Chapter 366

Chapter 366 Sniping Gaoqi Bank!

The subordinate heard this and hurried back. Seeing Smith’s grave expression, he assumed he had offended him earlier, and said with a hint of anxiety, “Mr. Smith, I’ll take care of this matter.”

“Which four companies announced the equity divestiture?” Smith’s sense of unease was growing stronger by the moment.

The subordinate was a little dazed, completely unaware of why Smith had changed his tune so quickly. Just a moment ago he had seemed completely indifferent, so why was he suddenly concerned again?

“Sunshine New Energy, Northern Power, Tianli Petroleum, and Yinhai Energy.”

The subordinate’s voice grew quieter with each word, because he could see that Smith’s face had turned ashen!

“Four companies, all of them in the energy sector?” Smith could barely contain the fury rising within him!

“Yes, especially the last one, Yinhai Energy. It’s one of our key focus companies this year, responsible for the extraction and refining of deep-sea manganese ore. The prospects are very promising…”

“I know perfectly well that their prospects are promising!” Smith slammed his fist on the desk. “Four energy companies simultaneously announcing equity divestitures – have they lost their minds?”

“Well, whether they’ve lost their minds or not, I’m not entirely sure…” the subordinate said, fumbling for words.

“You’re an idiot. Why didn’t you tell me sooner about something this important?”

Smith pounded the desk and roared. Since taking this position, he had rarely been this furious!

The subordinate felt utterly wronged. He said helplessly, “It was you who just told me not to say anything. You even said it wasn’t a big deal and didn’t need to be reported to you…”

Smith paused. It did seem like he was the one who had told the other person not to report it, and he suddenly felt his face burning with embarrassment.

But he was the CEO, and even if he made a mistake, he couldn’t admit it to someone’s face.

“New energy is the key sector that our Gaoqi Bank is focusing on this year, and these four new energy companies are the top priorities – not a single one can be lost!” Smith composed himself and continued his reprimand. “Something this significant happened, and you didn’t report it to me? Even if I told you not to, don’t you know to speak up on your own? How could you not know how serious this is?”

The subordinate truly felt he was being wronged to death. He now wished he could land a few solid punches on Smith’s face. From start to finish, it was this CEO who had been making all the decisions, so why was all the blame now being pushed onto him? Was being someone’s subordinate just about being a scapegoat?

“If they were four small companies, that would be one thing – but are these small companies? These involve major strategic positioning for the firm! What on earth is going on in your head!”

Because Smith was so agitated, he could only vent by berating his subordinate.

“Go investigate what’s going on with these four companies and have a detailed research report on my desk within three hours!”

Smith growled.

Although there weren’t many of these companies, and the temporary equity divestiture hadn’t caused massive immediate losses, the real impact was that it would severely affect the company’s future industry planning adjustments and global strategic positioning!

The new energy sector was one that Gaoqi Investment Bank had planned to focus on for years to come, and these four companies were among its top targets. Now that all four had forcefully carried out equity divestitures and kicked Gaoqi out without a word, how could anyone not be furious?

Since Gaoqi did not hold absolute controlling stakes, there was nothing he could say about what these four companies had done, beyond expressing his anger!

Smith could figure out with his eyes closed that once this news broke, Gaoqi’s stock would immediately plummet!

Perhaps the stock had already started falling.

Under Smith’s leadership, Gaoqi Bank had been climbing steadily in recent years – not a single step backward, not even a moment of stagnation. If this news got out, it could very well become the turning point that ended Gaoqi’s golden era.

Smith was just about to open his computer to check on the stock market when he heard the subordinate standing across from him say, “I’m sorry, I won’t be able to submit the research report within three hours.”

Smith was absolutely furious upon hearing this. He grabbed the folder beside him and hurled it hard at the subordinate. “This is your project, and now you’re telling me you can’t do it? Do you have any idea this could plunge the entire company into crisis? You idiot!”

Even the most patient person has their limits, let alone being berated like this. The subordinate let out a cold laugh and said, “I’m sorry. I’ve decided that, as of right now, I am no longer an employee of Gaoqi Bank.”

“What?” Smith could hardly believe his ears. This project manager was by any measure a veteran of the company, having been at Gaoqi Bank for over ten years! How could he just up and resign like that?

“I refuse to keep working my life away for a boss who has no regard for his subordinates – someone who, when problems arise, doesn’t think about solving them but instead shifts the blame and makes others take the fall. You are truly not a qualified CEO.”

The project manager picked up the folder that had fallen to the floor and threw it right back at Smith, saying, “So, I quit.”

It seems America truly is a country with a very strong sense of individual rights. If this had happened in China, the berated employee would probably have just swallowed the humiliation – taking the blame is taking the blame, and keeping the boss happy is what matters most.

Smith watched him walk out, his face cycling between pale and flushed.

At such a critical moment, the lead person responsible for those four projects had chosen to resign. Wasn’t this just adding insult to injury?

He took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry. I got too worked up just now. Please accept my apology.”

Smith didn’t really feel that his earlier attitude had caused this subordinate any particular harm. He rarely lost his temper, and the one time he did, his subordinate immediately resigned – wasn’t that a slap in the face to him as CEO?

But the situation was urgent, and the necessary gesture still had to be made. There would be plenty of time to settle scores after this was all over.

At this point, Smith had already made up his mind: if this project manager chose to stay, he would never see another promotion at Gaoqi for as long as he worked there.

However, the subordinate showed absolutely no intention of accepting Smith’s apology. “Huasheng Investment Bank has been sending me invitations for five consecutive years. I’ve been hesitant all this time, but your attitude today has finally given me the confidence to make my decision.”

Smith looked at him coldly and said, “So that’s your final decision?”

“Of course.” The subordinate continued, “But there’s one more thing I need to tell you. I’m not leaving alone. Every member of my entire project team will be leaving with me, and as for the penalty fees for breaking our contracts, Huasheng Bank will cover all of it.”

With that, he turned and walked out!

Smith was beside himself with rage, completely losing the composed, presidential demeanor he normally carried. He kicked the desk hard, his face flushed crimson!

Only those who have worked inside investment banks truly understand what it means when a seasoned project manager resigns.

It’s not just the loss of talent – it’s the loss of projects. Every project manager who leaves can potentially take a large number of projects with them.

Just like those four energy companies from earlier – it was very likely that after divesting their equity from Gaoqi Bank, they would turn around and fall under Huasheng Bank’s umbrella.

“Send a bottle of ice water in for me.”

Smith said to his secretary through the intercom. He felt he urgently needed to cool himself down right now.

But before the secretary could come in, the head of the securities division came bursting through the door first.

Smith instinctively felt a wave of dread. “What’s going on? Please don’t tell me there’s a problem on the securities side too.”

“How did you know? There really is a problem.” The securities director was somewhat surprised – he hadn’t expected Smith to know in advance.

“Tell me, what exactly happened?” Smith was already feeling a dull, throbbing pain in his head.

“The Class A bonds we issued last year are seeing massive abnormal sell-offs.” The director’s expression was grave.

“Massive abnormal sell-offs?” Smith was utterly exasperated. “How large of a sell-off?”

“Eighty percent.” Even as the bonds director said the number, he could hardly believe it himself.

“Eighty percent?” Smith felt as though he were about to be consumed by rage. He clearly found this figure absolutely staggering!

Smith grabbed the man by the collar, glared at him, and growled, “Are you sure? Really eighty percent? And it’s the best Class A bonds?”

“I’m sure.” The bonds director nodded repeatedly and said bitterly, “The moment that eighty percent of the Class A bonds were dumped, they immediately began circulating on the market at low prices!”

Smith stepped back two paces, took a few deep breaths, and said, “If these bonds were dumped and immediately circulated on the market at low prices, we’ll take a loss of over a billion dollars, but the other party’s losses will certainly exceed ours!”

“Exactly.” The bonds director said, “That’s why I called this a clear case of abnormal selling. The other party may be deliberately going after us. Otherwise, who would dump over 8 billion in one shot?”

Smith let out a cold laugh. “So it’s a battle of who can burn more cash? They want to use this to undermine Gaoqi’s dominant position in the financial markets? Do they really think it’s that simple?”

“So, should we…”

“If they dare dump, we dare absorb!” Smith thought for a moment and said coldly, “Mobilize liquid funds and buy up every single one of these bonds. However much they dump, we absorb!”

“But the amount of capital involved is enormous.” The bonds director hesitated. Even for the world’s top investment bank, mobilizing over 10 billion dollars in liquid funds all at once was a significant undertaking that would require going through many necessary procedures.

“This is an emergency – there’s no time for all that. We handle it as a special case!”

Smith made one phone call, and his people began preparing the liquid funds.

Pulling out this much money all at once meant Smith was taking on enormous risk. If things went badly, he could very well be forced out because of it.

The bonds director looked at Smith and said with some concern, “This amount of capital is truly massive. If something goes wrong…”

“If something goes wrong, I’ll take responsibility!” Smith slammed the desk, his brow furrowed and his eyes blazing!