"So, we are going bankrupt?"
In the study of Chatsworth House, Barron put down the financial statements in his hand and said to the two people in front of him.
"Although we won't go bankrupt, if we can't get back the money we invested in the London Star, then I'm afraid we'll need to sell off most of our assets in order to pay the bank's loan. By then..."
The person speaking to Barron was Julia Moore, the administrator of the Cavendish Family Trust, a woman who exuded mature charm.
However, although Yulia had a great figure and her body curves could not be concealed even in a women's suit, Barron did not have the mind to pay attention to these at the moment. He needed to understand the true situation of the Cavendish family as soon as possible.
Having said that, the reason why the old lady in the family, Barron's grandmother, has such prestige is mainly because she is good at business. Initially, after World War II, it was she who saved most of the Cavendish family's assets by changing her business ideas.
Barron's grandfather, the 11th Duke of Devonshire, faced a huge inheritance tax at the time. With the help of the old lady, he worked hard for more than 20 years to open Chatsworth House, one of the few remaining super estates in England, to the public for visits, and to undertake various activities and filming to make profits in order to pay off the inheritance tax.
Many people have watched the British TV series "Downton Abbey", which later became very famous, and they are probably impressed by the Downton Abbey in this TV series.
But the Chatsworth Estate owned by the Duke of Devonshire's family covers an area of 35,000 acres. What does this mean?
It is seven times the size of Highclere Castle, the filming location of Downton Abbey, and is equivalent to half of the city of London!
Therefore, it can be said that Chatsworth House is much larger than the magnificent manor in Downton Abbey, so after opening, it can also bring certain benefits to the family.
Even so, the entire family only made a slight profit, just enough to survive.
Because in addition to Chatsworth House, the family now owns two estates and adjacent lands in Northern Ireland and Scotland...
After entering the new era, the output of these manors and lands can no longer be easily squandered by such a family as before.
Moreover, the annual repair and maintenance costs of these manors alone are astronomical...
Since World War II, countless aristocrats have gone bankrupt, unable to maintain their original luxurious lifestyle, and thus lived in poverty. Now, there are fewer and fewer families that can continue the traditional "aristocratic style".
Those aristocratic families that have been able to survive have investments in other industries and are able to feed back into traditional industries... What's more, government policies have become increasingly unfriendly to the aristocracy, and both taxation and policies have intentionally or unintentionally weakened the interests of the aristocracy.
Therefore, the Cavendish family also tried to invest in some emerging industries later - but unfortunately, it seemed that Barron's grandfather and father did not seem to have strong capabilities in investing in emerging industries, and instead suffered a lot of losses, both large and small.
However, if that were the case, the Cavendish family would probably not have fallen into Barron's current situation.
The problem was that his late father somehow believed the temptation of "high returns" and mortgaged many of the family's assets and invested them in an investment company called "London Star".
Yes, you are right, this so-called "London Star" is a complete Ponzi scheme.
At first, Old Cavendish didn't get too deeply involved. He just invested a small amount of money on a trial basis...
But that's what a Ponzi scheme does. In the beginning, the initial users are given extremely high returns through the funds of later customers... This gradually strengthened old Cavendish's confidence. In addition, affected by the Internet bubble two years ago, traditional industries have also been hit hard.
As a result, old Cavendish began to continuously increase his investment in the "London Star". Faced with high expectations of returns, he even mortgaged many of his family's assets and borrowed money from the bank to invest in this "Ponzi scheme"...
One can imagine what happened next. A month ago, "London Star" stopped distributing dividends, and many users' redemption requests were temporarily frozen.
Now old Cavendish was panicking... If it was really confirmed that this "London Star" was a scam, then the whole family would fall into the abyss...
Therefore, he worked hard for this during this period, but the effect was limited, and the "London Star" still collapsed!
This time, taking Barron's eldest brother to London, old Cavendish wanted to rely on the family's previous relationship to meet "powerful people" in London, and at least try to get back some of the funds invested in "London Star"...
Presumably, the result would be unsatisfactory. By this time, the other party's funds, except for those squandered and returned to early investors, would have been transferred almost entirely within a month.
Then at this time, a car accident happened!
Perhaps his grandmother's sudden death was not only caused by the death of old Cavendish and his eldest son, but also because the other party knew the relevant inside story.
But the dead are gone, and now it is Barron who needs to face this mess!
Don't forget that many of the family trust fund's properties, including Chatsworth Manor where he currently lives, have been mortgaged to the bank. Once those loans cannot be repaid, I am afraid that Barron, the newly promoted Duke, will be driven out of the family manor and become a laughing stock in the whole of England...
He didn't want his deeds to appear when others searched for the term "the most miserable duke in England"...that would be too lame!
"Ms. Moore, please give me a list of the assets of the current family trust fund. I want to know which assets have been mortgaged and cannot be used, and which ones can be sold in exchange for funds..."
Barron tapped the table and said to the two people in front of him,
"And Butler Sean, I also need a catalog listing the family's assets outside of the family trust fund..."
Although most of the family's assets have been injected into the family trust fund, there are still some assets that are directly under the family's name, and Barron needs to understand these clearly.
"Yes, my lord."
Julia Moore agreed readily to Barron's words.
But Butler Sean hesitated for a moment, as if he wanted to say something...
"Why, Butler Sean, do you have anything to say?"
"Master, I know that under the current circumstances, selling off some properties is a last resort, but..."