The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

Time flies and it’s July (1993) in a blink of an eye.

The resignation of Hutchison Whampoa's President Ma Shimin was confirmed by the media; the candidate to replace him is Huo Jianning, deputy managing director of Cheung Kong Holdings and executive director and vice president of Hutchison Whampoa.

After Ma Shimin leaves, he will continue to serve as a non-executive director of Hutchison Whampoa.

Such a big news has naturally been hyped and explored by the media. After all, Ma Shimin can be regarded as the 'number one general' of the Changshi Group.

The reason why I say this is because the Cheung Kong Group has two CEOs - Lin Ruihuan and Ma Shimin. Among them, Lin Ruihuan is the boss, so Ma Shimin is naturally the 'number one general'; especially the size of Hutchison Whampoa and the parent company Cheung Kong Group , is relatively close, and Ma Shimin also serves as the chairman of the board of directors of HK Electric.

Hutchison Whampoa's business is very diversified and more complex than that of Cheung Kong Group. It is difficult for ordinary people to manage it in an orderly manner; but Ma Shimin has undoubtedly done it.

After Ma Shimin resigned, he was questioned by the media about his acceptance of wealth. He said truthfully:

"About a year ago, I felt that I had been working at Hutchison Whampoa for a long time, and few of the top managers I knew had such a long experience."

"It takes a lot of determination to ask Sir Lin to resign. I did it twice. The first time I opened my mouth, he told me to stop. The second time was about six months ago. After careful consideration, I decided not to let him change my mind. , so everyone calmly explained it clearly in detail; Sir Lin listened carefully to my reasons and finally accepted them. He is really wise and understanding."

"I have a very good relationship with Sir Alex Lam. He is a good boss who always considers others. I understand why many colleagues have been working with him for decades. Sir Alex Lam is a big hero in my heart and we will continue to do so in the future. Friendly intercourse.”

"I have learned a lot from Sir Lin. What I admire most is that he is always confident and never sloppy in his work, as if there is nothing in the world that cannot be difficult for him."

Although Ma Shimin tried his best to talk about the good side, the media naturally would not let go of this 'fate' so easily, so they came out one after another to search for news materials that could be written.

Some media pointed out that Lin Zhichao was dissatisfied with Ma Shimin's several failed investments: one was to acquire a Canadian natural gas company, but failed to obtain management rights, forcing Hutchison Whampoa to write off the account; one was to invest in CT2 (second-generation wireless network) that should be ), was stopped midway (the first batch of users were not ideal either).

Some media pointed out that Lin Zhichao was dissatisfied with Ma Shimin's participation in political affairs and embarrassed him: one was the issue of the election of parliamentarians in 1991; the other was the political reform issue of Ma Shimin's pursuit of Fei Peng. This embarrassed Lin Zhichao, who was determined to invest heavily in the mainland, and Ma Shimin was not allowed to participate in any mainland projects.

In fact, everything is subject to certain discrepancies and is not exaggerated by the media.

First of all, although Ma Shimin failed to invest in some projects, Lin Zhichao was prepared for these projects and did not mind;

Secondly, Ma Shimin and Fei Peng are close, and it is not impossible for Lin Zhichao to make concessions - Ma Shimin will not be involved in mainland projects, allowing Ma Shimin to concentrate on developing overseas business.

As for Huo Jianning's promotion arrangements, it is not that urgent, and there is still a place for him. First of all, Huo Jianning is only 41 years old this year, which is still relatively young; secondly, Huo Jianning is already one of the top five core executives of Cheung Kong Group (deputy managing director), and an executive director of Hutchison Whampoa (equivalent to the second only to the chairman of the board of directors and president). ).

In other words, as long as Ma Shimin can continue, Lin Zhichao will not think of driving him away; he even tried to retain Ma Shimin.

The media has been harassing and can't stop Lin Zhichao's new layout.

Hutchison Whampoa.

Lin Zhichao and Huo Jianning were in the office, explaining.

"I remain optimistic about the oil business, so there is no need to be overly downbeat about Husky's situation!"

He encouraged again that oil and natural gas have always been part of Lin Zhi's long-term investment. Although in the eyes of outsiders, this is a sign of poor investment, it has even affected Hutchison Whampoa's stock.

Huo Jianning nodded and said: "Okay. Husky can also turn to inland investment and cooperate to develop the oil fields in the South China Sea. In addition, it can also further optimize its finances through reorganization, mergers and acquisitions. When the time is right, it can choose to go public. Cash out funds.”

Lin Zhichao appreciated it and said, "Well, you are an expert in this area, so it's up to you to make the decision."

Huo Jianning said modestly: "The boss asked Husky to invest a lot in natural gas in the past few years, which laid a great foundation!"

Compared with the Husky in the previous life, this life definitely has richer assets. It has purchased many natural gas wells from the United States and Canada, so the Husky is at least 50% larger than the previous life. At the same time, Hutchison Whampoa owns 88% of Husky's shares (Lin Ruihuan 7%, Canadian Imperial Bank 5%) and its shares have doubled. Hutchison Whampoa has also injected another 3 billion Hong Kong dollars.

All in all, Hutchison Whampoa invested about HK$7 billion in Husky. Thanks to the US$600 million in non-recurring profits made by Japan, this part of the investment was covered.

Lin Zhichao continued: "In terms of overseas telecommunications, we have almost contracted. The UK and Australia are the focus of development, and Orange in the UK is the top priority. I am optimistic about the development of this company."

Huo Jianning nodded and said, "Understood!"

The boss will not care about the specific operations, but he will give the direction. This is the true 'boss style'.

Lin Zhichao added: "In the retail field, there is huge development potential, and we will continue to maintain the pace of overseas expansion. In addition, we must take advantage of the development of 'port flow' and the Watsons brand to develop beauty, health care and other products."

Huo Jianning said seriously: "Well, I have studied Hong Kong culture and feel that it can become a pillar industry in the development of Hong Kong."

After all, it is the property of the Lin family, so he will always pay attention to it, let alone the boss who proposed it.

Lin Zhichao said: "It would be enough to have a Chinese as the governor to formulate big policies! However, with media groups taking the lead, many entertainment companies in Hong Kong will follow suit. I believe this industry has great prospects."

The two communicated for a long time. Although the president of Hutchison Whampoa has real power, it is impossible to get rid of Lin Zhichao, the chairman of the board of directors, so the general direction is still in Lin Zhichao's hands.

Finally, Lin Zhichao said: "For overseas development, it is important to be familiar with local laws and regulations. Zhou Humufang is very capable and can be your right-hand man. Later, I plan to promote her to vice president."

"Lawyer Zhou Hu's work ability is indeed high. I'm glad that she has been further recognized by her boss!"

Zhou Humufang is Hu Baoxing's sister and Hu Zhaochi's daughter.

Lin Zhichao and the Hu family had a close relationship. In addition to being fellow villagers, they had been friends for decades. Hu Baoxing also served as Lin Zhichao's personal lawyer.

Zhou Humufang also graduated from a prestigious law school. He was recruited to Hutchison Whampoa by Lin Zhichao in his early years. Now it is time for him to be promoted to a core senior level. In this way, Hutchison Whampoa will have two core Chinese senior executives, further increasing the status of Chinese or local people.

As for Huo Jianning's financial and technical work in Cheung Kong, he was replaced by Lu Falan as early as three years ago.

Poor Lao Li, everything was robbed by Lin Zhichao!

Although Lin Zhichao supported his acquisition of Wheelock Group, due to the high acquisition cost at the time, Li Jiacheng is now barely among the top ten chaebols. They are: Lin Zhichao, Keswick, Guo Bingxiang, Li Shauji, Shi Huaiya, Kadoorie, Cheng Yutong, Tang Zhongyuan, Li Jiacheng and Chen Qizong.

The worst thing is that the Yugang Pao family cannot even make it into the top 20. In his previous life, Wu Guangzheng ranked third (calculated in 1993 based on the market value of listed companies). Other rich people have also had their strength weakened to a certain extent. After all, as the top list, the market value of the listed companies controlled by Lin Zhichao's family is too huge.

In the second half of the year, Lin Zhichao returned to Hong Kong from the mainland.

This year, Lin Zhichao has gone to the mainland four times, three of which were 'official events' and received the highest level of reception and summons. In one of them, Lin Zhichao took the eldest son of his two families with him.

As for inspecting projects, most of the projects this year were inspected by my two sons, and then Lin Zhichao made the decision. Last year (1992), the Lin family invested in fifty or sixty projects at once, most of which were negotiated by Lin Zhichao.

In just two years, the total investment in projects negotiated by the Lin family in the mainland was around US$20 billion, involving:

Commercial real estate (shopping malls, comprehensive office buildings, department stores), development real estate (old city reconstruction, real estate development), infrastructure (roads, bridges, power plants, tap water, tunnels), hotels (Shangri-La Hotel, Miramar Hotel, Langham Hotel hotels), container terminals, food and beverages, manufacturing, etc.

Including the Red Bull brand, we are currently looking for mainland partners, and the next approval will be passed more smoothly.

In fact, many projects are invited to invest by mainland officials. As long as there is a 10% return rate, Lin Zhichao will make the decision to invest.

But there was one project that was rejected by Lin Zhichao, and that was the reconstruction of Lane 37. The reason was very good - he would not make any profit no matter how much profit it was attached to the project for cultural relic protection. Although he offended some people, Lin Zhichao was not worried - to put it bluntly, he would run when it was time to run.

"Chairman, Miss Zhou is here!"

"Let her in!"

After a while, Zou Kaixuan came to Lin Zhichao's office.

Logically speaking, she, an unknown person, would not be able to meet Lin Zhichao; this time she was introduced by Dong Jianhua, and the conversation must be about the Chang'an Street project in the capital.

"Hello, Mr. Lin!" Even though Zou Kaixuan had seen the world, he was still a little nervous when facing Lin Zhichao.

Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "Don't be nervous, I heard Dong Sheng said it, so today you will tell me the reasons for letting me invest!"

Zou Kaixuan stabilized his mind and thought that this person was straightforward and straightforward.

"Okay, please give me five minutes."

five minutes later.

Zou Kaixuan looked at Lin Zhichao. She was waiting for good news, because Dong Sheng was very optimistic about this project and agreed to invest at that time.

However, bad news awaited her.

Lin Zhichao said: "I can't invest in this project for three reasons: first, there is a height limit on Chang'an Street, and there will be a lot of wrangling in the later stage. If it is not built high, the payback period will be longer and the rate of return will be lower; second, The Feng Shui on Chang'an Street affects Bauhinia City and is easily resisted by seniors; thirdly, projects in the capital are troublesome to operate and have increased risks, so I will not invest in projects that are highly controversial."

Zou Kaixuan was stunned. She didn't expect Lin Zhichao to be so timid, so she quickly explained: "Mr. Lin, please give me three more minutes to explain. The first point you mentioned is that there is actually a lot of room for movement. Then Border government relations are negotiated by our company. The second point is that the mainland needs modernization, and the buildings on Chang'an Street have greatly affected the appearance. The third point is that since our company plans this project and charges a 4% fee, we will definitely pay everything Once the formalities are completed, you investors only need to step in when everything is completed.”

Lin Zhichao smiled and shook his head, told the story about Sanqi Lane, and then said: "Even if I can successfully make money, I will not invest in a project that will be criticized in the future."

Zou Kaixuan suddenly felt dark. Without Lin Zhichao's investment, who else could afford to invest in this project?

Or, you need to find more investors to win.

In contrast, if Lin Zhichao invests, only Dong Jianhua and Lin Zhichao are needed as investors for this project.

"Then why don't you think about it again? I'll wait for your news at any time!"

Lin Zhichao said: "I'm afraid I won't be able to wait any longer and it will delay your business. Actually, Miss Zou, I admire your ability very much. Putting aside this project, are you interested in doing something for me?"

Zou Kaixuan was stunned and a little at a loss. Originally this was a good thing, but after all, he could earn hundreds of millions from the Chang'an Street project.

Lin Zhichao said: "With that project, how much can you earn if it succeeds?"

Zou Kaixuan hesitated and said: "This project should require an investment of 10 billion Hong Kong dollars. Based on a 4% commission, I should get about 400 million."

Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "I can afford you 400 million, come and work for me!"

"ah"

Zou Kaixuan was surprised!

Lin Zhichao added: "Of course I won't make you 400 million in one go. After all, you won't be able to complete this project in just a few years. But I can be sure that if you follow me, you will definitely earn more than 400 million!"

Talents are rare. In the Internet era, his Victoria Harbor investment still lacks talents specialized in this field. In her previous life, Zou Kaixuan not only completed the Oriental Plaza project, but also advised Li Jiacheng to invest in the Internet, which shows that she is very sensitive to new things.

This is the talent Lin Zhichao needs!

Lin Zhichao originally liked Yuan Tianfan, but now that Yuan Tianfan is the boss, he has not yet suffered a blow, and it is not easy for him to force Yuan Tianfan to join. But what is certain is that Yuan Tianfan will also join the Lin family camp in the future, because he started a company, and Lin Zhichao also subscribed for 10% of the shares.

Zou Kaixuan asked: "What job does Mr. Lin plan to ask me to do?"

She became curious. If she was a secretary, her annual salary would be tens of millions.

Of course, if she really wanted to be a secretary, she would have decided to do it at this time, even if she could not earn 400 million.

She sees clearly that this is the best shortcut to her success, working alongside the tycoon. What's more, Mr. Lin Zhichao will definitely not deceive her.

Lin Zhichao said: "My private investment company, Victoria Harbor Investment, needs an investor. I plan to be an investor in Silicon Valley, and you will be my agent."

"I do!"

Zou Kaixuan blurted out!

If it was the Changshi series or the Wharf series, she would have to consider it. But if it were Victoria Harbor Investment, Lin Zhichao's private investment company, she wouldn't have to consider it at all.

Lin Zhichao said: "Okay! I still won't invest in that project in Beijing. You can find a way to deal with it as soon as possible, and then come to Victoria Harbor to invest and work. The annual salary is fixed at 10 million Hong Kong dollars, and you will be given dividends in the future. You can rest assured that you will still make money." No matter what, I won’t let you suffer any loss.”

"Um"

Later, Lin Zhichao gave Zou Kaixuan his personal contact information and gave her time to deal with the matter.

Lin Zhichao pays attention to three things when employing people:

First, give him treatment, so the working emperors of Hong Kong are basically from the Cheung Kong family, and other high-level officials are not bad either;

Second, give him a good future and give him a sense of responsibility. The company's performance is linked to his salary. Senior management enjoys "stock options" and employees enjoy "year-end bonuses." These will increase their sense of responsibility for the company.

The third is trust. After working with a person for a period of time, Lin Zhichao will evaluate this person - is his life direction correct? Does he have positive feelings about himself and the company? Did he do the things assigned to him seriously? After the evaluation, if the person performs well, he will become a 'confidant', and then there will be trust. Otherwise, if there is no sense of trust, if one person is left to do the work and three people have to be sent to supervise it, then the enterprise will not be able to succeed.

Because of this, Lin Zhichao has thousands of "cronies" around him. They all gain Lin Zhichao's trust and become the core of the company. Otherwise, how could Lin Zhichao manage multiple group companies with more than 100,000 employees?

It is also because of this that Lin Zhichao's management and employees have minimal liquidity, and they rarely resign.