China's semiconductor development has never lacked opportunities.
Just from the establishment of SMIC, domestic semiconductor foundries began to catch up with advanced processes. At that time, although the yield rate of a few domestic supply chains was not comparable to that of foreign countries.
For some Chinese companies, at least there is room for survival.
It will not be easy for these small and sophisticated companies that have survived for more than ten years to be listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board after 2018.
The most fundamental reason is that when I had the opportunity to buy foreign technology and build my own semiconductor industry chain, I didn't realize the importance of this matter.
Needless to say, private capital cannot make money in this industry.
Mainly depends on government support.
Just like the storage industry is counter-cyclical, it is reasonable for the Korean government to subsidize Samsung and Hynix on a large scale.
The country actually knows this truth, which can be seen from its subsidies to BOE.
It’s just that in the semiconductor industry, the Hanxin incident in 2003 has affected many years.
The central and local governments have neither the ability nor the courage to distinguish the pros and cons of these high-tech semiconductor companies, and they dare not support truly technological semiconductor companies.
Zhou Xin had previously discussed similar issues with some veterans of the semiconductor industry, and everyone agreed that the Hanxin incident had caused the entire Chinese semiconductor industry to set back at least ten years.
A group of companies that originally needed to rely on policy subsidies to survive were basically dead after the Hanxin incident.
With Zhou Xin's current reputation in China, as long as he is willing to return to China to invest, he is basically guaranteed to prevent the Hanxin incident from happening.
"The Bill and Melinda Foundation purchased a stake in Riot Games, and the value of this business is expected to be approximately $200 million.
The specific proportion of shares transferred is unknown. This move will make Newman Zhou, the co-founder of Riot Games from China, a billionaire.
The investment in Riot Games represents the first time Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates and Newman Zhou have worked closely together on a business level.
Analysts believe that Bill Gates' investment is not just a simple investment, but part of Microsoft's strategy. The reason why this investment was not made in Microsoft's name is because the Microsoft board of directors has been unable to agree on the amount.
According to internal sources, Bill Gates values Riot Games at around $500 million, while other board members believe it is worth at most $100 million.
The huge gap in valuation between the two is the fundamental reason why this acquisition of shares was achieved in the form of the Gates Foundation.
At the same time Yahoo! Jerry Yang is also interested in acquiring Riot Games, which is also an important reason why the Gates Foundation concluded the deal so quickly.
A Microsoft spokesman in New York declined to comment yesterday, as did a Microsoft spokesman in Seattle.
Microsoft's stock price rose slightly after news broke that Bill Gates had personally acquired some shares of Riot Games. The market is obviously optimistic about this deal.
A Wall Street securities trading analyst talked about the acquisition of Riot Games by the Gates and Melinda Foundation and said: This is a major benefit. RiotGames is the most dynamic forum in history and the forum with the clearest profit model in history. It's unclear how much Mr. Gates values Riot Games, but after a deal with Yahoo! Obtaining shares of RiotGames in the competition is already a success..."
In the end, Zhou Xin and Bill Gates reached an agreement, and Bill Gates acquired 40% of Riot Games' shares for US$200 million.
The acquisition was made in the name of the Gates Foundation, not as a business venture for Microsoft.
Before reaching an agreement, Jerry Yang specifically called Zhou Xin and expressed his willingness to acquire Riot Games at the same price.
But what Yang Zhiyuan hopes is a full acquisition, while Zhou Xin only accepts the transfer of part of the shares.
Investment institutions that were already eager for Zhou Xin became even more enthusiastic.
"If Zhou is just a rising star in the Internet industry, then Bill Gates is a figure like the sun in the Internet industry.
With the endorsement of Bill Gates behind Riot Games, and the characteristics of the business itself, is there a better investment target in Silicon Valley than Riot Games? "This is the exact words of the head of Goldman Sachs' investment department.
Not only does he think so, other investment institutions also think so.
In their view, Riot Games can now be listed on Nasdaq.
You must know that this is the heyday of the Internet bubble. Basically, as long as there is a story to tell, you can go public without revenue or profit.
Going public is simply not easy.
The share transfer procedures and funds arrived quickly. After the US$200 million arrived, Zhou Xin and Bill Gates injected a total of US$200 million into Riot Games in proportion to their shares.
In other words, Zhou Xin still has 80 million US dollars in cash on hand and 60% of Riot Games’ shares. Riot Games has 200 million US dollars in liquidity.
With liquidity in place, Riot Games can begin recruiting new players and expanding massively.
"As I said, you will soon become my boss." Susie Dink came to the Riot Games garage and hugged Zhou Xin.
Yes, after reaching an agreement with Bill Gates, he took the initiative to propose to the other party that he had no senior management talents and needed to expand after the funds were in place.
He cannot devote all his energy to Riot Games alone, and hopes that Bill Gates can introduce some senior managers to him.
He only needs to be responsible for strategic planning.
Because of this, Bill Gates introduced Suzy Dink, head of Microsoft's product department, to Zhou Xin.
Zhou Xin worked under Susie Dink and knew that although she was of Indian descent, her work ability and management style were enough to control a start-up company.
Therefore, Suzy Dink became the new CEO of Riot Games and the first real executive after the establishment of Riot Games.
Zhou Xin is the founder.
"Mr. Gates strongly recommends you to me as a first-class management talent.
You are also the only executive I have known during my time at Microsoft that I have complete confidence in your abilities.
But I don’t know if you have a general idea about Riot Games and what you will do after you arrive. "
Suzy knew this was a test for him.
He didn't know that the offensive and defensive forces were different, but he felt similar in his heart.
Less than half a year ago, he hosted the last round of interviews for interns, and one of the interviewees was Zhou Xin.
Half a year later it was Zhou Xin's turn to interview him.
