Chapter 289: Handsome Dong, are you really a junk collector? Expected profit of 8 billion US dollars!
In late August in Xucheng, a breeze blew, adding a bit of coolness to the evening.
At the entrance of the most luxurious Sky Garden Hotel in the city center, Chen Yansen looked at the middle-aged man who came towards him and smiled faintly, then took two steps forward.
"Mr. Ma is here to attend Orange Mobile's new product launch?"
Chen Yansen stopped and looked at Ma Wenteng and asked.
"What do you think, Mr. Chen?"
Ma Wenteng smiled, held Chen Yansen's right hand, and asked in a non-negotiable manner.
"It's not important, is it?" Chen Yansen shrugged.
"We have only met two or three times, and Penguin has invested 500 to 600 million US dollars in you. If you don't come to Xucheng again, I will have to visit you in Luzhou."
Ma Wenteng smiled and joked.
Liu Zhiping stood aside, followed by four bodyguards and an entourage dressed as assistants.
The news that Senlian Capital bought a 470,000 square meter industrial land in Luzhou to build its headquarters building has already spread throughout the circle.
“Is Mr. Ma worried about my ability or my project?”
Chen Yansen joked casually, then nodded at Liu Zhiping and simply said hello.
"Martin, did you see that? This kid hasn't changed at all compared to two years ago. He's both confident and arrogant."
Ma Wenteng nudged Liu Zhiping beside him and shook his head helplessly.
Although there was a teasing look on his face, his eyes were full of admiration.
He seemed to see his former self in Chen Yansen, dressed in fine clothes and riding a horse, full of vigor and vitality.
Even in terms of business achievements, Chen Yansen is far better than him.
After all, when he was 20 years old, he was still writing code in the computer room of Shenzhen University, while Chen Yansen had already become a stirring figure in China's business world.
"Talented people are usually like this." Liu Zhiping pushed his glasses and said in a flattering manner.
"Well, Martin makes sense." Ma Wenteng nodded in approval.
Chen Yansen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The two men in front of him, one with a net worth of over 40 billion and the other with a net worth of over 2 billion, were actually making fun of him in unison.
"Mr. Ma, this is Zhou Shouzhi, the new CFO of Orange Technology, and this is Ye Qiuping, the director of Orange Technology's brand department."
Chen Yansen changed the subject and pointed at Zhou Shouzhi and introduced him.
As the steward of Senlian Capital, Gao Weilin was no stranger to Ma Wenteng and Liu Zhiping due to the financing cooperation with Pinbei, so there was naturally no need to introduce him specifically.
"Nice to meet you!" Ma Wenteng's eyes swept across Zhou Shouzhi and Ye Qiuping.
He knew Zhou Shouzhi, the co-founder of DST Capital in Greater China. It was said that the man’s wife’s family was quite influential in the financial circle in North America.
Although Ye Qiuping had never heard of her, since Chen Yansen kept her by his side, she was most likely one of Chen Yansen's "own people".
Therefore, Ma Wenteng gave them enough face, shook hands and greeted them without showing any arrogance.
"Boss Ma, let's go in and talk."
Chen Yansen glanced at the situation around him. Some passers-by had recognized him and Ma Wenteng. They were standing in groups of three or five discussing something, and some even held up their cell phones.
"Don't call me Mr. Ma or Mr. Ma all the time. Just call me Pony like Martin does."
Ma Wenteng responded, turned around and walked into the hotel side by side with Chen Yansen.
In his opinion, Chen Yansen, who owns companies such as Orange Technology, Pinbei and Yunsu Express, has long been on par with him.
"Okay, Pony! But everyone calls me Brother Mori, this..."
Chen Yansen readily followed suit and replied in a gloomy tone.
Ma Wenteng was slightly startled, his face froze, the corners of his mouth twitched, he wanted to laugh but forced himself to hold it back, but Liu Zhiping couldn't help it and laughed out loud.
Ma Wenteng was slightly embarrassed and rolled his eyes at Liu Zhiping. He had underestimated how shameless and ruthless Chen Yansen was, and he even wanted to take advantage of him.
"Just a joke." Chen Yansen added with a smile.
"Ashen, let's go in and talk slowly."
Ma Wenteng pulled Chen Yansen and walked straight towards the elevator.
The group came to a private room on the top floor and sat down one by one. Gao Weilin called the waitress and asked her to get two bottles of good wine that Chen Yansen had previously deposited there.
"When it comes to doing business, it has to be Asen. He's handsome and eye-catching. In this search engine war, you hid in the background and ate up a lot of market share, right?"
Ma Wenteng took off his suit jacket, leaving only a white shirt, and asked slowly.
"Only 4%, less than half of 360 Search." Chen Yansen replied lightly.
4%? That’s it?
Ma Wenteng snorted coldly and said unhappily: "Penguin Soso has been in business for six years, and its market share is only 2.9%."
You're such a wimp, and you still want to compete with me?
Chen Yansen couldn't help but complain in his heart, but he consoled them: "Penguin's main field is in the field of games and social software, and so is the company. There are always strengths and weaknesses, and it is impossible to be superior in everything."
In 2011, Penguin's annual revenue was 29.2 billion, with gaming business accounting for 64% and advertising revenue accounting for 21%.
But in fact, Penguin's business lines span more than 20 tracks, and there are only a few profitable projects.
It can be seen from this that apart from games and advertising, there is not much else that Ma Huateng has done in terms of the commercialization of Penguin.
To put it bluntly, Penguin's current business model is highly dependent on social traffic and game monetization. E-commerce, group buying, search, security and other products are all hard to describe. They are like blood-sucking worms lying on Penguin, consuming resources in vain but producing nothing.
"Has Asen ever thought about making games?" Ma Wenteng narrowed his eyes and asked tentatively.
"I have no interest in the gaming industry. I can leave it to Penguin, NetEase, Perfect World and Shanda. As long as Orange Technology makes good terminal equipment, it can still make a lot of money from the gaming industry."
Chen Yansen said indifferently.
What this means is that Senlian Capital has no intention of getting involved in the gaming industry. It can anyway obtain corresponding benefits through advertising fees, recharge commissions, etc., so there is no need to do everything.
After hearing this, Ma Wenteng repeatedly pondered the meaning of Chen Yansen's words.
Today, Penguin is faced with the choice of whether to adopt a "big and comprehensive" development model, or to focus on core advantages and turn to traffic empowerment.
This is also the biggest purpose of his trip! Half a month ago, the handsome man of Dongfang approached Liu Zhiping to seek financing plans. After a conversation, Ma Wenteng believed that the e-commerce ecosystem of Penguin should not be entirely dependent on Pinbei.
The two hit it off and reached a cooperation intention on the spot.
Ma Wenteng wanted to diversify investment risks, while Liu Qiangdong wanted to leverage Penguin's traffic resources to increase the IPO valuation of Tencent.
No one can tell who will have the last laugh among Ali, Pinbei and Yidong.
Supporting another e-commerce platform can increase the chances of winning. Ma Wenteng's idea is exactly the same as Yuri of DST Capital.
However, Yuri is more ruthless than him, and all three companies want to invest!
If Chen Yansen had not refused, DST would probably have invested in the top three e-commerce companies in China.
"When will Pinbei's Series B financing start?" Ma Wenteng asked directly.
Although he had already made preparations to accept Dong, he still had to consider the relative importance of supporting both.
It all depends on how much Chen Yansen is willing to give.
"Mr. Gao is still communicating with people from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Goldman Sachs. It will probably be after September."
Chen Yansen raised his eyelids and stared straight at Ma Wenteng.
From the other party's sudden visit and the tone of his question just now, it is not difficult to guess that Penguin's attitude towards Pinbei must have undergone a new change.
“Let’s raise funds in stages, with Penguin investing first.” Ma Wenteng said immediately.
"Penguin has taken a fancy to a new project in the e-commerce field? Dongfang, Suning or Gome?"
Hearing this, Chen Yansen became more certain, so he asked straight to the point, with a calm expression and no sign of any emotional fluctuations.
He knew clearly that even if Penguin invested in Pinbei and Yidong, it would not extinguish its ambition to engage in e-commerce.
A few years later, Ma Wenteng tried a series of e-commerce projects including WeChat Stores, Xiaoe Pinpin, Penguin Huiju, QQ Stores and Gooseman Upin.
But none of them made a splash, either no one used them or they went bankrupt.
'Feeling dissatisfied?'
"No problem?"
Ma Wenteng secretly observed Chen Yansen's facial expression, but he soon gave up. The other party's cunning was very inconsistent with his age. Even a veteran in the business world like him could not read any information from Chen Yansen's face.
"Yes, Liu Qiangdong is willing to take over QQ Online Shopping, PaiPai.com and Yixun.com." Ma Wenteng thought about it and said truthfully.
Did Handsome Dong really become a rag collector? Chen Yansen sneered, but he understood that Liu Qiangdong had no choice.
Dongfang launched two IPO plans, but both failed. Securities firms in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area were only willing to give an extremely low valuation of US$6 billion.
Liu Qiangdong's psychological bottom line is 12 billion to 15 billion US dollars, so he would rather bear the pressure from investors than go public at a loss.
He saw an opportunity for Yidong in the strategic cooperation between Pinbei and Penguin.
Although Ma Wenteng's conditions were very harsh, he still agreed reluctantly.
Who doesn’t want the first-level traffic entrance of WeChat and QQ?
"If Pinbei acquires QQ Online Shopping, Paipai.com and Yixun.com, can Penguin sign an exclusive agreement with Senlian to ensure that third-party e-commerce and self-operated e-commerce do not compete with Pinbei for traffic resources?"
Chen Yansen asked seriously.
Ma Wenteng took a deep breath and refused without hesitation: “Asen, you can’t put all your eggs in one basket. Whether Penguin can do e-commerce business and whether it can do e-commerce business well are two different things.”
A man with normal functions who doesn't marry or have children should not be sent to become a eunuch.
Chen Yansen smiled. Although he was unhappy, he would make the same choice if he and Ma Wenteng switched roles.
Fortunately, he was prepared. The daily active users of Lingxi Browser and Toutiao are also growing rapidly, which can still bring sufficient external traffic to Pinbei.
At this time, several young and beautiful waitresses with good figures came slowly. After a while, the table with mahogany base and marble was filled with various exquisite dishes.
Gao Weilin skillfully opened the bottle of wine and filled the glasses of Chen Yansen, Ma Wenteng, Liu Zhiping and others.
"Asen, Pinbei is still the most important part of Penguin's e-commerce ecosystem. The first-level traffic entrances of QQ and WeChat will always be open to Pinbei."
Ma Wenteng picked up the wine glass and said seriously.
forever?
Chen Yansen suddenly found it funny. Even relationships can't last forever, so how can you expect a business to last? "Thank you, Penguin will always be a strategic partner of Senlian." Chen Yansen clinked glasses with Ma Wenteng and replied with a smile.
It's usually like this at a drinking party, where people say things that they don't really mean and even they don't dare to believe themselves.
Just fooling each other!
Chen Yansen has indeed never thought of getting involved in the gaming industry, but who knows what will happen in a year, two years, or three years.
People always change! When 3G network is fully popularized, 4G network licenses are issued, and the era of speed increase and fee reduction comes, Senlian Capital will inevitably take advantage of the explosive growth of the short video track and covet the big cake of social software.
Ma Wenteng must have felt very complicated by then.
But at this moment, the two of them seemed extremely affectionate, calling each other "Ashen" and "Pony".
After a few rounds of drinking, Ma Wenteng's face was red with alcohol. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows. He held a cigarette in his hand and puffed away contentedly.
He is in his early forties and has no worries at all. If he has any worries, it is that he has too much money to spend or he wants to expand his business and make more money.
The two talked about Pinbei, Kuaipao, Kuaidi Taxi, and finally the listing of Ali.
"You still have 0.8% of Ali's shares?" Ma Wenteng asked
road.
"Now it is 1%, and there is also 1.13% of Zhifubao’s shares." Chen Yansen nodded and replied.
"The Wall Street brokerage firm gave a valuation of 78 billion US dollars based on Ali's latest business data." Ma Wenteng said with a hint of dissatisfaction.
This figure has exceeded the market value of Penguin in the US stock market.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh secretly. Penguin's profit model was too single and its scale was not large enough. In the eyes of European and American investors, it was not as good as Ali Baba.
At the same time, he admired Chen Yansen's original choice.
A year ago, Lotte, Augusta and Ali joined forces to acquire Sennheiser Technology (FoxTao) in full. When faced with two payment methods: full cash and cash plus equity, Chen Yansen chose the latter.
1% of the equity may seem small, but it is worth 780 million US dollars, more than double the equity value at the time.
Chen Yansen did not say anything. In order to prevent the dilution of equity, in the middle of last month, during Ali's Pre-IPO round of financing, Senlian Capital made additional investments and increased its shareholding ratio from 0.8% to 1%.
After Ali goes public, it can be sold for at least 7 to 8 billion U.S. dollars by cashing out when the stock price is at its peak.
The drinking party finally ended at 10:30 in the evening.
Chen Yansen and Ye Qiuping were in one car, and Gao Weilin and Zhou Shouzhi were in another car. After driving out of the hotel, they quickly disappeared into the night.
“Martin, from the perspective of business investment, I did nothing wrong.” Ma Wenteng stood by the window and retracted his gaze.
"Yes." Liu Zhiping affirmed.
He understood Ma Wenteng's truest thoughts. This sentence, which seemed like a statement and also like a question, was not asking for his opinion, but rather required his approval.
If you dare to oppose him in person, Ma Wenteng will kick you out of the group of "his own people" from the bottom of his heart.
On the other side, Chen Yansen, who was sitting in the car, took out his mobile phone and checked the call records.
Chen Yizhou made a phone call at 6:20, 8:15 and 9:30 in the evening, and seemed to be in a hurry.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
