Linda Yun handed the task to the assistant office, and Su Yehao's family office quickly contacted an investigator named Dick Whitt.
This art investigator once worked in the Art and Antiques Investigation Team of the Metropolitan Police Department. Later, he married an American girl and joined the FBI's Art Crime Investigation Division.
And then.
Dick Whitt left his job and founded a company in Los Angeles in partnership with his friends. It was mainly responsible for finding desirable collections for wealthy people. It was also a consultant for the Getty Art Center.
After some artworks are bought, there is no trace for decades or even hundreds of years. They may be lying in the collection room of some big family, or they may be deposited in a bank vault and never see the light of day.
If you want to know the clues, you need the help of these art investigators.
Ordinary people rarely come into contact with this circle in their lives because there is no need for it, but it is more common among the rich. It is not only art, but also hard-to-find old wine on the market, limited edition antique cars, or
Jewelry etc.
When it comes to the enthusiasm for collecting, it is undoubtedly more popular here in the United States, and many related industries have emerged around the entire circle.
[To be honest, I have been using Yeguo to read and catch up on books recently. I can switch sources and read aloud with many sounds. www. Android and Apple are available.]
After receiving the assignment from Su Yehao and receiving the deposit.
The forty-two-year-old Dick Whitt immediately purchased a plane ticket and went to the Christie's auction house office in San Francisco. As an art consultant, he directly investigated the news related to Van Gogh's oil painting. He only said that a super rich man commissioned it.
, I want to understand the reasons why buyers regret buying.
At an auction like Christie's, regretting the auction often means a lot of trouble. Not only is it likely to be sued, but it will also be blacklisted by major auction houses, treated as a person without credibility, and boycotted by the collecting community.
The total remuneration for doing this business was twenty-five thousand US dollars. Dick Whitt felt that this task was not troublesome and he regarded it as just picking up money.
This middle-aged art investigator had not known Su Yehao before, and this was the first time he heard his name.
But now, if you search on the Internet, you can find a lot of news related to Su Yehao. It is not difficult to understand him.
After learning the information about his employer, Dick Whitt was dumbfounded. He thought about making things more beautiful and contacted Su Yehao to maintain long-term cooperation...
Two days in a row.
Dick Whitt is busy investigating the matter.
Unlike the Christie's auction house that told him that "the buyer had a cash flow problem," the more he checked, the more strange it became.
First, the identity of the buyer was fictitious. There was no rich man from the Kingdom of Bahrain in the Middle East who bought this work. Second, the seller who sent it up for auction was in a lawsuit, and several heirs were arguing over the ownership of the painting.
After collecting enough clues, Dick Whitt appeared in front of Su Yehao and handed the collected information to Su Yehao.
Just two thin pages.
At this moment, Su Yehao read it quickly, frowned slightly, and asked: "The seller is still litigating, will it not affect me if I buy it? There is also a buyer, why can't I find his information?"
Dick Whitt was sitting on the sofa of Su Yehao's house with a calm expression and told:
"Christie's is very experienced. As long as you buy the painting from the auction house, it is yours. Even if there are some differences, it is a problem between the seller and other heirs, and has nothing to do with you and the auction house."
"As for the missing buyer, Mr. Su, this is actually normal. Maybe someone wanted to launder money by buying a painting, and something unexpected happened during the process. It is difficult to hide tens of millions of dollars in cash, but a Van Gogh painting
, you can take it away in your suitcase at will, and no matter where you are in the world, as long as the price is right, you can easily find a buyer willing to take it over and exchange it for legal cash."
"There are trillions of dollars of black money circulating in gray areas around the world every year. If the art trading market lacks them, the value of most antiques will decline. Fortunately, Van Gogh's work is not one of them. It really
It is very popular. Only Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael can surpass Van Gogh..."
The first time Dick Whitt met Su Yehao, he spoke a bit fast.
However, as a British person, his articulation was clear, allowing him to barely understand the meaning. Su Yehao nodded and said: "In other words, there is nothing wrong with the work itself, right?"
"Of course, if there is a problem, I will even more recommend you to buy it, because it will mean a large amount of compensation. Christie's auction house is not strict this time and does not dare to disclose the buyer's fictitious identity for fear of being involved in money laundering.
Because of the relationship, it would rather not receive millions of dollars in commissions, and it would not dare to sell a fake Van Gogh, which would definitely be a fatal blow to its reputation."
After listening to what Dick Whitt said, Su Yehao said: "...Okay, I understand what you mean."
After thinking about it for two days, I also called President Peng of the Bank of China and asked if they would accept a Van Gogh oil painting as collateral to help me buy the painting.
Having cooperated with Bank of China Gangcheng Branch so many times, President Peng wished Su Yehao could lend more money, it was only 40 million US dollars, it was a trivial matter.
The reason for finding funds in advance is to prepare for buying paintings.
now.
Su Yehao asked Dick again: "Since Christie's has not found a buyer for that painting, if I ask you to help me, can you help me lower the price? I know that you people have a lot of connections, so I can agree to it."
For every $100,000 you reduce the price, we will give you an additional $10,000 in compensation."
If you have money, you have money, and you can't waste it carelessly.
A situation like this made him feel that it was very suitable to lower the price, and it would be easy to get slaughtered if he showed up in person to negotiate. Su Yehao himself felt that he was rich recently, and he looked like a standard fat sheep at first glance.
On the surface, those auction houses are business-like, but in fact, as long as there is money to be made, many things can be negotiated.
Dick Whitt had never tried to bargain with an auction house on behalf of others, but he had helped clients many times and reduced part of the transaction commission. He found it profitable and immediately agreed:
"No problem, the buyer's commission is waived, and the seller can still make money. It's impossible to lower the price too much. I will try to talk about 39 million US dollars, or 39.5 million US dollars.
"
…
Su Yehao has finished his work in Silicon Valley.
Xiao Nizi urged them several times at home, and they were ready to go back to Hong Kong City directly.
I remembered Jack Ma who came to Silicon Valley. This talented person was worth winning over, so before leaving, I called Mr. Ma and asked if I wanted to take him on his private plane and take him back to the mainland.
Mr. Ma has been inspecting Silicon Valley for the past two days. He stayed in a hotel and placed an order through Amazon. On the evening of the next day, he received a package at the front desk of the hotel, which shocked him.
In fact, Amazon has a logistics transit warehouse near San Francisco.
Even if FedEx is slow and only covers dozens of miles, it should be delivered to him within one day.
Now that he agreed to work for Su Yehao, Mr. Ma quickly changed his mind and no longer thought about how to raise money to start a business, but instead thought about how to use the funds that Su Yehao was about to invest in him where they should be used.
Four hours later.
Su Yehao brought Yin Liuli and Jack Ma to the San Francisco Airport and listened to Mr. Ma's suggestion to find a team in the United States to develop a state-of-the-art shopping website.
Soon I received a call from Dick Whitt. The other party said that Christie's auction house was only willing to lower the price to 40 million US dollars, mainly for Van Gogh's works. He could always sell them if he found a way. Some museums were already considering it.
.
Excluding the remuneration promised to be paid, it is equivalent to saving more than 600,000 US dollars, which is enough to refuel the plane for several more flights, which is not bad.
So he asked Dick Whitt to notify Christie's and send the oil painting to Hong Kong City for trading...