New York 2006

Chapter 230 Christine’s decision

Luo Ji, Braun and Christine, led by Bernard Madoff's son Mark Madoff, visited Madoff's market-making company.

The company is located on the 19th floor of the Condé Nast Building in Times Square. The first and second floors of the building are the Nasdaq trading center, where the listed companies ring the bell.

The location of this company looked very impressive at first glance, and Kristen was instantly sedated.She looked around carefully.

Madoff was a market-making company with more than 100 employees. The arrival of the three people caused a commotion.However, with the company of their boss Mark Madoff, they all restrained themselves and did not dare to come forward to talk.

Mark Madoff proudly introduced to the three of them: "We are now the largest market maker on Nasdaq, and this year we have become the sixth largest market maker for S&P 500 stocks."

Kristen asked curiously: "What is a market maker?"

Mark Madoff explained it in professional terms: "Market makers refer to securities companies with strong strength and good reputation, which continuously report the buying and selling prices and transaction quantities of certain specific bonds and stocks, and use their own funds or bonds... …”

After hearing this, Kristine felt dizzy and couldn't understand it at first sight.

Luo Ji whispered in her ear: "They are the "second-rate dealers" in the market. They buy high and sell low to make a profit. They usually buy and sell inactive stocks, bonds, unlisted companies, etc. This can promote the circulation of the market. Sex, whenever you want to buy or whenever you want to sell, the market maker will accommodate you.”

Christine whispered to Luo Ji, "So it's just scalpers! Isn't this very profitable?"

Luo Ji was stunned for a while: "Uh... you can understand it this way."

Luo Ji added: "However, they have to quote prices to both buyers and sellers in advance. The buying and selling prices are transparent to both parties. Market makers just make hard money, and there are no profits as high as scalpers."

"Oh." Christine nodded.

If shareholders of Luo Ji's unlisted Holi gaming company want to sell the company's shares but can't find customers, they can find these "second-rate dealers" to sell them, and then they can find interested financial institutions to buy them.

Mark Madoff led the three of them to the floor-to-ceiling window of the high-rise building. He pointed to Manhattan outside: "Logic, look around, just around the corner from that street is the New York Stock Exchange. This year Visa's IPO of about 179 billion US dollars, we The company was involved.”

"Not bad."

Luo Ji nodded politely. He was not very interested in this company.

He changed the topic: "I came to see Mr. Madoff today. Where has he gone?"

"He is meeting Picower right now, you need to wait for a while."

"Picoult? Who is he?"

Mark Madoff said, "Jeffrey Picower."

Look at me, Luo Ji, Braun and Kristen. I think you don’t even know who they are.

Mark Madoff continued to explain: "He is one of the 400 richest people in the United States selected by Forbes this year."

Braun asked curiously: "I've never heard of him. Does he have any famous companies or industries?"

Mark Madoff said with disdain: "He has a small accounting company and a shitty industrial company. He just got lucky and met my father earlier. 30 years ago, he only had a little money, but now he has become one of the 400 richest people in the United States."

Kristen looked in disbelief: "Really?"

"Of course, you can go to Google and look up Picower's news coverage."

Braun explained to Christine: "Mr. Madoff's long-term rate of return is indeed very guaranteed. Although it is only more than ten percent a year, over decades, the compound interest is very scary, dozens of times." Even hundreds of times of profits are possible. I now regret not meeting Mr. Madoff earlier."

"Hahaha, Braun, it's not too late." Mark Madoff patted him on the shoulder and consoled him.

After listening to their conversation, Christine fell into thinking alone.

How could Madoff’s son know how to show off!
Luo Ji asked, "Where is your family's investment company?"

"It's on the sixth floor."

"Then can you take us to visit?"

Mark Madoff hesitated for a moment: "Okay, I'll take you up there for a walk."

…………

Several people took the elevator and quickly reached the 26th floor, where they entered Mr. Madoff's investment company.

At a glance, Luo Ji saw that the decoration level of the office facilities here was much lower than that of the ones on the 19th floor, and there were not as many staff on site as there were on the 19th floor.

However, the quality of decoration proves nothing. This investment company is the reason why Mr. Madoff makes Americans want to curry favor with him.

Madoff Investment Company, with its stable long-term yield and undefeated investment myth, is a place where countless wealthy people want to squeeze in!

Although Luo Ji is also famous in financial investment, he has not passed the test of time.Compared with veteran investment geniuses like Buffett and Madoff, he still has a big gap.

Christine asked, "Where is Mr. Madoff's office?"

Mark Madoff pointed not far away: "It's right there."

Everyone looked in the direction of his finger and saw that the blinds on the office glass windows were not closed.From outside, Mr. Madoff could be seen chatting with an old white man.

Madoff in the office also saw a few people and nodded to them.

Braun asked, "Is it Mr. Picower who was talking to Mr. Madoff?"

"Yes."

Mark Madoff pursed his lips and said with a displeased look on his face: "Lucky dog."

The client relationship between Mr. Madoff’s son and Mr. Madoff doesn’t look very good!Don't understand.

Led by Mark Madoff, several people casually walked around the company.

There is no difference between this place and the 19th floor, except that there are a few rooms that others are prohibited from entering. They should be confidential rooms of investment companies.

Everyone came to the company's rest area, drank coffee and waited boredly.

About ten minutes later, Madoff and Picower walked out of the office.

Braun, Luo Ji and Christine first glanced at Madoff, and then looked curiously at Picower next to them.

Picower wore a red bow tie on his chest and a suit and tie. Although he was bald, he looked energetic.

This lucky old white man in Mark's mouth was just an unknown person 30 years ago, but now he has become one of the richest people in the United States.

This is all thanks to Mr. Madoff.

Luo Ji and others took the initiative to say hello: "Hello, Mr. Madoff."

Madoff smiled at a few people: "Logic, Braun and Christine, good afternoon. Come, let me introduce you to Mr. Picaud, a figure on the Forbes list of the richest people in the United States."

"Hello, hello!" Several people immediately came forward to say hello.

"Hello."

However, Picower didn't seem to want to talk to them any more, and he didn't want to get to know Luo Ji, an investment genius. He said hello casually and then disappeared.

Luo Ji and the other three followed Mr. Madoff to the door of his office, with Mark Madoff following behind.Madoff let the three people in first.

The moment he entered, Luo Ji seemed to see Madoff glare at his son, Mark Madoff.

Arriving at the room, Luo Ji looked outside through the glass. He could see that Mark was moving a lot and he was a little angry.He was questioning his father in a low voice.

"You helped Picower make so much money, and he still doesn't respect you."

"I am your son, but you have always blocked me out of the investment company. Do you not trust me?"

Madoff took his son and disappeared. The three people in the office, Luo Ji, looked at each other and looked at each other.

Kristine said: "What happened to their father and son?"

"I don't know." Agent Braun said.

Luo Ji curled his lips and said, "What else could it be? The son wants to take over his father's rights, but the father doesn't want to let go of his own rights. Is this kind of power struggle between father and son rare in history?"

Braun smiled: "Well, that explanation does make sense."

Luo Ji asked out of curiosity: "Braun, how much money did you invest in Mr. Madoff?"

Braun rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "One million meters of knife."

Luo Ji patted him on the shoulder and praised, "Not bad, not bad. It's 200 million less than what you invested in my private equity fund. It seems you still think highly of me."

Braun smiled and said no more.

Christine took Luo Ji's hand: "Feili, do you still have a spot in your private equity fund? Can you take one with me?"

"how much money you have?"

"In addition, the salary this time is more than 500 million."

Luo Ji asked in confusion: "You're not planning to buy a house, so why do you suddenly want to invest?"

"Hum... don't ask why, just tell me whether you agree to it or not."

Luo Ji patted her hand: "My private equity fund just accepted Musk's investment a few days ago, and now the quota is full." Kristen shook off Luo Ji's hand: "You were willing to bring Taylor to invest in the first place. , but now he doesn’t want to take me.”

"Now that it's full of people, it's hard for me to kick people out."

Kristine said angrily: "Didn't you kick Director Catherine and several of her people out?"

"That's because she was unwilling to cooperate with the company's publicity and offended me."

Kristine looked at Luo Ji and continued, "Then why don't you kick someone for me?"

"The people who invest in my private equity fund are familiar to me, how can I kick them out casually?"

"Humph! You don't love me." Kristen turned her face sideways and sulked.

"How could I not love you!"

Luo Ji took her hand and continued: "If you really want to invest, I will recommend some stocks to you when the financial crisis is over. Now is really not the time to enter the market. Haven't you seen that stocks are falling every day?"

…………

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Braun interrupted the conversation between the two and motioned them to look out the door.Before the two of them could look back, Mr. Madoff had opened the door and walked in.

"I'm really sorry. Something happened just now and I kept you waiting for so long."

Kristine hurriedly said: "It's okay."

Braun added: "Mr. Madoff, your business is important. It doesn't matter if we wait a little longer."

It can be seen that Braun and Christine have great respect for Madoff, and even a little worship.

Buffett among the Jews really has a great influence on the Jews.Luo Ji could see Christine's starry eyes looking at Madoff.

In fact, if you think about it, for 19-year-old Christine, Madoff is indeed a big shot.

Madoff walked to sit across from the three of them and looked at Luo Ji: "I heard from Braun that you want to come and discuss with me today how to list the company on Nasdaq?"

"Well, yes." Luo Ji nodded and said.

Madoff thought for a moment: "Is it your Holi company?"

Luo Ji nodded: "Yes, a global Internet company like this is too expensive. I feel that only by going public for financing and being able to borrow cheap funds at any time can we continue to expand."

“Including your seed round, your company has only gone through three rounds of financing.”

"Yes."

Madoff thought for a moment: "If you don't want to lose too much control of the company, it does make sense for you to consider it so early."

Sure enough, it was the former chairman of Nasdaq who could see through Luo Ji's thoughts at a glance. Luo Ji had never told anyone else about this idea.

"I'll give you two suggestions. The first is to go public through a backdoor listing, and the second is to find those large investment institutions to plan for your company's listing in advance. I suggest you choose the second option."

"What should I say?" Luo Ji humbly asked for advice.

"Backdoor listing is to acquire a company that is not doing well on Nasdaq in order to achieve listing. This method will go public faster. But if you acquire a shell company, it will be a big expense..."

…………

Luo Ji and Madoff discussed for a long time before finally ending the topic of listing the company on Nasdaq.

Luo Ji said politely, "It's really troublesome for you today."

"It's okay, it was me who took the initiative to get to know you."

Luo Ji then said, "Then I'd like to trouble you, Mr. Madoff, to help me introduce someone who is proficient in listing on Nasdaq."

"Small things."

Madoff sighed deeply and said with emotion: "Outstanding young people like you are very rare. When I see you, I feel old in an instant."

Luo Ji smiled and complimented, "Mr. Madoff, you are in your prime. You can lead Wall Street for at least 50 years."

"Hahaha." Madoff smiled heartily.

Luo Ji raised his hand and looked at his watch. More than 40 minutes had passed since the conversation between the two of them, so he said, "It's getting late, so we'll leave first."

"I still have something to do here."

Madoff pondered for a moment, as if he was organizing his words: "Logic, are you interested in investing in my fund? I can give you the best terms."

It seems that I have never heard of Madoff actively inviting others to invest in his fund. Others begged him.

Luo Ji's private equity fund also learned from him, never actively inviting people, and he was picky when others wanted to invest.

This is the style, this is the style.In this way, others will rush to curry favor with him.

Luo Ji couldn't help but wonder in his heart, could it be that his excellence really conquered him?Thinking of this, Luo Ji couldn't help but feel proud.

He organized the language a little in his brain: "Mr. Madoff, as you know, I invested in BYD, Tesla, SolarCity, SpaceX and Netflix some time ago. I also bought a private jet a few days ago. I really don't have any extra money now." of cash.”

"Won't you listen to my terms?"

麦道夫自顾自地说了起来：“超过2000万可以给你8%的年化收益，超过5000万可以给你10%的年化收益，超过一亿米刀可以给你15%的年化收益。”

Luo Ji politely declined: "I'm really sorry, sir, I really don't have much cash right now."

"All right!"

Madoff looked at Luo Ji and said solemnly: "I know that your music company and film company's CD sales are very good, and the cash will arrive soon. I like you very much, so this condition of mine will be beneficial to you in the long run." efficient."

"Thank you, Mr. Madoff. I'll call you when I have the cash."

"Haha, your investment is always welcome here."

He doesn't have much cash anymore, that's true.However, if you squeeze and sell stocks, you can still get 5000 million right away.

The reason why Luo Ji didn't invest in him was mainly because he was looked down upon by his peers.

Is an annualized return of 15% awesome?
Relying on revelation and intuition, Luo Ji believed that he could achieve an annualized return of 50%.Had it not been for the financial crisis, his yield would have been even higher.

What's more, Luo Ji invested in Madoff's fund. What would the clients who invested in Luo Ji's private equity fund think?
Peers are enemies, and giving up without competition is not his style.

Luo Ji, Braun walked towards the door: "Goodbye, Mr. Madoff."

Kristen stopped and looked at Madoff with a smile: "Sir, I have some spare funds here. Can your fund accept my investment?"

Luo Ji turned around and looked at Christine with a surprised expression. The corners of his mouth curled up but he said nothing.

"How much money do you have?" Madoff asked.

"500 meters knife."

Madoff remained calm after hearing this. He knocked on the table with his hand.

Christine was extremely nervous for a moment, and she hurriedly said: "Mr. Madoff, I know the rules of the fund are that they need to be recommended. Am I recommended by Braun?"

Madoff looked at Braun, who then looked at Luo Ji.

Luo Ji looked at Christine again and found that she was looking at him with a pleading look on her face.Luo Ji glared at her, and she stepped forward and whispered in Luo Ji's ear.

"My dear, please mess with me. I will agree to all your conditions when you get back."

Luo Ji looked calm after hearing this, and then nodded to Braun.

Braun immediately said: "Mr. Madoff, Christine was indeed recommended by me. Just accept her funds."

Madoff pondered for a moment: "Okay, Christine. I will promise you this time, but if you want to introduce someone in the future, you must get my permission."

"Okay, Mr. Madoff." Christine smiled instantly.

…………

Several people left the Condé Nast Building and got into the car.

Luo Ji looked at Christine and said angrily: "What do you mean, do you think I'm not as good as Madoff? I promised to wait until the financial crisis is over and recommend some stocks to you. Or do you want to wait for this little time?" No?"

Kristine carefully tried to please her: "My dear, don't be angry, I really don't have such thoughts."

"Then what do you mean?"

Christine hesitated and said nothing, and Luo Ji glared at her fiercely.

She could only whisper: "People in Hollywood say that Mr. Madoff's fund is the ticket to the upper class."

Luo Ji: "..."

(End of this chapter)