When the private economy in later generations was most dynamic, it was also when Internet giants had their strongest presence. Giants led by Ali and Tencent frequently attacked in various fields and wildly expanded their influence.
Every Wuzhen Summit attracts a lot of attention, and Zhou Xin plans to advance the date of the Internet Summit.
With $40 billion in cash in hand, Zhou Xin realized that he could do more.
From the perspective of semiconductor technology development, 40 billion U.S. dollars is actually not much. Even in this era, if all this money is invested in the development of the semiconductor field, it will greatly arouse the suspicion of Amerikan.
In addition, China has not yet joined the WTO. Even if it invests in the chip industry, its comparative advantage is not obvious.
For the current Internet industry, this 40 billion can be said to be a huge amount of money. Zhou Xin plans to invest in China's Internet industry in advance, and uses himself as a case to tell Chinese Internet practitioners that global talent It’s a broader stage, don’t always focus on the small acre of land in China.
It was not until 2016 that domestic Internet companies began to go overseas. This time was already too late. If it could be done earlier, Chinese Internet companies would have a greater say in the world.
Including Chinese smartphones, they can also have greater living space overseas. Hardware combined with software, combined with the wretched development of the semiconductor industry, is the key to achieving overall industrial upgrading.
The Internet Summit planned to be held at the end of this year is the best stage to spread ideas.
The man sitting opposite Wu Shiqiang realized that the caller was Zhou Xin. He immediately kept quiet and raised his ears, trying to hear a few words.
The second richest man in the world, the richest man in Asia, and the legend of making wealth through the Internet. For more than a year, it cannot be said to be a class leap. It is a rise from the same spot. These things have given Zhou Xin too much aura.
These auras have caused the current Internet practitioners in Zhongguancun to directly deify Zhou Xin. They often talk about Quora and Zhou Xin.
Wu Shiqiang pressed the button on the table, and then a slender and beautiful woman wearing a suit and skirt walked in: "Mr. Chen, I'm sorry, it's not convenient for Mr. Wu to receive you now. I need to trouble you to go to the reception room and take a rest."
Wu Shiqiang made an invitation gesture. Generally, he would not meet investors in his office. He would either meet investors in the reception room or find a tea room near the office building.
Just like in a coffee shop, you can grab a laptop and output your opinions at once. This is not the current style.
And even after 16 years, in similar maker spaces and chain coffee shops, the people who will meet entrepreneurs here are not the investors themselves, but some brokers. They will screen the projects first and get a little head start. They push it into the hands of people who really have money.
As for truly good projects, it’s up to the entrepreneurs to figure out the investors.
Wu Shiqiang would meet each other in his office because the person recommended to him had a good background.
After the man surnamed Chen stood up and left, Wu Shiqiang continued: "Sorry, boss, I just met guests in the office and I have a few questions to ask.
The first question is what are our invitation criteria, who do we want to invite to participate?
The second question is about the specific level. I am a little unsure. Should I go to Yanjing City or the Ministry of Information Industry? "
The Ministry of Information Industry is the predecessor of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which was not established until 2008.
Zhou Xin said on the other end of the phone: "Go to the Ministry of Information Industry to find out who will be invited. You should know this better than me in China.
I don’t know what kind of Internet practitioners there are in China now.
Let me give you a rough standard. Based on the number of users, the size of the company, and the registered capital of the company, you can invite if you meet the conditions.
At that time, I will also invite Internet practitioners from Amerikan to participate in this Internet Summit. We need to make this the most famous conference in the Internet industry from 1999 to 2000 and into the new century. "
After Wu Shiqiang received the news, he quickly contacted relevant parties.
The other party is very interested in this issue, and this kind of meeting is a political achievement for them.
And with Zhou Xin’s appeal, it is completely possible to turn the Internet Conference into a true World Internet Conference.
The China Internet Conference was first held in 2002, while the World Internet Conference, also known as the Wuzhen Summit, did not start until 2016.
Why so many years in between? To put it bluntly, it is still not strong enough and has no appeal. How can you call an Internet conference that is mainly attended by third world countries a World Internet Conference?
After Zhou Xin's proposal was put forward, relevant parties took quick action.
Zhou Xin's worldwide fame, influence in the Internet industry, and understanding of the Internet industry are obvious to all. If nothing else, Zhou Xin alone is enough to support this place.
For the relevant parties, it is political achievements picked up from the ground, and they should not be given up in vain.
Soon, news spread from Yanjing to Pengcheng, Shenhai, Hangcheng and other places about Zhou Xin returning to China at the end of the year and holding the Internet Conference at the Turn of the Century.
Returning to China at the end of the year is different from returning to China at the end of the year when fake drugs are stopped. Zhou Xin's return to China is a real return to China.
There are no secrets in Yanjing, especially for news like this that is full of breaking points. If you want to hold an Internet conference, you need to prepare for the meeting, which requires tedious arrangements.
It was impossible to keep the information secret, and there was no need.
Internet conferences are nothing shameful.
Wu Shiqiang even took the initiative to release the news through some channels, saying that Zhou Xin would look at some projects at the Internet Conference and directly invest in promising projects.
However, this kind of news is not to attract people to attend the meeting, but to consider the emerging investments he operates himself, in order to make emerging investments more influential in the industry.
For an investment company that has not invested in a single project six months after its establishment, it can only resort to this crooked approach.
As for the Internet Conference, just Zhou Xin’s proposal, Zhou Xin’s participation, and Zhou Xin’s invitation to Amerikan’s Internet entrepreneurs to participate. The combination of these factors is enough to attract China’s Internet practitioners.
Hangcheng, "Lao Ma, I went to the Information Industry Department of Zhejiang Province and asked, and they said they haven't received the notice from above yet.
However, people I know well told me that this is the case, but the specific industry standards for invitations have not yet been determined, and they don’t know what the specific standards are. "
"No matter what the standards are, Alibaba must participate in this conference. For Ali, which has just been established, we first need to build our reputation in the industry,
The second is to refer to what other Internet companies in the same industry think about e-commerce and how they do it, and what excellent experiences there are worth learning from.
The most important point is that we need to listen to, and preferably meet, the best entrepreneur in Blue Star, what he thinks about the Internet industry, and what he thinks about the future of the Internet.
This is strategic and overall thinking. This is the most important thing to us. We do not lack business logic and corporate development paths. Eighteen of us have discussed these for so long, and these are very clear.
What we lack is the experience in the specific implementation process and the strategic thinking of the entire large industry. "
"Lao Ma, have you forgotten one thing? Maybe we go to an Internet conference and get noticed by Zhou Xin, who will directly give us a huge investment."
"There is a possibility, but it is very small. Alibaba has just been established. It is a little-known company. Why should others take a fancy to you?
Just based on our looks?
But it’s not impossible. By then, Alibaba may have already made some achievements and others will take notice.
There is about half a year until the end of the year, and in half a year, anything can happen. "
Similar conversations occur not only in Alibaba, which was just founded, but also in various Internet companies. Everyone is concerned about one issue, and that is how to participate in the Internet conference at the end of the year.
Back at Amerikan, Zhou Xin also faced a big dilemma, that is, he was too short of talent.
Putting such a huge amount of cash in the bank is the biggest waste.
Moreover, he now has many companies under his name. He needs to set up an investment bank to manage this matter, but he has no one he can trust.
Bill Gates established the Bill Melinda Foundation to manage his huge fortune, and Buffett also owns Berkshire.
He has nothing now.
Several candidates flashed through Zhou Xin's mind, Wu Shiqiang? No such ability. Jerrel? Not worthy of trust. Warren Jensen? He's really good at it.
As the former chief financial officer of Amazon and Delta Airlines, the other party has this ability.
At the same time, the other party has worked under him for a long time, and he has a foundation of trust.
Coupled with legal and regulatory constraints, Warren Johnson is a good candidate.
It just so happens that NewPay can be handed over to Peter Thiel.
"Warren, you should know about the deal I recently reached with Time Warner, right?" Zhou Xin went to a well-known French restaurant around Berkeley to treat Warren Jensen to dinner.
Warren Jensen showed an incredible expression: "Boss, I am in San Francisco, not in a cave in the Himalayas.
How could I not know such amazing news? This transaction is recognized as the deal of the century. "
Time magazine directly put two words on the cover of the magazine along with a photo of Zhou Xin and Gerald Levin shaking hands. The two words were: Big Deal.
“My friends in the financial industry were calling me frantically the day the deal news broke, and they knew my boss was Newman.
Everyone is asking me if I know the inside story of this deal and why Time Warner is so crazy.
Later, as more details were slowly revealed, it turned out that Goldman Sachs was actually the biggest winner. "
Zhou Xin was curious why he said that. He knew that Goldman Sachs led the deal, because it was Jerrell who brought the members of the Goldman Sachs committee to see him.
"Why?" Zhou Xin asked.
Warren Jensen said: “Goldman Sachs is only one of the shareholders of Time Warner. The shareholders behind Time Warner include Spielberg, the Saudi royal family, etc. These are all major shareholders, and Goldman Sachs’ shareholding is not high.
If Time Warner wants to acquire Quora, it needs to prepare a large amount of cash. This can only be done by issuing additional shares to investors through the stock market.
To put it bluntly, investors in the additional shares are equivalent to buying Quora and Time Warner at the same time. In other words, if you want to buy Quora, you must buy it together with Time Warner.
Good quality assets are bundled with bad quality assets. "
In 1999, Time Warner was indeed not that high-quality and had no reputation, and its actual operating conditions were not good.
“You can think of this as Goldman Sachs leading the listing of Quora, which means that Goldman Sachs is the undertaker and they have to charge fees.
If Quora were to go public on its own, it’s hard to say whether Goldman Sachs would be able to get this project, and even if they wanted to get this project, the handling fee would be very low. Generally, the handling fee is between 3% and 5% of the funds raised. In order to do this, Goldman Sachs If a project as big as Quora is launched, it will definitely give in on the handling fee.
But when Time Warner raises funds by issuing additional shares in the open market, Goldman Sachs will definitely not give in. They will charge 5%.
This 5% handling fee alone is borne by investors and previous shareholders of Time Warner.
After the transaction was completed, Time Warner, an asset that had been in stagnant water, was also revitalized, which was a multi-purpose move for Goldman Sachs. "
There is also a hidden point that Warren did not mention, which is to add another fire to the Nasdaq, giving Goldman Sachs more time to retreat when the fire becomes more intense.
Zhou Xin was stunned. He originally thought he was the big winner, but he didn't expect that Goldman Sachs also won. Entrepreneurs couldn't compete with finance professionals.
"Goldman Sachs is indeed Goldman Sachs, mediating among many parties to strive for the best interests of itself."
Warren Johnson nodded: "Goldman Sachs is the best at this, but their professionalism is indeed high enough, so boss, there is no problem for you to find Goldman Sachs as the organizer of Riot Games' listing."
Zhou Xin returned to the topic: "Warren, have you considered changing your position?"
Zhou Xin did not wait for Warren to answer, and directly told the other party his thoughts: "Because I received a large amount of income from Time Warner's acquisition of Quora.
Then I now lack a professional team to help me put this money and the industries under my name, including Riot Games, Newpay, Flamingo Game Development Company, etc., to help me set up a company and manage these in a unified way. .
After much thought, you are the best candidate.
I am very satisfied with your performance in the Newpay wasteland development process. Now I hope to hand over this new task to you.
What do you think? "
For Warren Jensen, Newpay's job is definitely more interesting.
An asset management company like the one proposed by Zhou Xin is, to put it bluntly, boring. It operates entirely around the will of the boss. It can be understood as a watchdog in the property field without much autonomy.
As for Newpay, Warren Jensen can see a lot of valuable information from Newpay's daily transaction data alone.
I’m not sure if I’m going to have a drink at night because I have a social event. Whether I can still write when I get home after drinking depends on my condition.
Next week there will be more updates based on 6k per day.
(End of chapter)
