Generation Z Artists

Chapter 391 New Troubles of Happiness
For Fang Xinghe, the listing of Xingwang was actually a trivial matter.

However, for the global internet industry, Wall Street in the United States, and even the entire Chinese society, this is an absolutely major event.

On November 11, 2006, NASDAQ...

Fang Xinghe and Dong Ge rang the small bell together, and Xingwang officially entered the secondary financial market, becoming a listed stock.

IPO price: $120.00
Number of newly issued shares: 2500 million shares
IPO fundraising amount: US$30 billion

Fun fact: The amount of funds raised depends only on the offering price and the number of shares issued, and has nothing to do with the rise and fall of the stock price after listing.

Unless more shares are issued in the future, or individual shares are sold after the lock-up period expires, the shares will not be related to the stock price.

The $30 billion in financing has already been transferred to Xingwang's account. This is the biggest wave of profits Fang Xinghe has made after Dong Ge's hard work for many years.

Oh, I forgot to mention, this money doesn't all belong to him, but to all the shareholders.

Therefore, the money cannot be spent recklessly; it must be used for company development and is subject to the supervision of the board of directors.

But that doesn't stop him from finding ways to spend money like crazy... Your brother Fang isn't keen on material enjoyment, but he figures he might as well spend the company's money.

The current StarNet is not his company, but a hybrid international internet enterprise.

Fang Xinghe holds the controlling stake, but others take the lion's share of the profits.

So, have you figured out how the company's money should be used?
Develop more businesses, distribute less dividends, and use the company's accounts as much as possible; if that's not possible, go to a bank.

There are many intricacies involved, and Brother Fang is currently learning diligently.
……

Following the issuance of 2500 million new shares, Xingwang's current shareholding structure is as follows:

Xinghe Investment holds 33.6% of the shares, with a statutory lock-up period of 180 days plus an additional 3-year lock-up period through an agreement.

The company's senior management and the option pool together account for 8%, with a statutory lock-up period of 180 days plus an additional 3-year lock-up period through an agreement.

BlackRock holds a 12% stake, subject to a statutory 180-day lock-up period.

Sequoia Capital US holds a 12% stake, as above.

Sony of Japan holds an 8% stake, as above.

Samsung of South Korea holds a 6.4% stake, as above.

20% of the shares are outstanding, held by U.S. institutional investors and underwriters, and can be sold on the first day of listing.

The original nearly 100% ownership has now dwindled to only 33.6%, which at first glance seems like a loss of two-thirds.

The core issue is that without sharing these two-thirds of the equity, StarNet cannot achieve its current valuation.

100% of 20 billion RMB, compared to 33.6% of 150 billion USD, would be the choice of any normal person.

Oh, by the way, $150 billion is the IPO valuation before listing. After listing, the market capitalization will be calculated based on the market price.

The stock market opened at 9:30 a.m.

StarNet opened sharply higher and then its stock price surged all the way up.

Goldman Sachs had set the IPO price as high as possible, and the market highly valued StarNet's $150 billion valuation, so the roadshow was a huge success and the shares sold out quickly.

However, no one expected that just before the IPO, Fang Xinghe would be able to drive another explosive growth for StarNet.

Currently, public opinion in the United States regarding Fang Xinghe is particularly chaotic, but it can be roughly divided into five categories: politics, business, finance, entertainment, and culture.

The business section mainly discusses the Internet Web 2.0, the era of internet celebrities, and leader-driven business models.

BusinessWeek specifically pointed out: "This wave of internet parody driven by SR is a landmark event marking a new stage in the internet ecosystem."

"He and his StarNet Weibo, along with YouTube, ushered in the era of internet celebrities."

“Traditional narrative modes are being deconstructed, traditional communication modes have been overturned, and traditional economic discourse power is making way for influential figures who have gained new power.”

"This is not a celebration for the mentally challenged, but rather a transformation of the world by Web 2.0..."

The article is too long to quote extensively, but the core idea is that the new era has given rise to new models, Fang Xinghe is awesome, and StarNet has a bright future.

YouTube's valuation skyrocketed, Facebook's valuation skyrocketed, and the valuations of all new internet products skyrocketed...

With StarNet already listed on the stock market, its stock price has naturally skyrocketed.

With its current leading position, it has virtually eliminated the competition for Instagram, which is completely similar to it. On the contrary, Facebook, which focuses on differentiated competition, has received more capital investment.

Of course, today belongs to Xingwang, and also to Brother Fang.

Opening price on first day of trading: $292.00
Closing price on the first day of trading: $513.87
After the market closed, StarNet's total market capitalization was... $642 billion!
The shares in this one company alone have propelled Fang Xinghe's net worth to a staggering $215.8 billion.

In this year's global rich list, he ranks 7th in the world, higher than Li Guagua's 188 billion and lower than Paul Allen's 227 billion.

The top three are Bill Gates' $500 billion, Warren Buffett's $420 billion, and Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Helú's $300 billion.

But the problem is...

Fang Xinghe also owns 45% of Tencent's shares, which are worth approximately $28 billion this year.

In addition to a large amount of domestic industries, cash, copyrights, and personal trademarks, the total valuation is approximately US$45 billion.

All of this adds up to approximately 288 billion, making it the fourth largest in the world.

After the news broke, the world's financial markets, the world's internet industry, and the world's entertainment industry were all in an uproar!
The situation caused a social sensation in China, Japan, and South Korea.

Especially the media centered around the 14 ugly ones, their heads are buzzing, it feels like half of their brains have been smashed out by a sledgehammer.

"No way, is money really that easy to make? How did he get so rich?"

"I do not understand……"

"I don't understand either, how come the amount of money being donated keeps increasing?"

"Damn, this guy is really weird! Maybe... I should avoid him from now on?"

"Fool, isn't this even better? There will only be more people who hate him than before, and you'll make more money cursing him than ever before. Now is the time to charge in, why are you hiding!"

"Yeah, he's the fourth richest person in the world, and he only donated such a small amount. Just how far has this person gone in seeking fame and fortune?"

"He must be criticized!"

Let's leave aside the dark side of human nature for now.

There's no need to worry about the clowns who are itching to cause trouble.

Currently, the mainstream opinion in domestic media is busy calculating his costs.

"Can anyone still find news reports from back then criticizing his investment in Tencent as a waste of money? I remember he made a particularly memorable reply?"

"I have a collection! Wait while I look for it!"

Wang Yali was extremely excited. She opened the large metal cabinet by the wall, which contained a huge pile of clippings, organized by year. When she opened it, she found that they were all full interviews with Fang Xinghe over the years, as well as related media reports.

"found it!"

"but……"

"There's so much talk about spending money, how are we supposed to write about it?" "Write it as awesome as possible! Spending money recklessly everywhere, yet becoming the richest Chinese person, that's so inspiring!"

A group of people stayed up all night, and the next day, the Beijing Youth Daily published an in-depth article praising him on its front page with the title "My Favorites Are Invaluable".

Five years ago, Fang Xinghe first appeared on the Hurun Rich List. At that time, his total theoretical net worth was only 600 million RMB, and his actual wealth after deducting intangible assets was less than 250 million RMB.

That was the first pot of gold he earned through hard work writing books, endorsements, and book signings around the world. The first thing he did after receiving that money was to pay taxes voluntarily.

After paying 4000 million in taxes, he still had about 2 million in cash. He invested 1.5 million of it in Tencent, which was still relatively unknown at the time, and then donated the remaining 5000 million to his hometown.

Many people ridiculed him or criticized him for being a petty person who had achieved success.

During an interview, CBN (China Business Network) asked a very blunt question: Do you really believe the internet industry can bring sufficient returns? How big is the bubble? Even the most renowned investors in the US are withdrawing! And QQ is the worst asset in this huge bubble industry!
How did Fang Xinghe answer?
He said: "I was one of the first users of OICQ and the first user of OICQ Show. I like the feeling of being able to hide my identity and speak freely with people online. I don't know if OICQ has any value, but my liking for it is valuable."

How heavy is my affection? 1.5 million.

You don't understand? That's normal. My love and hate are too much for ordinary people to bear.

So stop asking those pointless questions and go report on my capriciousness!

If I fail, you are welcome to laugh at me.

If I succeed, you don't need to flatter me; I'm just doing something that makes me happy.

I'll do many more things like this in the future. I need to get used to my capriciousness as soon as possible. We'll have many, many more opportunities to interact...

The controversy sparked by Fang Xinghe's outrageous response at the time is still vivid in my mind, and his willfulness has become a fixed image in the minds of the Chinese people.

Five years have passed, and Fang Xinghe is still doing things that ordinary people would consider 'willful' time and time again.

To provide his fans with a quiet, undisturbed space to communicate, he founded the StarNet official cafe and used his own money to subsidize server and network costs.

After his official fan club grew in popularity, he refused all advertisements and paid the vast majority of his fan club fees to the celebrity himself.

Xingwang Official Cafe continued to grow in this pure environment. As the number of users increased, in order to provide fans with a public space where they could communicate and understand each other, it also created Super Topic and Public Speaking Area, which gradually developed into today's Xingwang Weibo.

Throughout his actions, he has never acted for personal gain, always upholding his original intention of caring for his fans and reciprocating their love.

This feedback unexpectedly took root and sprouted, giving rise to a top-tier social platform in the global internet industry.

Is this just luck?

No, this is a reward specially given to him by God, a reward for his spirit, a reward for his kindness, and a reward for his unique values.

His nonchalant and arrogant statement back then: I don't know if this thing has any value, but my liking for it has value.

Just how many people have mocked him?

But now, looking back, we belatedly realize—oh yes, Fang Xinghe's liking is valuable.

Everything he genuinely loves is a rare find in this era.

His affection was so profound that it could change an era, change society, and change human civilization…

It was another long article; Fang Xinghe himself hadn't even finished reading it.

The last sentence gave him goosebumps—

"If you want to become a better version of yourself, then love him."

Fang Xinghe thought to himself: What's wrong with Sister Wang? Is she starting to use metaphysics instead of science when it comes to flattery?

But Baby's Star really loves reading it, and he bought out the Beijing Youth Daily again.

Mao Xiaotong posted a tearful message on the official fan cafe: "I can never repay Fang Fang's love!"

If this person becomes famous and is then exposed by netizens to be the real person, wouldn't they be utterly humiliated?
However, it's not a big problem. Many future big and small actresses are active in the official fan club of "Full of Stars". Yang Mi is still a big fan of Yang Mi. She still says a lot of nonsense.

The most important role of this sentimental article in the Beijing Youth Daily is to popularize an entrepreneurial philosophy: invest time and energy in what you love, don't be too profit-driven, and do things well rather than focusing solely on making money.

This gave birth to the first motivational quote in the history of internet entrepreneurship: "What you like is the most valuable."

Even if it's not as valuable as Fang Xinghe's liking, it's definitely better, happier, and easier to succeed than utilitarianism.

When Fang Ge saw the pervasive "Fang-style motivational quotes" in the domestic venture capital circle, he was completely dumbfounded.

Good heavens, are there really people who believe that I created the StarNet official fan cafe entirely to serve my fans?

The original purpose of this thing was to unite fans and gain leverage in negotiations with external parties!
But it was too late for him to explain now, and even his own explanation was useless.

Nobody believed it.

Most people only believe what they see with their own eyes and then assume that it is the truth.

The First Financial Daily, which was named, couldn't wait to jump out and clear its name, writing: "This is not a willful success, but rather Fang Xinghe's original intention is extremely pure and he has a strong sense of dedication. So when he is willful, everything he does actually has the attributes of serving the public and the function of benefiting the public."

If someone else were to act willfully, or if they were to act willfully in a different selfish way, the final result would be drastically different.

Ultimately, it is Fang Xinghe himself who deserves such wealth, not his willfulness that led to its accumulation.

This situation provides a core logic for our entrepreneurial thinking that is highly characteristic of China.

That is to say: do good deeds, don't worry about the future, and don't listen to any dissenting opinions.

The most successful people are always lonely and misunderstood by the world. We didn't understand them before either, because we are ultimately just ordinary people.

This is not a mistake, but CBN would like to pay the highest respect to Mr. Fang Xinghe…

Regardless of how much the domestic economic and venture capital circles were shaken, ordinary people completely believed that Fang Xinghe's success was entirely due to destiny.

This slogan was proposed by Gigi.

In the article "Fang Xinghe, Destined by Heaven," editor-in-chief Gigi concludes: "When every decision a person makes seems perfectly natural, there are only two explanations—"

The first type possesses astonishing wisdom, so as to be able to discern every rise and fall in the tide of the times, accumulating strength when the tide is weak and rising suddenly when the tide is strong, making them invincible.

The second type is those with boundless good fortune who can do whatever they want, but every decision they make is perfectly in line with the deep frequency of the times. What seems like a risk is actually just keeping up with the times, and they don't even have to bend over backwards.

We usually call the first type of person "so wise they're almost supernatural," like Zhuge Liang.

We call the second type of person "those destined by Heaven," such as Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu.

—Don't be surprised. In the five-year history of China, it is not uncommon for people to be born under the mandate of heaven. What is rare is those who can face the mandate of heaven squarely, respect the mandate of heaven, and make good use of the mandate of heaven consistently.

Such a person would be a Taoist master in Taoism, a Confucian sage in Confucianism, and in the new China of the 21st century, he is Fang Xinghe.

Fang Xinghe is walking on a lonely yet brilliant pilgrimage route…

Gigi has once again raved about her son, but the son didn't see it. Don't be fooled by his thick skin; he does blush sometimes.

Let Yunyun and Guigui give them lots of likes...

Fang Xinghe thought to himself: I won't get involved. You're trying to purify the fanbase while attracting new haters. It's all your doing. I'm completely innocent!
Whether he's guilty or not, we don't know. Anyway, in just one week since StarNet went public, his level 4 and 5 fans have been purified to their current limit, and his Star Value has even increased to the point where he can add another skill.

This huge unexpected gain brought him new troubles—the troubles of happiness.

(End of this chapter)