2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 928 The Year of Reshuffling for the Rich

Since the launch of Douyin (TikTok), Tan Jincheng has been diligently updating his short video account, maintaining an average frequency of one video per week, strengthening his personal brand image and getting closer to his fans through various means.

In addition, he also rewards his fans through lotteries, giveaways, and other means. When the number of fans reaches a certain threshold, he will give away gifts to a certain number of users through lotteries.

A series of content operations and the maintenance of the fan base have made Tan Jincheng the "most approachable CEO" in the country, and have also laid a good brand foundation for Weilai Auto.

After taking over Meizu, in addition to promoting Weilai Auto, Tan Jincheng had a new task: to promote Meizu phones. He would often showcase some of Meizu's new products to fans in videos.

The effects of this kind of personal brand image management are very obvious. Take Meizu phones as an example. When he first took over Meizu, a lot of Meizu fans went to the comment section to scold him. However, with this approachable publicity method and the fact that the phones were getting better and better, the brand image has been transformed.

Meizu's price-performance ratio has become increasingly high, and its user base has grown accordingly. Nowadays, even Huang Zhang's die-hard fans are too embarrassed to criticize him anymore; at most, they might make a sarcastic remark.

In terms of the number of fans, Tan Jincheng can only rank in the top 20 on Douyin, but in terms of traffic, he is in no way inferior to the top celebrities that Douyin spends a lot of money to hire. With the support of the unique algorithm, Tan Jincheng's short video comment section has always been very active.

Zhang Yiming was happy to promote this internet celebrity entrepreneur and major shareholder. With the help of Tan Jincheng's identity and the traffic he gained, Douyin attracted many companies and entrepreneurs to join.

Some organizations have analyzed that Tan Jincheng's popularity can save his company a huge amount of marketing expenses every year, while also achieving better publicity results.

The celebrity effect has made other companies very envious, and they all want to try to replicate this model. Many shrewd entrepreneurs have even started to try selling products themselves after gaining some fame.

With the support of Tan Jincheng's personal brand, the Weilai Auto and Meizu mobile phone brands have received excellent publicity. However, after several months of decline in the A-share market, and with the wealth of the rich shrinking significantly, the most concerning issue for everyone is still Tan Jincheng's net worth.

Compared to 2017, traditional industries have been hit hard. The real estate industry, which was booming in the past few years, has seen its value shrink significantly due to housing price controls and debt crises. Last year's richest man, Wang, is busy selling off assets this year, and the stock price of the belt company has also been halved.

Baidu, a long-established internet giant, also saw its stock price plummet due to setbacks in its transformation, resulting in a loss of at least $20 billion in net worth for Li Yanhong. Alibaba was also affected by the relationship between the two companies, with Jack Ma's net worth shrinking significantly.

Of course, this year has also been quite difficult for Pony Ma. Tencent's stock price rose significantly in the first half of the year, but began to fall in the second half. The freeze on game licenses and the tightening of regulatory policies have had a significant impact on Tencent's most profitable game business in the second half of this year.

Of course, the entire industry has been significantly affected. Not only Tencent, but also game companies and studios such as NetEase, miHoYo, and TiMi Studio have been hit hard.

Everyone knows what it means to be unable to obtain a new game license.

Established tycoons have been severely impacted this year, resulting in a rapid decline in their wealth. As a result, new elites representing the new economy and driven by technology have naturally come into the public eye.

This includes the post-80s tycoons led by Tan Jincheng, whose performance this year has been extremely impressive.

The immense popularity of Douyin (TikTok) caused the net worth of its actual controller, Zhang Yiming, to skyrocket from $5 billion to $12 billion. Pinduoduo's IPO propelled Huang Zheng from obscurity to a staggering $95 billion. Meanwhile, Meituan, which went public on September 20, enjoyed even greater success.

As the second mainland company with a dual-class share structure to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Meituan received far better treatment than Xiaomi, with its market capitalization reaching $510 billion on its first day of trading. The difference in how the capital market treated the two companies was like night and day.

Xiaomi, embroiled in controversy, barely managed to maintain its IPO price during its July listing, after which its stock price plummeted. By the time the rich list was released, Xiaomi's market capitalization had dwindled to just $388 billion, and its stock price had fallen to the HK$12 mark.

Meituan and Pinduoduo, on the other hand, have performed much better in the market. Meituan has a market value of US$455 billion and Pinduoduo has a market value of US$255 billion. The corresponding net worth of the three founders is US$52 billion for Wang Xin, US$114 billion for Lei Jun, and US$119 billion for Huang Zheng.

"The internet industry is still the most profitable, but there are still some differences between different internet companies."

Two reporters from Auto Friend magazine gained fame in August because they secured Tan Jincheng's only exclusive interview in nearly two years. During the 15-minute interview, Tan Jincheng was very cooperative and answered all the questions he could. This brought a long-awaited boost to Auto Friend magazine's traffic and made the magazine famous.

Meanwhile, the discussion about how many potential listed companies Tan Jincheng owned, which arose during the final stage of the interview, sparked considerable debate online, and Forbes magazine, of course, wouldn't miss out on this opportunity to generate buzz.

It is an undeniable fact that the influence of the rich list has been declining year by year, but we cannot just sit idly by. Taking advantage of this rare traffic opportunity, Forbes launched a marketing campaign focusing on the generational change centered around Tan Jincheng's wealth.

The 2018 Forbes China Rich List included 15 people, ranging from 33-year-old Tan Jincheng to 38-year-old Wang Zheng (born in 1980), the most in the history of the list. Among them, Tan Jincheng and Wang Zheng were in the top ten.

The top spot has returned to Jack Ma's hands. Although Alibaba's market value has dropped significantly, Ant Financial, which is currently in the final stages of fundraising, has seen a surge in valuation. As a result of Ant Financial, Jack Ma is the only one among the BAT trio whose net worth has increased.

With a net worth of $346 billion, an increase of $35 billion compared to last year, Pony Ma's net worth shrank by $62 billion, but he still ranks second with a net worth of $328 billion. The Pony brothers occupy the first and second positions on the list.

The third place on the list has been taken by the new generation Tan Jincheng, whose $321 billion is a slight decrease from last year, but his position has changed significantly, rising from fifth to third place.

The reasons for the shrinkage are similar to those of other wealthy individuals. Affected by policies and bilateral relations, the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets entered a technical downtrend starting in February. In October, the Shanghai Composite Index hit a low of 2449, a drop of more than 1000 points from the high point at the beginning of the year.

The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets have entered a technical bear market. Of the two listed companies controlled by Tan Jincheng and a series of companies under ByteDance's stock index, except for CATL, which has been listed for only a few months and is less affected, all other companies have been affected.

Especially by the end of September, the amount of tariffs imposed by the old man had reached 2000 billion US dollars, and we followed suit with 600 billion US dollars. It's not that we stopped imposing tariffs, but the 600 billion US dollars in tariffs is almost the entire amount of 2018.

In addition, North America has imposed further restrictions on the import and export of lithium batteries, including but not limited to technology acquisition and raw material supply, which has had a significant impact on Weilai's lithium battery business.

The chairman of the Weilai Group has also publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with this, even threatening to cut off the supply of lithium batteries to all North American companies, including Tesla, and also threatening to delist Orange Group from Nasdaq and sell all of its dollar assets (US stocks and valuables).
According to Tan Jincheng's public statements, if he can't do business with the Americans, he won't do it anymore. The market of 14 billion people and the world are vast and promising.

Such a public and forceful statement is very rare for Tan Jincheng, who has always maintained a relatively approachable public image.

In addition, DJI, another company he invested in, also took a tough stance, raising prices in response to tariffs. DJI has almost monopolized the global civilian drone market in recent years, and the founder of DJI, who is also born in the 1980s, has seen his net worth skyrocket to $52 billion.

Both born in the 1980s have absolute market power and authority in their respective fields. This tough stance has shaken Wall Street. Tesla, which had already made great breakthroughs in production capacity, was affected by Tan Jincheng's remarks, and its stock price once again began to fluctuate violently.

Orange Group was also affected by Tan Jincheng's remarks, with its stock price plummeting. Domestically, companies including Weilai Shares, Flash Technology, and a series of other Tesla-related stocks were also affected to varying degrees.

Tan Jincheng, who usually appears amiable, kept a low profile at the beginning of this conflict, rarely making any public statements. People in the industry know that he was actively stockpiling goods, both for himself and others.

For a long time, he liked to reply to comments on Douyin but never responded to the conflict between the two sides, maintaining a silent attitude. However, his statement last month was unexpected.

"In reality, this is just a negotiation tactic."

The so-called entity list drawn up by the other side of the Pacific is getting wider and wider, and companies like SenseTime and Megvii, which cooperate with Tan Jincheng, are on the list, which seriously affects the efficiency of cooperation.

His companies, such as Horizon Robotics, Jinshidai, and Seven Star Data Center, are also key targets of the investigation.

He couldn't do much about Horizon Robotics and Seven Star Data Center. He knew that the investigations into these two companies would ultimately affect the chip supply. Anyway, with so many offshore companies, it would be relatively easy to buy new chips.

The US isn't a monolithic entity. No one would turn down a profitable business. Even if tariffs were raised to 25%, or even 250%, as long as there's a profit margin, companies will still be buying and selling.

The same applies to the new era of electric vehicles, except that the sovereign status is reversed. Tesla almost represents all of the new energy vehicles in the United States, and the new forces in the United States are not as popular as they are here.

If Tesla is cut off from battery supplies, the entire new energy vehicle industry in the US will be greatly affected. This is not like before 2015, when Tesla was used to Chinese batteries with advantages in both cost and technology. It is not so easy for Tesla to switch suppliers now.

If we replace Wei Lai, the best option is still to rely on other domestic battery suppliers. As for Panasonic and South Korean battery suppliers, we still have to rely on us.
Not only does the rematching technology take a long time, but won't they take advantage of the situation?
The old man may not care about Tesla's fate, but Musk and Wall Street will. If Jinshidai is really added to the Entity List, Tesla's future will be in jeopardy.

Tesla's future is uncertain, which means the entire US new energy vehicle industry is practically finished. The global trend towards electrification, coupled with massive layoffs at Ford and GM this year (Ford has even announced its withdrawal from the North American passenger car market, and GM has closed several factories), all indicate that US manufacturing is clearly not as good as the old man imagines. He may not care, but many others do. Tan Jincheng's threat is still very effective.

Of course, this is also a charade between the two parties. More importantly, it is to gain room for negotiation. Jinshidai can affect the security of the US new energy industry chain, but it is different from the situation of Huawei.

Most importantly, Tan Jincheng has no dirt left in North America. Apart from going to North America a few years ago, he has hardly gone out since the old man came to power, except for occasional business trips to Europe or Indonesia. He has protected himself very well.

In terms of business, although he has a number of export businesses, none of them are as important as lithium battery exports. However, it is not impossible for him to give up the battery supply in the North American market if he really makes up his mind.

The domestic new energy vehicle market has already reached the level of millions of vehicles. Driven by policies and increased consumer awareness, even if one only does business in the domestic market, it is enough to support oneself.

At worst, Weilai can transform into a group company that produces and sells its own batteries. As long as it maintains its market share in the whole vehicle industry, it won't have to worry about any problems in the battery industry, not to mention it also has the European market.

Although Europeans often kowtow and back down, it is precisely this spinelessness that gives domestic companies a lot of room to operate. Furthermore, Wei Lai's cooperation with German companies, including BMW and a series of other companies, has been quite pleasant.

So far, apart from rising costs, the European operations have not been significantly affected, and the German battery factory continues to operate smoothly.

Compared to Wei Lai needing Tesla as an important customer, Tesla needs Wei Lai and Tan Jincheng's influence in China more. Although the two sides have an equal cooperative relationship, there is still a difference in their status.

Wall Street's reaction was that they knew Tan Jincheng's remarks were not just from a negotiation perspective, but that he really might do it. Once Jincheng New Era is added to the Entity List, he would really dare to do it.

Currently, ByteDance holds shares in a range of leading American technology companies, including Apple, Nvidia, Google, Amazon, and Tesla, and these shares are not subject to any restrictions.

When Tan Jincheng goes crazy, he can sell off all the stocks of these companies at once to suppress the stock market. In addition, if he delists Orange Group from Nasdaq, it will also have a huge impact on Wall Street capital.

"There's no need to question my ability to delist Orange Group from the US stock market. I'm not short of money, so this isn't just a negotiation tactic, but a feasible one."

Tan Jincheng couldn't control the capricious old man, but he could influence Wall Street capital and Musk and his shareholders through interests. For the sake of their common interests, they had to take a stand.

We will do everything in our power to ensure that Jinshidai does not appear on the Entity List. As for acquiring North American companies, that will only become more and more difficult in the future. Forget about excellent companies; the Americans won't give us a chance.

In addition to his strong stance, Tan Jincheng also announced that ByteDance, along with its subsidiaries and a series of other companies, would contribute a total of 500 billion yuan to help companies in the supply chain that are affected.

Helping these enterprises overcome difficulties and assisting export-oriented enterprises in transforming to domestic sales aligns with current policies aimed at boosting domestic demand and demonstrates corporate responsibility.

It's not that Tan Jincheng is being generous, nor is he trying to show off. When a company reaches a certain level, it has to consider these things. It's beneficial for both its reputation and the company's development. Some money can't be skimped on.

Even with this two-pronged approach, Tan Jincheng wasn't entirely confident that he could retain Jinshidai's North American market.

"Have you noticed that, compared to internet companies, although Mr. Tan also engages in globalization, he has a much higher degree of initiative?"

"Yes, this is a promising company. Looking back now, it seems that Mr. Tan's planning back then was truly visionary."

The company is building a global presence in Southeast Asia and Europe, and has entered the Southeast Asian and British markets by acquiring stakes in Proton and Lotus, while also absorbing and integrating the dealerships and technologies of these two companies to support itself.

Since the launch of its new model, Proton has gradually established itself in Indonesia. Through the research and development and sales of Proton's passenger car system, it has also provided valuable experience for Weilai in the ET5, and the two complement each other.

Even if Lotus declines, it's still a supercar manufacturer. Supercars may not be as popular as a company like Ferrari, but transferring technology to the domestic market still has certain advantages.

In addition to proactive acquisitions, he also maintains good cooperative relationships with European multinational companies. However, in the North American market, apart from Tesla, Tan Jincheng's ventures have been limited to superficial attempts.

At most, he would buy US stocks and high-end chips from chip companies like Nvidia. Even back in January of this year, Tan Jincheng's strategy was incomprehensible because there was absolutely no need to do it.

It wasn't until the conflict began that everyone realized that this was clearly a case of anticipating the risks and preparing to flee at any moment.

Suddenly, everyone understood why Tan Jincheng insisted on reducing his holdings in Tesla and Nvidia, lowering his stake to below 5%, even when Tesla and Nvidia were making great strides and their stocks were soaring in the past few years.

To this day, no one knows how many shares of US-listed technology companies Tan Jincheng holds. Through offshore companies and shadow companies, ByteDance's shareholdings have become increasingly concealed.

Of course, it would be easy to investigate, but doing so would be a formal break with the enemy. While this would result in a significant loss for Tan Jincheng, it would cause even greater losses for Wall Street and the Americans.

If you withhold assets from a company that is merely a threat in the battery supply chain, who would dare to cooperate with you?

"Mr. Tan's main assets come from the Weilai Group, which is listed in China. Also, although Orange Group is listed in the US, he also transferred a portion to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. He's really too cunning."

As for the main entity of these companies, ByteDance, it is not a listed company and does not need to disclose any financial information. With Tan Jincheng's current power, it would be too easy for him to reduce the losses.

The confiscation of Tan Jincheng's assets in North America resulted in a significant loss, but it wasn't a big deal, so he wasn't afraid at all.

Of course, making such bold statements is intentional. The market is currently too sensitive, and any company boss's remarks may affect the stock price of their listed company. But bosses are also human, and they can't stay silent forever.

When one's own interests are at stake, it is perfectly acceptable to speak out, and it does not constitute a violation of regulations.

"But if you ask me, our Boss Tan probably doesn't want to be the richest man, so he deliberately chose to make a public statement at this time."

The two Ma brothers, who have returned to the top two spots on the rich list, know Tan Jincheng quite well, especially Ma brother. Essentially, they both have the same attitude towards the rich list: keep a low profile if possible, and avoid being the richest person if possible.

If there's really no other way, we'll try to reduce the level of attention.

Douyin's valuation is still just a valuation, but whether it's Xiaomi, which has fallen below its initial offering price, or Meituan, Pinduoduo, and CATL, which have performed well, the combined net worth of these four companies, when divided among Tan Jincheng, is close to 90 billion US dollars.

If he hadn't pulled this stunt to suppress the stock price, given his shareholdings in several listed companies, it would have been impossible to push it below $400 billion. Now, thanks to his actions, it's down to $321 billion, $7 million less than Pony Ma's.

However, one has to admire this guy; his move was truly ingenious. He cleverly and reasonably used his leverage in negotiations while simultaneously suppressing the stock price and keeping a low profile.

"Last year I was fifth, this year I'm third, which is a reasonable rise. I'm not prepared for a sudden jump to first place."

In other words, the era of real estate is over. Otherwise, he could still keep a low profile and remain in the top ten. This is the state he prefers: everyone can see his strength, but he won't be so high-profile.

Forbes magazine wanted to use him for publicity, but he wasn't stupid. He had his PR team release the topic of the record-breaking number of post-80s millionaires, shifting the focus from him as an individual to the group as a whole.

Pinduoduo, ByteDance, DJI, Chen Wei of Didi, founder of Kuaishou, as well as Chen Ou who was on the list last year and founder of Meituan Xiuxiu, are all born in the 1980s and are all in the internet industry with even higher popularity than him.

As long as the buzz is generated, it will take away a lot of the discussion surrounding him. Compared to Jack Ma, who has already announced his retirement next year and plans to take Ant Group public, Tan Jincheng doesn't need the title of the richest man.

With the generation transitioning from one generation to the next, the pressure should be borne by the older generation for now, at least not in 2018.

(End of this chapter)