Reinventing the Millennium

The overall market in the East, the fierce competition environment, the uncertain future of new businesses, and the successive reduction of stock holdings in the hands of chairman and senior executives are the logic of Lehman Brothers shorting Yike's stock price.

Since the short-selling report comes from a well-known Wall Street investment bank, it naturally has a seemingly smooth logic.

Among them, Lehman pointed out that Su Wei, Yu Hong, and Zhou Xin, senior managers closely related to Yike Chairman Fang Zhuo, all sold all their shares after the lock-up period.

Many people have unclear judgments on business logic after reading Lehman's report, but when they look at the stock reduction, they immediately feel that this executive action is in line with imagination. If your top management is still optimistic about the company's future development, why not How about continuing to hold it?

The short-selling report is public, the news is spreading, and the influence is expanding.

After a night, Fang Zhuo, who went to work normally, originally wanted to deal with company affairs first, but a steady stream of phone calls disrupted everything.

In addition to Brother Zheng, Lanhua, Lao Xiong, Brother Wang and others who made the first call last night to express concern and offer help, the head of ICBC, the head of Bank of China, Lin'an leaders, retired old man Ni Runfeng and others also contacted today Similar statements.

Everyone generally feels that this is a matter that can be solved with funds. If Mr. Fang is really short of money, too much may not work. If you chip in, you can always squeeze out a share.

Forget it for others.

Fang Zhuo specifically asked Ni Runfeng: "Excuse me, Lao Ni, you are retired and can't even move public funds. How can you get money to help?"

Ni Runfeng replied extremely seriously: "After so many years, I have saved one or two million in pension funds. You must have no shortage of friends. What if the final gap is just that two million?"

He added: "My son is in Yike. Although I don't think the problem can't be solved with Mr. Fang's skills, I still have to express my position. When I see my son in the company in the future, Mr. Fang must not immediately think of-oh, Xiao Ni’s father also followed the trend."

There are easy subjects and difficult ones, and the etiquette is followed in all directions.

Fang Zhuo couldn't help but laugh. Well, Lao Ni's share...

He still expressed the same gratitude as in other calls, and also explained a little about the personal grudge, and finally said: "Old Ni, keep this money, and if I encounter trouble in the future, we can spend it together. "

Ni Runfeng came and said, "It's a deal."

After Fang Zhuo put down his cell phone, he felt that there were indeed many friends who were willing to help. Lao Ni said it more straightforwardly. His son Xiao Ni was still in Yike, so of course he couldn't just watch something happen to Yike.

As for other friends, whether they have joint investment or industrial connections, it is okay to think that nothing will happen to Yike, or to judge that the business map is still stable. Since they are willing to lend a helping hand, there is no need to go into detail and stay together. I am deeply grateful.

The most important thing is, how to deal with this matter?

Cold treatment? Heat treatment?

Of course, Fang Zhuo himself felt funny about Lehman's short selling, but his reasons were difficult to make public. Even when he talked to Xiao Su about it last night, the latter was skeptical about the relationship between Lehman Brothers and the subprime market.

Su Wei's feeling is that Lehman Brothers may be affected by the subprime mortgage market, but to what extent can it be affected?

The name of the Wall Street investment banking giant is indeed resounding.

This time-honored brand's move not only made Fang Zhuo's friends take notice, but today's phone calls were filled with more requests from media reporters for interviews.

Fang Zhuo declined all media outlets that could call his number. He also asked a familiar editor-in-chief, who gave him an answer that made him feel like he was in an information cocoon.

What is Lehman shorting Yike?

This is the first case of short selling of Chinese concept stocks in U.S. stocks!

Record breaking!

Who broke this record?

It’s Fang Zhuo who has been on the Forbes Mainland Rich List for three consecutive years!

And, somewhat darkly humorous, the last time the media talked about "short selling" was Mr. Fang's move against Gome in the Hong Kong stock market.

Media reporters have a tacit understanding not to use Hong Kong stocks as a precedent, but only to frame U.S. stocks. Some people have immediately reprinted Lehman Brothers’ short-selling report and typed the words “the first Chinese concept stock to be shorted.”

As a very popular person involved, Mr. Fang's response was highly sought after by all media.

Even Sina's deputy editor in Shanghai shyly called and asked if he wanted to clarify the matter.

Fang Zhuo was quite unexpected about this situation.

But when you hear words such as "first", "short seller" and "richest man", you can somewhat understand the concern in today's public opinion environment.

However, friends, not every short-selling can be effective. You should not get excited when you hear this word, or think that something is wrong when you see reports from foreign giants.

Fang Zhuo thought so in his heart, considering observing the fluctuations of the stock price and giving some appropriate positive responses.

On August 6th, there were constant calls from morning to night.

In the evening, those who should have been asked were asked, those who should be refused were rejected, and the phone calls gradually became less frequent.

However, when Fang Zhuo arrived home, a relevant Hong Kong media report was forwarded to the email for review. The media there clearly compared "Yike was shorted by Lehman" with "the 2001 Enron fraud case" .

Enron was once one of the world's largest energy, goods and services companies and ranked seventh among Fortune magazine's "American Fortune 500". At the end of 2001, it suddenly filed for bankruptcy, becoming the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. case.

Even the prestigious accounting firm Arthur Andersen was involved and was forced to disband and close down.

The Hong Kong media cited the "Enron incident" and followed up on Lehman Brothers' short selling report by asking several questions.

——Does Yike have related transactions? Is there financial fraud? Is there insider trading?

Tabloids are relatively unscrupulous and do not have much influence. However, one or two major newspapers published Lehman Brothers' short selling report, and the financial channel on the TV station quickly discussed it, which gradually caused doubts. get bigger.

Whether it was due to public opinion or Lehman's influence, Yike's stock price fell by more than 8% in two days.

Fang Zhuo felt in his heart that the drop was not bad, but the company still took advantage of the market break to give a formal response, refuting the reasons in the Lehman Brothers short-selling report - Yike has been committed to promoting the development of the Chinese market and leading the music industry In the changes of the Internet era, we actively expand the company's new business profit points...

As for the doubts from the Hong Kong media, Yike Company ignored them.

At the same time, in order to show confidence, as chairman, Fang Zhuo also routinely ended the incomplete shareholding reduction plan.

When the U.S. stock market closed, Yike's stock price rebounded by 4%, which seemed to be a normal fluctuation.

But...Sina's Wang Yanyou called Mr. Fang angrily and complained: "Lehman is obviously shorting Yike, why did Sina's stock price fall by 10%?"

This did make Fang Zhuo a little puzzled.

Sina is just an honest kid, honestly building some outdated portals, studying the profitability of blogs, and operating some foreign games. How could it be accidentally hurt?

Moreover, when Yike's stock price began to rebound, Sina was still unlucky.

Fang Zhuo can only guess: "I see that Sohu and NetEase also fell by one or two percent. This is not Sina's fault. It may be that the US stock market suddenly feels that the overall signal of Chinese concept stocks is not good."

Wang Yan feels aggrieved. This is certainly not Sina’s fault!

I can't keep up with the good things, but I take the lead in the bad things!

Following the announcement of Yike Company, Fang Zhuo does not intend to respond personally and wants this matter to be dealt with coldly. You are shorting Lehman. It is your ability to make money by shorting. I, Yike, will quietly save my mobile phone. , Doing business, is that okay?

Two days later, Lehman gave the answer - no.

On August 11, Lehman Brothers issued a supplementary report.

To Fang Zhuo's surprise, the content of this report seemed to be more detailed, and there were many specific details about the operation of Yike's stores in China. The purpose was to point out and criticize Yike's poor prospects in the Eastern market. Pie behavior.

Yike does have self-operated stores, which functioned as a regional storage point a long time ago. Later, as the market declined, they gradually became superficial and began to take on more after-sales and brand promotion work.

What surprised Fang Zhuo most was that Lehman's examples of different store operations seemed very attentive, even a little too attentive.

A Wall Street giant sent employees thousands of miles away to conduct on-site research?

This does not seem to be an answer that fits the situation at this time. Instead, it is likely to be outsourcing or cooperation with mainland investigation companies or even hedge funds.

Fang Zhuo was a little unhappy considering this direction.

It’s understandable that Lehman is crazy and the media is having fun with it. How could there be mainland companies following suit?

I, Yike, travel around the world, so I should have many friends.

Soon, when Fang Zhuo asked someone to find out which friend from the mainland wanted to join in the trouble, another old friend stood up first and said that he was not optimistic about Yike's prospects from a financial perspective and wanted to short Yike.

For anyone, anyone, such a clear statement would make Fang Zhuo unhappy, but it happened that Dahuang, who was shorted for the first time in the Hong Kong stock market, always made such a statement, which really made him...

When he heard the news, he laughed three times on the spot.

There is no such thing as "I can only bet on you, but you can't bet on me"!

You, Mr. Dahuang, were first restricted in terms of liquidity and settlement cycle, and then were locked up by short sellers to cash out. In the end, you had no choice but to accept the trendy merchants taking the opportunity to take shares. Now you are giving a belated counterattack based on the hot word "short selling", which is also very normal.

Fang Zhuo had a great understanding of Mr. Dahuang's actions.

As for the matter of the dying Gome suddenly jumping up and attacking me, I understand it, and it is better to solve it as much as possible.

Fang Zhuo marked Mr. Dahuang, patiently trying to see if any of his friends would jump out at this time.

What he didn't expect was that there was some small movement in the competition in the e-commerce field, whether it was a coincidence or just such an opportunity.

At the beginning of this year, Dangdang announced that it would increase the construction of logistics and warehousing, actively expand all-category business, and strive to participate in the development of the domestic B2C track.

In fact, Dangdang is indeed doing this, showing its determination to develop.

Tesco has a warehousing center in Beijing, located in Tongzhou, and this area is the logistics and warehousing sector planned by Beijing.

In May, considering the rapid development, Tesco planned to buy another piece of land for expansion and construction. The talks were almost done, but unexpectedly, the latest news was that Dangdang wanted to use this land for warehousing and logistics.

Dangdang wants to increase investment, yes.

Dangdang wants to expand its warehouse, yes.

Dangdang, if you have connections and connections that can overcome love, you can.

But when Qingzi came out at this moment, either Fang Zhuo was overly concerned or Su Wei felt that he was being insulted.

Dahuang can always come out and add insult to injury. What is the relationship between you Qingzi and our Yike side?

You absolutely can't!

Yike Investment holds shares in Dangdang. Last year, Fang Zhuo made a bet with Li Guoqing in front of many big bosses. Calculated, the time is still a little short, but according to the current development speed, Li Guoqing cannot win.

Fang Zhuo didn't even need to tag Qingzi. After listening to the report from Xiao Su, he planned to find a suitable day and bring someone from Yike Investment to collect the debt in person.

However, the continuous changes in the country caused Fang Zhuo to change his mind on how to deal with the Lehman matter.

Cold treatment did not cool things down. Instead, many fields began to rise and fall, so heat treatment was the only option.

In response to Lehman's second supplement to the short-selling report, Yike Company no longer announced a response this time. Instead, it began to notify the media to hold a press conference to respond head-on to the questions from Wall Street giants one by one.

Also, Fang Zhuo felt that since Lehman came to his door like this, it just gave him a reason to source funds.

How do you get the money for your frequent dips in companies?

Earned during the financial crisis!

How do you make money during a financial crisis?

Shorting Lehman!

Why did you short Lehman?

It was Lehman who shorted me first!

So, it’s not me who makes money, it’s Lehman and his brothers who make money!

Fang Zhuo feels that Lehman Brothers’ short selling report is not difficult to respond to, and he also intends to let everyone see that the matter of “short selling” is not so mysterious. If you can short me, I can also short you. You can’t just because you have a bigger name. Your short selling is all right?

The press conference was scheduled for August 15th, and the media who received the notice had ample time to fly to Shanghai.

The media that did not receive the news started looking for connections, trying to get first-hand information as soon as possible. This is considered the most concerned event in the domestic business and financial circles in recent times.

On August 14, the eve of the press conference, in addition to some media reprints, reports, and analyzes, the specific news placed on Fang Zhuo’s desk was that QQ alumni finally couldn’t help but use Penguin Traffic in the competition with the school network. This big killer.

That is to say, seeing that Xiaonei.com has gradually built a solid campus social ecology by using its first-mover advantage and comparable financial resources, QQ alumni gave up the practice of mandatory real-name system and began to introduce huge traffic from strangers, aiming to quickly catch up with the number of users. Super competitor.

Fang Zhuo made a mark, thinking that Penguin had made a mistake in its strategy and that the timing of the change in competition was not very friendly.