A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Time flew by and it was now 1976.

Shortly after the New Year, The New York Times published a shocking news item: Amgen's 'Viagra Sildenafil tablets,' which was launched in March of last year, raked in $320 million in sales in less than ten months, making Amgen a giant in the biopharmaceutical industry.

The news caused a huge uproar in the United States and even around the world.

American pharmaceutical companies were both envious and jealous.

The Washington Post later ran a column on this topic: Amgen Biopharmaceuticals was founded in 1967 by a husband-and-wife team, one of whom, Dr. Tang Wensheng, was Dr. Tang Feifan, one of the inventors of penicillin and a Nobel laureate. Earlier this year (1976), Amgen Biopharmaceuticals appointed a new president, Charlesson, signifying a new opportunity for the company to challenge the dominance of biopharmaceutical giants.

Wall Street investors are scrambling to find out what's going on, intending to invest before Amgen Biopharmaceutical goes public.

Meanwhile, Amgen Biopharmaceuticals had moved into a new building in New York, which was one of the properties owned by the second wife of the Chen family.

The meeting was chaired by Chen Leyi, and was attended by President Charleson, Chief Engineer Tang Wensheng, and other senior executives.

At the meeting, Chen Leyi said, "Amgen Biopharmaceuticals will maintain rapid growth for a long time to come, so everyone can speak freely about suggestions for listing."

Charleson, who had been with the company for half a month, was feeling quite excited. During this time, he learned that Amgen Biopharmaceuticals currently had three major projects: second-generation sildenafil tablets, prescription drugs for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and prescription drugs for gastric ulcers (proton pump inhibitors). In addition, there were some invested laboratory projects. The overall R&D level was quite high. The two major shareholders were ambitious and not at all tempted by the huge profits in front of them.

Charlesson immediately said, "Going public is something we can consider, but it requires long-term preparation so that Amgen Biopharmaceuticals can obtain a reasonable value before we can go public."

This was something that neither of the two major shareholders actually considered at the beginning.

After all, for Chen Guangliang, the mastermind behind it all, going public is about 'protection,' introducing new investors, and forming an alliance of interests. Amgen Biopharmaceuticals will only offer 25% of its public shares, which also includes the shares held by investment institutions.

Jiang Meiying, Tang Wensheng, and Chen Leyi, who hold 75% of the shares, will naturally see their net worth increase significantly through stock market speculation; as for the issue of reducing their holdings, that's a matter for the future.

Of course, since the new CEO expressed such dissatisfaction, Chen Leyi, who was then the chairman of the board, said, "Okay, President Charlesson will lead us to even greater heights. Let's give him a round of applause."

Before the company went public, he handed over management power to professional managers, which was also his father's idea.

Charleson immediately stood up, bowed to everyone in thanks, and then said honestly, "Thank you for Ms. Chen Leyi's support, thank you for everyone's trust in me, and thank you for Mr. Tang Wensheng's noble character. Next, I will lead the team to gradually develop the company into a global pharmaceutical enterprise. I believe that our Viagra is the most profitable drug, and I also believe that we can continue to create miracles."

The audience applauded in encouragement.

Since the launch of Viagra sildenafil tablets, Amgen Biopharmaceuticals has been seeking professional management teams, and senior executives who have joined in the last six months now account for more than 50% of the team.

After all, for the previous eight years, Amgen Biopharmaceuticals had been in a state of 'research and development + semi-operation'. Now, it needs to globalize its products.

After the meeting, it also meant that Chen Leyi was entering a semi-behind-the-scenes state, and there was generally no need to convene a board meeting for non-major matters. Of course, the abilities of the new president, Charleson, also need to be observed and evaluated over a long period of time. An excellent professional manager should exceed expectations.

In addition, Chen Leyi is now four months pregnant, and she is somewhat worried about Tang Wensheng, so she called him to her office.

“I hear you’re the chief engineer now. Don’t always spend all your time in the lab. Look at my father. He built such a large business, but he rarely did anything personally. He mostly acted as the commander-in-chief. We now have hundreds of research talents, all of whom are your subordinates, and there are more than one project. So I hope you are a leader, not just a research engineer.”

Tang Wensheng was naturally 'afraid of his wife', and of course he also respected his father-in-law and wife. He soon realized that during this period, he had indeed devoted too much time to the front line of research and development, which made his wife slightly dissatisfied with him.

"Yes, esteemed Chairwoman Chen Leyi!"

Chen Leyi said seriously, "You better think about it carefully. Anyway, I need to focus on my pregnancy now, so you should take care of things at the company."

Tang nodded upon hearing this and said, "Mm."

The couple was originally a case of the woman being stronger than the man, but fortunately, although Chen Leyi was strong, she still gave Tang Wensheng enough respect in front of outsiders, regarding him as a 'great scientist'.

Silicon Valley, Atari.

In the past year, Atari's "Shooter Arcade" became the number one selling arcade game in the United States, with a staggering 8000 units sold.

Since 'Gunfight' is licensed by EA, it is the second best-selling arcade game in the world, becoming another milestone after 'Ping Pong Arcade'.

Following this success, Atari has also gotten on track with console gaming, with the Atari 2600 progressing very smoothly and expected to be released this Christmas.

This console offers superior gaming compared to any other console on the market, and it's the world's first console with detachable game software.

However, today, Atari President Chen Wenhai encountered a 'troublesome matter'.

"Dennis, we're here to resign!"

Steve Jobs, accompanied by his friend Steve Wozniak, arrived at the CEO's office.

Steve Jobs greatly admired Atari and its Chinese-American owner, especially the current console project, which he believed was poised for continued success.

Upon hearing this, Chen Wenhai felt as if his father had given him some kind of divine revelation.

He said kindly, "Can you tell me what you plan to do after you resign?"

Steve Jobs, referring to "personal computers," stated directly that he also hoped to attract investment, and this boss might be a potential target.

Upon hearing this, Chen Wenhai was greatly surprised, as his father had once said that 'personal computers' had a promising future.

Thinking about this, he almost impulsively decided to enter the industry himself, but he quickly calmed down because he hadn't finished developing his console games yet, and he couldn't be so half-hearted. So he said as a second choice, "This is a great idea! I support your startup because I've had the same thought. Personal computers will inevitably become widespread, and in the future, every office worker will have one for office work. If you need investment, you can talk to me about it."

Sure enough, Jobs immediately agreed, "Okay, thank you for your support, Dennis!"

Chen Wenhai nodded, adding, "To be honest, I've had that thought too. Personal computers have a much brighter future than our current project. But since you've decided to start a business, I'm naturally inclined to be a venture capitalist."

Jobs and Wozniak were overjoyed, after all, Atari had the resources and funds, and Chen Wenhai himself was a technical expert.

With this in mind, Jobs couldn't wait to share his entrepreneurial ideas, and later proposed a $25 funding plan.

Chen Wenhai readily agreed, immediately setting a price of US$25 for a 30% stake and providing Apple with technical and human resource support.

Watching Jobs and his companion leave, Chen Wenhai suppressed his impulse. He didn't need to be in the spotlight for everything; being a behind-the-scenes investor was just as good.

Of course, he does have his own career; achieving global leadership in the console gaming industry would also be a success.

After the Spring Festival.

As usual, when Chen Guangliang came to work at Cheung Kong Holdings, he would arrive at the office at 9 a.m. sharp.

Of course, now all four group companies have been handed over to his four sons for management. The four brothers, Chen Wenjie, Chen Wenming, Chen Wenkai, and Chen Wensheng, are all CEOs and general managers, while Chen Guangliang only serves as chairman of the board.

Even for unlisted groups like Global Group and Yangtze River Industrial Group, or those without listed subsidiaries, Chen Guangliang has reduced them to mere names.

At the same time, Chen Guangliang also transferred the equity of the four group companies to four "father-son trust foundations" to realize that the father and son each have half of the rights and interests.

Global Group and Cheung Kong Industrial Group do not have listed companies, but they still practice the practice of injecting a portion of their annual profit dividends into the "Chan Kwong Leung Foundation" for charitable purposes; while companies like Cheung Kong Holdings and Ping An Bank directly inject 25% of their shares into the "Chan Kwong Leung Foundation".

Although, according to the understanding of people on the internet in later generations, the Chen Guangliang Foundation still belongs to Chen Guangliang's descendants, and family members can be placed in this foundation to receive money in the form of salary.

In reality, the Chan Kwong Leung Foundation has actually provided substantial funds to help Hong Kong's education, healthcare, elderly care, and poverty relief efforts.

"dad"

Chen Wenjie arrived at his father's office. Although his father had stayed at Villa No. 79 in Deep Water Bay yesterday and they had eaten together, his father still did not allow them to talk about work at home.

43-year-old Chan Man-kit is now a business tycoon in Hong Kong and is highly respected wherever he goes. People have forgotten that he is a second-generation rich kid and only know that he is the true helmsman of Cheung Kong Holdings.

Of course, in private, he would still choose to communicate with his father more often and get some information from him.

“Dad, the Hong Kong government’s spring land auction will be the first commercial site in Tsim Sha Tsui East, the one near the waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui, which is 3.1 square feet. I plan to have Manager Lu participate in this land auction and win this site.”

At this moment, Chen Guangliang, holding a map of Hong Kong, found the location of the land.

This plot of land was formerly known as Wing On Plaza, which was generally occupied by the Shangri-La Hotel. Therefore, these two plots of land were already part of Cheung Kong Holdings' plans.

Cheung Kong is certainly not afraid of competition, and people are still skeptical about the future of Tsim Sha Tsui East.

Chen Guangliang estimates that the auction price for this plot of land may reach 9000 million to 1 million yuan.

"We should also acquire this plot of land and develop it together with other properties. This would better reflect the value of the commercial complex."

Chen Wenjie walked to his father's office desk and said, "Unfortunately, due to airport management restrictions, the building height is limited to 17 stories, making it difficult to build a beautiful building."

Chan Kwong-leung said, “The entire Tsim Sha Tsui area is subject to such restrictions, as are the New World Centre and Harbour City, which are currently under construction. The only way to break these restrictions is to move the airport to Lantau Island. But with Hong Kong’s future uncertain, this is clearly impossible.”

Chen Wenjie was surprised; at this point, probably only his father would think of relocating the airport. Of course, it's undeniable that Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport is currently far too busy, having become the airport with the highest single-runway takeoff frequency in the world.

Then Chen Wenjie said, "That's a long way off! But which brand should we bring in for the five-star hotels here? The Ritz-Carlton?"

The Ritz-Carlton hotel brand is a property under the second-largest parent company. Additionally, the Peninsula and Sheraton hotels are also properties and brands under the second-largest parent company.

Chen Guangliang shook his head and said, "With such a high-end positioning, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel is more luxurious than ordinary five-star hotels. It would be more suitable to choose Central as its location in the future, even if it means entering the Hong Kong market a little later. This hotel could be developed into a Hilton Hotel!"

"Hilton Hotel?" Chen Wenjie said suspiciously, "The Hilton Hotel in Central has always been one of our Shangri-La Hotel's competitors. I doubt they would lower themselves to develop in Tsim Sha Tsui East."

Chen Guangliang laughed and said, "They have no choice! The major shareholder of Hong Kong Yonggao Company (a listed company) is an American real estate developer. They might be willing to sell their shares in Yonggao Company and go back to the US to buy up quality assets at bargain prices. So, you should contact the major shareholder of Yonggao Company and buy this listed company. Yonggao Company controls the Hong Kong Hilton and the Hyatt Regency Bali, while Cheung Kong Group is currently lacking a decent headquarters building. The land under the Hilton Hotel, plus the Garden Road parking garage and Gongbei, can be combined to build a skyscraper. So, in the future, we only need to give Hilton two options: relocate to Tsim Sha Tsui East with subsidies, or pay a penalty to terminate the contract."

Chen Wenjie's eyes lit up immediately; his father's arrangement was far-sighted.

For a long time, Cheung Kong Holdings' headquarters have been located in its Poly Plaza, and it does not have its own signature headquarters building.

My father was very cautious about the headquarters building of Cheung Kong Holdings. Even now, on the site of the former Shangri-La Hotel on Des Voeux Road Central, he had no intention of rebuilding a skyscraper as Cheung Kong's signature headquarters building.

“Father’s idea is brilliant! This area is home to HSBC, Ping An Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank. It has good feng shui and can also showcase the strength of these companies.”

Chen Guangliang laughed and said, "Let's take it one step at a time! Even if we win the bid for the land in Tsim Sha Tsui, we can wait and see. There's no rush to develop it."

"Yes, I will consider it all." (End of Chapter)