From legendary short seller to god of American capital

Chapter 145 Resignation

Chapter 145 Resignation (3.5K)

The land and factory acquisition process on the second day went very smoothly.

The Thoreau family butler was visibly excited when he heard that someone was willing to buy a large tract of land in the remote industrial area of ​​Concord.

The former pencil factory warehouse and the clearing in the woods were priced at $60 per acre, totaling 8 acres, or about 48 mu of land. Together with the warehouse buildings on it, the total price was $480.

The riverside industrial land is priced at a slight premium, and there are existing foundry buildings and leveled land on it. This area is 16 acres in total, and the price per acre, including the buildings, is $80, for a total asking price of $1280.

Mr. Winthrop led the group on a site tour and found that the warehouse site was a bit of a loss because it also included some reserves that the state government had explicitly prohibited from being cleared.

However, the riverside plots are very good value because they used to be small foundries, so the houses are all made of reinforced concrete, which is very sturdy.

In addition, the riverside plot also includes a flood control dike along the river and a small dock, all of which will be provided along with the land.

Larry frowned and kept finding fault, saying that the house was completely unusable and would have to be demolished and rebuilt later; he also emphasized that the land had not been paved and that he would need to make further investments.

The Thoreau family's butler would certainly object or emphasize that his house would be an excellent value, but he wouldn't dare to argue too much with Larry, because the area was indeed quite remote. If they missed Larry's group, it would be many years before they could find another buyer.

Ultimately, the warehouse site and riverside industrial land, totaling 32 acres (194 mu), were sold for $1460.

The group returned to town to sign the contract and get it notarized. Larry paid $1460 for the land purchase, $50 for the agent and lawyer fees, $72 for stamp duty and other expenses, for a total of $1582.

The formal land handover will take place next Wednesday due to certain procedures that need to be followed.

John Browning was so excited that he decided not to return to Boston, but to stay in Concord and wait for the land to be handed over, while also planning the original designs for the future gun company on the original site.

Mr. Winthrop then offered several very practical suggestions, such as having Browning apply to the state government for an explosives control certificate under the 1875 Explosives Control Ordinance, and which company to consult for quotes on the underwater forging hammer and boiler, etc.

Matthew was sent back by his brother to assist Larry with the company's establishment procedures.

Thus, the trip to Walden Pond has fully achieved its purpose.

Before leaving, Larry, Mr. Winthrop, and Matthew took another trip to the nearby Minutemen National Historical Park. But John Browning clearly had no interest in that; he had rented a long-term room at a hotel in town and was already excitedly planning for the future on the foundation of the "Browning Brothers Company."

At 7 p.m., the three returned to Boston.

Mr. Winslop insisted on splitting the expenses for the four of them over the next few days, and Larry eventually had no choice but to agree.

Back in his apartment, Larry lay on his bed, reflecting on everything that had happened recently. He decided that his goal for the next two months was to successfully complete all the company projects.

In addition, Larry made a decision that once these projects were all up and running, he could no longer stay in Boston!

My main job is, after all, trading; it involves dealing with money.

This place is too far from the NYSE!

Sending a telegram for a quote would take too much time back and forth.

The stock sell-off in the US sugar industry demonstrated that in the event of a particularly urgent stock market event, trading outside of New York takes much longer, and this stringent time requirement can lead to vastly different results.

Besides, he still had his eye on the founding of General Electric!

Since I went to New York, at least I can contact Mr. Porter to get more shares of GE's new stock.

As for his promise to Mr. Porter to spend half the money, Larry felt that this was a rather challenging task. From the time he resigned until he went to New York, besides handling matters related to setting up the company, he would focus on diligently carrying out this spending spree.

In short, the most important task tomorrow is to resign from Mr. Wallace's position!

.

The next day was Monday, February 29, 1892.

Larry arrived at Paine Weber Securities early, but coincidentally, Mr. Wallace was not there this morning, and Larry's resignation application was not submitted.

Larry then sent someone to summon Logan and Mr. K to the Black Knight Bar to check on the progress of the convenience store and food company projects.

"I've found two containers for the bubble tea shop, as you requested: narrow-necked glass bottles and one-liter flat tin kettles. The glass bottles cost 5 cents each, and if we place long-term orders, we can get them for as low as 3 cents. The tin kettles are a bit more expensive; the factory owner said they need to modify the molds for custom production, and the cost per kettle would be around $10!"

As Logan spoke, he took out a flat tin pot from his pocket as a sample.

This was custom-made by Logan from a container factory at Larry's request. It was somewhat like an enlarged, flat metal flask. Larry thought it over and decided that this slightly flattened tin flask was the most convenient to carry at the time, whether for ordinary people or for hanging on a horse.

Larry held the one-liter tin kettle in his hand and looked it over, thinking it looked pretty good.

However, Mr. K glanced at it a few times and then curled his lip in disdain, saying, "Don't look for Americans for this kind of thing. You should look for Italians. I guarantee to God that Italians can design something twice as beautiful as this, and it will be at least $1 cheaper."

Logan's eyes lit up, and he immediately asked Mr. K to accompany him to find the manufacturer.

Larry nodded and added, "While you're at it, look for ceramic mugs, like a small half-liter mug with a handle. How much do those cost?"

Mr. K turned his head and casually replied, "I don't know about others, but if this thing were made in an Italian workshop, it would probably only cost 10 to 25 cents to mass-produce one. Wait, boss, what do you need this for?"

Larry held up the one-liter flat tin kettle, showing off its slightly convex metal surface, and said to the two, "We'll put the company logo on these containers and require a deposit based on the market retail price when we sell them. Regular customers can return the container if they just want to drink milk tea; but some people will keep the cups or kettle because they feel these convenient containers will also be useful to them, and that's another source of income for us."

Mr. K suddenly realized that this was also a sales tactic, and that containers with logos could also serve as GG (Good Guy) products.

Next, Larry told the two about the three-person cross-shareholding plan between the two companies.

The specific arrangement was as discussed by the three of them in Logan's hospital room: Larry would own 20% of the new retail company, while Logan and Mr. K would each own 10%. However, when it came to profit distribution, whoever ran the company would receive 20% of the operating preferred stock.

Of course, Logan and Mr. K couldn't just invest $1000 anymore. They'd both gotten rich recently following Larry, so each investment should be at least $5000.

Larry invested $1 in each company.

Both individuals had no objection to cross-shareholding and were willing to each hold shares in the other's projects.

The convenience store company was relatively simple. The three decided to follow Larry's advice and build a two-pronged approach, with both directly operated stores and franchised stores. In the early stages, they would focus on directly operated stores, but the franchise slots would only be given to veterans. This way, they could maximize their reputation.

The situation with the food company is a bit more complicated. Larry plans to include the Chinese in Chinatown as well. If they are willing to invest, Larry intends to give up his $3000 quota to let them hold shares; but if they are not willing to directly invest to buy shares, they can also become preferred shares in proportion.

In addition, Larry also explained the semi-charitable nature of the food and beverage company to the two of them.

Mr. K questioned why Chinese people were needed and why it was necessary to go through the trouble of creating a semi-public welfare company to bring in churches. Larry explained his considerations to Mr. K: the key to this project was to use its public welfare and charitable nature to support the Democratic Party while rapidly expanding to major cities across the United States.

Mr. K asked a few questions, but considering that he wasn't in charge of the project and that he would only contribute $5000 to earn equity returns, he didn't care much about the specific implementation details.

Larry asked Logan if he had any opinions, and Logan certainly didn't.

Logan now knew that following Larry meant easy money, and he'd do whatever Larry said. Besides, the food company's projects were all franchises, meaning his workload was much less than Mr. K's. Furthermore, with church oversight and Chinese people in charge of production, he was happy to have a relaxed schedule, only needing to play the role of manager and coordinator.

After both projects were settled, Larry tapped the table with his finger.

"Alright, these two projects are settled! Later this week, the two companies will be officially established, and we will operate according to the formal management system of a company. Remember, gentlemen, we are here to make money, and incidentally, to gain a good reputation! Let's resolve the current issues now, and discuss and resolve any future operational problems later!"

In addition, Larry also gave everyone a general idea of ​​the equity exit plan, saying that if anyone felt it was not suitable after two years of operation, they could decide to exit, but others would have the right of first refusal to purchase the shares.

All three were well aware that this initial equity structure was very crude and would inevitably cause problems in the future, so they had no choice but to operate it this way for now. The real problems could only be solved through actual operation.

Therefore, Larry's exit strategy based on stock price naturally received the approval of both of them.

After discussing all the important matters, Larry asked the two if they had anything else to say.

Mr. K grinned slyly and rubbed his hands together at Larry, saying, "Boss, it's time for a cigar... I've been itching to get one!"

Larry smiled and took out his mahogany humidor box, giving each of the three a stick and lighting them.

Logan was fine; he was just happily smoking a cigar and drinking.

Mr. K suddenly asked, "Hey, Logan, is your dad getting promoted again? Haha, I read in the newspaper that he led the operation to wipe out the Rostan gang and received an award from the mayor."

Logan smiled and nodded, glancing at Mr. K and then at Larry, before saying cheerfully, "With my dad protecting us, our retail store won't have any problems. I'd like to see which foolish gang dares to come to our store to collect protection money!"

Larry laughed too, thinking to himself that Logan's dad had also inadvertently become a "gangster-busting vanguard".

Speaking of this, Larry asked, "Logan, you can come and go freely from now on, right? After all, the Rostan Gang has disappeared!"

Logan nodded and said, "No problem! The assassin who attacked me was shot dead by the police for resisting arrest... I'm safe now."

Larry and Mr. K exchanged a glance, both seeing disbelief in each other's eyes. They thought to themselves that it wasn't a case of resisting arrest and being shot dead; perhaps it was something Larry's father had arranged.

However, this matter has nothing to do with the two of them.

At this point, Larry suddenly had a thought and turned to Logan, asking, "What about Mr. Dunbar? You're not using security anymore, so what will happen to him?"

Logan frowned and said, "How would I know? Or maybe I'll just go back to the detective agency and wait to be someone else's temporary security guard?"

Larry quickly straightened up, smiling, and said, "Don't let him find anyone else. He can stay with me. I'm going to New York soon, and from now on, Mr. Dunbar will be my bodyguard. I'll pay him $20 a week!"

(End of this chapter)