The Rise Of A Billionaire 1943-Chapter 150 - 162: Laying Out Plans on Wall Street
The postwar world is full of opportunities. If Greece could produce so many shipping magnates in the wake of the war, as long as I seize the chance, I don’t care about being called a shipping king.
What I truly desire is to ride the wave of Europe’s recovery and obtain the ammunition for Borneo’s development from Europe!
That’s what Pierre really cares about.
Still, the shipping industry is definitely one of the most profitable sectors after the war.
Like the Greeks, one could use American loans to buy hundreds of Liberty ships—that part is quite simple.
But the real issue is the crew.
Especially captains and senior officers—this needs to be addressed quickly. You can’t always rely on foreign crew. True, in postwar Germany, Italy, and even Japan, there are plenty of naval officers desperate for work; with a little money, you can hire captains and senior crew.
But when it comes to people, it’s always more reassuring to use your own!
So, why not set up a merchant marine academy in the U.S. first?
Or select some recruits from home to study merchant ship operations?
Gazing at New York outside the window, Pierre had this idea.
"Actually, that’s not a bad idea!"
In fact, there’s no need to set up a school himself—America already has several merchant marine academies that are always recruiting. In recent years, as the U.S. built a large number of Liberty ships, the demand for senior crew and captains soared. To meet this need, American merchant marine academies rapidly expanded enrollment, training tens of thousands of senior crew in batches.
When it comes to "mass-producing" senior crew and captains, the Americans are truly experienced—they’ve been doing it for years.
So Pierre simply sent a telegram to North Africa, instructing the secretariat to select a group of people to come to the U.S. to study navigation. Although the shipping company already had some team members interning on ships, senior crew and captains still needed to be professionally trained.
After settling this matter, Pierre didn’t rest. Instead, he strolled around Wall Street. In the following days, he visited several insurance companies, investment banks, and insurance firms, gaining a preliminary understanding of Wall Street’s financial markets. The system even unlocked a new skill for him.
However, Pierre had no intention of competing with Wall Street’s financial elites for their bread. Rather than fighting for a share, he preferred to give others a seat at the table.
Just like now, in this Wall Street café, Pierre was sizing up the young man before him. This was Xu ZiPierre, the "guide" introduced by Zhang Weilun, who worked at Morgan Bank. Over the past few days, with Xu Zili’s help, Pierre had gained a basic understanding of Wall Street.
"Mr. Pierre, you seem quite interested in the financial industry."
Looking at the famed tycoon before him, Xu Zili was filled with anticipation. Anticipation for what?
Naturally, to become his broker.
For a foreign person to make it on Wall Street is extremely difficult. The hardest part? Resources, of course. Unlike the Jews, who have many wealthy patrons in New York and are willing to hire their own, making it easy for newcomers to access resources.
"I am indeed very interested."
Pierre said:
"Now is a great time to invest in the securities market. If you’re interested, I can prepare a report for you..."
Watching Xu ZiPierre, who had suddenly transformed into a salesman, Pierre spoke bluntly.
"Mr. Xu, I’m not interested in securities—I’m interested in banks!"
"Banks?" Xu Zili asked.
"Are you looking to make a deposit, Mr. Pierre?"
How could someone as successful as Mr. Pierre only be interested in saving money?
Xu Zili couldn’t help but sigh deeply.
"No."
Shaking his head, Pierre replied.
"Mr. Xu, if I wanted to set up my own bank, what would I need to do?"
Start a bank!
After understanding how the American financial world operates in Europe, Pierre had made up his mind to establish a bank. In fact, he had originally planned to start a bank, but back then, his vision was limited to banking itself. Now, however, he saw a bank as a tool to harvest wealth in Europe. If managed well, Europe’s reconstruction could become a springboard for Borneo, with a steady stream of wealth flowing from Europe into Borneo, fueling its development.
To achieve this goal, a bank was an indispensable asset.
"Here? But this is New York! Starting a bank here would mean fierce competition, Mr. Pierre. Since the stock market crash in ’29, Americans have almost zero trust in small banks!"
Why the lack of trust?
Because back then, too many small local banks went bankrupt, wiping out the savings of countless Americans. That’s why, during the Great Depression, bank robbers were seen as heroes—because banks were always robbing ordinary people.
"I just want to set up the headquarters here for now. In the future, the bank’s main business will focus on Europe and Southeast Asia. As for operations, we don’t have to limit ourselves to New York—we can open branches in London, Paris, Rome, and even Berlin in the future! Compared to domestic business in the US, I prefer international operations."
"Ah, Mr. Pierre, you want to start an international bank? In London, Paris..."
Halfway through his sentence, Xu Zili seemed to realize something and suddenly said,
"Mr. Pierre, are you planning to seize this great opportunity to acquire assets in Europe?"
As a Wall Street financial elite, Xu Zili certainly knew that the big financial tycoons in New York had already sent their managers to Europe to buy up high-quality assets that were severely undervalued.
"Oh, you know about this?"
"I’ve heard a bit," Xu Zili nodded and said. "Mr. Pierre, when you mentioned those places in Europe, it’s hard not to think of what the Wall Street tycoons are doing there right now."
"That’s right, I do have that plan."
Pierre didn’t hide his intentions. He looked at Xu Zili and said,
"I want you to take charge of this. Are you interested?"
What!
Xu ZiPierre, who had only intended to land a new client, never expected that a pie would fall from the sky—and land right on him.
"M-Mr. Pierre, I’m just an ordinary manager. I—I can’t do something like that."
"How do you know if you don’t try?"
Pierre smiled.
"I’ll give you enough capital and authority. You can recruit professional financial talent from Wall Street. If you can’t do it yourself, you can hire those who can, and learn from them."
Why choose Xu Zili?
First, because Pierre truly didn’t have any suitable financial talent around him. Although there were quite a few people in the army who had studied finance, none had real-world experience. And for a French person to work as a manager on Wall Street for ten years, there must be something special about him. Second, and more simply, Xu Zili was Chinese! Pierre didn’t want his bank to fall into foreign hands. Foreigners could be employees, but not run the bank. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦
After all, the gold he would acquire from Germany in the future would need to be laundered through a bank. In fact, in Pierre’s plan, this bank would also help San Dezi (the Germans) implement the "Safe Haven Plan"—in other words, help them launder money as they fled.
By handling this business, the bank could not only collect huge commissions, but the vast wealth taken away by former Nazi elites would also remain in the bank, becoming a development fund for Borneo.
"In the early stages, we won’t get too involved in market operations. I mainly want the bank to handle acquisitions in Europe, as well as internal capital flows within our group—such as paying employee salaries and stipends for the security forces. Later, we might launch some small loan services to provide credit to European companies. I’ve already thought of a name: Eurasia Development Bank."
