Chapter 239 Did the Goods Have an Accident?
The Sherman Group holds its annual shareholder meeting on June 1st every year.
The shareholder meeting is an important event in the company's operations.
Today was the day of the shareholder meeting. Elizabeth left early, sitting in her car heading to the Sherman Group.
Midway, she received a call from Russell. "Dad?"
Russell said warmly, "Elizabeth, when do you have time to bring Seraphina home for dinner? Also, I wanted to ask if you'd like to change your name to Elizabeth Nightingale?"
They hadn't officially met Seraphina yet.
As for changing her surname, Russell wouldn't force it.
"Dad, I should have time in a couple days to bring Seraphina home for dinner. As for the surname, I don't want to change it right now. If I change it, I'd have to update so many documents."
Russell nodded understandingly on the other end of the phone. "Okay, a name is just a name. What matters most is that you accept us in your heart."
Elizabeth smiled gently. "Thanks for understanding, Dad."
After she hung up, the car arrived at the Sherman Group.
Outside the main entrance on the first floor of the Sherman Group, company executives stood waiting to greet the arriving shareholders.
The sapphire blue sedan slowly came to a stop. Robbie quickly got out and respectfully opened the car door for Elizabeth.
Elizabeth got out of the car. Today she wore a formal blazer and pants suit with black heels, looking sharp and elegant.
"Chairwoman Penrose, good morning." The executives greeting her all said hello.
"Good morning, everyone. Thank you for your hard work." Elizabeth smiled in response and walked toward the building entrance with confident steps.
Robbie followed closely behind, holding a stack of documents, maintaining a professional smile. "Chairwoman Penrose, today's meeting agenda and materials are all ready. Also, today's meeting might not go smoothly."
Elizabeth nodded knowingly. "Good, thank you, Robbie."
They walked through the Sherman Group's lobby. Robbie pressed the elevator button, and they went directly to the conference room.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, several shareholders stood outside the conference room hallway, talking in low voices.
"The Sherman Group's performance last year was good, but today's hard to say," a middle-aged man in a gray suit said coldly. "Actually, I was against letting a woman with no experience manage the company, but you all believed what she said."
This was Maddox Sherman, a member of the Sherman family who also held shares in the Sherman Group.
Hearing this, Elizabeth smiled.
"Good morning, everyone."
"Good morning, Ms. Penrose."
The group walked into the conference room as if the discussion they'd just had never happened.
After entering the conference room, Robbie and secretary Betty distributed meeting materials to all the shareholders present.
Elizabeth sat down at the head of the conference table, quietly waiting for the meeting to begin.
Even before today's meeting started, the atmosphere felt somewhat tense.
Maddox sat in the front row, his gaze cold.
Also present were several Sherman family members who owned shares in the Sherman Group.
The meeting began, and Elizabeth gave the opening remarks.
She summarized the past year's performance, showcased the Sherman Group's achievements, and outlined future development directions.
Her speech was clear and well-organized, with solid data.
"Next, we'll discuss the investment plan for new projects and the election of board members." Just as Elizabeth finished this sentence, she was interrupted.
Maddox looked at her coldly, his eyes showing some disdain. "Ms. Penrose, although you've summarized past achievements, I have doubts about future plans. You lack sufficient management experience and credentials. How can you ensure the Sherman Group's continued development?"
She signaled Robbie to start the PowerPoint presentation. Detailed data and charts appeared on the screen.
Elizabeth stood up, walked to the screen, and used a laser pointer to highlight key sections as she began explaining in detail.
"Our company's online shopping has already begun restructuring, and with the acquisition of Silicon Express, we now have shopping and delivery integrated as one, further expanding our market share. Another initiative is our cloud computing plan with Zenith Enterprises Group. The future looks promising."
The conference room fell silent as shareholders carefully studied the data and charts on the screen.
Some people began whispering to each other, while others seemed satisfied with the report.
But several veteran shareholders from the Sherman family were not pleased.
Maddox's expression darkened. "The data looks good, but market conditions change constantly. How can you guarantee there won't be unexpected situations this year? You've only been running the Sherman Group for a short time and have already invested so much money."
Elizabeth responded calmly, "Maddox, market conditions are indeed unpredictable, but we've developed detailed response strategies to ensure that in any situation, we can quickly adjust our approach and maintain competitiveness."
As soon as she finished speaking, another shareholder couldn't help but nod approvingly. "Ms. Penrose makes a good point. I think her planning is very thorough."
Seeing this, Maddox had to fall silent. Though unwilling, he couldn't find more points to argue against Elizabeth's well-reasoned answers.
Just then, he received a news alert. He clicked on it, his expression turning cold. He suddenly stood up. "Wait! I think everyone should check their phones and look at the news about Silicon Express."
The shareholders looked at each other and pulled out their phones to check.
Robbie also quickly found the news and handed it to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth looked down and saw the headline: #Five Cargo Ships from the Sherman Group's Newly Acquired Silicon Express Have Sunk#
The conference room erupted in commotion as shareholders began discussing in low voices, and the atmosphere instantly became tense.
Elizabeth calmly finished reading the news report, raised her head, and remained composed.
She looked at Robbie. "Please immediately contact the team responsible for the Silicon Express project to confirm the authenticity of the news and get detailed information."
Robbie quickly picked up the phone and contacted the project team.
A few minutes later, he returned to report, "Chairwoman Penrose, the situation is true. Five cargo ships did sink during transport. The exact cause is still under investigation."
Maddox laughed coldly. "Ms. Penrose, how do you explain such a major accident? You were just talking about the company's future, and now such a serious accident has occurred. This is not a good sign. Do you really have the ability to lead the Sherman Group?"