Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

”Please, continue.”

Chen Yansen waved his hand, motioning for the group to continue, and walked toward the front desk with Gao Weilin and Song Yuncheng.

Zhou Shouzhi, Huang Zheng, and Liang Bo stayed behind, gathering in a circle with Xiao Jun, Liao Wei, and a few others to leisurely discuss business collaborations.

Under Chen Yansen’s influence, all of their fates had changed dramatically.

Take Liao Wei, for example. In his past life, his Cloud Speed Express most likely didn’t survive to see the golden age of e-commerce before being eliminated by the ”Three Passes and One Reach.”

Now, however, with Chen Yansen’s support, it had successively acquired Quanfeng, Yunda, Zhongtong, Shentong, and Yuantong Express. With an average daily volume reaching as high as 10 million parcels, and after establishing the Cloud Speed Express Alliance and launching electronic waybills, it had undoubtedly become the overlord of the private express delivery industry.

Once Cloud Speed’s cargo planes were refitted and its air freight business went live, it would mark the beginning of Cloud Speed Express’s entry into the high-end courier market.

Furthermore, Zhou Shouzhi, who was originally supposed to be a co-founder for the Great China Region at DST and join Xiaomi Technology two years later, was now the CFO of Orange Technology.

After checking in, Chen Yansen took the elevator to the 26th floor. He found his room, swiped the key card, and pushed the door open.

Standing before the floor-to-ceiling windows, he could overlook the entire Olympic Park. A sea of lush greenery stretched out before him. Tomorrow’s meeting venue was at the intersection of Beichen East Road and North Middle Ring Road.

Thinking of the dinner engagement that evening, Chen Yansen casually took off his suit jacket and began unbuttoning his shirt from the top down.

”RING RING RING—!”

His phone began to ring insistently.

Chen Yansen gestured with his hand, and the phone on the table flew into his grasp. Seeing the caller ID, he pressed the answer button.

”Come out for drinks tonight,” Zhang Chaoyang said over the phone. ”I made a reservation at VICS Club and invited Ding Lei, Lei Yijun, and He Xiaopeng.”

”I’m afraid I can’t. I have a dinner I can’t get out of,” Chen Yansen replied with an amused laugh, tactfully declining.

’Who said Zhang Chaoyang had depression?’

’That’s complete bullshit!’

It would be hard to find a boss in all of Yanjing who lived a more comfortable life than he did.

He was always climbing mountains, swimming, doing karaoke, drinking, acting in movies, and chasing women. He had even appeared on a few variety shows recently.

”A dinner? No worries! We’re scheduled to meet at ten tonight,” Zhang Chaoyang said nonchalantly.

With him putting it like that, Chen Yansen didn’t feel right refusing again, so he agreed.

After hanging up, he grabbed a bath towel and headed for the bathroom.

...

...

「Seven o’clock that evening, outside a small banquet hall on the top floor.」

Chen Yansen stood tall and sharp outside the door, flanked by Gao Weilin, Zhou Shouzhi, and Huang Zheng.

”I never expected that when Yuri invested in Orange Technology and Fast Taxi, he’d end up throwing in his own right-hand man as part of the deal.”

Cai Yongjin, the Managing Director of Goldman Sachs Asia, shook Chen Yansen’s right hand and glanced at Zhou Shouzhi with a teasing smile.

After all, the last time they met, Zhou Shouzhi was still the head of DST Capital’s Great China Region.

”If you have any reliable talent to recommend, President Cai, I’d be happy to take them all.”

Chen Yansen returned the joke with a faint smile.

”Then what do you think of me, President Chen?” Cai Yongjin asked, his smile vanishing as he adopted a serious expression.

”Senlian is too small a pond for a big fish like you,” Chen Yansen replied with a smile.

’Just who was Cai Yongjin?’

He had started at the World Bank Headquarters twenty years ago, then moved to Morgan Stanley’s financing department. The title of Managing Director of Goldman Sachs Asia, while impressive, was far from the ceiling of his career.

It was just a joke, so of course Chen Yansen didn’t take it seriously.

”Senlian is no small temple! The Internet Association invited eight of Senlian Capital’s portfolio companies to the conference. President Chen, your people could fill an entire row tomorrow.”

Cai Yongjin continued his banter.

In his opinion, perhaps only Facebook’s Zuckerberg could compare to Chen Yansen in terms of business genius.

”Please show President Cai to his seat,” Chen Yansen said to Huang Zheng, ending the conversation.

”This way, President Cai.” Huang Zheng led Cai Yongjin into the banquet hall.

Once they were out of earshot, Zhou Shouzhi lowered his voice. ”Cai Yongjin handed in his resignation to Goldman Sachs headquarters. The Pinbei investment deal is likely his last project there.”

”What did the Liu Family offer him?” A few bits of insider info flashed through Chen Yansen’s mind, and he instantly pieced together the real reason for Cai Yongjin’s departure.

”Boss, how did you know it was the Liu Family?” Zhou Shouzhi pressed, his voice filled with disbelief.

This inside information, he knew, had only just begun to circulate in the financial circles of Europe and America.

”Zhu Nanli of Junlian Capital wants to install Liu Yiqing as the CEO of DiDi Dache, but Li Yanhong won’t agree. The eldest Liu daughter has been at Goldman Sachs for over ten years. If she wants to move up, Cai Yongjin is her biggest obstacle. In terms of ability, network, and connections, Liu Yiqing doesn’t even come close to him. Therefore, Cai Yongjin must be the one stepping aside voluntarily.”

Chen Yansen analyzed, his logic impeccable.

Zhou Shouzhi swallowed hard and nodded emphatically.

He finally understood the gap between a genius and a true prodigy. With just a few unverified rumors, Chen Yansen had deduced the real reason for Cai Yongjin’s departure from Goldman Sachs. His boss’s analytical abilities were so formidable they were frightening.

”You’re right, that’s exactly it. Next month, Cai Yongjin is set to become the CEO of the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation. He’s giving the Managing Director position to Liu Yiqing, calling it a simple favor, but the Liu Family must have pulled some strings in the background.”

Zhou Shouzhi explained slowly.

If the Liu Family hadn’t conceded certain benefits, Cai Yongjin would most likely have recommended one of his own confidants rather than Liu Yiqing.

This was good news for Chen Yansen.

Once Liu Yiqing advanced further at Goldman Sachs, she would very likely lose interest in DiDi Dache.

Junlian Capital might even pull out of DiDi Dache’s next financing round.

In reality, even if Liu Yiqing hadn’t secured the Managing Director position at Goldman Sachs Asia, Junlian Capital had no intention of making any follow-on investments in DiDi Dache.

’The ride-hailing business burned through too much money!’

’Three to four hundred million a month in marketing expenses—who could possibly afford that!’

Before long, Yu Heng, the General Manager of Huake Capital’s investment department, and Gao Huiyi of Huaxin Investment arrived successively. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Zhou Shouzhi showed them to their seats.

Ma Wenteng and Liu Zhiping from Penguin arrived a bit late, smiling apologetically as soon as they met. ”President Chen, our apologies. We got stuck in traffic.”

”Mr. Ma, President Liu, please come in.”

Chen Yansen smiled, ushering the two men into the banquet hall.

The meeting was set for seven-thirty, and it was only seven-twenty. They weren’t late at all.

Representatives from five parties were seated in the room. Aside from Chen Yansen, Huang Zheng, Zhou Shouzhi, and Gao Weilin, the others were all potential investors in Pinbei.

Pinbei was founded on September 14, 2011, began R&D on October 1, and officially launched on November 18. All told, it had taken just one year to become the second-largest e-commerce platform.

Its speed of development far surpassed the imagination of the investment community.

Ma Wenteng was all smiles. A year ago, he had spent just 300 million US dollars to acquire a 15% stake in Pinbei. That investment had made him an insane profit.

The shareholders who had questioned him at last year’s board meeting were now keeping their mouths shut, not daring to utter a single complaint.

Yu Heng of Huake was the first to speak up. ”President Chen, President Gao and I already discussed Pinbei’s valuation by phone. Huake has no objection to the 22 billion US dollar price.”

In fact, Gao Weilin had been in frequent communication with Huake, Huaxin, and Penguin since mid-August. They had only chosen to meet in Yanjing to sign the letter of intent after reaching a consensus.

Only Cai Yongjin of Goldman Sachs had been informed of Pinbei’s bottom-line valuation a week prior.

Last year, Ah Li completed a private equity deal with a valuation of 32 billion US dollars. Ah Li’s total GMV for 2011 exceeded 600 billion Hua Yuan, while Pinbei’s projected total output for 2012 was around 300 billion. Using a comparable company analysis, a 16 billion US dollar valuation for Pinbei would be more reasonable.

However, Ma Liyun’s private equity deal was intended to raise capital for Ah Li’s shares, so its valuation carried a very low premium. Coupled with the fact that Pinbei was in a period of high-speed growth, the final price rose from 16 billion to 22 billion US dollars.

Of course, using the price-to-sales ratio valuation method, Pinbei’s valuation could also reach about 20 billion US dollars.

”Goldman Sachs has no objections either,” Cai Yongjin stated immediately.

The price had already been negotiated. There was no need to haggle over pennies and risk losing an excellent investment opportunity.