Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 142 Spending money like water

Outside, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and the rain continued to drizzle.

Apart from Zhang Yong and Wang Jing, everyone else who attended the meeting left the office one after another. As the last person left and gently closed the door, the originally crowded office space became spacious and comfortable again.

Seeing Song Ci staring intently at the computer screen with a joyful smile on her face, clearly in a very good mood, Wang Jing jokingly asked, "President Song, what's the good news? Why are you smiling so happily? Tell us so that President Zhang and I can share in your joy!"

Song Ci calmly tapped the mouse and keyboard, saving the exclusive photos sent by Miss Liu to her computer.

Reciting poems and composing verses: Shishi, it's settled then. There are still people in my office, let's contact each other again tonight.

LionKK: You go ahead and get busy, darling. I'll be waiting for you in Hengdian!

Song Ci and Liu Shishi chatted for a bit, and I promised her that I would visit the set of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" before the start of the semester at Peking University.

After ending his QQ chat with his girlfriend, Song Ci composed himself, rested his chin on his hands, and looked at the pair of assistants in front of him.

Zhang Yong and Wang Jing both calmly watched their boss, waiting for him to speak.

Remembering Wang Jing's joke earlier, Song Ci smiled and explained, "There's nothing good news. I was just chatting with Shishi on QQ. The movie she's in, 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes,' starts filming tomorrow, and I promised her I'd visit the set in Hengdian in a few days. Let's get down to business."

Wang Jing was secretly amazed and decided to visit the set again. The boss and Liu Shishi, childhood sweethearts, had an exceptionally good relationship. Their affection for each other was truly enviable, and it seemed they were really headed towards marriage.

Zhang Yong adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, his face showing worry. This year, Tengda Group had too many places where it needed to spend a lot of money. The boss was ambitious and spent money extravagantly, so he, as the company's chief steward, had to tighten his belt.

"President Song, the construction of the office building this year will incur huge expenses."

Negotiations with the Premier League to purchase online broadcasting rights also went poorly, as they were asking for exorbitant prices. In addition, Sohu and Sina deliberately created obstacles and raised prices, so the cost of purchasing broadcasting rights was at least 20% higher than the original budget.

The group is currently under significant financial pressure. If it wants to establish a big data research center now, it would have to resort to loans or issuing bonds.

Song Ci was confident and meticulous in his planning, always acting only after careful consideration. His very words reassured Zhang Yong.

“Old Zhang, as I said, there’s no need to worry about funding. I’ve made quite a bit of money in the European and American futures markets recently, over 2 million US dollars. That money is currently in Shan Hai Capital’s offshore account. Taking 1 million US dollars will be enough to cover the company’s early-stage big data research and development work.”

Song Ci didn't tell the truth and didn't tell the two the real source of the funds. Some things are mysterious and hard to explain, so he just made up a reason.

Zhang Yong breathed a sigh of relief. His boss's ability to make money was truly admirable. With this $2 million, he wouldn't have to worry too much about the company's finances for the next two years, and he wouldn't have to be so anxious that he would lose his hair.

In fact, Tengda Group has always had a good financial situation and a low debt ratio. It's just that this year it has been buying land, building houses, and also buying the Premier League broadcasting rights, so it can't catch its breath for a while.

Zhang Yong's expression suddenly darkened. After thinking for a moment, he asked again, "Under what name should this money be deposited into the company account? Is it considered your capital increase and share expansion in Tengda Group?"

Both he and Wang Jing knew that Tengda Group actually only had one major shareholder, and that Shanhai Capital and Zhongxin Investment were shell companies used by Song Ci to cover up the truth.

Song Ci had already planned it out and directly arranged, "Consider it a loan to the company, and calculate the interest according to the general market interest rate."

If we consider the capital increase and share expansion of Shan Hai Capital, if Zhang Yong and Wang Jing do not increase their capital accordingly, their shares will inevitably be diluted.

Before Tengda Group launched its financing round, Song Ci was reluctant to dilute the equity of his two trusted lieutenants. He believed that by giving up some of their interests, he could ensure that they would stand by him through thick and thin.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Song!" Zhang Yong said with a smile, expressing his sincere gratitude.

He came from an accounting firm background, so how could he not understand Song Ci's good intentions? This was equivalent to the major shareholder paying money for the company to use for free, without diluting his and Wang Jing's shares, and in fact, indirectly increasing the value of the shares.

Wang Jing belatedly realized that with this inside and outside strategy, the company would make a fortune once it went public: "You're so generous!"

"No need for formalities. Tengda Group has also benefited from your efforts. Just continue to work hard to make the company bigger and stronger."

Song Ci smiled and nodded. It was good that the two understood his intention. Each share corresponded to a responsibility. If you wanted someone to work hard for you, you couldn't be stingy. There were many ways to make money, and there was no need to be so calculating about these things.

Zhang Yong and Wang Jing thanked him repeatedly with gratitude, but Song Ci waved his hand to stop their politeness and continued from where Zhang Yong had left off:
"Old Zhang, if the Premier League doesn't know what's good for them and asks for an exorbitant price, let's change our target. Serie A and Bundesliga are not bad either. Among the top five European football leagues, the Premier League is the most famous, but it's not the only option."

The company could change its target, release some information to scare the British, and then the Premier League would probably be the one getting anxious. Among the domestic portals, besides us, who else can afford this huge copyright fee?

Sohu sponsored the Olympics, so it definitely doesn't have the money for league broadcasts. NetEase is focused on investing heavily in games, and Sina, barely surviving, certainly can't come up with tens of millions of US dollars.

Zhang Yong nodded. What the boss said made sense. However, the English Premier League was originally the company's established goal. Now that the chairman agreed to change partners, his job would be easier. He could make the five major football leagues compete so that he could negotiate a lower price.

"I understand what you mean, Mr. Song. We will immediately send someone to contact the other four major leagues."

Song Ci nodded. "That's right, we don't need to fight the Premier League to the death. There's something else. I saw that Yang Junfeng submitted the proposal for the second annual campus beauty pageant organized by Toutiao.com to me for approval again. You can make the decision on this small matter yourself; you don't need to submit it to me again."

Furthermore, I feel that these routine projects that have been going on for two or three years don't need to be reported to me and you at all; Yang Junfeng can just go through the internal procedures at Toutiao and review them.”

Zhang Yong remarked, "Later I talked to Lao Yang about it. He's a very cautious person. After all, the school beauty pageant was a project you personally promoted, so Lao Yang and his subordinates inevitably paid more attention to it."

"There's no need for that. Efficiency is still important within the company."

Zhang Yong seemed to remember something and continued reporting: "Speaking of which, for this campus beauty and campus hunk selection competition, Yahoo is working with Zhejiang TV and Huayi Media to prepare to launch a talent show for ordinary people called 'Yahoo Search Star' in September."

"We're holding beauty pageants on university campuses, while they're holding talent shows in the general public. They're deliberately trying to compete with us and grab attention." Song Ci asked curiously, "Yahoo! Search Star, it's only launching in September?"

He remembered that Zhao Liying, one of the representatives of the post-85 generation of actresses, debuted through Yahoo! Search Star and entered the entertainment industry after being spotted by Feng Xiaogang, but this program should have been held in May!

"It's in September, around the same time as our competition, so it'll probably steal some of the show's popularity."

Song Ci thought it must be the butterfly effect, but outwardly dismissed Yahoo Search with disdain: "Don't worry about them, Yahoo is destined to be unsuitable for the Chinese market and will never amount to anything in China."

If Zhao Liying hadn't debuted through this show in her previous life, probably very few people would remember "Yahoo! Search Star".

Song Ci asked a few more questions, all from departments under Zhang Yong's jurisdiction. The two engaged in a question-and-answer session, and Wang Jing couldn't get a word in edgewise, so she could only listen quietly.

After speaking for a long time, Song Ci's mouth was dry. He drank a few sips of tea to refresh himself and continued to ask:

“A few days ago I was on vacation in Germany when Liu Xiangdong from JD.com contacted me, saying that JD.com wanted to launch its Series A funding round. I was abroad at the time and jet-lagged, so I told him to contact you first.”

I've been busy these past two weeks since returning to China, attending the group's semi-annual meeting, and forgot to ask you, what's the specific situation with Liu Xiangdong?

"I am giving a report. JD.com is developing rapidly and wants to launch its Series A funding round to continue expanding its market."

Zhang Yong paused slightly, staring at Song Ci, and said slowly and deliberately, "Also, Liu Xiangdong wants to set up a warehousing and logistics system!"

"Dong Ge still hasn't forgotten about logistics. It's strange, he seems to have a deep obsession with logistics."

Zhang Yong sighed. He did not approve of JD.com starting its own logistics business right now. He shook his head helplessly: "Yes, Liu Xiangdong has told me more than once that he has always wanted to get into logistics. I have also been trying to persuade him that the time is not right."

However, this year the state revised the Postal Law, adjusting the scope of the postal monopoly and expanding the scope of universal services to include printed matter weighing less than 5 kilograms and parcels weighing less than 10 kilograms, in addition to letters. This made him extremely uneasy.

Song Ci's expression was solemn. This concerned the future development of JD.com, the largest private enterprise in China with over 500,000 employees in the future. He couldn't afford to be careless: "What is JD.com's current valuation? And how much funding does Liu Xiangdong want?"

Without hesitation, Zhang Yong replied, "JD.com's current pre-investment valuation is around 4 million yuan, and Liu Xiangdong wants to raise 15%, about 750 million US dollars."

Song Ci silently calculated in her mind that, thanks to the resource support from Toutiao.com, the largest portal website in China, JD.com's current development is much better than the same period in the previous life, and its valuation of 4 million yuan is about the same.

Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately decided: "I agree to Liu Xiangdong's request. Tengda Group can lead the investment."

Seeing Song Ci's resolute response, Zhang Yong thought to himself that, as expected, the chairman had always been optimistic about Liu Xiangdong and would definitely support his decision. However, he still felt compelled to elaborate on his own views:
"President Song, you support him in developing logistics, but to develop logistics, it is necessary to build warehousing and storage centers in major cities across the country, plus the tools for transporting materials. These are all heavy assets, requiring an investment of at least several billion yuan, which is definitely not something that JD.com can afford at present!"

A confident look appeared on Song Ci's face as she softly recited: "'A favorable wind lends its strength, sending me soaring to the clouds.' With the current policy development, it is truly a golden opportunity for the development of logistics."

With the rapid development of the national economy and the increasing market demand, logistics, as a crucial link connecting production and consumption, has enormous potential.

With the booming development of e-commerce, the logistics industry is ushering in an unprecedented golden age. Of course, things take time; you can't expect to achieve everything overnight.

His eyes shone with determination. Logistics is the core of e-commerce business. Tengda Group is not doing e-commerce now, but that doesn't mean it won't in the future. If it wants to develop Pinduoduo and live-streaming e-commerce in the future, logistics will be the lifeline.

After speaking, he lowered his head and pondered for a moment: "We not only need to support JD.com in developing its logistics, but Tenda also needs to invest in and support a private courier company."

The internet industry is a winner-takes-all industry; if you fall behind, you'll fall behind every step of the way. Currently, the four major express delivery companies in China, STO Express, YTO Express, ZTO Express, and Yunda Express, have only been around for a short time. If Tengda's main business weren't not e-commerce, it would definitely follow Alibaba's example and invest in these express delivery companies to gain a certain degree of influence. It is still necessary to focus on supporting one of them as a precautionary measure.

Zhang Yong realized he might have underestimated the chairman's ambition. While the logistics company required huge amounts of capital for development, once it was on track, the livelihoods of tens of thousands of employees depended on it, and local leaders would have to pay attention. Considering the boss's ability to generate revenue, he readily accepted the offer.
"Mr. Song, if you want to support Liu Xiangdong in developing logistics, I will fully cooperate. I will also investigate and find another courier company. The big data center won't cost 2 million US dollars for now, and it's a waste to keep the money in the account. I will help you spend it as soon as possible."

"Spending money like water!" Song Ci shook his head helplessly. In just a few words, 2 million US dollars was about to disappear. If he didn't have a way to raise money, Tengda would have had to seek financing to develop.

Once financing is secured, even if control is maintained through A/B share structure, major decision-making will not be as easy as it is now.

After speaking with Zhang Yong, Song Ci turned to Wang Jing and asked, "Sister Jing, is there anything important going on in your area lately?"

Wang Jing is mainly in charge of the group's internal affairs and the affairs of the three subsidiaries. Because she plans to graduate from Peking University early next academic year and has a heavy academic workload, she needs to carefully sort out the company's affairs during the summer vacation.

After waiting for a long time, it was finally Wang Jing's turn to report: "I don't have anything important to do recently, and the three subsidiaries are developing very well."

The company expects its net profit attributable to the parent company this year to be no less than 80 million yuan. There is some good news, though: Director Jiang of CCTV's Arts and Entertainment Center was just promoted to deputy director last week.

A pleasant surprise! Song Ci smiled and said, "It is indeed good news."

He had dealt with Jiang Tao a few times and their relationship was fairly good. Now that Jiang Tao had been promoted to deputy director of CCTV, he was considered an important connection in the propaganda system. This kind of connection might not be needed for a long time, but it might be very useful at a critical moment.

"Okay, you should talk to Minister Ma first and see if Director Jiang has time recently. We can invite him to dinner. I have plenty of time during the summer vacation." Song Ci still attends some necessary social engagements these days; such is the situation in the country, and it's unavoidable.

"Minister Ma has also been promoted. He has taken over Jiang Tao's position and is the new director of the Arts and Literature Center."

Song Ci was taken aback upon hearing this: "Minister Ma is an old acquaintance of mine. That's great! Then we definitely have to have this meal!"

Wang Jing smiled and said, "I'll arrange it as soon as possible and let you know when we meet."

(End of this chapter)