Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Chen Jin felt countless stares on him. He started to feel numb. There were at least a few thousand people in this auditorium. Besides the VIPs of the internet businesses, there were also international organizers, other famous people in the internet industry, business elites, academic experts, etc… As the focus of all these peoples’ attention, anyone would feel pressured, right?
However, Chen Jin continued acting as if nothing had happened as he walked towards the seat that had been arranged for him by the organizer. It was a white single-seat sofa right in the center of the first row. Chen Jin faced the rostrum and nodded in acknowledgment to the spokesperson before sitting down. Brother Lei sat beside him.
After announcing the opening of the conference, the organizing spokesperson gave a summary of the main topics for this conference. “The theme for this year’s meeting is ‘5G+ Artificial Intelligence — Let’s join hands to build a new world together.’ We have several frontier hot topics for discussions, like ‘commercial uses of 5G,”the smart life,”intelligent education,”intelligent industry,”advancing globalization,’ and more. We’ve organized a total of 22 discussion forums and invited many well-known entrepreneurs and academic experts to share with us their unique experiences and thoughts.”
20X0 was the first year that 5G technology was fully put into commercial use; it was the year when the world had officially entered the 5G era. Advancement of AI technology had also been very rapid. A huge quantity of futuristic AI products were flooding the markets, such as the driverless car, intelligent industrial production, intelligent learning machines, intelligent robots, etc.
The spokesperson raised his hand to specially introduce a guest. “For this conference, it is our honor to have invited the founder of Xing Hai Technologies, Mr. Chen Jin, to give an exciting speech on the topic of ‘intelligent education.’ I hope that everyone will give all their attention to his words of wisdom.”
Clap clap clap~
A round of applause rang out. Chen Jin, who was once again the center of attention, stood up in acknowledgment and surveyed his surroundings as he waved to everyone and nodded repeatedly.
…
After the opening ceremony had ended, many businessmen drew closer to Chen Jin.
“Good day, President Chen.”
“President Chen, this is my business card.”
“President Chen, I’ve always admired you a lot and would like to treat you to a meal.”
Chen Jin repeatedly waved his hands in a “shooing” motion to reject them, and hastened his steps.
Brother Lei said into his ear, “Ignore them, they don’t belong to the science and tech circles. They’re merely sharks who’ve scented blood. I’ve been taken advantage of by the likes of those people.”
Chen Jin nodded. Simply looking at their smiling faces full of flattery, he had already developed a subconscious desire to get far away from them.
At that moment, a young man trotted towards him from the back. “President Chen, please wait! President Ma wants to see you. Kindly move a few steps over here.”
Upon hearing this, Chen Jin stopped walking and swiveled around, asking, “President Ma? Which President Ma?”
Brother Lei recognized the young man who had chased after them. He said into Chen Jin’s ear, “He’s President Ma’s assistant, Mayun of Ali Corporation. Their President wants to talk to you.”
Oh! That was President Jie Kema of Ali Corporation, who had become the richest man of Z country, but was frequently described as someone who “had never seen money and was not interested in money.” Despite his business being extremely successful, he had commented that the one thing he most regretted doing was establishing Ali.
Chen Jin instantly became interested.
…
In one of the smaller parlors in the convention center, Chen Jin met with Jie Kema, who had been waiting inside.
“President Ma, nice to meet you. Your grand reputation precedes you. I never thought that I could meet you in real life. A pleasure, I’m very honored.”
“‘The young are always full of promise and they will surpass the older generation.’ I’m honored too.”
They shook hands and began stroking each other’s ego. Chen Jin silently sized Jie Kema up Jie. His physique was not tall, and he was rather slender. His looks were rather eccentric; he could never have been mistaken as ‘handsome.’
However, successful people could receive “additional bonuses” in terms of how people perceived their looks. The more successful they became, the better their looks would be perceived until the public’s perception of their aesthetics had changed totally to the point that they become someone good-looking.
After exchanging pleasantries, the two of them sat on a sofa. Jie Kema cut to the chase and stated his purpose for meeting him: investment. He continued, “The Ali Corporation takes a very positive view of your company’s future development, so I would like to invest in your Xing Hai Technologies.”
“Oh…” Chen Jin turned and stared at him. “I wonder how much Ali Corporation intends to invest?”
Jie Kema replied, “I don’t know how much you’ll agree to. As long as you say yes, Ali Corporation can fully acquire Xing Hai Technologies.”
Fully acquire? Chen Jin was astounded by Jie Kema’s tone. He asked with surprise, “President Ma, I don’t know if you fully understand Xing Hai Technologies as a company. It’s not a small enterprise, it’s one of the top 100 most powerful companies in the nation. Our yearly revenues are estimated to exceed 250 billion… Did you investigate these details thoroughly?”
“Of course, our professional financier had investigated your company’s business status and development prospects in detail. Their conclusion was that it is a company with very high potential. Also, Ali Corporation has the funds to fully acquire your company. If you are so inclined, we can discuss a price that you find agreeable,” Jie Kema proposed with a stern expression, seeming to be entirely serious.
“All right, but I have to ask this first. How much does your company intend to pay for full acquisition? How much can your company pay?”
Jie Kema held up one finger and said blandly, “One trillion. If you think that’s not enough, I can increase the amount.”
F**k!
Lei Xiao Jun, who had accidentally overheard this, nearly fainted. His Da Mi Company was currently valued at only 700 billion, yet Ali Corporation actually intended to fork out 1 trillion just like that. If that was not enough, he could even increase the amount!
Although they were all VIPs at this conference, in this instant, Lei Xiao Jun felt that the world inhabited by the big shots was carved into two levels. Other VIPs were up there with the stars, while he was still stuck on the ground and could only look up at them hopefully.
Chen Jin sank into silence. A trillion in exchange for his company, which was currently valued at 150 billion. When Botong Corporation acquired Gaotong Corporation, it was sold for 130 billion. Currently, from the view of Ali Corporation, Xing Hai Technologies’ potential was similar to that of Gaotong. Although there was not much difference in their valuations, Gaotong and Xing Hai Technologies were in the same heavyweight. If he agreed, Chen Jin would not only become the richest man in Z country overnight with this amount of money, he would also become the richest man in the world. He would be at the top of the world and the focus of everyone across the globe.
However, after his mind had calmed down, he shook his head. “I’m sorry President, Ma. I will not sell Xing Hai Technologies, not even partially. As for money and career, I can’t simply choose one and abandon the other. I’m still young, I can’t possibly idle around while living off that money.”
Jie Kema seemed to predict that Chen Jin would reject his offer. With no surprise, he asked again, “Then how about investment? Can you accept investments?”
Chen Jin shook his head. “I don’t lack money and I don’t need third-party investment either. I understand your kind intentions, President Ma.”
At this point, Jie Kema was extremely flabbergasted. He sat up straight and asked, “Don’t you need capital for your company’s development and expansion? If you accept third-party financing, your company’s rate of development could increase up to more than 10 times its current rate. Don’t you want your company to rapidly expand and seize the first available opportunities for development?”
“Of course I need capital, but bank loans are sufficient. Xing Hai Technologies’ cash flow is also sufficient to support our growth.” If that was not enough, he still had more than 30,000 tons of gold on Haierfa. Chen Jin stood up. “President Ma, I understand the good intentions of Ali Corporation. If there are future opportunities for collaboration, Xing Hai Technologies would be very willing to collaborate with Ali Corporation.”
“Ok.” Jie Kema also stood up and shook his hand. He nodded. “I hope we have the opportunities for future collaboration.”
Chen Jin made his greetings and left the parlor.
Looking at the departing silhouette, a trace of envy, as well as the sense of desolation and loneliness that had been buried deep in his heart, shone in his eyes. Jie Kema sighed heavily. “An individually controlled company? This is a wise path.”
…
Chen Jin walked out from the parlor and said into Lei Xiao Jun’s ear, “Brother Lei, it’s one trillion. Can Ali Corporation really pay out such a huge sum of money? Isn’t this too exaggerated?”
However, Lei Xiao Jun said pensively, “Old Ma is certainly unable to fork out this huge sum of money. But, the big capital investors backing up the Ali Corporation would have no problems doing so.” He shared his analysis. “I gave this matter careful thought. I was thinking, Old Ma was doing fine, why did he suddenly announce his retirement two years ago? How many entrepreneurs from Z country retire when they are only 50-some? Did he really want to retire? Or was it really like what some of the netizens speculated, that the government was pressuring Old Ma? I don’t think it’s any of those reasons. I think the real reasons lie with the big capital investors backing up Ali Corporation; they forced him to step down from his position.”
Lei Xiao Jun sighed. “Just look at the shareholder list of Ali Corporation. At the top of the list are some of the well-known international venture capital investors. More than 70% of Ali’s shares are controlled by overseas venture capital organizations. Some say that Ali Corporation is an “enterprise of foreign investors.” It’s not wholly illogical. Actually, Old Ma did not want Ali to be controlled by the venture capital investors. But the founding history of Ali Corporation was wracked with difficulties. There was virtually no one who viewed his ideas positively. If not for the money from overseas venture organizations, Ali Corporation would never have become what it is today. If I were in Old Ma’s shoes, I would also have made the same decision. It’s just that… The momentum brought on by the capital infusion was too great for Old Ma to hold back. He said that he ‘regretted establishing Ali’; that was not bragging on his part. Those were his sincere words. Why didn’t he want to fully control Ali? But…” Lei Xiao Jun shook his head. Capital was a double-edged sword. It could make you invincible, but it could also devour you in return. There were pros and cons.
“Oh, I see…” After listening to Brother Lei’s analysis, Chen Jin came to a sudden realization and understood many things. He developed a great vigilance against the idea of capital infusion.