Uber's global headquarters is in Pudong, the capital city of Shanghai. There's an Uber building here. The entire building has a total of 36 floors. The building is more than one hundred meters high. It is also a landmark building in the nearby neighborhoods. Since Xiaoyuan Bicycle was acquired by Uber,
Thursday, March 21st.
In the morning, the atmosphere inside the Uber Building suddenly became a little inexplicably tense, as depressing as the gloomy weather outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Zhang Yanqi looked at the time, threw the document in her hand on the desk with a bang, picked up the water glass and walked out of the office, instructing the assistant at the door: "Go and notify the president-level executives to the conference room for a meeting!"
The beautiful and plump female assistant stood up and said, "Okay, Mr. Zhang." The notice for the meeting had been issued on Tuesday. Of course she knew how to notify those people.
Uber's structure is set up by group. It consists of CEO, CFO, COO, CTO and other positions. It is managed by the group vice presidents and general managers of each business line.
Zhang Yanqi left a word and went to wait in the large conference room on the 33rd floor where he was. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the spacious road was slightly quiet in the morning, with constant traffic, but not congested. Although the Uber Building is located in Pudong. But it is not in the core Lujiazui area, so the peak period on the road is relatively short. It will be already half past nine in the morning.
Zhang Yanqi sat in the main seat in the conference room, looking at the scenery outside the window, smoking a cigarette, and recalling his years at Uber.
He is the founding father of Uber. He and Wang Ying were the only ones who were in charge of domestic regions back then, and the rest have resigned.
Liu Zhen did a pretty good job. While she was in charge of Uber, she completed the merger with Didi and led Uber to go public. But because Mr. Jing was careless in what he said on some occasions and had a bad relationship with Mr. Liu of Lenovo, he would rather kill him by mistake than let him go.
Liu Zhen was dismissed from his positions as chairman and CEO and resigned from Uber. He was appointed as the new chairman. Kang Xi, the CEO who was previously promoted by Mr. Jing and Liu Zhen, was just a transitional figure. He looked down upon this guy's work ability and reported to Mr. An that he would hold the CEO position concurrently.
The follow-up troubles of this matter are coming now.
With his two major positions on his shoulders, Uber's financial report in fiscal year 2018 was very poor. Net profit will exceed 1 billion yuan. The stock price also hit a new low, and the market value fell to US$38.96 billion. This is far behind the market value of the new generation of Internet giants Pinduoduo, Meituan, and Byte.
Byte has not yet been listed on the market, but its valuation has long been optimistic by investors from all walks of life.
He needs to be responsible for what Uber has done. Although there is a reason for the current slump in the taxi market, he believes that the bigger problem comes from Mr. Jing himself having fewer and fewer friends, resulting in a poor operating environment. There are also problems with some of the strategies formulated by Mr. Jing himself.
Internet companies, what do you mean by putting users first? Why don't we treat users like leeks these days? If you treat him kindly, he will appreciate your kindness. Whenever there is a discount, users will definitely abandon you and choose the discount.
Who is a fool? Can you glance in vain or not?
Moreover, if you are an Internet company, don’t you think they won’t scold you? This is simply hilarious!
Never heard of it? Even Jingdong’s Dong Ge is hanging on a street lamp? The condition given by those netizens was that the rope could be loosened.
It's like a dog-like logic.
As long as I make your money by co-authoring, I will be killed if I cut your leeks? From his point of view, he couldn't stand those nonsense remarks. And Mr. Jing sometimes pays too much attention to his reputation. Who doesn’t get scolded for running an Internet company?
…
While Zhang Yanqi was recalling the past, colleagues and subordinates came in from time to time. When they saw Zhang Yanqi's sullen expression and smoking, they each became cautious.
Kang Xi is forty-three years old, of medium build. Although he has lost his position as CEO, as a close confidant of Mr. Jing, he is already in charge of a business line and holds the position of senior vice president. Seeing Zhang Yanqi looking gloomy, I felt very happy.
Ma De, you also have today with the surname Zhang. Told you to drive me down.
The reason why he is a "confidant" is actually because he once led An Yi. That boy An Yi is now soaring into the sky, and there are rumors that he is jokingly called "Prince An", and he might take over in the future.
So his name was heard by Mr. Jing. It would be nonsense to say that he had a personal relationship with Mr. Jing, or that he could go to see Mr. Jing.
Therefore, his foothold at Uber is still his work ability and professional level. He believes that if he is given some time to adapt and learn, he will be able to do the job of Uber CEO. But Zhang Yanqi didn't give him this chance.
Wang Ying is thirty-eight years old this year and has a beautiful appearance. Among the senior executives in the conference room, she is a beautiful sight. She was wearing a black suit and looked very smart. Asked: "Lao Zhang, what happened?"
She is the person in charge of Xiaoyuan Bicycle. Recently, Mr. An from Phoenix Group called her to make arrangements to transfer her small round bicycle to Uber. She has returned to work at Uber Tower as senior vice president. Her job is still in charge of her shared bicycle business.
When Xiaoyuan Bicycle was first listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, its market capitalization was US$1.5 billion. She felt that the scenery was unlimited, and she argued hard in front of Liu Zhen to maintain the operational independence of Xiaoyuan Bicycle. But as the capital tide of shared bicycles recedes, the market value of Xiaoyuan Bicycle has dropped to US$500 million.
During Mr. An's call, she finally relented and agreed to return to the Uber family. My arms can't twist my thighs! The major shareholder of Xiaoyuan Bicycle is Phoenix Group. This is almost considered a departmental adjustment within the group.
Moreover, the current popularity of shared bicycles has passed. Without the support of the group, it is difficult to say how long her business can be maintained. She doesn't have the confidence now.
In the entire conference room, she was the only one qualified to ask Zhang Yanqi what happened before the meeting officially started.
Nothing big has happened to Uber recently! In addition to the recent financial report, which caused the stock price to fall again.
Could it be...
Wang Ying had a bad feeling in her mind.
Zhang Yanqi did not answer. She put out the cigarette in her hand in the ashtray, looked around and said, "Everyone is here, let's have a formal meeting! Let me answer Wang Ying's question. In view of the poor operating conditions of the company, I I plan to resign as Chairman and CEO of Uber Group. The group’s work will be temporarily handled by Mr. Jing’s assistant, Jing Shufeng. Everyone is welcome!”
Jing Shufeng was next door to the conference room. Following Zhang Yanqi's announcement, he walked into the venue led by his female secretary, and was greeted by sparse applause.
Wang Ying directly said with dissatisfaction: "What is going on in the group? Just sending inexperienced people to manage will cause big trouble! We at Uber are a listed company!"
"yes."
Seeing Wang Ying, the veteran, speak out, other senior executives began to agree. What is Mr. Jing doing? Just send an assistant to take over a listed company with a market value of nearly 20 billion. Isn't this a clear sign of chaos?
Although they are all professional managers who work for their bosses, the development of Uber is also their hard work. How could you not care? Furthermore, they all own Uber stock!
Uber was messed up by Mr. Jing’s assistant. What good can everyone gain?
Zhang Yanqi sneered a few times and motioned for Jing Shufeng to sit down. He knew very well that Jing Shufeng was a French translator. He knew nothing about management and online car-hailing? Said: "This is what happened. I will resign at the board of directors after a while. Now, you have a meeting."
He didn't bother to care about the bustling conference room, so he got up and walked out, returning to the office to collect his things. The bad breath in my heart finally subsided a little.
How can the chairman of a listed company be replaced? This is a very complex subject. Look at Disney and JPMorgan Chase in the United States. For very large companies like this, the board of directors is simply a kingdom. For those dispersed shareholders, 5% of the equity is considered a major shareholder, and it is really difficult to influence the board of directors.
But for Jing Gao, who owns more than 50% of Uber's voting rights, he wants to replace Uber's chairman with just one sentence. The call was still made by An Zhiwen.
Of course, the external form is not that the shareholders with voting rights remove the chairman through the shareholders' meeting, but that the chairman Zhang Yanqi resigns on his own initiative. Just add one more person.
Just as Zhang Yanqi was packing his office supplies in the chairman's office, his cell phone suddenly rang.
Zhang Yanqi looked at the unfamiliar number and instinctively didn't want to answer it. Such a bad time! But in the end he answered the call unhappily: "Hello."
A clear and steady man's voice came from the mobile phone, with a slight Haizhou accent in Mandarin, "Is this Zhang Yanqi? I am Jing Gao."
Zhang Yanqi was stunned immediately, and the document in his hand was accidentally knocked to the ground. Paper spilled all over. He took a deep breath, with mixed feelings, and respectfully held the phone and said, "Hello, Mr. Jing. It's me."
"You come to the capital. Let's meet and chat. I will stay in the capital for a while before going to the Magic City."
"Mr. Jing, thank you. I'll go to the capital after I'm done."
"Okay, I'll wait for you."
After Zhang Yanqi hung up the phone, the inexplicable irritability, gloom and depression in her heart dissipated a lot. Looking at the glass outside the window, he let out a long breath.
Even if he has to leave Uber, Mr. Jing’s call will make all his years of work and dedication worth it.
