Chapter 772: Going Into the Water (Two in One)

The exchange in the Rockets arena was pleasant and relaxed. Today was an informal meeting between Fang Zhuo, Geithner and O'Neill. Tomorrow, the media will be invited to take photos of the congressmen's exchange on basketball culture.

As a congressman, Xiao Ao is keen on promoting his own image, and if he can combine it with his hobbies, it is even more heartfelt.

When it was dinner time, Fang Zhuo held a small banquet and invited the local municipal government to accompany him. The atmosphere was quite enjoyable.

The Rockets have held a championship parade in Houston for two consecutive years. This result has boosted home attendance, boosted consumption, and made the local municipal government very fond of it.

The team is also very attentive in building community culture.

Compared with the stingy previous boss Alexander, Fang Zhuo was more generous with the team's funds. He didn't have to do anything himself. As long as the money could be solved, he would be charitable.

For example, in the communities and streets near the arena, the street lights, graffiti, and signs have all been added with Rockets elements, and the surrounding street courts have also been repaired with sponsorship.

It is worth mentioning that after the team defended its title this year, it is trying to push the municipal government to widen the road leading to the home court so that fans watching the game will not have the atmosphere of the home court affected by heavy traffic.

Xiao Ou listened to these team culture constructions with great interest at the dinner table.

Finally, at the end of the dinner, he said with some emotion: "If I don't go into politics in the future, I really want to be the owner of a team."

However, according to Fang Zhuo, this matter probably won't work.

Xiao O's starting point is a bit low, and his family can only be considered middle-class now. He can definitely earn his fair share of money through memoirs, speeches and the like, but this money cannot be exaggerated enough to buy a team.

It is more cost-effective for those leaders who have their own foundation, and they can amplify the wealth of a large base with a little move.

At the end of the dinner, the guests and hosts enjoyed themselves.

Xiao Ao and Geithner stayed at the hotel, while Fang Zhuo drove back to the villa after making an appointment to meet the next day.

Zhao Zhishan personally served as Mr. Fang’s driver. Except for a domestic retired safety assistant who was following him, everyone else was in the car behind.

"Xiao Zhao, please sort out Geithner's information in detail and give it to me tomorrow morning."

"How come he and Xiao Ao have a personal relationship?"

"The two of them seem to be very familiar with each other. It's not like they met each other once or twice."

Fang Zhuo has been wondering about this today, but has no time to study it in detail.

The information Zhao Zhishan provided before was all about contacts in Illinois and related to Xiao Ao. However, Geithner is an unexpected figure. Fortunately, he is relatively familiar with some figures in New York, and he can string together a relationship between the big one and the small one. , it can be regarded as completing a small exchange.

The MIGA Fund will not directly set up positions, but will sponsor the establishment of an independent economic research institution, so that people like Xiao Sa can take up positions and gain some platform power.

Only when there are comings and goings can the relationship be deep.

As long as Sasha is willing to take up the position, the investment in the Big Short will bring him a share.

Today Geithner will not invest alone, but will use profits to attract people from this group to take action.

After all, although Mr. Xiao Sa comes from an economic family and is an economist himself, if he really wants to apply what he has learned and apply his theories to test the market, he will probably lose money.

If you want to make big money, let the professionals do it.

But when professionals come, they just drag a group of people into the water.

Zhao Zhishan responded, and after a few seconds he said, "Mr. Fang, there is something that may be handled through the team."

Fang Zhuo motioned for her to continue.

"Congressman Jr.'s wife Michelle, her brother is Craig Robinson. It is said that the relationship between the brother and sister is very good." Zhao Zhishanhui reported, "Robinson was the core forward of the team when he was studying at Princeton University. He was twice named the best player in the Ivy League and participated in the NBA draft. He later went to work for Morgan, but finally left the banking industry to become a college coach.”

"Now, he is the coach of the Brown University team. He also writes a column for ESPN and often writes about the NCAA college league."

"If the latest news is correct, Robinson was interested in looking for an NBA job but did not get the opportunity."

Fang Zhuo was startled for a moment and then processed the news: "Is Xiao Ao's uncle a basketball player?"

These are really relatives.

Zhao Zhishan nodded. That is to say, he saw Mr. Fang's attitude towards Xiao Ao with his own eyes today. Only then did he collect more behind-the-scenes information. Before, it was all about the context of the congressmen.

As the fifth black U.S. senator in U.S. history, there are many details worth exploring behind this mysterious figure.

Fang Zhuo thought for a moment and said: "The NBA is currently building the Development League. The team management believes that there is no need to participate in this now. If this is the case, then Robinson will be hired to be responsible for the Rockets' Development League construction. Well, his experience is probably not good. Come be a deputy general manager or something similar."

The NBA is running a secondary league, NBDL, which currently has only 14 teams. Only the Spurs and Lakers have secondary teams in the league.

The Rockets are not too keen on this this year. The team management is paying close attention to player reinforcements and is striving for new team history honors.

Zhao Zhishan once again witnessed the importance his boss paid to Congressman Xiao Ao, nodded, and accepted the matter.

Fang Zhuo thought about today's situation, lowered the car window, looked at the night scene, and considered developing a close and rewarding social relationship through basketball.

After a long time, he said calmly: "I love basketball."

Zhao Zhishan pursed his lips. 1 point is love, 100 points is also love. The boss should at least have a passing score... right.

The next day, President Geithner did not participate in public activities. Only Congressman O'Neal communicated with the Rockets champion members under the media camera. Nash and Yao Ming were still in Houston, and Carter had gone on vacation.

Because Yao Ming had hidden injuries, the team's medical team had to spend more time to help check and make vacation plans. He is expected to stay in Houston until early July before returning home.

O'Neal's smile was bright and charming under the camera. He had friendly exchanges with the players and the community children he arranged. His personal charm seemed to be fine.

Fang Zhuo didn't like this kind of lens and tried to avoid being in the same frame. However, he received a message from Geithner near noon.

Teacher Xiao Sa agreed to the invitation to take the position.

He will serve as the chief consultant of the "New York Economic and Social Development Research". The specific work content... help spend the budget, talk to the financial media about his views on economic development and financial markets, and publish an annual report once a year.

At the same time, there will be some researchers from Harvard to fill the positions.

Fang Zhuo was very happy about this, and asked Zhao Zhishan to find someone to quickly register the "New York Economic and Social Development Research" and find a spacious enough office space - Professor Xiao Sa probably doesn't come here many times a year, so just leave it for the researchers to sit there when they have nothing to do.

In the afternoon, Geithner sent new news again.

This time, the investment funds were increased.

Originally, Geithner's investment figure, including the profit after delivery, was 19.57 million US dollars.

A day later, as Professor Xiao Sa happily accepted the invitation, this figure increased to 25 million US dollars.

Fang Zhuo looked at this and guessed that Geithner might have talked to Professor Xiao Sa about the returns of his investment, and before he could drag Professor Xiao Sa into the water, he took the initiative to pay money to jump into the fund.

People are all the same when facing profits, but some need to be more decent.

Fang Zhuo was much clearer this time, and talked about the investment strategy that might focus on CDS, but gave a certain confidence guarantee.

Geithner has no worries about this oriental tycoon who has a team, a villa, and a company here. He believes in the judgment of the MIGA fund on the prospects of some CDS contracts.

And he also provided a warning message.

The New York Federal Reserve Bank has noticed Deutsche Bank's active behavior in the CDO market. It is observed that Deutsche Bank is already a big player in the financial derivatives market, and there is less disclosure of relevant information.

In addition, Thomas Fisher, a senior executive of Deutsche Bank, has resigned. He was previously responsible for risk control and operations in the Deutsche Bank Management Committee.

In other words, there are probably some problems with risk control within Deutsche Bank.

According to Geithner, Thomas Fisher was cleared out by the CEO of Deutsche Bank in order to weaken the checks and balances of risk control, so as to free up the investment banking department to establish various high-risk positions.

It is not known whether this approach will cause problems, but the New York Federal Reserve has already set its sights on Deutsche Bank.

Unlike Goldman Sachs, which has its own referee, Deutsche Bank, a German bank, is a little too efficient in New York.

After reading the warning from Geithner, Fang Zhuo considered whether to change to a more confidential mobile phone.

This... can this be said?

It should... should be okay, right?

Fang Zhuo did know Deutsche Bank's enthusiasm for the CDO market, because MIGA also received orders from Deutsche Bank after helping Washington Bank to ship goods, but he was not aware of the fact that Deutsche Bank was being watched by local regulators.

If the CDO market goes wrong, Deutsche Bank will face a very high risk of legal action.

Of course, the CDO market went wrong.

So has Deutsche Bank been sued?

Fang Zhuo really didn't know about this, but he quickly followed suit and ordered MIGA Fund to end its cooperation with Deutsche Bank.

As the person in charge, Zhao Zhishan asked a question with concern: "Since the New York Fed is judging risks and noticed Deutsche Bank, it must have noticed Goldman Sachs, Washington Bank, and possibly us. If it had not accepted Geithner's investment, would MIGA also face higher-than-expected legal risks?"

MIGA Fund was initially just a distributor, but after witnessing the actions of other companies, it also tried to upgrade to a manufacturer, and the profit harvest was not bad.

"So, isn't this a reminder for accepting Geithner's investment? Don't worry too much. Since Geithner has given a warning, there will be room for mediation even when facing other regulatory departments in the future. The most important thing is to cut off in time." Fang Zhuo thought of this when he received the news from Geithner, and his mood was very stable.

In theory, as long as the MIGA fund does not think about making the last penny, the legal risk will be greatly reduced.

However, even though Fang Zhuo responded to Zhao Zhishan's concerns in this way, he still mentioned the investment to Xiao Ao who had just finished his trip to Houston.

Let's do it once and for all, let Xiao Ao come in first.

"My annual salary is 158,000 a year, and I am the poorest person in the Senate." Xiao Ao declined, "This does not meet the investment threshold of your kind of fund, so I will not participate."

Fang Zhuo used Geithner as an example nonchalantly: "The operation of the fund is regular, otherwise Geithner is the president of the New York Federal Reserve, can he invest in a risky fund?"

Gethner did not come to Houston with O'Neal this time. He happened to have something to do with the banking system in Texas, so they came together to solve some personal investment matters.

When O'Neal heard Geithner's name, thinking about what he saw and heard in the gym on the first day, he hesitated for a while and agreed to invest a year and a half of salary to earn enough money to support his family.

The operation of the MIGA fund is very formal, and participating in the CDO market is also in line with laws and regulations, and will never harm customers.

Now it is just to avoid being repaid later and reduce related risks. If the regulatory authorities see the unexpected mess and want to cut their losses one by one, there will naturally be referees on the stage to help prevent further digging.

After sending O'Neal away, Geithner will continue to travel with the banking system, so there is no need to meet.

Fang Zhuo sat in the car on the way back. After dealing with this matter, he recalled the future of these two people that will come in a few years. He was still a little excited. Is this a big shot?

However, this matter also reminded me that it was necessary to attend some celebrity banquets when I returned to New York and make money with everyone. Anyway, for the big short Paulson, he would only worry about the lack of money, not too much money.

Just when Fang Zhuo had dinner with Yao Ming again and was about to fly to Silicon Valley, he received a call from Robinson.

Although Robinson was the head coach of the team just signed by Brown University, he did not hesitate to express his yearning for the NBA when he received the inquiry from the championship team.

Not to mention the defending champion team this year, even if it was a bottom team, he was willing to join it.

"Robinson, this is an opportunity to work on the biggest stage in the basketball industry. The Rockets are impacting its memorable historical significance. I hope you can realize the arduous work behind this invitation and give the greatest enthusiasm and effort for it." Fang Zhuo, the boss, gave an attitude that matched his status.

Robinson was already a little incoherent with excitement. He had tried a professional player career in the UK and loved basketball from the bottom of his heart.

He repeatedly assured that he was competent for the job and thanked the boss for his appreciation.

This was undoubtedly a recognition of himself.

Otherwise, how could the Rockets send out an invitation?

With their brother-in-law, the congressman?

He is in Illinois, not Texas.

The efforts finally paid off, and decades of enthusiasm finally came to fruition.

Robinson shared his joy with his family and friends.

O'Neal, who returned to Chicago, soon got the news. On the one hand, he was happy for his brother-in-law, and on the other hand, he felt that Mr. Fang was really... too considerate.

Basketball tied the strings, cherish this relationship.