Reborn as a tycoon in Hong Kong

On the night of June 19, 1980.

Lin Baicheng and Warren Buffett sat across from each other in a high-end restaurant.

Speaking of which, Lin Baicheng and Buffett had only met a few times, and this was the first time they had dinner together.

Although it can't be said to be a great honor, Lin Baicheng is mostly happy to be able to have dinner with a future big man like Buffett.

During the meal and chat, Lin Baicheng didn't ask Buffett the purpose of meeting him, and Buffett didn't tell him his intention immediately.

The two were chatting, talking about investment-related topics.

"Mr. Buffett, after listening to your investment philosophy, can I ask why you don't invest in Galaxy Games?"

Lin Baicheng listened to Buffett talk about his investment philosophy. Lin Baicheng had seen these on the Internet before his rebirth, and they were not much different. But it’s normal to think about it. Buffett is now fifty years old. At his age, his investment philosophy should also be mature.

Asking Buffett why he didn't invest in Galaxy Games is not a question. Lin Baicheng is purely curious.

"sure."

Seeing that Lin Baicheng's attitude was not bad, Buffett knew that Lin Baicheng was not angry because he did not invest in Galaxy Games, which made him feel relieved.

"The reason why I don't invest in Galaxy Games is simple. Galaxy Games' products are arcade machines, and arcade machines have only been around for a few years. There was no such thing before. It is a new generation item with no traceable history."

"It's not traditional stuff, I don't know enough about it to know what it's going to be like in the future, and most of the time I'm not going to invest in something I don't understand."

"Also, the arcade machine is not a necessity. It can be replaced. Maybe one day there will be a better entertainment method to replace the arcade machine."

"Furthermore, even if arcade games can be accepted by the public, the arcade games developed by Galaxy Games may not be accepted by the market. Once the market does not buy it, Galaxy Games will not only not make money, but will also lose money."

"In my opinion, investing in Galaxy Games is relatively risky. My investment philosophy tells me not to make investments that are too risky."

Buffett observed Lin Baicheng's expression as he spoke. After making sure that Lin Baicheng didn't look ugly because of his words, he spoke out what was on his mind, otherwise he wouldn't have said it so straightforwardly.

Today, Buffett took the initiative to meet with Lin Baicheng and asked Lin Baicheng for help if possible. Buffett did not want to offend Lin Baicheng easily.

"Mr. Buffett is right. Arcade machines will indeed be replaced in the future. This is what I expected. However, it will not be replaced all at once. It has a process. In this process, Galaxy Games can start from arcade machines." The market is making a lot of dollars, and the company’s market value will continue to increase.”

Lin Baicheng certainly wouldn't be angry after hearing this, because Buffett was talking about his investment philosophy, and he was right. Console games and online games will replace today's arcade games in the future.

Later, although console games were not completely replaced, the market continued to shrink under the impact of online games and mobile games.

With the development of the times, even mobile games may be replaced in a few years. No one can predict this.

Buffett nodded: "I also believe that Galaxy Games can make money through arcade games, but when I buy stocks, I usually don't change hands frequently, but I like to take the long term. I'm not sure in which year Galaxy Games will have problems. Then I simply won’t buy it.”

“There is really no need to invest in companies that have different investment philosophies from my own.”

Lin Baicheng nodded in agreement. He was not asking Buffett to buy shares of Galaxy Games. He wouldn't care about the company's stock price in the short term. He would buy it for at least several years.

What Lin Baicheng will do is nothing more than to transfer part of his shares to other offshore companies or funds to make his apparent shareholdings look smaller and less conspicuous.

As the controller of Galaxy Games, Lin Baicheng is not worried about the stock price of Galaxy Games because he is confident in the company's performance. If something goes wrong, he can let Galaxy Games acquire Xingyue Electronic Games. With the addition of this company, the valuation will not rise.

Precisely because he had confidence in his heart, Lin Baicheng didn't worry and thought about taking a few more years and cashing out after the stock price rose to a higher level.

"Mr. Allen, your several gold investments have made Hutchison Whampoa very profitable, and your reputation has even spread here. I wonder what your investment philosophy is?"

Buffett asked aloud, maybe you can gain something by listening more to the success stories of other powerful people.

“I don’t have a so-called investment philosophy yet, I can only say I have some ideas.”

Lin Baicheng waved his hand. He was not a professional investor. How could he have any investment ideas? However, he couldn't just say nothing. It would be too shameful to make him seem to know nothing and rely on luck to make money.

Buffett smiled and said, "I wonder if Mr. Allen would mind sharing it with me?"

"Of course I don't mind."

Lin Baicheng said immediately: "In my opinion, investment should follow the general trend. The reason why I invested in gold was because I was sure that the price of gold would rise. That was because I saw that the rise in oil prices caused the economic development of various countries to slow down, which made gold and silver more attractive. The basis for rising prices.”

"There is also the current world structure. The two powers are in opposition. No one is sure whether there will be a war due to some friction. Once the war breaks out, gold will definitely be worth more than paper money. If the market has such worries, this can guarantee Even if the price of gold does not rise sharply, there is no room for it to fall."

"The possibility of the price of gold rising is very high, but the possibility of falling and the room for falling is very small. In this case, I have no reason not to invest in gold."

"But Mr. Allen, why did you use leverage? Aren't you worried that the risk is too high?"

After hearing this, Buffett asked, the reason why he knew that Lin Baicheng's investment used leverage was because Hutchison Whampoa had to disclose this when announcing its investment returns.

"Mr. Buffett, in my opinion, when something has a high probability of success, the more you invest, the greater the returns. Sometimes you have to give it a try, otherwise there will be so many returns."

Lin Baicheng smiled and explained the reason. He believed that history would not change easily because of his rebirth. Since he was 99% sure of winning, how could he not dare to take a gamble.

"This is the same as my investment philosophy, but my courage may not be as bold as yours, Mr. Allen. I will not put all my money on it."

Buffett agreed somewhat, but not entirely. He would never make a desperate move, no matter how big the chance of winning he thought, because if he lost this kind of bet once, he would have nothing.

“Everyone’s investment philosophy is different, which is normal.”

Lin Baicheng said with a smile: "Hedge funds like those make profits through short selling. Once they succeed, they can get huge returns in a short period of time. But once they fail, it is common for them to liquidate their positions and lose everything."

Buffett listened and said: "In my opinion, it is best not to go short when investing, and do not use leverage easily. Using leverage is simply handing over profits to banks and securities, and working for banks and securities."

Lin Baicheng agreed: "When making long-term investments, you really shouldn't raise money easily and use leverage. It's not cost-effective if the interest rate is too high."

Buffett asked: "Mr. Allen, what do you think of the future economy of the United States?"

"In the long run, I am very optimistic about the economic development of the United States, so I have invested a lot in the U.S. stock market."

There is nothing that cannot be said. Lin Baicheng believes that even if he did not say this, Buffett would still be long in the stock market.

Buffett couldn't help but smile: "It seems that our judgment is consistent. I wonder what industries Mr. Allen has invested in?"

"Banks, securities, airlines and some big companies."

Lin Baicheng didn't say much this time, let alone how much money he invested in the stock market.

Buffett did not ask in detail, but said: "I am still very optimistic about Coca-Cola's stock. I am currently buying a large amount of this company's stock. I believe it can bring me huge returns in the next few years." "

The reason why I mentioned investing in Coca-Cola directly is because Buffett has reached the end of building a position and has already filled more than 80% of the position. As long as Coca-Cola's stock does not rise sharply, he will soon be able to fill the position.

Of course, even if the valuation of Coca-Cola rises sharply due to his disclosure, that's okay. Anyway, he has already established more than 80% of the position, and he just needs to not buy the remaining 10%. Others will help him carry the sedan. This kind of good thing does not happen often. .

"So, we all have the same view, and I have bought a lot of stocks in this company."

Lin Baicheng knew the news that Buffett's investment in Coca-Cola received multiple returns a few years later, so the U.S. stocks he invested in included Coca-Cola. He bought a total of US$100 million and obtained almost 7% of Coca-Cola's shares.

Of course, Lin Baicheng asked multiple offshore companies and funds to buy the shares separately, so there was no need to disclose the shareholding ratio to the outside world, and the same was true when reducing holdings.

"Coca-Cola is a good company, so we all took a liking to it."

Buffett is long, so he doesn't mind if more people buy the same stock as him, because the more people buy, the stock will rise and he can make money.

"yes!"

Lin Baicheng nodded in agreement.

Time passed slowly as the two chatted.

After the two had dinner, they did not leave immediately, after all, they had not yet discussed the business.

After all, it was Buffett who asked Lin Baicheng to meet this time. It was Buffett who came to see Lin Baicheng for something. Therefore, Lin Baicheng would not take the initiative to ask Buffett what he was looking for. He was waiting for Buffett to speak.

After finishing dinner, Buffett also got down to business.

"Mr. Allen, I have been very optimistic about the development of a company recently. It just so happened that this company was preparing to raise funds. After investigation, I found out that this company actually has a relationship with you, Mr. Allen, so I wanted to make an appointment with you, Mr. Allen. Let’s talk to you above.”

"Mr. Buffett, the company you are optimistic about is probably Blockbuster, right?"

When Lin Baicheng heard this, he immediately thought of Blockbuster. The only company under his name that was financing recently was Blockbuster.

"Yes, it's Blockbuster. I'm very optimistic about Blockbuster's future development."

Buffett nodded. Although he invests more in stocks and buys shares of listed companies, this does not mean that he will not invest in unlisted companies that he is optimistic about. He is not stupid. If he invests in unlisted companies, he will get richer returns after the companies go public. He will definitely do this.

"I didn't expect Mr. Buffett to be optimistic about Blockbuster's development model. That's such an honor."

Lin Baicheng was indeed surprised. He did not ask Buffett why he was optimistic about Blockbuster. Instead, he said: "Blockbuster is preparing to raise funds recently. We welcome powerful institutions to become investors in the company. Mr. Buffett is willing to invest in Blockbuster. Welcome At the end of the day, I will ask someone to invite Mr. Buffett.”

For a powerful person like Buffett, it is better to become a partner. Who knows if Buffett will invest in other companies that follow suit after being unable to invest in Blockbuster, and then become a competitor with Blockbuster.

Lin Baicheng is not sure if there are any companies following the trend of Blockbuster, but he is sure of one thing, that is, when Blockbuster develops to a certain scale, someone will definitely follow suit. After all, the profitable industry is there for everyone to see, and someone will definitely be tempted to enter the industry.

"Grateful."

After hearing this, Buffett raised his glass and met Lin Baicheng, but he wanted more than this, otherwise he would not have specifically asked Lin Baicheng to meet and talk.

"Mr. Allen, I wonder how much money Blockbuster is planning to raise this time? How many shares are it planning to release?"

"Blockbuster is preparing to raise US$16 million this time at a valuation of US$80 million, which means it will release a total of 20% of its shares this time."

In April, Blockbuster gave up 25% of its shares at a valuation of US$20 million. Of course, it was left to right at that time. This time it has quadrupled, and it has only been a little more than two months.

Buffett immediately said: "Mr. Allen, I am very optimistic about Blockbuster, so I have an in-depth understanding of Blockbuster. The valuation of US$80 million is too high for the current Blockbuster."

Of course Lin Baicheng knew it was too high, but this was an external bidding price. When negotiating financing with the institution, the institution would definitely lower the price, so it was still necessary to set a high price and let the institution bargain.

Anyway, regardless of whether you offer a high price or a normal price, the agency will bargain. It is better to offer a high price. Maybe the final negotiated price will be higher than the original psychological price, and you can earn a little more.

Of course, it's one thing to ask a high price, but it shouldn't be too outrageous.

Take Blockbuster as an example. A valuation of US$80 million is already very high. If the price is US$100 million, it would be a bit outrageous. If it is higher than US$100 million, it would be completely outrageous and insincere.

If there is no sincerity and the institutions think that they are treating them as fools, that is not a good thing. If not, they will be ostracized by the institutions, which will ultimately affect financing.

Therefore, it is okay to offer a high price appropriately. It is very normal. Investors will bargain on their own and cannot offer a price that is too outrageous.