Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 298: You offended the abbot and still want to leave?

The phone hasn't hung up yet.

These days, cell phone volume is still quite loud. Everyone quieted down to listen, and the voice came from the cell phone that Chen Xuebing was holding.

"A special permit from the Ministry of Information Industry? Do you have the necessary documentation?"

"I told you, the license plate will arrive soon."

Mr. Chen's expression gradually hardened, and the person on the other end of the phone could sense a murderous aura in his eyes.

Everyone present could tell that someone was about to be in trouble.

Chen Xuebing certainly couldn't allow the factory to be shut down, especially since it was airing on CCTV right then and there.

joke.

The voices from the other end continued to haunt them.

"You can't just make things up without proof, can you? Here's what we'll do! I'll issue you a ticket first! The factory gate will be temporarily sealed off! If you have the necessary permits, come to our company with them and explain, okay?"

This time, Chen Xuebing's voice was completely calm: "Who reported us?"

"It's impossible to tell you this. What if you retaliate against someone? What about the public?"

"The masses." Chen Xuebing scoffed. "Good masses, comrade. Let me tell you again, our factory is a production unit for Olympic communication terminals. I now suspect that someone is deliberately using you to disrupt the production of important Olympic facilities. At the latest by noon, your city leaders will receive a call from the ministry. Go ahead and post whatever you want. When I return to Shenzhen, I will come to visit you. What's your work number?"

"Huh?" The voice on the other end rose sharply upon hearing this: "Olympics... wait a minute, let me ask..."

"What's your employee ID number?" Chen Xuebing asked again.

There was a moment of silence on the other end, then the tone softened completely: "I'm sorry, it was a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding."

What's your employee ID number?

The person on the other end dared not speak.

"Either you explain clearly who reported it." Chen Xuebing's voice became authoritative again: "Comrade, you need to understand, this matter is very serious. If it's unclear and involves foreign investment, you might not be a comrade anymore."

Chen Xuebing has figured it out. He has no enemies in Shenzhen, and even people from Huaqiangbei can't control these units. At this critical juncture, it's very likely that Apple is behind this.

"This"

The person on the other end of the line went hoarse for a moment, clearly indicating extreme tension.

The call was immediately disconnected.

Chen Xuebing picked up the phone that had been hung up, looked at it, and cursed with a cold laugh: "Fuck you."

The cursing immediately lightened the atmosphere considerably.

Everyone could see that President Chen had the upper hand.

Liu Chuan chuckled and patted Chen Xuebing's arm: "Hehe, Xuebing, you're super famous now. Who's so blind as to offend you? Where did this happen? I'll help you find someone to ask."

Chen Xuebing's expression had returned to normal. He shook his head and smiled, "It's okay, I can handle it."

In the time it took to say those two sentences, Chen Xuebing's phone lit up again.

He picked it up and looked at it; it was a text message from an unknown number.

The text above simply reads: Foxconn, Liu X.

This name does indeed indicate foreign investment.

The person on the other end panicked the moment they heard the words "foreign investment" and "Olympics" linked together, but they couldn't say it directly on the phone, so they quickly sent the whistleblower's name via text message as if trying to save their own life.

Standing next to Chen Xuebing, Liu Chuan also caught a glimpse of the name, his smile relaxed, and he said in a hearty and bold voice:

"Oh, Foxconn! Lenovo has business with them! Shall I give them a heads-up for you?"

Hon Hai Precision Industry, behind this name, represents a market value of tens of billions of US dollars, making it an absolute behemoth. Terry Gou is currently the richest man in Taiwan, with a net worth of tens of billions of New Taiwan Dollars, which translates to one or two hundred billion RMB at a 4:1 exchange rate.

But this is a Taiwanese-owned enterprise.

This means they will not have any influence on the mainland, nor will any officials have any deep connections with them.

Another contractor doing processing work for Lenovo, that's easy to control.

If it were a Western foreign investment, he would have hesitated a bit, but when he saw that it was Foxconn, Liu Chuan instantly felt that this was a good deal without cost. He immediately acted generously and made it clear that he wanted to help Chen Xuebing. He even deliberately told the people around him that he wanted to spread the story as a tale of his great righteousness.

Chen Xuebing smiled and said, "Then thank you, President Liu."

"Hey." Liu Chuan waved his hand: "We're all brothers, just call me Brother Liu!"

Chen Xuebing still had some doubts. The first generation of Apple products didn't enter China, so why was Foxconn manufacturing them for them so early?

That makes sense, though. Labor is cheaper in China than in Japan. Foxconn started out making plastics and then acquired car companies. Its precision molds and metal processing technologies are also very mature.

He thought for a moment, then turned to Lei Jun and said, "I have something to do, you organize things first."

After saying that, he went to the chairman's office.

The roadshow in the outer hall proceeded smoothly.

Chen Xuebing's classroom-style arrangement, while not as high-end as a professional roadshow hall, made it convenient for investors to ask questions and interact closely, and the atmosphere was also good.

Chen Xuebing also made a phone call for more than an hour in his office.

The office and the lobby were separated by only one door. During the ten-minute break, it quieted down outside again. Listening closely, you could vaguely hear people talking about "customs" and "tax evasion," and then something about "canceling their orders," in an unquestionable tone.

Those outside were secretly alarmed; this President Chen was truly shrewd in dealing with people, but some also felt a sense of schadenfreude and wanted to laugh.

Only one fund manager at CDH Investments knew that the group had bought 800 million yuan worth of convertible bonds from Foxconn, and wondered whether he should report it to headquarters.

The investment community has spontaneously formed a circle because every piece of information is important. Knowing who is having a lucky streak is important, as is knowing who has offended a major enemy.

After making all the arrangements, Chen Xuebing finally dialed the phone number of Qi Guangming, the factory director of the mobile phone factory.

“We’ll set up a special task force right now to poach people from all of Foxconn’s factories, specifically engineers and skilled workers. Aren’t mobile phone assembly plants short of people and technology? Perfect, we can poach them all from Foxconn. I’ll have people from Emerson Headhunting come over to assist you.”

"Sss Foxconn? They're a global giant! This isn't a good idea, is it? It'll offend a lot of people."

"The factory closure today was reported by Foxconn, especially that factory in the Longhua Park in Shenzhen. Didn't it export tens of billions of dollars this year? Openly dig them out, dig them out hard. If they dare to cause trouble, I'll have Huo Xiaowen bring people from Huaqiangbei to help you."

"Huh? They reported it?? Why?!"

"You don't need to worry about it, just do as instructed."

"But their senior engineers all have non-compete agreements, right? We wouldn't be able to use them even if we poached them!"

"Whether they're useful or not! Anyone with technical skills and management knowledge, we want them! We'll keep anyone with a non-compete agreement! They don't need to work for now!"

"Chairman, how many people do we want to poach?"

"The more people you recruit, the bigger the factory I'll build for you! Once you have enough people, we'll switch from a self-operated factory to an OEM factory! I'll bring you orders to support you!"

“Chairman, contract manufacturers are different. They need to be large-scale. Orders from those small factories in Huaqiangbei won’t work. The orders are scattered, the demand is constantly changing, the costs can’t be reduced, and we can’t make money.”

"I know! Why are you talking so much? Do you want to do this job? If you don't, I'll find someone else."

Qi Guangming immediately stood at attention: "I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"

After hanging up the phone, Chen Xuebing pondered for a while before a smile gradually appeared on his face.

The factory is just an empty shell now; they haven't even bought any equipment yet. It's perfect timing that Foxconn has suddenly appeared.

very good.

The roadshow ended in two hours.

A luncheon with open seating was arranged, allowing the organizations to freely interact with the founders.

After the meal, only a few of the twenty-odd institutions left, and most of them expressed their intention to invest.

In JD.com's Series C funding round, GSR Ventures and CDH Investments decided to participate, each investing $2000 million. SoftBank Asia, having invested in Taobao, is still seeking approval from its headquarters. These two investors are adept at leveraging momentum, believing that Liu Qiangdong, as an entrepreneur, has grand ambitions and that the business model he operates in has great potential. Furthermore, they value the behind-the-scenes support from Chen Xuebing and Series B shareholders Lenovo and Tomorrow Capital, and decided to invest without even verifying the data presented by Liu Qiangdong.

Several other companies were hesitant and wanted to visit JD.com and have a private meeting with Liu Qiangdong, but Liu Qiangdong has been quite busy lately and could only schedule meetings after get off work.

This Series C funding round may last about a week.

Others feel that JD.com's current valuation is a bit too high, but if they can't invest in a big company, they can invest in a smaller one.

UC is now pre-installed on the Kunlun system, and the team is very mature. Chen Xuebing gave He Xiaopeng an early engineering machine for demonstration purposes. This is the project that investors are most interested in besides JD.com.

Secondly, there's Xinglian Registration Network. It has already secured the support of the Hefei government, and the website is up and running. The only problem is that they're short of funds for the programming. Once they have enough funding, they can conduct pilot programs in several hospitals in Hefei and also obtain the pre-installation rights for the Kunlun system.

Everyone knows that this was spearheaded by President Chen, and there are quite a few people who are interested.

Fengyao Networks: Directly display data.

We made a profit.

The number of registered users was a bit exaggerated, 120 million, which many people didn't believe. However, the number of paying users was 2.7, and the gross profit of 85 RMB was achieved in just over two months after the launch, which is a solid figure.

This is market validation.

Investing in advertising to build up a real user base has potential.

Furthermore, the fact that they have a letter of intent from Tencent for investment is sufficient proof of their value.

Finally, there's iQiyi.

The industry is promising; YouTube is very popular in the US, and investors have a high level of confidence in its potential. However, the website's data is mediocre, far less impressive than the funding figures of other companies in the same industry.

But Hu Li was very eloquent. She stuck close to Liu Chuan and was the first to secure a confirmed investment of $25 (200 million RMB) from Lenovo Capital. Liu Chuan was simply doing Chen Xuebing a personal favor. He was also very generous with the valuation, taking so much money but only asking for 10% of the shares.

IDG also invested $25, taking a 10% stake, but demanded that post-investment management be assigned to them.

Hu Li and Xiong Xiaoge specifically asked Chen Xuebing for his opinion on this matter.

Chen Xuebing agreed without hesitation. Although this girl was inspired, she was completely disorganized, which complemented his approach perfectly.

Let Shunwei Capital and IDG promote it together.

During the uneventful Golden Week holiday, everyone was busy traveling, and the two biggest news stories were about Taiwan.

A cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebration was held in Xiamen, where many Taiwanese veterans returned to their hometowns to pay respects to their ancestors.

A serious car accident occurred in Nantou County, Taiwan, involving a delegation from Dalian.

Although it is very unfortunate news, it is enough to prove that communication between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait is gradually increasing.

The investment news that has been gradually emerging in Beijing is only attracting the attention of a few people.

At a roadshow, UC raised $600 million, valuing the company at $15 million. Chen Xuebing and Lei Jun each invested $1500, totaling $90 million, and each held a 180% stake.

Guahao.com raised $150 in funding, valuing the company at $60 million. Chen Xuebing's stake in the company decreased from 60% to 36%.

Fengyao Network raised $100 million in funding, valuing the company at $300 million. Chen Xuebing's stake in the company decreased from 49% to 32.34%.

iQiyi raised $50 in funding, valuing the company at $200 million, and Chen Xuebing's stake decreased from 49% to 36.75%.

In the most important round of financing, JD.com, Chen Xuebing held 30% of the shares in the first round, which decreased to 19.5% in the second round. In the third round of financing, he raised $3 million at a valuation of 3000 million, increasing his shareholding to 29.5% and becoming the second largest shareholder.

In this round, four institutions participated in the investment: GSR Ventures (2000 million), CDH Investments (2000 million), Sequoia Capital (500 million), IDG Capital (300 million), and Chen Xuebing (3000 million), raising a total of US$7800 million.

Liu Qiangdong's shareholding decreased to 70% in Series A, 45.5% in Series B, and 33.67% in Series C.

The world of the internet is filled with the taste of dreams. A small website raised $1.18 million after three rounds of funding, enough to make an ordinary person rise to the top in one step.

But it's also cruel. In hindsight, $1.18 million, less than a billion RMB, took away 66.33% of the shares of an e-commerce website with annual sales of over a trillion RMB, which is equivalent to absolute control.

Of course, this 66.33% is not yet a reliable indicator, as there will be continuous increases and reductions in investment going forward.

After signing the last contract, Liu Qiangdong called Chen Xuebing and said dejectedly, "Mr. Chen, we have enough money. Why don't we hold off on the Series D funding round next year? I really don't want to raise any more funds. If we do, I won't even be the largest shareholder anymore."

Chen Xuebing was lying on the hotel bed, with Cheng Danting in front of him, her right index finger resting on her lower lip, her eyes sexy yet afraid to move.

He admired the beauty before him, his hand resting on her slender waist as he smiled and said, "Alright, but all the investors are here for the $5 million valuation in my Series D funding round. If you do a good job and make them all think that JD.com is worth more than $5 million, then we won't need to raise any more funds."

Liu Qiangdong's fighting spirit was suddenly ignited: "Good!"

After hanging up the phone, Cheng Danting let out a soft hum, gazing at Chen Xuebing with a shy yet dreamy expression.

"Did I do a good job?"

A smile played on Chen Xuebing's lips as he slid his hand down and patted the smooth, elastic skin, sending ripples through him.

"Well done, keep up the good work."

"Um"

10 month 6 day.

the other side.

The special holiday charter flight between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait departed from Taiwan, circled around the Hong Kong Flight Information Region, and then arrived in Guangzhou.

After disembarking from the plane, the renowned Guo looked at the slogans "Both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family" on both sides of the passageway with a complicated expression.

Nobody knows what Foxconn has been through these past few days.

Lenovo called to stop the OEM orders.

It didn't really stop.

Tianyu Langtong directly rejected the orders for the first quarter of 2006. The contract, worth hundreds of millions of yuan, had been negotiated for more than a month, but suddenly fell through.

Every day, people are openly poaching employees from the Foxconn factory gates. The Longhua plant is losing hundreds of employees every day, resulting in a severe shortage of manpower on two production lines.

Subordinates also reported that there were people watching from a distance while unloading cargo at the ports of Shenzhen and Dalian these past few days.

Dinghui called to inquire about the exit of convertible bonds.

Terry Gou knew who the other party was, but there was nothing he could do about it.

That Mr. Chen appears incredibly glamorous in the media, but in private he's a complete thug.

Two of his production lines were almost shut down, while the other party's factory was not affected at all.

He came specifically today to make this request.
Peace talks were held.

At first, Qidian completely ignored them, until Guo himself was asked to come forward, at which point Qidian Technology replied that Chen agreed to meet with him.

"Contact Singularity Technology and see where we can meet."

After getting into the car that picked him up, Terry Gou said to his assistant.

The assistant immediately made the call.

"Hello, Mr. Lu. Our General Manager Guo has arrived in Guangzhou. May I ask about your General Manager Chen?"

"Oh! I'm so sorry! Our General Manager Chen is on vacation in Beijing and has decided to return to Shenzhen on the 8th after the holiday! I've booked a hot spring resort hotel for General Manager Guo. Please have a good rest for the next two days."

Terry Gou's face darkened.

Hot spring hotel?

When I see him, do I still need to bathe and change clothes?

Should we burn incense?
Seeing that his boss remained silent, the assistant, prioritizing the overall situation, said, "Could you at least tell people to stop causing trouble at the entrance of the Longhua factory?"

"Make a fuss? I don't understand what you're talking about, but I suggest that since you're already here, you should rest for a couple of days at the hotel we've arranged, otherwise things will be difficult to discuss."

(End of this chapter)