Chapter 93 This Is the Proposal You Want Most

Chapter 93 This Is the Proposal You Want Most

"So... let's get started now."

"Who goes first?"

Otto looked back and forth between Elsie and Chris, a mysterious smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

His eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a shrewd, experienced gleam.

"Ladies first, naturally."

Chris held back Arabella, who was ready to jump in and speak, and lifted his chin toward Elsie.

This was more like a bidding war at an auction - whoever spoke first was on offense, and whoever spoke second was on defense.

If the first person's offer were strong enough, there'd be no point in competing.

Right now, it was too late for Elsie to make a phone call.

"Could we let Mr. Diaz go first?"

Rhett, Chris, and Otto all looked somewhat surprised.

Chris thought for a moment, then nodded with a smile:

"Since Elsie is being modest, I'll go ahead."

"Mr. Morgan, during our phone call the other day, I mentioned that the Diaz family is willing to offer $50 million in partnership fees, plus an additional 3% stake in the Diaz Group."

Otto nodded with satisfaction, seeming to appreciate Chris's sincerity:

"Your Diaz family has strong cash flow, and your financial business isn't limited to Emerald City. If you get into antique appraisal and auction, there's even bigger potential down the road. However..."

Otto changed his tone and continued:

"The problem is, your Diaz family has no business in the antique appraisal and auction industry - your entire family doesn't even have any experience in this field. I'd be very worried this would end up being all talk, and I'd end up losing several times that $50 million. That's a risk I find hard to manage."

He turned his gaze to Elsie: "And these are exactly the unique advantages of the Wilson family, so..."

Otto took a drag on his cigarette, tapping his fingers lightly on the table: "Partnering with the Diaz family is like gambling - if I bet right, everyone makes money, but if I bet wrong, our Morgan family doesn't have the deep pockets you Diaz folks have."

"So Mr. Morgan wants to choose the Wilson family?"

Arabella, sitting next to Chris, couldn't hold back and asked with some fear.

"No."

Chris seemed to have expected this, looking at Otto calmly: "What Mr. Morgan means is, it's far from enough."

"See, I knew you were smart. Here, have a smoke, don't be shy!"

Otto was full of praise, pulling out one of Chris's cigarettes and tossing it to him.

Chris looked at the cigarette in his hand, his mouth twitching.

Otto was way too greedy. He'd expected the sky-high demands, but this cigarette - didn't you just take it from me?

"$30 million in partnership fees, 1% stake in the Diaz Group."

Otto sucked in a breath: "Kid, why'd the price go down?"

"Don't rush."

Chris glanced at Elsie with a flash of cunning: "Partnering with the Wilson family might have a safety net, but partnering with us, we can make sure you don't lose money."

"After the Morgan family and Diaz family partner up, we'll cover 65% of the auction house construction and venue rental costs, the Morgan family covers 35%, and the brand registration ownership will be shared between the Morgan family and Diaz family."

"Besides that, to make sure the Morgan family doesn't lose money on that batch of antiques, before the official auction, we'll get experts to do a price evaluation and come up with a median auction price. We'll buy the antiques from Mr. Morgan at the median price first, then auction them. If the auction price is lower than the median, we, the Diaz family, will absorb the loss ourselves."

"What if the auction price is higher than the median?"

Otto asked. He was getting interested.

Chris, seeing Otto's expression had already changed, smiled even more: "If it's higher than the median, naturally, we can't let you, Mr. Morgan, take a loss. We'll split the amount above the median with you based on the construction and rental cost ratio."

"For example, say an item's median appraisal price is $5 million. We transfer it from you to the Diaz family first, then it sells at auction for $15 million. We'd keep $6.5 million and give Mr. Morgan $3.5 million."

Otto calculated in his head for a moment, then asked:

"By this calculation, you're taking on quite a bit of risk, and your profits won't be that impressive."

Chris was full of confidence: "We, the Diaz family, never look at short-term money. We want the future."

"Good, I understand what your Diaz family means. But what about you personally?"

Otto suddenly asked.

"I want to beat Daniel."

Chris was looking at Elsie when he said this.

Arabella saw this and bit her lip hard. She wanted to kill her.

"Very good, I understand what you mean."

Otto stopped questioning Chris and turned to ask Elsie:

"Ms. Moore, your turn."

Elsie nodded.

Her palms were already sweating; she was so nervous that her whole body felt cold.

She could even hear her heart pounding. From contract negotiations to the competitive bidding discussion between both sides, to now, the final decisive bidding meeting—all of this caught her off guard..



No choice but to push through.

"The Wilson Group partnership amount is $20 million, plus 2% stake in the Wilson Group."

Otto's eyes held a smile. This was exactly the same offer he'd heard on the phone the other day, but he knew there had to be more.

"First: the Wilson Group's PAT Marketing Company will allow the Morgan family to buy shares, not exceeding 5%. Second, the Wilson Group auction house will set up a special venue for the Morgan family's antiques, about 20% of the total area, with management rights in the Morgan family's hands, but the Wilson family must hold at least a 20% stake. Third, the Wilson Group auction house brand will be licensed to the Morgan family for use at will for twenty years. Fourth, after this partnership, if the Morgan family wants to open another auction house, the Wilson family won't interfere, won't engage in price wars, and will provide support for the Morgan family's talent development."

Elsie laid out the basic contract terms in one breath.

Then she began the second step, actively guiding Otto's thinking by comparing the terms and offers from the Diaz family and Wilson family.

Elsie took a deep breath and steadied herself: "Mr. Morgan, I think..."

"Wait a moment, two questions."

"First question, whose idea was this proposal - yours, Wren's, or Daniel's?"

'What does that mean?'

Otto's question caught her off guard. Was this good or bad?

"It was... Mr. Wilson and I came up with it."

"So it was you then."

Otto nodded and continued:

"Besides this, anything else?"

'This is bad.'

Despite all her calculations, she hadn't expected Otto to interrupt her and bluntly ask, "Anything else?"

Clearly, Otto wasn't satisfied.

"I know what you're going to say next - compared to my deal with the Diaz family, partnering with your Wilson family has longer-term income and prospects, but... what if these antiques lose money? Would I have to bear the risk myself?"

"Ms. Moore might not understand - when doing business, I'm not afraid of making money, I'm afraid of losing it. Anyone can make money, so when I think about problems, I don't think about what happens if I make money; I think about what to do if I lose money."

Facing Otto's question, Elsie's mind raced.

She suddenly realized she'd let Chris and Otto lead her thinking astray.

They'd been discussing whether this batch of antiques would lose money.

But that wasn't what the Morgan family was thinking about at all. What he really needed was entry into Emerald City's antique business.

That's exactly why this proposal existed.

"No, there is nothing more, Mr. Morgan. This is the proposal you want most."