Chapter 610: Old Routine, New Target
After hanging up the phone, Lu Yiming looked unhappy.
SoftBank is fine, as it did trick Masayoshi Son before, but what do IDG and Carlyle mean by picking on me?
Lu Yiming had no awareness at all of the fact that Saltwater Fund had made countless enemies on Wall Street.
The rules are the same for everyone. If you lose, isn’t it because you’re not good enough?
Lu Yiming made a phone call and said to Li Yiwen in a depressed tone, "Damn it, IDG and Carlyle, the shareholders of Ctrip, actually rejected my acquisition! This is simply outrageous."
However, after hearing what he said, Li Yiwen said, "It would be absurd if they didn't refuse. I remember that when shorting US stocks, some Internet companies that IDG and Carlyle invested in were bankrupted by you. You, you offend people all over the world, but you don't even remember their names?"
Lu Yiming scratched his head and said depressedly: "Is there such a thing?"
He then complained, "How do I know they are so petty? It's just a small matter of a few hundred million dollars, but they still hold a grudge until now? They are so ignorant and they are still involved in US stocks. I feel ashamed for them!"
Hearing Lu Yiming's complaints, Li Yiwen said unhappily, "That's enough. Is that just a matter of a few hundred million dollars? The brand image that they have worked so hard to build has been destroyed by you. I heard that several of the fund's previous clients have run away. This loss is not something that can be made up for with just a few hundred million dollars. Okay, stop talking nonsense. Now there is no hope of investing in Ctrip. What are you going to do?"
The major shareholders behind Ctrip are not easy to deal with, each of them is a tough guy.
Not to mention SoftBank, this company is behind most of the domestic Internet companies.
As for IDG, it is the world's largest information technology publishing, research, exhibition and venture capital company.
The Carlyle Group is also not a simple company. It is one of the largest private equity investment funds in the world.
It can basically be said that Ctrip is backed by either American or Japanese capital. Although it is not invincible in China, few people dare to mess with it.
Lu Yiming thought for a moment and said, "I want to let them know that rejecting my kindness will be the biggest mistake they will make in their lives."
It is said that if you can't beat them, then join them. Lu Yiming was very kind and chose to join first, but was rejected. There was no choice but to beat them to death.
As for whether we can win or not?
Lu Yiming never considered it at all.
After hearing what Lu Yiming said, Li Yiwen had a bad feeling in his heart and asked quickly, "Are you planning to start your own online travel business? Didn't you say before that the hotel reservation system alone is difficult to deal with and that it's impossible to handle it without a reliable team?"
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "Isn't it just a professional team? As long as you are willing to spend money, what kind of professional team can't you find?"
The Internet is so profitable, especially this kind of industry concept. As long as you make it, the money is like picking up money for free. You can make a lot of money in the blink of an eye. Even if you invest a lot in the early stage, as long as it is up and running, you can get your money back in minutes.
Li Yiwen persuaded him, "Didn't you tell me before that investing is not just about the track, but more importantly, choosing the right players. If you are optimistic about Liang Jianzhang's team, it means that they are very successful. Can the people you found be their rivals?"
After several years of training, Li Yiwen has come into contact with many people in the investment field and accumulated rich experience.
Especially in the investment in Google project, he learned a lot and realized that at least one reliable leader is needed to lead the entire company to take off.
As the saying goes, an incompetent general can lead to the death of the entire army.
However, it is not easy to find reliable entrepreneurs. If you find a rookie, you will suffer a huge loss.
Lu Yiming said confidently: "They are good, but I don't agree that they are the best, because I am the best. As for the one who will lead the team, I already have a candidate."
"Who is it?"
"Keep it a secret. Okay, hang up. I'm having a barbecue."
“…”
China Overseas, Nandan Road Astronomy Building, Ctrip Headquarters.
Ji Qi was carefully correcting documents in the office. On the desk in front of him, the pile of documents was half a meter high.
In this era when office work is still paper-based, computers are just for show most of the time. All documents and materials are usually transmitted in paper form.
After reading dozens of documents in succession, Ji Qi felt his eyes sore and his wrists ached. He had to stop what he was doing, lean back on his chair, and take out a bottle of eye drops from his pocket.
After putting the eye drops in, he felt his eyes felt much better. He picked up the coffee beside him and took a big gulp, letting the bitter taste spread in his mouth.
A man came in with a stack of documents and slammed them on Ji Qi's desk with a bang, saying, "Boss Ji, these are the orders and contracts counted for today. Take a look."
Ji Qi said weakly, "Leave it alone for now. I'll see."
Among the four Ctrip founders, Shen Nanpeng and Liang Jianzhang are still working for their original companies, participating in the company's operations part-time without receiving any salary. Only Ji Qi started his own business, with more flexible time schedules, and is responsible for the establishment of the company full-time, with a high salary of 3,000 yuan per month.
In this era, three thousand yuan a month is definitely a high salary for a company employee.
But for a company executive like him, especially a founder-level executive, it is definitely a pitifully low number.
Although his shares were constantly diluted, Ji Qi's entrepreneurial passion did not diminish in the slightest. In order to get the company listed as soon as possible, he worked almost day and night. He was the first to come to work and the last to leave. Under his management, all matters big and small inside and outside the company were handled in an orderly manner, and the company developed at a rapid pace.
At nine o'clock in the evening, he finally finished his work and called his wife who was far away in America. After chatting for a while, he was ready to go home. However, as soon as he got up, the phone in his hand rang again.
He thought it was his wife calling, but after pressing the answer button, he heard a man's voice from the receiver.
"Hello, I'm Lu Yiming, Mr. Ji from Ctrip, right? Do you have time to come out for a midnight snack?"
Before founding Ctrip with Liang Jianzhang, Ji Qi was a top salesperson for several years, so he was very good at dealing with people, and was best at interpersonal relationships. When he heard Lu Yiming's voice, he had a pretty good idea of what Lu Yiming was up to, but he didn't refuse immediately. Instead, he said, "Mr. Lu, this call is really timely. I haven't even had dinner yet."
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "That's perfect. Come out and have a drink. I'll be waiting for you at Liang's dinner table."
"good."
After hanging up the phone, Ji Qi turned off the computer, locked the desk, and left the office.
At this time, Ji Qi's heart was still pounding.
Among the four gentlemen of Ctrip, his background is the worst.
Although Shen Nanpeng and Liang Jianzhang do not have prominent family backgrounds, they have no worries about food and clothing. Moreover, both of them are "child prodigy" level geniuses. They have demonstrated outstanding talent and IQ at a young age. They are natural academic masters.
Only Ji Qi, relying on his own hard work and efforts, made his way from the countryside as a small town test-taker to the prosperous metropolis of Zhonghai, and barely became the bottom of the academic elites.
Therefore, he had an extremely strong desire for wealth and success, and being able to establish a relationship with a "big shot" like Lu Yiming was undoubtedly a great joy for him.
"I don't know what . If other shareholders disagree with the investment, I can't do anything about it. Is he planning to buy the shares I have?"
With doubts, Ji Qi walked towards the company entrance.
But in the corridor, he unexpectedly met Fan Min who had just returned from outside.
Fan Min is the fourth of the four gentlemen of Ctrip and graduated from China Overseas University of Technology.
"Hey, Old Ji, are you planning to get off work? You're up pretty early today."
Ji Qi is a workaholic, working overtime at the company until very late every night, 11 or 12 o'clock is very normal. Now it's only a little after 9 o'clock, and he's already gone home from get off work, which is a rare thing for Fan Min.
Ji Qi said casually, "Ah, yes, I have something else to do tonight. Mr. Fan, you haven't finished get off work yet."
Fan Min said, "It will be done soon. I'll put my things in the office and leave."
"Okay, I'll be leaving first then."
Ji Qi drove his own car to Liangshe for the evening banquet.
Liangshe Night Banquet is a restaurant with a special style and is also one of the most expensive restaurants in Zhonghai.
The restaurant has only one menu with 18 dishes, namely: The Wizard of Oz, Mirage, Alice in Wonderland, Golden Peaches of Samarkand, Fish Playing Under the Moon, Cold Vegetable Soup, West Market Dumplings, Cherry Steamed Buns, KALEIDOSCOPE, CRUST Crust, WONTON Wontons, LOLLIPOP Lollipops, and Golden Tongue.
Standing at the door of Liangshe Night Banquet, Ji Qi couldn't calm down for a long time.
For a place like Zhonghai to be crowned as the "most expensive", there is no doubt that even he, the "company boss", would not be willing to spend money on it.
Under the guidance of the staff, Ji Qi entered the box and saw a large round table with a diameter of more than two meters, on which were placed more than a dozen dishes that could be called works of art. He was once again deeply shocked.
Is this the life of the richest man?
"Mr. Ji, nice to meet you."
Lu Yiming took the initiative to shake hands with Ji Qi.
Ji Qi was somewhat flattered and asked, "Mr. Lu, do you want to buy my Ctrip shares?"
He thought a lot along the way and felt that Lu Yiming was the most likely candidate, who was after the shares he held.
However, what he didn't expect was that Lu Yiming directly denied his speculation: "I did think about investing in Ctrip before, but since I have been rejected, I will not bother about it anymore."
Ji Qi was a little stunned and asked, "In that case, I wonder why Mr. Lu asked me out today?"
He didn't believe that Lu Yiming had made such a big show of inviting him over just to have a midnight snack.
Lu Yiming got straight to the point and said, "Of course it's for you. I'm planning to start a new company and I need talented people like Mr. Ji to join me. The position of CEO is vacant and waiting for me."
After hearing this, Ji Qi did not know whether to laugh or cry. All he had been thinking about along the way was Ctrip and its shares, but he did not expect that his vision was still so small.
Lu Yiming is here to poach people.
He said without hesitation: "Mr. Lu, thank you for your love . I now have my own career. I am very sorry for changing jobs."
Lu Yiming raised his eyebrows and said bluntly, "Your own business? Are you referring to Ctrip? Although you are one of the founders, does Ctrip have anything to do with you now? You are just a senior employee of Ctrip now, and Ctrip does not belong to you. Mr. Ji, you are a genius in entrepreneurship, but you are too amateurish in understanding equity and capital. Do you know that for Ctrip, you, the founder, are already dispensable? I can even guarantee that you will be kicked out of the company before Ctrip goes public."
Ji Qi naturally didn't believe it, and was even a little angry: "Mr. Lu, I hope you won't sow discord."
Lu Yiming sighed again and said, "I know you don't want to believe it, but the facts are the facts. How many shares do you have left? Or you can go to Shen Nanpeng or Liang Jianzhang, or other major shareholders of Ctrip, and see how they respond to you."
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
Ji Qi still didn't want to believe it, because Ctrip was a business that he and Liang Jianzhang had built together from scratch, and he had paid too much for the company, even having to live apart from his wife. He devoted almost his whole heart to the development and growth of Ctrip.
Today, Ctrip’s performance is booming and the momentum is very good. Even the Internet winter has not been able to knock it down. Seeing that the company will be successfully listed in two years, Lu Yiming said that he will be kicked out?
How could Ji Qi believe such a thing?
But if it is fake, then why did Lu Yiming do this?
Ji Qi felt as if there was a mass of paste in his head.
Of course, he hoped that what Lu Yiming said was all false and was meant to disrupt the harmony within the company.
But he was not 100% sure, after all, he could not afford to lose. If Lu Yiming's words were true, it would be a huge blow to him.
"Boss Lu, tell me the truth, how much truth is there in what you said?"
Lu Yiming looked at the future "entrepreneurship godfather" of Xia Country in front of him, and he was quite emotional: "Boss Ji, I am also an entrepreneur. After making money, I also invested in many companies. I even have a special financial team to serve me, so I think I still have a say in this regard."
Ji Qi was naturally full of admiration for Lu Yiming's ability to make money, but since it concerned his own future, he still had some doubts and didn't dare to believe it completely: "Mr. Lu, you said that other shareholders of Ctrip will kick me out, do you have any evidence?"
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "Asking such a question, it seems that you really don't understand capital, Mr. Ji."
Ji Qi was puzzled.
Lu Yiming did not answer directly, but asked: "After three rounds of financing, you should not have many Ctrip shares in your hands, right?"
"Yes."
He initially held 30% of the original shares, but after several rounds of financing, now only single digits are left, less than 3%.
"But if Ctrip wants to develop rapidly, financing is the only way. Although I have a small share, I still firmly control the company. What's more, the shares of several of us original shareholders have been reduced in equal proportions, so I don't think there is anything wrong with that."
Lu Yiming looked at Ji Qi with a half-smile: "Really? Then what about your say? When making major decisions about the company's development, how does your say compare to Shen Nanpeng and Liang Jianzhang? Is it the same? Simply put, does anyone listen to you?"
Ji Qi was speechless when asked. He had never paid much attention to this little matter before. He was only thinking about making Ctrip bigger and stronger. Now that Lu Yiming brought it up, his mood was inevitably up and down.
Because Lu Yiming's words hit the nail on the head!
In recent times, he and Shen Nanpeng had different opinions on major decisions of the company, but in the end, all major shareholders of the company supported Shen Nanpeng without exception!
Seeing Ji Qi's expression change, Lu Yiming continued, "Shen Nanpeng originally came from finance, and the company's financing plan was all handled by him, so he basically maintained a good personal relationship with investors. Liang Jianzhang is the company's technical core. Both of them are indispensable to Ctrip, so they both have a certain say. But you, Mr. Ji, are responsible for the company's operations and management. To put it bluntly, you are just a steward, not irreplaceable."
In a company, once you are no longer "irreplaceable", you are really not far from death.
Just like the workers on the assembly line, why are they all energetic young people in their twenties and thirties? And why is their turnover so fast?
Because their work can be done by anyone.
Human energy is limited, and as people age, their productivity will inevitably decline. For capitalists, it is more cost-effective to replace them with young people who are more agile.
Once your “irreplaceability” increases, the position will be indispensable to you, and it will be very costly to find someone who can replace you, so the boss will keep you anyway. Any decision made by anyone is based on their own interests.
Before, Ji Qi held a lot of shares, so people listened to him. But now he holds very few shares, and his "irreplaceability" in the company has decreased. It's not impossible for someone else to do the work he does. So, if Ctrip goes public, will he still have a say?
Maybe when the time comes, the company will directly hire a new professional manager to manage the company, and his presence will be even weaker. What's more, as Lu Yiming said, it is not completely impossible for the company to directly fire him.
As for Ji Qi, Lu Yiming also stopped talking. He took out a business card from his pocket, handed it to Ji Qi, and said, "That's all. Mr. Ji, you can go back and think about the rest. When you figure it out, call me."
