Chapter 3506 The most perfect plan

Anyone with a discerning eye knows that the reason the American media suddenly started exposing Bernard Arnault's past negative information was because Bernard Arnault refused to speak up about the White Horse Island incident.

Although everyone understood the tricks, when Bernard Arnault's negative information was exposed, many people became more or less dissatisfied with him, or their admiration for him was no longer as strong as before.

In fact, the commander-in-chief's move was an open conspiracy.

Everyone knows I was the one exposing his negative material, but so what? As long as the negative material is exposed, people's attitude towards him will definitely change.

However, no one expected that Bernard Arnault would be so hardcore that he would simply close thousands of stores across the United States under dozens of his brands without any agreement.

You have to know that the American market has tens of billions of dollars in sales and billions of dollars in net profit every year! To just say no is really ruthless.

The president who was watching the live broadcast in the office was also stunned.

He had been following the live broadcast of the press conference. He had originally wanted to wait for the reporters to ask questions, to see those reporters asking about Bernard Elno's black material, and then to see how Old Deng would respond. By then, he would definitely embarrass this guy.

But no one expected that before the reporters could even start asking questions, this old guy started talking big!

The round-faced aide next to him was also dumbfounded. He muttered, "This... is this old guy crazy?! He's actually going to close all the stores tomorrow. It's just a small matter. Is he really going to do that?!"

The commander-in-chief was also confused: "Yeah... no matter how I look at it, this isn't a suitable business deal... It feels like I accidentally farted and hit him, and he threatened to chop off one of his legs if I didn't apologize... This is pure fucking insanity! He needs simultaneous intervention from a psychiatrist and a psychologist!"

The staff member asked awkwardly, "So what should we do now? This old man has put us in a very passive position. We just threatened him and said we'd give him a ticket, but he just gave up on the car. If he really closes all the stores, then public opinion will definitely turn to his side..."

"I don't know what to do now!" The commander-in-chief cursed angrily, "This is bullshit! It's absolutely absurd! We were supposed to give each other a way out and let this matter go, but this old bastard didn't even give me the slightest bit of face. Now, just when I was about to discredit him, he just refused to live..."

At the scene, after Bernard Elno announced the decision, reporters raised their hands to ask questions.

This time, Bernard Arnault once again gave priority to AFP.

An AFP reporter asked him, "Mr. Erno, as far as I know, your group's net profit in the American market is about $200 to $300 million a year, or even more. You are suddenly going to close all your stores in the United States. Isn't this a bit too much of a loss for you?"

Bernard Erno said without hesitation: "The loss is a bit large, but it doesn't matter. What I care about now is whether justice can be served."

At this point, he looked at several American media reporters in the audience and smiled. "My American journalist friends here should all be well aware that your media has been digging into some of my past actions and deeds for dozens of minutes now. I also admit that in the process of accumulating original capital, like many businessmen who have made it onto the rich list, I have more or less committed original sins. I will not deny this, and I cannot deny it. What I can do now is to do my best to give back to this society with practical actions, which can be regarded as paying for the mistakes I made in the past. Everyone makes mistakes, but some people will never admit their mistakes in their entire lives, let alone pay the price for them. But I am different. I admit it and I am willing to bear the consequences."

Seeing this, the onlookers' attitude towards Bernard Elno instantly changed again: "Although the old man did a lot of dirty things in the past, he has now turned over a new leaf. In order to uphold justice, he even gave up billions of dollars in annual net profits. What's wrong with being a little dirty in the past? Huh? What's wrong? Answer me! Look me in the eye and answer me!"

The reporters at the scene were also convinced. The old man's attitude and words had formed an iron wall. From then on, his magical powers had been perfected and he was invulnerable to swords and guns.

Of course, the prerequisite is that he firmly implements the decision to close the store, rather than making a false move and then fooling the public.

Some reporters didn't believe he would make such a big sacrifice, so they asked him, "Mr. Erno, are you sure all your stores will be closed at this early morning? Or are you just playing a trick on us? Every store will naturally close at this early morning, but they will open the door and operate normally the next morning. I would like to ask, after your stores across the United States are closed at this early morning, when will they resume business?"

Bernard Erno said calmly, "There's no deadline, but it definitely can't be too short. I know you're worried I'm exaggerating to attract attention, but I can promise you one thing: the minimum closure time for all U.S. stores will be three years, with no upper limit!"

"Fuck! You're a fucking beast!"

The leader in front of the TV threw the half-drunk Coke to the ground. He was extremely angry and felt extremely powerless.

I am the President of the United States. What I can guarantee is that all the people in the United States or those who want to live and make money in the United States must look at my face. They have to do whatever I tell them to do, otherwise I have plenty of ways to deal with them.

But if the other party doesn't want to live in the United States, or doesn't want to make money in the United States, then my influence on them is almost zero.

If you go to those underdeveloped countries and ask the local farmers and the lower classes, they don't even know the name of the President of the United States. Once Bernard Elno gives up the American market, his relationship with the President will be the same as that of the lower-class farmers in those underdeveloped countries. Although everyone's identities and status are very different, in the final analysis, no one can do anything to anyone.

Moreover, Bernard Arnault publicly announced that all stores in the United States would be closed for at least three years, and he would likely lose $100 billion in net profit.

In order to cut costs, he will certainly have to lay off tens of thousands of employees in the United States. At that time, these tens of thousands of employees and their families will become his opponents, and the entire social public opinion will definitely favor Bernard Arnault!

The commander-in-chief was extremely angry and wanted to slap the old man hard in the face.

At this time, a CNN reporter at the scene asked Bernard Elno with a sullen face: "Mr. Elno, if you really close all your stores across the United States, does that mean your company will lay off tens of thousands of American employees? Do you think this is fair to those employees and their families?"

Bernard Elno sneered inwardly, "Layoffs? Don't be ridiculous. How could I possibly lay off employees? These tens of thousands of American employees are just my cheats for gaining experience! Although the amount per person isn't much, when added together, isn't it an astronomical figure? It's got to be at least a billion dollars! Doing business is like sailing against the current; if you don't move forward, you're going to fall behind. If I close all the stores here, not only will I lose tens of billions of dollars in annual sales and billions of dollars in net profit, I'll also have to bear the extra costs of rent for these thousands of stores and the salaries and benefits of tens of thousands of employees. How could I possibly let this opportunity go?"

He then waved his hand and said magnanimously, "Closing the stores is my personal protest against the US government's shielding of Blackwater. How could I allow tens of thousands of employees across the US to be implicated by my personal decision? So, I want to make one announcement to all of my American employees: During the next three years of store closures, everyone's salary will continue to be paid as usual!"

“Oh fuck!”

Washington and his group broke through the defense directly.

This is fucking terrifying. Even a god can’t defeat an enemy like this!

The reporters at the scene were also stunned.

They have been working in the news industry for so many years and have seen all kinds of strange things, but they have never seen anything like this.

Because of a boss's personal temper, a market worth billions of dollars a year was shut down.

That would be fine, the key is that no employees will be laid off and their salaries will continue to be paid.

If I had known this would happen, I would have resigned a day in advance and found a job in a store under this group. Wouldn't I have been able to just sit back and collect salary for three years?

At that moment, employees of all the American stores under the Bernard Elno Group were celebrating wildly. Happiness had come so suddenly. This was truly a great thing that they had never dared to dream of. How great was it? Even if you went to church, you wouldn't be ashamed to make such a wish to God.

But now, Bernard Erno has helped them achieve it.

When Bernard Elno said this, he felt a little sad.

As a capitalist, what hurt him most was not that he lost money, because in his eyes, losing money was making money, because he was earning experience points from Ye Chen by losing money.

The ones who really felt the pain were his employees. It was really too cheap for them to get three years' salary without having to work.

The essence of a capitalist is to exploit the surplus value of his employees, but if he cannot exploit the employees he bought with money, he will feel like he has suffered a great loss.

However, he was, after all, a veteran capitalist born in an established capitalist country. He quickly came up with a solution and said with a smile, "Of course, I want to make it clear here that when I say the store is closed, I don't mean to drive all the employees away or close the door. Instead, I want my employees to continue working in my store, and my store will still be open to all American customers. However, all American stores will no longer have sales attributes. I only use them as showrooms to showcase our products and brand philosophy to the American people!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the employees' revelry came to an abrupt end.

But it does not affect people's admiration for Bernard Arnault.

For Bernard Erno, closing the American market and continuing to pay employees' salaries and store rents in thousands of stores will make the group's US market financial report extremely ugly, and the losses will definitely be astronomical. In this way, he can accumulate experience points with Ye Chen to the maximum extent.

However, thousands of stores that are only open for display and do not make sales, although they cannot contribute to revenue, can provide enough publicity for the brand.

As a result, if people across the United States want to buy luxury goods of their own brand, they can only choose to buy them overseas or simply buy them through overseas purchasing agents or online.

By then, the income from these American orders will be counted in the group's sales performance in other countries. Not only will you make money, but it will not affect the continued losses in the American market. It means that you can earn experience points and continue to make money in a different way. It is simply the most perfect solution!