Of course it doesn't matter to the lawyer. For him, today is already working overtime, but for such a large contract, the remuneration given by Morris and others is quite high.
Not to mention asking him to come to the hotel, even if he was asked to fly out of the country, he would not complain at all.
Even on the weekend, the traffic situation in Los Angeles was very worrying, but the lawyer still arrived at the hotel in less than half an hour.
Cheng Yu, on the other hand, had already been swimming happily with Vincent for half an hour.
Seeing a man in a suit and leather shoes appearing by the swimming pool, Cheng Yu knew that this must be the lawyer arranged by Morris and the others.
After patting Vincent's little head and asking him to continue playing in the swimming pool, Cheng Yu got up and went ashore.
After simply wiping his body with a bath towel, Cheng Yu put on his bathrobe and walked towards the lawyer who was already sitting with Morris and others.
For this contract, Cheng Yu is actually just the executor. All contract terms, etc., are the result of long-term agreement between Morris and the law firm.
Therefore, unnecessary pleasantries were avoided. After Cheng Yu sat down, he took a sip of his drink and directly picked up the contract handed over by the lawyer and looked at it carefully.
This contract involves the transfer of shares and the rights to use the funds corresponding to the shares in the future.
Almost all the terms are impeccable, including the profit increase that Cheng Yu promised to Morris and others on the phone in the next two years from this fund.
The only thing worth discussing is the time when the funds were invested in Cheng Yu's company.
Regarding this time issue, there are two clauses in the contract.
The first is a total investment period of two years, and the rate of return promised by Cheng Yu's company is 100% annualized.
Of course, this annualized rate is based on the principal.
Time was stuck for two years, which made Cheng Yu frown slightly.
The second thing that made Cheng Yu have some objections was that Morris and others reserved the right to inquire about the return generated by this fund after one year. If the return could not reach a 100% annualized rate at that time, they would have the right to immediately
Terminate the contract and require Cheng Yu to return the funds.
After reading it, Cheng Yu slowly closed the contract text in his hand.
Seeing this, the lawyer smiled and said: "Mr. Cheng, if there are no problems with the contract, you can start signing it at any time."
Cheng Yu raised his head, looked at Morris and others, and said nothing for a long time.
Morris felt a little guilty and said: "Cheng, is there something wrong with the contract?"
Cheng Yu sighed and said, "Do the five of you have the same opinion?"
The five people looked at each other, and Maurice said: "Cheng, what do you mean? Of course we have the same opinion, otherwise why would we ask you to do this?"
Cheng Yu sighed again, calmly picked up the drink on the table and took a deep sip.
Then, he continued to stare at Morris, and slowly turned his gaze to the other four people, looking at them one by one.
Cheng Yu looked at each one for more than a minute.
"I generally have no problem with the contract. But since the five of you have unanimous opinions, I would like to let this contract go."
The five people were suddenly startled and asked eagerly: "Cheng, what's the problem? Are you...?"
Morris stopped the other people's murmurs and sat down from opposite Cheng Yu next to him.
Lowering his voice, Morris said: "Cheng, what clause in the contract makes you so dissatisfied that it actually makes you choose to give up signing with us?"
Cheng Yu glanced at him and said: "I believe in the deep friendship between you, and you have also confirmed that this contract is the unified opinion of the five of you.
However, how do you want me to sign such a contract? You leave the funds to me. This is business, and business should not be confused with friendship.
However, you are asking me for help now, am I right?"
Morris nodded vigorously and said: "Of course, Cheng, we would be very grateful if you are willing to do us this favor. And to be honest, among our friends, you are the only one who has the ability to help me."
"For the use of this fund, your ideal time limit is one year, which I understand.
However, I also said that I happen to need a certain amount of funds. If you are only willing to hand over this fund to me for one year, then I can use it for other purposes, and I will also find another way to find the funds I need.
.
But the one-year time limit and the two-year time limit are used in completely different ways. The reason why I can promise you such generous returns-even as a long-term, twice the profit increase is already quite good.
rate of return.
After all, risk and profit are directly proportional.
Your money is with me without any risk. Even Mr. Gates or Mr. Buffett, I don’t think they will reject my investment plan.
And all this is because my planned use of this fund will take at least two years, and may even be extended.
I remember that I made it very clear on the phone that the funds could be used for a minimum of two years and a maximum of two and a half years.
But the time you give me in this contract is not like this.
According to the time limit you want, all the profits I can promise are non-existent.
All I can say is that I will treat you the same way I treat ordinary customers. Of course, I will make my employees more cautious when it comes to investment choices to ensure that your profits grow as much as possible.
Of course, you can also ask us to provide investment reports at any time, let alone once a year, even if we provide investment reports once a month, there will definitely be no problem.
And for the sake of our friendship as classmates and friends, I can also use the authority of my company’s CEO to minimize the proportion of commissions that you need to pay to our company for this capital.”
After hearing this, Morris was very confused. He looked at Cheng Yu in confusion and said, "Cheng, are you mistaken? We just followed your words and asked the law firm to draw up the contract. The time limit is two years...
...Oh, the extension may be due to an omission. I didn’t specifically ask the lawyer to include a clause on the extension. But what’s that one year you keep talking about?”
Cheng Yu frowned, looked at the lawyer, and found a look of panic flashing in the lawyer's eyes.
At the same time, he observed Morris, whose expression was anxious and confused, without the slightest hint of embarrassment or panic.
He opened the contract, found the clause about the time limit for the use of funds, and said, "Maurice, take a look for yourself."
Morris looked at the contract in confusion. When he saw that investors had the right to inquire about the profits generated by the funds after one year, and if the annualized rate did not reach 100%, they had the right to unconditionally withdraw the funds.
His face also changed.
"What's going on?" Holkins and Francis asked at the same time.
Kloten and Anthony looked at each other and said nothing.
Cheng Yu probably knew it well.
It seems that Morris, Holkins and Francis really did not know that there was such a clause in the contract.
But Kloten and Anthony knew it well.
This means that these clauses in this contract were simply added by Kloten and Antony, or that one of them added them, and the other person was an insider.
Therefore, Cheng Yu said meaningfully: "Perhaps, there are some additional clauses in the contract that you have not unanimously agreed to, and the new clauses make the conditions for me to obtain your funds even more stringent than the loan."
Holkins and Francis rushed forward, grabbed the contract from Morris's hand, and looked at it carefully.
Soon, they threw away the contract and excitedly explained to Cheng Yu.
Especially Francis, who was the main factor in why he wanted to hand over the funds to Cheng Yu this time.
"Cheng, this is definitely not what we meant. I think maybe the law firm added such a formula clause in order to protect our interests to the greatest extent."
Cheng Yu shook his head and said, "Francis, we all major in economics. Is this a formula clause?
Even if it is a loan, interest is not calculated in this way, right? Compound interest, which was originally extremely complex, has become the simplest simple interest in this contract.
So, you have found an unprofessional law firm?
If this is a clause added by the law firm on its own initiative, I think I would be very interested in making a complaint to the law firm.
Such an unprofessional legal team should never exist in a city like Los Angeles."
The lawyer became anxious when he heard this. He hurriedly said: "Mr. Cheng, we made the contract strictly in accordance with the client's requirements. Except for those formulaic clauses, all the other specific clauses in the contract involve you and Party A.
They are all provided by Party A, and our law firm will never make any changes to such specific terms."
Cheng Yu nodded and said: "Compared to your guarantee, Francis, I am more willing to believe what this lawyer said.
After all, if he dares to lie on such an issue, I think his lawyer's license may no longer belong to him.
Of course, Francis, I'm not saying you're trying to trick me by going back on your word, but I'm going back to our original question.
Do you, the five of you, have the same opinion?"
Morris finally understood. He stood up angrily and said, "Okay, now, who can tell me who changed the terms of the contract and ordered the law firm to make changes? Who is it?"
When he said this, Morris' eyes kept falling on Anthony. Although there was no evidence, it did not mean that Morris had no idea.
First of all, Anthony was the one who initially raised concerns about the two-year period.
Secondly, this law firm is a firm that Anthony's family has cooperated with for a long time. Only he can successfully get the law firm to change the terms of the contract when several other people are not present.
By this time, Anthony had nothing to hide.
He stood up slowly and said, "Yes, it's me."
Morris, Francis and Holkins all looked at him angrily.
It's not that they were dissatisfied with the terms proposed by Anthony. They all came from merchant families. Everyone knew that every businessman was pursuing the maximization of his own interests.
There is no problem in pursuing interests, but businessmen also need to pay attention to integrity.
Not to mention that Cheng Yu was originally helping them and also provided quite generous conditions. Just saying that they had made a promise to Cheng Yu before but now changed it on the spot was a big mistake.
What was even more outrageous about Anthony was that he took advantage of his own convenience to directly change the result that was agreed upon by the five people.
He didn't even communicate with anyone else, which was an act of betrayal.
Kloten also stood up at this moment and said with some embarrassment: "I'm sorry, Cheng, I'm sorry, everyone, I also know about this matter."
"I just want to protect everyone's interests to a greater extent. The two-year investment cycle is indeed a bit long.
This matter itself has nothing to do with me. Francis’ family needs his funds, not mine.
I also want to use this money to make some other investments.
Maybe you think that doubling your income in two years is a very high rate of return.
Of course, such a rate of return is really good for a company.
But we are learning to invest, and we are investors. The funds in our hands should be placed in investment banks, and we should focus on entrepreneurial companies that may bring us dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of times returns.
If it was just to maintain rational growth of funds, how could we turn those hundreds of thousands into the current 40 million?
Of course, I am not unwilling to advance and retreat with you, so I agreed to hand over the money to Cheng.
But I also want to get the money back in a year and invest it myself.
Everyone, please note that I only said that after one year, if the profit does not reach 100%, we have the right to withdraw investment. I did not say that this will impose any punishment on Cheng.
In other words, after one year, even if this money is still this money and has not been touched at all, I will not have any objection.
And by that time, Francis, the dilemma in your family has been resolved, right?
As for whether you want to keep the money with Cheng or withdraw like me, that is your own decision.
Same goes for the rest of you.
I just hope that I will be given the right to withdraw capital after one year."
Kloten added at this time: "I'm sorry, I know that Anthony's behavior may have hurt the friendship between several of us, so I did not tell the matter after I found out about it.
I can personally guarantee that although I helped Anthony hide it, I have no intention of withdrawing my capital after one year.
In fact, I am quite satisfied with the profit doubling in two years. If it were me, it would be good if I could achieve a profit of 10% every year."
"Your concealment made Anthony even more harmful to our friendship," Morris said angrily.
Francis sighed. This incident happened because of him, so it was not convenient for him to say anything.
Holkins said excitedly: "What is the economic environment in the United States now? Wake up, Anthony, we are lucky to have made such a big profit this time. Do you really think that all our investments can achieve such results?"
? Let alone hundreds or thousands of times, dozens of times are very difficult now. Anthony, you are really confused."
Seeing that Morris wanted to say something more, Cheng Yu smiled and stopped him.
"Everyone has his own ambitions.
You feel that the general environment is not as good as before, and you want stability. Especially when you encounter a project with a good return on investment, you are willing to be involved in it even in the long term. This is just your way of thinking.
I can also understand Anthony's thinking. He hopes to keep the funds in his own hands and make investments that he believes will have a higher return on investment.
He is a person who is more willing to exchange risks for profits. What I can't understand is just Anthony's approach.
If you have any ideas, since they are different from others, you can speak out and you will not participate.
I will not stop you from realizing your own ideas.
But your attempt to hide it from the truth is the greatest harm to me."
Anthony became anxious when he heard this and hurriedly said: "Cheng, that's not what I meant..."
Cheng Yu waved his hand again and said, "It's okay, none of this is important.
So, except for Anthony, do the other four of you have the same opinion?
Once this fund is transferred to my name, it can be used for a maximum of two and a half years and a minimum of two years.
The return I can promise is at least twice the increase in funds after the longest period of use. If it is less than the double increase, our company will cover it for you without charging any commission.
An increase of more than twice the amount will be regarded as meeting the contract conditions.
For every 5% increase in excess, we will increase the commission by 1%.
That is to say, if the contract conditions are met, we will charge a commission of 5% according to the normal investment contract.
For the profit exceeding 200%, our commission amount will increase by 1% for every additional 2 million US dollars in profit.
After the profit exceeds 300%, everything belongs to me.
As for Anthony's funds, I am not responsible.
If you are willing to hand over your shares to me, you can do transactions with Oracle together, or you can contact Oracle yourself."
Hearing this, Morris became anxious. He hurriedly said: "Cheng, don't be like this. Anthony just didn't understand it for the moment. Let's discuss it later."
Cheng Yu smiled and said: "He won't change his mind. Right, Anthony?"
Anthony nodded and said with a smile: "Maurice, you don't have to worry about me. As Cheng said, everyone has his own ambitions, and everyone has his own path that is more suitable for him.
You seek stability, but I like the feeling of narrow escape from death.
So, for my shares, I will contact Oracle myself.
Okay, let's continue talking. It's up to you to decide whether to use this law firm or not.
Cheng, I'm sorry, I'm leaving first.
If you have time tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, I would like to have a meal with you alone."
Cheng Yu said: "I hope to finalize the contract with Oracle tomorrow, and then I will return to China. As you know, the Chinese Spring Festival is coming soon, and I still have a lot of things to deal with."
Anthony didn't care whether Cheng Yu didn't want to eat with him or was really anxious to return home.
Shrugging his shoulders, he said, "Okay, see you next time."
After that, he stood up and left Shi Shiran. Morris and others called him from behind, but he didn't look back.
The lawyer looked panicked and said: "Gentlemen, we really made the contract strictly in accordance with Mr. Anthony's instructions. He assured all our partners that this is your unified opinion, so we formulated the contract like this."
Mr. Cheng, please do not complain to us about this matter!"
Cheng Yu smiled and said: "This matter has been clarified. It is indeed not your law firm's responsibility. However, I must make it clear that your law firm also made a mistake of negligence. Anthony said it was
If we have a unified opinion, why don’t you consult them separately?”
"Anthony's family has long-term cooperation with our firm. We did not expect that he would dare to lie about such a matter. If Mr. Morris and others pursue the case, Anthony may even be held legally responsible for this."
As for Morris and others, of course, it is impossible to pursue anything. They are just emotionally frustrated and feel that they may be alienated from Anthony in the future.
But just because of this, if they are asked to take their friends to court, they will not do it.