My Age of Investment

After deciding to invest in Atieva founded by Xie Jiapeng, Xia Jingxing no longer hesitated and immediately called Deng Yuanjun in China and told him to come to Silicon Valley as soon as possible.

After Deng Yuanjun came to Silicon Valley from China with a team of people, he quickly started research and financing negotiations for Atieva.

Atieva is currently just a newly founded company with no products, no business, and even few employees.

Deng Yuanjun didn't even know what the big boss saw in this company.

The biggest highlight is probably the two founders of the company.

Before joining Tesla, Hsieh Jiapeng founded a display and computer manufacturing company called Wyse in 1981. Its terminal product sales were once second only to IBM, and it was successfully listed on the Nasdaq exchange in 1984. Listed.

In the American technology circle in the 1980s, Xie Jiapeng's popularity and achievements should be second only to Wang An.

In comparison, Huang Renxun, Chen Hong, Deng Feng, and Zhu Min are all junior Chinese entrepreneurs, and they were more than ten or twenty years late before they became famous.

But the good times did not last long. Wyse gradually failed to keep up with the times, and its market share continued to shrink. In the past two years, it was acquired by a PE fund.

Xie Jiapeng left Wyse and joined Tesla at the invitation of Martin Eberhard.

Eberhard used to be an engineer at Wyse and worked for Xie Jiapeng.

Equivalent to a change of fortune, Xie Jiapeng went to work for Eberhard, a former employee.

Another founder of Atieva is Wen Shiming, who once served as vice president at Oracle and is also a well-known Chinese executive in Silicon Valley.

The two founders are a bit older, both in their 50s and 60s.

Looking at the two people's gray hair, Deng Yuanyun was really worried about whether the two people could survive until the product was completed and the company was listed.

Although there is no written rule in the venture capital industry against investing in the elderly, when meeting older entrepreneurs, I am really worried about whether their thinking can keep up with the times, and whether they still have the physical strength and energy to start a business.

When Deng Yuanjun found Xia Jingxing and expressed his worries to the latter, he really stopped Xia Jingxing from questioning him.

Because of the two old men in the previous life, one was expelled by capital and the other survived until 2020 to retire, and the car did not reach mass production...

However, Xia Jingxing does not expect the company to be listed to generate financial returns. What he hopes is to accumulate some technology for Fuxing Automobile by investing in and gradually controlling Atieva. In short, it is borrowing chickens to lay eggs.

Therefore, he didn't care at all about the age of the two founders. It would be better to be older than to be young. But it would be troublesome if he met people like Dai Wei.

With Xia Jingxing's full support, Deng Yuanjun quickly reached an investment agreement with Atieva on behalf of Fuxing Industrial Holding Group.

Invested US$5 million to acquire 25% of the equity in this start-up.

Seeing the arrogance of the local tycoons from China, the Rockefeller Family Venture Capital Fund took the initiative to withdraw from the project.

After the transaction was completed, Deng Yuanjun was ready to return to China with his team. Before leaving, he came to Tesla's office park and had a talk with Xia Jingxing.

"After I return, I will officially hang up the Fuxing Motors brand, recruit some talents to build a team, and at the same time identify a poorly managed car company to start acquisition negotiations."

Deng Yuanjun frowned slightly, "It's a little early, the new energy trend has not yet spread to the country. Although the above-mentioned departments hold meetings and discussions every three days, industrial liberalization and support policies have not been launched yet.

Without the above policy promotion, it would be difficult for a private company like us to promote the market.

Isn't Atieva planning to start the research and development of Sanden? We can buy their technical solutions or acquire this company in the future. "

Xia Jingxing smiled and said: "Didn't the "New Energy Vehicle Production Access Management Rules" officially come into effect this year? New energy vehicles have also been included in the National Development and Reform Commission's encouraged industries catalog.

Next year's Olympic Games will also launch a batch of hybrid and pure electric vehicles for demonstration operations.

The spring breeze of new energy is actually already blowing, but it is not obvious yet. "

Deng Yuanjun said calmly: "It's just that I'm worried that entering the field of new energy vehicles is too early. Not only will it not occupy the first-mover advantage, but it will cause a lot of unnecessary losses."

Xia Jingxing shook his head and laughed, "The little money I lost is not worth mentioning, the most important thing is the slot.

Tesla will launch its second car next year, a four-door coupe that is entirely developed by itself from the chassis to the body, from the battery management system to the software system. Do you understand the significance of this car? "

Deng Yuanjun thought for a moment, nodded and said: "I understand, it should be a real mass-produced car, right?

More than 2,000 Roadsters have been sold. Strictly speaking, it is still a manual workshop, with a bit of fun, and it does not really promote changes in the industry. "

Xia Jingxing smiled slightly, "Yes, so I directly asked Tesla to stop selling the Roadster, and now the entire company's energy is devoted to the Model S.

The debut of this car means that Tesla's market is sinking and it has truly begun to shake the market position of fuel vehicles.

At the same time, this car will also improve and optimize the problems exposed by Roadster, such as charging, driving experience, etc.

I hope to impress consumers with the performance of the Model S, rather than attracting consumers with the Roadster’s novelty. "

Deng Yuanjun thought silently in his heart. If Model S can be as perfect as the boss described, it will really have some impact on the automobile market dominated by fuel vehicles.

However, it is still too early to say that fuel vehicles will be eliminated.

Xia Jingxing continued: “Silicon Valley has always been a holy place in the hearts of entrepreneurs from all over the world. Domestic entrepreneurs also like to invest in Silicon Valley. After seeing what new things are born and have achieved good impact, they start to follow up.

The advantage of doing this is that you can cross the river by touching the Americans, but the disadvantage is that you will always be a follower.

Cars have a history of a hundred years, and China has always had a dream of becoming a big car nation. It has been trying to replace technology with the market for so many years, but with little effect.

Electric vehicles are an emerging industry, and China has the opportunity to catch up, keep pace with international leading technologies, and even overtake in corners.

Ensuring energy security is also a national strategy, and it is impossible for the higher authorities to fail to see the opportunities brewing in the era of new energy vehicles.

Just wait and see, I estimate that soon the country will make up its mind to launch policies to support new energy vehicle entrepreneurship, and may even provide market subsidies to accelerate the promotion and popularization of new energy vehicles. "

Deng Yuanyun said with a smile: "Even so, starting a new energy vehicle business is a long journey. It has been six years since Tesla was founded, right? It still has not built a car that truly shakes up the industry and market."

Xia Jingxing nodded slightly, looked at Deng Yuanjun and said, "That's why we need to make arrangements early. Fuxing Automobile can avoid some of the twists and turns that Tesla has taken, but there are also many that cannot be avoided.

Start research and development early, and wait until the policies are implemented and our cars are built. This is not about catching up with the trend, but the trend chasing us. "

Deng Yuanjun smiled and said, "Okay, you can indeed spend a year or two building a prototype first, and then it will take three or four years before mass production is launched.

Calculating this, it is not too early for Fuxing Motor to enter the game. "

Xia Jingxing said: “CATL was established more than a year ago, and battery research and development work is in full swing.

Atieva is based in Silicon Valley and can attract the best talents from around the world.

Fuxing Auto can save some effort by cooperating with these two companies to build cars, but compared with Tesla, it is still lagging far behind and needs to catch up! "

Deng Yuanjun nodded slightly. At the same time, he had a question that had been in his mind for a long time. He couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Xia, if we do this, won't we become competitors with Tesla?"

"Not a rival, but a partner! Tesla alone cannot accomplish the long-term goal of phasing out fuel vehicles. Only by joining more new energy vehicle companies can we accomplish this feat together."

When the time comes, Tesla will also open up its patents and charging network. "

Deng Yuanjun was stunned for a moment, "Free?"

Xia Jingxing smiled and added: "That's the most expensive one!"

Deng Yuanjun said nothing, silently digesting the countless information contained in this sentence.

…………

…………

After spending Christmas with Christina and her son, Xia Jingxing took a private plane and arrived in New York on the last day of 2007.

As soon as we got off the plane, we headed straight to Wall Street.

In the top-floor office of Building 40 on Wall Street, Xia Jingxing listened to the work reports of Jiang Ping, Liu Hai, Abel and other senior executives.

"All CDS assets have been cleared, and profits..."

Liu Hai looked at Xia Jingxing with a smile, deliberately trying to show off, "Guess!"

Hearing this, Jiang Ping and Abel both chuckled, and then they both turned their attention to the boss.

Xia Jingxing took a sip of coffee, shrugged and said, "From the emails you sent me before, I guess it won't be more than ten times the profit. It's not a lot, so is it?"

Liu Hai smiled and said: "That's a lot. Soros's Quantum Fund has been operating for decades and has only made 30 billion US dollars."

"How much have we earned?" Xia Jingxing changed into a more comfortable position and leaned his head on the chair.

"Almost close!"

Liu Hai counted on his fingers: "The two funds managed by Jiang Ping and I, as well as eight Maji funds, have a return rate of 735%. The initial principal of US$1.5 billion has now become US$11.025 billion."

Having said this, Liu Hai paused and deliberately looked at Xia Jingxing's expression. The latter's face was expressionless, as if it was just 110.25 US dollars, which was shockingly calm.

"The return on the $100 million invested later was slightly lower, only 430%."

Xia Jingxing nodded lightly. The US$100 million was collected by Xiao Quan by selling CDO assets and real estate.

It seems that not only did it help Xiaoquan cover its losses, but it even made a profit.

Of course, according to the rules, 35% of the excess return belongs to Vision Capital.

In addition, China Investment Group also injected US$1.5 billion, but because it was too late, it did not catch up with the good time to invest in the CDS market.

After listening to the report, Xia Jingxing frowned. This rate of return can't keep up with my big A shares.

Manzhong Fund invested 1 billion yuan in the A-share market and made more than 10 billion yuan.

Seeing Xia Jingxing's frown, Liu Hai was slightly startled. Are you still not satisfied with this?

So he quickly explained: "We have too much capital, and the rate of return we can achieve is already very good. It is too difficult to replicate the 60-fold rate of return of the Lixia No. 1 Fund."

Xia Jingxing smiled and waved his hand, "I'm not dissatisfied. I'm quite satisfied. After all, it's US dollars and the currency units are different."

“What’s going on with Clary Capital and Paulson Fund?”

Xia Jingxing has not forgotten these two funds. He has split up his short-selling subprime mortgage funds in countless ways this time, and these two are the main force.

"Clary Capital, like us, cleared out all CDS assets, and US$1.5 billion became US$10.6 billion, with a return rate of about 706%.

The fund is currently completing its liquidation and will gradually remit the funds to us. "

Xia Jingxing nodded slightly. The US$1.5 billion handed over to Clary Capital for management belonged entirely to him, while the US$1.5 billion managed by Envision Capital was raised from external sources.

The reason for this arrangement is to consider that if we encounter censorship and other troubles in the future, we will bring together a group of wealthy and powerful LPs in the United States to block the attack.

"The Paulson Fund's return is 590%."

As soon as Liu Hai finished speaking, Xia Jingxing looked surprised and said, "No way, Paulson is such a good person?"

Liu Hai smiled and added: "The rate of return after fees."

Xia Jingxing calculated with his fingers that the return rate after deducting 20% ​​of the excess income share and management fees was 590%. Then the Paulson Fund's pre-fee return rate should be more than 700%, which is similar to the performance of several of their funds.

He mortgaged the building under his feet for US$400 million and invested it in Paulson, which meant that US$2.36 billion could be recovered.

After remitting the balance of the building to Ivanka’s father, there are still more than one billion US dollars left and a building.

Even though the building under his feet has depreciated a lot due to the plummeting real estate market, together, there is a profit of more than 2 billion US dollars.

Xia Jingxing felt happy that he had spent 2 billion US dollars in prostitution for nothing.

After deducting LP's principal of US$1.5 billion, Envision Capital's actual short-selling profit is about US$9.5 billion. If it shares 35% of the excess income, it can obtain about US$3.3 billion.

The special fund established for puppies can share excess profits with more than 100 million US dollars.

Clary Capital followed Vision Capital and made a lot of money. Peter Thiel said that all the fees of the fund under custody would be waived, and all the US$10.6 billion could be taken away, with an actual profit of US$9.1 billion.

Xia Jingxing did a simple calculation and found that he didn't make much money. He didn't even have enough money to launch two integrated circuit industry funds.

Looking at the boss who was lost in thought, not only Liu Hai, but also Jiang Ping and Abel didn't know what to say.

Jiang Ping reminded in a low voice: "If all these profits are collected in Envision Capital's account, plus the several hedge funds we currently manage, we will already be among the top ten hedge funds in the world."

Liu Hai hurriedly warmed up: "Yes, yes, even the Paulson Fund has entered the top five in the world this time. If we announce our results, we will not only be one of the top ten in the world, but also call it Banqiao Water Fund."

Xia Jingxing smiled and felt relieved. He was still too greedy. He was just doing it secretly, but the benefits were actually pretty good.

"You're right. This is just the performance of 2007. There will be a lot of investment opportunities next year. This time we will not do it secretly. We must show our momentum and advance into the top ten, top five, top three, and top in the world. …”

Xia Jingxing wanted to say the former one, but the gap between them and Bridgewater Associates was too big now, so he changed his mind and said: "In the next few years, sooner or later they will catch up with Bridgewater Associates and Deshao Fund."

Seeing the boss finally smiling, Liu Hai and Jiang Ping also laughed. This was a normal reaction. They almost thought the boss was no longer interested in money.

Abel also smiled, and suddenly he said inappropriately: "However, there are some bad sounds coming out of the market."