Reborn Tycoon Rise

August 6, 1989, Xiangjiang:

The sun is blazing in the sky. Even in the most prosperous places like Central, there are very few pedestrians except for various cars on the streets. A large number of people flock to the shopping malls in the surrounding buildings. These shopping malls all belong to Land Group. There are spacious and air-conditioned pedestrian bridges between them.

It has become the largest commercial gathering place in the world. The Land Group has connected its 21 commercial centers through more than 70 pedestrian bridges. There are shopping malls, office buildings, hotels, cinemas, restaurants, etc. Anyone with money can come here. If you live here for a lifetime, there will be only one service that you can't imagine, and nothing else.

Whenever summer comes, various plazas under Landmark become summer resorts. After being connected to each other, the flow of people is even greater.

Hong Kong is one of the most prosperous tourist cities in Asia. It is not because of its natural beauty that attracts people, but because it is a shopping paradise for the rich. Among them, Central is the center of the city.

Due to various factors, Land Group's rental income has increased even more, exceeding HK$5 billion in 1988.

Next to Victoria Harbor, the second phase of the Exchange Square project has been completed. The four major exchanges that merged two years ago have also moved here. The prosperity of the stock market has created a huge amount of land here.

On the highest floor of the Exchange Square, in an office covering hundreds of square meters, several men were drinking coffee leisurely, looking at the buildings and natural beauty in the distance, laughing and chatting casually, while the hanging sun shone in. Floor-to-ceiling windows are not very powerful. Ultraviolet rays and various radiations are completely blocked. Even if you look at the sun indoors, you will not feel any discomfort.

"Sorry, I'm late. The plane was delayed just now." Wang Liming came from the door in a hurry.

Xu Zhi handed him a bottle of mineral water, motioned for him to sit down, and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter, we are not in a hurry. How are the talks on the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway project going?"

"We have basically reached a consensus on the investment, but we have not yet reached a good agreement on the management rights." Wang Liming replied.

"Tom, if Evergrande doesn't like this project, Huang and I are very willing to take over." Ma Shimin, the head coach of Hutchison Huang, spoke. If you just heard this voice, most people would never expect that it came from a pure white Englishman.

Wang Liming said disdainfully: "Ma Shimin, you and Huang have monopolized the entire Beijing-Shanghai Expressway project. What? Are you still not satisfied?"

Ma Shimin shrugged and said, "I'm never satisfied with making money!"

Xu Zhi waved his hand and said with a smile: "Okay, we are all a family, there is no need to fight. The mainland is so big, and there will be many highways in the future. If you two have the time to fight with each other, you might as well think about winning other places." Local projects.”

After 1985, Hong Kong's economy picked up. Evergrande Group and Hutchison Whampoa Group's large investments in Hong Kong began to reap huge returns. The land and properties they once bought cheaply appreciated two or three times in value. After development, they naturally made a lot of money. Part of these profits Some stayed in Xiangjiang, while others went north to the mainland to seek various investment opportunities.

The rate of return on infrastructure investment is actually not as good as that of the real estate industry. However, the mainland has not yet officially liberalized the real estate market, and there are not many similar opportunities. Therefore, Evergrande Group and Hutchison Whampoa Group have mainly chosen expressway projects for their funds. and some port terminal operations.

In 1986, Hutchison Whampoa won the project to connect Beijing and Shanghai Expressway, with a total budget investment of 30 billion yuan.

This amount may seem scary, but the project is a joint venture between Mainland China and Hutchison Whampoa, with one person taking half and 90% of it using loans. The project itself is built in installments, so the capital consumption is actually not high.

This kind of large-scale project actually depends on the foundation. Without enough capital and resources, it is impossible to obtain so many loans. However, people with this ability dare not invest on such a scale. After all, no one knows the car industry in the mainland. What kind of future will the market hold? If this kind of investment loses money, it will be difficult for the super rich to afford it.

With the golden finger of the prophet, Hutchison Whampoa and Evergrande have successively attacked the mainland market and won many of the highest quality highway infrastructure projects. Hutchison Whampoa's capital is stronger, so it has won the Ningbo Port, Beijing-Shanghai Expressway, Shanghai Shanghai Ring Expressway and other key projects, and this time the central government decided to build the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway, Evergrande grabbed it in advance.

The boss spoke and both of them stopped. It was just a joke.

Xu Zhi continued: "Everyone is here, and I want to say something serious. I have gathered everyone today to tell you that I am ready to withdraw all the money invested by all companies in Japanese real estate and stock markets. "

Everyone's eyes lit up. The investment in Japan back then was almost forced by the boss Xu Zhi. All companies allocated part of their funds. At that time, they didn't understand why it was so risky. However, now, no one does not regret it. You should have invested more in the first place.

He Guoyuan asked: "Chairman, all investments will be withdrawn?"

Xu Zhi nodded and said: "Yes, the investments of Land, Hutchison Whampoa and Evergrande are mainly in the stock market. It is easy to withdraw these funds. However, Midea's investments are in large amounts of real estate, and the procedures are more troublesome. I want to Go to Japan in person and discuss with Sumitomo Bank what to do."

"No problem, I will leave for Japan tomorrow." He Guoyuan agreed, and then asked: "But Chairman, how will we use such a large amount of funds?"

"What? Are you worried that you won't be able to use the money?" Xu Zhi laughed and said, "What do you think Midea should do now that it has such a large amount of funds?"

"Unless I acquire a large international company, I can't think of how to use this money." He Guoyuan replied after thinking for a moment.

Xu Zhi shook his head and said: "Midea's current financial situation is very good, and it is estimated that it will be difficult to acquire companies that we can like, and companies that are easy for us to acquire are not attractive. Do we have this money? It doesn’t matter whether it can be acquired or not.”

In recent years, with the personal computer market growing at a rate of 50% every year, Midea's profits from personal computers and computer software have exceeded those from games. Even though the color TV business suffered losses due to price wars, last year's net profit It has exceeded US$2 billion, second only to IBM in the global electronics industry.

Under this situation, Midea's overseas mergers and acquisitions have become very difficult. Similar to the merger and acquisition of General Electric's home appliance business, they have been investigated by the US government for antitrust. Although there are no problems in the end, if it involves larger-scale mergers and acquisitions, , especially in some high-tech industries, funding has never been a problem, only the legal aspect.

This time when investing in Japan, after deducting various loan interests and taxes, Midea made a profit of no less than 30 billion US dollars. Obviously, Midea does not need such a large amount of money now.

Xu Zhi continued: "Midea is not short of money now, so I want to transfer this money for the expansion of Watsons and Bank of East Asia."

"Expand Watsons?" Jiang David, general manager of Watsons, was suddenly stunned for a moment. Happiness came so suddenly. No wonder he was also designated to participate in a high-level meeting of this level. After all, although Watsons has a monopoly on retail in Xiangjiang, compared to those present here, The companies controlled by a few people are still far from enough.

Xu Zhidao: "The retail industry is a traditional field. In this industry, without a large amount of financial support, it is impossible to develop rapidly. However, I will use such a large sum of money to invest in the international market first. My promise to you is that as long as If you develop well, I will give you a big boost in funding."

"No problem, I will definitely try my best to develop the entire Asian market." David Jiang promised. He did not expect such a large sum of money to be used for his operations, but as long as there is stable funds behind him, his various plans can be implemented quickly. implementation.

Xu Zhi asked Yuan Tianfan again: "Do you have any ideas?"

Yuan Tianfan said: "Chairman, what Bank of East Asia needs most right now is to digest the entire Standard Chartered Bank. It will be useless to make acquisitions in a short time."

"Okay, let's do this. When we acquired Standard Chartered, Bank of East Asia owed a lot of debt. I will settle your debt at once." Xu Zhi said.

In 1986, the British Bank Meath launched a hostile merger with Standard Chartered Bank. The senior management of Standard Chartered Bank in the UK were nervous and asked some Asian wealthy people for help. Xu Zhi, Bao Yugang and others participated. Afterwards, the Chinese capital successfully fought back The senior management of Meese Bank and Standard Chartered UK immediately turned their backs and disowned them. All the previous promises of joint operation were overturned, and Bao Yugang's banking dream was shattered.

Xu Zhi had known this outcome for a long time, so he quickly acquired the shares of other Chinese at a high price, and secretly contacted other shareholders of Standard Chartered Bank. In 1988, Xu Zhi controlled more than 50% of Standard Chartered shares. Forcibly took over Standard Chartered Bank.

After using strong methods to suppress a group of self-righteous management, the top management of the Bank of East Asia took over Standard Chartered. Although they had the help of Sides and other Standard Chartered teams in Hong Kong, the foundation of the Bank of East Asia was much weaker. In a short period of time, it faced It is also very difficult to deal with Standard Chartered Bank, which is full of loss loopholes. This has nothing to do with how much money there is. Only time and team ability can solve this matter.

Yuan Tianfan smiled and said: "Thank you very much, Chairman."

Xu Zhi nodded and said to the others: "Evergrande, Hutchison Whampoa, and Land all invest in the stock market. Cashing out in this area is much simpler. It is estimated that the funds will be able to flow back within a month. Several of them will also Everyone probably knows how high the current profit returns are. Such a large sum of money will not earn interest when it is returned to the company's account. I am here to set a general investment direction for several of your companies."

"Chairman, please speak." Ma Shimin, Wang Liming, and Zhou Xianmao said with a smile. The return on this investment is definitely the highest in the history of Xiangjiang.

For example, Hutchison Whampoa spent HK$5 billion and received a return of at least HK$30 billion. The initial investment amount of Evergrande and Land was smaller, but the returns were also in the order of HK$10 billion.

Xu Zhi said: "I know that everyone is optimistic about the real estate market in Xiangjiang. However, the land and properties controlled by the three of us are already the largest in Xiangjiang. Some of them cannot even be developed in 20 years, so our goals should be farther. International The market is where we should fight.

Needless to say, in the mainland, whether it is infrastructure, hotels or commercial projects, if the three of you think it is possible, you can fight for it if you have the opportunity. As long as there is no internal friction between us, this market will be very big in the future. It is estimated that our combined I can't eat much.

On the international front, Hutchison Whampoa already has an almost monopoly in the terminal business in Xiangjiang, and has also invested in Shenzhen Yantian Port and Ningbo Terminal. However, I feel that this aspect is insufficient. Since we have the foundation and funds, we should expand to European and American countries. Investment or acquisition, I hope that in the future, Hutchison Whampoa can become the world's largest terminal business company.

And now that the shipping market has begun to recover, Hutchison Whampoa must also pay attention to this area. The terminal business and the shipping company, this combination can make 100% money no matter what the circumstances. "

"Don't worry, Chairman, I know what you mean." Ma Shimin assured confidently. At present, it is only the 20 million square feet of office buildings and commercial rental returns in Huangpu Plaza, which are not less than 3 billion Hong Kong dollars per year. At the same time, Xiangjiang's local monopoly terminal Business, the annual profit is also measured in one billion Hong Kong dollars.

Although it has invested in many large-scale projects in the mainland, it still cannot keep up with the company's capital return speed, not to mention the high return on investment in the Japanese stock market. In this case, Hutchison Whampoa will inevitably need to expand on a large scale, and choosing the terminal and shipping business is Very good choice.

Xu Zhi nodded and said to Zhounian Mao: "Land's debts used to be very heavy. Although housing prices and rents have increased a lot in recent years, Land has also developed projects such as Exchange Plaza and Zhoubishan Villa Group. Now Japan's investment After coming back, the pressure should be much less.

The recent economic development of Southeast Asian countries is not bad. You can invest in Southeast Asian countries appropriately, but let me say it in advance. If I feel that there are investment risks in the future, you must immediately sell these real estate businesses in Southeast Asia. "

"Okay, I understand." Zhou Xianmao agreed. He was very clear about his boss's fortune history. The huge real estate business was all based on Xu Zhi's precise vision, and he made the acquisition at the right time and at the lowest cost. Back.

Xu Zhi paused and then said to Wang Liming: "Evergrande has developed a lot of experience in Tianshuiwei and the commercial and residential businesses next to the subway acquired from Hang Lung in recent years. In the future, it can develop in Southeast Asian countries and even Europe and the United States. The mainland should try projects like commercial and residential complexes.”

"Commercial and residential complex?" Wang Liming is a smart man and quickly understood the literal meaning.

Xu Zhi nodded and said: "Yes, a four-in-one project of a commercial plaza, office building, high-end apartment and residential building. Generally speaking, this kind of investment is very huge. Except for the commercial plaza itself, all others need to be sold to ensure the normal operation of funds. The core of this kind of investment lies in a large number of self-sustaining commercial plazas. When the number is large enough, a brand effect is formed, which is when we get the most generous returns."

"I understand. After I go back, I will study it carefully and make a project plan for you to review." Wang Liming promised immediately.

Xu Zhi continued: "In addition to overseas or mainland markets, Evergrande also has a piece of land in Tianshuiwei in Xiangjiang. This is different from Land and Huang. The land in their hands has basically been converted into properties. Now they only need to collect rents with peace of mind. .

As for the Tin Shui Wai area, our original intention was to build it into a new town. Therefore, when developing it, we should not only focus on commercial interests. Appropriate greening, parks, and transportation construction are also very important. Only in this way can we achieve several goals. Ten-year or even century-long long-term planning. "

The development of cities must be planned in detail by government departments. If all is left to real estate developers, they will just fill all the places with buildings and then leave.

Tin Shui Wai covers an area of ​​5 square kilometers and can be said to be a small town. However, the entire land is held by a company. With short-sighted capital, it is very likely that high-density development will be carried out for short-term gains.

This approach is very profitable in the short term, but the final outcome is that this place will become a slum composed of rows of high-rise buildings. This is not what Xu Zhi wants. In his plan, this place can form a self-sufficient and benign area. With the economic cycle, Evergrande can also make long-term profits.

Wang Liming said: "Chairman, don't worry, I understand the principle of fishing in dry land."

"Okay." Xu Zhi took a sip of tea, stood up, stretched, and said with a smile: "That's it for today. It's just a rough plan. Our first important thing now is to transfer funds back from Japan. The remaining Yes, we will discuss it in detail when Japan’s funds come back!”

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