Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 845 Shocking Hong Kong Again
Apple's largest Chinese shareholder revealed; Hong Kong's richest man's assets are spread across the United States.

Apple's IPO Creates Super-Rich Chinese; Are American Giants Working for the Chinese?

"Apple's stock market guru was originally a Hong Kong tycoon; a Silicon Valley winner who emerged from Asia."

Oriental Daily News naturally wouldn't dare to report on its boss in such a sensational way, but when news from the United States came, other newspapers didn't have so many scruples, especially the many small newspapers, which would come up with any kind of headline just to attract attention.
Yang Wendong's investment four years ago has now yielded a staggering $500 million, instantly becoming a legend in the eyes of Hong Kong people;
I thought Yang Wendong already had enough assets in Hong Kong, but unexpectedly, such explosive news came from overseas: Apple, the world's top company, known as the American entrepreneurial legend, was actually invested in by Yang Wendong. Doesn't that make Yang Wendong an investment legend?

Immediately, the stocks of listed companies under Yang Wendong's control, such as Hutchison Whampoa and Hong Kong Electric, surged, even though Apple has no connection with these two companies.
Many Hong Kong media outlets also wanted to interview Yang Wendong, but since he was overseas, they could only interview members of the Yang family. However, the Yang family's security was very tight, and reporters could not get close to them at all.
On the one hand, the Yang family would not readily accept interviews from reporters, and on the other hand, it was also for security reasons. Who knows if the reporters who approached were genuine? Although the probability of an accident in a public place is extremely low, there is no need to gamble.

Many companies under Changxing Group were also surrounded by reporters, but the heads of the various subsidiaries ignored them and directly dispatched security guards to drive them away, not wanting these people to affect the company's operations.

Hong Kong media outlets have been unable to reach their interviewees for an extended period, and although some reporters are extremely anxious, there's nothing they can do.

At the same time, some people have also noticed that many of Yang Wendong's businesses may no longer be located in Hong Kong.

HSBC Headquarters:

Looking at the latest newspaper, Shen Bi remarked with a sigh, "5 million US dollars, Yang Wendong makes money so easily."

“There are only a handful of companies like Apple in the world. Yang Wendong’s selection was probably just good luck,” said Paul Powell, vice president of HSBC.

“You know Intel, right? Yang Wendong is also a major shareholder. It’s just that Intel went public a long time ago. It was just an ordinary company back then, but now it’s one of the top technology companies in the United States.” Shen Bi shook his head and said, “Yang Wendong’s shares in Intel are worth no less than $5 million.”

Pu Weishi was taken aback and said, "With just these two companies, Yang Wendong's assets in the United States exceed one billion US dollars?"

What does one billion US dollars mean? In Hong Kong today, there are only a handful of companies with such a high market capitalization, and that is just the total market capitalization. Yang Wendong holds shares in two large companies. Although they are both stocks, the difference is huge. The latter can be easily cashed out, while the former is just a nominal amount.

Sambi sighed, "That's not all. Do you know Walmart in America?"

“Walmart? Never heard of it?” Pu Weishi replied directly.

Sir Michael Sandberg said: "Walmart is an American chain retail group, similar to Carrefour, but much larger in scale. Yang Wendong is also a shareholder of Walmart. I estimate that his shareholding in Walmart is also $2-3 million."
However, this is just a small amount. I recently learned from the UK that Yang Wendong has been running Best Buy e-commerce platform in the US for over a decade, and its previous funding round valued it at over $15 billion.

He also invested in Chrysler, owns KFC, a top restaurant chain in the United States, and likely has many other investments in stocks and real estate that we may not be aware of.

"Does that mean Yang Wendong's assets in the United States have exceeded $30 billion?" Pu Weishi's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

Shen Bi nodded and said, "Based on the data I have now, it should be so. However, these assets should also have some liabilities. As for how much the liabilities are, I don't know, but the debt ratio should not be high."

“I never imagined that Yang Wendong would transfer so many assets to the United States without any of us noticing,” Pu Weishi exclaimed in surprise.

Shen Bi shook his head and said, "This doesn't count as an asset transfer. It just means that he started making moves in the United States a long time ago. He didn't invest much money in the United States at the beginning, but he had good foresight and seized many opportunities, which eventually led to his success."

Pu Weishi asked, "Mr. Shen Bi, is this an investigation targeting Yang Wendong?"

“No, I don’t have that kind of time,” Sir Michael Sandberg replied. “As you know, I’m planning to internationalize HSBC, so I was preparing to acquire an American bank. I only found out about these things when I was chatting with their manager after I had entrusted the American investment bank with the task.”
Previously, I knew that Yang Wendong had some businesses in the United States, but I didn't know the extent. It wasn't until recently, after doing some research, that I realized how impressive Yang Wendong is. He's quietly built up assets in the US that are no less substantial than those in Hong Kong.

“Yang Wendong also acquired Mini cars in the UK before. Could it be that he has many businesses in Europe as well?” Pu Weishi was startled by his own guess.

Shen Bi shook his head and said, "No, he does have some investments in Europe, but the scale is far smaller than those in Asia and the United States. But I estimate that he has recently sent a lot of people to Europe. Changxing Group's next target may be Europe."

Pu Weishi remarked with admiration, "Yang Wendong's internationalization strategy is truly a success."

Sambi smiled and said, "His success actually benefits us too. If we have branches in the US and Europe in the future, then cooperating with him again, regardless of how much profit we make, will at least make it easier for us to gain a foothold."

“That makes sense. It seems I’ll have to pay a visit to Changxing Group sometime,” Pu Weishi agreed.

The biggest problem in opening a branch bank overseas or acquiring a local bank is the lack of adaptation to the local market. Local depositors don't trust you, and loan users don't want to cooperate with you. You have to compete with the local big players for market share, which is very difficult.
However, if there is a successful Hong Kong company in the area, it is easier to start a collaboration. At worst, they can make some concessions in Hong Kong to establish a foothold in the overseas business first, and then pursue other opportunities.

Shen Bi nodded and said, "Yes, you should visit Glory Electronics first. From my observation, Yang Wendong's investment trends are still primarily focused on the electronics industry, so Glory Electronics must be one of his most valued assets, and it may even expand overseas in the future."

“Alright, then I’ll find an opportunity to invite Wang Zhiqun out,” Pu Weishi said with a smile.

Shen Bi said, "Okay, I also heard that there is a man named He Guoyuan who is also valued by Yang Wendong. You can look into him when you have time. We may need to contact him in the future."

“Yes, Mr. Simbir,” Pu Weishi replied.
"Five hundred million US dollars! My goodness!" When Xinhua News Agency President Zhang Guangdou saw this news, he initially thought it was fake.
But after seeing similar descriptions in multiple newspapers, including the Oriental Daily News, I immediately believed it. Zeng Jianhua, the head of China Resources Group, echoed this sentiment, saying, "Comparison is the thief of joy. My China Resources Group employs hundreds of thousands of people both domestically and internationally, practically controls half of Hong Kong's grain, cotton, and energy sectors, and has so many export industries. Yet, all that profit this year is less than $2 million. Sigh."

China Resources Group has a very large number of industries involved. The food, clothing, housing and transportation of millions of people in Hong Kong are mostly from the mainland, and these are all controlled by China Resources. The transaction volume involved is as high as tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars.
However, since these products involve people's livelihoods and there are competitors from Southeast Asia and other regions, the profit margin is very low. Except for a few monopolistic products, the profit margin is only a few percent.
Zhang Guangdou laughed and said, "Mr. Zeng, to be honest, Mr. Yang also deserves credit for China Resources' ability to export so many goods. He is the real person behind the control of Hong Kong's retail industry."

“Yes, Carrefour now controls most of the retail market in Hong Kong. China Resources is able to export so much meat and grain, which is a kind of favor,” Zeng Jianhua nodded.

A decade or two ago, the supply of food and textiles in Hong Kong was mainly provided by small vendors and various vegetable markets, so China Resources still had a lot of influence.

However, in the last decade, Carrefour has unified the Hong Kong retail market, and people have become accustomed to buying groceries in supermarkets. The rise of shipping containers has resulted in very low costs for Southeast Asian grains to come to Hong Kong, even lower than some goods in mainland China.
In other words, Yang Wendong deliberately helped the mainland, otherwise he might have lost a lot of business. Of course, Carrefour does not do business at a loss. Through cooperation, Guangdong Province has become the main supplier of vegetables, meat and grains to Hong Kong, which can reduce costs.

Zhang Guangdou laughed again: "The more money Yang Sheng has, the more he can help our country. He told me before that he wanted to invest in universities in China. I was skeptical at first, since a university would cost hundreds of millions or even billions of US dollars."

But now it seems that this amount of money is nothing to Yang Wendong. His stock in an American company is worth that much, and according to the newspaper description, this is only a part of Yang Wendong's businesses in the United States.

"It's truly unbelievable that a Chinese person could build such a large business in the United States." Zeng Jianhua still found it hard to believe.

Zhang Guangdou said, "What's so strange about that? You know Wang An from the United States, right? He's also a Chinese. It's said that he has assets worth billions of dollars in the United States and is a competitor of the American tech giant IBM. When the top leader went to the United States, he even met with him."

“Wang An? I know that guy too.” Zeng Jianhua thought for a moment and said, “But I still think Yang Wendong is more capable. Don’t forget, Wang An spent his whole life doing business in the United States, while Yang Wendong spent most of his time in Hong Kong;

"To achieve such results even with this much, isn't that even more impressive? Moreover, Yang Wendong has numerous businesses in other Asian countries. I only recently discovered, after starting business with Southeast Asian countries, that Yang Wendong's businesses truly span the entire region. I've even heard he has investments in Australia, Japan, and South Korea."

“Haha, that’s how large corporations are. Doesn’t China Resources also have businesses in every province across the country?” Zhang Guangdou said.

Zeng Jianhua nodded and said, "Yes, but it's still different. Mine is a state-owned enterprise, while theirs was built from scratch over 20 years."

“Forget it, this is none of our business.” Zhang Guangdou suddenly said, “Now the higher-ups are asking us to win over celebrities from all walks of life in Hong Kong. Yang Wendong is obviously in the first tier. Do you think there’s anything wrong with that?”

Zeng Jianhua said, "There shouldn't be any problem, right? Isn't he already preparing to invest in the mainland? And he's even going to donate to universities?"

“But don’t forget, this investment is just a drop in the ocean for him.” Zhang Guangdou shook his head and said, “He has acquired a car brand in the UK, has such a large industry in the US, and the same in Southeast Asia, so investing a little in the mainland is really nothing.”
My concern is that we will inevitably have a falling out with Britain in the future. At that time, Yang Wendong's choice will have a huge impact. If he supports us, everything will be fine. But if he does, then…

“Your concerns are not unfounded. Given Yang Wendong’s current businesses in Europe and America, it’s hard to know what he’ll think.” Zeng Jianhua’s brows furrowed immediately. “But China Resources has been cooperating with him for almost 20 years. Judging from Yang Wendong’s actions, he is definitely biased towards us.”

Don't forget that in 1976 he also donated 10,000 tons of sugar, which was a huge help to TS at the time. Even today, Changxing Group's procurement in mainland China still leans towards TS.

"Well, that's true, but since there are interests involved, we can't guarantee anything." Zhang Guangdou thought for a moment and said, "I think China should cooperate more with Yang Wendong. After all, the reform and opening up was also about attracting investment, right? Yang Wendong has at least several hundred million US dollars in cash."
If this money is used properly, it can solve the domestic and international foreign exchange needs, and it can also further bind our interests with his. I believe that shared interests are the bond that binds us together.

"Are you telling me all this so that I, China Resources, will cooperate more with Changxing Group?" Zeng Jianhua was a smart man, and he understood immediately.

Zhang Guangdou laughed and said, "That's right, this is good for you and me, for Mr. Yang, and for the country, isn't it? There are also many projects in China that intend to introduce foreign investment through your China Resources, so wouldn't it be very suitable to approach Mr. Yang?"

Zeng Jianhua nodded and said, "Actually, I've thought about it before, even without you saying it. It's just that these are all small projects or highly specialized projects, so it's not convenient to approach Changxing Group."

"No electronics industry?" Zhang Guangdou asked rhetorically.

Zeng Jianhua said, "In the electronics industry, the higher-ups still prefer to find Japan or the United States. You know, Honor Electronics is actually good at games, which is something that the domestic companies are not happy about."

“That’s true, it’s a real pity,” Zhang Guangdou nodded.

Zeng Jianhua said, "However, I heard that the Ministry of Education is already in talks with Changxing Group about donating to universities. They plan to invite Yang Wendong to the mainland for negotiations in a while. At that time, I estimate that Yenching will also have other ideas."

"Really? That's great news!" Zhang Guangdou nodded and said.
Given Yang Wendong's status, if he went to the mainland, the mainland side would definitely want to cooperate. It's just that there wasn't a good reason to invite him before, and the Canton Fair was the main reason in the past.

Now that a university is involved, there is indeed ample reason to do so.

Zeng Jianhua said, "China Resources also has many businesses in Yanjing, and some of our factories are not doing very well. We'll see if Mr. Yang takes a liking to them and we can form a joint venture. Not only can we get some foreign exchange, but we can also export through Changxing Trading in the future. That would be great."

"Haha, then you'd better go back and get ready," Zhang Guangdou laughed.

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(End of this chapter)