Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 375 Please, Mr. Meng, I can do anything for you
Throughout history, humans have always been particularly interested in rankings and inventories, such as the "Top Ten Fighting Powers", "Top Ten Generals", "Top Ten Beauties", "Top Ten Richest People"...

Lists like these have always been talked about, especially in modern society, when financial power has replaced military power as the new standard. People are also particularly interested in the question of "who is the richest person", and even a special industry has been spawned.

The two most famous ones are Forbes and Hurun.

In comparison, Forbes has a longer history and a wider scope, covering various fields in hundreds of countries around the world and has a greater influence.

Hurun was founded much later and is less authoritative. However, because its content is mainly about China and Chinese people, its influence in China is not much different from Forbes.

These lists initially only contained the most basic rankings of the rich, but as they grew in size, more and more sub-sectors began to emerge.

For example, the theme of the interview that Meng Bai was invited to this time was to introduce the country's "young elite entrepreneurs under the age of 30".

As for how to judge who is considered a "young elite", it's very simple, just look at the assets.

So to some extent, this can also be regarded as an inventory of young wealthy people under the age of 30.

"Hello, Mr. Meng. I'm a reporter for Hurun Report magazine. My last name is Wang."

In the reception room of Arc Light, a middle-aged man stood in front of Meng Bai and introduced himself.

"Hello, reporter Wang."

Meng Bai shook hands with the other party and nodded to the other people who were setting up the machine and waiting to record.

It can be seen that Hurun takes me very seriously, as he sent four or five people over for just a simple interview.

"Besides me, who else will be on this special topic?"

"It's like this, Mr. Meng. This time we are doing this 'Young Elite Entrepreneurs Under 30', which is mainly divided into two parts. One is young entrepreneurs who started from scratch like you, and the other is the second generation who inherited the family business. There are four people in each part, a total of eight people."

Reporter Wang introduced that in addition to Meng Bai, those who started from scratch also include Nie Yunchen, the founder of "HEYTEA", Wang Shuo, the co-founder of Deel, and Lu Jianxia of Manner Coffee.

All four of them were born in the 90s. Ranked by personal assets, the lowest is Lu Jianxia, who just received a round A financing not long ago, and the highest is naturally Meng Bai.

Meng Bai asked curiously: "How much assets did you calculate for me?"

"Because our data mainly comes from the integration of various public information, it may not be accurate." Reporter Wang first passed on the blame, and then continued: "According to our research and statistics, Mr. Meng's current assets are approximately 15.3 billion."

"Ha." Meng Bai laughed, "How did you come up with this number?"

"The main part comes from Arclight Films under your name, and the benchmark is the 15 billion acquisition price offered by Tencent last year. In addition, there are also some companies associated with you, such as Taiyang Chuanhe, Qiyi TV, etc."

"Does the failed negotiation with Tencent count?" Meng Bai said with a smile, "Besides, it was just a quotation."

"Well, haha... Because Arclight Pictures has never raised funds, it is really difficult for us to calculate the valuation." Reporter Wang said with a little embarrassment: "Although the transaction was not successful, the endorsement of Tencent's investment is still relatively representative, so we finally chose to use this as the benchmark for calculation."

Each of the major domestic capital giants has a strong influence on other investment institutions. Since Tencent offered 150 billion to Arclight Films, it means that Arclight is indeed worth this price in the capital market.

Meng Bai was somewhat emotional. This was the power of real top capital. Even a single offer could become the valuation anchor for a company.

However, he also confirmed that Hurun must not be aware of the situation of Qiming Venture Partners, otherwise the figure would have to be increased by another 60 to 70 billion.

Hurun's interview is actually no different from interviews with other news media. They basically introduce the entrepreneurial history and talk about the development process.

Meng Bai is very familiar with these old topics. He can just change the content of other interviews a little bit and it will become a new one.

However, he did not forget the real purpose of this interview.

Therefore, in the middle of the conversation, he "inadvertently" mentioned that he had invested in an e-commerce platform.

"Oh, Mr. Meng has also worked in venture capital?"

"No, but I felt that the risks in the film and television industry were quite high at the time, so I thought that I couldn't put all my eggs in one basket. I happened to have a corresponding amount of funds on hand, so I looked for some good start-ups to learn about them, and finally chose one."

"It seems that you, Mr. Meng, are quite cautious in business." Reporter Wang asked casually, "I wonder how the company you invested in, Mr. Meng, is developing now?"

"It's developing pretty well. It's also caught up with the e-commerce boom and is growing very fast." Meng Bai said calmly, "It was just listed not long ago, and it can be said that it's seeing returns."

"Yeah, that's not... huh?"

Reporter Wang was stunned. “Invested three years ago”, “e-commerce platform”, “just listed”…

Why does this description sound so familiar?
"Uh, Mr. Meng." Reporter Wang asked cautiously, "Can you tell us what the e-commerce platform you invested in is called?"

"What's so inconvenient about this?" Meng Bai said "generously": "It's Pinduoduo, which just went public some time ago."

"..."

There was silence in the room. Several Hurun staff members looked at each other and saw surprised expressions on each other's faces.

I just came here to do a simple interview, but who would have thought that I would get unexpected gains!

Reporter Wang had no intention of continuing the original interview topic at the moment, and started the interview about the story of "Investing in Pinduoduo" with surprise and curiosity.

Seeing that the other party was so understanding, Meng Bai was naturally happy to explain the specific situation in detail. He started from the initial angel round investment and talked about the current Qiming Venture Partners.

Of course, the latter part is emphasized.

After all, his purpose is not to show off, but to let other companies in the industry know that ArcLight now has strong capital, and those who have projects can come to discuss cooperation.

While asking, reporter Wang solemnly asked the video reporter and staff who came with him to record in detail what Meng Bai said.

I have really come across big news this time! Reporter Wang thought to himself.

As a staff member of Hurun, he is naturally aware of the influence of Pinduoduo, which has just gone public, in the capital market.

Entering the market through the angel round, holding for three years, earning nearly a hundred times… All these keywords added together are sure to be a “10w+” hot search.

He never suspected that Meng Bai was bragging. After all, Pinduoduo is a listed company, and all this information is public. One can easily check whether it is true or false.

The current situation made him both happy and troubled.

I was naturally happy to get such valuable news, but I was troubled by the fact that I had not prepared at all before, so I had no information at hand and could only ask for some information based on experience.

At the same time, he was still struggling in his heart. The material about Mr. Meng was enough for an interview. If he put it in this special topic, not only would it not have enough space, it would also be a waste of the topic.

More importantly, if the valuation of ArcLight Pictures is a bit inflated, then Pinduoduo’s investment shares are real assets.

The combined asset size of the two is nearly 220 billion. There is no need to rank among the "elites under 30 years old" at all. You can just rank directly on the overall list.

Reporter Wang recalled the Hurun rankings in the first half of the year. Those in the 220 billion range include Chi Yufeng of Perfect World, Lai Meisong of ZTO Express, and Wu Guangming and his son of Yuyue Medical. All of them are leaders in their respective industry fields.

Of course, this does not mean that Meng Bai’s strength has surpassed these people. Personal assets and corporate assets are still different.

Just like Huawei's CEO Ren, his net worth is only 135 billion, which is not as high as the valuation of ArcLight Pictures, but the resources and energy in the hands of the two are incomparable.

But the new rich are also expensive. To a small reporter like him, they are all big shots anyway.

He pondered for a long time, until Meng Bai had almost finished speaking, then he asked carefully: "Mr. Meng, I would like to trouble you again for something. I wonder if your time is convenient." Meng Bai nodded: "Go ahead."

"It's like this. The news about Pinduoduo came out of nowhere, and we didn't make any preparations in advance, so we can only get a brief understanding of it today."

Reporter Wang carefully considered his words and said, "Can we stick to our original topic for this issue first? Then we can make the most of the next few days to prepare. When you are free, we can do an interview. Is that okay?"

"Interview... OK." Meng Bai didn't care. "Then you guys prepare first. But I'm not sure when I'll be free. I'll let you know when the time comes."

"No problem, no problem. It depends on your convenience. We are available anytime." Reporter Wang said immediately.

After that, he asked hesitantly: "In this special issue, do you think we need to mention the matter about Pinduoduo first?"

Meng Bai thought for a moment and said, "Then let's stick to your original topic first. We can talk about Pinduoduo separately during the interview."

He was not in a hurry, it didn't matter if it took ten days or half a month sooner or later.

"Okay, okay, let's stop here today. I'll talk to our editor-in-chief about the situation after I get back, and then contact your company."
-
Hurun was quite quick in responding. They published the feature article in the very next issue of their magazine and also sent a few copies to Huguang.

For ordinary people, this kind of news is just a casual glance and a topic of conversation after dinner.

But for insiders in the capital market and related industries, it is not just a matter of taking a look.

Meng Bai originally thought that this special issue only mentioned Arc Light, and valuation was no secret in the circle, so there would not be any discussion.

Unexpectedly, after the article was sent out, ArcLight received an increase in calls and invitations, almost all of which were from various small and medium-sized film and television companies seeking cooperation.

After asking around, Liu Jun and his team found out that it was mainly because Meng Bai mentioned in an interview about Arc Light Pictures that as the company expanded, the current project output was a bit low, so they had been wanting to see if there were any suitable projects or investments.

You know, capital is currently receding and most companies in the film and television industry have had to cut production.

As a result, someone suddenly stood up and said that their company's production was not enough. This was like a light bulb in the dark, shining and dazzling!

Another point is that for most small and medium-sized film and television companies, there is actually not much difference between 150 billion in capital and 230 billion in capital, since they are all big guys anyway.

This situation was somewhat beyond Meng Bai's expectations, but it was not a bad thing.

Anyway, the initiative of whether to cooperate or not is in Arc Light's hands, so just take your time to pick these projects, you never know what good ones may appear.

This is also good news for small companies.

Everyone in the film and television industry knows that Arclight Pictures is a "hit-making machine." Over the years, most of the projects it has produced have been hit series.

In the current situation, it is rare for a leading company to step forward and give everyone some opportunities to make a living. It is normal not to be selected, but if we can cooperate, at least we can get some benefits.

In a short period of time, Arclight Pictures and Meng Bai's influence and recognition in the industry skyrocketed.

If Mr. Meng had not always kept a low profile, everyone would have given him the nickname "Morning Sun and Timely Rain".

……

"Haha, the morning sun is the timely rain!"

Li Yitong looked at the gossip on the Internet and teased Meng Bai, "I didn't realize that, Mr. Meng. In a few years, you will be able to make a call, wear a yellow robe, and enforce justice on behalf of heaven."

"Let's say you read books, but these three words are not from the same person. Let's say you don't read books, but at least you are from the same dynasty."

Meng Bai shook his head, with an expression that said, "I told you to read more books, but you insisted on feeding pigs."

"Huh, I just said it casually."

Li Yitong wrinkled her nose, then moved closer to Meng Bai and asked curiously, "So, you really plan to help those small companies?"

"I'm not helping you. I just want to see if there are any good projects and to improve Arclight's industry influence."

“Oh, have you received any good projects?”

Meng Bai shook his head: "The project department is still selecting, but I took a look at a few before, and they are all very old-fashioned things, not interesting."

"Hmm, I see..."

Li Yitong said somewhat disappointedly.

Meng Bai glanced at her and said, "Why, Boss Li, are you hinting that I should help you find more resources?"

"No, I don't need any dramas to shoot. I'm asking on behalf of Daxi." Li Yitong said, "When we were chatting a few days ago, she said that she hadn't been on the set for almost a year."

"Her company has rejected her. What else can I do?" Meng Bai spread his hands.

He had contacted Tangren when he was filming "Secret and Great" before, but the company did not allow him to do so, so there was no need for him to force his way into the role.

"Her contract will expire next year anyway, so a few months won't matter." Meng Bai comforted her, "I'll see if there's a suitable one then and I can recommend one to her."

"Wow, Mr. Meng is so nice!" Li Yitong squinted her eyes and smiled like a "funny" emoticon. "You don't want to take this opportunity to make Daxi grateful to you, so that you can take advantage of the opportunity to move in."

"Come on, she's so dry, who would care about her?"

"Ahaha, you're exposed! If you weren't secretly paying attention to Daxi, how would you know her figure?!"

"...Is it necessary to pay attention to something so obvious?" Meng Bai took a deep breath. "Okay, to prove my innocence, I decided to block her from the arc. If she asks me later, I'll say it was your request."

"No, no, no, I'm just kidding." Li Yitong begged for mercy, "Please help Daxiong look for it carefully."

Meng Bai glanced at her sideways, then lay down on the sofa and said calmly, "You can find it, but there has to be an exchange."

Li Yitong pretended to be stupid and asked, "What are you exchanging?"

"That depends on you. Boss Li, you don't want your good friend to be jobless, do you?"

Li Yitong rolled her eyes, but still cooperated and said, "Well, please, Mr. Meng, please help Daxi. I'll do anything for you."

"Really? Anything."

"Of course." Li Yitong opened her doe eyes and looked at him with watery eyes.

Meng Bai said: "Okay, then you can sign up for the postgraduate entrance examination."

"..."

Li Yitong stood up slowly, and then threw a "rocket headbutt" into Meng Bai's arms: "I'll let you take the postgraduate entrance examination! I'll let you take the postgraduate entrance examination!"

Boss Li, filled with anger, turned on "violent mode" and "chased" Meng Bai all the way from the living room into the bedroom.

Then I was put on the bed neatly, and experienced the story of "the elf princess fought against human warriors, and finally turned into a fallen elf due to exhaustion."

(End of this chapter)