As the chairman of the board of directors of a Fortune 500 company and one of the top five largest private companies in the United States, Roland Mars had always been arrogant. In his eyes, even the president of the United States might not be worthy of his apology, let alone a kid in his early twenties.
Mars, led by Roland Mars, was different from the IT industry, financial industry, energy industry, and military industry. The people in Silicon Valley often touched various antitrust cases and were troubled by the US government every day. Most of their energy was invested in government relations and always bowed to Washington. It was the same for the financial industry, not to mention the energy and military industry.
However, a company like Mars had always been fearless. The food industry was an industry that would never touch antitrust laws, so they never had to worry about sanctions from the US government. As long as the product quality was well controlled, the US FDA, which was also known as the Food and Drug Administration, would not make things difficult for them.
Mars was almost a private industry of the Mars family. In order to ensure independent management and absolute control of the enterprise, they only sacrificed a small part of the shares to shareholders outside the family. However, they never considered going public. This way, even the powerful Wall Street could not do anything to them. It was impossible to use capital to go against Mars. They were not on the same level at all.
In addition, Mars had a rich product line, a strong brand effect, a global sales network, and amazing profit margins. Although such an enterprise was not the strongest in the Fortune 500, it had always been the most stable.
The Internet bubble would collapse IT companies, but it would not collapse Mars' consumer goods market.
The financial crisis would collapse financial companies and a large number of physical companies. However, for a giant in the food industry like Mars, the impact was much smaller than other companies.
If the Fortune 500 was compared to different countries during the period of feudal lords, Mars was not the strongest in terms of military strength, nor was it the largest in terms of territory or financial strength.
However, it was definitely the strongest in terms of defense. It was like the Maginot Defense Line was built on all sides, so that no opponent could find a chance to attack.
However, Mars did not expect that a company like itself actually had a fatal weakness. This fatal weakness did not lie in the government's attitude or the economic situation, but in public opinion.
Just like companies like Coca-Cola, Mars invested a lot of money into advertising and publicity every year. It was a big financial backer in the eyes of the world's media. Therefore, Mars had always felt that its publicity resources were very strong. Its marketing and public relations capabilities were also very strong. The media usually had to follow behind them and lick their boots. Even if there was a small scandal, the media could help them cover it up.
However, they never expected that there would be a hidden prerequisite even with their powerful media resources. The reason why Mars' media resources had been effective until now was because this prerequisite had not been triggered. And this prerequisite was: Don't provoke Li Mu.
If they didn't provoke Li Mu, Mars's public relations ability would indeed be enough to support their powerful fortifications, so that their opponents wouldn't be able to find a breakthrough point.
However, when Li Mu was provoked and took the initiative to attack Mars, it would come with a powerful buff. This buff would render all the opponent's defenses useless.
Makino Technology itself was the portal media with the largest coverage and the strongest influence in the world at this stage. Moreover, it covered the social classes that were in contact with the Internet every day. In this era of society, the people who could access the Internet every day were the youngest and most communicative group in this society. Under such circumstances, Li Mu had almost become an existence that the global media feared.
Mars took the initiative to go against Makino Technology and even used such a shameless marketing method. When Li Mu went all out, all the media began to play safe. Their attitude towards Mars was no longer as ambiguous as before. In the past, these media's attitude towards Mars was: As long as you put in advertisements, you can do anything. Now, these media's attitude towards Mars was: As long as you put in advertisements, you can do anything. But now, these media's attitude towards Mars had become: You can put in advertisements, but forget about everything else.
Without the help of these media resources, Mars suddenly realized that when it faced Makino Technology, it was like an unarmed child with a net worth of ten billion US dollars. On the other hand, Li Mu was a fully armed Rambo. Not only could Li Mu fight, but the key was that Li Mu had more money than it.
Now, Mars was beaten up by Li Mu in front of the global public opinion. Roland Mas, who had always been proud, was on the verge of collapse.
When the board of directors made the decision for him to immediately apologize and ask for forgiveness, he applied for a suspension of the meeting. He hid in the office and smoked more than half a pack of Marlboro before returning to the conference room. In front of everyone, he said resentfully, "I respect the decision of the board of directors. Next, I will ask my assistant to immediately get in touch with Makino Technology. It would be best if I can directly get in touch with Li Mu and go to Hua Xia as soon as possible."
Jimmy Mas, the vice president of the board of directors, suddenly said, "Roland, I think it's best if you don't try to contact Makino Technology or Li Mu himself."
"Why?!" Roland Mas looked at Jimmy Mas, who had a fake smile on his face, and could not help but frown.
Jimmy Mas, who had always been suppressed by Roland Mas, was the second-in-command of the entire Mars board of directors.
He and Roland Mas were cousins. Their fathers were biological brothers, but there was no kinship between the two. This was because in the face of a business empire of ten billion dollars, kinship was not worth mentioning. Biological brothers might not be reliable, let alone cousins. Moreover, a family that had flourished for decades had long spread out. Everyone with the surname Mas had a large number of blood relatives for three generations. In the younger generation today, it was really uncountable.
With so many people fighting for the same pot of rice, it was really strange that they could have a good relationship with each other.
Roland Mas had always felt that the person in the world who most wanted him to die was probably his cousin, Jimmy Mas. Therefore, he had always been very unhappy with him and always kept his guard up.
At this time, Jimmy Mas said with a serious expression, "Roland, Li Mu's original words were for you to 'offer a humble apology'. Unfortunately, I've carefully studied this little story in Hua Xia's history. Before Lian Po came to Lin Xiangru's house to apologize, he didn't let his butler go to Lin Xiangru's house to greet him first! With one look, I can tell that you are not sincere. With Li Mu's temper, he might be even more annoyed, and then we will all be implicated by you. "
Roland Mas was so angry at Jimmy Mas's words that his veins popped. He shouted angrily in front of everyone, "Jimmy, it's not my fault that this matter has come to this, but I have decided to sacrifice my personal dignity for the benefit of everyone. Don't you have any gratitude at all?"
Jimmy Mas curled his lips and said, "What gratitude do I have for you? You were the one who signed the previous stupid CEO. Don't you want to take responsibility for the mess he made? Besides, when Li Mu publicly accused us, you were the one who decided not to apologize and went against him. Now that you realize that you can't win, you're saying that you sacrificed your personal dignity for the benefit of everyone? As the chairman of the board of directors, aren't you too good at inverting right and wrong? "
With that, Jimmy Mas looked at the people around him and instigated, "Everyone, am I right?"
The crowd echoed in agreement.
Someone even said, "Roland, don't think that we owe you anything for this. Even if you really offer a humble apology and obtain Li Mu's forgiveness, it won't be able to make up for the harm you've caused us!"
"That's right, Roland. Do as Li Mu says and go to Hua Xia to offer a humble apology. Otherwise, we will immediately initiate extraordinary procedures to impeach you!"
"Hey, if Roland is impeached, I will volunteer to be the next chairman of the board of directors. When the time comes, I'm willing to go to Hua Xia naked to apologize to Li Mu!"
Roland Mas looked at the people gossiping and only then did he realize how unpopular he was with the board of directors.
Roland Mas' series of actions that angered Li Mu and brought a huge crisis to Mars had indeed angered most of the board members. Everyone was eating from the same pot, and the person in charge of cooking had made a mistake and caused a hole in the pot. The rice in the pot was still decreasing. It would be strange if everyone did not hate him.
At that moment, Jimmy Mas saw that most people were very supportive of him, so he said with a smile, "Roland, I have good intentions. I hope you will correct your attitude and apologize to Li Mu properly. If you are scolded, nod. If you are beaten, stand properly. Only then can you win his forgiveness and avoid losses for Mars as much as possible. Only then can you stabilize your position as chairman of the board of directors."
Roland Mas was furious, but he still smiled and nodded. "Please rest assured, everyone. I will definitely use all my sincerity to exchange for Li Mu's forgiveness. I will definitely find a way to reach a consensus with him that is most beneficial to us. At the same time, I ask everyone not to worry. This matter may not be a bad thing for us. If I can represent Mars and bury the hatchet with Li Mu, perhaps it will be a new opportunity for us to develop."
Roland Mas said this without any confidence. He did not dare to hope that Li Mu would really bury the hatchet with him and reach some kind of cooperation with Mars. The reason he said this was to divert everyone's attention, lest these people, under the influence of Jimmy Mas, constantly criticize him for the mistakes he had made in this matter.
Jimmy Mas naturally heard the meaning behind Roland's words. He snorted disdainfully and said, "Roland, don't make empty promises here. With Li Mu's ability, status, and temper, I'm really afraid you won't even have the chance to see him. Even if you really have the chance to see him, I don't think this matter will develop in a good direction."
Roland Mas said angrily, "Jimmy, what do you mean by that?
Jimmy Mas shrugged and said indifferently, "Nothing. Since you can be optimistic, why can't I be pessimistic? As for whether the final result is good or bad, it depends on your ability. It's meaningless to just talk. We'll wait for your news here. "
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