America 1919

Donnie seriously reviewed the list of company names and found two familiar faces, namely Goldman Sachs and Merrill, these two companies.

However, both companies were not yet at their peak at this time.

Goldman Sachs had just completed its transformation at the beginning of the 20th century, beginning to engage in stock underwriting, which brought Goldman Sachs into the investment banking sector. However, what truly made Goldman Sachs famous was in 1906 when it helped the United States retail company Sears Roebuck issue the largest IPO in American history to date.

At that time, the market value of Sears Roebuck was 40 million US Dollars!
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As for Merrill, it was focusing more on the American film industry at this time, and Merrill's first partner, Edmund Lynch, became a director of Paramount Company.

Later, as talkies began to emerge, Merrill ultimately decided to sell Paramount Company to Joseph Kennedy in 1926, who was the father of John Kennedy, who would later become the President of the United States.

But regardless, at this current time, these two companies could still only be considered mid-tier investment firms on Wall Street.

Such companies could not possibly reach the top on ABC at this time.

"Why include these two companies?"

Donnie asked, pointing to the names of these two companies, to Mashang Evans.

After confirming the names of Goldman Sachs and Merrill, Evans spoke, "After Goldman Sachs completed the IPO for Sears Roebuck, it has been developing in this area. Though not very famous on Wall Street, I believe this company has great potential.

Merrill has an excellent reputation, always emphasizing to their clients—whatever they recommend to clients, they would buy themselves.

Also, after talking to their sales team, I learned that Merrill's corporate culture is to oppose inducing clients to shift from investment to speculation... They believe that every sale they make will affect the client's trust in us... And they see this as their most precious asset.

While ABC's listing shouldn't have any problems, I think if our partners are such reputation-conscious companies, it will also gain us more trust!"

Evans' response made Donnie see him in a new light, knowing that before this, Donnie had been looking for the right person to succeed Evans's position.

"Very well, if that's the case, then let's go with these two companies. Also, send out an invitation under my name to Seymour Sachs and Charles Merrill, saying I would like to invite them to dinner!"

Seymour Sachs was the current chairman of Goldman Sachs, whose father-in-law Marcus Goldman founded the company, and Seymour Sachs became the first partner of Goldman Sachs.

After the death of Marcus Goldman, he handed over his company to his son, Henry Goldman, but by that time, Seymour Sachs had already established his authority at Goldman Sachs.

After Henry Goldman inherited Goldman Sachs, he had been contending with Seymour Sachs for the ownership of Goldman Sachs.

During World War I, Henry Goldman made an unforgivable mistake.

The Goldman family was of German descent. At the time, Henry Goldman publicly supported Germany's decision to wage war and refused to participate in loan conferences that all American banks were supporting for England and France.

This decision caused severe damage to Goldman Sachs's reputation and its overseas business, becoming an unbearable burden for Goldman Sachs Company.

This also gave Sloan an opportunity, as he had clearly expressed his support for the United States at the start of World War I.

Eventually, through Sloan's maneuvering, Henry Goldman was forced to leave Goldman Sachs in disgrace, and at this time, Seymour Sachs became the president of Goldman Sachs.

The schism between the Goldman and Sachs families resulted in the two sides not having any contact for over a hundred years to come!

Charles Merrill was the founder of Merrill, who was an obscure baseball player before entering the finance industry. At the age of 21, he chose to retire and then went to New York to join Bole Company to learn about finance. During this period, he met Edmund Lynch, Merrill's first partner, at the YMCA.

In 1914, Charles Merrill left Bole Company to found the precursor of Merrill, and within less than four months, he brought Edmund Lynch to the company, afterwards renaming it Merrill.

After hearing Donnie's decision, Mashang Evans immediately showed an excited expression, saying, "Okay!"

Soon, Donnie met with the two of them.

Seymour Sachs was already a septuagenarian with bright eyes and steady steps.

Charles Merrill was much younger, exactly half the age of Seymour Sachs at thirty-five, which is a man's prime. Charles Merrill was still a handsome man with thick eyebrows, large eyes, and impeccably groomed hair!

Sitting with them in ABC's conference room, Donnie smiled and said, "I have no objections to cooperating with your two companies, but before that, I hope to reach another cooperation with you both!"

The expressions of Seymour Sachs and Charles Merrill showed a hint of confusion as they had thought that this invitation from Donnie was more to discuss the details of cooperation.