In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Hearing this, Lin Haoran smiled and replied, "Uncle Bao, you are right. However, the mobile signal coverage is not perfect at present, and the relevant construction is still in progress. I have a test phone, and it can only make calls in Central and Causeway Bay.

This time I decided to visit you at the last minute, so I didn't bring you one. When I get back, I'll ask the Hong Kong Telephone Company for one, and then I'll personally deliver it to you!"

When Bao Yugang heard this, his eyes lit up instantly. Mobile phones are indeed not very useful to ordinary people.

But for these business people, the convenience of mobile phones is really very attractive and its role cannot be underestimated.

If something important really happens in the company, the loss will be heavy if you don’t answer or make a phone call in time.

He laughed heartily and said repeatedly, "Okay, okay, then I won't be polite. Thanks to you, I can use this legendary new technology early!"

"It's just a small matter, not worth mentioning." Lin Haoran shook his head.

The two continued to chat while sipping tea.

"Haoran, speaking of which, life is really full of emotion. I still remember when I met you at the Deep Water Bay Beach three years ago. At that time, you were just an unknown young man.

But who would have thought that in less than three years, you have achieved such great success. Now, your wealth is stronger than mine. What surprised me most is that you have earned so much money in Japan in just a few months. I, your uncle Bao, have to admire you for this!" Bao Yugang said with some emotion.

Three years ago, he met Lin Haoran on the beach. At that time, he could see that this young man had extraordinary conversation skills and would definitely become a prominent person, so he made a special effort to make friends with this young man.

But afterwards, Lin Haoran's performance completely exceeded his imagination.

Not only did he make tens of millions by taking advantage of the battle between the Bao family and Jardine Matheson, but he also had the foresight to stockpile large amounts of oil before the subsequent oil crisis. After the oil crisis broke out, he made a fortune. The money he made from the stockpiled oil alone was something even Bao Yugang envied, as it was tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars!
But who would have thought that what happened one after another would shock him every time.

To this day, people in Hong Kong, including him, seem to feel that no matter what company Lin Haoran acquires or how much money he makes, it seems to be a normal thing.

Although Bao Yugang successfully seized the controlling stake of Kowloon Wharf from Jardine Matheson in the battle of Kowloon Wharf, the price was unimaginable.

Not only did the Bao family almost exhaust their own funds, they also borrowed a full HK$21 billion from the Bank of Communications before they finally succeeded in taking over the Wharf.

Now, more than a year has passed since the incident, but the Bao family has not yet recovered from it. During this year, they have been selling off second-hand giant ships continuously. His title of the world's number one shipping tycoon has become a bit undeserved after selling off a large number of ships.

Lin Haoran acquired Hong Kong Land Development and Hong Kong Electric Group, etc. Which one has a lower market value and difficulty than Wharf Holdings?

No!

But every time Lin Haoran made an acquisition, he didn't seem to suffer any heavy losses. Instead, he made more and more money.

On the other hand, Bao Yugang took over Hutchison Whampoa and almost destroyed half of the Bao family.

It is impossible to say that he does not envy Lin Haoran.

However, Bao Yugang does not regret it at all. After all, the assets owned by Hutchison Whampoa are very considerable. Harbour City alone is worth a lot of money, and there is huge room for future growth.

Besides, the Bao family sold off the ships not just because of the debt caused by the acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa.

More importantly, the Bao family saw the impending recession in the shipping industry, especially the potential impact of oil price fluctuations on the shipping market.

By selling some ships in advance to recover funds, debt risks can be avoided.

The Bao family optimized its asset structure by selling ships to reserve buffer space for subsequent market fluctuations. Even Lin Haoran admired this decision.

After all, in the late 70s, they were planning to abandon ship and land, and at that time, who in the shipping industry, except for his Bao Bao family, would have thought that the shipping industry was about to enter a depression?

The most important thing is that the Bao family was once the world's number one shipping family. To be able to give up this glorious title definitely requires great courage and foresight.

This kind of decisiveness is not something that ordinary people can possess.

The more Bao Yugang thought about it, the more he admired the younger generation in front of him.

It really proves the old saying: The waves behind push the waves ahead, and each generation is stronger than the previous one!
When Lin Haoran heard Bao Yugang's praise, he paused slightly.

Lin Haoran also learned a lot from the Bao family's business philosophy of "preferring to make less money rather than take risks". He, Lin Haoran, also received a lot of help from Bao Yugang, which enabled him to achieve such great success in such a short time. Speaking of which, he, Lin Haoran, should also thank Bao Yugang for his help.

"Uncle Bao, I can handle anyone praising me, but I am flattered when you praise me. I, Lin Haoran, can't be where I am today without your support and guidance back then.

As for the Toyota Motor Company in Japan, it was just good luck. To be honest, I was just optimistic about the future of Toyota Motor Company. I happened to bring a lot of funds to Japan for investment, and I saw that Toyota Motor Company's stock price was affected by the US-Japan auto trade negotiations. Not only were there many sell orders, but the price was not high. That's why I decided to secretly acquire a large number of Toyota Motor Company shares.

I could not have imagined that after the negotiation results came out, the result would be like this. Not only did Toyota's stock price soar, but even the consortiums were scrambling to acquire my Toyota shares.

Seeing that I can earn so much in just two months of investment, I can only sell the stocks to the Japanese consortium!" Lin Haoran said with a half-truthful smile.

He attributed it all to luck.

After hearing this, Bao Yugang smiled meaningfully: "Haoran, you are being too modest when you say 'luck'. In the business world, there is no such thing as pure luck.

I think it is your unique vision, courage, and a little bit of good timing that have made you what you are today."

He paused and continued, "Just like when I joined the shipping industry, I saw the right opportunity and worked hard all the way to achieve the situation later. And you, in the oil crisis, gold futures, and Japanese investment, which one of them was not accurately predicted and decisively acted? This is not something that ordinary people can do."

Lin Haoran was amused by Bao Yugang's words. He smiled and waved his hands: "Uncle Bao, please stop praising me. If you continue to praise me, I will be proud of myself. In fact, I still have a lot to learn from you.

For example, your courage and determination in the battle of Hutchison Whampoa, and your foresight in selling ships and optimizing asset structure now, are all beyond my reach.

So, no matter what, Uncle Bao, you will always be the business elder whom I, Lin Haoran, admire the most! "

Today, the shipping industry has not actually entered a very serious depression, but as the oil crisis worsens, many people have gradually seen signs of depression.

But even so, many shipping companies are still developing blindly.

For example, the Dong family, another world shipping tycoon in Hong Kong, is now continuously expanding the number of its ships.

Many of their new ships were actually purchased from Bao Yugang’s Global Shipping Group.

It can be seen from this that not every shipping person has the courage like Bao Yugang, who can decisively withdraw before the crisis comes, optimize the asset structure, and even give up the honor of being the world's number one shipping king.

Blind expansion like the Dong family may seem promising, but in fact it is just testing the edge of danger. If they fail, the consequences will be very disastrous.

"Let's stop praising each other and talk about something else!" Bao Yugang couldn't help but say when he saw Lin Haoran praising him instead.

"Well, Uncle Bao, I heard that you have sold a lot of cargo ships recently. I guess the debt owed by Hutchison Whampoa should be paid off soon, right?" Lin Haoran asked curiously.

This is actually someone else's private matter, but the reason why Lin Haoran asked this is out of concern for Bao Yugang. If the other party needs his help, he doesn't mind lending a helping hand to the Bao family.

Hearing this, Bao Yugang smiled bitterly and said, "How can it be possible to pay off the debt so quickly? After acquiring Wharf Holdings, our Bao family has taken over the bottomless pit of Harbour City. Not only do we have to pay off the debt, but we also have to invest a lot of money to build Harbour City. Up to now, Wharf Holdings has not made me a penny!"

Harbour City is located in Tsim Sha Tsui. In fact, the first phase was opened as early as the 1960s. At that time, Kowloon Wharf moved the warehouse terminal to Kwai Chung and built a shopping mall, Ocean Terminal, on the land of the original warehouse terminal.

In the 70s, faced with skyrocketing land prices, Hutchison Whampoa started the Harbour City project.

However, it was precisely because of the launch of this plan that Hutchison Whampoa, which originally collected a lot of rent from its industries every year, ended up investing all of it in the bottomless pit of Harbour City. As a result, Hutchison Whampoa had almost no profit every year and its share price continued to fall. This is why Li Ka-shing and Bao Yugang coveted it one after another.

After Bao Yugang took over Hutchison Whampoa, he also deeply felt the magnitude of the investment in Harbour City.

It is simply impossible to quickly build Harbour City Phase II by relying on Hutchison Whampoa’s own annual profits.

Therefore, after Bao Yugang acquired Wharf Holdings, Wharf Holdings’ own funds still could not help Bao Yugang solve its debt problem, because the profits generated by Wharf Holdings had to continue to be invested in the construction of Harbour City.

"Uncle Bao, this means you won't be able to make any progress in the next few years!" Lin Haoran said in surprise.

Hutchison Whampoa could not provide any help to Bao Yugang, and the Global Shipping Group was facing a shipping industry recession. As a result, the Bao family had a hard time in recent years.

No wonder Bao Yugang, the former richest man in Hong Kong, has started to keep a low profile in the past two years. (End of this chapter)