Chapter 4 Going bankrupt?
"So, we're going bankrupt?"
In the study room of Chatsworth Manor, Barron put down the financial report in his hand, looked at the two people in front of him and said.
"Although it won't go bankrupt, if we can't get back the money we invested in the London Star, then I'm afraid we will need to sell off most of our assets in order to meet the bank's loan. By then..."
The person who spoke to Barron was Julia Moore, the administrator of the Cavendish Family Trust Fund. She is a woman who exudes mature charm.
However, although Yulia has a great figure, even wearing a women's suit, it is difficult to hide her body curves, but at this time, Barron has no intention to pay attention to this. He needs to understand the current situation of the Cavendish family as soon as possible. the real situation.
Having said that, the reason why Barron’s grandmother, the old lady in the family, has such prestige is mainly because she is good at management. Initially, after World War II, she saved Cavendi by changing her business ideas. Most of the Xu family's assets.
Barron's grandfather, the 11th Duke of Devonshire, faced huge inheritance taxes at the time. With the help of the old lady, after more than 20 years of hard work, he opened Chatsworth Manor, one of the few remaining estates in England. Many super estates allow the public to visit, and undertake various activities and filming to make profits, which can be used to pay off the inheritance tax.
Many people have watched the British TV series "Downton Abbey" that later became very famous, and I am afraid they are deeply impressed by the Downton Abbey in this TV series.
But the land at Chatsworth Manor owned by the Duke of Devonshire family covers an area of 35,000 acres. What is this concept?
It is seven times the area of Highclere Castle, where "Downton Abbey" was filmed, and is equivalent to half of London!
Therefore, it can be said that Chatsworth Manor is far larger than the magnificent manor in "Downton Abbey", so after it is opened, it can also bring certain benefits to the family.
Even so, the entire family will only make a slight profit and will only maintain it.
Because in addition to Chatsworth Manor, the family now owns two manors and adjacent lands in Ireland and Scotland...
After entering the new era, the output of these manors and land can no longer be easily squandered by such a family as before.
And the annual repair and maintenance costs of these manors can be said to be astronomical...
Since World War II, countless aristocrats have gone bankrupt and are unable to maintain their original luxurious lives, thus living in embarrassment. Now, there are fewer and fewer families that can continue the traditional "aristocratic pomp".
Those aristocratic families that can survive all have other industrial investments and can feed back traditional industries... What's more, government policies are becoming increasingly unfriendly to the aristocratic class, both in terms of taxation and policies. Unintentionally weakening the interests of the aristocratic class.
Therefore, the Cavendish family also tried to invest in some emerging industries later - but unfortunately, it seems that the two generations of Barron's grandfather and father did not have much investment in emerging industries. Strong ability, but there have been a lot of losses, large and small.
But if that were just the case, I'm afraid the Cavendish family wouldn't have fallen into Barron's current situation.
The problem lies in his late father, who somehow believed in the temptation of "high returns" and mortgaged many of his family's assets into an investment company called "London Star".
Yes, it was true, this so-called "London Star" is completely a Ponzi scheme.
At the beginning, the old Cavendish was not too deeply involved, but only invested a small amount of capital tentatively...
But that's what a Ponzi scheme is. In the beginning, it gave extremely high returns to the initial users through the funds of subsequent customers... These gradually strengthened the confidence of the old Cavendish, coupled with the influence of the Internet two years ago. The impact of the bubble has also severely affected traditional industries.
As a result, Cavendish Sr. began to continuously increase his investment in the "London Star". Faced with high return expectations, he actually mortgaged many of the family's assets and invested in this "Ponzi scheme" from bank loans. Among...
You can imagine what happened next. A month ago, "London Star" began to stop issuing dividends, and many users' redemption requests were also temporarily frozen.
Now old Cavendish is panicking... If it is really confirmed that this "London Star" is a scam, then the whole family will fall into an abyss...
Therefore, he has been working hard for this during this period, but his effect is limited, and the "London Star" still thundered!
This time he took Barron's eldest brother to London. Old Cavendish also wanted to rely on the family's previous relationships to go to London to meet "powerful people", and at least try to use part of the funds invested in the "London Star" to Take back……
Thinking about it, the result must be unsatisfactory. By this time, apart from squandering and returning the other party's funds to early investors, I am afraid that within a month, almost all of the other party's funds have been transferred.
Then at this moment, a car accident happened!
I'm afraid that his grandmother's sudden death was not only a shock caused by the death of old Cavendish and his eldest son, but also because the other party knew the relevant inside story.
But the deceased is gone, and the one who needs to face this mess now is Barron!
Don’t forget that many properties of the family trust fund, including the Chatsworth Manor where he currently lives, are mortgaged to banks. Once those loans cannot be repaid, I am afraid that Barron, the newly promoted Duke, will have to He was kicked out of the family manor and became the laughing stock of all England...
He didn't want his own deeds to appear when others searched for the term "the most miserable Duke in England"... That would be too shameful!
"Ms. Moore, please give me a catalog of the current family trust fund's properties. I want to know which properties have been mortgaged and cannot be used, and which properties can be sold for funds..."
Barron tapped the table and said to the two people in front of him:
"And Butler Sean, I also need a directory listing the family's assets outside of the family trust fund..."
Although most of the family's assets have been injected into the family trust fund, there are still some assets that are directly in the family's name, and Barron needs to understand these clearly.
"Yes, your lordship."
Regarding Barron's words, Julia Moore agreed very neatly.
But Butler Sean hesitated, as if he wanted to say something...
"What, Butler Sean, do you have anything to say?"
"Master, I know that in the current situation, selling off some properties is a last resort, but..."
