The gloom of the economic crisis has not yet dissipated, and economists are still debating whether the global economy has bottomed out or is about to usher in a new round of shocks. Due to the uncertainty of future economic development expectations, the global stock market is still hovering at a low level, and the decline in stock prices has plunged the pockets of the rich and made the book wealth of some rich people plummet.
There is a proverb in the capital market called "You don’t know who is swimming naked until the tide recedes." The sharp decline in the book wealth of the rich has actually exposed many deep-seated problems.
Rong Zhijian’s frustration is largely due to the fact that CITIC Pacific, which he is in charge of, has problems in risk management and is careless; Huang Guangyu’s fall is due to his growing alienation from industry and his transformation into a capital player, and he is suspected of using illegal means to operate capital; The wealth of several real estate tycoons has shrunk, although the main reason is that the state has continuously introduced regulatory policies for the real estate market and consumers’ willingness to buy houses has declined, but it also lies in their lack of deep understanding of the industry’s operating cycle and blind expansion at inappropriate times.
Deviation in the judgment of market trends and problems in enterprise management have magnified the proportion of the shrinking wealth of the rich.
In this issue, the author sorts out the shrinking wealth of China’s richest people, and estimates the shrinking proportion of their wealth in combination with the stock prices of listed companies of the richest people, in order to reveal the deep-seated reasons and explore their future wealth trends.
Huang Guangyu, the shrinking rich, stopped playing.
After encountering the capital market, Huang Guangyu, who is full of gambling, changed his role from an industrialist to a capital player without hesitation.
Wealth shrinks-74%
"Forbes ranked first among the billionaires in China in 2009".
Engaged in industry: home appliance chain, real estate development.
Huang Guangyu once said more than once that "it is much faster to make money by making private investment and playing with capital than by selling home appliances". However, Huang Guangyu, who started by selling home appliances, ended up playing with capital.
The story of poor boy Huang Guangyu becoming a billionaire has been repeated by the media countless times. Huang Guangyu started to do business at the age of 16. In 1987, Huang Guangyu and his brother Huang Junqin set up Gome Electrical Appliances Store together, started to engage in the retail of household appliances, and gradually established their own Gome Empire.
In 2004, Gome was listed on the back door of Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This capital operation made Huang Guangyu’s personal assets show explosive growth.
At that time, Huang Guangyu actually invested no more than 750 million yuan in assets, and the average price-earnings ratio of the global home appliance retail industry was only 14.3 times. However, after the successful backdoor listing, Gome’s price-earnings ratio was as high as 50 times, and the total market value of listed companies was as high as 8 billion yuan. Huang Guangyu seized the opportunity to cash out 2.5 billion yuan in cash, and then shouted.
There is a strong spirit of adventure in Huang Guangyu’s bones, which has made Huang Guangyu’s entrepreneurial activities to some extent, but it is also an important reason for Huang Guangyu’s fall. When Huang Guangyu, who is full of gambling, met the capital market, the experience of making money easily prompted Huang Guangyu to change his role from an industrialist to a financial capital player without hesitation.
From April to July, 2006, Huang Guangyu bought 29.58% equity of Zhongguancun (000931 shares, market, information, main trading), becoming the largest shareholder. The purpose of Huang Guangyu’s purchase of Zhongguancun shares was initially to use the backdoor to list his real estate projects to finance real estate projects, but later it was suspected that Huang Guangyu manipulated Zhongguancun in order to reduce his holdings and cash out.
In July 2006, Gome acquired Hong Kong-listed Yongle Electric in the form of stock exchange and cash. This merger made Gome the leader in the domestic appliance retail industry, but it failed to satisfy Huang Guangyu’s desire to conquer. In December 2007, Gome acquired Dazhong Electric at a high price of 3.65 billion yuan in cash. In 2008, Huang Guangyu invested in the acquisition of some shares of Sanlian Trading Company (600,898 shares, market, information, main trading) and became its largest shareholder.
Huang Guangyu was deeply fascinated by the capital game of mergers and acquisitions, raising the stock price and then cashing in on a large scale. Later, Gome acquired commercial retail enterprises such as Yihaojia, Black Swan, Golden Sun, Baibai, Zhongshang, Beifang and Bee Star. According to media reports, there are hundreds of "tool companies" owned by Huang Guangyu that are only used for capital operation.
Through continuous mergers and acquisitions, by the second half of 2008, Gome had more than 1,300 appliance stores nationwide, with annual sales of more than 40 billion yuan. In the 2008 Hurun Report published in October 2008, Huang Guangyu became the "richest man in China" for the third time with a wealth of 43 billion yuan. Forbes China’s rich list calculates that Huang Guangyu’s wealth is 18.36 billion yuan, ranking third.
Huang Guangyu reached the peak of his career and the brink of failure. Some insiders pointed out that although Huang Guangyu’s capital operation at that time was lavish and spent a lot of money, it was only superficial. Huang Guangyu’s investment in the past two or three years, except to satisfy his personal desire to conquer at a high price, has really gained little.
Huang Guangyu spent 3.65 billion yuan in cash on the strategic acquisition of Dazhong Electric Appliances. It is widely believed that the price of the acquisition is too high. Huang Guangyu’s acquisition of Zhongguancun Science and Technology and Sanlian Trading Co., Ltd. is not only unpredictable in motivation, but also costly.
Moreover, Huang Guangyu shifted the focus of his personal career to real estate, mergers and acquisitions, investment and other fields. While expanding in a high profile and constantly carrying out large-scale capital operation, he neglected the management of enterprises, which once led to the chaotic management of Gome and tight cash flow. All these factors led Huang Guangyu to go downhill.
On the evening of November 17, 2008, Huang Guangyu was taken away by the police for investigation on suspicion of economic crimes. Subsequently, the China Securities Regulatory Commission confirmed that "Sanlian Trading Co., Ltd. and Zhongguancun Science and Technology, two listed companies, committed major violations of laws and regulations during the process of restructuring and asset replacement, involving a huge amount of money, and Huang Guangyu had a great relationship with this. At present, the CSRC has transferred relevant evidence materials to the public security organs according to law. "
After Huang Guangyu was investigated, in early February this year, Huang Guangyu’s younger sister, Huang Xiuhong, took over the "Gome Empire" and became the chairman of Beijing Pengrun Investment Group and a member of Gome’s decision-making committee. Gome has entered the "post-Huang Guangyu era".
In July 2006, after Gome announced the acquisition of Yongle Home Appliances, Gome’s stock price rose steadily, reaching a high of HK$ 21.5 per share on January 11, 2008, and then gradually declined. After the news that Huang Guangyu was investigated came out, Gome once suspended trading, and its share price fell rapidly after the resumption of trading. In March this year, its share price has been hovering around HK$ 1.20 per share. The share price of Zhongguancun (000931 shares, market, information, main trading) also dropped from around 17 yuan in the first half of 2008 to 5.50 yuan at the end of March this year.
Huang Guangyu has been under investigation for five months, but the specific reasons for his fall have not been disclosed to the outside world, and Gome has also deliberately avoided news related to Huang Guangyu. No matter what the truth is, it is certain that Huang Guangyu’s wealth myth has been shattered, and he is getting farther and farther away from the position of the richest man in China’s rich list.
Party A: Suffered from the economic crisis "slaughter"
Huang Guangyu’s "main business"-Gome seems to have achieved good results. But at present, it seems that Huang Guangyu’s acquisition of Dazhong Electric Appliances and Sanlian Trading Co., Ltd. is likely to be two losses.
Huang Guangyu’s "real estate backdoor dream" also suffered a failure. In order to acquire Zhongguancun shares, Huang Guangyu has invested more than 900 million yuan. However, due to the huge impact of macro-control and tight monetary policy on the domestic real estate industry, the original plan to inject 18 billion yuan of assets of Pengrun Real Estate into Zhongguancun was frustrated.
In Huang Guangyu’s portfolio, there is also a $500 million retail investment fund jointly established with Bear Stearns, an international investment bank that has gone bankrupt now, and a private equity fund with a total investment of $800 million with Singapore Pacific Star Group. However, in the current depressed market environment, the two funds have done nothing.
Huang Guangyu, an enterprising man, made a large-scale investment during the peak period of asset valuation, and the economic crisis triggered by the sudden financial turmoil turned into a "massacre" of the rich who liked capital operation.
Party B: Fantasy of "quasi-finance"
Huang Guangyu started his career by relying on home appliance chains, but people with a little industrial knowledge will never believe that the profit from home appliance sales will make him the richest man in China in a short time, and the profit will double every year.
Huang Guangyu relies on the "quasi-financial" development model, that is, using the power of the capital market to obtain excess returns, merging peers to become the leader in behavior during the market frenzy, and pressing the account period of upstream enterprises after becoming a monopoly enterprise to win cash flow for several months or even a year.
Among the enterprises in China, Gome is by no means the only "finance-like" enterprise, and Huang Guangyu is the leader in playing with capital. Huang Guangyu’s empire is crumbling, which shows that in the economic downturn, all financial-like enterprises suffer from the same big stomach trouble. If they can’t control their own scale, they will eventually harm themselves and related enterprises in the upstream and downstream.
Li Yanhong, the shrinking rich, bottomed out and rebounded.
The rapid recovery of Li Yanhong’s wealth has once again verified the popularity of Baidu on Wall Street.
Wealth shrinks-50%
Forbes China ranked fifth on the list of billionaires.
Engaged in industry: Internet
As of April 20th, Baidu’s share price on Nasdaq has rebounded to $210 per share. Compared with the lowest point at the end of November last year, Baidu’s market value has doubled, which means that Li Yanhong’s personal wealth has also risen and returned to the top of China’s IT rich list.
According to Hurun’s rich report, in 2008, Li Yanhong’s wealth fell sharply by 62% to 4.5 billion RMB-and in 2007, Li Yanhong ranked first with a personal wealth of 13 billion RMB. The violent turmoil of Baidu’s share price originated from the public’s doubts about Baidu’s bidding ranking model in mid-November last year. At that time, after CCTV’s continuous exposure, Baidu’s performance on Nasdaq fell sharply. Coupled with the impact of the financial crisis, in less than two months, Baidu’s share price fell from nearly $220 per share to around $100.
On March 12th this year, Forbes published China’s list of billionaires, among which Robin Li was unfortunately ranked among them. According to estimates, Li Yanhong’s personal assets lost $450 million in 2008. The analysis given by Forbes is due to the intensified competition with China’s Google. However, Baidu’s basic business is still stable. In the fourth quarter, its profit increased by 31% and its revenue increased by 58%.
When attending the Boao Forum for Asia on April 17, Li Yanhong said that Baidu’s overseas business has not been affected by the financial crisis, and Baidu’s business in Japan is progressing smoothly as originally planned. According to Li Yanhong’s plan, Baidu will gradually develop overseas in the future, and hopes to expand its overseas income to 70% of the total income.
Party A: Bidding ranking is a hidden danger.
The source of Baidu public relations crisis comes from its own business model. In Baidu’s search results page, advertisers similar to fake medical enterprises still exist in large numbers. If you list several illegal information of Baidu, including medical treatment, project joining, fake invoices, lottery tickets, Mark Six lottery tickets, credit card cashing, false customer service and exaggerated stock software, etc. After last year’s exposure, Baidu once rectified the ranking information of false medical customers, but other categories are still indispensable support for Baidu advertising.
Most search engines make profits by selling one or more advertising spaces, while bidding ranking makes profits by selling search results directly. In the long run, bidding ranking has poisoned search engines-money overwhelming technology has become the main factor in ranking search results.
Party B: Copy Google?
There is no doubt that Baidu has one of the best brands in the Internet industry in China. For a large number of China users, going to Baidu is a natural choice: they even forget when they first heard about this brand, so they have developed the habit of searching with Baidu. No matter how the outside world criticizes Baidu’s business model, with its market share, Baidu will remain the number one search market in China for a long time to come. This also leaves Li Yanhong more time to adjust himself.
It is reported that Baidu’s "Fengchao" system will be officially released in the second quarter of this year. This is a research and development plan codenamed "Fengchao" launched by Baidu in order to meet the diversified needs of enterprises for search marketing services, helping customers to build a more powerful search promotion management platform.
In fact, the so-called "Fengchao" system is just a copy of Google’s advertising system, and Baidu’s bidding ranking results will be moved to the right of natural search results in the future. But only this form of change, the use of the system behind it is very complicated, and it takes customers a long time to get familiar with and adapt, which is not good news for the small and medium-sized customers served by Baidu.
Peng Xiaofeng’s New Energy Frustrated by Shrinking Rich People
Based on Saiwei’s assets and liabilities and market changes, 2009 will be the most difficult and risky year for Saiwei.
Wealth shrinks-79%
In 2008, Hurun Report ranked fourth and Forbes ranked 13th on the China 400 Rich List, making it the richest man in China’s energy industry.
Industry: solar power generation industry
Peng Xiaofeng was once regarded as the youngest self-made billionaire. In 2008, Peng Xiaofeng ranked fourth in Hurun Report and 13th in Forbes China 400 Rich List, and was the richest man in China’s energy industry.
In fact, before the age of 30, he was worth over 100 million yuan. However, at the age of 30, he abandoned the traditional manufacturing industry that he had been engaged in for a long time and switched to the solar power generation industry, which was regarded as high-tech by outsiders. Peng Xiaofeng, who is in his thirties, dreams that his enterprise will be as famous as Microsoft and Intel one day.
The Hurun ranking was just published here, but Peng Xiaofeng’s wealth suddenly shrank sharply. On October 6th last year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average broke through 10,000 points, and the LDK could not escape the decline, shrinking by 12.32% in an instant. On that day, the closing price of the company’s stock was US$ 24.70, ranking eighth among the 35 China enterprises listed on the NYSE.
LDK’s share price crash is not a special case, and other overseas listed solar stocks also collapsed across the board in January. The market value of the rich is determined by the stock price, and a basic stabilizing factor of the stock price is performance. Then, is there still much room for development in the future for a sunrise industry like solar energy? People have different opinions about this.
Up to now, LDK is still the enterprise with the largest order volume in the industry, and the current order has been scheduled for 2018. "We need to produce at full capacity now to complete the existing order tasks. We signed these orders, customers need to pay the deposit, and the total deposit we received has reached 1 billion US dollars. It is a very big opportunity for our company. "
Peng Xiaofeng believes that if the financial crisis is a severe winter, LDK has made full preparations for how to spend the winter. LDK has raised nearly $1.1 billion through three fund-raising in the US capital market in 2007 and 2008.
In the face of the crisis, Peng Xiaofeng said that in the face of the pressure of the financial crisis, Saiwei chose "no layoffs, no salary cuts and no production cuts". In fact, LDK not only has not laid off employees, but also has been recruiting new employees everywhere.
Interpretation of Peng Xiaofeng’s fortune
In 1997, 22-year-old Peng Xiaofeng went to Suzhou to start a business with the dream of earning tuition and studying abroad. Unexpectedly, I went to another destination.
Initially, relying on three years’ work in Jiangxi Ji ‘an Foreign Trade Import and Export Company, Peng Xiaofeng got orders from old customers and acted as an import and export agent. Just a few months later, from trade to industry, Meteor Enterprise Group was founded, and gloves were produced by itself in Suzhou, and all the way from knitted gloves, chemical gloves and gloves of various materials to various clothes, glasses and masks.
In 2004, seven years after its establishment, Peng Xiaofeng’s enterprises exported more than 1 billion yuan, and the number of employees swelled to nearly 10,000, completing the accumulation of funds from 20,000 yuan to 100 million yuan, becoming the largest labor insurance products manufacturer in Asia.
Peng Xiaofeng believes that it is not important to choose what industry to start a business, but it is important to accumulate experience. Around 2004, Peng Xiaofeng, who had not yet reached the age of 30, was young and fearless. He left the Suzhou factory to his parents and began a two-year market research on the solar energy industry. This also ushered in the biggest turning point in his life-from the traditional labor insurance manufacturing industry to the high-tech solar power generation industry.
In 2005, Peng Xiaofeng started to build the solar energy industry-Jiangxi Saiwei, with a capital of 500 million yuan, and Peng had already determined the list of senior executives long before he set up the factory. After that, before going public in June 2007, a number of top figures in their respective industries, such as Tong Xingxue, Zhu Liangbao and Shao Yonggang, were successively recruited by him.
So far, the story of Peng Xiaofeng’s founding Jiangxi Saiwei, whether he abandoned labor-intensive industries and diverted to high technology, or recruited all the industry experts to Xinyu, Jiangxi, is often labeled as miracle and myth.
One thing is amazing, and at the same time, some people speculate about his relationship with local officials-why can the government lend him 200 million when he starts a business?
Just after the Spring Festival in 2005, Peng Xiaofeng, who spent the New Year in his hometown of Ji ‘an, Jiangxi, rushed back to Suzhou to participate in business negotiations. However, due to the slippery road in Xinyu, the BMW he was driving scraped against a big truck. Once upon a time, Wu Jianhua, Party Secretary of Xinyu Economic Development Zone, helped him find a car, and Peng Xiaofeng rushed back to Suzhou to negotiate. Peng was deeply impressed by the pro-business and high efficiency of Xinyu government officials.
A few months later, Peng Xiaofeng expanded the scale of labor insurance products, made a decision to invest in Xinyu, and established Liuxin Industrial Park, which is separated from LDK by a wall. And the solar energy industry he is planning is ready to be put in Suzhou.
However, after the leaders of Xinyu City knew this plan, Wang Dehe, then mayor of Xinyu City, held a half-hour meeting with Peng Xiaofeng, and Wang expected Peng to put the solar energy industry in Xinyu. In the end, this adventure story became a beautiful talk of mutual benefit and win-win. So far, Xinyu has become one of the regions with the fastest economic development in Jiangxi.
From preparation in 2005, production in 2006 to listing in 2007, Jiangxi Saiwei created a series of miracles, and also created the record of the largest IPO of all China new energy enterprises listed on NYSE.
Party A: Success comes from the right place at the right time.
A 30-year-old young man who comes from the grass and makes raw materials for the upstream solar energy. The speed of wealth accumulation is amazing. It took less than two years for Jiangxi Saiwei to be established in July 2005 and landed on the New York Stock Exchange in June 2007.
The birth of Peng Xiaofeng, the super energy billionaire, is inevitable. However, these elements are not sufficient conditions for a sudden emergence-without the strong support and hard work of the local government, Saiwei would not be so smooth at least. A classic case of the rapid growth of private enterprises under the protection of power.
At the beginning, Peng Xiaofeng put forward three almost harsh conditions to test the sincerity of Xinyu government in Jiangxi. First, the government assists Saiwei to introduce talents; Second, help solve the funding gap of 200 million yuan; Third, we must ensure 24-hour dual-circuit power supply, and the electricity price should be preferential to 40 cents. These conditions were fully agreed by the local government.
Party B: When will the expansion of burning money stop?
Although Wuxi Suntech, the leader of solar photovoltaic industry in China, announced that its gross profit margin in the fourth quarter of last year was zero. But Peng Xiaofeng claimed that Saiwei was still making money.
People are eager to get answers to such questions as "how does Saiwei make money" and "will it continue to make money". However, no matter how the analysts who study Saiwei begged, Saiwei always insisted on not revealing it.
In October 2007, a former financial manager named Situ Weicheng distributed a letter of accusation on Wall Street, accusing the company of accounting problems such as false inventory, and the share price of Saiwei subsequently fell by nearly 50%.
No matter how bluffing Saiwei looks, its profit-making method is actually very simple or even monotonous. In the case that both raw materials and sales targets of silicon are highly dependent on overseas markets, China solar energy enterprises like Saiwei, which lack core technology, mainly earn intermediate processing fees. This leads to the scale and the resulting cost advantage becoming the key to competition.
"At present, Saiwei’s expansion of burning money has reached the level of madness. If the silicon project is realized, it will do more risky projects until it tastes bitter." An international new energy analyst said. He believes that 2009 will be the most difficult and risky year for Saiwei based on its assets and liabilities and market changes.
Rong Zhijian, the shrinking rich, made a curtain call.
The once bold and risky capital operation has created the brilliance of Rong Zhijian. Similarly, Cheng also lost to Xiao He and Xiao He, a red capitalist who inevitably became a victim of financial derivatives.
Wealth shrinks-64%
Hurun’s shrinking rich list ranked third.
Engaged in industry: involving aviation, steel, real estate, power generation and many other fields.
In the list of rich people in previous years, Rong Zhijian once topped the list for three times. Unlike other rich people who are short-lived, Rong Zhijian not only has more times, but also has the most stable ranking and assets, but all this was rewritten in 2009. On March 12th, 2009, Hurun published the report on the shrinking of the rich, and unfortunately, Rong Zhijian entered the list, with his net worth plummeting from 25 billion RMB in 2008 to 5.1 billion RMB, with a shrinkage rate of 64%.
In Hong Kong, CITIC Pacific, which Rong Zhijian is in charge of, is called "purple chip stock". The reason for this title is that CITIC Pacific has been regarded as a blue chip because of its excellent performance year after year; At the same time, because Rong Zhijian is backed by CITIC Group and regarded as a red-chip company, red plus blue is naturally purple. This company is considered to be the safest, and its business involves aviation, steel, real estate, power generation and many other fields. Even in the face of the global financial crisis, CITIC Pacific’s business has not suffered too much. What really dealt CITIC Pacific a fatal blow was its derivative investment in the Australian dollar.
In March 2006, CITIC Pacific spent $415 million to acquire all the shares of two companies in western Australia, each with the right to exploit 1 billion tons of magnetite resources. To this end, the company needs to purchase equipment and supplies in Australian dollars. In order to prevent the risks caused by exchange rate changes, from August 2007 to August 2008, CITIC Pacific signed dozens of foreign exchange contracts with Citibank, HSBC and other banks, among which Australian dollar contracts accounted for the most proportion. .
The outbreak of the financial tsunami suddenly devalued the Australian dollar. In September last year, CITIC Pacific seemed to be aware of the risk of the contract and suspended some contracts, resulting in a real-time loss of HK$ 800 million. According to the exchange rate of the Australian dollar against the US dollar at that time, CITIC Pacific’s contracts that have not been terminated have lost more than 10 billion Hong Kong dollars. According to its 2008 annual performance report, the after-tax loss of realizing the fair value of the market caused by the company’s foreign exchange contract is 14.632 billion yuan. On October 20, 2008, when CITIC Pacific disclosed the news of huge losses, the Australian dollar was only 0.7 against the US dollar. Subsequently, Rong Zhijian turned to CITIC Group, the parent company, for help. If the parent company did not provide $1.5 billion as standby credit, CITIC Pacific would be in bankruptcy. As for why CITIC Pacific signed such an agreement, it is still unknown.
Some people questioned that the board of directors of CITIC Pacific knew about the company’s huge losses as early as September, but never disclosed it to the public until six weeks later, when the company’s market value lost more than half. The evidence of this doubt is that in this month and a half, the scale of short selling of CITIC Pacific suddenly rose sharply. On September 5th, CITIC Pacific’s share price closed at HK$ 24.9 per share, and then gradually fell to HK$ 14.5. After the announcement of the huge loss event, the stock price dropped to a minimum of HK$ 3.66 per share, and the short sellers made a lot of profits, while the small and medium-sized investors suffered heavy losses. Obviously, this accusation has exceeded the authority of the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission. Subsequently, the Commercial Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police intervened in the investigation and issued a search warrant to CITIC Pacific on April 3, 2009, which made the incident suddenly escalate, which also became the direct reason for Rong Zhijian’s resignation.
On April 8, 2009, the 67-year-old man, who was born with a jade, announced his resignation as chairman and chairman of CITIC Pacific, and his salary was reduced from HK$ 66.99 million in 2007 to HK$ 3.84 million. At the same time, Rong Zhijian resigned, and Henry FAN, the managing director of CITIC Pacific, who founded CITIC Pacific with him, marked the end of the "Rong Zhijian era" of CITIC Pacific, and was succeeded by Chang Zhenming, the vice chairman of the parent company CITIC Group.
Party A: CITIC Pacific is only a microcosm.
Some people think that 64% of Rong Zhijian’s assets are victims of financial derivatives, so we should be awed by high-risk derivatives, otherwise even Rong Zhijian, a shopping mall in Rongma for 30 years, will have to be defeated. The "Aussie Gate" incident is only a microcosm of the entry of central enterprises into the capital market. Since the outbreak of the financial crisis, listed companies of many central enterprises, like CITIC Pacific, have participated in derivatives trading and suffered heavy losses.
China COSCO, China Railway, and China Air China have lost billions of dollars at every turn. So far, there have been no major personnel changes in the senior management of these enterprises. As for whether the relevant information can be disclosed to the public in time after the loss occurs, no one has investigated it. A few days ago, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) issued the Notice on Further Strengthening the Supervision of Financial Derivatives of Central Enterprises, ordering central enterprises to clean up all kinds of financial derivatives they engaged in, strictly adhering to the principle of hedging, prohibiting them from participating in any form of speculative transactions, and reiterating that the relevant personnel will be held accountable for the major losses caused. Unfortunately, the notice was late, because the loss was a foregone conclusion. The same thing happened in Hongkong, but Rong Zhijian paid a heavy price for it.
CITIC Pacific’s problems are actually the "epidemic" of some listed companies in central enterprises. CITIC Pacific just moved this style of listed companies in central enterprises to Hong Kong, but unfortunately, the capital market environment in Hong Kong cannot agree with this practice. Rong Zhijian also paid an expensive tuition fee for this, hoping that his tuition fee was not paid in vain.
Party B: It is inevitable to leave.
Looking back on the ups and downs of Rong Zhijian’s life and the history of CITIC Pacific’s development, it is not difficult to find that Rong Zhijian’s greatness lies in his difficulty in taking risks, boldness and resolute action. The first bucket of gold in Rong Zhijian’s life comes from capital operation. It was through equity appreciation and listing that his wealth increased by a hundredfold in six years from his shareholding in Aika Electronics to the establishment of California Automatic Design Company, which provided computer software auxiliary services. Since Rong Zhijian joined CITIC Hongkong in 1986, relying on the rich connections brought by his distinguished family background and personality charm and the special platform of red chip companies, CITIC Pacific and Rong Zhijian both reached the peak in a series of bold acquisitions and capital operations.
If there is no bold adventure at the beginning, there may be no accumulation of Rong Zhijian’s first fortune. Similarly, Cheng also lost to Xiao He and Xiao He. After CITIC Pacific’s Australian dollar option trading was announced, many people in the industry criticized Rong Zhijian’s approach as too risky. It was precisely because of this adventure that Rong Zhijian rashly chose financial derivatives outside the industry and fell into the whirlpool of capital, thus taking a "curtain call" from CITIC Pacific.
However, in any case, we have to admit that Rong Zhijian, an iconic figure, plays a very important role in CITIC Pacific. His talents and achievements in business cannot be completely denied because of a single investment mistake. The reason why rong family is linked with CITIC Pacific is that people are still attached to the legend of the Rong family. However, for a mature enterprise, Rong Zhijian’s departure is inevitable. Nowadays, the era of relying only on the man of the hour to take the lead for large enterprises is long over.
Shi Zhengrong Stimulation of the Shrinking Rich 2008
After enjoying the ecstasy of getting rich overnight, Shi Zhengrong’s personal wealth has suffered the worst decline since 2008.
Wealth shrinks-95%
Hurun ranked first in the list of China’s richest people shrinking in 2009.
Engaged in industry: photovoltaic industry
After enjoying the ecstasy of getting rich overnight, Shi Zhengrong’s personal wealth has suffered the worst decline since 2008. According to the report released by Hurun Research Institute, Shi Zhengrong’s wealth has shrunk the most, with a drop of 80%. Especially from the stock price performance of Wuxi Suntech on the New York Stock Exchange, it is even more ups and downs, which is amazing.
On December 14th, 2005, Wuxi Suntech successfully listed on NYSE, becoming the first private enterprise in China to be listed on NYSE. In less than a month, Wuxi Suntech’s share price rose from $20.35 on the first day of trading to $35.21, with a cumulative increase of 66.08%. At that time, Shi Zhengrong, who owned 68 million shares of the company, also rose, and his worth soared to about 19 billion yuan, far exceeding the domestic rich such as Huang Guangyu and Rong Zhijian, and became the richest man in that year.
In January, 2008, the share price of Suntech in Wuxi was as high as $90, and Shi Zhengrong’s personal worth swelled to RMB 41.6 billion. However, after September 2008, due to the impact of the financial crisis, Wuxi Suntech’s stock plummeted, even falling to nearly $5 per share at the end of last year. At this time, Shi Zhengrong’s personal wealth shrank to RMB 2.3 billion, almost only 5% of its peak, with a drop of over 90%.
Due to the strong changes in Wuxi Suntech’s stock, since October 2008, Deutsche Bank Securities and other international investment banks have kept the rating of Suntech as: lowering expectations and advising investors to sell or wait and see. With the spread of the financial crisis and the impact of the industry downturn, I believe that Wuxi Suntech will enter the lowest valley since its listing in the coming period.
On February 18th, 2009, Suntech released its financial report for the fourth quarter and the whole year of 2008. The financial report shows that in 2008, Suntech sold 497.5 MW of solar products, which was lower than the expected 550 MW. In 2009, Suntech expects the total order for the whole year to be 800 MW, and the shortage of construction is a foregone conclusion.
Especially in the fourth quarter of 2008, Wuxi Suntech achieved a net profit of $111 million in the whole year, and the net loss in the fourth quarter was $65.9 million. Among them, according to American GAAP, the gross profit margin for the whole year was 17.8%, while that for the fourth quarter was only 0.6%. Wuxi Suntech’s great retrogression in the fourth quarter is also a true portrayal of the industry. Since October 2008, more than 300 photovoltaic module enterprises in China have closed down, leaving only more than 50.
"This is a’ natural disaster’, who would have thought that the financial crisis was so serious." Shi Zhengrong said helplessly when facing the media.
Party A: Shi Zhengrong made a decision mistake.
From 2006 to the first ten months of 2008, Wuxi Suntech’s solar energy industry has been on the rise. Due to the shortage of upstream silicon materials, many downstream battery and component manufacturers have to lock in long-term raw material orders and spot purchases to ensure production, and Suntech is no exception. It is reported that at that time, the company bought polysilicon in the spot market at a price of 350-400 USD/kg, accounting for about one-third of the planned capacity demand in the fourth quarter.
According to Wuxi Suntech’s annual report, the existence of the company treasurer was still as high as $231.9 million at the end of last year. This is a fuse that causes people to question. Because the company’s gross profit margin was only 0.6% in the fourth quarter of last year, and it was as high as 21.8% in the third quarter. There are many factors contributing to the decline in gross profit margin: the company has a large inventory of polysilicon raw materials, which has formed a large amount of provision on the premise that polysilicon prices plummeted by 50% in the fourth quarter.
Shi Zhengrong had previously admitted that the price he was buying polysilicon might be "inappropriate".
In addition, the industry criticized Shi Zhengrong for spreading the solar cell (and its components) too large. Last year, he invested in Luoyang and Yangzhou production bases, which cost a lot of money. In addition, he signed many long-term orders for upstream raw materials and participated in several upstream silicon enterprises. This all takes up a lot of money.
According to some media, in 2008, Suntech spent $347.9 million on expanding productivity and building production facilities. It is expected that the loss of investment in NitolSolar and HokuMa－terials will be $49 million to $52 million. In addition, due to the delay of orders and exchange rate losses, Wuxi Suntech fell into a difficult situation after October last year, and its share price also plummeted.
Party B: It is urgent to change the growth model.
At present, Suntech led by Shi Zhengrong has entered the top three photovoltaic companies in the world. From Suntech’s expansion route, its strategic intention is very clear: vertically open up the industrial chain and reduce the procurement cost of raw materials; In the transverse direction, it expands at a geometric speed.
By 2008, Chinese mainland had installed 150 MW of solar cells, and the total market in 2008 was only 40 MW. At this time, Suntech’s annual production capacity is 1,000 MW, far exceeding the demand of the domestic market.
However, the arrival of the financial crisis has disrupted Shi Zhengrong’s beautiful vision, and the model of relying on high subsidies from Europe and the United States to maintain growth for a long time has encountered realistic challenges. Suntech had to suspend its huge expansion plan in the case of shrinking assets. Of course, although its expansion plan was forced to be suspended, Shi Zhengrong, with 12 years of research experience in solar cells, did not stop its pace of developing new technologies and products.
Suntech Power Holdings Limited is applying Pluto technology to its Pluto battery production line. Its unique mapping technology can ensure that more sunlight is absorbed during the day. This technology can be applied to many different grades of silicon materials, so it is suitable for many applications and product types.
In addition, Shi Zhengrong did not give up the opportunity to develop in the thin-film solar cell industry. He invested in a thin-film battery production enterprise in Shanghai, which is expected to be put into production in May this year. Experts pointed out that in the future, thin-film solar cells will be the general trend of future development. In the United States, thin-film solar cells have surpassed crystalline silicon solar cells.
Shi Zhengrong is still actively seeking to promote industrial development. Jiangsu Photovoltaic Industry Association, which is headed by Suntech, has sent an industry report to the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, calling on the state to approve the construction of 2000 MW solar power station within three years.
Can Shi Zhengrong win this game? 2009 is a crucial year of life and death.
Shrinking the wealth, suspending expansion.
Affected by the shrinking coke market and falling prices, the newly rich and newly promoted assets have shrunk dramatically, and the aura hanging over them is gradually fading away.
Wealth shrinks-69%
Forbes ranked third in China’s list of billionaires in 2009.
Xianyang owns assets: holds 55.8% shares of Hengding Industry.
Industry: coke and coal chemical products
If it weren’t for the listing of Hengding Industry in Hong Kong, few people would have heard of the name Xianyang outside Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province. In 2007, Hengding Industry (01393.HK) went public, which also made Xian Yang step onto the wealth front desk.
According to the data, Xian Yang has been engaged in anti-drug work in Panzhihua Public Security Bureau and was injured at work. The family was worried about Xian Yang’s safety and asked him to change careers, so Xian abandoned the police business. In May, 2000, in response to the call of "Western Development", Xian Yang founded Panzhihua Sanlian Industrial Co., Ltd.
Panzhihua is rich in coal resources, and there are large steel companies like Pangang. At first, Xian Yang traded coking coal, ore and chemical products, but he was not satisfied with his meager profits and made up his mind to run his own coal mine.
Based on the mining and management of coal mines, Xianyang has successively entered the coal washing and coking industries. By 2007, Xianyang had successively acquired 20 coal mines, 2 coal washing plants and 1 coking plant in Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, becoming the largest private enterprise of coal coking in Southwest China.
The listing of Hengding Industrial in Hong Kong was not smooth. Due to the lack of knowledge of private coal mines in Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Hengding Industry was considered as just a few "small coal mines" packaged enterprises, and Hengding Industry did not even pass the first round of hearing. At the critical moment, Xian Yang tried to communicate with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in person and paved his own road to riches. After the successful listing of Hengding Industry, it raised HK$ 800 million.
In 2007, the price of coal rose all the way, and Hengding Industry was sought after by investors. The stock price soared all the way, and the fresh book wealth also climbed all the way. In the 2007 Hurun Report, Xian Yang ranked 41st with 14 billion assets. In the 2008 Hurun Report, Xianyang ranked 51st with 9.5 billion assets.
After the listing of Hengding Industry, under the auspices of Xianyang, it continued to expand. In January 2008, Hengding Industry announced that it would acquire the mining rights and related assets of three coal mines in Guizhou at a cost of 355 million yuan. In September 2008, Hengding Industry announced that it planned to borrow 400 million US dollars from the bank and planned to acquire three or five Guizhou coal mines before the end of the year.
Due to the overall capacity expansion of the coke industry, it leads to overcapacity, and at the same time, due to the impact of the economic crisis, the market demand for steel prices has dropped sharply. Coke is an important raw material for steelmaking. Due to the weak demand of downstream industries, the price of coke continued to fall in 2008.
In the first half of 2008, the share price of Hengding Industrial has been hovering around HK$ 11 per share. Due to the falling price of coke and the shrinking market, the share price of Hengding Industrial began to fall rapidly in the second half of the year, once falling below HK$ 2 per share. In March this year, its share price climbed slightly to HK$ 3 per share. The decline in the stock price has led to a sharp decline in the wealth of Xianyang, and the aura that hangs over it has gradually faded.
In 2008, due to the 5.12 Wenchuan earthquake and its subsequent Panzhihua earthquake, Hengding Industry was forced to reduce its coke production. In order to cope with the changes in the industry, at the end of last year, Xian Yang said that in 2009, Hengding Industrial would continue to cut its production capacity by 11%, and announced that Hengding Industrial had suspended its acquisition and expansion.
Party A: The environment continues to deteriorate.
Affected by the financial crisis, China’s coke output in 2008 showed the first negative growth since 1999. At present, about 50% of coke enterprises have taken measures to limit production. At present, the dilemma faced by the coke industry is more serious than that of the steel industry. The reason is that due to the loose supply of coking coal and other resources in the upstream, the output of coke is still greater than the demand, so there is still room for the price of coke to fall, the life of coke enterprises will be even more difficult, and the profit of Hengding Industry will further decline.
Party B: The fundamentals are still improving.
Although after listing, Xian Yang was eager to use the funds obtained from listing to expand greatly, but his expansion of acquiring other coal mines was not fully launched. After the economic situation deteriorated, Hengding Industrial adjusted its expansion plan in time and gave up many acquisitions. At present, the fundamental situation of Hengding Industry is still good, and the shrinking of Xianyang’s assets is only temporary. Once the economic situation improves and the steel industry enters an upward cycle, Hengding Industry will recover quickly.
Shrinking the Rich’s Xu Rongmao Real Estate Poor Money
The potential capital and debt pressure behind Shimao Real Estate once again tests Xu Rongmao’s capital operation talent.
Wealth shrinks-60%
Engaged in industry:
real estate
Xu Rongmao, who was born as a securities broker, controls Shimao Shares (600,823 shares, quotation, information and main trading) and Shimao Real Estate (00813.HK) through Shimao Group. Through years of capital operation, Xu Rongmao’s real estate projects in China, covering more than 20 cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, all come from the capital market financing. The performance of real estate has boosted the company’s share price.
In 2007, it can be said that China’s property market and stock market grew rapidly for many years, and Xu Rongmao’s personal wealth also expanded. At that time, the share price of Shimao reached the highest level in 35 yuan. Shimao Real Estate has also experienced the madness of several times the share price in the Hong Kong market. That year, Xu Rongmao, worth 55 billion RMB, was ranked third in Hurun’s list of China’s richest people, second only to Yang Huiyan and Zhang Yin. Then, Xu Rongmao’s wealth fell sharply. In 2008, the personal wealth of this rich man was only 21 billion, a decrease of 60%. Thankfully, as of April 2009, the share prices of Shimao and Shimao Real Estate have increased significantly, and Xu Rongmao’s personal wealth has also rebounded.
At the end of March this year, Xu Rongmao said in an interview with the media that the current property market has bottomed out, and Shimao has raised its expected annual sales from 15 billion yuan to 17 billion yuan. Since the beginning of this year, the sales performance of Shimao’s real estate is still satisfactory. According to Shimao’s marketing staff, at present, Shimao’s key sales project in Shanghai, Building 5 of Shimao Riverside Garden, has an ideal sales, among which the duplex unit with a unit price as high as 100,000 yuan/square meter has been clearly expressed by customers.
On March 20th, the head office of Agricultural Bank of China signed a 15 billion yuan bank loan credit agreement with Shimao Group. Xu Shitan, vice chairman of Shimao Group, said that the credit line will be used for a number of commercial real estate and residential projects of domestic companies, as well as to supplement the company’s working capital and increase the land reserve, including considering mergers and acquisitions.
According to the announcement of Shimao Real Estate, the current land reserve of the Group is 26.4 million square meters, which is enough for development in the next 6 to 7 years. Due to the impact of the financial crisis, Shimao Group has adjusted its strategic direction in 2008, expanding its projects to the second-and third-tier markets with relatively stable domestic housing prices. It is reported that from January to February this year, the revenue of Shimao Group, together with the booked unit property sales, has exceeded 3.5 billion yuan, of which Shanghai Shimao Riverside Garden Project has become the main contributor, with sales of about 1 billion yuan so far. Xu Rongmao’s confidence is coming here.
Party A: The pressure of capital and debt is worrying.
Xu Rongmao, who has always kept a low profile, makes people unable to know his true colors. In fact, this "real estate crocodile" is essentially a financier. Xu Rongmao came to Hong Kong from his hometown in Fujian in the late 1970s. Like other ordinary wage earners, he did everything. By chance, he became a securities broker, and his keen judgment and extraordinary investment talent made him feel at home. Xu Rongmao is sensitive to numbers and has a great mental arithmetic. From 1981 to 1983, he earned his first bucket of gold in two years.
In the mid-1990s, Xu Rongmao developed the Asian Games Garden, Zizhu Garden and other high-end gardens in Beijing, which achieved great success. Since then, Xu Rongmao has entered the Shanghai real estate market and listed on the A-share backdoor through acquisition, namely "Shimao Shares". Since then, Xu Rongmao has applied his talent of capital operation to real estate-using the law of rolling development of real estate projects, when a large amount of capital investment is needed in advance, the listed companies will bear the costs and risks, and before and after the pre-sale funds are collected one after another, they will continue to dilute the rights and interests of listed companies in order to obtain the maximum benefits.
Since 2009, Shimao Real Estate has shown a strong desire for funds in the capital market. After obtaining a loan credit of 15 billion yuan from China Agricultural Bank, Shimao Real Estate announced on April 8 that it would place 282 million shares at HK$ 695 per share in a new way, raising about HK$ 1.938 billion. It is worth noting that according to the announcement, the main purpose of this placement is to repay the bank loans due. Investment banks and rating agencies, including UBS and Standard & Poor’s, questioned Shimao’s explanation of the use of the money.
UBS released a report saying that Shimao diluted its rights issue with 35% of its net assets when its expected P/E ratio was 8.4 times in 2009 and 5.8 times in 2010, indicating that the company was facing cash flow pressure. According to last year’s performance, Shimao Real Estate must achieve at least RMB 9 billion in cash sales in the second half of 2008 before it can provide funds for the payment of land, operation and interest costs and the repayment of loans-the company’s financial report has not been released before the draft was published.
Obviously, the potential capital and debt pressure behind Shimao Real Estate once again tests Xu Rongmao’s capital operation talent.
Party B: Layout "Troika"
In the 20 years since entering the real estate industry, Xu Rongmao’s "Troika" plan in the real estate field has already taken shape: Shimao Real Estate, Shimao Shares and Shimao Hotel Company, which will be split and listed in the future, respectively point to three major formats of real estate development: residential, commercial and hotel.
Regarding the hotel industry that he is obsessed with, Xu Rongmao has publicly stated on more than one occasion that the hotel business is an important part of Shimao Group’s business, and he hopes to increase the number of hotels in the Mainland to more than 20.
As early as two years ago, Shimao set up a hotel real estate company to increase investment in this field. In the past two years, several hotels have been completed and put into use, and there are still many hotel projects under construction and planning. Xu Rongmao has revealed that after the completion of the asset injection of Shimao, he will focus on expanding the hotel assets and spin off the hotel assets for listing at the right time. However, due to the arrival of the financial crisis, this plan has now been explicitly postponed.
For the overall structure of Shimao Group at present, the strategic focus of the Group is Shimao Shares. Specifically, on the premise of accelerating the injection of commercial real estate assets into Shimao Shares, we should try our best to get more funds for the development of these land-based commercial assets and build Shimao Shares into a real commercial flagship.
Yang Huiyan, the shrinking rich, has lost 100 billion yuan.
Yang Huiyan’s "myth of the richest woman" is the product of the craziest real estate and stock market in China. And the bubble will eventually burst, and the swollen wealth will eventually swell.
Wealth shrinks-80%
Hurun ranks sixth in the report of shrinking rich people.
Industry: real estate
On the list of China’s richest people published by Forbes in 2007, Yang Huiyan’s personal net worth was as high as $16 billion, ranking first. At that time, Country Garden’s share price had climbed to HK$ 14.18 per share.
In 2008, it was a world of ice and fire for the 28-year-old rich woman.
With the decline of the stock market, Country Garden’s share price also plummeted, from an average of about 9 Hong Kong dollars per share in January 2008 to a closing price of only 2.78 Hong Kong dollars on April 16, 2009. In more than a year, the scale of assets has shrunk by nearly 80%. In a year, Yang Huiyan’s wealth has shrunk by nearly 100 billion, which is the first time in the rich list for ten years.
Country Garden’s depressed share price is naturally the chief culprit to push Yang Huiyan into the mire, but on the other hand, it is also closely related to the cyclical adjustment of the real estate industry as a whole and the depreciation of the real estate itself. Statistics show that real estate has become the biggest industry of wealth evaporation. The primary reason why the assets of the rich people, mainly real estate developers, have shrunk is definitely their own operations. For example, Yang Huiyan’s assets "halved" are related to a series of acquisitions made by the company when the market skyrocketed.
2006 and 2007 were good days for the real estate industry, and Country Garden took the opportunity to flourish. Because the original business model of Country Garden is to build large-scale real estate in the urban-rural fringe, it has a strong ability to absorb land, and with the help of foreign capital, Yang Huiyan’s father Yang Guoqiang has brought this ability to the extreme, and its land reserve has reached a surprising level. In less than a year after listing, the land reserve reached 45 million square meters.
In 2008, the Ministry of Land and Resources issued a series of documents in response to the situation of land hoarding by real estate companies, emphasizing that all localities should reasonably control the scale of single land supply and shorten the land development cycle. In principle, the development and construction time of each parcel should not exceed 3 years. For a time, Country Garden, with a huge land reserve, became the target of public criticism. How to develop the amazing land reserve as soon as possible is undoubtedly a problem that Country Garden must face directly.
In addition to the regulation of land, in 2008, the central government also restricted the remittance of funds to the mainland by real estate developers listed in Hong Kong, which tightly strangled Country Garden’s "throat"-financing. In February 2008, Country Garden announced the issuance of convertible bonds in Singapore, raising 3.899 billion yuan. This financing scale has shrunk by nearly two-thirds compared with the expected $1.5 billion in October last year. Of the funds raised, about 40% is used to repay existing debts, and about 10% is used for existing and new property projects. However, Country Garden took HK$ 1.95 billion, half of the financing, as collateral, and entered into a share of swap contracts with Merrill Lynch, which was settled in rare cash. According to the agreement, if the final price is higher than the lock-in price, the company will charge Merrill Lynch; If the final price is lower than the lock-in price, Merrill Lynch will collect the money.
With the arrival of the financial crisis, the form turned straight down. Foreign capital has been continuously withdrawn from the mainland real estate and stock market, and Country Garden’s share price has fallen sharply. The falling stock price and property market not only make Country Garden investors feel chilling, but also make Country Garden’s entrepreneurs lose the courage to persist. The lifting of the ban on restricted shares provides a practical opportunity for the swaying Country Garden veterans to cash out. On April 21st, 2008, Yang Erzhu, a veteran of the company, reduced his holdings of 50 million shares of Country Garden at a price of HK$ 6 per share and cashed in HK$ 300 million. The market began to worry about the operation of Country Garden, followed by another round of decline.
To make matters worse, the falling stock price is still creating a vicious circle. According to the swap contracts signed by Country Garden and international investment bank Merrill Lynch, no matter how the market share price changes, the future trading price of these swap shares will be locked at HK$ 6.85. Country Garden has to pay the amount stipulated in the gambling agreement to Merrill Lynch, which further increases the floating loss of Country Garden and directly affects the speed of Yang Huiyan’s wealth shrinking.
Party A: Common Encounters of Real Estate Tycoons
Yang Huiyan’s wealth plunged sharply, and her father Yang Guoqiang and Yang’s family also suffered heavy losses. Although, in the face of the question "How do you feel about no longer being the father of the richest man in China", Yang Guoqiang still said freely: Yes and no, there is no feeling. However, Yang Huiyan was not the only one who lost his fortune, but the real estate tycoons’ common experience at present, because the real estate industry was greatly influenced by the national macroeconomic situation.
As one of the troikas driving China’s economy, the real estate industry once provided a strong driving force for China’s economic development. The current downturn in the real estate industry is attributed to the decline of the overall economic situation. In 2008, the macro-control was continuously tightened, and the deposit reserve ratio was raised five times in half a year, reaching a historical high of 17.5%, which affected the capital chain of many real estate developers. 2008 is a difficult year for most developers in China, because they owe too much money to banks, the market sales almost stop, and there are too many land, houses and projects to be built. There are many real estate enterprises whose capital chains are about to break, and the depression of the real estate industry has aggravated the economic depression.
Hurun, the producer of Hurun’s wealth list, also said that the shrinking of Country Garden’s assets reflected the unfavorable situation of the whole real estate environment. It was indeed an extreme situation that Country Garden became rich overnight when it went public in 2007, but the downward adjustment of its share price in 2008 showed that the market began to be rational about the company’s share value.
Party B: The bubble will eventually burst.
Last year, the state issued a policy on the construction of economic housing and the sale of second-hand housing. These two policies have severely hit the speculation in the real estate market and have hinted that the real estate is overheated.
The evaporation of Yang Huiyan’s assets, from the global economic trend, is also a normal phenomenon. In the case of financial crisis, global assets and wealth are rapidly evaporating. It is reported that in 2008, the global stock market lost about $17 trillion in market value. At present, the housing market transaction is light, and the whole industry is depressed. It is not surprising that the market value of Country Garden has shrunk. Not only are the real estate tycoons losing their net worth, but the net worth of other rich people on Hurun’s list has also dropped sharply because of the poor performance of the global stock market, among which financial enterprises and real estate enterprises are the majority. This actually reflects the huge bubble problem of virtual economy in recent years.
Since 2000, many entrepreneurs have been addicted to the virtual economy, investing their capital in real estate and other profiteering industries, investing in the inflated capital market and futures with large leverage and huge risks. Coupled with the loose monetary policy in the field of macroeconomic policy, various stock markets and oil prices soared, pushing the whole world economy to a virtual high position. And the bubble will eventually burst, and the swollen wealth will eventually reduce the swelling.
Through the shrinking of assets, entrepreneurs become more mature and rational, and also make some wealth trendsetters more sober-minded and recognize themselves.
Zhang yin, the shrinking rich, at the worst moment
Nine dragons paper’s profits have been greatly reduced due to the sharp drop in selling prices and the rising prices of raw materials. The stock market plummeted, causing Zhang Yin’s personal wealth to fall to a new low.
Wealth shrinks-45%
Zhang Yin owns assets: she holds 72% shares of nine dragons paper.
He once ranked first in Hurun Report with a net worth of 27 billion yuan.
Industry: paper industry
2006 was the most beautiful year for Zhang Yin. In that year, nine dragons paper was listed in Hongkong, and its market value approached 40 billion in one fell swoop. The three richest people in Hong Kong, including Ye Zhaoji, joined hands to buy $60 million in stock. The major brokers gave a high evaluation of this stock, and investors from all walks of life were moved by the wind.
At that time, Zhang Yin, who owned 72% of nine dragons paper’s shares, soared to 27 billion yuan, ranking first in Hurun Report. Who would have thought that only two years later, the former richest man’s wealth has shrunk to only 7%.
On the Hurun Rich List released in October 2008, Zhang Yin fell out of the top ten with 18 billion yuan. In the Forbes Rich List released two weeks later, she even had only 1.8 billion yuan, ranking 231st-while in the Forbes Rich List in 2007, Zhang Yin’s wealth was 25.35 billion yuan, ranking fifth.
Zhang Yin’s wealth comes from the paper industry. In 1980s, I was entrusted by a paper mill in China to buy waste paper. Zhang Yin began to set foot in the field of changing straw pulp papermaking into environmentally friendly papermaking, and she soon learned about the shortage of paper in the mainland and the huge market potential. China’s forest resources are relatively poor, especially the construction of fast-growing forest for papermaking is seriously lagging behind, so most of the raw materials of high-grade paper need imported waste paper and wood pulp-the domestic waste paper collection system is not perfect and the level is not enough. Waste paper in developed countries and regions has become an important way to solve the bottleneck of papermaking raw materials in China.
In February 1990, Mr. and Mrs. Zhang Yin began to expand the waste paper recycling business in the United States and established Zhongnan Holding Company. There are not only rich waste paper resources, but also the waste paper recycling system is extremely efficient and scientific. Careful Zhang Yin took advantage of the opportunity that others didn’t find-when a large number of containers carrying export goods returned to China, they were all empty. Zhang Yin only used extremely low freight to transport American waste paper to China. In the past 10 years, Zhongnan has successively built seven packaging plants (packaging the received waste paper) and transportation enterprises in the United States.
In 1996, Zhang Yin decisively invested $110 million in Dongguan to set up nine dragons paper. At the beginning of 2005, the production capacity reached 2.35 million tons, and at the end of the year, the production capacity increased by nearly one million tons to 3.3 million tons, accounting for 17% of the China market. Nine dragons paper has surpassed Chenming Paper to become the first paper giant in China, the second in Asia and the eighth in the world.
China’s booming economy, especially the products produced as a "world factory", require high-quality packaging. nine dragons paper’s products are in short supply and have been adopted by well-known enterprises such as Coca-Cola, Nike, Sony, Haier and TCL.
Zhongnan buys waste paper in the United States at a low price, transports it to China at a low freight rate, and then uses the advantages of land, energy and manpower in mainland China to produce tight high-grade paper products at a low cost. The industrial chain built by Zhang Yin and his wife is under their own control from the beginning, with cost advantages and profits. At the end of the industrial chain, the successful vertical integration of high-end products that are in short supply and the optimized grasp of the industrial chain are the secrets of the birth of China’s "richest man".
Party A: The Mysterious Legend of Getting Rich
In fact, the rich list of various institutions adopts an objective standard. Speaking by numbers, whoever has more money will win the first prize, no matter how the money comes from or what it is used for. Like some economic figures of the year, the "responsibility, innovation, driving force and influence" of economic figures are considered. On the basis of the objective standards of great achievements, the values of economic figures become the key.
Therefore, the rich list based only on the amount of wealth is also famous for killing pigs. Many of the rich people on the list face accusations from tax authorities and procuratorial organs, and many of them have fallen. In Zhang Yin’s family history, there are still some doubts that have not been explained clearly. According to the report, in 1985, Zhang Yin traveled to Hong Kong with 30,000 yuan. At that time, many people’s income was only tens of yuan, and people had few ways to make money. How did she earn this money at the age of 28?
Secondly, some data show that in machong, Dongguan, where Zhang Yin’s company is located, "the water quality of Dasheng reach and Sisheng reach is only up to Grade IV and V standards", and Zhang Yin’s nine dragons paper is located in Dasheng Village, machong, Dongguan. I don’t know what role Zhang Yin’s company played in the process of pollution and in the process of pollution control. At the same time, in the report that Zhang Yin has become the richest woman in China and the richest self-made woman in the world, there is not a word that shows that this rich woman has participated in any public welfare activities.
From this point of view, what Zhang Yin can contribute to us is her rich legend. For the consideration of "responsibility, innovation, influence and driving force", Zhang Yin did not give a wonderful answer. It seems that there is no equal sign between "the richest man" and "China Economic Person of the Year".
Party B: nine dragons paper has a long way to go.
The financial crisis has hit all kinds of manufacturing industries to varying degrees, but the sharp drop in domestic and international demand has become a reality. nine dragons paper has been dragged down by the sharp drop in selling prices and the rise in raw material prices, and its profits have been greatly reduced.
Even though investors had already expected nine dragons paper’s earnings decline, the interim results report for fiscal year 2008 released on February 20th still surprised the market: in the second half of 2008, nine dragons paper achieved a net profit of 323 million yuan, down 69.4% year-on-year, while earnings per share dropped to 0.07 yuan, down 72% from 0.25 Hong Kong dollars in the same period of 2007.
The pessimistic figures in the financial report also reveal that the business model of "high debt and high growth" is no longer a panacea for Zhang Yin. Nine dragons paper’s share price also dropped from the peak of 20 yuan in 2007 to 2.38 yuan, and the corporate debt ratio reached 98%. Brokers have also begun to sing, Morgan Stanley will "overweight" to "synchronize with the market"; JPMorgan Chase gave a "underweight" rating, and the paper industry’s prospects were not good for the market.
As for the reasons for the decline in performance, nine dragons paper pointed out in the announcement that due to the global financial crisis, domestic and international demand has shrunk, and the company’s profits have been dragged down by factors such as a sharp drop in selling prices and fluctuations in raw material prices. A report published by JPMorgan Chase pointed out that due to the uncertainty of demand, nine dragons paper’s profit rate showed no signs of bottoming out, and combined with the high net debt-equity ratio, it was rated as "reduced".
According to nine dragons paper’s financial report, in terms of fund management, in the face of the potential credit risk increased due to the global economic slowdown, the company insists on constantly improving the use of working capital, strictly controlling the collection of accounts receivable, continuously improving the financial structure and ensuring good cash flow.
In Zhang Yin’s view, in 2009, especially in the first half of the year, the world economic situation is still very grim, and macro-unfavorable factors may follow one after another, making enterprises continue to operate hard. China’s manufacturing industry will still be affected by the uncertain global economic prospects, and its operating environment is still full of difficulties and challenges.
Zhu Mengyi, the shrinking rich, is in a puzzle
Zhu Mengyi is keen to do large or super-large projects, which makes his funds stretched, and the rumors of being involved in the Huang Guangyu case have accelerated the shrinking speed of his wealth.
Wealth shrinks-58%
"Forbes ranked fourth among the billionaires in China in 2009".
Industry: real estate development
Zhu Mengyi is a silent boss in the real estate industry in China. Although he is very popular in the real estate industry, he seldom appears in public because of his cautious nature, and he is even less interested in talking in the media. Wang Shi, another big shot in China’s real estate industry, never hides his respect for companies such as Zhu Mengyi and Zhu Mengyi’s Hesheng Chuangzhan. Wang Shi once said, "Hesheng Chuangzhan is the real aircraft carrier in China’s real estate industry."
Zhu Mengyi first started as a contractor, came to Hong Kong in the early 1990s, successfully obtained a permanent residence permit in Hong Kong, and then co-founded Hesheng Chuangzhan. In May 1998, Hesheng Chuangzhan (0754) was listed in Hong Kong. Although Hesheng Chuangzhan is a Hong Kong-funded company, its business activities are concentrated in the Mainland.
Under Zhu Mengyi’s banner, besides Hesheng Chuangzhan, there is another very important company, namely Guangdong Zhujiang Investment Co., Ltd. Pearl River Investment was established in February, 1993. The real estate projects developed in Zhu Mengyi were basically completed by two companies, Hesheng Chuangzhan and Pearl River Investment.
The two companies do projects in the form of portfolio investment, and Pearl River Investment is responsible for land acquisition. After land acquisition, two joint venture project companies are formed according to a certain proportion to carry out development. The real estate projects developed by the joint venture company are branded as Pearl River in Beijing, while most of them are branded as Hesheng Chuangzhan in Guangzhou.
One of the characteristics of Zhu Mengyi’s work is that he likes to talk big and close big. He is keen on doing large or super-large projects. Among the projects developed by Hesheng Chuangzhan in Guangzhou, some have an area of more than 2 million square meters, and its "Baodi Hot Spring Resort" project developed in Tianjin is said to have an area of 12 square kilometers.
Zhu Mengyi is also good at seizing every opportunity to make money. Around 2000, Zhu Mengyi took advantage of the opportunity of the 9th National Games held in Guangzhou to lay a data transmission network project for the 9th National Games and "incidentally" laid several pipelines for himself. Then, by selling these pipelines to telecom operators eager to lay optical cables, it made a net profit of more than 1 billion yuan in less than two years.
Another feature of Zhu Mengyi is that his mystery and low-key are breathtaking. He has entered the real estate industry for many years, and he has never been interviewed by the media. The mass media only captured a personal photo of him, and he also forbids his subordinates to disclose information about him to the outside world.
Since 2008, Zhu Mengyi, who doesn’t want to show his face, has been a hot spot pursued by the media. Especially on February 20th this year, foreign media reported that Zhu Mengyi was suspected of being involved in the case of Huang Guangyu, and had been restricted from leaving the country by Guangdong public security organs and assisted in the investigation. After the news came out, the share price of Hesheng Chuangzhan plummeted by 50% on the same day.
Zhu Mengyi is a special member of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. After the news that he is suspected of being involved in the case of Huang Guangyu, everyone is staring at whether he will make a public appearance at this year’s "two sessions". However, during the "two sessions" this year, he submitted a sick note to Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and never appeared in public again. It was also reported that Zhu Mengyi was only involved in the marginal incident of Huang Guangyu’s case, and Zhu Mengyi only assisted the police in the investigation, and his personal freedom was not restricted. However, the above rumors have not been confirmed by Zhu Mengyi himself or the staff of his related companies.
In the first half of 2008, the share price of Hesheng Chuangzhan (00754, HK) hovered around HK$ 14 per share. Due to the economic crisis and the rumors of Zhu Mengyi’s case involving Huang Guangyu, its share price has shrunk to HK$ 5 per share in late March this year.
Party A: The financing platform still needs efforts.
Influenced by China government’s macro-control of the real estate market and the backlog of many reserve plots, Zhu Mengyi’s companies have also been in a tight financial situation in the past year or two. Some real estate consulting agencies have calculated that the asset-liability ratio of many subsidiaries of Pearl River Investment in 2008 has exceeded 90%. Therefore, in recent years, it has always been Zhu Mengyi’s ideal to take Hesheng Chuangzhan as an overseas financing platform, and then integrate the real estate business invested by Pearl River to be listed on domestic A-shares, so as to create two financing platforms to the maximum extent.
Pearl River Investment submitted listing information to China Securities Regulatory Commission in early 2008, and plans to list on A-shares in June and July of that year. The listed assets include houses, hotels and some commercial real estate, and it is planned to raise 6 billion to 7 billion yuan. However, due to the industry adjustment period and the continuous downturn in the capital market, the real estate business invested by Pearl River failed to be listed on the A-share market as scheduled last year, and Zhu Mengyi’s dream of building a capital structure of A-share plus H-share was forced to be shelved, and the capital problem became more severe, which made it fall into the dilemma of real estate business.
At the beginning of this year, Pearl River Investment began to lay off employees on a large scale, with a layoff ratio of about 30% to 50%. All the employees left behind were reduced by 30%, and many new projects of Pearl River Real Estate and Hesheng Chuangzhan have also stopped working. In order to withdraw funds as soon as possible, after the Lunar New Year in the Year of the Ox, some projects of Hesheng Chuangzhan in Beijing and Shanghai were greatly reduced in price, and the price reduction of individual projects was as high as 40%.
Party B: Expansion should be delayed.
In March 2008, at the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the listing of Hesheng Chuangzhan, Zhu Mengyi announced that it would launch 20 new sites in North China, including 10 high-grade commercial real estate projects with a construction area of 1.88 million square meters. However, the outside world thinks that Zhu Mengyi should suspend its commercial real estate strategy, otherwise it will bring down his company, because the amount of funds invested in commercial real estate projects is too large.
Zhu Mengyi is keen on developing large or super-large projects, and likes to take land on a large scale and expand on a large scale. At present, the Pearl River investment and operation projects are distributed in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places, with more than 50 projects under construction.
Zhu Mengyi originally planned to further diversify its construction projects after the A-share listing of Pearl River Investment. The projects that Pearl River Investment has started or originally planned to put into construction also include four power plants with an investment scale of 10 billion yuan, such as Yangjiang and Huidong; Four coal mines in Datong, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia; Guanghui Expressway in Guangdong Province and Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway along the Yangtze River under construction; Special railway line project for transporting coal; Build five private universities in the university town of Tianjin and so on.
In the rising cycle of the real estate industry, large-scale expansion and simultaneous construction of multiple projects are conducive to the ready-made scale effect, and at the same time establish the industrial status of Pearl River investment. However, in the adjustment period of the real estate industry, such a large-scale expansion, especially in the expansion of land reserves, will inevitably encounter financial constraints. What Zhu Mengyi needs to do now is to slow down the investment expansion in the Pearl River.
Zhu Mengyi should regain its development model in the start-up stage. In the 1990s, Hesheng started its exhibition by building a cheap "big market" in the suburbs and selling the returned funds quickly. The suburban real estate with good quality and low price is still the mainstream of the home-occupied market at present. The cost of land acquisition for such projects is relatively low, and the funds can be withdrawn faster. Fortunately, the land hoarded by Hesheng Chuangzhan in Guangzhou in 2008 is basically a "satellite city" in the suburbs.
