Chapter 669 Help Whoever Wins
In Barron's previous life, he often heard a statement that BlackRock controls America because they manage more than 10 trillion US dollars in assets, ranking first in the world, and almost all of the world's top 500 companies, BlackRock has shares, and this group controls the economic lifeline of the world...
Well, how should I put it? This statement vividly reflects the charm of journalism, which is to satisfy the curiosity and conspiracy theories of the people.
BlackRock is indeed very powerful after more than ten years. Its strength comes from the scale of assets it manages and the influence it has.
But if we draw the conclusion that "BlackRock dominates the world" or "BlackRock controls America" based on this, it would be a bit hasty.
If this logic is valid, then let me ask, BlackRock accelerated its development after the subprime mortgage crisis, so before BlackRock, why did the financial company with the highest assets under management not control the world or America, but was surpassed by BlackRock?
In fact, it is precisely because of the scale of assets managed by BlackRock Group that their investment method is destined to choose the world's largest and most powerful companies to invest in, and to put their own funds into the most prosperous branches of the global economy, so as to ensure that they can obtain the dividends of development.
Just like Barron, in the past, his investment was more based on the memory of his previous life, looking for the fastest-growing industry to enter.
But as the countdown of his previous life experience progresses, coupled with the increase in his own scale, the current world is different from the previous life in many details and nodes. Then his subsequent investment will be more and more inclined to the BlackRock Group's way, that is, to invest widely in companies that are more likely to survive, have more development potential, and are more stable.
At the same time, this is also determined by the scale of funds. If the assets you manage are only at the billion level and trillion level, the investment method must be different.
As for why the scale of funds managed by BlackRock Group has expanded so rapidly...
That's because BlackRock Group stepped on the right development trend after the subprime mortgage crisis, and their Aladdin system is very effective, so this group has been successful.
And capital always chooses the winners.
Just like the words in the movie "Let the Bullets Fly" - whoever wins, they will help.
It's that simple.
In the process of BlackRock's rise, completing the acquisition of BGI, the asset management department of Barclays Bank, is a very important step.
In Barron's previous life, when BlackRock acquired BGI, Larry Fink was busy calling people for two days and two nights, and used all his relationships to raise the funds needed to acquire BGI.
Even so, to acquire BGI, BlackRock only took out $4.5 billion in cash at the time, and also took out 19.9% of BlackRock's shares!
Of course, these are very worthwhile. By integrating BGI, especially its ETF fund iShare, BlackRock has successfully embarked on the road of capital expansion.
Now, Barron needs to make Standard Chartered-Merrill Lynch the new owner of BGI.
…
“According to the news from Paris, the driver of the engineering vehicle that caused the accident that night belonged to a local construction company. He had been divorced for many years and had been living alone. The investigation of his call records could not support the situation that someone had instructed him to do so. In addition, he had died at the scene of the accident…”
“So there is no progress?”
“At present, it seems that there is no useful information from the driver. According to the autopsy report, the driver has a long history of drug abuse. The police are more inclined to believe that this was an accident that got out of control…”
Barron had expected this result. After all, since the other party chose to do so, it would be difficult for the police to get any effective information…
But do many things really require such detailed evidence?
Moreover, although there was no evidence that the driver was instructed to do so, according to relevant investigations, the driver’s driving route on the day of the accident obviously deviated from the other party’s normal driving trajectory. In addition, at the scene, the other party did not slow down or brake when hitting the vehicle that Ashley Webber was riding. If all this is a coincidence, it would be too hasty.
If this was instigated by someone, then in terms of motivation, although the Weber family may have some enemies or factions that they don't get along with, it's hard to find anyone who can directly attack Ashley Weber, who is not a core member of the Weber family politically.
The only one who has this motivation is the Rothschild family, who were once "cheated" by William Weber Capital in the gambling agreement and compete with them in the private banking field...
Moreover, before this, Rothschild Bank itself was one of the important shareholders of Natixis Bank, and with the investment of William Weber Capital, they became the largest single shareholder of Natixis Bank, and also diluted the influence of the Rothschild family in this bank.
All this is enough for the other party to hate Ashley...
Moreover, this style of losing the upper hand in the competition and starting to resort to tricks is indeed very much like what the Rothschild family can do.
When he was in London, Benjamin Rothschild did this once to Barron.
It’s just that for a family with a long history like the Rothschild family, it can be said that after such a long inheritance, although in terms of strength, the Rothschild family can no longer compare with when they were in their heyday when they were extremely wealthy. But their heritage still exists.
Especially in Europe, the Rothschild family is related to many old and new forces. It is not an ordinary family, nor is it easy to deal with.
In terms of strength, Barron is not afraid of the opponent at all, but it is impossible for him to really send people to defeat everyone in the Rothschild family...
Let's not talk about whether it can be done - after so many generations of inheritance, there are not many people who can be called descendants of the Rothschild family. Even its core members naturally have relatively strict security measures.
You can make a surprise attack to kill one or two people, but once something like this happens, others will definitely be alert and will not arrogantly wait for you to come over like in movies and TV shows...
But even if he could do this, Barron would not do it unless he had to.
Indeed, at the top levels of Europe and the United States, it is not uncommon to achieve goals through assassination - in fact, the moral bottom line of these people is far lower than you think.
But the key point is that exterminating a family is different from your usual competition. Once you do this, there is no airtight wall in the world, so what will other people think of you?
I am afraid that not only will you become defensive and alienated, but it is also possible that you will be further squeezed out by other families.
The use of financial means, not to mention that the Rothschild family itself started from this, even if its current strength can only be called the second-rate level in the world, it has caused some losses to them, and they want to completely eliminate it. It is also almost impossible to "relegate to common people".
Moreover, LCF Rothschild Group is originally a family business. The Rothschild family holds most of the shares of this group very cautiously. The acquisition methods used by Barron's before are difficult to work.
Although family-owned groups like the Rothschild Group compete with Wall Street capital, they have the disadvantage of being relatively traditional and inefficient in obtaining funds.
But it also makes their control over the family business stronger.
Therefore, Barron can only make plans slowly at present, first gradually weakening the opponent's strength and influence.
