Rebirth: Starting with Capturing the Goddess Mentor

Chapter 302 Series B Funding Secured, Chen Yan Makes the Rich List!

Even if Wang Qifeng's salary at ByteDance is high, he is still just an employee at best. Although he has some stock options, his status is completely incomparable to that of a company partner.

For example, at Alibaba, employees who reach the P7 level can be allocated stock options, but there are tens of thousands of employees at the P7 level, while there are only 26 Alibaba partners.

However, ByteDance is now a large company valued at several billion yuan, and it owns a star app called "Toutiao". Wang Qifeng obviously cannot leave this rapidly developing internet upstart company just because of Chen Yan's words.

“President Chen, I still have a lot of feelings for ByteDance…” Wang Qifeng said carefully, his meaning self-evident.

“I know that ByteDance is a very promising and excellent company, and you have a great platform and prospects here.”

Chen Yan interrupted him and said seriously, "But Engineer Wang, if I may be frank, your ideas are unlikely to receive strategic resource allocation at ByteDance."

In our company, you will have access to top-tier resources, the most independent decision-making space, and the fastest execution speed.

He paused, then dropped the real bombshell:
"The position I've prepared for you is Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Annual salary: five million RMB, plus 2% of the original shares."

Chen Yan clearly stated the numbers, and seeing Wang Qifeng's pupils shrink slightly, he immediately added, "At the same time, as long as you are willing to join us, I will personally pay you an additional five million in signing fees."

This 500 million is your first gift to us as you join our team.

The private room fell silent instantly.

Even Gao Yang, who was standing to the side, subconsciously held his breath. A signing fee of 500 million!
Many people could never earn this much money in their entire lives!
A five million annual salary! A five million signing bonus! That's a total of ten million!

In the internet industry in 2015, this was absolutely an astronomical price!

Wang Qifeng was completely stunned.

His fingers, which were resting on the table, curled up unconsciously.

His annual salary more than doubled, plus a signing bonus enough to easily buy a decent property in the capital... More importantly, this money was given in his private capacity, meaning that the 500 million yuan would actually go into his pocket.

It's worth noting that although his annual salary at ByteDance is as high as 200 million, his take-home pay after tax is only 130 million.

This 500 million is roughly equivalent to his income from clocking in and out for 4 years.

In addition to the CTO position and 2% of the original shares, this means unparalleled technical decision-making power and resource control.

This is exactly what he longed for deep down—to lead the creation of a great product that could change the landscape of the industry.

The temptation was so great it was dizzying.

But Wang Qifeng was not an impulsive person.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. Behind huge profits often lie huge risks and unknown challenges.

"Mr. Chen... this offer is indeed very, very tempting."

Wang Qifeng's voice was slightly hoarse, "I am very grateful for your and your company's high regard. However, this is a major decision that concerns my career. I need time to consider it carefully and also need to discuss it with my family."

Chen Yan nodded understandingly, showing no disappointment or impatience.

He knew that the price he offered was already very generous; what he needed now was to give Wang Qifeng space to think and weigh the options.

“Of course, Mr. Wang, it’s only right.” Chen Yan smiled and handed over a personal business card. “This is my personal number, it’s on 24/7. Feel free to contact me anytime if you have any questions or ideas.”

"I look forward to your reply, and I will respect your choice, whatever the outcome."

Chen Yan stood up and extended his hand to Wang Qifeng: "I hope to hear good news from Engineer Wang soon."

Wang Qifeng also stood up and shook Chen Yan's hand firmly: "Thank you, Mr. Chen. I will give you a reply as soon as possible."

After leaving the ByteDance building and getting into his car, Chen Yan leaned back in his seat, gazing out the window at the bustling traffic of Zhongguancun, his eyes deep and lost in thought.

Just as Liu Bei visited Zhuge Liang's thatched cottage three times in ancient times, I, Chen Yan, am now poaching talent by throwing money at him!

No matter what, we must recruit Wang Qifeng. He is the key anchor for the world's largest traffic app in the next 10 to 20 years!
However, Wang Qifeng obviously didn't give Chen Yan an answer so quickly.

After a brief two-day stay in the capital, Chen Yan and Gao Yang flew back to Hangzhou.

After the plane landed at Xiaoshan Airport, Chen Yan deactivated his phone's airplane mode.

Then suddenly several missed calls popped up.

It was a call from Penguin CEO Xuyang.

Chen Yan called back immediately.

"Hello, Mr. Xu."

"Brother Chen, you finally answered the phone."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Xu, I was on the plane just now."

"I have good news for you. The company has agreed to your offer and is willing to invest 10 billion yuan to lead the Series B funding round for [Boss Zhipin]."

"Thank you for your support, Mr. Xu."

"No need to thank me. This was a decision made by the company's board of directors. I just said a few good words for you."

"Then thank you very much, Mr. Xu, for speaking up for me. Next time you come to Hangzhou, Mr. Xu, you must give me the opportunity to host a proper banquet."

"Haha, no problem, I'll let you know before I come next time." ...

The venture capital circle is very small.

How much of a "minor" thing is it?

On the same day that Tencent announced its 10 billion yuan lead investment in Boss Zhipin, Lin Wei from Alibaba and Wang Haifeng from NetEase immediately went to Chen Yan's office, both expressing their desire to acquire the remaining shares.

Chen Yan also managed to avoid offending either company, with each company contributing a share of 3 million.

Thus, the Series B financing of [Boss Zhipin] was finalized, led by Tencent, with Alibaba and NetEase also participating, jointly investing 16 billion yuan in Boss Technology.

This round of financing has directly raised the valuation of [Boss Zhipin] to 80 billion yuan!

The current shareholding structure of [Boss Zhipin] is as follows:

Chen Yan owns 72% of the shares;

Penguin holds a 20.5% stake;

Alibaba 3.75%;

Net worth 3.75%.

Unsurprisingly, news of Boss Zhipin securing 16 billion yuan in funding spread like wildfire in the venture capital world.

The following morning, major portal websites, WeChat public accounts, Weibo and other media outlets began reporting on the incident.

Chen Yan's student status has once again become a gimmick for various media outlets to attract clicks.

[Shocking! College student receives 16 billion yuan in venture capital!]

[A 95-year-old male student started a business while still in school and secured 16 billion yuan in funding! VCs knocked on his door late at night to grab a share!]

At 3 a.m., a tech company founded by a sophomore student absorbed 16 billion yuan, with Tencent and Alibaba vying for investment!

[Professor angrily rebukes students for neglecting their studies; six months later, they take 16 billion yuan]

…………

Just as the heat of the news was beginning to subside after a few days, a reputable foreign media outlet released a report—

According to a report by Singapore's Straits Times website, a recent report by Wealth-X, a globally renowned wealth consulting firm, shows that nine of the ten richest millennials in Asia (millennials are those born between 1981 and 1999) are from China, and one is from India.

Of these ten individuals, three are women, and their combined wealth is approximately $100 billion, representing 44% of the ten individuals' total assets.

In addition, most of these young millionaires acquired their enormous wealth through inheritance, with only four of them being self-made.

First place: Yang Huiyan

(34 years old, $61 million)
Brief Introduction: Yang Huiyan is the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Country Garden Group, a Chinese real estate company. Her father, Yang Guoqiang, founded Country Garden in 1997.

Second place: Adrian Cheng

(34 years old, $44 million)
Brief introduction: He is the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of New World Development Company Limited, a leading real estate company in Asia.

Third place: Zong Fuli

(33 years old, $30 million)
Brief introduction: Zong Fuli is the only daughter of Zong Qinghou, the founder of Wahaha Group in Hangzhou, China.

Fourth place: He Zhitao

(33 years old, $27 million)
Introduction: Unlike the aforementioned individuals, He Zhitao started from scratch and founded his own company in 2002. He is currently the CEO of Hangzhou Lianluo Interactive Information Technology Co., Ltd.

Fifth place: Lin Qi

(34 years old, $22 billion)
Brief introduction: Lin Qi is the chairman and CEO of Yoozoo Games. He also started from scratch.

Chen Ou, sixth place

(32 years old, $11 million)
Brief Introduction: Chen Ou is the founder and CEO of Jumei.com, a Chinese online cosmetics retailer. He also started from scratch.

Chen Yan, seventh place
(19 years old, $10 million)
Brief introduction: Chen Yan founded [Daily Part-time Jobs] and [Boss Zhipin] while in school. His main net worth comes from the shares of [Boss Zhipin], and he is also the youngest among the top ten people on the list.

Wu Yan, 8th place

(34 years old, $8.6 million)
Profile: Wu Yan, 34, is the chairwoman of Hangzhou Handing Information Technology Co., Ltd., and her total wealth is estimated to be $8.6 million.

Ninth place: John Paul Zoya Arucas

(29 years old, $8.2 million)
Brief introduction: Arukas is the only Indian on the list.

Zhang Kangli, 10th
(34 years old, $7.1 million)
Brief Introduction: Zhang Kangli is a director of Suning Universal Group, a real estate company headquartered in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. His father is Zhang Guiping, the president of Suning Universal.

……

The report quickly became a trending topic after its release.

Chen Yan has once again become the focus of attention.

(End of this chapter)