Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1422 A Pie Really Fell From the Sky
The news leaked by TVB was truly earth-shattering. While people were still gossiping about the feud between the two wealthy families, news broke that China.com's valuation had reached US$4.2 billion, equivalent to HK$32.7 billion!
It's worth noting that after 3721 went public, its stock price soared continuously, but it has only just reached the threshold of HK$23 billion and is still testing the waters.

As a result, China.com's valuation is actually higher than 3721's market value?

When the news broke, both Hong Kong and Beijing's Zhongguancun were utterly stunned.

Every time China.com releases news, it surprises its peers, but to this extent, it still shocked the port city and Zhongguancun.

China.com is valued at $4.2 billion. If it goes public, what will its market value be? Will it become the next Yahoo?

It's hard not to speculate: with such a high valuation, if Wall Street institutions recognize China.com's valuation and treat it as the next Yahoo, wouldn't its market value skyrocket?

Furthermore, even if it doesn't directly compete with Yahoo! America, if it were to compete with Yahoo! Japan, the smaller version of Yahoo! Japan, China.com would become a huge piece of meat.

Yahoo! Japan only has a Japanese-speaking market, yet its market value is now approaching $30 billion. SoftBank previously repurchased the Yahoo! Japan shares held by the Zhixing Foundation at a premium, at a market value of $40 billion.

China.com's current user base and traffic far exceed those of Yahoo! Japan. So, after its IPO, is there a chance that its market value will surpass that of Yahoo! Japan?
From this perspective, China.com's current valuation is not too expensive, but rather too cheap and offers excellent value for money. If you buy it, you can make several times your initial investment once it goes public!
……

According to sources, China.com has submitted its listing application to Nasdaq and will be underwritten by two major Wall Street investment banks, Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns.

China.com is going public!

In the inland internet industry, it was actually Ding Lei of NetEase who was the first to receive the news that China.com was going public.

NetEase's headquarters are in Guangzhou, so they are naturally more informed about news from the port city.

Although he had expected this outcome, Ding Sanshi couldn't help but feel a pang of envy when it actually happened.

China.com is the most well-known of the four major Chinese portal websites, and now it is set to go public with the highest valuation ever recorded.

The Matthew effect in the internet industry is vividly demonstrated in China.com: taking the lead at one step leads to taking the lead at every step.

It's incredibly difficult for companies like NetEase, Sohu, and Sina to catch up with China.com.

However, Ding Sanshi felt that it was necessary to accelerate the pace of NetEase's listing. NetEase had previously accepted venture capital from the Gangcheng Future Industry Foundation and was preparing to list in Gangcheng.

Ding Sanshi was well aware that the mainland internet industry was about to enter an era of arms race, which meant spending money on advertising and burning cash to grab market share and users.

At this point, without going public to raise funds and without the support of major investors, it is very likely that they will not be able to survive in this arms race.

Without money to burn, how can you recruit reporters to dig up news, find the latest hot news to attract traffic, advertise to grab users and traffic, and rent more servers? If you don't have any of these, what are you waiting for but to die?
Ding Sanshi shook his head. He knew very well that with the wave of IPOs launched by China.com, the portal website industry would also be reshuffled.

In the future portal website market, Chinese internet users may only know the four major portal websites and be unaware of other portal websites!
Ding Sanshi opened China.com and glanced at it. He saw that China.com was divided into sections for mainland news, port news, Southeast Asian news, and international news, as well as financial, entertainment, and sports channels. He couldn't help but feel envious.

Having so many sections and channels requires a lot of money. It involves signing contracts with a large number of newspapers and media outlets, recruiting many reporters to dig for news, and signing media commentators to publish articles.

The other three major portal websites, including NetEase, are not so wealthy. Many of their news links are obtained by borrowing from other media outlets for free, unlike China.com which obtains authorization. As for international news, it goes without saying.

Ding Sanshi had a premonition that the gap between NetEase and the other two portal websites and China.com would likely widen in the future!

This made Ning Sanshi somewhat worried. He felt that he needed to consider NetEase's future.

Ding Sanshi felt that if they fought to the death in the portal website arena, then NetEase would definitely not be able to beat China.com in the end, because the gap in hard power between the two sides was too big.

"NetEase needs other ways out!"

Ding Sanshi looked at the website page of China.com and muttered to himself that after NetEase went public in Hong Kong, he felt that it was necessary to find a new way for NetEase to survive, and that it should not continue down the same path as portal websites.

Compared to the other two portal websites, Sohu and Sina, NetEase, led by Ding Sanshi, is the one that Ding Sanshi cares about the most, is most prepared for potential problems, and is most willing to make changes because Ding Sanshi has always held the controlling stake in NetEase.

In its past life, NetEase was jokingly called the only website in the internet industry that might live to be 102 years old, and that's no joke.

From portal websites to games, then to music, education, e-commerce, and even large-scale pig farming, NetEase has always been one to ride the wave of trends. Even if it doesn't reap the biggest profits, it has never fallen behind and remains a mainstream player in the internet industry, while its competitors have long since disappeared. With various thoughts flashing through his mind, Ding Sanshi prepared to shut down China.com, but a trending news item suddenly appeared on the China.com homepage, leaving him momentarily stunned.

"The world's largest e-cigarette company, Hong Kong Ruyan E-cigarette Company, announced the completion of its latest round of financing, with its valuation exceeding 10 billion US dollars, making it the world's largest unlisted unicorn company!"

Ding Sanshi stared blankly at the news that had popped up. He was no stranger to e-cigarettes. Although Ruyan was not sold in China, many people who were involved in exporting and then reselling e-cigarettes brought Ruyan e-cigarettes to China.

In addition, many small e-cigarette workshops have sprung up in Shenzhen, which has led to the gradual emergence of e-cigarettes in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other places.

Especially for the internet industry where overtime is required, e-cigarettes are also popular. Many programmers at NetEase are using them, and even Ding Sanshi himself has tried the taste.

If I remember correctly, Ruyan Electronic Cigarettes, headquartered in Gangcheng, seems to be a subsidiary of Torch Group, which is also a Dongke Group company and an enterprise owned by Li Dashanren.

Connecting 3721, China.com, and Ruyan e-cigarettes, the future pig farming tycoon couldn't help but gasp, his teeth aching. He wondered how many US dollars Li Dongling's net worth would skyrocket after this trip to Hong Kong; he was practically going crazy with greed!
Every time Li the Great Philanthropist goes to Hong Kong, he makes a big splash, which increases his net worth significantly. This time was even more dramatic; he practically sent a batch of companies to the stock market, and his net worth naturally skyrocketed as well.

Looking at the news on the computer screen, Ding Sanshi gave a helpless, bitter smile.

Every era produces many geniuses and influential figures who shake up the entire industry. But Ding Sanshi feels that if future generations were to summarize the era he lived in, it would be a great testament to his talent.

People might say that there are many trendsetters in this era, but if we're talking about the one who can truly suppress the geniuses of this time, Ding Sanshi feels that it has to be none other than the great philanthropist Li. It's just too difficult for those who come after to catch up...

At least, after reading the media reports, Ding Sanshi no longer had the desire to compete with Li Dashanren. The future was uncertain, but he certainly didn't have that thought now.

However, NetEase has already accepted investment from the Gangcheng Future Industry Foundation and is now considered a company under the Dongke Group, so Ding Sanshi doesn't need to worry about these things anymore.

The real headaches are for the rivals of the Dongke Group, such as Sina, but Ding Sanshi doesn't need to worry about them in the short term.

……

Yu Ningzhi, deputy general manager of Hanxi Tobacco Company, came to the conference room of Hanxi Tobacco Company for a meeting as usual.

Hanxi Tobacco Company has been in a special period in the past two years. On the one hand, tobacco companies, led by Pingyang Tobacco, have seen their performance soar, which has led to a continuous increase in the revenue of the entire Hanxi Tobacco Company and a continuous improvement in its position in the domestic tobacco system.

On the other hand, the current general manager of Hanxi Tobacco Company is nearing the end of his life and may retire at any time.

Yu Ningzhi and several other deputy general managers of Hanxi Tobacco were candidates for general manager, but no one could say for sure who would take the position, which caused an undercurrent of tension within Hanxi Tobacco Company.

It's important to understand that being the general manager of Hanxi Tobacco Company is not just a simple job.

According to the structure of the domestic tobacco system, the general manager of Hanxi Tobacco Company also serves as the head of the Hanxi Provincial Tobacco Monopoly Bureau. In other words, whoever serves as the general manager of Hanxi Tobacco Company actually controls the tobacco companies and tobacco monopoly bureaus in all parts of Hanxi.

It is common knowledge how profitable the tobacco industry is. Countless departments and units rely on tobacco for funding, so you can imagine how powerful it is. Naturally, the competition is also fierce.

Yu Ningzhi currently has a certain advantage, with Pingyang Tobacco even supporting him, but he is unsure whether he will ultimately win.

As usual, key figures from the Hanxi Tobacco Corporation were present at the meeting, and several resolutions were passed.

Just as Yu Ningzhi thought the meeting would end as usual, the chief secretary of the general manager of Hanxi Tobacco Company suddenly walked in and whispered a few words to the head of Hanxi Tobacco.

Yu Ningzhi saw the current head of Hanxi Tobacco's expression suddenly change, and his voice unconsciously rose a few decibels, "Is the news confirmed?"

After receiving confirmation from his chief secretary, the head of Hanxi Tobacco Company waved his hand, dismissing the chief secretary. Yu Ningzhi wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the head of Hanxi Tobacco Company's gaze lingered on him for a few seconds.

"We just received news that Ruyan e-cigarette company, which was invested in by our Hanxi Tobacco Company, has just completed a round of financing and is very likely to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange in America. Currently, Ruyan e-cigarette's valuation has exceeded 10 billion US dollars!"

Upon hearing the words of the head of Hanxi Tobacco Company, the meeting room was initially stunned, then erupted into a cacophony of noise, clearly shocked by the news.

Upon hearing this news, Yu Ningzhi was first stunned, then overjoyed. All eyes in the conference room turned to Yu Ningzhi, and the other deputy general managers of Hanxi Tobacco Company looked at him with envy and jealousy!
There's no other reason than that Hanxi Tobacco's investment in Ruyan Electronic Cigarettes was an agreement signed by Yu Ningzhi back then. Sometimes, good things really do fall from the sky!

(End of this chapter)