Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 499 TikTok's IPO, Chatting in the War Room
June 18, 9:6 AM, Hong Kong Stock Exchange internal operations room.

Today is the day TikTok went public and rang the opening bell. TikTok's senior management team, represented by Zhou Shouzi, along with investors such as Tencent, Sequoia Capital, and SoftBank, all gathered here.

They just finished a meeting.

At the meeting, Zhou Shouzi stated that the market response to TikTok's IPO was very enthusiastic, and he was very confident about the stock's performance after the market opened today.

There's still half an hour until the bell rings and the market opens. If you include the time for interviews and socializing, then there are only a dozen minutes left.

In such a short time, no one had the energy to wander around anymore; instead, they scattered throughout the operations room to find someone to chat with.

As the representative of Douyin's parent company, and given his own outstanding investment record, Chen Xiu naturally had no shortage of people to chat with while staying in the operations room.

You even have to wait in line to chat with him...

Liu Chiping glanced behind Chen Xiu and smiled at him, saying, "President Chen, you're very popular!"

"Ok?"

Chen Xiu looked back in confusion and saw Lei Jun and Shen Nanpeng, who were eager to try, behind her.

Although they hold a small stake, Shunwei Capital and Sequoia Capital are among TikTok's investors.

"It's normal for President Shen to come, but Lei Jun... I originally thought he would send a representative."

Are you implying something?

Liu Chiping chuckled lightly, a strange expression on his face.

Chen Xiu suddenly realized: "I wasn't talking about you. President Ma couldn't come by himself, so he sent you, the number two person, which shows that he values ​​this IPO very much."

"Hehe, do you know why Pony doesn't have time?"

"Is there some other special reason?"

Liu Chiping crossed his arms in front of him, glanced left and right to make sure no one else was coming, and then whispered an explanation to Chen Xiu.

"Well, he's been practicing his acting in the office lately..."

"Practicing a performance?"

Chen Xiu's face showed even more confusion, but after a moment's thought, her eyes suddenly lit up again.

"Is he practicing the script?"

Liu Chiping pursed his lips and nodded silently.

Chen Xiu stared at him for a few seconds before saying, "The script I sent him was only three pages long, so he shouldn't need to spend too much time practicing it, right?"

“Well… Pony is rather introverted. When faced with a speech that he absolutely has to give, he will practice many times in private to ensure his performance.”

To save face for his boss, Liu Chiping used the term "social anxiety" very euphemistically, but his mind uncontrollably drifted to the scenes of Pony dragging him to rehearsals after get off work these past two days...

Chen Xiu stared at him for a few more seconds, then reluctantly changed the subject.

"What about Line?"

"I came here to talk to you about this."

When the conversation turned to business, Liu Chiping moved his hands, which had been crossed in front of him, to his sides, and his expression changed from awkwardness and embarrassment to seriousness and solemnity.

"Last week, Line went private and was delisted. WeChat officially merged with Line. The new company will continue to use the name and logo of Line. Penguin Capital holds 51% of the shares, and Naver (Line's parent company) holds 49%."

"Our work is finished. When do you plan to have TikTok partner with Line?"

Although the ultimate goal of the two companies is to merge, in order to avoid making too big a move and causing unnecessary trouble, they still need to use cooperation as an excuse in the early stages.

Chen Xiu pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Zhou Shouzi not far away, and said to Liu Chiping, "It would be better if you communicated directly with Shouzi about this part."

"OK."

Liu Chiping nodded slightly and followed Chen Xiu toward Zhou Shouzi.

Seeing the two's actions, Zhou Shouzi was not suspicious but rather pleased and took the initiative to greet them, then first extended his hand to Chen Xiu.

"Mr. Chen, you've finally arrived!"

"what's the situation?"

"I felt a little awkward talking to Mr. Lei, who was right next to me..."

"Then go and talk to General Manager Liu."

Chen Xiu then pushed Liu Chiping forward, and after speaking, she went to Zhou Shouzi to explain, "It's about the collaboration between TikTok and Line."

"OK OK!"

Zhou Shouzi smiled with a mixture of joy and restraint, and shook hands with Liu Chiping very warmly.

As fellow professional managers, they seemed to have more to talk about, with a whole lot of polite small talk to them.

Chen Xiu felt that listening to their mutual flattery was rather boring, so she stepped aside to rest for a while. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a figure approaching.

"Mr. Lei?"

"Hehe, Mr. Chen, it's been a long time."

Seeing Lei Jun's complicated expression, Chen Xiu immediately understood Zhou Shouzi's embarrassment.

Since its listing last year, Xiaomi's stock price has been sluggish, and in recent days it has lost nearly half of its market value.

In this situation, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that things are on the verge of collapse. I heard that Lei Jun was even visited by shareholders several times.

Xiaomi is in such a bad situation, but TikTok is going public. Zhou Shouzi, who left Xiaomi, is even going to participate in the TikTok IPO bell-ringing ceremony with Chen Xiu, and Lei Jun is standing by watching...

Chen Xiuguang felt incredibly embarrassed just thinking about it, and seeing the real person standing in front of him made him even more embarrassed.

Lei Jun's feelings were naturally complicated, but since things had come to this point, there was no point in bringing up old grievances and questioning Chen Xiu about why he poached Zhou Shouzi.

"Mr. Chen, I came here to ask you a question."

"Please advise me." Chen Xiu and Lei Busi already had a pretty good relationship, so it was no problem for them to chat when they met.

Lei Bus glanced around to make sure no one was there before talking to Chen Xiu about his confusion.

"Mr. Chen, have you been keeping an eye on Xiaomi's stock price lately?"

"Ahem, yes."

"From a personal perspective, I think Xiaomi's stock price is severely undervalued, but shareholders cannot understand the current short-term difficulties, so I want to try to introduce external shareholders to boost confidence."

So, is there anyone in mind?

Chen Xiu looked at Lei Busi uncertainly, thinking to herself: You wouldn't have chosen me, would you?

Lei Jun pursed his lips, then raised them, revealing his signature smile.

"I feel that you are a perfect match."

When did you come up with this idea?

"When I was chatting with the shareholders last time..."

"Oh, chatting."

Chen Xiu didn't delve into the meaning of the conversation, but instead began to seriously consider Lei Jun's suggestion.

Xiaomi's current stock price is over 8 yuan. If you buy now, there is indeed a lot of room for appreciation in the future. From the perspective of return on investment, this is definitely a worthwhile deal.

As for those marketing tactics that have been criticized, they seem to have nothing to do with the shareholders.

Lei Jun has deeply integrated himself with Xiaomi, becoming a symbolic figure similar to Steve Jobs. Therefore, any future praise, adulation, or criticism will depend entirely on him and have nothing to do with others.

"Mr. Lei, let me think about it."

"Sure, if you're interested, we can talk in more detail after the bell-ringing ceremony. Right now, I can give you a brief introduction to Xiaomi and the company's future plans."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lei Jun pulled Chen Xiu aside and began his introduction.

"Actually, we've always wanted to enter the high-end mobile phone market, but the results have never been ideal..."

"It's a positioning issue. From the beginning, Xiaomi has been pursuing a cost-effective strategy. This mindset is already deeply ingrained in users' minds, and changing it is not so simple."

Chen Xiu shared her understanding of Xiaomi's brand positioning.

Upon hearing the term "thought imprint," Lei Jun's eyes lit up: "President Chen, you've also read 'The Dark Forest'?"

"Guo Fan recommended it to me, and I took a quick look at it."

“I also really like this novel, so it seems we have a lot in common.”

"hehe."

Chen Xiu's smile was awkward but polite.

After establishing a closer relationship, Lei Jun continued, "I share the same feeling about the idea of ​​'imprinting ideas' you mentioned. In order to change users' mindsets, we plan to develop a high-end flagship phone, somewhat similar to Apple's Pro version."

"You guys aren't going to use the 'Pro' series name too, are you?"

Chen Xiu looked at Lei Jun suspiciously, and wanted to suggest that he stop comparing everything to Apple.

Fortunately, at this time, the mobile phone business was still Xiaomi's main business, and Lei Jun still had some ambition.

“We don’t use Pro; we want to make phones with a higher standard than professional, taking the ultimate hardware route, so this series is named Ultra.”

With a preacher's tone, Lei Jun described his grand vision to Chen Xiu.

In response, Chen Xiu simply gave an awkward but polite smile.

After talking about his Ultra, Lei Jun then approached Chen Xiu and coaxed, "Mr. Chen, Xiaomi's Ultra version is expected to be launched next year. When that happens, could you be the spokesperson for the phone?"

"Me, the spokesperson for Xiaomi?"

"That's right! With your popularity, if you become a Xiaomi shareholder, it would be perfectly legitimate for you to endorse their phones."

Chen Xiu stared wide-eyed, her caution tinged with a hint of fear.

I was wondering why Lei Jun suddenly wanted to turn me into a shareholder. Turns out, this scheme to get people involved is a series of interconnected steps.

If I agree to become the spokesperson for Xiaomi Ultra, wouldn't I have to share the burden of your work in the future? No way, this isn't about the money.

"Mr. Lei, I still need to consider whether to invest in Xiaomi. As for endorsing the phones, I can tell you now, no."

"why?"

"I should have retired from the entertainment industry and stopped being a celebrity by next year."

"..."

Lei Jun was stunned, thinking: You actually retired from the entertainment industry just to refuse to endorse Xiaomi.

Chen Xiu shrugged, giving an expression that said, "That's just how it is."

Seeing that Lei Jun wanted to say something more, Chen Xiu immediately raised her hand and called out to Zhou Shouzi, "Shouzi, it's almost time. Let's get ready to go out."

"OK!"

Zhou Shouzi waved in response, then turned and chatted warmly with Liu Chiping for a couple of minutes.

Seeing this scene, Lei Jun grimaced, feeling a chill run down his spine... and then he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Chen Xiu patted Lei Jun on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Mr. Lei, I will seriously consider your suggestion to invest in Xiaomi. I don't think the current short-term downturn will cause you too much trouble. Keep it up!"

"Uh...thank you."

Lei Busi watched Chen Xiu greet Zhou Shouzi and Liu Chiping and stride towards the door, and a strange feeling welled up in his heart.

(End of this chapter)