A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

The year is now the 1980s.

New Year's Day 1980.

Discovery Bay, the Chan family villa district.

In a family meeting room, Chan Kwong-leung was having a meeting with his four wives and some of his sons who had joined the family business. Naturally, all the eldest sons from the four wives were present.

Looking at their father, who was still young and strong, the sons felt a sense of peace, even though they were not present.

Looking at his sons, Chen Guangliang felt a surge of pride. His greatest achievement in life was not how much wealth he had amassed, but that his children were all exceptional individuals who had demonstrated remarkable talent in the business world.

The Rothschild family had five sons, each capable of standing on their own; now, the Chen family has fifteen outstanding individuals, and the family will only prosper more.

"Today we'll discuss gold. Currently, international gold prices have risen sharply in a short period, conservatively estimated to reach as high as $800 per ounce, though this price certainly won't hold. Based on my prediction, for most of this year (1980), the price will remain stable above $600 per ounce, giving us ample time to cash out our gold investments. Furthermore, our costs are very low, allowing us to complete the cash-out process more smoothly."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Later.

Chen Wenhua said with a smile, "I traded some silver, but I closed the position before the new year. At $40, I don't know how long the Hunt brothers can hold on. As for gold futures, we and Madison still have one-third of our position, which we plan to close in January as well."

He is arguably the most high-profile second wife in the United States, and is also recognized on Wall Street as a 'Chinese stock god'.

The United Madison, led by Chen Wenhua, has many times the asset value of Berkshire Hathaway, led by Buffett, and holds a 46% stake.

Chen Wenxi, the second son of the third wife, also said: "My operation is the same as that of my fifth brother. This time, I expect to make a profit of more than 1 million US dollars in the London futures market."

Neither of them made a large profit, after all, it was the futures market. Even if Chen Guangliang was confident, he wouldn't allow them to invest too much, since futures are different from spot trading.

Chen Guangliang said, "If you can close your futures positions this month, then try to do so."

The two nodded quickly.

Then, Chen Guangliang continued, "In terms of spot trading, firstly, there are investments made by the family office, with an estimated return of over HK$16 billion and profits exceeding HK$12 billion. Adding in other investments, the family office's assets finally surpassed HK$20 billion by the time the 1980s arrived."

Everyone cheered.

The eldest son, Chen Wenjie, immediately suggested, "Father, the family office's assets are now very substantial. We should consider recruiting more professional investment talent and converting some of the family office's assets into stable, long-term, and global investment projects."

The younger brothers all chimed in.

Since the establishment of the family office, the father has been in charge of all investments, while his brothers have been responsible for execution.

However, even if the father has a target, the current asset value of the family office is clearly insufficient to be contained in the securities and other financial markets, especially given their strong emphasis on 'privacy'.

Chen Guangliang nodded and said, "Okay. Next, the family office's investments will expand into real estate, mining, farms, antiques and jewelry, which will definitely require more professional talent. I can offer some advice on later investments, but you four brothers on the standing council will need to take on the role of the brains."

The eldest sons of the fourth wife, Chen Wenjie, Chen Wenjin, Chen Wenou, and Chen Wenying, immediately came down from Yingcheng.

The family office's standing council consists of nine people: the father, four mothers, and the four brothers. When the four brothers are of equal opinion, they can naturally consult their father.

With the family office's assets exceeding 200 billion, Chen Guangliang will not need to spend too much effort to easily ensure an annual return of over 10% for these assets.

Investing in assets such as real estate, mining farms, and antiques and jewelry can generally yield a return of around 10% annually. Of course, this applies to the next 40 years; after that, the returns will be lower, and even within that period, there will be periods of asset decline.

The family office's main investment projects are naturally securities investments in Hong Kong, the United States, Europe, and Japan, as well as some financial investment projects.

This time, the second and third wives also invested in some spot gold, and their profits amounted to several billion Hong Kong dollars.

Of course, financial investment is ultimately for the purpose of investing in real industries, and the Chen family will invest in more real industries in the future.

In 1979, Hong Kong's population exceeded 500 million, reaching 505.6 million.

The population growth was very rapid, mainly after 1978, when a large number of people from the mainland moved to Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, in 1979, Hong Kong's GDP reached HK$1360 billion, with a per capita GDP of HK$27000.

(In the previous life, the annual figure was just over 1000 billion.)
Throughout the 1970s, the annual growth rate of local GDP was 20.1%, and the annual growth rate of per capita GDP was 17.2%.

In the following years, Hong Kong's GDP growth rate will continue to maintain this pace.

It is projected that within about five years, it will be able to achieve the same per capita income as the UK.

Causeway Bay, Paterson Street.

The properties on one side of this half-street all belong to Cheung Kong Holdings and fall under the 'Paterson Street Commercial Complex Project', which includes: a four-star luxury hotel, a department store, a shopping mall, an office building, and three residential apartment buildings, making it a typical large-scale commercial complex project.

The office building here is called the 'Media Building'. It has always been the headquarters of the Oriental Daily News, a newspaper that was founded in the 1930s in Shanghai. Now it has declined somewhat.

Today in Hong Kong, four newspapers—Oriental Daily News, Sing Tao Daily, Ming Pao, and Modern Daily—are affiliated with the first wave of Chinese-language newspapers, while Modern Daily was founded by the Ma family.

Although the Oriental Daily News has declined, it still holds the top sales position in Hong Kong. Its only difference is that it has gone from being the sole dominant Chinese-language newspaper to now sharing the market with three other major Chinese-language publications. Its strength lies in the timeliness and comprehensiveness of its current affairs news, making it an important channel for Hong Kong people to understand Hong Kong and the world.

of course.

The Media Building houses not only the Oriental Daily News, but also other media companies.

Meanwhile, 'Manke World Publishing House', a subsidiary of the Yangtze River Industrial Group, has already moved to the Media Building.

During the morning rush hour, several citizens were walking along the sidewalk of the Media Building when they noticed an unusual situation at the entrance to the building.

One citizen exclaimed, "Porsche, Ferrari, my goodness! Are there so many rich people living in this office building called the Media Building?"

His words had barely left his lips when they sparked a discussion among the citizens, and even foreign tourists stopped to point and whisper.

This place is practically a 'luxury car show,' with mostly sports cars, a real feast for the eyes.

The security guard who was directing the operation, seeing the growing discussion among the citizens, smiled and said, "The people driving these luxury cars aren't the bosses!"

This left even more citizens in disbelief!
"I don't believe it. Only the boss could drive such a luxury car!"

"That's right. Even if someone is a boss, they have to be a powerful boss to be able to afford a Ferrari, Lamborghini, or Porsche!"

"There were probably about twenty vehicles that just went in?"

The security guard explained smugly, "You guys don't know this, do you? The people driving these luxury cars are all lead comic artists for 'Comic World.' Their income is shockingly high; I heard the highest can earn a million a year!"

This caused a huge uproar.

Comic World is no stranger to Hong Kong people; it represents the Hong Kong comics industry and has produced a series of classic comics such as Fist of the North Star, City Hunter, Mobile Suit Gundam, and Dragon Ball. It redefined the 'Hong Kong comics industry' and represented the Hong Kong comics industry's expansion overseas.

However, the fact that lead cartoonists can earn up to a million dollars a year is something many people find hard to believe. "A million dollars? That's about the income of a core executive at a Hong Kong-listed company, isn't it?"

"That's right. How could the annual income of a lead cartoonist be comparable to that of a core executive of a listed company?"

The security guard quickly directed a Ferrari convertible to drive in, then turned around and said, "See that? More than twenty sports cars, almost all of them are the vehicles of the chief comic artist of 'Comic World'. Earning millions a year, nothing is impossible. Hong Kong comics have already gone overseas."

Although Manke Publishing House is not a publicly listed company, it still has a high level of influence.

In this era, Hong Kong comics not only cultivated a larger local market, but also gained significant influence overseas by the 1970s. "Mobile Suit Gundam," along with its corresponding toys and figures, achieved considerable fame worldwide; other works were primarily distributed in other countries through licensing.

A reporter was present, and he took photos, then wrote them down in his notebook.

soon.

Oriental Daily News published an article titled "High Revenue in the Comics and Games Industry".

The article states:

The more than thirty lead artists at Manke Publishing House earn annual incomes of seven or eight hundred thousand, or even one million yuan, and they all drive sports cars, which is incredible. Moreover, Manke Publishing House also has hundreds of full-time comic artists whose incomes exceed one hundred thousand yuan, making them a truly high-income group. These are all signs of Manke Publishing House's success.

The reporter also visited 'Midea Games Entertainment' and found that the luxury cars in the parking lot were no less impressive than those at Manke Publishing House. It is reported that this pioneering company in video games has as many as six engineers with salaries of one million yuan, and has more than 100 game software development engineers with annual incomes of over 100,000 yuan.

The news caused a great deal of public discussion in Hong Kong.

At that time, Hong Kong's per capita GDP was only HK$27000. Manufacturing workers earned an average of only HK$2,000 to HK$3,000 per month (in the previous life in 1978, the average income in manufacturing was HK$50 per day).

The emergence of so many people in Hong Kong earning hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars a year has truly surprised many citizens.

This was followed by extensive media coverage, which sparked heated discussions in Hong Kong society.

"Hong Kong's high-tech industry is in no way inferior to its real estate industry!"

"If you look closely, you'll find that Hong Kong's high-tech industry was developed by Cheung Kong Holdings, a top-tier technology manufacturing company not only in Hong Kong but also in the world."

"That's right! The success of Cheung Kong Industrial Group is the success of Hong Kong's technology industry. And behind this is Sir Chan Kwong Leung's strong support for the development of Hong Kong Polytechnic University and its polytechnic-related majors since the 1950s. First, he cultivated talents, and then he recruited these talents to Cheung Kong Industrial Group, thus forming a healthy development organization. What made this possible was not the colonial governor of Hong Kong, nor the London government, but the Chan Kwong Leung family!"

"Not only that, but talents who left Cheung Kong Industrial Group have also established technology companies, gradually expanding Hong Kong's technology industry. It is understood that nine out of ten video game companies registered in Hong Kong are related to Midea Games Entertainment, and even their products are first distributed by Midea Games Entertainment and then exported to Europe, America and Japan."

"So powerful"

The vehicles used by employees of 'Manga Publishing House' and 'Midea Games Entertainment' have sparked a wave of 'technology and IP' in Hong Kong.

As the 1980s approached, this was an affirmation of Chen Guangliang's contributions over the years.

The reason Manke Publishing House pays high salaries to lead and full-time comic artists is due to the generous investment and the Chen Guangliang family's magnanimity. After all, the Chen Guangliang family values ​​the long-term worth of intellectual property, so why not give most of the profits from comic publishing to the employees, since the copyright belongs to the company?

The same applies to Midea's game entertainment company. Early titles like "Ping Pong" and "Space Invaders" have already generated over $5000 million in revenue per IP, and these revenues continue to grow. Therefore, this company allocates a portion of its profits to R&D and talent development, distributes a portion to engineers at high salaries, and a portion serves as Chen's personal profit.

Through these two companies alone, Hong Kong citizens can see how generous the Chan family is to its employees and how profound their influence is in Hong Kong.

Ultimately, the money of those high-paid employees of the Chen family actually flowed back to the Chen family.

In Hong Kong, 80% of car sales are controlled by two companies: Global Trading and Hutchison Whampoa; 15% of high-end residential sales are developed by Cheung Kong Group; and the high-income employees of the Chan family in the hotel and retail industries ultimately return a large portion of their funds to the Chan family.

Lane Crawford Building, Queen's Road Central.

The administrative headquarters of Cheung Kong Industrial Group remained in Lane Crawford Building, since the Midea Building, located above the Central MTR station, would not be put into use until 1981, and the Admiralty Centre Phase 1 in Admiralty would not be put into use until 1982.

The two buildings that Cheung Kong Industrial Group bought for more than HK$18 billion back then are now worth at least HK$30 billion.

Of course, the Yangtze River Industrial Group itself is also very profitable.

In his office, Chen Wenkai reported to his father: "Father, last year (1979), the net profit of Changgong Group exceeded HK$15 billion, reaching HK$15.8 billion. Xinfeng Textile Group's net profit was HK$3.5 million, of which the fleece fabric business contributed HK$1.2 million in profit, and the revenue from clothing brand retail also exceeded HK$8000 million."

Chen Guangliang said with satisfaction, "This is a breakthrough in technology and branding; otherwise, Xinfeng Textile would have lost its position as Hong Kong's largest textile group long ago."

Chen Wenkai nodded and said, "That's right! The second to fifth largest textile companies in Hong Kong have changed a lot over the decades. The pattern is that whoever masters the new technology can catch up and surpass others. From the earliest Hong Kong Textile, Nanhai Textile, and Nanyang Yarn Mill, to the later Nan Fung Textile and Nan Lian Textile, the former in the 1950s and 60s, and the latter in the 1960s and 70s, only Xin Feng Textile has been in the lead since the 1930s due to its technological advantages."

With fabrics, denim, fleece, and more that meet the requirements of various countries, Hsin Feng Textile has always been at the forefront of technology.

Today, Lacoste and Uniqlo each have over a hundred stores across Asia, a remarkable achievement. These stores weren't simply opened with money; Uniqlo's approach was far more sophisticated. First, it involved established brand management; second, leveraging Hong Kong's thriving entertainment industry for endorsements; and finally, it relied on technology.

For example, Uniqlo has made a fortune in Japan and South Korea with its fleece products, selling 300 million fleece garments annually.

Then, Chen Wenkai said, "Rongchang Group achieved a profit of HK$2.2 million last year, which can be considered a sign of stabilization. The global yacht industry is beginning to recover."

Rongchang Group has a wide range of businesses, but many are still in the development stage.

While the yacht industry was developing well, the global inflation in the mid-to-late 1970s caused a sharp decline in the industry. On the other hand, after the rise of Wing Cheong Yachts, many yacht companies emerged in Hong Kong, which intensified the competition. Fortunately, Wing Cheong Yachts had already achieved success in the mid-to-high-end yacht market (the high-end segment was an Italian brand acquired through acquisition).

Chen Wenkai continued his report: "Huatai Group's profit exceeded HK$4 million last year, reaching HK$4.15 million. Among them, the OEM business achieved a net profit of HK$3.2 million. It is worth mentioning that Manke Publishing House achieved a profit of HK$3500 million for the whole year, setting a new record. Of course, the growth of our own toy brand and retail brand is also very gratifying."

Manufacturing 3.2 million is indeed impressive, considering Mattel's rapid growth and the fact that all of Mattel's toys are made in Hong Kong and manufactured by Huatai.

Finally, Chen Wenkai happily said, "The most impressive one is undoubtedly the rising star—Midea Group, which generated a massive profit of 5.95 million last year. Among them, Midea Electronic Games Entertainment alone earned a huge profit of 2.2 million Hong Kong dollars last year, including IPs such as Hong Kong Blocks, Pac-Man, and Space Invaders, which shone brightly in arcades, game consoles, and handhelds. In addition, there are Walkmans and electronic watches."

Chen Guangliang also showed a satisfied smile. Midea Group alone accounted for about 70% of the net profit of Cheung Kong Holdings, exceeding that of any other real estate company in Hong Kong.

Electronic Arts (EA) sold over 400 million handheld consoles last year, 200 million of which were for "Hong Kong Blocks". Midea Entertainment charges per device installed, and its software profit margin is actually higher than its hardware profit margin. Of course, EA also needs to make a profit, so the two companies earn roughly the same amount, with EA earning slightly more from both hardware and software.

The arcade game "Hong Kong Blocks" sold 15 units worldwide last year, with 9 units sold in the United States alone, making it the best-selling arcade game.

Seeing such good performance.

Chen Guangliang took two documents out of the safe and handed them to Chen Wenkai.

"One is the manga series 'Detective Conan,' and the other is the video game 'Battle City.'"

Chen Wenkai accepted it with delight, knowing that this was the real key to success.

He then said, "Wenying told me last time that EA is preparing to set up a special project team to develop the world's most advanced game console, one that no one can surpass within a year."

Chen Guangliang nodded and said, "Yes. Japan's electronics industry has an advantage, and EA has the potential to replace Atari as the dominant player in console gaming. Of course, Midea focuses on software for gaming and entertainment, so you don't need to worry about who wins."

Chen Wenkai said with a smile, "Wenhai also said that he should let Wenying know before he develops such a product, so that he can sell Atari at a high price!"

This was naturally Chen Guangliang's idea; Chen Wenhai himself was reluctant to give it up, but he also understood that it was the best choice. (End of Chapter)