Chapter 255 US$7 billion!

There will always be some moments that make you feel emotional, as if the things around you that you have gradually become accustomed to begin to replace the old with the new.

After returning to Chatsworth Manor this time, Barron realized belatedly that Butler Sean had aged significantly compared to before, even a year ago.

It could be felt that he was trying his best to maintain an elegant manner, but his back was already slightly stooped.

The main reason was that he had been ill earlier. Although he had received careful treatment, after that, Butler Sean's physical condition was not as good as before.

In the end, he proposed the idea of ​​resigning to Barron, but Barron knew that Butler Sean had never been married and devoted most of his time to Chatsworth Manor, so it was impossible for him to just watch him leave like this. go.

Therefore, after Ramos takes over the position of Butler Sean, Butler Sean will still have the title of estate consultant. In fact, he only needs to occasionally provide some of his own experience. This is a kind of goodwill from Barron to support him in his old age. statement.

"Your Highness, you have done a great job, better than anyone imagined. I am proud of you."

After dinner, when Barron and Butler Sean were alone together, the two stood in the long corridor of the Chatsworth Manor mansion with many portraits of the manor owners. When Butler Sean looked at Barron, there was that A look that takes pride in the achievements of one's children.

"I realize that I am indeed old when I realize that I have been thinking lately about the old days, the best things about the estate. Times have changed, but Chatsworth is still prosperous, Devonshire It is the happiest thing for my family to continue to shine, and I really hope that I can always protect this honor."

"You will, Butler Sean, you are an indispensable part of our family, so I hope you can stay here, be with us, and be with the family."

It can be said that with the popularity of the previous "The Traitors" reality show and the "Downton Abbey" series, especially "Downton Abbey", Chatsworth Manor's popularity has reached a wider range. Since this year, the proportion of overseas tourists among tourists here has also been increasing.

According to current statistics, this is the highest revenue since Chatsworth Manor opened to the public, and Chatsworth Manor is also exploring more profit models, not only from tourist tickets, but also from some The experience of aristocratic culture has brought them more income.

It can be said that these incomes are completely sufficient for better maintenance and repairs here, and there are still funds left to invest in related cultural tourism projects.

Of course, even now, less than one-third of the manor house is open to the public, including the Devonhill Manor Hotel in cooperation with the Cavendish Hotel Group.

Most of the remaining areas are still the private domain of the Devonshire family and are not accessible to tourists.

Currently, Chatsworth Manor can be said to be a model of commercialization of aristocratic manors across the UK.

…

By the end of December, DS Capital finally completed the closing operation of the EUR/USD trading pair in the foreign exchange market.

After the liquidation was completed, they gained approximately $7 billion.

Originally, the average exchange rate for opening positions of DS Capital was at 1.05. When the price of EUR/USD reached 1.25, the profit should be around US$6 billion.

But the key point is that the exchange rate of the British pound as a margin relative to the US dollar has been rising. Therefore, in this process, the US dollars that DS Capital can borrow have also been relatively increasing.

This factor also led to their final profit being higher than the expected US$6 billion, reaching US$7 billion.

At this time, of the £1 billion that was used as a deposit, £500 million was "returned" to O2 Telecom - these came from the pre-recharge fees they had previously received.

Another £500 million was used to repay the original mortgage loan.

After settling the profits, DS Capital first took out US$350 million to repay the loan from Goldman Sachs Group.

Previously, Barron purchased Google stock and stock options from Yahoo and AOL respectively. After exercising the options, it cost a total of US$535 million.

More than 200 million U.S. dollars of this came from the shares they sold in NetEase when they were at a high point. The remaining funds came from mortgage loans taken out by Goldman Sachs Group. Now after the "depreciation" of the U.S. dollar, it is still better to use U.S. dollars to repay these loans. Very suitable.

In addition, it is to buy the Apple shares it holds from the Mars fund.

At that time, it cost a total of 760 million pounds to purchase 162 million Apple shares from Jobs and three other fund companies, of which Mars Fund invested 200 million pounds and held 42.63 million Apple shares.

Subsequently, the Mars Fund successively purchased approximately 54 million shares of Apple stock in the secondary market.

This brings the total holdings of Apple shares held by DS Capital and Mars Funds to 216 million shares, accounting for 30% of Apple’s total share capital!

As of now, Apple's stock price has risen from a low of around US$7 to US$8.86. The total 96.63 million Apple shares held by the Mars Fund are already worth US$856 million.

However, it is naturally inconvenient to purchase these Apple shares directly in the name of DS Capital.

At this time, Rich23 Capital, the offshore company previously registered by Barron, came into use.

In the name of Rich23 Capital, they will purchase 96.63 million shares of Apple from the Mars Fund, holding a 13.42% stake in Apple.

DS Capital directly holds 16.58% of Apple shares.

Another advantage of doing this is that Barron began to hide his wealth. After all, Rich23 Capital was not registered in his name, and it was an offshore company.

This kind of company, especially when its registered place is still in the British Virgin Islands, its influence in the UK can still ensure that ordinary people cannot inquire about the specific relationship between this company and themselves.

Otherwise, when the rich lists begin to be released in 2004, Barron's ranking will probably be a bit eye-catching, especially since he is just 24 years old at this time, and he will definitely become the focus of media reports.

Similarly, after completing these, DS Capital's profit capital is approximately $5.8 billion.

These funds were also transferred to the account of Rich23 Capital, and after the exchange rate of the British pound against the U.S. dollar fell from the highest 1.78 to 1.75, they converted the profitable U.S. dollars into British pounds, which was almost 3.314 billion pounds.

Because Barron knows that by the end of 2004, the exchange rate will be as high as 1.9 or more...

Of course, these funds cannot be kept for long.

Rich23 Capital invested £414 million in Argos Retail Group, holding a 25% stake.

Argos Retail Group will use 350 million pounds of it to pay for the purchase of the Primark clothing chain, and the remaining 64 million pounds will be invested in the construction of its two brands.

Following this, Argos Retail Group's holdings will be 75% held by DS Industrial Investments and 25% held by Rich23 Capital.

When DS Capital originally purchased Argos, it spent 700 million pounds. However, after this capital injection from Rich23 Capital, the corresponding valuation of Argos Retail Group was 1.656 billion pounds.

This means that the value of Argos, which DS Capital initially purchased for £700 million, has risen to £1.242 billion over time.

Of course, to put it bluntly, this is Barron's left-hand operation, and this valuation is still very fictitious. The market value will not be recognized by the market until other investors or the Argos Retail Group's IPO.

At this time, Bernie Ecclestone also returned to London again. His negotiations with Germany's Bayerische Bank had the final result. Next, Barron's was needed to acquire SLEC.