543 Investing in JD.com and the new movie 'Sword Rain'
Spain, someone's private beach
Although the weather in the Libyan Peninsula in February is warmer than in China, it is not as good as in summer.
You still need to wear thicker clothes in the morning and evening, but at noon it’s much better, just wear long sleeves.
Today this private beach is reserved by Boss Cao.
Hu Jingze, Zeng Li, Jiang Yue, Yuan Quan, Liu Xin, Han Mei and other close friends were playing beach volleyball, while Sun Lan and her daughter cheered for their mother.
Xia Yu and several other men foolishly insisted on swimming in the sea, but Cao Xuan was too lazy to pay attention to them. He lay on the beach chair and basked in the sun comfortably.
Originally, Cao Xuan wanted to go out as a family to have fun, but the East and West Palaces didn't think it was lively, so he called a few friends, and the calls became more and more frequent.
Cao Xuan didn't care. It was easier to keep secrets when there were a lot of people. Even if he was photographed, he could use the excuse of gathering with friends.
Later, Cao Xuan even invited a few trustworthy friends and subordinates and reimbursed all the expenses. It was considered that he invited everyone to use public funds to build a group tour.
"Boss, would you like to have one? Although Spanish cigars are not as good as those in America, they still have a unique flavor?"
Gu Yunkai, the president of Jiaoyang Venture Capital, is a close confidant who has followed Cao Xuan since the late 1990s. He has made great achievements through hard work over the years.
Boss Cao didn't treat him badly either. Not only was his personal salary and remuneration among the best in the industry, he was also able to enjoy dividends from some Jiaoyang Venture Capital projects, and his annual income was easily eight figures.
It is precisely because of this that Gu Yunkai rejected countless invitations to poach and jointly start a business, and followed Cao Xuan in a down-to-earth manner, which is considered a legend in the investment community.
After all, managers at this level are in the investment industry with a lot of network resources. Many of them will choose to start their own business, and few are willing to work for others all the time.
But this was also because Gu Yunkai knew what he was doing.
Several decisions of Jiaoyang Venture Capital that were praised by the industry were made by Cao Xuan. Many profitable projects were handled by his elite soldiers. He himself was more of a mediator and managed the company.
In terms of execution and management ability, Gu Yunkai is as confident as others, but if he starts his own business and is responsible for guiding investments independently, that is his weakness. He does not have the vision and courage.
Since he is positioned as a management position, he still has to rely on others to start a business. It is better to work with Cao Xuan, where the salary is good and he does not have to bear too many burdens.
Gu Yunkai is a very self-aware person, and he understands what choice is best for him.
Cao Xuan also trusted him and entrusted him with Jiaoyang Venture Capital, one of the most valuable assets in his hand. Many other shareholdings, fund establishment and other matters were also handled by Gu Yunkai and his personal finance team.
In this world, Gu Yunkai is definitely one of the people who knows how much money Cao Xuan has best.
Facing this confidant, Cao Xuan, who almost never smoked, did not refuse the cigar he handed over.
Gu Yunkai cut the cigar himself and lit it with a lighter. Cao Xuan took a few puffs, tasted it, and couldn't help but shake his head.
"I still can't get used to this thing, but it's good to show off."
"Ha ha."
Gu Yun laughed and said, "You are right. When I first started smoking this thing, I just thought it was quite fashionable. Later I got used to smoking it and I finally tasted it."
Cao Xuan didn't smoke much, so he played with it in his hand, occasionally took a sip, and turned around to ask.
“How is JD.com’s financing going?”
"It's almost settled. The contract will be signed in March."
Gu Yunkai had obviously expected this matter. After all, Cao Xuan was very concerned about this matter. If Cao Xuan was not busy during the Spring Festival, he would have reported it alone.
Cao Xuan has been observing JD.com intermittently over the years. Because of this, although he could still enter the game, he lost the best opportunity.
In 2006, JD.com, which had only 38 employees at the time, received its first financing. At that time, it was said that Dong Ge didn’t even know what VC (venture capital) was.
Of course, it’s not clear whether this is an exaggeration or not, but Dong Ge used a partner to raise funds, but later failed for some reason.
Later, Brother Dong met Xu Xin of Capital Today. At that time, Brother Dong was so poor that even air tickets were too expensive, so Xu Xin decisively and quickly gave JD.com 10 million US dollars and obtained 40% of the shares.
(This contract has a betting agreement. If Dong Ge completes it, Xu Xin will dilute 18% of the shares to Dong Ge and JD.com employees. In the end, Dong Ge’s bet will be successful)
By the time the two parties signed the contract, Cao Xuan learned the news too late and was upset for several nights.
Later, Cao Xuan gave up trying to find opportunities, tracked and cultivated several famous entrepreneurs, and implemented the long-term investment strategy of fishing for big fish. It is difficult to say that there was no reason for this failure.
However, although he failed to catch up in the first round, Cao Xuan did not give up on JD.com. Instead, he put down his cover and chose to contact JD.com directly in an effort to impress JD.com's management.
During the 2008 financial crisis, the entire investment industry was cautious and cautious. JD.com, which had been burning money because of its self-built logistics, faced the biggest crisis.
Brother Dong, who was faced with financial constraints, met with 42 investors in a week at the most. He couldn't sleep for several months. He even had nightmares and cried bitterly at night. Within a month, his hair turned white.
At this time, two people brought hope to Brother Dong.
One is Xu Xin, who is preparing for additional investment and intends to introduce other capital, and the other is Gu Yunkai from Jiaoyang Venture Capital.
The former decided to invest an additional US$8 million, while Jiaoyang Venture Capital intended to provide US$30 million, requiring a 30% stake in JD.com.
JD.com’s valuation is actually not low, with industry estimates ranging from US$100 to US$200 million. Jiaoyang Venture Capital’s request is more or less unreasonable.
But then again, valuation is valuation, and the actual situation still depends on the investors’ own opinions.
Moreover, because of the popularity of Alibaba and Taobao in the past two years, the C2C e-commerce model has been recognized by everyone. JD.com’s development strategy has always been controversial, especially its logistics strategy, which has been criticized by many people.
This also puts JD.com in an embarrassing situation. Although the data is good, the development prospects are unclear.
In addition, at the time of the financial crisis, Dong Ge also demanded that the management have absolute control of the company. The combination of various factors made JD.com unpopular in the eyes of capital.
To put it bluntly, JD.com does not have much confidence in bargaining with Jiaoyang Venture Capital.
Brother Dong, who was already short of money, was afraid that Xu Xin's $8 million wouldn't last long, so he contacted Jiaoyang Ventures directly.
However, he was not without any benefit and fought for it. In the end, he asked for an extra US$3 million, allowing Jiaoyang to take 30% of the shares for US$33 million.
Xu Xin's shares were further diluted after the bet was diluted, but due to a follow-up investment of US$8 million, it ultimately remained at around 19%.
The two major shareholders hold exactly 49% of the shares. Of course, this does not mean that JD.com’s management has absolute control. It still depends on the voting rights of shareholders.
At Dong Ge's insistence, the two major shareholders gave him enough respect to allow JD.com's management to gain management control of the company.
This also makes Dongge very satisfied with the two shareholders.
Xu Xin doesn't want to talk about it anymore. Her relationship with Brother Dong is similar to that between Cao Xuan and Brother Xiao Ma. They met each other at a "little age" and accumulated a pretty good personal relationship.
Jiaoyang and Boss Cao behind it are also known to be good shareholders, especially Boss Cao’s reputation in Penguin, which is an important reason why Brother Dong is willing to let Jiaoyang take 30% of the shares.
Capital eats people but doesn't spit out their bones. There are too many cases where various founders in the industry have been killed after being invested by capital.
Brother Dong is very wary of these investors, fearing that he will be kicked out in the future if they cheat.
Therefore, a shareholder like Cao Xuan, who has a lot of money, a wide network of contacts, and is not interested in doing things, undoubtedly has a lot of bonus points in his mind, so he is willing to give up some benefits to win over Cao Xuan.
"Mr. Liu has always said that he wants to meet you in person. He is very interested in you because you both come from rural areas and are about the same age."
Gu Yunkai reported on the investment in JD.com and also talked about Brother Dong’s admiration for Boss Cao.
"It's easy to talk about. You can arrange it after returning to China. I actually want to meet him too."
Cao Xuan nodded readily, and was still thinking about whether to prepare a meeting gift for Brother Dong, such as tiger bone and deer antler wine, so that he could take care of his health.
Sister Milk Tea hasn’t gone to college yet...
Cao Xuan and Gu Yunkai chatted for a long time. Since the financial crisis in 2008, Jiaoyang Venture Capital has inevitably been affected. Some projects have plummeted in value or even died due to their nature.
But similarly, the emergence of the financial crisis also gave Jiaoyang Venture Capital some opportunities, and it came into contact with many high-quality projects similar to JD.com, which is a blessing and a curse.
Currently, Sunshine Pitchers own shares, stocks, and assets of Penguin, Warner, Marvel, JD.com, DJI, Septwolves, NetEase, Apple, and many other domestic and overseas companies, with assets valued at well over 15 billion U.S. dollars.
Among them, Penguin, Marvel, Apple and other companies are making rapid progress, and their market value is almost increasing every month.
Penguin, in particular, had a market capitalization of about US$20 billion at the beginning of last year. Less than a year later, it had surpassed Alibaba and exceeded US$30 billion, becoming China's Internet company with the highest market value.
Jiaoyang still owns 35% of Penguin's shares, which is worth almost US$10 billion.
Marvel is currently negotiating a merger with Disney. Cao Xuan is expected to retain 15% of the shares in the future. When Disney starts operations, the value of these Marvel shares will rise rapidly.
Apple basically consists of stocks and some scattered shares, which are only worth tens of millions of dollars, but it has full potential.
It's a pity that Apple's reputation is so big now that everyone with a discerning eye knows how to make money. The shares are so tight that even the hot sun can only drink soup.
In fact, in terms of pure asset value, Jiaoyang Venture Capital is not unique, but it has a healthy capital flow and a large number of high-quality assets.
These two advantages allow Jiaoyang to mortgage a terrifying amount of cash flow at any time, and even those big foreign capitals will look at it with suspicion.
Because of this, Jiaoyang Venture Capital has always occupied the first echelon in the domestic investment field.
It was always ranked among the top ten investment companies in China in relevant financial reports from 2005 to 2008, and successfully topped the list in 2007 and 2008.
Because of Alibaba's success, Masayoshi Son has been promoted by many media as the first investor, but in the eyes of many knowledgeable people, Cao Xuan is definitely worse than him.
The two are respectively the largest shareholders of Alibaba and Penguin, two of China's Internet giants.
Cao Xuan owns 35% of Penguin's shares, Masayoshi Son's SoftBank's shares in Alibaba are about the same, and Alibaba's second largest shareholder Yahoo, Masayoshi Son, also owns more than 20% of the shares.
Masayoshi Son’s investment in Yahoo is known as the Asian wealth myth.
Cao Xuan also single-handedly founded Fanxing and Box Games, which have a market value of more than 10 billion US dollars. They are China's largest film and television entertainment company and Asia's top three gaming companies respectively. Their cumulative market value even exceeds that of Yahoo, which has been plummeting for several years.
The most important thing is that a large number of companies in the hands of Cao Xuan have strong prospects and potential, while the only one in Sun Zhengyi's hands that can really fight is Alibaba.
Maybe it's not easy to tell the difference now, but in a few years, it won't even take a few years, it will take just one or two years to really tell the difference.
However, Boss Cao is relatively low-key in this regard, and other company leaders don't like to talk about Xiaoma's contact with Jiaoyang.
Unlike Jack Ma, Ali's difficult entrepreneurial story has added a lot of fame to Sun Zhengyi. Perhaps Dong Ge will rise in the future and he can defeat a wave of Jack Ma.
………
Cao Xuan went to Europe for vacation in early February and did not come back until half a month later. The main reason was that many people were busy and it was impossible to play with him all the time.
Everyone left one after another, and the atmosphere was deserted. The Cao Xuan family found it boring to play by themselves, and after half a month it was considered fun, so they simply went home.
When Cao Xuan returned to the capital, before he could even sit down, a hot search on Weibo revealed a photo of him and Zeng Li visiting the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona.
The photo was taken by a British paparazzi. It is said that he was traveling with his girlfriend, but he discovered Cao Xuan. He used the excuse to take photos of his girlfriend, but actually took the opportunity to secretly take photos.
Because he was more careful, and because it happened to be a tourist attraction at the time, everyone was taking photos, so Cao Xuan didn't pay special attention, and a few photos were taken.
The photo was actually nothing. It was just Cao Xuan taking a photo of Zeng Li. The two were walking side by side. Cao Xuan helped Zeng Li get his bag and water, chatting and laughing. Other than that, there was nothing too intimate.
Cao Xuan has a cautious personality and rarely shows too much intimacy outside.
But even so, a man and a woman travel abroad together, take photos and carry bags, and behave in a relaxed and understanding manner. These topics are enough to make the people happy.
The British paparazzi directly published the photo in the "Sun", and then it was forwarded by domestic media, and it quickly became the top trending search topic.
Cao Xuan himself didn't take this matter to heart before, and it's not like he hasn't been photographed before, but he's just lucky.
Hu Jing was busy with remote work that day, while Xiao Cao Li was tired from all the hard work and fell asleep in the hotel. The two took the opportunity to come out of their own world.
Otherwise, it would be easy to explain that the three of them were traveling together, but if they were photographed with their children, it would really be a big deal.
Cao Xuan followed the old rules and treated it coldly, neither admitting nor denying it, and just waited for the heat to pass.
Zeng Li is in a bit of trouble. This semester has just started and she has to go to school.
"How about... taking a day off?"
"Why please? I don't even know how to ask."
Empress Xigong glanced at Cao Xuan, the culprit, and couldn't help but sigh.
I went to school to report in September last year, and went directly to film "Detective Dee: The Empire of Heaven" without two days of classes.
She didn't return to school until the end of the year. Before the students were fully recognized, it was time for winter vacation. She went to Europe to play and took a few days off when school started after the new year. She was really embarrassed to open her mouth again.
"What should I do?"
Cao Xuan was a little innocent: "How about I simply announce my relationship on Weibo? I will announce the 'breakup' after a while."
"Then I really don't want to go to class."
Zeng Li rolled his eyes again. Cao Xuan was rumored to have four celebrities, but he has not admitted to a girlfriend so far.
As the subject of scandals, even if the scandal is bigger, it is still possible that she has passed away. If it is officially announced that she is the first girlfriend, I am afraid that her photos will be published on the global news page, and those days of peace will be completely gone.
As an actor, Zeng Li's career ambitions are Buddhist, but he doesn't object to being popular, but that doesn't mean he wants to be so popular.
The former is famous for her work, which allows more people to know her. She can still gain peace by keeping a low profile and bid farewell to the exposure. If she is involved in the gossip about the king's girlfriend, then there is no way to stop.
Zeng Li had experienced such days several times. He was harassed so much that he instinctively resisted this kind of life.
Cao Xuan was glad that he didn't hold the child that day, and Zeng Li was even more so. Her girlfriend felt that she couldn't bear it. If she were the mother of the child, she could just resign from the school.
"It's time for you two to abandon me and go out to play. You must be punished."
Hu Jing was gloating at the side. It wouldn't matter if she and Cao Xuan were photographed. Anyway, the outside world basically thought that their relationship was ambiguous, which was just to add insult to injury.
Hu Jing, who is in the entertainment industry and has retreated behind the scenes, doesn't care about this. On the contrary, Empress Xigong is more concerned about being a role model.
Zeng Li ignored her and called the teacher he knew to inquire about the situation. As expected, there were already a large number of paparazzi ambushing nearby.
Hearing this, Cao Xuan shook his head: "It's better to ask for leave. To avoid the limelight, just tell your leader that I have accepted a new drama. If it doesn't work, I will tell him."
"Let me do it."
Zeng Li had no choice but to find the leader's phone number and dialed it. The other party probably heard the letter and agreed readily without saying much.
Empress Xigong breathed a sigh of relief, and then curiously asked: "It's really a show, we can't deceive the leader."
"Really."
Cao Xuan took his laptop and called up a script: "Originally I wanted to just invest, but I think you are quite suitable. Take a look at the script. If you want to act in it, we will film it ourselves."
Hearing this, Zeng Li opened the computer file and saw two words "Sword Rain" written clearly in the title of the script.
It took more than ten minutes for Zeng Li to finish reading the outline and some related settings, and then looked at Cao Xuan.
"Do you want me to play Zeng Jing?"
"Well, this role is the core of the whole movie, and you must play it. However, it is quite difficult to play this role. I don't worry about you in acting, but in acting..."
Cao Xuan hesitated to speak, which was obviously to question Zeng Li's fighting ability. Empress Xigong was not convinced, she raised her brows and said with a hint of arrogance.
"Please go to Weibo to see who is the one who cut off countless actresses' martial arts dreams with a stunning sword, and who is the most beautiful Li Mochou."
Cao Xuan gave her a thumbs up to express his admiration. Zeng Li's words were really not a compliment. Although he didn't film many fighting scenes, his performance was so stunning and impressive.
Recently, many media have taken stock of martial arts actresses. In addition to the older generation of Xiangjiang people, Zeng Li, who is the most popular international star in mainland China, is often on the list.
Moreover, Zeng Jing's actual fighting scenes in "Sword Rain" don't have many, they are mainly literary and dramatic, and I think Empress Xigong can handle them.
"This script is really interesting, but the eunuch at the end is a bit outrageous."
While the two were chatting, Hu Jing also read the script and raised a question.
The setting of Rama's body in the movie is so awesome that even if it is immortal, the result is that the severed limbs are reborn, allowing the old eunuch to regain his little brother.
"It's not outrageous. For eunuchs, any hegemony or immortality is just a lie. Living a thousand years without a little brother means suffering."
Hu Jing was stunned and thought for a long time, but she was still speechless. You can say that this setting is unexpected or even outrageous, but you cannot say that this setting is illogical.
If it is difficult for eunuchs to understand, for example, if Rama's body can make people invulnerable, there must be many people who are even crazier and crueler than Chakravartin...
"Have you decided who will play this Zhang Asheng?"
Zeng Li looked at Cao Xuan expectantly. Boss Cao wanted to say find someone else, but looking at her eyes, he swallowed his words.
"Looking at the director's needs, I might be the one to take the job."
"It's great, we can film together again."
Zeng Li was very happy, and Cao Xuan's originally hesitant mind was instantly settled.
He had never thought of acting in this movie before. Although the script was good, he had already acted in the "Xiu Chun Dao" series of martial arts movies and was not very interested in martial arts movies.
In addition to "Let the Bullets Fly," which he has already accepted, Cao Xuan's next movie is to make another commercial blockbuster that will hit Hollywood.
But seeing Zeng Li looking at him expectantly, his heart softened.
The two of them actually filmed very few scenes together, and the one who really played the role of husband and wife was probably Yin Susu and Zhang Cuishan from "The Legend of Heaven and Dragon Sword".
Hu Jing and Cao Xuan were all partners or couples in "When Men Are in Love", "New World" and "Painted Skin", and they also became comrades in "Hurricane Rescue 2".
In contrast, he and Zeng Li had just filmed "Xiu Chun Dao 2" together, and they were in a hostile state most of the time.
So even if Cao Xuan had no plans to star in this movie, he immediately changed his mind the moment Zeng Li looked over.
You can just watch the blockbusters, but making money is not as important as coaxing your wife!
Zhang Ah-sheng in "Sword Rain" is considered to be a second film, but Cao Xuan has also been a green leaf in "Painted Skin", and it is not shameful to praise his own daughter-in-law.
He planned to recruit Fan Xiaopang to play the role of the young girl, the one played by Big S in the original version.
Zeng Li acted as a co-star for her twice in "Xiu Chun Dao 2" and "Di Renjie: The Tongtian Empire", so it's time for Fan Xiaopang to come back.
Moreover, the scenes in "Sword Rain" are more group portraits, and this character is also very unique, so it is not embarrassing for Fan Xiaopang to play it.
But now there is a difficulty. According to the script setting, both Zeng Jing and Zhang Asheng are in the state of having their faces changed.
In the movie, in order to live a quiet life, the two people deliberately changed their faces to "normal faces". They just didn't know how to put on makeup to make Cao Xuan and Zeng Li look "normal".
There is the idle man Cao Tianwang on the street, and the country woman Zeng Meiren.
And if these two faces are "normal", who should be chosen to play the two people before the face change.
However, this issue is not something that Cao Xuan is worried about. When he learned that Cao Xuan was starring in the film, Su Zhaobin, the director of "Sword Rain" who was dropped from the sky, fell into the worry of happiness.
The worry is that the script may require some control, and Boss Cao is known as a drama tyrant, so a young director like him may have to be subject to a lot of control.
Happiness is that the works starring Cao Xuan have not failed to hit the market so far. Having him join "Sword Rain" is like a safety lock. If by chance it becomes a big hit, he will be prosperous.
Didn't you see that Mr. Xu has collaborated with him on several films and has become the number one director in Hong Kong? Chen Kexin has also escaped from the predicament and become a hot super director in the film industry today.
The most illustrative person is undoubtedly Lin Chaoxian. He became famous in "Taken" and became a second-rate director in Hong Kong. Now he is vaguely trying to make an impact in Hollywood.
For many directors, cooperating with Cao Xuan is also a rare opportunity, especially for ordinary directors, who may skyrocket...
