The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

The matter of selling vegetables.

It was somewhat expected, but also somewhat unexpected.

He started planning Tengsheng Fresh a long time ago, intending to use it specifically for projects to support farmers.

These major internet companies are now going head-to-head in the vegetable selling sector.

He might as well just sell Tengsheng Fresh Produce first.

I wonder if the government will step in to stop this from going on.

Chen Pingsheng always felt that there was a risk involved.

Internet giants are companies worth hundreds of billions of dollars, yet they're trying to disrupt the livelihoods of small vendors and steal their vegetable-selling business.

This doesn't seem very kind at all.

Chang Fu didn't care about any of that; all he cared about was that Tengsheng Fresh was worth $12 billion.

This is so unexpected!

Old Chen's ways of making money are truly everywhere.

"Do you want to attend the class reunion in a few days? Everyone is really hoping you can come!"

"At our age, we probably all bring our kids to class reunions, right?"

"Most of them are definitely married with children, while a small portion are still single."

Chang Fu said, "That kid Yang Kang will probably be there too. Do you know what his wife is doing right now?"

"What are you doing, becoming an internet celebrity?"

"I wouldn't call myself an internet celebrity, I'm just a female live streamer, doing sexy dances all day long."

There's no need to guess; he's definitely not doing very well.

If a man is successful, what man would let his wife dance provocatively in front of the camera all day long, begging for money from her "brother"?

"Doesn't he know that your famous Uncle Fu has now become an internet celebrity ancestor?"

"He definitely doesn't know. I don't know what happened to this kid. He used to be the best off in his family, but now he's getting scolded by his wife every day."

Chen Pingsheng thought for a moment and said, "Since we don't know, let's go see him another day. Let's not reveal our identities yet. Given our situation, it's easy for our past relationships to become distorted."

Chang Fu thought about it for a moment and also felt that it made sense.

They were all so rich that many classmates and fellow villagers came to their door, saying they wanted to catch up.

Towards the end of the story, it was mostly about family difficulties.

This is no longer interesting.

Chang Fu would keep over a million yuan in cash in his office, and anyone he knew would give him 30,000 to 50,000 yuan.

Once, but never a second time.

The house is quite comfortable, especially since there's a huge swimming pool on the first floor.

His wife swims there for half an hour every night.

She said she wanted to maintain her figure.

Of course, she wouldn't swim when there were other people around. As for the big-breasted Chen An'an, she just paddled around like a dog.

She had gotten to know almost all the children in the palace.

She quickly transformed herself into someone like Sister An'an.

She's definitely got the "social cow" attribute. As for little Chen Xinyi, the two-year-old just follows her older sister around all day doing silly things.

After dinner, Chen Pingsheng took them for a walk.

Those who can live here are basically from the same social circle.

People in this circle are generally of high quality, and they will greet each other and exchange a few words when they meet.

They are either presidents of international companies or owners of several listed companies.

He got to know quite a few important figures in Shanghai after moving here.

Of course, he himself was actually a big shot, but Chen Pingsheng had never realized it.

People from similar social circles tend to have more in common when they talk to each other.

Everyone here enjoys drinking tea and chatting, and the topics range from national policies to the future economic outlook.

Or it could be a major change that is about to happen in a certain industry; all of these are forward-looking.

New energy is also the future, and he is the only one in the Tan Palace who has invested tens of billions in the field of new energy.

They are also the top contenders in the industry who have invested the most real money.

The people here come from all walks of life.

Even if this isn't their main job, they still have many side businesses.

This is how housing changes social circles.

Once you can live here, you won't be talking about your small goal of making a few hundred million, but about the future.

Take this house for example; almost all the homeowners believe that the house has lost its speculative value.

The future of the real estate market will inevitably reach an unprecedented turning point.

Hangzhou Ma has made this statement many times.

Once the real estate market reaches a turning point, the future economic trajectory will become unpredictable.

To put it bluntly, the current economic growth is too reliant on real estate.

No one can say for sure which year will be the real turning point.

Chen Pingsheng himself couldn't either.

Anyway, that's all everyone talks about all day long.

In addition, there is another thing worth noting.

Pinduoduo was launched last September; it's an e-commerce platform that doesn't really have anything noteworthy to it.

Hangzhou Ma has always been the undisputed leader in the e-commerce field, a position that even Tencent cannot shake.

Not to mention the newly established Pinduoduo.

Pinduoduo's strength lies in its investor, Duan Yongping.

This is a legendary name; he achieved financial freedom in the 1990s thanks to the Little Tyrant (a popular Chinese electronics brand).

Later, during the peak of the mobile phone boom, he single-handedly helped two companies reach the top five.

He was responsible for the production of both OPPO and Vivo.

This person retired from the martial arts world a long time ago, but his legend has always lived on.

A true figure of Feng Qingyang's caliber.

Even Tong Zhelan held him in high esteem.

His biggest move in the e-commerce field now is bringing Pinduoduo with him.

Nobody thought he could beat Hangzhou Ma.

However, in the already established e-commerce market, Pinduoduo still has a certain possibility of breaking through an existing e-commerce gap.

This is an online e-commerce platform.

If we can just crack a hole, that's a valuation of hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars.

Pinduoduo only completed its Series A funding last August, and it is now running its Series B funding.

He also met many people he knew in Shanghai.

This included Shen Nanpeng. Chen Pingsheng called Shen to ask him about the details of Pinduoduo.

In a Series B funding round, the company won't dilute its shares too much; the development funds needed will likely be around $100 million.

To be honest, this amount of money isn't even enough for him to invest in Guazi Used Cars.

Moreover, Pinduoduo's clever approach to finding investors is that it doesn't just seek money.

Investors or institutions also need to have certain resources.

To put it bluntly, the investors behind it don't lack this little bit of money at all; what they want is the resources that everyone can use to develop Pinduoduo together.

Chen Pingsheng founded Tenghui Capital several years ago, mainly investing in his own company.

The only exception is Guazi Used Cars, whose valuation last time reached 3 billion.

Having secured 1.2 billion yuan in funding, they are rapidly expanding their land holdings across the country.

After a moment's thought, Chen Pingsheng decided to invest in this new type of social e-commerce platform in less than three seconds.

The main reason is that he himself has already established himself deeply in the traditional retail sector.

We need to expand into the e-commerce sector.

Taobao is already out of reach, and the same goes for Liu Qiangdong.

We can only focus our attention on the newly established e-commerce platforms. As the saying goes, we'll try our luck first, even if there's no guarantee of success.

What if he succeeds someday?
Chen Pingsheng attended Pinduoduo's financing dinner through Shen Nanpeng.

What defines top-tier funding? Pinduoduo definitely does.

Chen Pingsheng could easily come up with over a hundred million US dollars, but Pinduoduo would never accept it.

The main reason is that he has limited personal resources.

After a rigorous selection process, five investors were ultimately chosen.

These are Teng Hui Capital, represented by Chen Pingsheng, and five other well-known investment institutions including Tencent, Gaorong Capital, and New Horizon Capital.

One person who deserves particular attention is Sun Tongyu, the father of Taobao.

Chen Pingsheng contributed 1.5 million yuan, but his shareholding was pitifully small, only about 3%.

This doesn't align with his philosophy of wanting to take the lion's share of investments at all.

He figured he'd just consider it making friends; he didn't think he could make much money from these shares.

It's only 1.5 million anyway, so it doesn't matter.

The vice president of Tencent, an investor, even pulled him aside, making it clear that he wanted to invest in Tencent's Tencent Entertainment.

Tencent Entertainment's current market value is over 50 billion yuan.

He owns 60% of the shares.

Putting aside the size of his company's market value, his personal wealth is among the top even at this exclusive banquet.

The kind of person you don't have to bend over to when you meet anyone.

Tencent has always wanted to invest in Tencent's Tencent Entertainment and has sent people to Beijing several times to discuss the matter.

Chen Pingsheng simply disagreed.

Looking back now, he thinks he could have sold some of them.

The main reason is that he has some cooperation with Tencent, which will make it easier for Tencent to expand its own industrial layout in the future.

Big Penguin needs a 15% stake; the offer three months ago was for a valuation of $150 billion.

That was during the dark period of the Tengying Group.

If it weren't for how awesome it was, Chen Pingsheng would never have let it in the door.

Two months ago it was 250 billion.

In June, it reached 320 billion.

Despite failing to reach an agreement after three attempts, the giant penguin remained patient.

The main reason it's so determined to get involved with Tencent Entertainment is that the TV series and movies it produces every year are incredibly profitable.

Penguin Video, a subsidiary of Tencent.

It also partners with iQiyi, which is supported by Baidu, and Youku, which is supported by Alibaba.

The battle raged on, with neither side gaining a clear advantage.

Entering Tencent Entertainment is definitely a strategic goal.

This will significantly elevate the status of Tencent Video.

It's even quite possible that they could leapfrog to the top spot.

Seeing his sincerity, Chen Pingsheng decided not to cheat him.

They quoted a very reasonable price.

Six billion, giving up 10% of its shares.

The vice president was stunned and wanted to ask him if he was serious.

Chen Pingsheng has a fixed price; if you can't decide, then go find Lao Ma.

To be honest, if he hadn't spent so much money in the new energy sector...

Why would we need to sell this 10% stake?

Of course, even if he sells it, it won't affect his absolute position as the major shareholder.

To be fair, if he succeeds in the new energy sector, given his status as an independent investor...

Everyone present was a younger brother.

Only the two horses can be considered his equals.

This is no exaggeration at all.

While others dilute their shares to raise funds when they run a successful company, he raises the majority of the money independently.

Even if your company has a market value of hundreds of billions of US dollars, you would only own 5% of the shares.

No more than 10%.

His own company is worth hundreds of billions of RMB, and he owns 50% of it.

You dare say you're better than him?

Unless it's someone like Mr. Ren, everyone is just comparing money.

Of course, its influence in the business world is certainly not as great as it used to be.

But there's no longer a situation where you have to flatter someone at a drinking party.

Chen Pingsheng also did this by transferring shares or selling one or two companies.

They have completely focused all their efforts on manufacturing new energy vehicles.

Only by supporting a technology company can his social status truly undergo a qualitative change from a quantitative one.

The vice president couldn't make a decision on an investment of six billion.

I must go back and ask Old Ma for instructions.

Chen Pingsheng wasn't in a hurry anyway; he had plenty of ways to make money.

His wife receives two to three hundred million yuan every month from Shuiyunjian and various group subsidiaries.

Would he be short of small amounts of money?
Only when you have enough money can you talk to them calmly and confidently.

Tencent won't accept this offer, but what about Alibaba and Baidu?
(End of this chapter)