The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

Five days later, the second meeting of the Hong Kong Real Estate Chamber of Commerce was held. The first content of the meeting is to elect the president of the Chamber of Commerce.

As the person in charge of the establishment, He D presided over the meeting: "Okay, now let's start the election of the president. Everyone can put forward any nominations they have!"

As soon as the words fell, everyone laughed.

Wu Hanhui: "Sir Sir Lam ushered in the real estate era of stratified, staged and public housing and made great contributions to Hong Kong real estate. I recommend him to be the director!"

Hu Hanhui was a gold speculator in the early 1950s, and Lin Zhichao also left a legend in the Hong Kong Gold and Silver Trade Center. Now Hu Hanhui is the chairman of the gold and silver trading center and a real estate businessman. He has some personal relationships with Lin Zhichao.

His words were not personal, but business-related.

Xiang Zhiqiu: "Sir Lam's Cheung Kong Holdings is also the largest Chinese-owned real estate developer in Hong Kong. He has a good relationship with the Hong Kong government. Being the president will be conducive to the opening of the company. I also recommend him!"

Xiang Zhiqiu was not the 'stock god' of later generations at this time. He arrived in Hong Kong in the late 1950s, but his father and uncle had always been textile merchants in Hong Kong. Later, in the early 1960s, Xiang Zhiqiu suggested that the family invest in industry, and in 1963 he and his brother established Tai Sheng Development Company.

After the two people finished speaking, 90% of the people in the whole process immediately started to agree, showing a one-sided situation.

Seeing this, He D could only announce: "It seems that everyone is unanimously unanimous about Sir Lin's election as president. In this way, everyone raises their hands to formally approve this appointment."

Immediately, the high vote passed, there is no suspense about this.

Except for a few people who are more regretful, it is impossible for everyone to elect anyone else.

Lin Zhichao was not modest and immediately took over the meeting because the vice president and executive directors were to be elected next.

He sat on the stage and presided over: "The next two vice presidents will be elected. As the president, I will nominate two people first. Later, everyone will publicly recommend them, and finally they will be elected by a show of hands. What do you think?"

Although the people in the audience were a little surprised, Lin Zhichao was the president after all, so they all agreed.

"Okay, then I recommend Feiping Tai and He D as vice presidents. The reason is that Feiping Tai is the initiator of this chamber of commerce proposal, and entered the Hong Kong real estate industry as early as 1953, and has always had great strength; He D is the person in charge of the establishment, and everyone can see his organizational skills. He also entered the Hong Kong real estate industry in 1954. He had a net worth of over 10 million in the late 1950s, and he is also the grandnephew of Sir Robert Ho Tung."

He D was happy at first, but something strange happened later. Lin Zhichao said that he had a net worth of over ten million in the late 1950s, but when he was bidding in Austria, he held a large share of the stock without even lending a penny. ; He also said that he was the great-nephew of Sir Ho Tung. In fact, he did not enjoy that kind of benefits. He had worked hard on his own.

On the contrary, Airship Tai was very happy that Lin Zhichao recommended him and He D, but did not recommend Li Gaofu, who had a better relationship with him, which was obviously very enlightened.

Others were also a little surprised. They thought Lin Zhichao would recommend Li Gaofu. After all, Li Gaofu was not weak at all.

"I agree with Sir Lin. The two vice-president candidates are both very good, but I suggest adding Qu Wuqi as a candidate!"

"I also recommend adding Qu Wuqi as a candidate for vice president!"

Upon seeing this, Lin Zhichao immediately began to vote among the three candidates. There was no suspense about the airship, but He D and Qu Wuqi counted the votes, which made He D a little angry. He had been busy for several months and actually made wedding dresses for others.

Fortunately, He D finally won with a slight advantage and successfully entered the most powerful chamber of commerce in Hong Kong and became the vice president.

Next, eight ‘executive directors’ were elected, namely: Hu Hanhui, Hu Yingxiang, Zheng Yizhi, Cao Shaosong, Li Gaofu, Li Kangjie, Wang Kuancheng, and Fang Runhua.

"Okay! The organizational structure has been released, which also indicates that the establishment of the Hong Kong Real Estate Chamber of Commerce has been successfully completed. Next, I announce that the formal founding meeting and the first staff inauguration ceremony will be held at the Hong Kong City Hall on July 15." Lin Zhichao enthusiastically said said.

In fact, the influence of the Hong Kong Real Estate Chamber of Commerce and the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce is almost the same. After all, the Hong Kong Real Estate Chamber of Commerce has a network to target most of the rich and wealthy people in Hong Kong.

Next, everyone discussed the details of the ‘founding meeting’.

You must know that on that day, dignitaries, celebrities, and rich people will gather together, and you must be careful about inviting those people. For example, for politicians, choose Li Mingze. He currently has the highest official status among Chinese people in Hong Kong. Although there are already some signs of leaning towards the opposite side, the Hong Kong government will not immediately break up with him.

Land, meeting room.

John Keswick sat in the head class position, flanked by his son Henry Keswick and other senior officials.

A senior executive reported: “According to the news from the Hong Kong government, three European, American and Japanese real estate developers have already paid a deposit of HK$6 million, and Cheung Kong Holdings has also paid a deposit. A total of four companies have expressed their intention to bid. "

John Keswick suddenly frowned and said: "Hong Kong's real estate is so corrupt that Europe, the United States and Japan are actually willing to invest. Could it be that they are picking up the slack!"

Henry Keswick said: "The biggest fear is not the European, American and Japanese investors, but if they are missed by Cheung Kong Holdings, I am afraid that Land's position as the largest real estate developer in Hong Kong will not be guaranteed."

Seeing that the father and son were worried, the senior management suggested: "Why don't Land also participate in the bid?"

"No!" John and Henry said at the same time.

John Keswick said: "The investment in this project is huge. Hong Kong Land does not even have the funds to rebuild its sites, so how can it get the funds to bid for this project? What's more, Hong Kong's real estate is in a slump and will not improve for a long time. Such a big project It is very undesirable to put a sum of money on this.”

In fact, the current goal of the Jardine Matheson Group is to become a global enterprise rather than a local enterprise in Hong Kong; for this goal, all the funds of the Jardine Matheson Group are being invested overseas, and local profits must be withdrawn.

This is a general policy, how can it be changed?

Henry Keswick also said: "We just don't want to see Chinese real estate companies surpass Land, that's all! Rather than Cheung Kong Holdings winning the bid, we hope that European, American and Japanese real estate companies will win the bid. But in this bidding, if the price is unreasonable, we should Push the Hong Kong government to cancel this tender. After all, this is a waste of the Hong Kong government’s resources.”

As soon as the words fell, everyone's eyes lit up.

The senior management agreed: "Yes! And the possibility of canceling the bidding is very high. According to the real estate situation at this time, the bidding price of tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars should be about the same. Therefore, the four companies selected to bid will most likely not exceed 100 million Hong Kong dollars. This will give the Hong Kong government reason to cancel."

John Keswick said to Henry Keswick: "As long as you keep an eye on this matter, it's best not to let Cheung Kong win the bid!"

The Keswick family does not want Chinese real estate developers to threaten Land’s leadership position. Although none of Land's sites have been redeveloped at this time, several old buildings in the heart of Central are still very valuable. In their view, Land is still the number one property developer in Hong Kong.

As everyone knows, Lin Zhichao's Cheung Kong Holdings has completely surpassed the Land Company, but it is not listed on the market. Everyone does not know the strength of Cheung Kong Holdings.

The Keswick family has deep government connections in the Hong Kong government and can push for the cancellation of the tender if Lin's offer is too low. Of course, this does not mean that the Keswick family has absolute political power. After all, the Hong Kong government is not run by their family. At most, they only have some influence.

Cheung Kong Holdings.

Lin Zhichao was flipping through the bid documents and design sketches, and suddenly felt a little excited. This 1.17 million square foot land turned out to be so attractive under his plan.

I am afraid that even the officials of the Hong Kong government will be immediately moved when they see their design sketches.

As officials of the Hong Kong government, they actually consider the development of Hong Kong and may only have a small amount of British selfishness.

For example, after Zheng Yutong in his previous life took over the Blue Chimney, the Hong Kong government also hoped to have a landmark building on both sides of Victoria Harbor, so it generously granted Zheng Yutong the other half of the land at a low price, with only one requirement - a landmark building. Hong Kong tourists can see it at a glance.

So the sketch he designed was an important reason to impress the Hong Kong government!

The land of the Navy Dockyard is the later Lippo Center Towers 1 and 2, Far East Financial Center, Admiralty Center, Unity Center, Global Tower, JC Headquarters and related buildings, as well as Pacific Place (the four buildings and the shopping mall on the base) , in fact, there are dozens of buildings, shopping malls, and related buildings. (Correction: Add Pacific Place and High Court Building to complete the Navy Dockyard).

What Lin Zhichao planned was only a sketch, and he did not plan everything. He also reserved a lot of places to open gardens, etc.

Probably: a five-star hotel, four commercial buildings and two affiliated shopping malls, a large shopping mall with supporting high-end office buildings and five-star hotels.

The model is actually similar to that of the previous life. The difference is that a 'super luxury five-star hotel' will be built on Connaught Road, occupying the location of the Far East Financial Center and Lippo Center in the previous life; To the east of the luxury five-star hotel are four first-class office buildings and an attached shopping mall (next to it, not on the ground floor).

Finally, the "Pacific Place" part of the previous life will be designed as a large shopping mall, and four skyscrapers will be built based on the model of the previous Pacific Place, three of which will be used as office buildings and one as a hotel building.

The two parts will be connected by a pedestrian bridge to form a kingdom in the sky.

After some planning, he reserved a large amount of open space (Harcourt Gardens, JC Headquarters, High Court Building, etc. in the previous life), most of which were opened into large parks, and a small part was reserved for possible use in the future.

The reason is simple. The site is too big. Even if Lin Zhichao divides the development cycle into 20 years, it may not be a good thing if too many buildings are built. The most important thing is that the Hong Kong government may not approve such intensive planning.

If the Hong Kong government lacks land to build government department headquarters in the future, Lin Zhichao can still sell the land to the Hong Kong government. No matter how cheap it is, he may be able to get back all the land fees of more than 100 million. He didn't spend any money on co-authoring it!

Lin Zhichao finally plans to raise the price to HK$165 million and plans to make comprehensive plans!

This price is almost impossible to fault for the real estate market at this time. After all, Lin Zhichao also has to consider the public opinion issues after winning the bid. Suppose he wins the bid with 100 million, but if he fails to secure the bid, someone will accuse him of bribery with the Hong Kong government and get him into trouble.

With a bid price of 165 million yuan, plus 9 million "bid fees" and possible "favor fees" from the Hong Kong governor, Lin Zhichao's cost was less than 180 million.

The total price is HK$150 per square foot, which is very reasonable.

Cheung Kong Holdings has a cash flow of 260 million, an expenditure of 180 million, and a cash flow of 80 million; by the end of the year, it will make up another 100 million.

On the whole, it was enough for him to buy the bottom in 1967, and he could also embezzle it from other companies.

On a weekend in mid-June, Lin Zhichao and Xu Caiying made an appointment with Hong Kong Governor David Trench and his wife Margaret Gould on a private yacht.

This yacht is a new yacht built by Lin Zhichao. It is more than 20 meters long, but it is still not a yacht with a composite structure and no flybridge system. This kind of yacht uses steel, aluminum alloy, and Burmese wood to make the hull structure.

Even so, it was bigger than all the yachts in Hong Kong, including the yacht Mulian owned by the Hong Kong government.

Around the yacht, there were the escort yachts of Governor and Lin Zhichao. Since it was a private party, naturally there were only four people and waiters on the yacht.

"Mrs. Margaret is American?" Lin Zhichao asked curiously.

Margaret is a middle-aged aunt, and she is far less beautiful than Xu Caiying; and Lin Zhichao treats Xu Caiying on such occasions, which is his usual style. Xu Caiying is the "face" of the Lin family, plus she is Being the chairman of Oxfam is definitely enough.

"Yes, Governor Dai Linzhi and I got to know each other because of World War II!" Margaret said cheerfully, sipping high-end red wine.

She is very happy to get in touch with Lin Zhichao and his wife because they are very rich.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "Sir Ge Lianghong's wife is also an American, and she was also a good friend of our couple at the beginning!"

Margaret immediately said: "We can also be good friends, Sir Lin, can't we?"

"certainly!"

To be honest, Lin Zhichao discovered that all British people would definitely call him 'Sir Lin'; it was like a title given by the British royal family, which was very honorable.

Although Margaret is not British, her husband is.

After chatting for a while, Lin Zhichao realized that Dai and his wife were interested in socializing, so he began to speak: "Mrs. Margaret, you are an American and the wife of an Englishman. So you must know Audrey Hepburn, right?"

Margaret was a little dazed, and the topic changed a little too quickly, but he could only say: "I know! She used to be a big star in Hollywood, and now she is the inventor of Barbie and a famous American toy tycoon."

Lin Zhichao smiled and took out a photo of himself and Audrey Hepburn and handed it to Margaret.

"She's my friend! Look!"

Margaret and Dai Linzhi couldn't help but look at the photo, where Audrey Hepburn and Lin Zhichao were getting close.

"Mr. Lin's communication is really extensive!"

Lin Zhichao took back the photo with a smile, and then said: "That's it, Miss Audrey hopes to get together with Mrs. Margaret and make friends. If you are interested, I can arrange for you to meet in London or New York!"

At this time, the meaning is obvious!

Dai Linzhi immediately thought of the naval dockyard. Lin Zhichao wanted to use his connections to get this land.

So, he tentatively said: "Mr. Lin, is that what you're after?"

Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "Don't worry, Governor of Hong Kong, I only want fairness and have no other demands!"

Dai Linzhi nodded immediately, and everyone started talking and laughing!

In fact, Dai Linzhi and his wife were very moved at this time, and they traveled thousands of miles to seek official positions just for money. And Lin Zhichao's requirements are not excessive, and it can even be said that there are no requirements. In Dai Linzhi’s view, if the European, American and Japanese real estate developers win, it belongs to others; if Lin Zhichao wins, it belongs to him as a matter of course.

He doesn't seem to have paid anything!

As for Lin Zhichao entrusting Audrey Hepburn to meet with his wife, she seemed prepared to give her money. This is a great thing!

"By the way, I haven't congratulated Sir Lin on becoming the president of the Real Estate Chamber of Commerce. Congratulations!" Dai Linzhi said with a smile.

Lin Zhichao became the president, and the British Hong Kong government was relieved. After all, Lin Zhichao would never lean towards the opposite party. Because the newspapers there all listed Lin Zhichao as a big capitalist, and the reputation was not very positive.

Even if Lin Zhichao gives preferential treatment to his employees' salaries, he has always been maliciously criticized by the biased newspapers because he has 10,000 to 20,000 workers. Because this is a class antagonism.

"Your Excellency, the Governor of Hong Kong, you have won the award! This position is very challenging. After all, it is now a period of sluggish real estate in Hong Kong. I will definitely communicate well with the Hong Kong government by then, hoping to share the worries for Hong Kong's economic prosperity."

"Okay, the Hong Kong government will definitely communicate well in this regard."

After separating from the Hong Kong Governor and his wife, Lin Zhichao whispered: "Sure enough, the British are greedy!"

Xu Caiying said: "If Audrey sends the money directly, will there be any trouble?"

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "How could she give money directly? I asked her to give away stocks worth 3 million Hong Kong dollars! What's more, Audrey has no interests in Hong Kong, so it cannot be evidence of bribery."

Xu Caiying nodded and said: "It's true! But you don't intend to get benefits, you just want fairness, so it is really impossible to be criticized or anything."

Lin Zhichao said: "That's right! All I want is fairness!"