The question Lin Yi was asked the most during the interview was, in addition to how Wanli Travel reached a valuation of US$4 billion in a short period of time, another topic that people were very interested in was naturally his net worth.
Although as a non-listed company, Wanli Travel's shareholding structure is not disclosed to the public, the calculation is not difficult.
With a valuation of US$4 billion, as long as his shareholding ratio exceeds 25%, it means that his personal net worth has exceeded US$1 billion.
Wanli Travel has only publicly done two rounds of financing, so the 25% ratio will not be a problem at all.
This is an important threshold, not only because exceeding this amount qualifies you to be on the Forbes rich list, but it also means that you are enough to be called the top richest person in any country in the world.
Therefore, even the more rigorous financial media did not hesitate to use the title "the youngest self-made billionaire" when reporting on him.
The female reporter sitting opposite Lin Yi asked with a bright smile: "Mr. Lin, can you tell us your current net worth? I think many readers are as curious as myself."
This female reporter not only has good looks, but also has very high professionalism. During the interview, she looked directly at the interviewee.
However, in addition to being polite, he also seemed to deliberately show some appreciation and admiration, leaning forward slightly and leaning towards the other party unconsciously.
This was not the first time Lin Yi answered this question recently. He was already used to it. He skillfully practiced Tai Chi to deal with it:
"My several partners and I, and even our entire entrepreneurial team, do not regard financial returns as the fundamental purpose of starting a business."
"We never calculate how much each of us is worth, and we don't take this as a factor to consider when financing the company."
"The valuation the company has reached is more like a reward and praise for our work in the past period."
"One of the most significant signs is that so far, the entire management team of the company, including myself, has never made any cash out during the financing process, or otherwise sold equity to make a profit."
"In the words of our new friend, Mr. Zhang Lei of Gaoling Capital, we have to be a friend of time. We believe that Wanli Travel will gradually reveal its true value in the longer-term development process."
Of course, the information Lin Yi gave was true, but the reason why he had never cashed out was because the company explicitly prohibited it, and he and his senior sister set an example, so no one thought of it.
The female reporter was a little regretful, because this answer was quite satisfactory and there was nothing wrong with it, but it was just high-sounding and had no news value.
What's even more regrettable is that the young rich man seems to have no response to her hint.
However, she didn't seem to give up easily, and she insisted on asking for some exclusive news:
"Mr. Lin should only be 20 years old this year, right? Another identity that is not well known is that he is a sophomore from Jingdian."
This sounded like he was asking about his study career, but unexpectedly it took an unexpected direction: "We are all curious, what does Mr. Lin want from his future partner?"
Um?
Lin Yi was very sure that this was a question that was not included in the interview outline, but considering his own identity, the topic did not seem to be sensitive, so he did not specifically stop the interview. Instead, he briefly considered and answered succinctly:
"Elegance, wisdom, tenacity, if there is a person who can bring together all the beautiful qualities and conduct, of course I will admire him very much. If so, I believe he will be the most ideal partner in work and life."
This paragraph is actually just polite words, but Lin Yi made a special patch:
"Of course, at this stage, my team and I will only consider the development of Wanli Travel as our top priority."
Because he has been exposed to a lot of media recently, Lin Yi quickly put this little twist and turn behind him.
So naturally he wouldn't find out that the female reporter didn't add the words he specifically added when she wrote the report.
…
This wave of publicity campaign by Lin Yi and Wanli Travel lasted until September.
The reason for the cooling down is partly because the previous efforts were already very strong, and partly because there are new hot spots for the media to report on.
Cheng Wei and Liu Qing returned to China.
Lin Yihui knew this, not because these two people invited him to have tea in a friendly manner, but because they held a high-profile press conference and announced that Tuk-Tuk Taxi had completed a D-round financing of US$700 million.
Another bombshell!
One month later, the taxi-hailing industry once again received huge financing, which is undoubtedly the top trend in the Internet entrepreneurial circle this year.
Wanli Travel and Tuk-Tuk Taxi in tandem, one is 800 million and the other is 700 million, which doesn’t sound like anything special.
But you must know that the Thousand Group War, which has attracted much attention since 2010, as the top two, each group and Dianping’s last round of financing a few months ago was only 3 to 400 million!
Wang Xing sent a message to Lin Yi jokingly: "If I had known this, I wouldn't have done any group buying in the first place and should have made a taxi app instead."
Of course he was joking. Although there was only a two-year gap between 2010 and 2012, the entrepreneurial environment was completely different.
When each group started, it was still a website, but the taxi-hailing software appeared in the form of an APP from the beginning, completely relying on smartphones.
Dudu’s announcement was unusually high-profile, and it also took the initiative to reveal a lot of other information. For example, in addition to Goose Factory’s continued participation in the investment, the new investors in this round are DST and Temasek.
DST is an anomaly in the international venture capital circle because its capital background and managers come from Russia, which is very rare in the circle.
However, there is no doubt that DST and its head, Milner, are very discerning investors and have had sufficient success stories in countries on both sides of the Pacific.
His investment characteristics are that he does not seek control of the company, does not ask to join the board of directors, does not participate in the company's daily operations and strategic decisions, and purely pursues high rates of return.
This kind of "hands-on-hand" investment style will obviously be welcomed by entrepreneurs. Based on his own special background, there is no need to worry about his bad intentions, but it will make him make a lot of money.
As for Temasek, the word originally means Singapore's ancient name, and this company is one of the most active and successful sovereign wealth funds in the world.
In short, these two institutions are no less big-name investment institutions than Gaoling Capital, and their status in the world is fully worthy of the attribution of "internationally renowned".
With the platforms of these two companies, Dudu Taxi’s investor lineup this round is truly luxurious.
At the press conference, Liu Qing, as the host, also specifically emphasized:
"In fact, there are more investors who are very satisfied with Tuk-Tuk Taxi and have been contacting us to discuss investment matters. We will continue to maintain communication with them."
This is obviously in response to the fact that Wanli Travel raised 800 million yuan while Dudu took 700 million yuan. The implication is that "it's not that I can't get enough, it's that I don't care about it."
No matter how much of this is true or false, Cheng Wei and Liu Qing's attitude of never giving in to Wanli Chuxing in all aspects is undoubtedly accurate.
Like the previous Wanli trip, Dudu also took the opportunity to launch a large-scale media campaign, and Liu Qing soon appeared on China Television's talk show.
The media actually tried to invite Lin Yi and Cheng Wei to have a conversation, but they were both rejected without a doubt.
They neither wanted to act in a pretentious manner, nor could they quarrel in broad daylight.
The media, which did not take advantage of it, had no choice but to show off their own tactics and throw out "After the subsidy war, there is a propaganda war. When will the feud in the taxi-hailing industry end?"