What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 701 Turmoil (4k)

Xiong Xiaoge and Jim ultimately had a cooperative relationship. His communication with his old friend filled the last link in the information chain. Breyer Capital's 10.125% stake was transferred to Facebook for $1.4175 million, which means that the two parties valued MusVid at $14 billion.

This figure is basically close to the lower limit of mainstream Wall Street valuations, which makes Xiong Xiaoge even more indignant.

Regardless of the future, just looking at the valuation of this round of financing, Peak Capital is willing to offer a valuation of 20 billion. If Jim is willing to negotiate, he can definitely sell it for a higher price than Facebook. This proves that their transaction does not take into account purely commercial circumstances.

Of course, it's perfectly reasonable for Jim to consider his own overall interests. This investment in Mus has increased nearly 40 times, which is undoubtedly a great success, and he can consider it a cash cow.

After all, Vine, backed by Twitter and with a larger user base, went bankrupt, and with Facebook's continued focus on this sector, Mus might not be able to survive to the end. Moreover, Mus's user retention rate is generally low, which is similar to Vine's.

Before its apparent decline, Vine boasted 2 million monthly active users, but only half the daily active users of Snap, and it lacked the ability to monetize independently. It is said that Twitter considered spinning off Vine again, but its valuation was only around $8 million.

In comparison, Snap's funding this year has reached a valuation of $200 billion, which is indeed incomparable. Even though Musk differs in terms of algorithmic distribution and market layout, its prospects are still controversial.

After clarifying the situation internally, Lingang found that there had been no communication with Jim, nor any contact with him regarding Facebook's acquisition of shares, as if nothing had happened.

Similarly, Facebook remained silent and made no move.

Chung Chih-ling waited and waited, finding Facebook's reaction rather strange. He felt it was too arrogant and decided to ask about its intentions and plans.

When Yu Xing overheard this casual conversation during dinner, he didn't express his own thoughts but instead turned to look at Liu Chiping.

Liu Chiping pondered, "Large companies do tend to have many problems; they can be arrogant and slow to react. But they are not without advantages. I suspect that Facebook is also observing our reaction."

Lingang Town remained calm, as if Facebook had forgotten about the more than 100 million US dollars it had spent.

Zhong Zhiling was slightly taken aback, then agreed, "President Liu is right. We cannot underestimate such a giant."

Liu Chiping laughed and said, "It's just casual conversation. Right now, it's all speculation. Maybe the most direct reason is that Zuckerberg is so engrossed in golf that he has forgotten about small fry like us."

Yu Xing did not add anything to this statement, naturally agreeing with Liu Chiping's point of view. Facebook's actions this time seemed sudden, but with the transformation of Breyer Capital into GI shell company, it was a well-prepared move, and the current silence is worth pondering.

After a moment, he laughed and said, "Short videos are not as good as Snap now, but they still have potential. Otherwise, Facebook would not have offered a valuation of $14 billion to buy them. It's just that they seem weaker than Snap. I think Facebook is still inclined to eventually launch an acquisition against us."

"If I were Zuckerberg, having already made this move, I would still need to create an internal competitor to compete with it. This would create pressure from both competition and acquisition."

Liu Chiping nodded slightly, agreeing with this approach: a combination of persuasion and pressure, using pressure to encourage persuasion or vice versa, the future prospects of short videos would definitely outweigh the costs.

The group chatted for a while longer, and just as the lunch was about to end, a call came in from overseas.

Yu Xing looked at the number on his phone and laughed, "It's an overseas call. Guess who it is? I bet it's from Facebook."

He answered the phone and, a few seconds later, gave Zhong Zhiling and Liu Chiping an affirming look.

Not just a Facebook person, but also Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.

For giants, a move worth hundreds of millions of dollars is clearly not as insignificant as it seems.

Liu Chiping and Zhong Zhiling both held their breath slightly, listening carefully to President Yu's simple and straightforward English.

The phone call was short, probably less than a minute.

Yu Xing put down his phone, his expression turning serious: "Zuckerberg wants to acquire Mus and wants me to be the CEO of Facebook."

Zhong Zhiling and Liu Chiping exclaimed in unison, "Huh??"

Yu Xing laughed and said, "Just kidding. It was just small talk about the acquisition of shares. We're optimistic about us and the future of short videos. We hope for a win-win situation."

Zhong Zhiling was both amused and exasperated.

Liu Chiping sighed: "I knew it, it's not a penguin."

Yu Xing noticed that General Manager Liu was increasingly fond of making fun of his former employer.

He said, "This is a minor setback, but it won't affect Facebook's encirclement and suppression of Snap. That directly competes with its core product. We still have a window of opportunity. Now that Facebook has acquired it, we should ensure data isolation while also getting it to allocate resources to us. Let's see what we can cultivate under its nose in the end."

Although there was no substantial content, the casual phone call was a gesture of goodwill.

Liu Chiping actively changed his mind, saying, "When I go to the United States, I will visit Facebook again to see if we can get another low-interest loan from our new shareholder. We will buy as many Facebook and Instagram ads as they lend us."

In addition to the $2 million it seeks for its third round of financing, Mus also plans to secure $1-2 million in loans. Originally, its target was institutions in China, Singapore, and Hong Kong, but now it may consider creating a honeymoon period.

Being willing to be associated with Facebook and to receive money from Facebook is also a matter of attitude.

Yu Xing neither confirmed nor denied this. Snap will not sit idly by and will receive a large amount of funding after its IPO. There will be fierce competition between the two sides. That is the general direction. How to proceed in detail is up to Liu Chiping.

Liu Chiping became somewhat distracted while thinking about the work ahead, considering both Mus's overt development and Shanfeng's secret covetousness.

The three returned to the office, and another report from Hong Kong media appeared on their phones.

In recent days, there have been more frequent reports about silicon carbon groups in Hong Kong, most of which are pessimistic, and today's article is no exception. However, this article from the Hong Kong Economic Journal mentioned silicon carbon and subsidies while discussing a case of fraudulent subsidies by a new energy vehicle company in mainland China.

In just the last two days, Yang Shuiping, the owner of Suzhou Jimxi Bus Company, was formally detained for allegedly defrauding subsidies amounting to 2 million yuan. Two company executives and a staff member from the vehicle management office were also detained along with him.

This wasn't particularly sudden, because back in March, Caixin.com had already reported on the company's abnormal production fluctuations in a report titled "Jimsi Subsidy Fraud Suspicion."

By the end of March, CCTV's "Morning News" and "Economic Information Broadcast" also reported on the matter, which almost confirmed that the company was facing a major crisis.

The official action taken by the relevant departments this month only confirmed the rumors, and the methods of fraud were still nothing new: colluding with outsiders to use false materials to obtain false certificates of conformity, then illegally obtaining vehicle registration certificates, and finally applying for subsidies based on fictitious sales transactions.

Last year's exposure of the peak crossing time period already revealed similar fraud, and this time, the Jimsey company confirms that there are quite a few people in the industry who are profiting from this.

The latest report in the Hong Kong Economic Journal intentionally or unintentionally mentioned the sales volume of Silicon Carbon Group, then discussed the subsidy decline faced by Silicon Carbon, and finally mentioned Mountain Peak in a joking tone, suggesting that the exposure of GMC might be the work of a major short seller.

There is a major short seller in the new energy industry. He has targeted both well-known gasoline car manufacturers and domestic new energy counterparts. Such a past experience is quite easy to misunderstand.

The Economic Daily's report was relatively restrained, seemingly covering up the truth, but other Hong Kong media outlets, which like to exaggerate, followed suit and fabricated sensational news.

—A conman meets a tycoon! A short-selling firm uses underhanded tactics, causing a company to go bankrupt!

—The shrewd businessmen are sharpening their knives, and the company will be devoured until there's nothing left!
—A forceful coercion has left yet another company devastated!

Yu Xing was truly exasperated, especially by the bizarre headlines from Hong Kong media.

For a while, he frequently received tabloid-like reports forwarded by Xiao Ying, covering all sorts of topics. That evening, Yu Xing showed Zhong Zhiling a report that had been edited together over a long period of time. It was very detailed and claimed that he had gone to Suzhou for on-site investigation, and he could tell at a glance that there were problems in it.

Zhong Zhiling looked at it and asked, "Brother Xing, wait a minute, you haven't been to Suzhou recently, have you?"

Yu Xing replied irritably, "Of course not."

Zhong Zhiling nodded and then asked, "Was it Zhao Shuo or Li Song who went?"

Yu Xing stared at Zhong Zhiling.

Zhong Zhiling looked at his senior brother intently.

Yu Xing pursed his lips, suspecting he was joking, and asked, "You believe me?"

"Huh?" Zhong Zhiling then realized he might have misunderstood. His senior brother didn't seem to be boasting about his achievements. He hesitated for two seconds and asked, "Should I believe him?"

Yu Xing smiled without saying a word.

After laughing, he shook his head repeatedly: "What kind of person am I in your eyes?"

Chung Chih-ling had already confirmed the answer to the matter from this reaction, but he still felt it was hard to say. He hadn't expected the culprit to be right next to him when he shorted Volkswagen.

Yu Xing didn't dwell on the matter with Zhong Zhiling anymore. However, when he saw the news that evening, he also saw a Weibo influencer seriously analyzing Shanfeng's role in the new energy subsidy fraud. He found it both funny and infuriating, and posted a message on his WeChat Moments.

He reposted a Hong Kong media report, adding a laughing-crying emoji, and commented: "Yes, yes, it was all me, I know everything."

Since Yu Xing posted on his WeChat Moments, it can be considered a response, because the comments section quickly filled up, and naturally some people would take screenshots and spread them.

As expected, similar terms appeared in the trending searches on platforms such as Weibo, Zhihu, and Baixiaosheng.

Anyone with common sense can see that it's sarcasm, but...

Suzhou Jimxi Company is definitely finished now.

Two senior executives in Pengcheng were already smoking in their offices, feeling agitated after seeing the report about Jimsey Company. When they suddenly came across President Yu's words, they looked at each other in surprise, as if they had both heard the commotion.

Geek!

That big short seller has appeared...

He said he knew...

Logically, he shouldn't know, but...

The reason why a stock price surges is a surge, and why the "King of Short Sellers" became the "King of Short Sellers," is not because of media reports, but because different listed companies used their market capitalization to burn through the stock price.

Moreover, there are rumors in the industry that the seventh floor of the Silicon Carbon Group has become Guoshanfeng's official office, which means that Guoshanfeng is operating normally in China and it is unknown what he is investigating or monitoring.

“Yu Xing’s words are a complaint.” The executive sitting down was named Geng Xiu, the deputy general manager of Pengcheng Wuzhoulong Company. After a long silence, he gave the most logical judgment.

Ren Bingquan, who was in charge of sales, puffed on his cigarette. After finishing it, he said worriedly, "Is Guo Shanfeng really investigating this? What if..."

It's better to be safe than sorry.

Geng Xiu was also worried about this. Logically speaking, his company was in the business of new energy commercial vehicles and had never had any dealings with the Silicon Carbon Group. But the person in Lingang couldn't be judged by common sense. And his method of fraudulently obtaining subsidies was exactly the same as that of the Suzhou company that was exposed this time.

Forging documents, colluding with outsiders, and fraudulently applying for subsidies.

This is the easiest path to implement.

However, it now seems that this path is completely unsafe!

Geng Xiu thought about the achievements of the mountain peak, the listed companies, and BYD, which was said to have a good relationship with carbon silicon. Even BYD was stabbed in the back without mercy by the big short sellers. If they really found out the clues, would they still have a way to survive?

Silence fell in the office, which soon filled with smoke. The more they thought about it, the more worried and afraid they became.

For those with nothing to do, it's a source of amusement; for those with something to do, it reflects on their own situation.

After a long silence, Ren Bingquan said softly, "How about we...we take the initiative, take the initiative..."

Geng Xiu's glaring eyes made Ren Bingquan unable to continue speaking.

After another long pause, Geng Xiu stubbed out his cigarette and said resolutely, "If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move. I'll just hold out like this. I refuse to believe that the man surnamed Yu is a god! If you have the guts, come and fight me!"

Ren Bingquan remained silent and did not object.

He didn't get home until very late that night, and after going to bed, he tossed and turned all night.

At two o'clock in the morning, just as I was getting into a hazy state, a text message came in from my boss.

Geng Xiu: The lawyer said that surrendering oneself could result in a suspended sentence.

Ren Bingquan instantly came to his senses; if they needed to slow down, they should slow down together.

The following day, the Wuzhoulong gang arrived at the local police station and surrendered themselves, truthfully confessing to the company's fraudulent activities involving new energy commercial vehicles.

The person taking the statement was astonished by the man who had come to their door, and couldn't help but ask about his motivation: "Mr. Geng, what made you agree to come?"

Geng Xiu remained silent, then asked for a cigarette. After smoking one, he said heavily, "I also saw the booming development of the domestic new energy industry, so I couldn't bear to see our own counterfeiting ruin the overall situation."

He looked at the two people in front of him who were trying not to laugh, sighed and added, "I heard that the carbon silicon company in Lingang is helping to develop a data tracking and comparison system. I think... it would be better to try to get leniency."

This is what Geng Xiu saw in the news.

Two days later, he gave another statement to add details, but just as he was about to sign, he suddenly heard a sound.

"Um, Mr. Geng, Lingang Carbon Silicon has denied the rumors, saying they weren't responsible for the data system. You can't believe everything you read in the news."

Geng Xiu stood there stunned, dumbfounded. "The tabloids have misled me!"

Lingang...that scared me!
After a while, he signed the document and comforted himself: "If we don't do silicon carbide, someone else will... He has already exposed the way he forged the documents, so there's no escaping it, no escaping it."

(End of this chapter)