Chapter 661: Playing the Fool to Catch the Tiger?

Reggie Green moved quickly; in just two days, he had all the paperwork for the equity transfer ready.

During this time, Li Yi was invited to meet with Davis, the second-largest shareholder of Green Brothers and the other key player in this equity deal.

The two sides engaged in detailed discussions regarding the share transfer, with the core issues naturally being the price and the terms of the transaction!

After all, this equity transfer was unlike other transactions; Li Yi simply didn’t have that much cash on hand right now, so it amounted to buying on credit and paying later.

Although his profits from the futures market and Reggie Green’s net worth served as collateral, there was still a certain degree of risk for Davis.

The only thing that swayed Davis was the price Li Yi offered, which was quite attractive—$32 per share was already a high offer.

After mutual negotiations, Li Yi ultimately decided to acquire all 12.5 million shares of Green Brothers held by Davis for a total of $400 million, at a face value of $32 per share.

Furthermore, through the mediation of Reggie Green and Davis, the company’s other 38 shareholders were also willing to transfer their nearly 8.5 million shares to Li Yi at the same price.

However, since all of Li Yi’s funds were tied up in the futures market and could not be withdrawn immediately, the two parties reached a special agreement regarding the transaction method:

First, this transaction follows a “delivery before payment” arrangement. Within two months of the signing of the share transfer agreement, Li Yi will pay the full transaction amount of 673 million yuan to all shareholders, large and small, at which point the transaction will be considered successfully completed.

If Li Yi fails to complete the payment within two months, the transaction will be automatically canceled, and Li Yi will be required to pay a penalty equal to 20% of the total contract price.

To safeguard the interests of both parties, Reggie Green has provided a full guarantee using all of his personal assets.

Should Li Yi fail to continue fulfilling the contract, Reggie Green will share liability for breach of contract with Li Yi.

Furthermore, until all transaction funds have been delivered to the original shareholders, Li Yi has no right to dispose of the acquired shares, including through sale, mortgage, or other means.

After reaching a consensus, the signing of the contract was put on the agenda.

On the morning of November 6, Li Yi, Davis, and others formally signed the share transfer agreement at the Green Brothers headquarters.

Thus, Li Yi acquired 29% of the shares in Green Brothers for $672 million, instantly becoming the company’s largest individual shareholder.

Of course, due to company regulations and the fact that Li Yi’s shareholding did not meet the threshold for a controlling stake,

Therefore, even though Li Yi is now the company’s largest individual shareholder, he still cannot replace Reggie Green’s position within the company.

Fortunately, Li Yi had no intention of replacing Reggie Green!

For one thing, his roots aren’t here, and it would be impractical for him to travel such a great distance to serve as the company’s CEO.

On the other hand, compared to him as an outsider, Reggie Green, a local insider, was clearly better suited for the CEO position.

Although he did not hold control of the company, once the agreement was signed, Li Yi officially became a shareholder of the Green Brothers’ company—and it was precisely this entitlement to profit dividends that Li Yi valued.

After the agreement was signed, the news quickly spread throughout Wall Street.

Upon learning that the Green Brothers’ largest shareholder had changed hands—and that the transaction had been structured as a deferred payment with a guarantee—Wall Street’s elite were stunned.

Some said that Davis and his team were taking too great a risk, while others claimed that Li Yi had taken a huge loss and would surely regret it later.

In short, opinions ran the gamut!

However, while the outside world buzzed with speculation, both the buyer and seller remained low-key.

Neither Li Yi nor Davis and his associates, who had sold their shares, came forward to address the matter. It seemed as if nothing had happened, yet it also felt as though they were biding their time, preparing a major move!

……..

Wall Street. Green Brothers!

After signing the share transfer agreement, Li Yi was asked to stay behind by Reggie Green, who said he had something to discuss with him.

Li Yi knew this guy was definitely going to bring up shorting gold, so he was quite eager to discuss it. He and Li Yunbao then followed Reggie Green to his office.

Returning to Reggie Green’s office, Li Yi’s mindset was completely different.

He recalled that when he had been here a month ago, he had been a guest, but now he was the host.

The magnitude of this shift in status even made someone as worldly as Li Yi feel a pang of emotion.

After the three of them sat down around a small round table, Reggie Green immediately said cheerfully, “Li, congratulations on becoming a shareholder of Green Brothers. I hope we can work together to build this company into the greatest firm on all of Wall Street!”

Before Li Yunbao could translate, Li Yi spoke directly: “I can’t guarantee that Green Brothers will become the greatest company on Wall Street, but I can assure you that in the future, Green Brothers will undoubtedly become the company with the highest market capitalization on Wall Street—and indeed, in the entire United States!”

Hearing Li Yi speak with a perfect London accent, Reggie Green was completely dumbfounded.

After a long moment of silence, he finally said, looking utterly astonished, “Li, you… you speak English?”

“Of course!”

“Then why do you have an interpreter with you?” Reggie Green asked, puzzled.

As soon as the question left his lips, Reggie Green regretted it—mainly because it was such a stupid question.

The answer was all too obvious: clearly, the man in front of him was doing this on purpose, with the aim of lulling people into a false sense of security.

After all, an investor who couldn’t understand or speak English was far too easy to overlook.

Take himself, for example—hadn’t he approached Li Yi precisely because he thought Li Yi didn’t understand English, figuring he’d be an easy target as a company shareholder?

Although that wasn’t the only reason, it was certainly a factor.

But he never imagined that the other party not only understood English but was also so fluent in it—this sent a shiver down Reggie Green’s spine.

The other party had hidden his true nature far too well. Bringing such a calculating individual into the company—he didn’t know whether it was a blessing or a curse.

Li Yi glanced at Reggie Green, then smiled and said, “Mr. Green, don’t you think it’s pretty cool to have a professional lawyer as your interpreter?”

Reggie Green shook his head and said, “Li, you didn’t hire him as your interpreter just to look cool, did you? As you Chinese say, this is called ‘feigning weakness to the enemy’… ‘hiding one’s true intentions’… ‘playing the fool to catch the tiger’…”

“I didn’t expect Mr. Green to be familiar with our ‘Hiding in Plain Sight’ strategy,” Li Yi said with a smile.

“I’ve read your *Thirty-Six Stratagems*, but I’ve only read it—and yet you’ve put it into practice. Now I’m not even sure if approaching you was the right decision!” Reggie Green said with a wry smile.

“Mr. Green, before long, you’ll be proud and honored by the choice you made today. I promise!” Li Yi said.

“I hope so!”

Reggie Green took a deep breath and continued, “Li, now that you’re the company’s largest shareholder, may I ask you a question?”

“You want to know if there’s still an opportunity to short gold?”

“Yes!”

Reggie Green continued, “A while back, due to the disagreement between me and Davis, the company lost a significant amount of money on an investment. With the end of the year fast approaching, if we can’t recoup those losses quickly, next year’s financial report is going to look terrible!”

Li Yi paused briefly, then said with a serious expression, “We can go short.”

“Then how much capital do you think we should commit?” Reggie Green asked again.

“How much capital can the company allocate right now?”

“We currently have $1.2 billion on the books. Additionally, we can recoup another $400 million in the short term by selling shares and other means. Plus, our company has an excellent credit standing with the banks and can secure a loan of up to $500 million at any time!” Reggie Green replied.

“Put it all in!” Li Yi said, startling everyone.

At those words, Reggie Green was completely dumbfounded!