Debuted right after graduating from high school

I opened my laptop and checked my email; it was full of great material for shooting reality shows.

As 2007 draws to a close, Paulson & Co. has begun tallying its profit distributions for the year.

Based on this year's estimated profit of $37 billion, it means that Fan Wumian, who owns 25% of Paulson & Co., could receive more than $9 million. Unfortunately, he cannot receive this huge sum of money for the time being. He will only be able to receive performance-based compensation after the private equity fund expires next year.

What he will be paid this time is other income generated since he acquired the shares, including management fees from several private equity funds, transaction fees, and some other income, which will amount to approximately $1.2 million in dividends.

Even so, the program director was still taken aback. Facing Fan Wumian, who was covering some key data with his hand, he asked:
"Mr. Fan, if this kind of explosive content is released, won't the outside world go crazy? You just said that the real bulk of the profits haven't been received yet, but there's already a $1.2 million bonus?"

Fan Wumian only said:

“Goldman Sachs has earned at least $100 billion this year. Compared to that company, we are far smaller.”

“I only own 25% of Paulson’s hedge fund. The major shareholders should have made two or three billion dollars. This does not include subsequent gains, including the increase in value of the hedge fund itself.”

“My company is also facing some problems. For example, it burned through too much money during the incubation stage and couldn’t generate much cash flow for me in the early stages. In total, it owes the bank more than HK$40 billion in loans, and the annual interest payment is more than HK$2 billion.”

"In other words, every day when I open my eyes, I'm already in debt for six or seven million Hong Kong dollars in interest. The dividends from this hedge fund can only cover a small portion of it, and I'll have to find another way to cover the rest."

"Now you know how much pressure I'm under. I can only desperately try to make money so that the company can operate smoothly and continue to survive."

“Take Tudou.com, for example. It has a small number of paying users and is improving the user experience in an attempt to seize market share from pirated video websites. Car companies like Land Rover and Aston Martin are planning to invest in building super factories in the Hengqin Special Economic Zone, which will burn through tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars, not including R&D expenses, employee costs, and so on.”

"So people only see the big bosses eating meat, but they don't see the bosses getting beaten up. Sometimes one wrong step can lead to utter ruin, and life isn't as easy as others imagine."

The previous debt pressure was manageable, but since the one-time acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin, Marvel Entertainment, and the parent company of Fei Li a few months ago, Fan Wumian's bank loans have skyrocketed.

However, being in debt and being indebted are not actually the same thing. Although he owed a lot of money to the bank, he converted it into high-quality assets with particularly high appreciation potential.

Valentino, for example, cost just over 100 million euros to acquire, but its valuation has now risen to around 12 billion euros. The tens of millions of euros in interest incurred during that period are simply insignificant.

Using the opportunity of filming a program to play the victim is actually a smokescreen to avoid attracting too much jealousy and thus affecting the business of various companies.

It's like some small restaurants that seem ordinary on the surface, but one day people find out that the owner earns millions a year, drives luxury cars, and lives in a big villa. Many regular customers may easily think that they never want to give money there again.

This phenomenon is particularly evident in Fan Wumian, who is easily magnified over the smallest things and attacked based on generalizations.

He then opened another email and briefly mentioned the parts he could read. The content was roughly that Tudou.com had lost more than 3 million RMB this year and was expected to need to invest another 1 million RMB in the first quarter of next year.

Marvel Studios also plans to shoot three movies next year, with a total production cost of up to $3.1 million.

As the year draws to a close, companies are reporting their revenue figures up to the end of November and preparing their budgets for next year.

Feile Company needs to invest US$1 million to build a new headquarters in Macau. The remaining payment of RMB50 billion for the acquisition of the equity of the Shanghai World Financial Center Building from the island country Mori Building Co., Ltd. must also be paid by the end of the month. RMB15 billion has already been paid when the two parties signed the contract. Mori Building Co., Ltd. will continue the construction until it is fully completed and delivered.

Finding the concept design of the Shanghai World Financial Center, Fan Wumian smiled and said:
"Until the Shanghai Central Tower next door is completed, this building that I acquired will be the tallest building in China and the second tallest building in the world in the next few years. By the way, here's a quick plug: clients who want to rent office space should hurry up, as many multinational companies and large domestic companies have already decided to move in, and there aren't many good floors left."

"I am looking for a feng shui master to replan and modify some designs, such as building a pool outside the building, turning a knife into a sail, and arranging it into a pattern of a jade belt around the waist and two dragons converging."

"There's absolutely no need to worry about the feng shui. I've already bought the building; it certainly won't let me down."

The design of the Shanghai World Financial Center, resembling "two swords supporting the sun" or "double-sided steel swords," has been the subject of much controversy.

Businessmen are very particular about these things, which is why Fan Wumian was willing to spend more money to put in a lot of effort in terms of feng shui after the acquisition, holding the idea that it's better to believe in something than nothing. Many wealthy businessmen care a lot about these things.

Putting everything else aside, Fan Wumian's courtyard house in Yanjing and his mansion on Repulse Bay Road in Hong Kong are known as auspicious locations, and he can sell them for tens of millions more than the market price.

I spent over two hours filming in the study. This episode really just introduced the recent situation of each company and commented on the views of Hong Kong, the mainland, and the international financial situation and certain companies. It was not boring at all.

He casually mentioned the importance of oil-poor countries focusing on developing new energy vehicles and the semiconductor industry. He also discussed the view that "the cost of financial crimes is too low, but the harm is enormous" because of a violation by one of his senior executives.

They filmed from morning until noon, and had already shot enough footage in the port city. Fan Wumian gave the production crew a day off, planning to wait for the program to be edited and uploaded to Tudou.com to see the effect before deciding how to continue filming.
the other side.

Wang Tao, the founder of JTWC, couldn't contain himself upon returning to Shenzhen today and called Professor Li Xiangze to tentatively ask:
"Professor Li, has there been any movement from President Fan? Has he sent someone to contact him?"

Professor Li Xiangze chuckled and said:

"You overestimate my abilities. I can easily get you hundreds of thousands or millions in investment, but a super-rich person like Mr. Fan is unlikely to really pay attention to a small company like yours unless he is interested in model airplanes or needs to use aerial photography technology."

"There are probably tens of thousands of startups around the world trying to get investment from him. I feel your chances are a bit slim. Compared to those truly profitable projects, the helicopter model market is too small. Besides, you're only developing drone flight control systems, which is really too niche."

"I reckon Mr. Fan's compliments are just polite formalities; don't get your hopes up too high. He controls hundreds of billions and is involved in huge businesses like the internet, finance, fashion, and film and entertainment."

After hearing these words, Wang Tao felt as if he had been doused with cold water, and instantly realized that Professor Li Xiangze was right; his small company was really not presentable.

Just like those old men in the "national treasure gang" who all think the things in their hands are treasures, entrepreneurs often mistakenly believe that they have created a very powerful and promising company, until they fail and slowly realize that it was just a garbage project.

Wang Tao said with a wry smile on the phone:
“That makes sense. How could a big boss like Fan Wumian care about a few thousand model airplane enthusiasts? Even if he captured the entire market, his annual revenue would only be a few million Hong Kong dollars, not even enough to refuel his private jet a few times.” If it weren’t for Professor Li Xiangze providing funding and valuing his research direction, Wang Tao would likely have started working right after graduating from university, without the opportunity to slowly delve into drone flight control technology.

The road was chosen with the help of Professor Li Xiangze.

Seeing the disappointment in Wang Tao's voice, Professor Li comforted him, saying:

“There are very few wealthy businessmen like Mr. Fan in the whole of Hong Kong. If his annual revenue is several million, that’s not bad. He has several thousand customers now, and he may have tens of thousands in the future. If you make drones very interesting, overseas buyers will also place orders.”

Wang Tao didn't know what to say, and sighed:
"Important people often have short memories. Professor, do you think we should take some time, once the technology is more refined, to visit President Fan again with the drone?"

"."

Seeing that Wang Tao had not completely given up, Professor Li Xiangze wanted to say that he was of low status and had no way to contact Fan Wumian.

However, to encourage him to continue and to prevent the initial investment from going down the drain, Professor Li Xiangze still comforted him:
"Okay, we crashed into his car during yesterday's test flight, so it probably left a bad impression on him. You guys hurry up and improve it, and make a more powerful prototype. I'll help you arrange it then. I have a graduate student under me who used to be Zuo Ziyan's classmate. Maybe she can use Miss Zuo's connections to arrange for us to meet with Mr. Fan again."

Because "You Are the Apple of My Eye" was so popular, the love story between Fan Wumian and Zuo Ziyan has been widely circulated. The group of heartbroken single people on the Internet often comfort themselves with the phrase "Even Fan Wumian had a girl he loved but couldn't have".

Regarding this matter, it can only be said that Fan Wumian and Zuo Ziyan kept it a secret very well. In addition, Zuo Ziyan went to study at Cambridge University in the UK and did not have much contact with him, so there was no solid evidence.

Upon learning that the professor had a way to contact Zuo Ziyan, Wang Tao instantly became incredibly excited, feeling that this connection was quite remarkable.

After thanking his teacher Li Xiangze, Wang Tao, still a nobody, immediately gathered his employees to investigate which link in the chain had gone wrong, causing the model helicopter to go out of control and accidentally crash into Fan Wumian's car.

------------

at the same time.

Fan Wumian, who was mistakenly identified as a "great romantic," spent the afternoon browsing Weibo at home.

He secretly followed Guo Biting, Zhuang Muxi, Feng Ying'er, Zhang Liangying, and Ying Tian on a secondary account. Every time he scrolled through the mouse, all he saw were beautiful photos of his girlfriends. In just a few minutes, he changed his mind several times.

While killing time, he also saw Lingling, whom he had met at the shopping mall, shooting a set of print advertisements for the luxury brand Bulgari.

Back then, Mr. Wang from Wanda Group spent money to invite this girl, whose real name is Gong Lingyue, to accompany Fan Wumian for drinks. Her looks and figure were naturally impeccable, and while she had a slightly noble air, she also had a kind of pure and pitiful charm.

I haven't paid much attention to Gong Lingyue, I only recommended that she sign with Gangcheng Mandou Model Agency.

It wasn't until Fan Wumian clicked on the girl's homepage that he discovered her work seemed to be going quite smoothly. She had filmed advertisements for many products and even attended the Tokyo Motor Show at the end of October to endorse Land Rover, successfully attracting the attention of Japanese media.

Netizens in the island nation seem to really like her looks and charisma; her photos were reposted on forums, attracting thousands of comments.

There are many news reports about Gong Lingyue online, and some media outlets have named her "the most noteworthy new model of 2007," marking her emergence in the industry.

With this foundation, if more resources are invested and she is given a push, it would be easy for her to transition into an artist. Fan Wumian thought that he was short of actresses of the "innocent and pure" type, so he simply took out his phone, looked through his contacts, and gave her a call.

The call was quickly answered, and Fan Wumian asked, "Lingling? Where are you?"

"I'm taking photos in Tsim Sha Tsui. I was also taking photos here yesterday. I heard you were filming a program with Uncle Tat and the others. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Oh, let me say hello to your boss, Mr. Qu. You can terminate your contract and come to my company. I'll make you a star."

Fan Wumian spoke in a light and casual tone, as if it were as simple as eating or drinking.

An opportunity that others could only dream of suddenly fell into Gong Lingyue's lap, and she hesitated before saying:
"Is it appropriate for me to talk to General Manager Qu myself? The boss's wife just arranged a raise for me and gave me a lot of opportunities. It wouldn't be good if she suddenly left."

Fan Wumian laughed:
"Boss Qu makes money but doesn't share it with you, and you've actually developed feelings for him at work? How about this, I'll talk to him, or you can come over after you finish your work."

The reason for giving Gong Lingyue the opportunity is twofold: firstly, she may be very popular in the Japanese market; secondly, her personality and English proficiency are both good, making her suitable for creating original dramas for the Myth+ platform.

Two years ago, this girl's family went bankrupt. She used to be in the grain business in Suzhou, but her father became obsessed with futures trading and lost more than 1300 million yuan in the blink of an eye. He also owed others four or five million yuan for grain purchases and fled to Southeast Asia to escape his debts.

Gong Lingyue was suddenly left destitute and forced to drop out of the National University of Singapore halfway through her studies. She went to Shanghai to work as a print model, and her life was in shambles. She was unexpectedly saved by Fan Wumian.

Gong Lingyue continued hesitantly, and then said:
“It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that my reputation isn’t very good. My dad’s debts and absconding have been exposed online, which might cause you trouble.”

Fan Wumian had forgotten about this detail. After listening, he clicked his tongue and asked:
"How much debt do you still owe? I'll help you pay it off. Just sign a contract with me, and I'll deduct it from your salary from now on."

Gong Lingyue remained silent for a while before pressing for an answer:
“Okay, what kind of contract of servitude? If it’s with you, I’m fine with that. I’ve been slowly paying back the money recently, and I currently owe a total of more than 483 million. My second aunt helped me talk to them, and some creditors took pity on me and only asked me to pay back the principal.”

Fan Wumian couldn't help but laugh:
"It's not that I pity you, but I'm afraid you'll be scared off by the interest and just run away like your father. Contact those creditors and tell them to go to the Beijing branch of Sheng Huo Miao Miao Brokerage Company next Monday. I'll arrange for someone to transfer the funds to them."

(End of this chapter)