him to get Li Mu to cooperate with HSBC in the future and get HSBC to lead the IPO of Makino Technology.
So Davidson nodded and said, "I'll arrange this matter today and try to get them to sign a framework agreement with me as soon as possible."
…
After breakfast, Wendy Gauber returned to the dining room and offered to accompany Li Mu, Prince William and Anne Hathaway on a tour of Goldberg Manor. Li Mu did not refuse. In his opinion, he had nothing in common with this bunch of old-money and the royal family. It was better to be a tourist and travel around and broaden his horizons.
Just as Li Mu was touring Goldberg Manor, Davidson called his eldest son, William Gauber, to his study.
Facing William Gauber, Davidson's first words were earth-shattering. He said, "William, go to Manchester and be sure to buy the Manchester City club."
"Buy Manchester City?" William Gauber was stunned and said in surprise, "Dad, the McMillan family is a major shareholder of Manchester United. Are you going against them?"
Davidson waved his hand and said, "I'm buying Manchester City to give it to Li Mu as a gift."
"As a gift to Li Mu? Dad, isn't this gift a little too expensive? " William Gauber was even more confused. He could not understand why his father wanted to give a football club to Li Mu. Not to mention that this "gift" was a little unconventional, just the cost alone was a little high.
The British, from the royal family to the commoners, loved football. They were very familiar with the football clubs in the country. William Gauber was the same. He was well aware of the current situation of Manchester City and roughly knew the approximate price of Manchester City. If he wanted to buy the club, the cost of the acquisition alone would be 70 to 80 million pounds, or even more. Even if he wanted to rope in Li Mu, there was no need to make such a big sacrifice, right?
Davidson, however, shook his head and said, "We've predicted before that if Makino Technology's IPO were to be valued at at least 200 billion dollars. However, Twitter became popular all over the world as soon as it came out, so much so that the media all over the world are reporting on it. This speed of development is terrifying. If we give Li Mu another six months, with the help of Twitter, the market value of Makino Technology's IPO will continue to rise. Therefore, Makino Technology's IPO should be the largest IPO in the history of Nasdaq, and I'm afraid this record will not be surpassed in the next few years."
As he said that, Davidson continued, "If Makino Technology plans to use 10% of its shares to raise funds, that will be a scale of more than 20 billion dollars. If we can buy half of it, the direct profit alone will be almost 1 billion dollars, not to mention the potential profit. If we can be the lead bank and get the main underwriting rights, it will greatly increase the customer's recognition of us. The additional value behind this is immeasurable. Therefore, no matter what, we have to build a good relationship with Li Mu. It just so happens that Li Mu is very interested in the English Premier League club, so why don't we do him a big favor?"
William Gauber took a deep breath and said, "I understand."
Davidson said, "Li Mu is in a hurry, so when you arrive in Manchester, try to push the pace of the negotiations with the shareholders of Manchester City as fast as possible. Even if you have to spend a little more money, you have to get these people to agree as soon as possible. As long as they have no objections to the offer, we will immediately sign the agreement with them and then transfer the money. Strive to get it done within five days."
"Five days?" William Gauber was even more surprised. How could such a big matter be settled in five days? 50 days was more like it.
However, Davidson said without any hesitation, "This is a special situation, so everything has to be done with time. The sooner we take down Manchester City, the better it will be for us to get closer to Li Mu. If we miss this opportunity, it will not be so easy for us to get it done again."
William Gauber immediately said with a straight face, "I understand, Dad. Then I will get ready and set off as soon as possible."
Davidson nodded and immediately said, "There is one more thing."
William Gauber hurriedly said, "Go ahead, Dad."
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