Reinventing the Millennium

With the arrival of Sina CEO Wang Yan, other Sina executives and people from Yangcheng Xunlong also arrived in Shanghai on the same day.

Because considering the current situation, there were not many people coming from both sides, and they all had normal physical performance for many days.

Fang Zhuo showed due etiquette to Yangcheng Xunlong and believed that this would be a perfect win-win situation. The other party would take the money and he would gain a higher market value.

Regarding the wireless value-added market, after Sina merged with Xunlong, it can basically claim that it has a two-on-one position. There is also a Hong Kong listed company TOM Network in front of it.

This market still has great potential for exploration, and 2003 is destined to be a year full of opportunities for major service providers.

On the morning of March 30, the contract that had been reviewed and negotiated was sealed and signed by Sina's president under the camera, marking the successful acquisition of Xunlong by Sina, and also meaning that Sina's first quarter financial report will be very good.

At the same time, Sina's board of directors will undergo changes in June this year. They will step down when it is time to step down and leave when it is time to leave. The new management has already used the stock price to prove whose era will come next.

That afternoon, Sina issued a concise announcement stating that it had completed a major asset acquisition.

As of the closing time of Nasdaq in the United States, the closing price of SINA exceeded $20.

On the night when the stock price made a historic breakthrough, all Sina employees received another open letter from President Fang Zhuo.

Compared with the previous open letter that was widely circulated in the industry, Fang Zhuo's letter this time is quite lengthy.

He was not very lyrical and just talked about Sina's establishment, development, breakthroughs, twists and turns, listing, turmoil... until today.

However, such a straightforward narrative made many old employees sigh with emotion, and many of them had tears in their eyes, because they were either bystanders or experienced it all personally.

Although Fang Zhuo talked about the development of the times and the efforts of all employees in his open letter, everyone still subconsciously compared him with Sina's past senior executives.

Wang Zhidong didn't do it, Jiang Fengnian didn't do it, Mao Daolin didn't do it, and Duan Yongji didn't do it.

Fang Zhuo did it.

Sina's stock price exceeded the issue price for the first time, breaking through the $20 mark, as well as the last peaceful conclusion of the open letter.

——This is just a new starting point.

That night, many Sina employees were tossing and turning. Unlike the high-level shock and anxiety last year, everyone was filled with expectations and yearning for the future.

Chinese companies, especially Internet companies like Sina that struggled to develop and go public, have quite a founder's feelings and label.

Even if Fang Zhuo gained control through struggle, some people in the company still regard Wang Zhidong as a symbol in their hearts, not to mention the middle-level faction influenced by Duan Yongji.

When Fang Zhuo competed for Sina, he used fierce methods. When he became president, he didn't care much about one faction or another, as long as he could get things done.

Today, with the stock price at a peak, internal tolerance and external development, the situation is prosperous and the industry status is remarkable. The president is not only the president authorized by the board of directors, but also the president of all employees.

On April 1, Fang Zhuo held a management meeting on the 23rd floor of Hang Lung after Sina's acquisition of Xunlong, and listened in detail to everyone's suggestions on the wireless value-added market.

In fact, it is not easy for Sina to focus on developing a leading position in this market, because competitors adopt a strategy of having no boundaries in text message content, which is still very attractive to users.

But this can also easily ruin the market.

Regardless of China Mobile or China Unicom, they may temporarily focus on market coverage or supervision cannot keep up with development, but they will eventually make adjustments to this.

Fang Zhuo considers that from this aspect, he can work with operators to proactively promote value-added services with benign content, and prevent bad money from driving out good money.

It is not only to regulate the market, but also to narrow the gap with the previous ones.

The meeting lasted for a long time, and some personnel adjustments were made. We also talked about the focus of Sina's current news.

In the evening, the meeting ended.

This is the first time for Wang Yan to come to the 23rd floor of Hang Lung in Yike, so he can't help but browse and appreciate it.

He will not return to Beijing immediately when he comes to Shanghai this time. He will stay until the 10th of this month to attend the Internet Industry Development Conference scheduled to be held in the Bund.

This conference was jointly held by three major portal websites. It was originally scheduled to be held in Beijing, but considering the situation in Beijing in March, it was moved to Shanghai and invited Tencent, Alibaba, Baidu and other companies in the currently developing industries.

Due to the same factor, the number of participants has also been reduced, but the gold content is still very high.

"Mr. Fang, your CEO office here is very beautiful."

Wang Yan walked around the entire 23rd floor and walked back to the president's office.

"The Jinmao side is better. If you have nothing to do tomorrow, you can go and have a look. There happens to be half a floor of Sina on the 22nd floor below. You can also work there." Fang Zhuo said with a smile.

Wang Yan nodded and talked about the meeting ten days later: "Baidu is developing really well now. Mr. Fang, do you think we can try its field?"

"We still have more media attributes and don't have search engine technical talents. I heard that Alibaba is going to engage in B2C. The merchant resources they have are a big barrier to entry." Fang Zhuo shook his head slightly, but he did consider Sina. new growth points.

The wireless value-added market can be used as a short- to medium-term profit point, but it cannot be relied on for a long time. It is extremely easy to be restricted and fall into the red ocean.

Like NetEase, its development in the wireless value-added market is not as good as that of Sina, but its performance in the gaming field is very promising. Although its stock price will not be able to catch up with Sina for a while, subsequent growth is still worth looking forward to.

Of course, Fang Zhuo's perspective is based on his identity as the fund controller.

"The competition in e-mail is quite fierce during this time." Wang Yan talked about work. Competition in the industry sometimes comes in waves. "If you don't follow up, you will see other companies occupying the market. Follow up. E-mail There is no good profit point.”

"Every company can make money." Fang Zhuo smiled. The competition for email addresses was reflected in the report. Apart from considering a certain company, he had no other intentions for the time being.

Regarding the wireless value-added market and competition in e-mails, these are topics that can be discussed at industry development conferences.

Fang Zhuo also wanted to hear the opinions of other leaders.

"Mr. Fang, when I came here, I received a call from the leader, praising Sina's performance in news reporting during this period." Wang Yan reported another thing.

Sina City Channel was the first to report and remind in Guangdong Province, and later released news together with CCTV, followed by a special section, and then established a front-line news team.

This series of actions were watched by the superior departments and leaders. Although the Yangcheng News had several hours of behind-the-scenes footage, the subsequent situation has proved Sina's keen insight.

This is a huge plus.

"Well, I don't know how much help our news can do. I just thought it would be better to have something than nothing. Oh, yes, regarding this, you are coming to Shanghai. I have an idea that you can listen to to see if it is safe or not." Fang Zhuo Zhengse said, "Can Yike, Yike and Sina jointly do something for the medical staff who have contributed so much?"

"Sina can be praised by public opinion, the three companies can support the families behind them, and if there are young people of suitable age, they can also give priority to jobs."

Domestic medical staff have made heartbreaking contributions, which were mentioned in the report of Sina's frontline working group.

"Okay." Wang Yan agreed.

Fang Zhuo considered it and said: "What I mean is that this matter can be done without publicity, just quietly."

Wang Yan was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said: "This kind of thing can be announced in a high-profile manner, but Mr. Fang is still afraid that some people will say that we are not just trying to gain reputation? It is a good thing in itself. Those who have contributed will receive rewards from social enterprises. I think it is worth publicizing."

"I think if it is mentioned repeatedly, the families who have been hurt will be hurt again." Fang Zhuo said.

Wang Yan thought for a while and said, "Let me keep an eye on this matter myself. It's good to be careful."

"Well, I can rest assured that Brother Wang will do his job." Fang Zhuo affirmed.

"I feel comfortable working under the guidance of Mr. Fang's values." Wang Yan replied sincerely.

"There is another matter about values." Fang Zhuo said sternly, "I won't save the game for Brother Wang tonight. Just ask someone to take you to whatever you want to eat. You can handle this yourself."

Wang Yan gave a questioning look.

"My mother made dumplings at night and asked me to go back and eat them." Fang Zhuo said seriously.

"good……"

Wang Yan only remembered one thing after watching the CEO leave. He could have offered to come and eat dumplings together without disturbing Mr. Fang's values.

…

At the beginning of April, the temperature in Shanghai has risen, generally between 14 and 22 degrees.

However, Xu Mingchang, who is busy renovating the old city of Jing'an District, did not feel better. First, this key project was affected by many dimensional factors and the progress was lower than expected.

Secondly, having paid some attention to the development of the Internet, he found that the growth rate of Sina's stock price was simply making Fang Zhuo run towards the richest man in mainland China.

One price per day, growing every day.

As a wealthy man who is also making trouble in the secondary trading market, Xu Mingchang is considering whether to also control a listed Internet company.

However, not to mention that the Internet is generally bullish this year, even this liquidity will be difficult to come up with for a while.

On April 5, Xu Mingchang encountered something that made him angry. A bank urged the company to repay the loan in advance.

Xu Mingchang was extremely dissatisfied and called the president directly.

Without saying a word, the other person got angry and responded directly.

"You are no longer the richest man in Shanghai, right?"

Xu Mingchang angrily reprimanded the other party, thinking that some people in the bank have extremely low business capabilities and only lend money. What does this have to do with the fact that the first person is not rich?

The next day, Xu Mingchang borrowed a sum of funds to pay off the company's loan in advance, and at the same time looked for a new bank to provide funds.

Sometimes fame is money.

Xu Mingchang has a deep understanding of this point, so he is considering doing another media interview to show his wealth.

Two days later, Xu Mingchang met a reporter at the door of his company and was asked about wealth again.

This time, his reply was simple and direct.

"That list is all random. My wealth and that of my family must be 40 billion. How could it be only 320 million US dollars? It's simply ridiculous."

US$320 million is the figure calculated by Forbes' rich list, which would be just over 2.6 billion in Chinese currency.

The wealth Xu Mingchang advertised was 40 billion, which was far beyond this figure, which was surprising.

By the way, in order to express the unreliability of the list, Xu Mingchang even increased Fang Zhuo's net worth: "Just like Fang Zhuo, he is more than 450 million U.S. dollars, he must be worth 20 to 30 billion."

"Let me tell you, this list is unreliable. Don't ask me this question next time."

Xu Mingchang casually increased the net worth of himself and Fang Zhuo to tens of billions, and then did not give any further response.

The news reached Fang Zhuo's ears within a few hours.

"He must be crazy. Why should he mention me if he has nothing to do? He's just talking nonsense about two or three billion."

Fang Zhuo only told it as a joke to the executives in the office.

However, Xu Mingchang's statement to the media not only reached Fang Zhuona, but also reached the ears of the police who had been investigating Xu Mingchang's issue recently.

The Forbes rich list has long disgraced many people on the list, but this is not the only reason for Xu Mingchang.

The investigation did not originate from Xu Mingchang, but from a bank president in Xiangjiang. It was precisely because of the investigation of the latter that the former was implicated.

The investigation has been ongoing secretly for some time.

On the afternoon of April 7, another site closed the network, and Shencheng also heard Xu Mingchang's bold words to the media.

Xu Mingchang with a net worth of 40 billion.

The proud Xu Mingchang.

"Captain, when will the action against this person be scheduled?" Shanghai police held an internal meeting on the night of the 7th to study the action.

"Tomorrow, he should be more certain."

Xu Mingchang's investigation was not just a matter of time, everything that should be determined was determined.

"What about Fang Zhuo of Yike? Xu Mingchang said that his net worth is far more than 450 million US dollars, but this is not right." The police did not doubt Xu Mingchang's words for a while. Out of their understanding of the rich list, the people on this list It’s really easy for people to detect problems.

"Bring it back together tomorrow and ask about the situation. What Xu Mingchang said is not evidence. Let's ask the tax inspector to see what this person is like."

The police planned one more operation for the next day. They only planned to interrogate the richest man in Shanghai in a serious atmosphere to see if there were any unexpected gains.

On the morning of April 8, Xu Mingchang, a rich man in Shanghai and a man who stirred up troubles in both places, was taken away by the police in public.

Later, Fang Zhuo, who was in the CEO's office on the 23rd floor of Hang Lung, also saw an unexpected visitor and was controlled by tenderness.

Fang Zhuo was surprised, extremely surprised. He didn't hear any news at all.

Especially when he was sitting in the interrogation room facing the two economic investigators, his thoughts were still a little confused.

Be frank and lenient, answer all questions, have a good attitude and be proactive.

But this still seemed to make the other party a little dissatisfied, and soon one of them temporarily left the room.

"Can I make a call?"

Fang Zhuo made a request after asking for a glass of water.

The remaining staff member in front of him hesitated for a moment, thinking of his wife who was working on the front line of the hospital, and agreed to the request.

After all, this is a questioning room, not an interrogation room.