Chapter 72: Chapter 72 The Duke's Selection
In addition to the futures market, Barron also noticed that at the end of May this year, a stock was listed on the Nasdaq stock market. The name of the company is Netflix.
In fact, Netflix had planned an IPO in 2001 when it had 120 employees. However, the bursting of the Internet bubble and the 9/11 incident caused the plan to fail, and it had to lay off one-third of its employees.
Fortunately, DVD players became a popular Christmas gift that year, so the wildly growing DVD subscription business saved Netflix.
However, even if Netflix has completed its IPO, it is still just a DVD rental service provider, with less than 1 million subscribers and a market value of only about US$500 million...
Baron certainly knows that Netflix's future growth will be amazing and will be a good long-term investment target, but in the short term, at least within a year, if the purpose is to make short-term money, Netflix is not a very good investment target.
Because Netflix's stock price is currently around $12.5, which is still down from its IPO price of $15...
And the current price is not the lowest price this year. The stock price will fall further later. In Baron's impression, the stock price may fall to around US$5 in October!
By that time, Baron will have much more money in his hands, and it would be a good choice to use part of it to buy Netflix stock as a long-term holding.
…
Two Rolls-Royces were driving one after the other on the road to Chatsworth House.
Although her attitude towards Barron in the morning was less enthusiastic than before and more polite and distant, Chris still went to Chatsworth House with Barron and the others as she had said before.
She was now sitting in the Rolls-Royce at the back with Gabrielle, the eldest daughter of the Kent family.
Of course, it's not that Bonnie doesn't want to ride in the same car with her cousin, but what she can't accept is leaving Gabriel and her boyfriend Barron in the same car - in order to eliminate all threats in the bud, she can only make such a wise choice.
It takes about three hours to drive from London to Chatsworth House, but the excellent performance of Rolls-Royce can effectively alleviate some of the fatigue of the journey. Coupled with the increasingly beautiful scenery outside the window, it does not make people too boring.
After arriving at the manor, excitement could be seen in the eyes of Chris and Miss Ella.
In addition to the fact that this was their first time here and they were still feeling fresh, both of them had read and liked the novel "Downton Abbey" very much. As the prototype of the manor where the story in the novel takes place, they were also looking forward to the Chatsworth House in front of them.
In addition to "Downton Abbey", the prototype of Darcy Manor in the world-famous novel "Pride and Prejudice" was also taken from Chatsworth House, so Chatsworth House also got the nickname Darcy Manor.
I'm afraid that as "Downton Abbey" becomes more and more well-known, Chatsworth House will have another nickname "Downton Abbey".
Compared to Bonnie when she first came here, it has to be said that both Chris and Ella, who were accustomed to aristocratic life, were more adaptable to the etiquette of the butlers and servants in the manor that still had a strong traditional style.
After personally settling the two guests, Barron left Bonnie to show them around the manor, while he himself went to ask the butler Sean about matters concerning the manor during this period.
"According to your instructions, Your Excellency the Duke, the institution we hired, which is recognized by the Royal Institute of Architects, has provided a preliminary plan for the overall renovation of the manor. We will carry out this plan separately according to the area to ensure that at least half of the rooms can retain their living functions at any time..."
Repairing and renovating a historic building like Chatsworth House, especially one that has long been rated as a Grade I protected building, is no easy task, because firstly the carvings, sculptures and artworks that are everywhere in the house need to be carefully protected, and secondly the materials used also need to meet the most stringent standards.
Moreover, the technicians who carry out this project need to have considerable professional qualifications.
Just to re-lay the floor heating and other pipeline lines in the entire estate, it is estimated that at least more than 200 tons of soil will need to be dug out. It can be said that this is definitely a huge project!
"I'll take a look at the plan, Butler Sean. If possible, I hope we can start construction as soon as possible after I confirm it. I hope to complete at least one-third of the area before the end of the year... Well, let's start with the 30 rooms we plan to open to the public."
For Barron, starting this project immediately is the best option to save time.
Fortunately, for a project like this, even if the total budget exceeds 20 million pounds, it does not mean that the full amount needs to be paid as soon as the construction starts. Instead, it can be paid in stages, so that it will not put too much pressure on him in terms of funds.
It can be said that the reason why Barron is now able to use such "little" funds to carry out the overall renovation and transformation of the entire Chatsworth House is thanks to his grandmother.
Because when Barron's grandmother was alive, she spent more than 32 million pounds and ten years to renovate the entire estate.
This time, his thorough renovation and transformation, in addition to modern renovations such as electrification and adding internet, has made the overall renovation of the manor much less difficult.
It can be seen from here that such a huge manor is indeed very magnificent and luxurious, but the cost required to maintain it is not something that ordinary people can afford.
This is why many manors in England are now unable to maintain themselves and can only be handed over to national funds; even those that still belong to aristocratic families need to obtain maintenance funds by opening the manors to the public and charging admission fees.
"The other thing is the management of the manor farm. I will meet with the manager of the farm next year."
Barron had already discussed these things with Butler Sean on the phone before.
Including the farm at Chatsworth House, the Devonshire family still owns more than 50,000 acres of land across England - of course, this is far less than the more than 200,000 acres of land owned during the family's heyday - and most of these lands are in the form of farms for planting and animal husbandry.
The workshops attached to these farms will also process the agricultural products and meat they produce, but most of them are sold directly in the form of raw materials, mainly to surrounding residents and production workshops.
Barron knew that later on, the Prince of Wales used the produce from his own estate to create his own brand of organic products, manufacturing hundreds of products in three major categories including food, personal care products and gardening tools, and his business was very successful.
Therefore, he was prepared to follow suit earlier, using the Devonshire family's products to create his own organic brand and gain more economic benefits.
This is what he plans to discuss with the farm manager tomorrow.
Barron plans to directly integrate the entire Devonshire family's farm into one company - Devonshire Ecological Agriculture Company.
As for the company's brand... Prince of Wales's products are called Duchy Originals, and his is called Duchy Selected.
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