Chapter 915 Questioning, Understanding and Praising

In November, it snowed in Yanjing at night. The snow in the morning was high enough to cover people's feet, and there was no sign of stopping. The whole city was decorated with white snow.

This morning, the streets of Yanjing seemed much emptier.

A black Mercedes drove into the Chinese Literature Society, and Zhang Chaoyang got out and hurried into the building.

When he saw Lin Weimin, he looked anxious and asked, "Teacher Lin, how many shares has the group reduced in the past few days?"

Lin Weimin looked calm, "Why are you asking this? About 200,000 shares."

Hearing this, Zhang Chaoyang felt relieved, and then began to curse hatefully.

"Goldman Sachs and Intel are two bastards that really don't keep their word. We agreed to slowly sell off our shares and cash out, but over the past two days, more than 2 million shares appeared on the market compared to usual, and the company's stock price fell 14% in two days."

Half a month ago, Lin Weimin called Zhang Chaoyang to inform him that Guowen Group would sell off some of its shares to cash out after the lock-up period of Sohu shares expired. The reason given was: it was almost the end of the year, and the group had been established for one year, so in order to make the financial report look better.

Lin Weimin's reasons were very plausible, so Zhang Chaoyang didn't take it seriously at the time.

It is a routine operation for shareholders to cash out and reduce their holdings when the lock-up period expires. Not only Lin Weimin, but also several small shareholders of Goldman Sachs, Intel and Sohu are also preparing to cash out during this period.

As long as everyone communicates well in advance and cooperates with each other, and does not crowd together to sell off shares and cause panic among investors and the market, everything will be fine.

But Zhang Chaoyang never expected that several shareholders would be so unethical in doing something that had been agreed upon before.

Sohu's stock lock-up period had just expired, and within the next two or three days, the number of shares circulating on the market suddenly increased by two to three million shares compared to usual. This situation immediately caused Sohu's stock price to fluctuate.

Zhang Chaoyang was furious when he mentioned the sudden drop in stock price. Since its listing in May, Sohu's stock price has been rising steadily. By early November, it had reached US$110 per share. The company's market value also increased from US$2.44 billion at the time of listing to US$7.45 billion.

Everything was going well, but now that the stock lock-up period has arrived, Zhang Chaoyang is also prepared for fluctuations in the company's stock price.

After all, many shareholders have invested so much real money, and now that they can finally cash out, they naturally want to lock in the profits.

What made Zhang Chaoyang angry was not only the volatility of the stock price, but also the fact that shareholders were rushing to sell their shares, which indirectly showed their distrust of Sohu and him.

"This is understandable. The drop in stock prices caused by shareholders selling off their holdings will not last long and will rise again after a while."

Lin Weimin's words made Zhang Chaoyang feel a little relieved. He said with a slightly complaining tone, "I know this, but these companies are too unfaithful to their promises. We obviously don't have to face this situation."

"Don't worry, Goldman Sachs and Intel are not fools. It should be that there has been a lack of communication in the past few days. This will not do them any good."

Zhang Chaoyang nodded, and then asked Lin Weimin: "Teacher Lin, how much does the group plan to reduce its holdings in the end? Please tell me so that I can have a better idea."

Lin Weimin pondered and said, "In the next few months, we will slowly reduce our holdings. It's hard to say exactly, but half is the minimum."

Hearing this, Zhang Chaoyang's worry showed on his face, "Half? Is that too much?"

"It's a bit too much, but there's nothing we can do about it. The nature of Guowen Group is different from that of ordinary private enterprises. Our strategy is definitely more conservative than Goldman Sachs. In addition, the group's headquarters building is still under construction, and the group also needs money.

Another important point is that several other companies we invested in are still in the incubation stage and need a lot of funds. The group can no longer pay for this money. After more than two years of investing in the Internet, Sohu's listing is our first harvest and will inevitably become the capital pool we rely on to support Internet investment. "

Lin Weimin's explanation is reasonable. Even if Zhang Chaoyang is unwilling, he cannot refute it. The key point is that Mr. Lin always says everything openly, unlike Goldman Sachs and Intel, who stab people in the back.

"Okay, I'll be ready."

Seeing his heavy face, Lin Weimin comforted him, "Don't worry too much. Even if the group reduces its holdings, it will still be the third largest shareholder of Sohu. We still support you without reservation. If the conditions are right in the future, we will increase our holdings, and it won't take too long."

Zhang Chaoyang's face relaxed a little. He thought more positively about everything. Guowen Group's shares would be slowly reduced in the next few months, and the impact on Sohu's stock price would not be that big.

"Sohu's market share is not that big. As long as the market has confidence, it won't have a big impact."

Zhang Chaoyang nodded, what Teacher Lin said was not wrong.

After comforting Zhang Chaoyang, Lin Weimin smiled and asked, "How is it? Have you cashed out a little to improve your life recently?"

"With Goldman Sachs and Intel as the two troublemakers, how can I have a chance!" Zhang Chaoyang smiled bitterly when he mentioned this matter, "I will reduce my holdings a little bit after a while, when the stock price stabilizes."

The two chatted for a while, and Zhang Chaoyang suddenly asked about the headquarters building that Lin Weimin's Guowen Group was building.

Lin Weimin asked curiously, "What's the matter? Do you also want to build an office building for Sohu?"

"In the past year or so, the number of Sohu employees has expanded too fast, and they all rent offices outside, which is really inconvenient. But it is definitely not now. Although the company has hundreds of millions of dollars in funds, these are all raised funds and are reserved for the development of Sohu.

My idea is to wait until Sohu becomes profitable in the future and then build a headquarters building.

In two years, according to Sohu's current development speed, I am confident that we will be able to achieve profitability in two years, and by then the group's building should be completed."

Listening to Zhang Chaoyang's words, Lin Weimin smiled and said, "Our group's buildings are only rented and not sold."

Zhang Chaoyang laughed out loud, "Teacher Lin, you are such a joker. If you really want to buy it, we at Sohu can't afford it!"

Lin Weimin said, "Just because you can't afford it these past two years doesn't mean you can't afford it in the future. I'm optimistic about you."

His words gave Zhang Chaoyang some confidence. He was used to drawing energy from Lin Weimin every time he came to Guowen Group.

After Zhang Chaoyang left, Lin Weimin shook his head.

They are still young people. They are so anxious just because the stock price dropped by 14%. How anxious will they be if the stock price drops to a rock-bottom price a year later?

It was now November of 1999, less than four months away from the Nasdaq avalanche.

The Nasdaq crash in 2000 was by no means a direct result of the bubble in Internet companies or technology stocks, but rather a result of the economic cycle.

In fact, the peak of the U.S. economy during this stock market crash occurred in July 1999, and then U.S. stocks including NASDAQ began their final surge. This period of time is the last madness before this round of U.S. stock market collapse.

This is why Lin Weimin comforted Zhang Chaoyang that he didn't need to worry too much about shareholders running to sell their shares. With the current craziness of Nasdaq, there would be no problem finding someone to take over Sohu's shares.

In the past two days, Guowen Group only sold 200,000 shares in its hands and successfully arbitraged 20 million US dollars. The huge profits from capital operation are indeed intoxicating.

After Zhang Chaoyang's coordination, several shareholders of Sohu acted much more gently. Although the number of stocks circulating in the market was much higher than before the ban was lifted, it was controlled within a stable range.

The market was very hot at this time, and everyone understood this phenomenon as Sohu's shareholders arbitrage to recover their investments, and many institutions and shareholders took over at high prices.

Around New Year's Day, it was time for the group to conduct its annual year-end summary. However, this year, everyone at Guowen Group was not focusing on the summary report within the group, but on the other side of the ocean.

As of the end of December, Guowen Group's original 16.25% stake in Sohu has been reduced to 12%.

In the past month and a half, Guowen Group sold shares equivalent to 4.25% of Sohu's total share capital, with the average transaction price per share being around US$95 million. Compared with the high point of Sohu's stock price, this figure is of course a considerable loss.

But if you cash out and run away, you have to bear this kind of risk and loss.

Generally speaking, after more than a month of stock reduction and cashing out, Guowen Group has reaped huge benefits.

The 4.25% stake in Sohu sold by Guowen Group ultimately brought the group 274 million US dollars in revenue. According to the exchange rate between China and the United States at that time, Guowen Group's revenue this time reached a huge amount of 2.2 billion RMB.

2.2 billion, and net profit, what does this mean?

Before the establishment of the group, Guowen Society worked hard for 40 years but never made so much money.

Taking the total revenue of Guowen Group this year as an example, after merging the financial statements of its subordinate units and subsidiaries, the total revenue of Guowen Group this year was only 1.816 billion yuan. If the profit after interest and taxes is calculated, the situation will be even more incomparable.

Originally, at the end of this year, the most dazzling units in Guowen Group should be Wenhua Film and Television and Advertising Services Department.

Wenhua Films was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange three months ago. Its share price has been rising all the way and the company's market value has reached 10 billion yuan. Guowen Group holds more than 53% of Wenhua Films' shares. Logically speaking, this is also a huge fortune.

But the problem is that Wenhua Film and Television is a direct subsidiary of Guowen Group. Even if the stock lock-up period is over, Guowen Group will not easily reduce its holdings to cash out. After all, this is related to Guowen Group's control over Wenhua Film and Television.

Therefore, the stocks of Wenhua Film and Television are a bit like castles in the air for Guowen Group. Even if it reduces its holdings for arbitrage in the future, the profits will not be as exaggerated as those of Sohu's stocks.

Another dazzling presence within Guowen Group this year is the Advertising Service Department. In less than a year since its establishment, under the leadership of Tan Xisong, a strong player who jumped from CCTV, the Advertising Service Department has created advertising revenue of more than 110 million yuan. This figure is not inferior to that of major well-known advertising companies in Yanjing.

Of course, the reason why the Advertising Service Department has achieved such great results, in addition to Tan Xisong’s own ability, the more important thing is the foundation laid by Guowen Publishing House in previous years.

After Guowen Publishing House was restructured into Guowen Group, its foundation remained unchanged.

Guowen Group owns 9 of the most famous and best-selling newspapers and magazines in the domestic cultural and media circles, including Contemporary, Guowen Newspaper, Jiuzhou Heroes, Red Bean, Painting King, and Red Bean Comics...

Except for "New Literary Materials" and "Chinese Prose", which have low sales due to their genre reasons, the sales of each of the newspapers and magazines controlled by the Guowen Group are in the millions.

These nine newspapers and magazines can cover a readership of over half a billion, which is unmatched in China's cultural and media circles.

Although limited by the traditional style and tone of newspapers and magazines, Guowen Group is unable to implement a comprehensive commercialization strategy in these publications, but even now, the influence of these publications far exceeds that of ordinary provincial and municipal TV stations. Even many satellite TV stations cannot have such influence.

To use the financial terminology of later generations, the majority of readers that Guowen Group can influence are high-net-worth individuals in the country, and the advertising fees are much more expensive than those of ordinary publications.

Wenhua Film and Advertising Services Department is a huge highlight in Guowen Group's business activities this year, but it cannot be compared with Sohu's stock reduction.

When Lin Weimin decided to invest in Sohu in August 1997, no one at the Guowen Publishing House was optimistic about his decision. It was only because of the authority that Lin Weimin had established in the publishing house over the years that all kinds of public opinion were suppressed.

After that, Lin Weimin made several investments in the domestic Internet sector. Although Guowenshe seemed calm on the surface, the discussions in private never stopped.

It was not until Sohu started its subsequent financing that the voices within Guowenshe gradually weakened, as the investment in Guowenshe appreciated at an alarming efficiency in a short period of time.

When Sohu went public, the shares held by Guowen Group were worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and everyone in the group admired Lin Weimin's foresight.

Now that Sohu's shares have passed the lock-up period, Guowen Group immediately reduced its holdings and cashed out, making a profit of 2.2 billion yuan in just over a month.

Lin Weimin's reputation within the Guowen Group reached a new peak, almost to the point where everyone worshipped him, and the group's employees were almost about to build a shrine for him.

Question Lin Weimin, understand Lin Weimin, and praise Lin Weimin.

The mental journey of the employees of Guowen Group over the past two years can be described as a brilliant literary work, and there is only one protagonist in it, that is

——Lin Weimin.

(End of this chapter)