What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 451 Face Recognition
Gaining the approval of your rivals is the easiest way to foster a sense of pride in this world.

Even though his opponents don't know who he endorses...

Yu Xing has had a lot of dealings with Tencent since his debut. He just pulled off a big stunt and already received such praise from his old friend. What else can be said?

He was deeply moved and immediately posted a status update on his WeChat Moments.

—Liu Chiping is the best CEO!

When you're out in the world, everyone helps you out. To be fair, Mr. Liu is actually a pretty good guy.

However, Yu Xing's sudden and unexpected update left everyone in his WeChat contacts completely baffled. What was he planning this time?

Soon, many similar comments appeared under this post.

"Ha ha ha ha."

"hey-hey."

Everyone seemed to burst into laughter upon seeing Mr. Yu's evaluation.

Looking at this human-machine-like comment, Yu Xing didn't know how to explain it; the person was just laughing...

Just as Yu Xing had access to Liu Chiping's WeChat Moments, Liu Chiping naturally also had access to know what was happening on Yu Xing's WeChat Moments.

His first reaction was to slam his fist on the table in anger, "Yu Xing insulted me!"
My second reaction was, why is Yu Xing insulting me again?

Liu Chiping felt a chill run down his spine. After thinking it over, he noticed that the title was somewhat similar to one he had posted on his WeChat Moments a couple of days ago. He began to suspect that Yu Xing and Zhang Ying from Matrix Partners China shared the same stance and were both extremely averse to Guo Shanfeng, which was why they were making sarcastic remarks about him.

He was a little annoyed and didn't react immediately. After two days of pondering, he quietly posted an update on his WeChat Moments: "The car Yu Xing built will definitely be the best car in the world."

It's just being sarcastic and insincere; anyone can do that.

Yu Xing quickly saw the screenshot Xiao Ying forwarded, laughed, and then updated his status remotely to express his goodwill—"Brother Liu and I are the best of friends in the world."

Liu Chiping had no idea what was wrong with Yu Xing. He reasonably guessed that the other party might have encountered problems in the car manufacturing and wanted to talk to him to relieve his boredom. After thinking it over, he decided not to have this inexplicable conversation.

Yu Xing was not at all annoyed by the Tencent president's sarcastic remarks, and even felt a little unsatisfied.

I am indeed the best short seller, and I am also dedicated to building the best car in the world. You are also the best CEO.

After all, Mus is progressing well, and Jim, who is willing to invest, has sent Torres, the director of Breyer Capital, to Hong Kong to complete the company's first round of financing.

Yu Xing not only met Torres, but also Xiong Xiaoge, who came with him.

He said with considerable surprise, "Mr. Xiong, Jim really trusts you."

Xiong Xiaoge smiled slightly: "Of course, Jim and I are old friends and we have common business, so he definitely trusts me."

Yu Xing gave a heartfelt thumbs up: "This is the reputation of General Manager Xiong!"

Xiong Xiaoge doesn't need to be modest; he and IDG do indeed have an excellent reputation.

But he attended the meeting alongside Torres of Breyer Capital, attending and attending... just as the two companies were about to reach a final agreement, he suddenly realized something was wrong...

Wait, wait a minute!

"15%? Only 15%??" Xiong Xiaoge noticed the problem and asked Zhong Zhiling.

Zhong Zhiling looked puzzled: "Yes, Mus is giving up 15% of its shares in this round of financing."

Xiong Xiaoge was even more astonished: "No, Breyer Capital got 15%, so what about me?"

Zhong Zhiling was also taken aback: "Huh? IDG is involved in the financing too?"

Xiong Xiaoge: "..."

If IDG isn't involved in the financing, then what's the point of them coming here?
Zhong Zhiling was genuinely stunned. Mus's financing was basically a high-level process, with Xing Ge reaching an agreement with Jim through the middleman Xiong Zong. The company was simply following orders.

Could it be that I misunderstood something?

The meeting, which was progressing smoothly, was paused. Zhong Zhiling and Xiong Xiaoge went next door to find Yu Xing, and waited for half an hour before their boss, who had finished the meeting, finally arrived.

Upon hearing the objection, Yu Xing's eyes were also filled with surprise, and he asked a similar question: "President Xiong, you also want to invest?"

Xiong Xiaoge sighed: "Nonsense! Otherwise, what would I be here for?"

“I thought Jim entrusted you with this task to check for any potential pitfalls.” Yu Xing said with a mix of amusement and helplessness. “You said he trusts you, but… I only prepared 15% of the shares. Since two of you have come, how about… Mr. Xiong, you should consider your reputation this time and give it up.”

Xiong Xiaoge's eyes widened: "Damn it, forget about reputation, even a golden reputation won't do! President Yu, I've been busy from beginning to end, helping you find people, bringing them along for inspections, and providing guarantees, and in the end, you just kick me to the curb?!"

Yu Xing and Zhong Zhiling exchanged a glance.

Chung Chih-ling muttered to himself, "We thought you were just a kind and simple person."

"So what if you're a better person?" Xiong Xiaoge laughed angrily. "So what? Does being a better person mean you can't make money?"

Yu Xing waved his hand: "That's not what I meant. Please sit down, Mr. Xiong. It's just that you haven't mentioned it. Besides, you came here initially for the financing of Silicon Carbon Data Company, but now it's changed to Silicon Carbon Data's subsidiary, Mus. I haven't heard Jim mention it in my several conversations with him, so I assumed that only Breyer Capital was involved in Mus's financing."

Xiong Xiaoge did not mention it, and did not even inquire about it during the process.

But he was now self-righteous: "I didn't mention it, I thought you guys were sensible! Who would have thought you were so insensible!"

Yu Xing: "..."

He got up and poured Mr. Xiong a cup of tea. After walking a few steps, he proposed a solution: "It's true that our communication is not going well, Mr. Xiong. How about this, IDG will take 3% of the equity this time, plus Breyer Capital's 15%, and Mus will give up 18% in this round."

Xiong Xiaoge didn't drink a drop of tea, putting down the teacup she had just picked up: "Are you trying to fob me off like a beggar?"

It's not that he doesn't care about his reputation, or that he's a bad person; it's just that a qualified investor should seize every opportunity that might make money!

What do you think of the MusVid project?
Xiong Xiaoge now fully understands the whole story. Carbon Silicon Data ventured overseas to test the waters of short videos in Q4 of last year. After several studies, it established its product format and the US market. In Q1, it used Facebook's traffic to experiment and optimize. Now it is a project with a relatively high certainty.

Yu Xinghe Carbon Silicon Data was keeping MusVid a secret. If it weren't for Facebook board member Jim, IDG might not have known that this Singaporean company was behind it, let alone participated in its financing.

Therefore, we should seize this opportunity even more!

IDG has a good reputation, and so does Yu Xing. His reputation for managing projects is by no means inferior. Now that he's keeping these projects hidden, we have to take advantage of the situation.

Hearing Xiong Xiaoge's voice, Yu Xing frowned and said, "Mr. Xiong, look at you, this isn't all my fault. Now that things are going this way, MusVid is in a difficult position. You know, at this stage of financing, not many shares will be given up." In fact, not only at this stage, but he plans to see how the short selling situation is this year before deciding whether MusVid will have another round of financing. At least, if their own funds can get through the previous stages, the number of shares given up in subsequent financings will also be reduced.

These are all about profit.

Xiong Xiaoge then took a sip of tea: "President Yu, you can't ignore all my efforts, can you? I won't mention the support you've given me in the past."

Yu Xing said with dissatisfaction, "President Xiong, you've changed. You've become materialistic."

He shook his head again: "I vaguely remember how generous and free-spirited you were when I first met you. Look at you now... your true colors."

"Don't bring that up. Your project back then was this small." Xiong Xiaoge extended her index finger, then clenched her fist. "It's like this now. Don't bring up those things. If it doesn't work, just distribute the employee stock options."

As is customary, Mus has set aside 10% of its options pool.

Yu Xing shook his head in disapproval; that was impossible.

He hesitated for a moment and said, "Alright, Mr. Xiong, since we're not going to talk about those things, let's keep things separate. Mus was willing to accept Breyer Capital's investment because Jim can provide us with resources. Let's leave Facebook aside for now. Mus needs to connect with music resources, and Jim is connecting us with Warner Music. Mr. Xiong, what about you?"

MusVid is about to reach 400 million users, having already achieved its Q1 streaming target ahead of schedule. As a music-themed short video app, Lü Haiying has been contacting music companies since the beginning of the year and has now reached a cooperation agreement with the British music company 7digital, obtaining its exclusive music library authorization.

The partnership has a base fee of $100 million per year, with revenue split based on usage.

Lu Haiying's first target for collaboration was not 7digital, but she had not made any progress in seeking collaborations with companies such as Warner and Sony in the United States, so she could only try to secure this British music company first.

Yu Xing was aware of Mus's current situation and had mentioned it to Jim during a phone conversation. With Jim's investment confirmed, the process naturally moved forward, with Yu Xing acting as the intermediary to secure a partnership with Warner Music.

In short, Mus isn't actually that eager for funding; he also needs to consider the resources he can connect with.

Xiong Xiaoge was extremely shrewd and instantly understood Yu Xing's meaning.

It's not that you can't give up shares, but you need to exchange resources for them.

However, while it's clear that Alibaba and Tencent no longer need venture capital after they've grown large, as they can already perform investment functions themselves, investing not only money but also traffic, Carbon Silicon Data, while not as strong, is still in a somewhat difficult situation.

Xiong Xiaoge racked his brains, trying to figure out how to provide the right resources for the task at hand.

Jim, whom we brought in earlier, had been negotiating quite smoothly with the other party...

He held back for a while, but finally, facing Yu Xing's gaze, he angrily spoke up: "I am a top-class horse!"

Yu Xing was taken aback.

“I believe you, and you believe me,” Xiong Xiaoge said resolutely. “Can’t my reputation get involved? Have you forgotten the support IDG gave to Silicon Carbon Group and Silicon Carbon Data? And WeChat, back then even Today Capital gave up on WeChat. Think about what Mr. Xu was like back then, and think about me, I had to shamelessly ask Baidu to take over, Mr. Yu…”

At this moment, even the best horse must be used as a stepping stone by the worst horse.

Conquering cities is inferior to conquering hearts and minds!
Investing is about investing in people!

There are people manipulating things behind the scenes!

Watching this scene, Zhong Zhiling noticed that Xing Ge's expression seemed to soften. He sighed inwardly, thinking, "My wife isn't here. If she were, she would probably have a new understanding of 'treating others with sincerity'."

He didn't express his opinion, and he was well aware of Xiong's consistent support; in any case, it was all up to Xing to decide.

Yu Xing smiled and looked at Xiong Xiaoge for a while, but finally shook his head and said, "Old Xiong, since you've said so, and the future direction of Mus Company is still uncertain, if there are any disagreements with Jim, remember to help persuade him."

Xiong Xiaoge leaned back slightly and asked, "What do you mean by a top-class horse?"

As for going from being a "bear boss" to an "old bear," life is just a series of ups and downs!
Yu Xing pondered for a moment and said, "Mus will give up 25% of its equity in this round of financing, which will be split equally between IDG and Breyer Capital. The original 15% agreed upon with Jim is a change you can explain to them yourself. Yes, Mus does need more funds for the remaining three quarters of this year."

MusVid is valued at $3000 million, and selling 25% would raise $750 million. In fact, the valuation is high based on the current user base, but the short video format and the differentiated competition that is showing initial results give it a promising future.

Xiong Xiaoge was very satisfied with these conditions and said sincerely, "President Yu, to be honest, I knew you wouldn't abandon IDG. You didn't even mistreat the employees at WeChat, how could you mistreat me, Old Xiong?"

Yu Xing shrugged and looked at Zhong Zhiling: "Zhiling, be my witness. Old Xiong will only use his face this once. The same words won't work next time. You can't flatter me like this."

Xiong Xiaoge emphasized, "I mean it from the bottom of my heart!"

Yu Xing offered him a cigarette, not dwelling on the topic, and instead started talking about Mus's performance, especially this month.

Using Apple Store rankings as further evidence, it's said that Tencent Video, which had high daily active users during the Spring Festival, has fallen to 40th place, while Mus has climbed to within 50th place on the overall rankings, about to surpass this potential rival.

Apple's rankings are not based on user scale. The basic data focuses on recent downloads, while high-value users who frequently use the store will have their ranking increased. In addition, the rankings also include measurements of day-one retention rate and uninstall rate.

Judging from the current situation, Mus is on the right track.

However, its constraint has changed from the previous inflection point to the limitation of total volume, which is an old problem for vertically segmented products.

Mus's financing was delayed due to unforeseen circumstances, but ultimately, with the cooperation of Xiong Xiaoge, the partnership with IDG and Breyer Capital was completed. The funds raised will be used to fund the next two quarters of the market.

Xiong Xiaoge achieved her goal with some setbacks and was in a great mood.

As luck would have it, he received a call from Xu Xin a few days later, and they talked about the progress of the car and internet projects in Lingang.

After chatting for a while, Xu Xin suddenly said, "Mr. Xiong, what good things have happened to you lately? You seem very happy."

"Really?" Xiong Xiaoge laughed. "I just saw the interaction between Yu Xing and Liu Chiping and found it interesting. You know, those two, tsk."

Xu Xin pondered: "Hmm, it is interesting. The empty promise of 'over the mountain peak' is outrageous."

Xiong Xiaoge didn't react much, respecting different opinions: "This time it has indeed caused a big incident. I used to think that Guoshanfeng might be small in scale, but now it seems that it is expanding very quickly. I wonder if the SEC can find out its true colors."

Xu Xin pondered, still harboring some lingering doubts about Mr. Xiong's involvement in short selling.

Xiong Xiaoge continued cheerfully, "The SEC is investigating. Tokyo said it was investigating last time, but nothing has happened since. Oh right, I also saw the Asahi Shimbun talk about the mountain today, because this incident gave it a new name."

Xu Xin asked curiously, "What is it?"

Xiong Xiaoge said, "It's called 'The Short-Selling Immortal'."

The Asahi Shimbun previously devoted considerable space to discussing Mitsubishi when it was targeted by short sellers. This time, due to the impact on global pharmaceutical companies, they discussed it again and even gave it a new title – "Short-selling Immortal".

Xu Xin commented, "It's quite in line with Japanese culture, a bit chuunibyou. Well, Mr. Xiong, anyway, if there's a situation in Lingang, we'll stick together."

Xiong Xiaoge agreed quite seriously: "No problem, don't worry, Mr. Xu and I are the best of friends in the world."

(End of this chapter)