2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 371 Tan Jincheng's Net Worth

The winter of 2006 seemed exceptionally long.

The reason is simply that there was a leap month this year, so the Lunar New Year is much later than usual, and the longer the working hours, the longer the days seem to drag on.

Coupled with Ningbo's cold winter and the fact that it only rains and doesn't snow, this makes it especially difficult for people who have come to work here this year.

I don't usually feel it when I'm working, but as the year draws to a close, homesickness wells up in my heart, making me, a person far from home, wish I could leave immediately.

However, the recent discussions about annual meetings among the various subsidiaries of Flash Group have dispelled the chill of winter.

"Have you heard? This year's annual meeting won't be held at the factory; it'll be at the headquarters building."

"I've heard about it before. Two weeks ago, our team leader even asked us to put on a show. This year, it's being held together by all the subsidiaries in Beicang."

"Holy crap, you guys are making a show? I've never heard of that."

"Were you on the night shift and missed it? Or is it because you're new and your team leader doesn't know you yet, so they didn't notify you?"

"Aren't you guys a little off track? Shouldn't you be more concerned about what the prize is?"

"You're new here, right? Don't worry, our boss is very generous. He gave out a lot of prizes at last year's annual meeting, and the year-end bonus was also quite substantial."

The veteran employees of Flashpoint have a great sense of superiority over the new employees. They can talk about the company's benefits in great detail, especially those who experienced last year's annual meeting. The delicious meals and lucky draws are the things they love to mention the most.

Interestingly, new employees, unable to find a sense of superiority among veteran employees, try to find it among employees of other companies.

Among the most junior employees, the tendency to compare salaries and benefits seems to be a reflection of the mentality of most people.

Today is February 2nd, and there are still seven or eight days until the annual meeting on the 11th. The time for chartering minibuses for employees has been selected, and the train tickets have been purchased. The issue of nearly a thousand employees returning home has finally been resolved.

The administrative staff breathed a sigh of relief, but they still had no time to rest. There was an even more important task to do today: to receive the 85 cars delivered by Zhongtai.

Of the 100 vehicles, 15 were delivered directly to Bafang Electric as a year-end bonus for employees from the new boss, Tan Jincheng.

The remaining vehicles were transported to the headquarters building's parking lot in batches today for handover.

Wu Jianzhong was very helpful in fulfilling Tan Jincheng's request for 100 Zhongtai 2008 vehicles. He handled the matter very diligently and delivered the vehicles in about half a month. Wu Jianzhong also gave special instructions on quality control.

As for the parts, there's nothing we can do; these are all purchased in bulk. But at least there won't be any loose screws. Compared to other batches, the quality is somewhat better.

"What's going on here? Why are there so many cars? Is this a 4S store opening?"

Eighty-five cars, all of the same model, were being transported towards the Flashpoint Building. This scene attracted a lot of onlookers, and some curious onlookers even stopped a driver to ask him questions.

Since its launch on Labor Day in 2008, the compact size of the Zhongtai 2008, its status as the first domestically produced SUV, coupled with initial marketing and promotion, and especially its extremely attractive price, has aroused the consumption desire of many young people.

Because Zhongtai opened a branch in Beicang, there are some subsidies for buying this car in Beicang, making the price even cheaper. Now, you can often see Zhongtai 2008 cars on the streets of Beicang.

"There aren't any 4S stores in the city center, and judging from the direction, it's going to the headquarters building of Shanchi. They vacated all the companies that were renting there before, so why would they let Zhongtai open a store there?"

The driver glanced at the two young men, casually tossed away his cigarette, and said, "No, it's a year-end bonus from Flash Motors."

"Year-end bonus? No, there are dozens of these!"

"I don't know either, but I heard it's a prize, there are 100 of them."

The drivers who delivered the goods were all arranged by Zhongtai, according to what the Zhongtai employees said; they didn't know the specific details.

"Holy crap, is the owner of Flashcar really that generous? 100 cars would cost at least 400 million at the lowest price, right? Spending 400 million to launch cars?"

I think the entire Flash Group has fewer than 2000 employees. They previously provided cars for senior executives, so these people are definitely not on the list. It must be for middle and lower-level employees.

Less than 2000 people got 100 cars. Even if it's a lottery, the winning rate isn't low. Damn it, I'm going to apply for the job next year!
The commotion caused by so many vehicles being transported along the way was quite significant, and the news quickly spread throughout the headquarters building. During the break, everyone flocked to the parking lot to watch.

The car wasn't anything special; it certainly couldn't compare to those extravagant gifts of BMWs or Mercedes-Benzes.

But the sheer number of cars is impressive; it's quite a sight to see so many vehicles parked in the parking lot. "Wow, boss, that's amazing! You're incredibly generous, throwing away millions like that."

"Haha, that's only part of it. Didn't you see that the administration department is still buying air conditioners and laptops? A few million is enough? You must be joking."

"Tsk tsk tsk, the boss really went all out for this annual party. No wonder he's worth 6.63 million."

"Haha, this Forbes and New Fortune list is just ridiculous. Our boss is definitely worth more than 6.63 million. We're just watching the show."

The 2006 Forbes Rich List and the New Fortune 500 list were released, along with the Hurun list. For the past three years, they have been releasing lists in different ways, making the competition extremely fierce.

Forbes not only publishes a rich list, but also a celebrity list mainly composed of celebrities from the arts and sports. Both of Flash's female spokespeople are on the list. Chris Lee is ranked very high, at number eight. Ahead of her are Yao Ming, track and field sprinter, and national strategist, among other impressive figures.

As for Liu Yifei, she ranked 43rd. That's right, although she is very popular, she is still not as popular as Li Yuchun these days.

In terms of income, Chris Lee's annual income is 1300 million yuan, while Liu Yifei's is only 480 million yuan. It seems that celebrities in the entertainment industry in this era do not earn much money. The highest-paid person in the entertainment industry is the National Master, with an annual income of 3500 million yuan, followed by Zhang Ziyi, with 1800 million yuan.

Like Tan Jincheng's wealth, the income figure is definitely underreported. But if it were 10 years later, with the earning power of a top star like Chun Ge, if this income figure were increased tenfold, fans would feel that their idol is not earning enough and would scold the management company.

As one of the most influential figures in the economic world this year, Forbes, New Fortune, and Hurun all approached Flash Group, wanting to obtain specific operating data of Flash Group in order to calculate Tan Jincheng's net worth.

Taking the Forbes rich list as an example, in an era where distribution channels are king, the richest man is our Mr. Huang, with a net worth of 180.9 billion. Mr. Huang has been very successful in recent years. With his control over offline channels, even a powerful figure like Ms. Dong has to bow down to him.

The most noticeable change this year is the significant increase in the number of real estate developers on the list. The richest person in the real estate industry is the CEO of Fuli Group, with a net worth of 115.2 billion yuan.

As for the internet sector, the richest person is still Ding Ge from Ningbo, ranking 12th with a fortune of 86.9 billion yuan. Pony Ma's wealth is less than half of his, ranking 35th, while Jack Ma's position is even further back, ranking 76th.

Who would have thought that in just a few years, these two would dominate the entire domestic internet industry?

This year, the threshold for making the rich list was 8 million yuan. From number 362 to number 500, the statistics were all based on 8 million yuan. I don't know how it was calculated. The data in the back rows seems to have been filled in randomly.

Since FlashCheer is not a listed company and has no obligation to provide financial reports, all three ranking organizations approached FlashCheer in the same way, hoping to provide data. However, Tan Jincheng refused without hesitation. How could he just give him this stuff?

Not to mention that the company's operating data is unlikely to be given to these foreigners who make money from the list, the reputation of the "pig slaughtering list" is already somewhat taboo. Don't be fooled by Mr. Huang's current success; in two years, he'll be working as a sewing machine operator.

This solidified the company's reputation as a "pig-slaughtering list," leading some wealthy individuals to bribe these companies to avoid being included on the list.

Unable to obtain the data, they could only calculate Tan Jincheng's net worth based on Flash Group's publicly disclosed sales and fixed assets, as well as Orange Technology's valuation. The figures were extremely conservative.

The transaction amount of the Flashpoint Building, the sales volume of Flashpoint Technology, and the 100 apartments that Tan Jincheng rented to Flashpoint Technology as dormitories are all public information and easy to calculate.

Kaixin.com's user base has long surpassed ten million, and Kaixin Farm's user base is approaching five million, making it a phenomenal product in the internet industry in 2006. The popularity of "stealing vegetables" has reached its first peak with the arrival of summer vacation.

Since the Series A investment valuation exceeded 2 million yuan, the most conservative valuation for Orange Technology now should be 3 million yuan. If there is a Series B financing, the valuation will not be lower than 3 million yuan.

They couldn't get any data on other companies like Jinpeng Industry and Jinyi Industry, so they couldn't compile any statistics at all.

However, the fact that these three organizations dared to create such a list and achieve such great fame shows that they are not to be underestimated. Even if Tan Jincheng does not provide specific data, they must have their own methods.

The approximate turnover is estimated by assessing individual real estate values ​​and the tax situation of each company, and then calculated by taking into account publicly available investments and the equity held by Tan Jincheng in various companies.

Forbes estimates Tan Jincheng's personal assets at approximately 6.63 million yuan. The estimates from the other two companies differ slightly, but are roughly the same. Compared to the other two companies, Forbes is more well-known, so most people remember Tan Jincheng's personal net worth as 6.63 million yuan.

However, despite being on the list, due to his immense fame, Forbes still singled out Tan Jincheng's net worth to explain it separately in order to attract more traffic. Interestingly, the figure they published was 6.63 million+, not 6.63 million.

In fact, Tan Jincheng was also dumbfounded when he saw this number. Just like the more than 100 richest people behind him all had a net worth of 8 million, he didn't know how they calculated it.

When the list was released, none of the remaining 8 million yuan were remembered, but Tan Jincheng's 6.63 million yuan was remembered by many.

Born in 1985, at the age of 21, he is the youngest private entrepreneur excluding his heirs, and his wealth is 2.55 times that of Yao Ming, the NBA star who ranks first on the celebrity list and has a huge reputation both domestically and internationally.

Mr. Yao is five years older than him, and many outstanding post-80s individuals have emerged during the same period, seemingly representing the arrival of a new era.

(End of this chapter)