Chapter 456 Billionaire
In the afternoon, Gu Wei visited ByteDance.
Riding on the popularity of its new APP TikTok, ByteDance's Series D financing went very smoothly. After the two lead investors, Sequoia Capital and CCB International, no longer cared about valuations, the subsequent financing procedures were quickly completed.
As the major shareholder, Gu Wei went there in the afternoon to sign the authorization.
[ByteDance] Series D financing, the company's valuation is US$11 billion, the financing amount is US$1 billion, and the post-financing valuation is US$12 billion.
Gu Wei initially invested 15% of the shares, but after two rounds of financing, the dilution left him with 11%.
However, this 11% stake is now worth US$1.32 billion, which is 132 times the US$10 million he invested 13 years ago.
According to Gu Wei's memory, ByteDance's valuation rose to more than US$200 billion in 2024, making it the world's largest unicorn company. It subsequently raised funds four more times, and the amount of each round of financing was approximately within 10% of the valuation at the time.
By then, Gu Wei will probably still have about 7 to 8% of the shares left.
The appearance of the big star Gu Wei at the signing ceremony of ByteDance's Series D financing also surprised investors.
Neither Sequoia Capital nor CCB International expected that Gu Wei was actually a major shareholder of ByteDance.
However, this also made them understand why Gu Wei, a popular star, would join a short video APP that had just been launched.
You have to know that the current Kuaishou cannot compare with Douyin in terms of size, popularity or funds. If Douyin really invites celebrities, it will never be able to compete with Kuaishou.
After the signing ceremony, ByteDance held a buffet party to celebrate the success of its Series D financing.
Apart from ByteDance's senior management, the rest of the attendees were shareholders who have invested in ByteDance since its establishment in 2012, many of whom are from large investment companies and investment banks.
Among this group of financial industry elites, Gu Wei's celebrity face is quite eye-catching.
He was wearing a black slim-fit suit and stood in the corner of the banquet hall like a domineering president in a novel.
However, Gu Wei obviously underestimated his fame and appearance. No matter where he was, everyone's eyes were vaguely looking in his direction, and even the corner was like the center of the hall.
In fact, there are not many truly wealthy people at today's banquet. Most of them are fund managers and investment bank executives. Although they manage huge wealth, they are just white-collar workers.
"Isn't that the famous star Gu Wei?"
"It's him, exactly like on TV."
"I think he's even more handsome than on TV!"
"Celebrities are just different from ordinary people. Their figures, manners and looks are just too perfect!"
"That's Gu Wei, how can an ordinary celebrity compare to him?"
“.”
Some people gathered in twos and threes, looking in Gu Wei's direction from time to time and talking about him.
Fortunately, these people at the banquet were all of status and would not be as excited to see Gu Wei as ordinary fans, which also made Gu Wei at the venue breathe a sigh of relief.
Just as he was thinking about it, a plump and beautiful lady wearing a purple slim dress walked up to Gu Wei with a glass of red wine.
"Hello, Teacher Gu Wei!"
"Hello~"
Gu Wei smiled and nodded to her.
“My name is Zhong Minglan, and I’m a fund manager at Sequoia Capital.
I usually like watching your movies and TV series very much, but I didn’t expect to meet you in person on this occasion today. You are much more handsome in person than on TV.”
"Thank you for the compliment."
Ms. Zhong, who claimed to be a Sequoia fund manager, looked to be in her 30s. After she came over and started chatting with Gu Wei, she found that the big star was not arrogant, so she started chatting with Gu Wei very enthusiastically.
Since the other party was so warm and friendly, Gu Wei couldn't be too cold. Although he had no interest in chatting with her, he still responded politely.
After a while, Zhong Minglan also discovered that Gu Wei was not very interested in chatting.
"Teacher Gu Wei, can you add me on WeChat?"
"My phone is with my assistant."
Gu Wei politely refused.
"Oh, I see. This is my business card. You're probably familiar with the reputation of Sequoia Capital. The fund I manage is among the most profitable in the entire company. If you need anything, feel free to call me."
"No problem, Ms. Zhong, I will definitely contact you if I need anything."
As he said that, Gu Wei took the business card.
"Then I won't bother you anymore."
With that, Zhong Minglan turned and left Gu Wei, leaving him with only a graceful back.
"Sister Lan, what did you talk about with Gu Wei? Doesn't it feel great to talk to a famous star?"
Zhong Minglan walked back to her circle of colleagues, and was immediately surrounded by several younger men and women, asking her what she had just talked about with the big star.
"It's not bad. Gu Wei is indeed the most popular star in China right now. The closer you get to him, the more you can feel the impact of his stunning looks on your vision.
Of all the people I've met in the past 30 years, he's unmatched in terms of looks and temperament."
"Wow, that's so exaggerated. Should I go over and have a chat with him?"
"Does Sister Zhong need an autograph?"
Zhong Minglan glanced at the few people with disdain.
"Why do you want an autograph? I'm not a fan. I went there to chat because I wanted to find new clients. Gu Wei, the big star, is our best client. Do you understand?
He is a shareholder of ByteDance. Although we don't know what percentage of the shares he holds, the fact that he came to sign the authorization agreement shows that he is not a small shareholder who holds less than 1% of the shares. His net worth alone is at least tens of billions.
In addition, with his current popularity and money-making ability, his annual income is at least over 200 million, in cash.
Besides, celebrities generally don’t have many financial channels, so aren’t they our best customers?!"
After hearing what Zhong Minglan said, several people suddenly realized and admired Sister Lan's long-term vision and professionalism.
On Gu Wei's side, Zhang Yiming walked up to him with a glass of red wine.
"Why are you hiding in this corner alone?"
Gu Wei smiled.
"I'm not in the financial world, and I don't have much in common with the people here, so I'll just go to the side and get some peace and quiet.
Congratulations to Mr. Zhang today on his successful financing. He has received one billion US dollars and his net worth has suddenly exceeded ten billion, no, it should be over twenty billion!"
Gu Wei knew that even with the current D round of financing, Zhang Yiming still personally held more than 30% of ByteDance's shares, which was almost three times more than the shares held by Gu Wei.
His net worth skyrocketed after the successful financing.
“Haha~
Don't congratulate me, we should be celebrating together.
And to borrow what you said to me before, this is all book wealth. The money raised by the company will not go into my own pocket, so it is useless."
Although he said so, Zhang Yiming could not hide the smugness on his face.
"I have a few big names in the financial world here. Would you like me to introduce them to you?"
"No need. We're not in the same circle, so there's no need to force ourselves to fit in. I don't think we have anything in common."
Gu Wei shrugged and refused.
"It's up to you~
I've always felt that with your investment acumen, even if you don't become a star and specialize in investment banking, you'll soon be one of the top few in the financial world."
"Last time you told me to be a product manager, and now you're talking about investment banking. I know I'm very good, but you don't have to praise me like that."
Gu Wei said with some amusement.
“I’m serious.”
Zhang Yiming shook his head and said affirmatively.
The success of ByteDance's Series D financing has caused quite a stir in the domestic financial circle. The valuation of US$12 billion after the financing has made ByteDance a true superstar in the domestic Internet industry, and countless eyes are focused on this rising new company.
With the injection of new funds, ByteDance has also poured more resources into TikTok, making this already rapidly growing app even more popular.
The fact that Gu Wei is a shareholder of ByteDance has not been revealed.
On the one hand, ByteDance’s financing did not involve the media, and the entire process was completed in a low-key manner.
On the other hand, Gu Wei's identity is only known to people in a small circle, and his specific shareholding is only known to real shareholders such as Zhang Yiming. None of these people would have the time to actively tell the media about Gu Wei.
Most importantly, Gu Wei holds shares in ByteDance in the name of an investment company under his name, so unless people investigate thoroughly, no one would have thought that the big star is also a major shareholder of this Internet company.
[Jiaxing Media] In the president’s office.
After Li Juan finished reporting her work to Zeng Jia, she did not go out but stood there hesitantly.
"Anything else?"
Zeng Jia sorted out the documents on the table and looked up at Li Juan.
"Mr. Zeng, I have some news that may be of interest to you.
ByteDance, the internet company in which Mr. Gu has a stake, successfully completed its Series D funding round two days ago and is now valued at $12 billion.
Zeng Jia was stunned when she heard her words and was shocked by the huge number.
“When our company accepted financing from Shangshi Pictures at the beginning of the year, the valuation was 1.5 billion RMB, and we still had to accept the VAM agreement.
There’s no comparison, there’s really no comparison.”
Zeng Jia sighed.
"By the way, how's the progress of the filming of 'Pretty Li Huizhen' at Reba in Shanghai?"
"It has just been turned on for a short time, and everything is going well for now."
Li Juan thought for a moment and said.
“No matter how much money others make, it’s still theirs. Let’s just focus on our own little piece of land.
No matter what, we must first train Reba, who Mr. Gu has high hopes for."
In the next few days, Gu Wei continued to handle some matters in the company.
The copyright of "Eternal Love" has been sold out.
Just as Yang Liwen introduced before, in terms of satellite broadcasting, Dragon TV and Blueberry Channel plan to broadcast the show on two channels at the same time.
The video website is Youku Video and LeTV Video, which jointly purchased the online screening rights.
After a period of negotiation, several companies decided to broadcast this ancient costume fantasy drama simultaneously on online television on January 30, 2017, the third day of the Lunar New Year.
At the latest, a little after January, Gu Wei will have to start working with Yang Mi to run some promotional activities for the launch of "Eternal Love".
In addition to "Eternal Love" starring Gu Wei, "Princess Agents" starring Zhao Liying and Li Xian will also start organizing film viewings and enter the stage of selling copyrights.
The company also has high expectations for "Princess Agents". Zhao Liying has been very popular in the past two years. Her consecutive hit TV series have made everyone optimistic about her ability to lead a drama.
After the huge hit of "The Journey of Flower" last year, the audience has been looking forward to Zhao Liying's subsequent works. The TV series "Princess Agents", which stars a female lead, has been very popular since the beginning of filming.
Of course, apart from Zhao Liying, the male lead Li Xian is relatively less famous in the play, and the remaining supporting actors such as Zhang Binbin and Meng Ziyi are not as well-known as the original Dou Xiao and Li Qin.
Therefore, the future copyright fees of "Princess Agents" will definitely not catch up with "Eternal Love", and Gu Wei is mentally prepared for this.
(End of this chapter)
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