August 8th, today marks the opening day of the 29th Olympic Games.
At noon, Barron was invited to the banquet hall on the second floor of the Great Hall of the People, where a welcome banquet would be held by the Chinese side for the distinguished guests attending the opening ceremony of the Olympics.
Yes, Barron was attending the opening ceremony of the Olympics at the invitation of the Chinese side as a "person friendly to China."
At the welcome banquet, in addition to Brown, Barron also met many old acquaintances, including George W. Bush, Nicolas Sarkozy, and President Jammeh Bongo of Cologne.
Cologne also sent a sports delegation to the Beijing Olympics, its largest ever for the country.
It's worth noting that many of the events were Cologne's first, often featuring new immigrants—some refugees chosen by Cologne for their athletic talents and accepted into Cologne citizenship.
"Hello, Ms. Merkel."
"Nice to meet you, Your Highness."
Before Barron stood Merkel, known as Germany's "Iron Lady," attending the state banquet as Germany's representative.
As Germany's first female Chancellor and the first East German Chancellor since reunification, she took office in 2005 and is now in her first term.
Of course, Baron knew that, as the last German politician before his rebirth, Merkel would serve four terms, becoming a significant figure not only in Germany but also in the entire European Union.
During their meeting, the two simply exchanged greetings and chatted briefly.
Merkel comes across as steady, pragmatic, and cautious, but she is also a strong proponent of the "free economy." Baron's future investments, both in Germany and the EU, will inevitably involve her—after all, Merkel still has ten years left in power.
The welcome banquet lasted about an hour, concluding around 2:00 PM.
After a brief break, the highlight of the day, the opening ceremony of the Olympics, would begin.
At 8:00 PM, Yanjing time, the exciting moment began.
In his previous life, Baron had watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics on television, more than once.
This time, he witnessed this historic moment firsthand at the Bird's Nest.
Familiar scenes from his past reappeared before him from a different perspective, a fusion of memories from two different lives mingled, leaving Barron with a complex mix of emotions.
After all, in his past life, this moment was a source of pride as a Chinese.
Now, he was a British duke, witnessing this event as a "China Friend."
Regardless, Barron knew that China's return to the center of the world stage was unstoppable.
He took photos of the event with his phone and sent them to his Woaw account, along with the following message:
"I was at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, marveling at the unparalleled spectacle. This is the most memorable Olympic opening ceremony to date. I hope London keeps up the good work and presents a similar spectacle to the world in four years." Yes, Woaw had already launched a mobile app, and after its launch, the number of users accessing the Woaw app via smartphones has seen impressive growth.
Subsequent statistics indicate that the Beijing Olympics became the most watched event in human history, surpassing the live broadcasts of the Apollo moon landing and Princess Diana's funeral, attracting one billion television viewers and truly becoming the "first live event to be truly watched by one billion people."
The report indicates that at least 593 million people worldwide watched the entire four-hour opening ceremony, and 984 million watched at least the cultural performances. This doesn't include those who watched in public places, so the combined total would easily exceed one billion.
Considering the current global population of approximately 6.8 billion, with 1.9 billion households, only 1.4 billion of which have televisions, a billion viewership is truly astonishing.
This astonishing statistic is attributed to China's 1.3 billion population, but viewership was also impressive in various corners of the world. Starting at 8 PM local time in Beijing, the number of viewers gradually increased: 35 million viewers in the United States, 8 million in Germany, nearly 8 million in Australia, and 5.5 million in Italy...
Furthermore, ITV, a subsidiary of SEM Group, also purchased the broadcast rights for the Yanjing Olympics Opening Ceremony. Over 7.5 million viewers in the UK watched the ceremony on ITV, with over 5 million watching the entire four-hour ceremony.
Many Europeans also chose to watch the opening ceremony online later on DailyVedio.com.
The F1 Group is also committed to developing racing drivers in China. After these figures were released, Bernie Ecclestone excitedly told Barron,
"Imagine if a talented young Chinese driver appeared on the F1 grid. The future of F1 live broadcasts would be infinitely bright!"
...
"Your Highness, we've reached an agreement with JPMorgan Chase..."
On the plane back to London, Barron received a call from Duane Hurst, CEO of BFT Funds.
After negotiations, BFT Funds and JPMorgan Chase reached a capital injection agreement.
Under the agreement, BFT (British Fortune Generation) Funds will invest $10 billion to purchase newly issued JPMorgan Chase shares at a price slightly below the current market price. These shares will represent approximately 8.5% of the total share capital after the issuance.
BFT Funds will also have the right to appoint one director to JPMorgan Chase's board of directors and one vote.
Since Standard Chartered's acquisition of Merrill Lynch, the BFT Fund has invested a total of $43.5 billion, including $25 billion in Standard Chartered-Merrill Lynch, $8.5 billion in Morgan Stanley, and $10 billion in JPMorgan Chase. Currently, over
$25 billion remains unspent in the BFT Fund's accounts.
Following this infusion of capital from the BFT Fund, JPMorgan Chase immediately announced its acquisition of Washington Mutual's branches and deposit operations.
While the specific amount of capital for the acquisition has not been disclosed, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon stated that the $10 billion from the BFT Fund will be used entirely for the acquisition of Washington Mutual's assets and the subsequent disposal of its nonperforming assets.
The Beijing Olympics are still in full swing, and Barron left China for London at this time...
because Bonnie became pregnant with their second child at the end of last year. With the due date less than a month away, Barron needed to return to London to be with his wife.