Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1210 Pie in the sky

Seeing that Cao Zongyan, Wei Jiaxuan, and Cornell had reached an agreement, Li Dashan put down his fishing rod first.

"So, now, should I say, 'Wishing you a pleasant cooperation'?" Li Dongling poured a glass of wine for each of them, raised his glass, and said.

"cheers!"

Cao Zongyan and others raised their glasses and clinked them together with Li Dongling. This toast marked the completion of half of China.com's massive financing round.

"Li, I hope that Bear Stearns can have a pleasant cooperation with Dongling High-Tech and Cyberport in the future!"

Wei Jiaxuan made a double entendre, reminding Li Dongling to keep his promise and let Bear Stearns have a piece of the pie in the e-cigarette market.

Otherwise, Bear Stearns wouldn't be a pushover on Wall Street!
Upon hearing Wei Jiaxuan's words, Li Dongling simply raised his glass in a gesture of respect.

Li Dongling would certainly not refuse Bear Stearns' investment in Ruyan e-cigarettes. In fact, Ruyan e-cigarettes also needs to bring in other investment banks and institutions, not just Bear Stearns.

Many hands make light work. As the old saying goes, "One person's support makes another person rise higher." If Ruyan e-cigarettes wants to go public with an amazing valuation, it needs to bring in more investors to endorse it.

In its previous life, the first e-cigarette concept stock, Vulcan, went public with a valuation of $460 billion. The current market situation of Ruyan e-cigarette is different from that of Vulcan. Back then, the e-cigarette market was relatively mature, and the e-cigarette industry saw several acquisitions worth tens of billions of dollars, which completely hyped up the e-cigarette market.

The current situation for Ruyan e-cigarettes is that the e-cigarette concept is just emerging. Even if Ruyan e-cigarettes cannot compete with companies like Wuxin, it should at least complete its IPO with a valuation of tens or even hundreds of billions of US dollars. Otherwise, wouldn't it be too cheap for retail investors?
Bear Stearns is willing to promote Ruyan e-cigarettes, and Li Dashan (a famous Chinese businessman) would be more than happy to do so. More companies like Bear Stearns are needed to boost Ruyan e-cigarettes' valuation.

After listing, the major shareholder, Torch Group, will also need to work together with these institutions to continue to drive up the stock price and market value of Ruyan e-cigarettes to the sky, attracting wave after wave of retail investors to take over, and directly extending the tax revenue from e-cigarettes to a hundred years later!
"Once this financing is completed, China.com will embark on a new round of expansion, and by the end of the year, China.com will officially submit its listing application to the Nasdaq Securities and Exchange Commission!"

I hope that China.com can officially complete its IPO next March!

Li Dongling said to Wei Jiaxuan and Cornell, "China.com hopes that Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs will act as the underwriters for China.com's stock!"

These words startled Cao Zongyan. China.com had only been online for a short time. Of course, the China.com project had been approved long ago, but it was only officially launched in the second half of this year.

If the IPO is successful in March next year, then China.com will have gone from launch to listing in less than September, which is an astonishing speed!
Li Dongling appointed Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs as underwriters for China.com, hoping to leverage their influence on Wall Street to get the Nasdaq committee to approve China.com's listing application.

Wei Jiaxuan and Cornell exchanged a glance, and neither of them refused. If a record of the fastest Nasdaq-listed company in history could be created under the hands of these two major investment banks, it would be of great benefit to enhancing their influence in Silicon Valley and the global Internet industry!
"Bear Stearns is fine, but we also need China.com's performance; we can't afford any problems!"

Wei Jiaxuan said that if China.com can attract 20 million or even 30 million daily active users and generate more than five million US dollars in monthly advertising revenue by next year, then no one can stop China.com from going public.

"That's no problem!"

Li Dongling said, "China.com can guarantee that before its listing next year, it will have more than 20 million daily active users, and within three years, its user base will exceed 50 million!"

The reason why Li Dashanren has the confidence to say these things is, of course, because of the domestic internet market. According to estimates, the number of internet users in mainland China will more than double next year, reaching nine million or even ten million or more!

This growth rate of internet users surpasses that of the previous generation, and it is inextricably linked to Dongling High-Tech.

Previously, the biggest problem hindering the growth of domestic internet users was that computers were too expensive!

But now, Dongling High-Tech is supporting Lingyun Technology Company to open a chain of internet cafes on the left and Founder on the right, driving down computer prices to below 5,000 yuan. Now, some no-name computer brands have already lowered the price of their low-end computers to below 5,000 yuan in order to survive!
With internet cafes and computers being significantly reduced, the number of internet users in inland China is expected to increase explosively. The number of internet users may not only double, but could even triple next year!
Within three years, the number of inland internet users is expected to surge to 40 million or even 50 million or more.

This bet is almost effortless for China.com, as the inland internet market alone supports China.com's user activity.

In addition to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, and Southeast Asian overseas regions such as Singapore, if the English, Japanese, and Korean versions of China.com develop smoothly, the user base will likely be even more astonishing.

However, while China.com's user base is growing, it's hard to say whether Nasdaq can hold out until the bubble bursts again in three years... In any case, China.com is definitely going to keep hyping itself up and then realize its stock price potential ahead of time.

Upon hearing Li the Philanthropist's words, Wei Jiaxuan was taken aback. With 50 million users, she wondered why Li the Philanthropist dared to make such a promise.

However, such words from Li Dashanren are absolutely beneficial to China.com's listing and stock price. If China.com's user base can reach 50 million, wouldn't it be able to rival Yahoo? Its market value could reach half of Yahoo's.
With Li Dongling's promise, Wei Jiaxuan and Cornell were naturally reassured and made a commitment that Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs would be responsible for operating China.com and striving for a Nasdaq listing.

Lin Xianhui was also thrilled when he saw this. When China.com went public, the lion's share would definitely go to the major shareholders, but the profits that would flow out could create a group of millionaires or even billionaires for China.com!
As the nominal general manager of China.com, Lin Xianhui is definitely entitled to China.com stock options. Once China.com goes public, Lin Xianhui doesn't know how high his net worth will soar!
There are also differences among professional managers. Some professional managers are scapegoats, while others can become the highest-paid employees!
Now Lin Xianhui has truly experienced what it means for one person to achieve success and for their entire family to benefit from it, and what it means for choices to be more important than hard work.

If we were to ask what the proudest thing about Lin Xianhui's career would be when he retires, without a doubt it would be that right after Cyberport was established, Lin Xianhui managed to get close to Li Dashan's powerful connections!

Changing the subject, Cornell asked Li Dongling, "Li, what are your plans for Ruyan e-cigarettes?"

This question was clearly meant to probe whether Ruyan had any major plans or ideas for going public!
Li Dongling chuckled upon hearing this, then exchanged a glance with Zhang Xiaocheng. "Right now, it's not the right time for Ruyan e-cigarettes to go public. At least, it's not suitable to go public until some issues are resolved."

Zhang Xiaocheng continued, "In America, old Europe, Japan and other places, Ruyan e-cigarettes have not yet entered the mainstream tobacco sales channels. Traditional tobacco companies still have a resistant, or even hostile, attitude towards Ruyan e-cigarettes."

Upon hearing this, Cornell looked puzzled. It goes without saying that traditional tobacco giants dislike Ruyan e-cigarettes. Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents; Ruyan e-cigarettes are taking away the rice bowls of these tobacco companies.

Shaking his head, Cornell looked at Li Dongling and Zhang Xiaocheng, "Li, do you mean to get the tobacco association, dominated by traditional tobacco giants, to accept Ruyan e-cigarettes?"

"Excuse my bluntness, but such an idea may never come to fruition. No tobacco company would dig its own grave!"

Nothing in this world is ever-changing!

"Why should Ruyan e-cigarettes side with traditional tobacco companies, instead of traditional tobacco companies side with the e-cigarette camp led by Ruyan e-cigarettes?!" Li Dongling said.

These "outrageous" words left Cornell stunned, wondering if he was hallucinating.

Li Dongling actually wants traditional tobacco giants to join the e-cigarette camp. Isn't this going against the natural order?
"Li, do you have something on your mind?"

Wei Jiaxuan knew that Li Dongling was not the kind of person who spoke carelessly. In Asia, it was relatively rare to find someone like India who talked nonsense.

“Now, the states of America are uniting to file a class-action lawsuit against traditional tobacco companies. Who do you think will win this lawsuit?” Li Dongling asked.

Wei Jiaxuan and Cornell did not expect that Li Dongling would suddenly bring up this topic.

Seeing the two deep in thought, Li Dongling didn't wait for their answers and spoke directly.

"The federal government, state governments, and state health departments will win this class-action lawsuit!"
The only difference is the price that companies like Philips Tobacco, Reynolds Tobacco, and Loredra pay!

The rules of this world are basically universal, and the fact that this class-action lawsuit against tobacco giants by various states was accepted by the federal courts says it all.

The wealthy tobacco giants certainly have their own congressional representatives on Capitol Hill, yet they couldn't stop this lawsuit, demonstrating that the power to take action against the tobacco giants outweighs the power of the congressmen who support them.

"When traditional tobacco giants lose this lawsuit, they will face not only huge compensation payments, but also image and transformation!"

They need to take action to convince the outside world that they apologize for the health effects caused by traditional tobacco in the past, even if it's just an act!

Regardless of which industries they can transition to by then, besides e-cigarettes, will they have any other options besides remaining in the tobacco industry?

(End of this chapter)