Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 374 Pinduoduo goes public, market value soars

On July 23, Chen Xiu, accompanied by her assistant, departed from Beijing with the Pinduoduo listing team and flew directly to New York.

After a flight of more than ten hours, the group arrived at their destination on Monday the 23rd, but it was already late at night.

Considering that the food on the plane was not to their liking, the team decided to have dinner before adjusting to the time difference upon arrival at the Four Seasons Hotel.

At the dinner table, Chen Xiu looked around at the executives of Pinduoduo and found that they did not show any signs of fatigue from the journey. On the contrary, they all had bright eyes and were full of energy.

Thinking that their net worth would increase significantly in a few days, Chen Xiu felt that this reaction was quite reasonable.

"Mr. Chen, may I offer you a toast?"

"Oh, of course."

Chen Xiu picked up her red wine and half-stood up to clink glasses with Huang Zheng.

This shy-looking, low-key entrepreneur seemed particularly excited today. After finishing his drinks, he started talking loudly about how difficult Pinduoduo's journey to success had been...

The people around them echoed and agreed, and then they all envisioned the future together.

Just as everyone was enjoying themselves and in high spirits, someone suddenly made a suggestion at the table.

"Why don't we hold the meeting right here and continue discussing the 10 billion yuan subsidy plan we talked about a few days ago?"

"Okay! Let's continue the discussion. Mr. Chen, you..."

As soon as the man finished making his suggestion and Huang Zheng praised it highly, Chen Xiu got up and made a move to leave.

Hearing Huang Zheng's objection, he replied without hesitation, "Mr. Huang, I won't participate in your internal management meeting. If there's anything you need me to know, you can ask at the shareholders' meeting."

"Uh...okay."

Huang Zheng nodded reluctantly, helpless in the face of Chen Xiu's request to recuse herself.

After saying goodbye to the group of people who were excited and ready to start a brainstorming session, Chen Xiu left the private room and went straight to her own room.

Upon entering, the first thing that catches the eye is a pair of black, shiny high heels casually tossed on a camel-colored carpet.

Then, following the direction of the shoe, one could see Meng Ziyi, dressed in a blue suit with her hair tied in a ponytail, sitting cross-legged on the sofa, holding a knife and fork, with food in her mouth, staring blankly at the door.

"laugh!"

Chen Xiu closed the door and went to Meng Ziyi with a smile, saying, "Assistant Meng, how was your business trip?"

"Hmm~"

Meng Ziyi squeezed the food in her mouth to one cheek and muttered, "So boring! It feels like you guys are just wearing uncomfortable clothes, going to a place, closing the door, and chatting non-stop. I'm so bored."

"You've summarized it perfectly!"

Chen Xiu walked over to the sofa and sat down, glancing at the food on the coffee table: steak, salad, pasta, borscht...

"What you're eating is better than what I eat downstairs."

"Really? Aren't you guys playing a high-level game?"

"It's all stuff that won't fill you up, but the wine is pretty good."

As she spoke, Chen Xiu went to get a knife and fork and began to help Meng Ziyi finish the food on the coffee table.

Seeing Chen Xiu enjoying his meal, Meng Ziyi swallowed the food in his mouth first, then said with a touch of concern, "Brother Xiu, is this how your work life is usually?"

"What kind?"

"I can't eat well, and I spend all my time chatting with all sorts of people..."

"Pretty much! But when I was an actor, it seemed to be the same. All those stars were different, not much different."

Meng Ziyi stopped, thought about it for a moment, and felt that it seemed to make sense.

As she pondered, her round eyes suddenly darted around: "So you mean being an actor and being a boss are actually pretty much the same?"

"There are still differences."

Chen Xiu stuffed a piece of steak into her mouth, met Meng Ziyi's questioning gaze, and said, "Become a big enough boss first. Acting is easy mode for me. If I have to be an actor first, then it's hell mode."

"It's not that exaggerated. I think being an actor is quite simple."

Meng Ziyi offered a rebuttal based on his own experience, stating that he did not feel there had been any hardship along the way.

Chen Xiu glanced at the white shirt under her suit collar and said, "You look quite good dressed like this."

"Really! I feel pretty good about it. If I don't want to be an actor anymore in the future, I can try being a boss..."

"Forget about this. Don't always think about challenging yourself."

"Oh."

Meng Ziyi pursed her oily lips, just about to continue eating, when she suddenly stopped and turned to look at Chen Xiu.

"Brother Xiu, are we going to stay this bored forever?"

"No, once Pinduoduo goes public, I'll take you to meet a very interesting person."

"Is it the one you've been chatting with online?"

"Yes! We can chat while we play, he shouldn't mind."

Upon hearing that he could go out and play, Meng Ziyi smiled again, jumped off the sofa, and ran over to Chen Xiu to squeeze in and sit with him.

Seeing the silly beauty squeezing in and trying to embed herself into the sofa, Chen Xiu laughed and said, "What's wrong? We're not going out to play now, so you don't have to come up here and stick to me like that, right?" "Hehe, I want to eat with you."

Meng Ziyi took the knife and fork from Chen Xiu's hand and served him food directly with her own knife and fork.

While eating the steak that Meng Ziyi had cut and brought over, Chen Xiu used her free hands to shield Meng Ziyi in front of her, and the two of them were pressed close together, their chests touching and their lips getting closer and closer.

After finishing their meal on the coffee table, the two got up to do some digestive exercises.

On their first day in a foreign land, as night deepened, the Pinduoduo team was having an intense brainstorming session downstairs, while Chen Xiu and Meng Ziyi were playing an equally intense online game upstairs.

……

July 26, Times Square, New York.

The famous NasdaQ is located at 4 Times Square, next to Times Square, and is also often referred to as the Condé Nast Building.

The most eye-catching thing here is the giant screen at the entrance, which displays real-time market information and some advertising videos. Essentially, it's just an advertising billboard that you can pay to use.

At the agreed time, Chen Xiu, along with Pinduoduo's senior management team and the advisory team for this IPO, met with representatives from Goldman Sachs, the largest stock dealer in this IPO.

Surprisingly, the person Goldman Sachs contacted this time was David Solomon, who had just been promoted to independent president and CEO last year.

Chen Xiu looked at David Solomon across the crowd. What left an impression on her, besides his typical Scandinavian face, was his shiny forehead, which looked like he had been using his brain too much.

I feel even Xu Shanzheng might not be this shiny; I wonder if David Solomon did some special grooming...

As Chen Xiuru thought this, she then saw David Solomon walking towards her in a clear direction.

As the elderly white man drew closer, Chen Xiu relaxed and stood still, waiting for him to state his purpose.

David Solomon slowed down when he was about one meter away from Chen Xiu, a polite but not overly enthusiastic smile appearing on his face. He then deliberately slowed down his speech and greeted her in English.

"Hello! You are Chen Xiu, one of the founders of TikTok, right?"

"If you're talking about the Chinese version of TikTok, the app called Douyin, then I am indeed one of its founders."

"Hello, I am David Solomon, a finance professional."

"Chen Xiu is an internet professional and an actress."

When shaking hands, Chen Xiu didn't see anything unusual on David Solomon's face; it seemed that acting was nothing out of the ordinary for him.

The moment the two shook hands, Huang Zheng reacted and took the initiative to greet David Solomon.

"Hello! David, I didn't expect you to come in person."

“Excellent companies deserve equal attention. As for Zheng, I’ve already gotten to know Xiu.”

"Oh, all right."

While exchanging pleasantries with David Solomon in English, Huang Zheng gestured to Chen Xiu with his eyes, as if to say that it was he who wanted to see her.

Chen Xiu nodded knowingly, but did not step forward to join them.

After a brief chat, David Solomon shook hands with Huang Zheng, muttering that he was looking forward to Pinduoduo's performance later.

Just as the two finished shaking hands, David Solomon turned to Chen Xiu and said, "Xiu, I hope that when TikTok goes public, Goldman Sachs will have the honor of being your stock dealer."

"I will seriously consider it."

Thank you, and have a nice day.

After saying this, David Solomon turned and left the noisy exchange.

Given his position, he didn't need to be present at the Pinduoduo IPO. Considering his performance just now, Chen Xiu and Huang Zheng exchanged glances and guessed David Solomon's purpose.

Huang Zheng adjusted his glasses and said, "I see that Goldman Sachs is very optimistic about TikTok."

Goldman Sachs participated in TikTok's funding round last month, so it's normal that they are optimistic about it.

"So, are you planning to list TikTok here?"

"No rush, let's watch PDD first today!"

Chen Xiu pointed to the trading platform, indicating that today's main focus was Pinduoduo, and PDD was the chosen stock code.

Huang Zheng smiled and nodded, temporarily putting aside his various thoughts, and turned to greet the others.

……

"Ready, 1, 2, 3, ring the bell!"

Chen Xiu stood among a group of elderly people wearing red Pinduoduo T-shirts.

As they timed the clock together with six consumers in Shanghai, and then Huang Zheng pressed the bell-ringing button, the Pinduoduo office building in Shanghai, far across the ocean, also pressed the bell-ringing button at the same time.

"Whoosh!"

When the bell rings, gold pours in.

Pinduoduo's IPO prospectus states that it issued a total of 8560 million shares at a price of $19 per share, raising a total of $18.7 billion.

Pinduoduo's senior executives are among the biggest beneficiaries of this IPO.

Both Tencent and Sequoia Capital increased their holdings in this IPO, and Chen Xiu also increased her holdings to ensure that her 3% stake was not diluted.

When the applause ended, Huang Zheng came down with champagne. After the pre-market auction, the PDD stock code on the big screen jumped directly to $26.5 at the opening, a 39.47% increase over the offering price, and its market capitalization successfully soared!
(End of this chapter)