Rebirth of the Industrial Tycoon

Olympus Corporation.

There were only three people in the huge conference room, namely Olympus Chairman Takeshi Kikukawa, Vice President in charge of finance Dai Jiuzhi, and Li Weidong.

Although this is the home court of Olympus, Kukawa Tsuyoshi and Dai Jiuzhi looked reserved, while Li Weidong, the guest, looked calm and relaxed.

"Mr. Li, the rumors outside about our Olympus are all false rumors. There is no problem with our finances. Not only do we have huge assets, but our cash flow is also very abundant." Kikukawa said calmly.

"Since there are no financial problems, your company shouldn't have to worry about the next financial audit, right? President Kikukawa, I, Li Weidong, am not a nobody. You don't think I just came to visit you rashly because I don't have any information, right?"

Li Weidong lowered his voice and continued, "After all, such a huge figure as US$1.8 billion cannot be covered. Any firm can audit it, let alone a national-level audit agency."

Hearing the figure "1.8 billion U.S. dollars," Kikukawa's heart tightened and his mind became much clearer.

As Li Weidong said, if a rich man of his level dares to come to the door in person, he must have some information. Being able to accurately say the number "1.8 billion" shows this.

At this time, Kikukawa Tsuyoshi was extremely guilty, but he did not dare to show it on his face.

Li Weidong continued: "President Kikukawa, I am not here to blackmail Olympus, but to discuss cooperation. What I want is not too much. I just hope to get a share of the optical lens business. This does not affect your company's core camera business and endoscope business, which has grown rapidly in recent years.

The market for optical lenses is big enough that even Olympus cannot capture it. Moreover, I am mainly engaged in the mobile phone camera business, which does not overlap with Olympus’s business scope. If we cooperate, Olympus will not suffer losses, but will gain. "

"Mr. Li, investors around the world are optimistic about the future of smartphones, and we at Olympus will also enter the mobile phone camera business." Vice President Dai Jiuzhi said.

"But you must first pass the audit! If you cannot pass this level, neither President Kikukawa nor Vice President Dai Jiu will be able to stay in your current position."

Li Weidong stretched out two fingers and continued: "I can offer 200 million U.S. dollars. Although it cannot fill the 1.8 billion U.S. dollars hole, using some financial leverage will be enough for you to cope with this audit."

Hearing that there were 200 million US dollars, Go Kukawa couldn't help but feel a little excited.

Li Weidong continued to persuade: "President Kikukawa, please forgive me, there is not much time left for you. The audit work of your company was only suspended because of the Fukushima nuclear accident, but it was not canceled until the authorities handle it." After the nuclear accident, the audit will still be restarted. If you can't make up for the shortfall before then, haha..."

Kikukawa hesitated for a moment, then sighed helplessly, and then said, "Two hundred million U.S. dollars is not enough, at least three hundred million U.S. dollars are needed!"

"Two hundred and twenty million!" Li Weidong immediately started bargaining.

"Two hundred and ninety million!" Kikukawa Tsuyoshi followed suit.

"Two hundred and fifty million, not through patent licensing fees, but through asset mergers and acquisitions. I will purchase an Olympus affiliate to complete this deal. At that time, you will need to license the patented technology to this affiliate." !" Li Weidong continued.

Kikukawa Gang and Dai Jiuzhi looked at each other. The trading model Li Weidong mentioned belongs to capital operation. It is highly maneuverable and easier to bypass audit supervision. Then it will be more convenient for Olympus to use this money. Money to fill the hole.

After hesitating for a moment, Kikukawa Tsuyoshi still quoted an offer of 270 million U.S. dollars. The two parties argued again and finally set the transaction price at 265 million U.S. dollars.

…

Rebus first observed Li Weidong's face, and then asked: "Is the negotiation done?"

"It's done!" Li Weidong nodded.

"How much?" Rebus asked next.

"Two hundred and sixty-five million US dollars." Li Weidong replied.

"Although it is quite expensive, it is still worth it to enter the optical lens market with this money." Rebus showed a hint of joy on his face, and then continued: "At least in terms of mobile phone cameras, we will not need them in the future. Relying on foreign suppliers!"

Li Weidong said: "I like Olympus, and I want more than just the optical lens business. Olympus's objective lens system is also a good thing, not inferior to Nikon, Canon and Zeiss."

"Objective lens system? It's mainly used in industry, right? Do you have business in this area?" Rebus asked.

"Not yet, but there will be in the future!" Li Weidong sighed softly, and then said; "The current layout is so that ten years from now, we won't have to rely on others!"

…

If it's just for Sharp's panel, Li Weidong doesn't have to come to Japan in person, it's enough to let Rebus talk alone.

The real purpose of Li Weidong's trip is actually Olympus's optical lens business.

Olympus was founded in 1919 and started out as a microscope. The first commercial microscope in Japan was produced by Olympus. The rapid development of Japanese medicine in the 20th century is absolutely indispensable to Olympus.

Most Chinese people know the Olympus brand because it produces first-class cameras. In the era of successive films, Olympus was indeed able to punch Nikon and kick Canon.

In the 1980s, Olympus cameras were the highest level of imported goods, and only a junior high-ranking official could afford an Olympus camera. Even in the 1990s, Olympus's quality was still higher than that of Nikon and Canon. Of course, the price of products of the same level was also higher than that of Nikon and Canon.

But after entering the era of digital cameras, Olympus gradually fell behind and was overtaken by Canon and Nikon. The main reason is that Olympus products are too expensive, and the performance of digital cameras is almost the same. Even if the performance gap is not big, consumers still prefer cheaper products.

Olympus has also gradually shifted its business focus to medical devices, such as various endoscopes, which Olympus is good at. In addition, various imaging equipment are also Olympus's specialty products.

In 2011, many consumers still bought Olympus cameras, but 40% of Olympus's revenue came from medical products, and selling cameras relied solely on its capital.

Ten years later, the SLR market has been occupied by Canon, Sony and Nikon. Olympus only has a small market in the mirrorless field, and its customers are mainly fans.

Although relying on medical equipment, Olympus still has very good profitability, it is undeniable that the century-old Olympus has declined, and the decline began with the financial fraud incident that broke out in 2011.

It’s not news that Japanese companies commit fraud. The bigger the time-honored companies are, the easier it is for them to commit fraud. On the contrary, many small companies have always maintained the “craftsman spirit.”

It’s not that small businesses are more conscientious, but that small businesses have fewer customers. If they don’t focus on making products, those few customers will run away. Therefore, small businesses must have the spirit of craftsmanship.

We usually see news about Japanese companies committing fraud, which basically involves falsifying product data. Olympus's fraud was financial fraud, and it was also the largest financial fraud in Japanese history.

Things still have to start with the Japanese real estate bubble in the 1990s. At that time, Olympus, like other Japanese companies, invested a large amount of securities. The Japanese real estate bubble caused Olympus to lose tens of billions of yen. of losses.

After all, it was the most glorious era for Japanese companies. A top Japanese company like Olympus could completely bear losses of tens of billions of yen.

However, in order to make up for these losses, the head of Olympus chose another wrong path, which was to bet on higher-risk financial derivatives.

As mentioned before, at that time, Japan invested heavily in Southeast Asia. The so-called high-yield financial derivatives were actually going to Southeast Asian countries to earn interest rate differences.

Then the Asian financial crisis broke out, and Olympus lost all its investment. The original loss of tens of billions of yen snowballed into a loss of hundreds of billions of yen.

At this time, Olympus began the first round of operations, using the deposits and treasury bonds in the account as collateral, obtaining loans from banks, investing in overseas funds, and then using overseas funds to acquire loss-making financial products.

In this way, financial products that were originally losing money have become assets. Although the assets are still losing money, the losses on the books have been wiped out.

This is like there is a supermarket worth 10 million, but it lost 2 million this year. Zhang San bought the supermarket for 10 million. When calculating assets, Zhang San has assets of 10 million, but in fact Zhang San only has 800 million. Ten thousand.

This only looks good on the books, but the losses are still real. If you want to really balance the accounts, you need to transfer the losses out of the books in a reasonable way.

So Olympus carried out a second round of aggressive operations, which was to restart some dormant or leather companies that had done business with Olympus, and then buy these companies at high prices.

For example, in 2005, Olympus acquired a food container manufacturer for 70 billion yen. By 2009, the company's valuation became 14.3 billion yen, so the difference was 55.7 billion. The yen is the loss that is covered in the accounts.

This kind of financial fraud is actually not very clever and can be audited by any accounting firm. However, Japanese companies have always been secretive about their own problems. As long as no one mentions it, it will be treated as if it did not happen.

But what happened was that Olympus’s scandalous operation involved a British medical device company. Olybus spent 211.7 billion yen to acquire this company with total assets of less than 100 billion yen, and then sold it to The British finance company responsible for the acquisition paid a "consulting fee" of US$67 million. This set of operations allowed Olympus to wipe out 110 billion yen in paper losses.

The British are not Japanese. They are not used to Olympus. The Japanese audit department can not see such obvious financial fraud, but the British audit department cannot pretend to be blind.

In order to cope with British scrutiny, in February 2011, Olympus hired British economist Michael Woodford as Olympus CEO. It is also for this reason that when Li Weidong came to Olympus, he met Chairman Kikukawa Tsuyoshi and Vice President Dai Jiuzhi instead of the president.

This British CEO is not a fool. He is a serious economist and can still understand corporate financial reports. After he took office, he immediately discovered that the company's finances were in trouble. He also asked Kukawa Tsuyoshi and Dai Jiuzhi many times, but they were all prevaricated.

The British CEO simply hired an investigation company to investigate secretly, and then discovered Olympus's financial fraud. The British CEO didn't want to take the blame, so he chose to put his cards on the table. He convened an interim board of directors and demanded the removal of directors. Tsuyoshi Nagakukawa.

As a result, the board of directors unanimously voted to remove him from his position as CEO.

Obviously, the British CEO didn't understand that he was just a wage earner, and Olympus invited him here to fend off the British audit. As a result, you want to open this hornet's nest yourself, and I won't kick you away!

However, it was this incident that triggered a reaction from the outside world and finally triggered the Olympus financial fraud incident. After in-depth investigations by the media and institutions, Olympus could only admit that it had committed financial fraud of US$1.8 billion over the past twenty years. , Chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa bowed and apologized and stepped down.

Olympus is also a microcosm of the Japanese economy. The real estate bubble and the impact of the Asian financial crisis have made the Japanese economy strong on the outside and weak on the inside.

However, the Japanese are still living in the dream of "I am second in the world", stubbornly believing that they are right, burying their heads in the sand like ostriches, unwilling to look up and see the world.

When they got up, they found that the world had changed, and then they pretended that what they saw were all hallucinations, continued to bury their heads in the sand, and pretended that nothing had happened.

Although Olympus's financial statements are falsified, Olympus's technology and products are still genuine, and Olympus's lenses are still top-notch in the world.

Therefore, Li Weidong is willing to give more than 200 million US dollars to obtain Olympus's optical lens technology. This is also the best time.

On the surface, Li Weidong said that he is optimistic about the development of smartphones and wants to localize mobile phone cameras. The subsequent launch of Xiaomi mobile phones is also a good cover.

In fact, Li Weidong is interested in high numerical aperture optical lenses, which are one of the core components of the lithography machine.

The working principle of the photolithography machine is that the light source is concentrated through the lens and the pattern is carved on the silicon body of the wafer. The light source and the lens are the two core components of the optical core.

In the future, the three major manufacturers of lithography machines are ASML in the Netherlands, Nikon and Canon in Japan. Both Nikon and Canon make lenses. ASML in the Netherlands uses lenses from Germany's Zeiss.

Looking around the world, there are very few companies that can compete with Zeiss, Nikon and Canon in terms of lens technology, and Olympus is definitely one of them.

…

In the CSR Group conference room, a group of young foreigners were waiting for the bidding results.

Not long after, several staff members walked into the conference room, and the host stood on the podium and began to announce the bidding results.

First of all, I would like to express my routine thanks to all the companies for participating in the bidding. After I finished speaking politely, I got to the point.

"The winning bidder for the new high-speed train fresh air system is Fukang Engineering Machinery Group!"

As the host finished speaking, many foreigners showed surprised expressions.

"The winning bidder was not Panasonic, Siemens, Edith, or Honeywell!"

"Fukang Construction Machinery Group? Does it make construction machinery? How can they bid for the fresh air system of the high-speed rail?"

"The Chinese company won the bid. This tender is most likely a shady secret!"

"If the bidding is not fair and just, then why invite us here! This is commercial fraud!"

All the foreigners looked very angry. One of the representatives of an American company stood up and asked the host with an arrogant look: "Everyone here is a world-class supplier of fresh air systems, and there are even companies that provide services to Boeing and Airbus.

But why did these excellent companies fail to win the bid in the end? The winning bidder was a company that produces construction machinery, so I seriously doubt the fairness of this bidding! "

The host replied: "Sir, our bidding this time is completely fair, just and open. Our expert group gave scores to the plans of each bidding company, including not only product performance scores, but also There are ratings on after-sales service, price, etc.

The company that ultimately wins the bid may not have the best technology, may not have the most complete after-sales service, and may not have the cheapest price, but it must have the highest overall score. Regarding this point, if you have doubts about the fairness of the bidding, we will make a partial public announcement of the winning bidder's plan. "

"Public announcement? That's great. I want to see how this Fukang project is better than us!" said the representative of the American company with an angry look on his face.

In order to show the fairness of the bidding, Fukang Engineering's bidding plan was directly announced on site. Of course, some key data was hidden.

"Why does the airflow layout of this plan look so similar to Kawasaki Heavy Industries' plan?" The man said and looked at the Kawasaki representative.

"It's quite similar. Has Kawasaki Heavy Industries ever cooperated with Beverly Engineering in this area?" Another questioning gaze also looked at the Kawasaki representative.

The representative of Kawasaki Heavy Industries immediately came forward, took a closer look, and his expression became solemn. The airflow layout adopted by Fukang Engineering was indeed very similar to Kawasaki Heavy Industries' model, but the price was less than half of Kawasaki Heavy Industries' quotation.

"This plan of Fujian Engineering does look very similar to our Kawasaki Heavy Industries on the surface, but there are still many differences in the details, especially in terms of work efficiency. It can reach at most 80% of our level." The Kawasaki representative said.

"When it comes to work efficiency, Beverly Engineering is not even 80% as good as ours!" a representative from an American company said with pride.

"Are you saying it's not a black box operation? With such poor work performance, why did you win the bid?"

At this moment, another voice sounded: "The quotation of Fukang Engineering is really low! Can we make money with this quotation?"

Everyone's eyes fell on the quotation, and the next second, the scene fell silent.

In terms of work efficiency, Fukang Engineering's solutions are indeed inferior to those of these large foreign companies, but I can't stand Fukang Engineering's low quotation!

In terms of hardware quotation alone, Fukang Engineering's quotation is 50% lower than that of foreign companies. As for subsequent maintenance and parts loss, Fukang Engineering's quotation is only one-third to one-quarter of that of foreign companies. At this price, foreign companies would not only not make money, but also lose money!

…

"Chairman, we won the bid for CSR's high-speed rail fresh air system!" Ding Youliang's voice could not conceal his joy.

Li Weidong was relatively calm. He said, "The Japanese second-hand trains we bought from the Thais were not in vain!"

At that time, Japan "gifted" a batch of second-hand trains to Thailand. Thailand felt that the freight was expensive and the follow-up maintenance costs were also high, so it wanted Fukang Agricultural Machinery to pay for the freight. In order to stabilize Thailand's agricultural machinery market, Li Weidong could only pay to take over the business.

But Li Weidong did not spend his money in vain. Since these Japanese second-hand trains use fully enclosed carriages, the research and development of fresh air systems for the carriages was put on the agenda. Based on second-hand Japanese trains, Fukang Engineering began to develop fresh air systems for trains. After many years, it can be considered a small success.

A few years ago, the green leather carriages of China Railway not only had windows that could be opened, but also had vents on the top of the head, so there was no need for a fresh air system in the carriage. Therefore, domestic research and development in this area is relatively weak.

But after entering the era of high-speed rail, fresh air systems have become a necessity in carriages. High-speed rail carriages are all fully enclosed. Without a fresh air system, even if the train does not kill people, it will make a few people faint.

Li Weidong was not surprised at all that Fukang Project was able to win the bid. Generally speaking, China's high-speed rail has been pursuing localization. Even if the performance of the domestic fresh air system is poor, it can improve the localization rate.

For iconic projects with special aspirations such as high-speed rail, the localization rate is an extremely important indicator and a reflection of national strength. A higher localization rate can not only reflect the leadership's political performance, but also reflect the team's capabilities.

In terms of cost, Fukang Engineering's quotation is indeed cheap enough. For things like machinery and equipment, the local supply chain is a major advantage, especially in terms of follow-up maintenance. The cost of the local supply chain is much cheaper.

Ding Youliang continued: "We were able to win the bid this time mainly because we did not stop our research and development. We have invested five years of research and development time in this train fresh air system alone, which can be regarded as reaping what we sow."

Li Weidong added: "More importantly, we can take this opportunity to successfully penetrate into China's high-speed rail supply chain, which is of strategic value. In the next ten years, we will build 40,000 kilometers of high-speed rail. This opportunity Gotta catch it.

In addition, we cannot be complacent because of this winning bid. Next, we must continue to increase research and development and investment, and strive to build an environmental control system for large aircraft based on the high-speed rail fresh air system! "

"You want to be a supply chain for large aircraft?" Ding Youliang's tone was filled with guilt.

Ding Youliang started his career as a crane maker. Being able to enter the high-speed rail supply chain is already a high-end business. To make a profit together with large aircrafts is something he never dared to dream of.

Li Weidong continued: "You must have heard of the C919 project, right? The project has been established for several years. Now it has completed the demonstration stage. The project has also passed the national review and entered the detailed design stage. It is estimated that within three years, the prototype will be ready The machine can be offline.

But according to the current domestic supply chain, domestically produced large aircraft can only have a 10% localization rate at most, which is far from enough. We have to achieve Boeing’s 70% localization rate! From 10% to 70%, how many supply chains are there waiting for us to enter? This opportunity is not to be missed! "

"Chairman, that is a large commercial aircraft. With our technical reserves, it is really difficult! We are afraid that we have invested a lot of money and time, but in the end it will be nothing!" Ding Youliang said.

“For technology, we can look for foreign aid. As far as I know, Germany’s Liebherr is in the supply chain of aircraft environmental control systems. Haven’t we also introduced Liebherr’s engineering machinery technology? We can discuss cooperation with them this time. As for funds..."

Li Weidong paused, thought for a few seconds, and then said: "Let's set up the project first and make a start. You can ask the state for subsequent funds. For projects like large aircraft, the state will definitely provide financial support."

"Chairman, have you heard anything? Are there new policies to be introduced in this regard?" Ding Youliang asked immediately.

"There will be it in the future. So just go ahead and do it with peace of mind. Once the national policy is released, as long as we have a project, we will be able to get scientific research funds! Let's do this. Regarding this matter, we will convene a meeting with the management. There must be a detailed strategic layout for the next ten years," Li Weidong said.

At this time, the grand strategy of "Made in China 2025" has emerged in Li Weidong's mind.

…

Fukang Engineering and Fukang Agricultural Machinery have been integrated into Fukang Engineering Machinery Group. The two businesses already have similarities. After integration, they will have more advantages from supply chain to product production.

In the group conference room, senior executives gathered together, waiting for Li Weidong's instructions.

Li Weidong opened the materials in his hands and said, "The materials in your hands are my plans for the group's development in the next ten years. I believe you have all read them. Next, I will focus on a few points.

First, we can’t just be satisfied with making products, we also need to develop layouts in upstream industries. That’s why I proposed in the development plan that we must build our own supply chain in terms of key basic materials and core basic components.

In the next ten years, we must completely establish our own supply system of basic materials and core basic components, not only in terms of quality, but also in quantity!

This supply chain system is not only to meet our needs, but also to meet the needs of other domestic companies, and even the needs of foreign companies, we must do it too!

The second is the construction of intelligent manufacturing projects. We must develop intelligent products and autonomous and controllable intelligent devices to realize the intelligentization of key processes, the replacement of robots in key positions, the intelligent control of production processes, and the construction of intelligent engineering and digital workshops. Ultimately, we must Form an industrialized system.

Why should industrialization be formed? Because I hope that our smart manufacturing projects will not only serve ourselves, but also serve other companies and provide other companies with intelligent industrial production solutions. Of course, all of this depends on our own successful intelligent construction.

Third, it is the innovative research and development of products. I don’t need to say more about the benefits of this, everyone knows it. Due to limitations of battery technology, electric drive for construction machinery cannot yet be applied on a large scale. However, we have already achieved preliminary results in making agricultural machinery unmanned and intelligent.

In addition, in addition to making products, we also need to strengthen equipment information collection, intelligent decision-making and precise operation capabilities. No matter how good the product is, it is only for use. We must form an overall information solution so that such products can be useful. "

Li Weidong said, changing his tone: "Some people may think that the ten-year development policy I have formulated is a bit too ambitious; some people may also think that these will require a lot of investment, which will be beyond our ability to bear. But because I am Chairman, you dare not raise objections.

But what I want to tell you is that although there is a road ahead, you will get there if you go, and although things are difficult, you will succeed if you do it! At that time, Fukang Engineering was on the verge of bankruptcy, and Fukang Agricultural Machinery was just a county agricultural machinery factory. We have come all the way to today by being down-to-earth, working hard, and relying on the ambition of Foolish Old Man to move mountains and the perseverance of perseverance! If there is a savior in this world, it is ourselves! "

Kang's words were filled with passion, and applause immediately broke out from below!

Li Weidong sighed secretly. Although these applauses were most likely flattering him as the chairman, today's meeting could be regarded as unifying the thinking of the entire Fukang Group.

Only when everyone is unified in thinking can we work together in one direction, and our own people will not be held back.

The ten-year development plan of Fukang Group looks very good, but the capital investment is actually very high, and money is needed everywhere.

But if you look carefully at the content, key basic materials, core basic components, intelligent manufacturing engineering, electric engineering machinery, and unmanned intelligent agricultural machinery are all included in the project scope of Made in China 2025.

Made in China 2025 is the country’s development strategy, which includes many projects. If the country wants to develop these projects, it will naturally not let companies spend their own money. Once the grand plan of Made in China 2025 is implemented, related projects will easily receive state funds. support.

Li Weidong has already thought of this, so he decided to set up the project first, lay the foundation, and then make some achievements. After the Made in China 2025 plan starts to be implemented, he can apply for financial support from the state.

It will definitely be much easier to apply for funds for projects that already have a foundation. Moreover, this is a project related to the overall national strategy, and there will definitely be no shortage of funds.

This is equivalent to the state spending money to help upgrade its own industries. If it fails, it will be a waste of energy at most, but if it succeeds, it will gain both fame and fortune.