Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1213: One person attains enlightenment, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven
Looking at the news on his computer screen, Li Yanhong clearly felt that the spring of the Chinese Internet seemed to be coming!

The Asian internet market, ridiculed as an internet wasteland by Silicon Valley, has surprisingly produced a unicorn-level internet company like China.com.

Looking at China.com, which has set new internet records one after another, and then thinking about his current situation, Li Yanhong couldn't help but feel dejected.

The status of Chinese programmers and engineers in America is exactly the same as that of all Chinese people in America. Chinese engineers can participate in technical work, but management is a chasm that is difficult for them to overcome.

The same applies to Li Yanhong. Souxin needs Li Yanhong to work and help Souxin develop search technology, but the door to management is not open to him.

This is still based on the fact that Souxin has invested in it through the Zhixing Foundation, and Souxin's founder, Steve Kisher, still harbors some wariness towards Li Yanhong.

It seemed as if they were afraid that Li Yanhong and the Zhixing Foundation would collude to seize control of Souxin Holdings.

Moreover, there are recent rumors that the Zhixing Foundation, which has invested in Souxin, seems to be interested in pushing Souxin to be sold to a giant company. It is hard to say whether the news is true or false, but Li Yanhong has met with Lu Wenhua, the general manager of the investment department of the Zhixing Foundation, who came to America, several times and even had a meal with him.

Moreover, Steve Kisher has recently held several closed-door meetings. Although no news has come out, some things cannot be kept secret.

This left Li Yanhong feeling somewhat lost. He didn't know what would happen to him if Souxin was sold to a giant company.

Think about it, he's not even a senior executive in management now. How much say will he have when he joins a giant company?

Having lived in America for many years, Li Yanhong no longer harbors any wishful thinking about being valued by his new company.

Surrounded by the search for letters and watching the already somewhat heated Chinese internet, Li Yanhong couldn't help but have a thought: return to the mainland?

At this moment, Li Yanhong couldn't help but recall that when Li Dongling came to America, he had suggested to him that he return to China.

At that time, Li Yanhong held the same view as those in Silicon Valley: the Chinese internet was a wasteland, and he had no place to use his talents after returning.

But now, looking at China.com, Li Yanhong couldn't help but feel a little regretful. If he had accepted the invitation from the great philanthropist Li back then, what would his situation be today?
Looking at China.com now, Li Yanhong feels that he has been wasting his time searching for information for the past two years.

Li Yanhong couldn't help but admire Li Dongling's vision. Although Li Dongling wasn't in Silicon Valley, his insight into the internet was far more sophisticated than his own and that of countless others in Silicon Valley!
When the internet boomed in Silicon Valley, Li Dashan bet on Yahoo!, and now he's betting on China.com on the Chinese internet. These two websites have practically ignited the entire industry in both Silicon Valley and China!

How could this not make Li Yanhong think? If he returned to the mainland and established a search company with Li Dongling's support, what would that search company be like now? Could it reach the level of China.com?
Thinking of this, Li Yanhong almost had the urge to immediately drop everything and go to seek refuge with the great philanthropist Li.

But he knew that this matter could not be rushed. He needed to handle the Souxin matter properly, since Souxin was also a company invested in by Li Dongling through the Zhixing Foundation.

If he ran away halfway, how could he face Li Dongling? He should at least finish what he started, otherwise he would be letting down the search party and would have no way to see Li Dongling.

Once the search for the letter was finished, Li Yanhong planned to meet with Lü Wenhua before returning to the mainland to seek refuge with Li Dongling!

It wasn't just Li Yanhong who was affected; Chinese engineers in Silicon Valley also saw the news that China.com had secured massive funding at a staggering $28 billion valuation.

Everyone knows what this news means: once China.com goes public, it will create a large number of millionaires and multi-millionaires.

China.com may ignite the Chinese internet, just as after Yahoo, internet companies in Silicon Valley sprang up like mushrooms after rain.

This naturally makes Chinese engineers in Silicon Valley wonder if there are opportunities for them to make money in the Chinese internet industry if they return to the mainland.

After all, working like a beast of burden for others, it's unlikely that you'll ever achieve financial freedom in your lifetime. But look at the founders of Silicon Valley internet companies, who have already achieved great success at a young age, with money, cars, houses, and models. How can they not be envious?
Not only engineers, but also Wall Street turned their attention to it, and even the Wall Street Journal was no exception.

Previously, it had only praised China.com because of Wall Street institutions. Who knew that China.com would actually take it seriously?

The valuation of China.com also startled other institutions on Wall Street, except for Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns.

Even Wall Street institutions didn't expect that Bear Stearns would actually go so far as to invest in China.com at such a high valuation.

This has led many Wall Street institutions to wonder: Could China.com really be the next Yahoo?
China.com's huge valuation and financing have also attracted the attention of Wall Street institutions, aristocratic conglomerates in old Europe, and foundations of Middle Eastern oil tycoons to Chinese internet companies in Hong Kong and the mainland.

If the Chinese internet truly becomes another goldmine after Silicon Valley, then conglomerates and tycoons will soon be rushing in.

Having missed out on the first wave of opportunities in Silicon Valley, are they going to miss out on the first wave of opportunities in the Chinese internet as well?
An arrow pierces the clouds, and thousands of troops come to meet you!

China.com's news successfully attracted countless eyes, drawing the attention of Chinese engineers in Silicon Valley and venture capitalists on Wall Street to China.com and the Chinese internet.

China.com is like an advertisement for the Chinese internet industry, giving the entire industry a boost!
"Mr. Li, now HSBC, Standard Chartered, SoftBank, and more than twelve wealthy families and conglomerates from Hong Kong, Malaysia, and other Southeast Asian countries all want to invest in China.com!" Lin Xianhui rushed over excitedly to report to Li Dongling as soon as he sat down in his office at Dongling High-Tech Hong Kong Company and made himself a cup of tea.

Previously, Lin Xianhui was worried that China.com's valuation was too high and no investment institution was willing to buy it.

But now, it's no longer a question of whether the valuation is high or low. We've heard that China.com is only giving up 30% of its equity, and that half of the equity has already been taken by Bank of China, Bear Stearns, and Goldman Sachs.

With only 15% of China.com's equity remaining available for investment, other institutions that wanted to invest in China.com were clearly panicking.

Whether China.com is expensive or not is no longer up to these institutions to decide. Instead, these institutions are scrambling to invest in China.com, wanting to get a share of the pie!

This is where Lin Xianhui's investment list came in. Major investment institutions, conglomerates, and financial groups, especially those from Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, began vying for shares in China.com.

Li Dongling looked at the list Lin Xianhui had brought over, took a sip of tea, and explained why Li Dongming had contacted several institutions, including the Bank of China, in advance.

When these institutions create hype and buy shares in China.com, those who haven't bought in will feel a sense of crisis, wondering what if they can't buy in, and a scramble will break out!

This is just like the tricks used when buying a house. When you go to a sales office, a salesperson who is skilled in sales techniques and psychology tells you that there are only a few houses left to choose from, and if you don't buy now, you won't be able to buy one later, and you will inevitably feel anxious.

But after buying it and moving in, you might find that at night, only your lights are on...

Now it's China.com's turn. For those investment institutions, if they don't buy China.com's shares now, they won't be able to buy them at all. They have to rush forward and buy them as soon as possible.

"For the remaining 15% stake in China.com, you need to select a suitable investor!"

Li Dongling looked at Lin Xianhui and said, "These investors don't necessarily need to be very strong, but they need to have a certain influence and voice in Southeast Asia and other regions."

To put it bluntly, what China.com needs from these new shareholders is not just their money, but more importantly, their influence to promote and publicize China.com in the local area.

“Furthermore,” Li Dongling tapped the list with his finger, “submit these investment lists to the Hong Kong government office, which is the shareholder of the Hong Kong City Industrial Foundation, for review!”

Lin Xianhui was stunned for a moment when he heard this, then realized that the Hong Kong government was asking China.com to provide a list of suitable investors.

To put it bluntly, it's about letting the Hong Kong government's leaders see which local tycoons are closest to the government, and then giving that tycoon a slice of the China.com pie, thus giving them a ticket to join the Silicon Harbor project.

In the future, a group of interest groups will emerge in Hong Kong to advocate for Cyberport!

"I see!"

Lin Xianhui said this, then turned and left to begin preparations.

Faced with the list of investors submitted by China.com, the Hong Kong government leader naturally understood what was going on. After making a few marks on the list, he returned it to Lam Yin-fai.

……

"China.com announced that its financing plan has been completed. Following Bank of China, Bear Stearns, and Goldman Sachs, it has introduced investors including the Huo Family Foundation, Wheelock and Company, Chang Gung Foundation, Charoen Pokphand Group, and Kerry Group."

China.com has completed a total financing round of HK$63.84 billion, setting a new record for the highest financing round in Hong Kong and global internet history!

Phoenix TV reported the news of China.com's successful financing immediately.

To be honest, people from all walks of life in the port city were not surprised by this result, but the fact that the financing was completed so quickly was still beyond the expectations of countless people.

That's incredibly fast! That's $8.4 million, nearly HK$64 billion! In just a few days, China.com has already completed its financing.

However, those who pay attention can glean some clues from the list of investors this time.

"The Huo and Bao families of Hong Kong, the Wang family of Taiwan, and the Xie and Guo families of Southeast Asia—they really have no one left out!"

Inside Yingke Power Company, after seeing the list of investors, Li Zekai could easily tell that the investors of China.com this time had basically brought in powerful figures from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and the United States. With such a group of investors backing them, no one in Southeast Asia could stop China.com.

"China.com's approach is indeed effective!"

(End of this chapter)