This book is in fact, a history of the firm over time. It covers the origins(started in 1832 officially), its growth story, and historical background(first visit to Canton, China in 1802). It explains how after almost 200 years, it still thrives in the economies of Hong Kong and beyond. China trade with the UK really began with the importation of tea from China, but it was so popular, silver became scarce in the treasury of the UK. Another trade had to be found to help the imbalance and the first to fill this gap was opium. Due to the British Empire, India had great farms of opium at its disposal. This could be the perfect source to trade with China for the highly valued tea, and not deplete the UK treasury.
Great trading houses were formed at the time, and Jardine Matheson, became one of the most dominant of all time. Opium was a morally difficult good, but did the job, so had to be considered a means to an end. When looking back at the trading volume into China over those early years, over 95% of trade was due to opium, not much else really mattered in global UK trade. By the 1880s, competition by many smaller rivals and the steamship made the business less profitable. It was then that a wide expansion took place across many new businesses now run actively today.
The Top 3 Takeaways from this book that impact any reader are:
1) Surprisingly, both William Jardine and James Matheson did not spend much of their lives in Asia or Hong Kong. They made their mark there, but both soon moved back to the UK, and grew the company from there.
2) The firm was a pioneer for trading and helped establish Hong Kong itself. However Dent & Company and later John Swire & Butterfield were fierce trading rivals at the time. Drama in business dealings of dubious natures was never in short supply.
3) The International Treaty of Nanking, and the two Opium wars left China in defeat. It left the UK with a strong Asian foothold in Hong Kong & Kowloon. All of these events were fully supported by the local head of Jardines, the "Taipan" as he was locally known.
2) The firm was a pioneer for trading and helped establish Hong Kong itself. However Dent & Company and later John Swire & Butterfield were fierce trading rivals at the time. Drama in business dealings of dubious natures was never in short supply.
3) The International Treaty of Nanking, and the two Opium wars left China in defeat. It left the UK with a strong Asian foothold in Hong Kong & Kowloon. All of these events were fully supported by the local head of Jardines, the "Taipan" as he was locally known.
It is curious to note that the Scottish roots to many of the top UK trading firms also influenced Japan. Jardines and Swires certainly are current today, but competitors have risen. Japanese trading houses like Marubeni, Itochu, Mitsui and of course Mitsubishi Trading all had strong Scottish influences during their global transformations. Mitsubishi Trading was driven in large part by the Scottish Samurai, Thomas Blake Glover. He originally joined Jardine Matheson in 1857 and went to Shanghai, China. He then went on to Nagasaki, Japan in 1859.
After establishing Jardine Matheson in Japan, he went on to help Mitsubishi. His actions created JR Trains, Kirin Beer, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. He helped the founder of Mitsubishi group Yataro Iwasaki begin the company along with his brother Yanosuke Iwasaki, and all three were lifelong friends. Glover was in fact, the same person used as inspiration for Madame Butterfly. Glover was also the inspiration for James McFay, the core character of Gai-Jin by James Clavell. This book is highly recommended and very easy to read. It can be a bit dry in parts, so better taken in spurts for a few hours over a weekend or on a commute. Highly Recommended.
After establishing Jardine Matheson in Japan, he went on to help Mitsubishi. His actions created JR Trains, Kirin Beer, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. He helped the founder of Mitsubishi group Yataro Iwasaki begin the company along with his brother Yanosuke Iwasaki, and all three were lifelong friends. Glover was in fact, the same person used as inspiration for Madame Butterfly. Glover was also the inspiration for James McFay, the core character of Gai-Jin by James Clavell. This book is highly recommended and very easy to read. It can be a bit dry in parts, so better taken in spurts for a few hours over a weekend or on a commute. Highly Recommended.
Please visit us for our Friday Feature Review where TMJ Partners will review books, movies, conferences and anything else with a financial theme. Follow us now for our free weekly updates, just click here. Thank you for reading and learning more about how money is made in finance!
For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.
Tokyo Tokyo
No comments:
Post a Comment