Debuted right after graduating from high school

Living a second life, but this is the first time I might become a father.

After hanging up the phone, Fan Wumian was in a daze and couldn't recover for a long time. This incident had a big impact on him.

He brought along snacks such as fried chicken strips and fried rice cakes, and sat in the car eating and thinking at the same time.

I just mentioned to Jessica Alba that we could add the baby to the family trust fund in the future and that we were willing to give her a mansion, but she didn't react much and didn't clearly indicate whether she would keep the baby.

She was named "Sexiest Star of the Year" by Playboy magazine in 2006. As one of the most beautiful Hollywood actresses, Jessica Alba has an amazing earning power. With resources that are not top-notch, she has amassed a fortune of more than $4000 million in just a few years.

Unlike some athletes and celebrities who become rich and then squander their money, Jessica Alba is good at managing her finances, and her parents are also very reliable. The real estate, stocks, and financial products they bought have all yielded good returns.

As far as I can remember, this actress became a mother in her previous life and then created her own maternal and infant brand, which was valued at over a billion US dollars, making her one of the richest actresses in Hollywood. She clearly has personal abilities.

With so many celebrities worldwide, only a handful are truly smart enough to monetize their fame.

If it were any other brainless, pretty-faced actress, Fan Wumian would be worried about whether she would give birth to a little idiot who would cause him headaches.

Because Jessica Alba is wealthy and doesn't need to rely on others, he found himself having little say in the matter of whether or not to keep the baby, which left Fan Wumian with no choice but to smile wryly.

After returning to his mansion in Repulse Bay, he lay on the sofa and continued to think.

At first, I felt that having a baby with a distant lover was not appropriate, but then I found that this situation was more worry-free.

As long as Jessica Alba keeps the secret, it will be difficult for outsiders to associate the baby's father with Fan Wumian. Even if the truth comes out one day, it may be many years from now.

A whole bunch of random thoughts.

Since there was nothing he could do to interfere, Fan Wumian simply stopped worrying about it and drifted off to sleep on the sofa. When he woke up, it was already the next morning.
After washing up, I ate breakfast.

Having rarely changed into formal attire, Fan Wumian then took a car to the newly established Hong Kong branch of "Huaxia Investment".

This behemoth has a registered capital of up to US$2000 billion and is considered one of the sovereign wealth funds established by the Chinese government. Its purpose is to diversify the investment of the country's foreign exchange reserves.

Because of the high regard for him, in addition to helping medical and elderly care institutions avoid risks and make money, he also prevented several crises last year, preventing a number of companies from going overseas and falling into pitfalls and preventing countless shareholders from going bankrupt. Many people think that although Fan Wumian is young, he has a very sharp eye for investment.

Therefore, when Huaxia Investment Company was established, a special allocation of US$100 billion was made and entrusted to Fan Wumian and Huaxia Investment's fund managers for joint management.

Today, we are holding a meeting at Huaxia Investment's Hong Kong branch to discuss how to plan this $100 billion investment to maximize shareholder equity within an acceptable risk range in the context of a global economic downturn.

After exchanging pleasantries with several representatives from China Investment Corporation, the group sat down in a conference room overlooking Victoria Harbour.

Fan Wumian's meetings were always simple and direct, and today was no exception. He flipped through the documents prepared in his secretary's office and got straight to the point:

"Regarding this $100 billion, I have only prepared three investment portfolios, which are basically all risk-free assets. The only difference is that they are in different directions."

"As you may have heard, since the release of the first-generation Apple iPhone last year, I have frequently mentioned the new opportunities brought about by 'mobile smart terminal devices'. As far as I know, Apple and Google's R&D centers are already working on more mature mobile operating systems, which is the mainstream of future development and there is no controversy about it."

"Given the upcoming emergence of a new opportunity, my suggestions are threefold: First, invest comprehensively in internet companies such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon, similar to the investment portfolio we helped build for China National Petroleum Corporation. Second, heavily invest in semiconductor companies such as Qualcomm, Broadcom, and TSMC. Third, combine the two approaches, each investing a portion of their respective portfolios."

"The documents in front of you already specify the estimated holdings. Additionally, we can reserve around $10 billion to invest in startups that have already found mature monetization models, primarily in ride-hailing, finance, and ticketing."

The same words carry different weight depending on who speaks them.

Seeing Fan Wumian's optimism about industries like the internet and semiconductors, a manager named Xi Jun, nearing 50, silently scanned the documents in his hand before finally asking:
"Mr. Fan, if you say they have great investment potential, I will definitely agree wholeheartedly. But to say they are risk-free is a bit inappropriate, isn't it? After all, the dot-com bubble crisis of a few years ago is still fresh in people's minds."

"These internet and semiconductor companies already have high price-to-earnings ratios. You've also said that they could face a financial crisis at any time. Under these circumstances, wouldn't it be safer to invest in assets like finance, consumer goods, and insurance that have already experienced significant price drops?"

"Companies like Goldman Sachs, Berkshire Hathaway, GE, and Boeing are also worth paying close attention to, especially Boeing. There's a huge gap in the Chinese market for pilots in the future. I saw in a report that there's a shortage of tens of thousands of pilots. My son passed the entrance exam for pilot training this year."

Fan Wumian's vision is somewhat ahead of its time, but he didn't directly say he wanted to invest in AI, new energy vehicles, etc. This time, his planning was only a small step ahead of the curve.

After listening to Manager Xi Jun's explanation, he thought that he would have many interactions with him in the future, and it was necessary to take this opportunity to build a good relationship. He patiently explained:
"Congratulations on passing the pilot exam, young master. You're very impressive."

"Boeing is still doing well, but the mainland has started building high-speed rail, and the high-speed rail network is likely to cover the whole country in the future. The market gap for aircraft is not as big as you think. It's not that US financial and insurance stocks are safe after they fall. This year, a number of companies will probably go bankrupt. This is a hidden risk that you absolutely cannot touch."

“Your $100 billion is all hard-earned money, and I made this decision with extreme caution. According to my prediction, by the time the financial crisis occurs, Apple will already be able to launch an App Store, which means downloading third-party applications on your phone to play games, socialize, and watch videos anytime, anywhere.”

"The market prospects for mobile smart terminal devices are so great that they can pull the Internet, semiconductor and other industries out of the quagmire of the financial crisis and attract safe-haven funds to flow in."

"Our current strategy allows us to build a position at a low cost by directly purchasing a large number of shares from major shareholders. If we wait patiently for one or two years, the returns will be quite substantial."

"As for sectors like finance and consumer goods, the overall market environment is sluggish, and it will be difficult for them to get out of the mire in the short term. Although I am in charge of the investment decision for this $100 billion, I am not the type to ignore advice. If any of you can convince me, then I will consider investing in some of the stocks you recommend." Although he said he could listen to advice, Fan Wumian was full of confidence while speaking, using words such as "absolutely not" and "definitely," making it difficult for everyone present to change his mind.

Huaxia Investment plans to invest half of its $2000 billion registered capital domestically and half overseas.

Of the $1000 billion invested overseas, Fan Wumian only received 10% of the share, with the rest of the funds being managed by others.

Out of prudence, hundreds of billions of dollars might be invested in areas traditionally perceived as "low-risk and with good returns." Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be a big problem. However, it was already 2008, and the global financial crisis was looming. There was a possibility that hundreds of billions of dollars could be lost.

Knowing that some "newbies" could be very troublesome, Fan Wumian believed he was more capable, so he could only think of more ways to help them recover their losses and invest in more high-yield assets.

When managing other private equity clients' assets, he would be thinking about pocketing a portion of the profits. But this time, when he was helping the government manage foreign exchange assets, he really didn't have any selfish motives. He just wanted to help people bring back more dividends from abroad.

Otherwise, he really wouldn't bother with a business like this that involves a lot of work and little money.

If the goal was simply to earn management fees, Fan Wumian could have invested the 100 billion yuan in low-risk products such as overseas gold, securities firms' wealth management products, and funds, and would not have been easily drawn into any trouble.

He helps the government allocate high-quality assets, and if they rise sharply and he makes money in the future, he will inevitably attract a lot of hatred in places like Wall Street and Washington. It's like a beautiful girl from one village being married off to someone from another village; nobody likes to see their good fortune flowing into someone else's field.

Some people at the scene felt that investing in the internet and semiconductor industries was too risky and didn't align with the investment philosophy of "not putting all your eggs in one basket." After considering this, Xi Jun, the person in charge, asked:
"Do we have to invest entirely in the United States? Shouldn't we also consider island nations, port cities, Europe, Australia, and other markets?"

Fan Wumian said quietly:
"The dollar tide is not only reaping our benefits, but also the developed countries in Japan, South Korea, Europe, and Australia. Minerals and ports, which have low returns, will also be affected by the financial crisis."

Another analyst, surnamed Wang, in his thirties, raised his hand and asked, "How is the German automotive industry? The mainland Chinese automotive market is growing, and their revenue will also increase."

Fan Wumian continued:

"We will still face the impact of the financial crisis. The risks and returns are not proportional. If we need to take on certain risks, it is far better to invest in the Internet industry."

"To be honest, the reason I acquired Land Rover, Jaguar, and Aston Martin was to make a long-term investment in the electric vehicle industry. Looking at the gasoline car market alone, it doesn't make much sense. Even with Ferrari and Porsche, the returns are at most a few times the initial investment, which is not as good as investing in European luxury goods companies."

"Trust me, in the next few years, there will be no better investment opportunities than the internet and semiconductors. Their growth potential has no ceiling, and companies like Google and Apple may even see their total market capitalization exceed one trillion dollars."

Seeing that Fan Wumian was determined to invest in the internet and semiconductor industries, the executives of Huaxia Investment looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

The specific management strategy for this $100 billion was handed over to Fan Wumian to lead, with Manager Xi Jun and others mainly responsible for supervision.

Their investment strategy prioritizes stability, but their potential returns are not as high as Fan Wumian's portfolio.

Some high-risk investment strategies still cannot match the potential returns of the internet and semiconductor industries. Under the shadow of the financial crisis, investing in the financial and consumer sectors carries even greater risks and lacks positive news to support it.

After much discussion, they reached a tacit understanding to try to achieve a balance between safety and profitability among the three investment portfolios provided by Fan Wumian.

The group discussed the matter calmly and rationally for over an hour, identifying companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, TSMC, and Qualcomm as their core targets for future investments, with a plan to allocate only $5 million for venture capital investments.

Xi Jun's ability to become a senior executive at Huaxia Investment's Hong Kong branch demonstrates his outstanding capabilities and network of connections. However, he still felt inferior to Fan Wumian, who was "handpicked" to manage the $100 billion, and could not easily interfere with Fan Wumian's decisions.

However, he had fulfilled his responsibility to persuade Fan Wumian, but Fan Wumian did not listen to his advice. If the funds were to suffer serious losses, that would be his primary responsibility, and he could easily shift the blame afterward.

If this investment portfolio skyrockets, Xi Jun will be credited with a huge contribution.

Furthermore, since no obvious flaws could be found, the staff at Huaxia Investment's Hong Kong branch simply followed Fan Wumian's instructions and submitted the meeting minutes that afternoon.

Huaxia Investment Company was newly established, and most of its fund managers were targeting traditional sectors for investment, making Fan Wumian's investment portfolio appear quite aggressive.

However, with a total of $1000 billion planned to be invested in international markets, from an overall perspective, allocating some potential high-yield technology stocks is a good idea, and it can also help hedge risks with other investment managers.

Therefore, shortly after the meeting minutes were submitted, Manager Xi Jun received a notice from the parent company instructing him to fully cooperate with Fan Wumian and to avoid interfering too much.

The reason why the $100 billion was entrusted to Fan Wumian to manage was simply because there was no one else available. There were not many people in mainland China with experience in managing money in overseas markets and making a profit; instead, there were countless examples of people being taken advantage of.

Fan Wumian, who stood out among the less capable, successfully bet on the subprime crisis and even competed with international speculators in the A-share market, appeared to have "exceptionally outstanding abilities."

On the other hand, Fan Wumian is quite wealthy, so there's no need to worry that he'll go broke and collude with outsiders to embezzle the entrusted funds.

Having a great deal of autonomy, Fan Wumian naturally found it easier to do things.

After leaving Huaxia Investment Port City Branch, he went straight to Sapphire Blue Music Studio to join the production team of the variety show "Walking with Fan Wumian" to film and record the new song "Stubborn".

I thought it would take some time, but I performed normally today and finished recording after only two takes. To make up an episode, I invited Chen Yisen over as a guest, and they spent over 20 minutes singing and chatting. (End of Chapter)