马基奥尼的智慧

    克拉克在书中写道，马基奥尼还是一位世界级的扑克大师，哪怕是在和人交谈的时候，也能记住牌桌上的每一张牌。在菲亚特与通用的拆分上，马基奥尼也展示了他的“赌神”风采。根据2000年菲亚特与通用并购时双方签订的一项协议，菲亚特有权迫使通用收购菲亚特剩余的90%的股份。等到菲亚特有权执行该协议时，菲亚特仍然在亏损，而当时通用根本不想以任何价格收购菲亚特的任何股份。通用认为菲亚特一定会放弃执行协议，因为对于菲亚特来说，将所有权让给一家美国公司，在政治上无异于自杀。但马基奥尼看出通用是虚张声势。因此他要求通用拿出20亿美元分手费，否则就诉诸法律。

    2005年，马基奥尼飞赴纽约，与时任通用CEO的里克•瓦格纳和通用的律师们就拆分一事进行谈判。马基奥尼的宝果然押对了，他如愿以偿地获得了那20亿美元。通用宁可乖乖付钱，也不想研究他是否真的要出售菲亚特。据克拉克写道，当时瓦格纳的心思也许并不在拆分的问题上。瓦格纳曾是杜克大学（Duke University）的前篮球队员，在与马基奥尼的会议开始之前，他先要来了一台电视，收看他的母校与马里兰队的一场重要比赛。

    在与美国政府打交道收购克莱斯勒时，马基奥尼再次展示了他敏锐的神经。他急切地想利用克莱斯勒来壮大菲亚特的规模，但他手上缺少现金，也压根不想付这笔钱。由史蒂夫•拉特纳和罗恩•布鲁姆为代表的美国政府坚持“共同投资、风险共担”的理念，要求菲亚特至少要象征性地拿出一部分钱来。他们害怕如果菲亚特收购克莱斯勒几个月后有可能会反悔，到时候菲亚特一旦悔约，可能不需要承担任何风险。

    马基奥尼知道，没有了菲亚特，克莱斯勒一定会破产，所有他采取了强硬的态度：“克莱斯勒已经完蛋了，现在有一个人可以修好它，不过他现在要告诉你：‘我不会付钱的。’”当拉特纳坚持让菲亚特至少做出一些象征性的投资时，马基奥尼的回答是：“我不想说什么‘风险共担’，我已经有很多股份了。我们向克莱斯勒贡献的是菲亚特的技术。我和我的员工都会搬到底特律，向克莱斯勒注入我们的血液。”

    在咖啡和尼古丁的帮助下，加上每天只睡四个小时，马基奥尼兑现了他的承诺。他每个月会在底特律待十天，与他亲手挑选的管理团队会面，听取汇报，在其余20天里则通过黑莓手机与他们保持联系。他仍然会继续收购，继续制订激进的商业计划，也仍然会炒掉他认为没有“团队精神”的人。

    也许马基奥尼最鲜明的特点就是他不愿意粉饰现实。2011年菲亚特500轿车的销量没有达到马基奥尼制订的销量目标，马基奥尼将责任揽到了他个人身上，承认自己过早推出这款小车。当然，他也允许了他挑选的菲亚特负责人辞职，这证明他认为除了自己之外，也有不少人需要为菲亚特500的失败负责。

    要想了解美国和欧洲汽车产业的未来走向，了解马基奥尼这个人是十分重要的。克拉克对马基奥尼的了解远远超过了其他美国记者。几天前，马基奥尼公开表示，要建立“第二个大众集团”，作为下一波行业整合的一部分。如果他成功地继续走下去的话，希望珍妮弗•克拉克将继续为我们讲述马基奥尼的故事。

    译者：朴成奎

    Clark describes Marchionne as a world-class poker player, able to keep track of every card in the deck even while carrying on a conversation. He demonstrated his skill at bluffing in winning a $2 billion pot from GM. As part of an alliance between the two automakers in 2000, Fiat had wangled a put option that gave it the right to sell 90% of Fiat Auto back to GM. As the time approached when Fiat could trigger the option, it was still losing money, and GM wanted no part of the company at any price. GM was betting that Fiat would back down because letting itself fall into the hands of an American company would be political suicide. Marchionne called GM's bluff. He asked for a $2 billion settlement in lieu of a lawsuit.

    In 2005, Marchionne flew to New York for a crucial weekend meeting to negotiate the settlement with then GM CEO Rick Wagoner and GM's lawyers. Marchionne's bluff worked, and he got his cash. GM would rather pay the money than discover if he was serious about letting Fiat go. Wagoner's mind may have been elsewhere, Clark reports. Before the meeting started, the GM CEO, a former Duke University basketball player, asked for a television so he could follow a big game between his alma mater and Maryland.

    Marchionne demonstrated his steely nerve again in his dealings with the government to acquire Chrysler. He badly wanted Chrysler to add some critical bulk and scale to Fiat, but he was short of cash and didn't want to pay for it. The government, represented by Steve Rattner and Ron Bloom, were wedded to the concept of "skin in the game," and were determined that Fiat invest at least a symbolic amount. They didn't want Fiat to walk away from the deal after a few months without any risk if it didn't like what it found.

    Marchionne knew that without Fiat, Chrysler would go bankrupt, so he played hardball. "This thing is broken and there is one person who can fix it, and he is telling you now 'I am not paying cash.'" When Rattner insisted that Fiat make a token investment, Marchionne replied, " I don't want to talk about 'skin in the game." I have plenty of it. We are contributing Fiat's technology. And me and my people are going to move over to Detroit and pour our lifeblood into the company."

    Fueled by coffee and nicotine, and operating on four hours of sleep a night, Marchionne has done just that. He spends ten days a month in Michigan meeting with his hand-picked team of direct reports in person, and stays in contact the rest of the time by Blackberry. He still makes snap decisions, still works from an aggressive plan, and still fires people who don't fit his definition of "team player. "

    Perhaps his most defining characteristic is his unwillingness to sugarcoat reality. When the Fiat 500 failed to hit the 2011 sales targets Marchionne set for it, he personally took the blame for launching the car too soon. Of course, he also allowed the person he put in charge of Fiat to resign, indicating he thought there was plenty of blame to go around.

    Understanding Marchionne is critical to understanding the future of the American and European auto industries. Clark goes further than other journalists writing in English in doing that. A few days ago, Marchionne publicly mused about forming "a second Volkswagen group" as part of an industry consolidation. If he goes ahead, let's hope Jennifer Clark is along for the ride to tell his story.