The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

With the emergence of a report filed under a real name.

The battle that shook the entire industry unfolded quietly.

The entire entertainment industry has been affected, and the first thing all artists are thinking about now is how to protect themselves in this storm.

After all, dual contracts are practically an open secret within the industry, and over the years, no one has dared to expose them directly.

Tencent Entertainment was the first to lift the lid, targeting the top of the Four Great Actresses.

It also demonstrated its strength to everyone.

Shanghai, November 28th.

In just two days, November will be over, and in another month, 16 will be over.

It has officially entered its 17th year.

On this not-so-special day, the entertainment industry is currently in a state of chaos.

The authorities have publicly called for an investigation into tax evasion throughout the industry through state media.

This investigation isn't just targeting Fan Haomen alone; she's just being pushed to the forefront.

For Fan Haomen right now, avoiding going in would be the best outcome.

It all depends on her own methods; the head of the Four Beauties is no pushover.

As for Tencent Entertainment, which caused all of this, its stock price has plummeted from over 80 billion to 70 billion in less than ten days.

The decline exceeded 15%.

Huayi Films, which was the first to make a move, saw its stock price drop from over 1,000 to less than 80 billion.

If even industry giants are like this, one can only imagine what it's like for others.

Countless people are lamenting the arrival of a harsh winter for the entertainment industry, and no one knows how many people will sacrifice themselves in this struggle.

Many prominent figures in the financial world have also attempted to bring the two companies together to shake hands and make peace.

Let's get through the current difficulties together first.

Neither Huang Zhongshi nor Chen Pingsheng showed any sign of stopping.

It's a complete repetition of one act ending and another beginning.

They repeatedly report others to bring the other company or project to a standstill.

It was also in the last two days of November.

Huang Zhongshi held his private party at a top-tier private club near the Third Ring Road in Beijing.

Those who still attend his meetings at times like this are undoubtedly on his side.

This includes top figures in the entertainment industry such as Fan Haomen, Feng Dagang, and Yang Baobei.

There are also some important figures whose names cannot be mentioned.

Since its listing, Huayi has been a standout in the entertainment industry.

The kind of opponent you can't find even with binoculars.

It wasn't until later, when Tencent Entertainment went public, that its rapid rise was truly astounding.

Huang Zhongshi hadn't originally planned to sacrifice Qin Xian, this key pawn, this month.

Wolf Warrior 2 is simply too much of a hindrance.

He was being merciful; he just wanted to teach the other party a lesson and let him know that Huayi was not someone he could mess with.

I just didn't expect the other party to be so ruthless, throwing the spear back at me again.

The two companies fought each other for ten days, resulting in a loss of over 40 billion yuan in market value.

This is the loss that is visible to the naked eye, and it is larger than imagined.

Compared to this, the back taxes paid by those celebrities are insignificant.

A group of people sat around a stove, and the rising steam was as angry as the people's eyes.

Huang Zhongshi spoke first: "This is no longer just a matter between our two families. The tax team from above will be investigating for at least several months. Let's hear your suggestions."

This statement clearly implies that the stock price decline has only just begun, and no one will dare to buy shares in either of these companies until the investigation is over.

If the stock price only sells and doesn't buy, it's bound to continue falling for several more months.

This is the most terrible.

"Qin Xian, you've been over there for more than two years, can't you find any important evidence against you?"

The fastest way to deal with an opponent is undoubtedly through legal means.

Once they can obtain some key evidence of illegality, such as fabricated financial statements, they can easily delist the company.

Qin Xian smiled bitterly, "You may not believe it, but Tengying Entertainment is not the most core asset of Tengying Group at all. Chen Pingsheng has already transferred all his important assets to Hong Kong over the years. It doesn't even have a penny of bank loans, so why would it use fictitious financial statements to obtain financing?"

That's true; since it doesn't even need financing, it naturally wouldn't bother with fake financial statements.

Fan Haomen was the angrier, and Feng Dagang's words were also unpleasant: "So you've been there for two years, just like a piece of trash."

Qin Xian was just a nobody; he betrayed Tencent Entertainment for two million.

People die for wealth, birds die for food; he certainly didn't think he was wrong.

I just didn't expect to be so disrespected.

Huang Zhongshi said, "I have always been puzzled. According to you, Tengying Entertainment has invested more than 50 billion yuan in commercial real estate alone, and its investment in Tengfei New Energy is also as high as 50 billion yuan. The two together amount to 100 billion yuan in cash."

"How did Chen Pingsheng amass such a large fortune in just a few years? Don't tell me it was earned through those listed companies. Even if you bundled all his companies together, he couldn't come up with 100 billion in cash. Where did all this money come from?"

The crime of possessing a huge amount of property with unexplained sources.

Huang Zhongshi is indeed a seasoned businessman; he can pinpoint the core of the problem simply by looking at some financial data.

To put it bluntly, if he had a bank loan, it would be possible for him to obtain such a large sum of money.

The key issue is that they didn't even get a bank loan, so where did all this money come from?
Who can say for sure?

Everyone's eyes lit up, even the young master Yan he had invited.

If this really reveals a problem, it means that Tengying Group is not as impregnable as it seems.

Instead, there is an opportunity to take advantage of it.

Once such a large corporation is brought down, everyone will inevitably rush in.

They are constantly eroding the empire he has built up over the past few years.

“That’s not enough. We need to add more fuel to the fire in his business so that we can investigate when he’s in a state of chaos.”

Young Master Yan made a suggestion: he might not be good at business, but he was all too good at sabotage.

Once the crime of possessing a huge amount of unexplained wealth is discovered, the good days for Tengying Group will be over.

That's how the business world is; once a fight breaks out, everyone will target each other relentlessly.

Chen Pingsheng moved all of the group's core assets to Hong Kong a few steps ahead of time to avoid this day.

All the artists under Tencent Entertainment have already paid back taxes; it's not just him, the other party is clearly doing the same.

If you don't behave yourself at a time like this, it's like stretching out your neck and waiting for him to chop you down.

Besides this, he has another key weakness: the source of his enormous wealth is unclear.

Even his wife didn't know why he had so much money, let alone other people.

Once someone finds out about his financial staff, they will definitely start investigating his assets.

Fortunately, he had been preparing for this day for two years and was not afraid of being investigated.

If I were Huang Zhongshi, I would have already filed a report by now.

After all, this is the fastest way to take him down.

As he expected, Huang Zhongshi obtained numerous detailed financial documents from Qin Xian and, after finding some reliable connections, accelerated the review process.

Ideally, an investigation team should be dispatched to Tengying Group as soon as possible to investigate all of his investment details and revenue streams over the past five years.

This is not about investigating tax evasion; it's a much more serious matter, directly targeting Chen Pingsheng himself.

On the last day of November, shocking news broke in the financial world.

The founder of Tencent Group is suspected of having a huge amount of unexplained wealth.

A detailed account of Tencent Film Group's major investments over the years.

Three Financial Questions: How Did Tengying Group Accumulate Assets Worth Hundreds of Billions in Just Five Years?

All of this was accompanied by public skepticism and the direct arrival of an investigation team from Beijing.

Chen Pingsheng received them in Shanghai; Huang Zhongshi was clearly racing against time.

In a situation where both sides are hurting each other, it all comes down to who falls faster.

Affected by this negative news, the stock prices of the entire Tencent Holdings Group plummeted, and even Nasdaq-listed Deer Antler Coffee was not spared.

Gao Hu, Chang Fu, Zhang Tao, Tong Zhelan, Chu Qiuyan, and Shen Chengjun, the president of Tenghui Department Store, all rushed to the headquarters in Shanghai from all over the country at the first opportunity.

Compared to Chu Qiuyan's speech, this current crisis is the real life-or-death situation for the group.

After all, Huang Zhongshi was targeting Chen Pingsheng himself.

He is currently the sole key figure in the Tengying Group. Top floor of the Shanghai headquarters.

The group's finance department is cooperating with the investigation, while Chen Pingsheng himself is quite relaxed.

He poured everyone a cup of tea, saying, "It seems that we've become a target of criticism all these years."

"Old Chen, aren't you worried at all?"

"What's the rush?"

"Don't you even look at how badly the stock price has fallen?"

Chang Fu couldn't help but say, "Before, our company and Huayi's stock price were on the same level, with each of us losing billions a day. It was barely considered mutual harm. Now, our entire stock is falling sharply, and the drop is almost twice as big as Huayi's."

Tong Zhelan calmly said, "I suspect he's making a two-pronged plan."

"You noticed it too?"

"Isn't that nonsense?"

Tong Zhelan said, "If they really find out that you have a huge amount of unexplained assets, that would be the best. If they don't find out, they can let the investigation team drag you out for a while. At this time, he can raise funds to buy shares in the dark. Once the threshold for disclosure is reached, he can directly obtain the opportunity to take over the board of directors from the stock market at the lowest price. He is imitating Yao Zhenhua's Vanke."

Chen Pingsheng nodded noncommittally, "Huang Zhongshi alone could not possibly set up such a large scheme, let alone come up with such a large amount of funds. It is obvious that we are being watched now."

"They want to take advantage of this opportunity to drive down the stock price of the Tengying Group to its lowest point and then quickly buy it up through the secondary market, attempting to seize control of the Tengying Group directly from the stock market. If it doesn't cost tens of billions, it's just wishful thinking. Huang Zhongshi simply can't come up with that much money. He's contacted some big tycoons."

Tong Zhelan said, "You're right. Xu Pidai called you. Fan Haomen begged him for help, but you didn't give him any face. He wants to take this opportunity to make a fortune off you."

Huang Zhongshi certainly can't come up with tens of billions in cash.

Given Tencent's size and current stock price, it's a case of a small fish trying to swallow a big fish.

The prerequisite is that he himself must have the magnanimity.

"Tengying Entertainment's stock price is currently around 60 billion. It is estimated that as soon as it falls below 30 billion, they will definitely take full action."

The schemes are one after another.

Chen Pingsheng has nothing to worry about; if he falls, Huayi Films will fall as well.

They were all equally bad, but he didn't expect Xu Pidai to get involved so quickly.

"Prepare the funds; we must at least protect Tencent Entertainment's 40 billion yuan base price."

Chen Pingsheng said, "My wife can withdraw 3 billion in cash at any time. Also, please contact Guo Ziyi to mortgage the Hong Kong headquarters building and four commercial properties in Hong Kong to raise another 12 billion."

If it were just Huang Zhongshi, he wouldn't need to raise this money at all.

At this point, Huang Zhongshi himself probably couldn't even come up with 3 billion.

Not to mention 10 billion.

The key is Xu Pi, that person. Once the stock price falls to a certain level, he will inevitably spend money like crazy to buy more shares in the secondary market.

Both Tencent Entertainment and Deer Antlers Coffee are high-quality assets.

Taking advantage of a disease to kill it is not a principle that has existed in business since ancient times.

If he doesn't hold his ground at this moment, it could easily be exploited by the enemy.

Tong Zhelan and Teng Ying are too deeply involved; their relationship is almost mutually beneficial. In this situation, it's inevitable that she will stand on his side.

Even if the opponent is Xu Pi.

"I will raise two billion within three days."

The others looked at each other, exchanging glances.

He then stated the maximum amount of cash he could offer.

Chen Pingsheng waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need them at all; his most stable asset, Tengchao Commercial Management, hadn't even been touched yet.

He refused to believe that Xu could scrape together 50 billion yuan in cash to fight him.

If he can hold out for the first two waves, he will basically win once the investigation results are released.

However, fundraising is only one aspect.

He originally wanted to give Fan Haomen a chance to find a way to save herself.

Now that things have come to this point, it's no longer a matter of sacrificing one or two people.

It's a fight to the death.

Regardless, let's first shut down this troublemaker, Huayi.

Time flies, and December is here in the blink of an eye.

As the weather gets colder, the atmosphere in the entertainment industry becomes increasingly strange.

The once calm and uneventful business world is now seeing an increasing number of negative news stories about the Tengying Group.

Almost everyone felt that a heavy rain was about to fall.

This is no longer just a matter of the entertainment industry trembling; it's a major battle affecting the entire stock market.

On December 2nd, Fan Haomen was confirmed by those close to him to have evaded taxes, and there was no way to avoid it.

Leaving the entertainment industry is the least of his worries; the amount of back taxes he would have to pay is a staggering 800 million.

Huayi suffered a major setback, with its 500 million yuan investment in a major drama series disappearing without a trace.

The stock price plummeted like the Yangtze River bursting its banks; no one could stop its downward trend.

On December 3rd, Yang Baobei was exposed for participating in the Crazy Horse Show abroad, which is seriously inconsistent with the mainstream values ​​of the entertainment industry.

This top female celebrity, who has absolutely no acting skills, was the first to be cut from the list by Tencent Entertainment because she was backed by Huayi Brothers.

All accounts were completely banned.

The entire internet was in an uproar as two top female celebrities in the entertainment industry were killed in less than three days.

This has never happened before.

As the saying goes, the layman sees the spectacle, but the expert can see the details.

The fact that Huayi Films lost two key talents in a short period of time clearly indicates that Tencent Films is making a strong push.

It's so deeply rooted in the entertainment industry, what secrets and gossip doesn't it know?

I used to keep it as a backup plan, but I never thought it would actually come in handy.

Those who originally wanted to please both sides are now simply staying far away.

They were afraid that if they weren't careful, the city gates would catch fire and the innocent bystanders would suffer.

If even the top of the four leading beauties could be eliminated so easily, then the others would be no exception.

Tencent Entertainment is now ruthlessly eliminating artists from Huayi Film & Television, showing absolutely no mercy.

They don't care who your sugar daddy is.

This is too scary.

Of course, the reason it dared to do this was because even if Tencent Entertainment's stock price plummeted to just one cent.

He wouldn't go bankrupt because of this, not to mention that Chen Pingsheng could easily raise 20 billion from Hong Kong to cover the losses.

Only overwhelming power is the real reason he dares to lift the lid.

That wasn't enough; Tengying then went on to do more in the next two days.

One after another, news broke that the married actress Bai Ying-huang was having an affair with a young man.

This is undoubtedly the box office champion among female celebrities in the entertainment industry.

It was shot down directly by an arrow from Tencent Entertainment.

There's only one reason: she's an artist promoted by Huayi Brothers.

Due to the founder's influence, Tencent Entertainment's stock price had already fallen even more sharply than Huayi's.

Now, the two are evenly matched again.

Huang Zhongshi was utterly devastated; he wished he had known this would be the outcome.

They wouldn't provoke Chen Pingsheng at all, after all, he's a complete madman.

They're completely unpredictable.

The key issue is that Tencent's core assets are no longer Tencent Entertainment.

He can afford to fall, but I can't.

If this continues, the banks will start chasing us for the money.

After all, he had mortgaged Huayi shares to secure a significant loan, so if the stock price really fell to a certain level...

He was definitely the one who couldn't take it anymore.

As for Xu Pipi standing to the side, Fan Haomen meant nothing to him.

At his level, he has an abundance of beautiful women.

The two families are now locked in a fierce battle, which is exactly the result he wanted.

If you don't fight to the death, how can he gain an advantage?

(End of this chapter)