One is a Chinese who arrived in Boston from New York. The other is an Italian named Charles Ponzi.
Of course, the Chinese man was very low-key and rarely appeared in public places. Almost no one in Boston knew who he was.
But Charles Ponzi is different. As soon as he came to Boston, he showed his high profile.
He claimed that he could make money by buying some kind of European postal notes and selling them to the United States.
As long as you understand a little bit of financial knowledge, you will know that it is impossible to make money in this way. However, on the one hand, Ponzi is mysterious in finance, and on the other hand, he has set a huge bait.
He claimed that all investments can get a 50% return within 45 days. Moreover, he also gave people the evidence that "seeing is believing": the first batch of "investors" did get huge amounts of money within the stipulated time.
The return promised by Qi.
As a result, a large number of followers believed in Ponzi's "making money" plan and followed suit one after another.
In just three months, Ponzi earned more than $6 million
He lived in a 20-room villa, bought hundreds of expensive suits, paired with exclusive leather shoes, owned dozens of gold-encrusted crutches, and bought countless expensive jewelry for his wife.
His pipes are all encrusted with diamonds.
When a financial expert exposed Ponzi's investment fraud, Ponzi also published an article in the newspaper to refute the financial expert, saying that the financial expert knew nothing.
On this day, an uninvited guest suddenly came to Ponzi's 20-room villa.
This is a young man with an oriental face, who can speak fluent English and behaves very politely, even bringing their gifts to Mrs. Ponzi:
A beautiful and luxurious piece of Chinese porcelain.
This quickly won Ponzifu's favor.
This young man introduced himself as "Williams". His parents were Oriental and immigrated to the United States very early. He grew up in the United States since he was a child. His family owned a large company in New York.
When she heard that he was from New York, Mrs. Ponzi seemed very excited and kept asking him how his life in New York was different from that in Boston.
What Ponzi is even more curious about is how Asians can succeed in a big city like New York.
Cai Chenfang briefly introduced him to Pang Qi. His parents were officials of the Qing Empire at that time. Unable to bear the turmoil in the country and gangs everywhere, they quietly left their country with all their wealth and immigrated to the United States.
Only then did Ponzi suddenly realize.
I heard that China is a beautiful and rich country. There are mountains of gold and silver there, and opportunities to make a fortune are everywhere. It's a pity that I have never been to that place, otherwise I would definitely be able to show off my talents there.
"I came to Boston this time to handle some personal matters, but I heard that you are the most famous person in Boston now, so I came to visit you specially." Williams said politely.
Ponzi looked very proud: "Yes, I can bring a lot of wealth to people and help many people realize their dreams of getting rich. What about you, my friend, are you willing to invest in me too?"
"Yes, I am very happy." Williams smiled and said: "But please forgive me, I don't particularly care about this small reward. I just admire your reputation and your extraordinary financial ability."
I have ordinary genius and ability, so I came to visit you."
Ponzi was slightly disappointed, but the compliment still made him feel very proud.
"I'm very happy to meet you." Williams suddenly said: "In addition to visiting you today, I have another thing I want to ask for your help for."
"My friend, just say it."
Williams seemed a little embarrassed and hesitated before saying:
"It's like this. After my father passed away, I took over his company, but in the past two years, my company has had some problems in its operation."
Are you here to ask for a loan? Ponzi thought to himself.
But what Williams said below made Ponzi feel that he was worrying too much:
"Mr. Charles, I admire your extraordinary business investment ability. Since we can meet in Boston, it means that we are very destined. So I would like to invite you and your wife to go to New York together, and I would like to hire you as our consultant."
My special advisor, help me figure out what’s wrong with my company.”
Ponzi was relieved, but seemed very embarrassed: "My friend, I am happy to help you, but you must also see that I also have a big business in Boston, and I really can't get out of here.
.”
"Oh, sir, it won't take up a lot of your time, just a few days." Williams said hurriedly, then took out the checkbook, wrote a few words on it, and then handed it to Ponzi: "Charles
Sir, I won’t let your trip go in vain, this is your consulting fee.”
Ponzi and his wife glanced at the check, and both of them let out a low cry.
A full five thousand dollars
God, this Oriental man was so generous with his five thousand dollars, a whole five thousand dollars, but he just threw it away without any feeling of distress at all.
"We are touched by your sincerity." Ponzi exchanged opinions with his wife: "Okay, we accept your invitation."
Williams breathed a sigh of relief and stood up with a smile: "Then, I will pick you up personally tomorrow."
...
New York.
This is the financial and economic center, largest city, port and most populous city in the entire United States.
But New York in 1919 was plunged into chaos.
In January 1919, dockworkers in New York, USA went on strike, kicking off the early post-war American labor movement; in February, a general strike occurred in Seattle; in July and August, railroad workers in Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia went on strike. 8
At the end of the month, the Communist Workers' Party of the United States headed by John Reed was established. On September 1, the Communist Party of the United States headed by Rudenberg was established; in September, under the leadership of Foster, the American steel workers went on strike, 36
Thousands of steelworkers' strikes swept through 50 cities in 10 states including Pennsylvania and Indiana.
In New York, a general strike of 500,000 miners finally broke out
"It's a pity that you have seen the worst side of New York during its worst period." Williams looked very regretful and pointed at the striking workers who were fighting with the police: "Those thugs directed more thugs to try to oppose
We, these people should all be thrown into jail."
"Yes, they should really be thrown into prison." Ponzi said in full agreement.
The car arrived, and Williams opened the car door for Ponzieff fù attentively: "Please, we will be there soon."
A very beautiful and luxurious two-story office building appeared in front of Panzifu.
The environment here is really great, and it is no exaggeration to say it is a tourist resort.
But as soon as he walked into the office building called "Waller Investment Company", Ponzi quickly discovered a problem.
The employees were sitting there lazily, chatting with each other. When they saw their boss coming in, they hurriedly pretended to be busy.
Williams didn't notice all this at all. On the contrary, he seemed to be very satisfied with his employees. He invited Panzifu into his office, took out three wine glasses made of crystal, poured the wine into it, and set it down.
Two cups in front of Ponzifu fù:
“Welcome to New York”
"Thank you for your hospitality." Ponzifu raised his glass.
The three of them took a sip of wine. Just as Williams was about to speak, Ponzi had already said, "My friend, please forgive me, your company has a big problem."
"Really?" Williams looked surprised: "You just came here, have you already discovered the problem?"
"Yes," Ponzi said proudly: "As long as you observe carefully, you can find a lot of unknown things. Williams, your employees are too undisciplined. They are not working there at all, they are just coping.
You are just defrauding one check after another from your pocket."
Williams seemed unconvinced: "Mr. Charles, my employees are very loyal to me. I don't think they are the kind of people you say."
Ponzi did not argue with him, but put down the cup, walked to the door of the door, opened the door a crack, and then waved to Williams:
"Come, come and see."
Williams walked to the door and looked along the crack of the door, with an angry expression on his face.
Outside, employees were chatting and laughing in twos and threes, some were doing what they were doing, and some were reading newspapers. Is there anyone who works there?
"Damn, these are damned." Williams was completely angry: "I pay them so much salary, but they only know how to be lazy. I want to fire them, fire them all."
"We must hire capable employees, capable employees." Ponzi closed the door and said in a more serious tone: "Those who are incompetent must be fired resolutely. This is what a company manager should do most. I think you
I haven’t taken over the company for a long time, so I don’t have enough experience in some aspects.”
"Mr. Charles, you are really my savior. I will definitely follow your instructions exactly." Williams said with emotion:
"To express my gratitude, I will hold a cocktail party tonight to welcome you and your wife. Please come by any means."
Pang Qi and his wife exchanged glances, then nodded and said, "Okay, we accept your invitation."
Williams said happily: "I think my wine will satisfy you when the time comes."