Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

”That good-for-nothing Cheng Wei! DiDi Dache’s market share has actually gone down instead of up! We’ve lost two hundred million, and for what? Absolutely nothing!”

On the sixth floor of Qian Du Mansion, Li Yanhong glanced at the weekly business and financial report from Cheng Wei and was instantly overcome with fury.

Over the past two weeks, Qian Du’s business development had been hitting snags at every turn. Zhou Hongyi had jumped in with 360 Search to disrupt the market, snatching nearly ten percentage points of market share from the group’s search business and causing Qian Du’s stock to plummet.

The ride-hailing sector wasn’t faring any better. In the northern market, DiDi Dache’s operational scope was on par with Fast Taxi’s, with the sole exception of the three cities of Luzhou, Jinling, and Hang City. However, in terms of average daily orders, it was falling short by 1.5 to 1.6 million.

Li Yanhong regretted it.

He should have agreed to Junlian Capital and Today Capital’s proposal sooner and kicked Cheng Wei out of the CEO position at DiDi.

”The Huagong Iron Army? He doesn’t deserve the title!”

Li Yanhong cursed angrily.

Ah Li’s CEO Lu Zhaoxi, Lashou Network’s CEO Shan Jiawei, Dianping’s COO Lv Guangyu—they all came from the Huagong Iron Army. Weren’t every single one of them more capable than Cheng Wei?

At this thought, Li Yanhong leaned back, pulled out his phone, and dialed Xu Xin. ”President Xu, I don’t think Cheng Wei is suitable to serve as CEO of DiDi Dache any longer.”

”Do you have a suitable candidate in mind, President Li?” Xu Xin didn’t press the issue. All the investors had seen Cheng Wei’s performance for themselves.

Knowing Li Yanhong, it was a small miracle he’d put up with it for this long.

Today Capital held a 12.2% stake, making it DiDi Dache’s third-largest shareholder. But Today Capital was purely an investment fund, so in terms of talent reserves, it naturally couldn’t compare to Qian Du.

The subtext of Xu Xin’s question was also clear: Today Capital supported a change in leadership but wouldn’t interfere in specific operational matters.

”Wang Jin and Xiang Hailong. One is responsible for technology and strategy, the other for commercialization and traffic.”

Li Yanhong didn’t hold back, laying his entire plan on the table.

Wang Jin excelled at technology-driven businesses. He had previously led the R&D for Qian Du’s mobile operating system and could provide LBS and order-dispatching algorithm support for DiDi Dache, making him a good fit for CTO.

Xiang Hailong was a veteran at Qian Du, skilled in traffic monetization and commercial operations. He was steady and methodical, making him suitable for the CEO role.

”Fine, I have no objections,” Xu Xin replied.

Although, as far as she knew, Junlian Capital seemed to want to push their own ’young mistress’ into the top spot, she didn’t mention it to Li Yanhong.

After hanging up, Li Yanhong called Zhu Nanli, the head of Junlian Capital.

”President Li, regarding the removal of Cheng Wei from his CEO position, Junlian Capital can cast a vote in favor. However, for the new CEO candidate, I’d like to recommend Ms. Liu Yiqing, an executive director at Goldman Sachs Asia.”

After hearing the purpose of Li Yanhong’s call, Zhu Nanli agreed without hesitation, but he seized the opportunity to make a demand of his own.

Liu Yiqing?

The eldest daughter of the Liu Family?

Li Yanhong’s expression soured. Qian Du held a 36% stake in DiDi Dache, making it the bona fide largest shareholder.

Junlian Capital only held 10%, but they were backed by the Lenovo Liu Family. If putting Liu Yiqing in the DiDi Dache CEO role was Liu Chengzhi’s idea, then he would have to consider it carefully.

”Is this Mr. Liu’s idea?” Li Yanhong asked, probing.

Zhu Nanli frowned, immediately understanding the subtext in Li Yanhong’s words: if this was Liu Chengzhi’s directive, he might consider it, perhaps even make some concessions.

Otherwise, it was a non-starter.

”Do you have candidates of your own, President Li?” Zhu Nanli asked in return.

Li Yanhong sneered. ’What a stupid question!’

’The combined shares of Junlian Capital, Haina Asia, Gao Ling Capital, and Today Capital don’t even add up to Qian Du Network’s stake.’

’On what grounds should Liu Yiqing get to call the shots?’

’Her abilities might be decent, but is there anything more comfortable or reassuring than working with your own people?’

”Yes,” Li Yanhong replied succinctly.

From the tone of Zhu Nanli’s voice, he already had his answer. Since this wasn’t Liu Chengzhi’s idea, there was no need for him to be too deferential.

After all, this was a multi-billion-dollar business; there was no room for carelessness.

Zhu Nanli looked troubled. After a long pause, he replied, ”President Li, Ms. Liu Yiqing has worked at Goldman Sachs for over a decade. She is absolutely qualified for the CEO position.”

”I can leave the CFO position open for her.” Li Yanhong didn’t completely shut him down, offering a small concession.

’Sigh, unfortunately, the young mistress wants the CEO job!’

Seeing that there was no room for discussion, Zhu Nanli exchanged a few pleasantries and hastily hung up the phone.

Li Yanhong was unconcerned. Cheng Wei and Wang Gang’s shares combined were only 38.08%. The combined stakes of Qian Du and Today Capital amounted to 48.2%, which was enough to call a shareholders’ meeting and kick Cheng Wei out.

To prevent any surprises, he then contacted Zhang Lei of Gao Ling Capital and Wang Qiong of Overseas Asia.

Zhang Lei agreed readily, but Wang Qiong’s position was ambiguous—neither opposing nor supporting the move.

Li Yanhong didn’t give it much thought. With Gao Ling Capital on board, their combined stake was now over 50%.

Therefore, Overseas Asia’s vote was no longer important.

The next morning, Li Yanhong, Today Capital’s Vice President Li Guangping, and Gao Ling Capital’s Zhang Lei went to the DiDi Dache headquarters together.

Although Zhu Nanli from Junlian Capital and Wang Qiong from Overseas Asia did not attend in person, they sent representatives.

Early that morning, Cheng Wei was sitting in his office, staring into space. Ever since receiving the news last night, he had been in a daze.

’Compared to these investment tycoons, I’m still too green!’

Twelve hours ago, he hadn’t even known what a dual-class share structure, a concert party agreement, or a proxy voting agreement was.