Generally speaking, since Tesla’s second round of financing has progressed to this point, Zhao Song is not eligible to cancel it.
But that's just a general situation. At least in the United States, no one was surprised by Zhao Song's sudden decision.
Silicon Valley, America, late at night, half an hour after Qin Han made the call.
Compared with Tesla’s scattered offices in China, its branch in Silicon Valley is more like the headquarters of a world-class high-tech company.
The spacious conference room was buzzing with people.
Executives, shareholders, investors, everyone was having red-faced arguments, and the emergency call in the middle of the night obviously did not affect their biological clocks, and everyone's face was full of excitement.
"Flight meals are a success! But obviously our flattery has had the exact opposite effect."
David knocked on the table and covered up the other people's quarrels with a loud voice:
“The more successful Inflight Meals becomes, the more dissatisfied Nicholas becomes with Tesla’s valuation in the second round of financing.
The cancellation may have been an angry statement, but it is undoubtedly a warning to all of us."
David had a headache. He once thought that as a communication bridge between investment banks and Tesla, he would be much more comfortable than Google's Shuster, because he was also the founder of the company, and Zhao Song was obviously much easier to serve than the two Google ones.
.
However, being easy to serve does not mean being easy to bully.
David stared at the new investment representative: "Obviously, as long as Mr. Nicholas does not sign, you will not get Tesla shares even if you keep him in the country forever!"
"..."
The conference room fell silent.
The Bank of America representative asked Ding Tao, who had been sitting there quietly:
"Mr. Ding, what do you think?"
"I have no opinion." Ding Tao replied calmly, "My task is to report the situation to the boss at any time. The consensus reached by you now cannot be recognized by him."
After saying that, Ding Tao glanced at Zhao Rong and others vaguely, obviously not satisfied with the previous negotiation work of his colleagues.
"But if you look at Apple's market value..."
"Apple's stock price has almost dropped to $1." Ding Tao interrupted the investment bank representative and said unceremoniously, "Stephen just sold 55 million shares. If you are optimistic about Apple, please leave here immediately. We are Tesla, not Apple.
, we are facing 98% of PC users in the world!"
(ps: In real history, some people say that Crazy Joe’s sell-off cost him $73 billion.)
"But we need a reference!"
An old white man said through gritted teeth.
"That's your business." Ding Tao shrugged in a very Western manner.
As soon as he finished speaking, the conference room suddenly became noisy.
"I think 20 billion is a very reasonable number."
"Oh my god, joy, are you crazy? How long do you plan to let us recover our investment?"
"Brian, if you don't increase the valuation, how are you going to get Nicholas to sign off on your valuation?"
"We had an agreement before. If the second round does not go smoothly, Nicholas will face huge compensation."
"With Tesla's financial reserves, do you think Mr. Nicholas will care about this compensation?"
"Bank of America has signed a stock underwriting intention. If Tesla suspends its listing, we will also face huge losses..."
"We can accept 20 billion or even higher, as long as part of the B-share equity is opened..."
During the quarrel, Zhao Rong quietly walked out of the conference room.
She played with her cell phone for a long time before making the call.
"Hello?"
"Xingsheng, Zhao Song has just decided to cancel the second round of financing."
“…Is this good news or bad news?”
Zhao Rong rubbed his brows and said with a headache: "I don't know. Although the valuation resulting from this negotiation is low, the new investors also bear many other responsibilities. These are priceless, so I don't know that canceling the negotiations is good news.
Still bad news.”
Xingsheng asked: "I am also a small shareholder of Tesla. Can you tell me the specific valuation?"
Zhao Rong hesitated for a moment before replying: "I can't say specifically, I can only say... less than 20 billion."
"..." On the phone, Xingsheng asked unexpectedly, "If this is the case, then even if the shares of Shenzhou Technology are added, Zhao Song will not become the richest man in the world?"
"That's for sure. Bill Gates' wealth of more than 40 billion is an astronomical figure."
Zhao Rong obviously does not agree with the optimistic estimates of the outside world. According to her prediction, if Tesla is listed at the current valuation, even if the growth is good, coupled with Zhao Song's domestic assets, he will be able to reach the figure of 300 even if he dies.
.
"Why did he cancel? Is that what happened?"
"..."
Zhao Rong was silent.
"Hello?"
"……Yes."
"You suggested it?"
"It was my suggestion to change the in-flight meals, and everyone approved it."
"...Since the listing is suspended, are you coming back?"
"No!" Zhao Rong replied categorically, "Taking the international route is the only path Zhao Song has planned for Tesla. If we want to have fewer obstacles on this road, the only way is to go public overseas. This is the founding of Tesla.
The biggest lesson learned here!
So negotiations will continue, this is just a way to express dissatisfaction, whether it is to our management or to the investment banks..."
Zhao Rong didn't say the rest of the words, but Xing Sheng knew it tacitly.
They have not gone through that era, when Apple, with a market capitalization of hundreds of billions, accounted for a quarter of the company's revenue from a single mobile phone category.
Today's Tesla is even worse. It makes a lot of money, but its music player revenue accounts for nearly 40% of the company's total revenue.
In the eyes of many people this is abnormal.
Worried about declining sales; worried about the failure of new products; worried about the disappearance of Zhao Song's product development talents, etc. The closer the listing is, the more these excuses are mentioned repeatedly by investment banks to achieve their own goals.
"What about you?" Xing Sheng's joking voice came over the phone, "Are you optimistic about it or not?"
"Click~"
Zhao Rong hung up the phone and walked to the conference room expressionlessly.
Not optimistic?
Oh.
Anyone who has seen the concept drawings of Tesla's new product line - notebook products, will not be optimistic about Tesla's future, and no one will doubt Zhao Song's product development talent.
Now, the selfless Gui Luyang is traveling around the world to recruit talents for Tesla; the ruthless Liao Yingzhu has disappeared without a trace; only the loyal Ding Tao is detained here as the personal representative and chief negotiator.
As for the others, there were no clear instructions for them to get involved...
After several years of ups and downs in the business world, everyone here has a terrifying social circle behind them.
But why didn't people like him speak up for Zhao Song after he was in China?
Not optimistic?
No!
Officially, it became the current situation because it was too optimistic.
Because they want more say!
20 billion US dollars, hundreds of billions of RMB.
This is the first time that a private enterprise with such a huge scale has appeared in the field of flower gardening.
This is due to the contribution of each of us.
We are not Ding Tao, Gui Luyang, or Liao Yingzhu. They only represent themselves. There are many people behind us...
Can we ask for less equity, but can we give more voice?
Yes, we want B shares.
You can’t take it all by yourself!
………………
Beijing, Pingchang, Tesla Industrial Park.
The noon shift bell rang, and crowds of people walked into the canteens in an orderly manner.
With the completion of the fifth phase of the industrial park, this is the largest electronic product production base in Beijing and even in the entire North.
It is also Tesla's only self-owned production factory.
(As agreed in the previous article, Guancheng Industrial Park has been transferred to Shenzhou.)
This industrial park, with a total investment of 980 million, an area of 1.4 million square meters, and a total of more than 110,000 employees, has driven relevant upstream and downstream manufacturers and supporting factories, countless night stalls, and shops, affecting the livelihoods of nearly one million people.
.
It is an important achievement of Pingchang District in Beijing’s active undertaking of industrial transfer. It is a great impetus for the development of the electronic information industry and export-oriented economy in Pingchang City and even the whole of Beijing. It has comprehensively improved the quality and level of Pingchang District’s opening up to the outside world.
If this administrative region and these millions of people are asked to elect a representative, then it is certain that there will only be one name in this option——
Gui Luyang!
From there, head east for 20 kilometers.
Or Pyeongchang District.
In the old bay of Wenyu River that no one cares about, all the demolition work of 3 townships and 7 villages has been completed.
At the rumbling construction site, hundreds of construction vehicles are in operation.
Land leveling work has begun, and municipal engineering has entered the final stage of research.
The Beijing city government is working hard to fulfill their promise to complete all three connections and one leveling work before starting construction on the Tesla headquarters building.
At the same time, the city government's project demonstration team has been established for a long time, and it is connected to even higher-level administrative units.
The purpose is just to wait for Zhao Song to submit the final project plan with a budget of 1 billion US dollars.
…………
Tesla's listing and the construction of its headquarters building have risen to the level of the local government's zz tasks, not to mention that this local government is still a capital...
In the face of these, no one's personal interests are worth considering, unless you think too highly of yourself, but who cares?
ps: The work is special. In the past two days, a security guard let visitors in without taking their temperature, and even let the senior leaders see it... and it was during the flood season that two leadership offices were flooded. It was quite fun.