My 1999

Fund No. 5 under Hanhua, managed by Chen Shijun, holds 23% of Skype shares.

In addition, Kleiner Perkins Caufield \u0026 Byers holds 12%.

Sequoia got on the bus last, with only 6%.

Xu Liang thought for a moment, "Do you have Skype information on hand?"

"have."

Lin Junrui was ready when he came.

After taking it, Xu Liang looked at it.

This Skype is an online mobile phone that can make calls and send text messages through the Internet; it is not an instant messaging software as he thought.

Of course, it is also very easy if you change it to instant messaging software.

But now that there is Microsoft's MSN on the market, and China has QQ, Skype is destined to be trapped in the field of online phone calls.

In this case, the imagination is too low.

And there is no way to bring much traffic to Facebook.

Before the advent of the mobile Internet era, there was not much room for development of online voice calls.

"Sell it, it's not suitable for Facebook."

Although Lin Junrui was a little surprised, he still chose to believe Xu Liang's judgment.

“How much money is eBay prepared to pay?”

"The current preliminary negotiation between the two parties is US$3 billion, but the specific amount will not be known until later discussions."

"$3 billion?!"

Xu Liang couldn't help being surprised.

In his opinion, Skype has no imagination at all, and its profit model is single. It is still losing money. Let alone three billion US dollars, 500 million is too much for him.

"Tsk tsk, eBay is rich and willful. By the way, how much can we make from this order?"

"In 2003, we invested US$10 million. If the two parties closed the deal for US$3 billion, we could earn US$690 million in pre-tax profits from this deal."

"With a return of 69 times, no wonder everyone wants to be a venture capital investor. It is indeed profitable." Xu Liang said with a smile.

“Although the returns from venture capital are high, the specific returns are not as good as those from hedge funds.”

Skype returned 69 times, earning nearly $700 million before tax.

Last year, the Pacific Fund made a return of nearly US$30 billion, although its annual return was only 10 times.

This gap is too big.

"Different funds have different returns. By the way, have you ever paid attention to Google's stock price?"

Lin Junrui nodded, "At present, Google's market value has exceeded 18 billion US dollars, and its growth rate is very fast."

"This is a good thing. Hongyan is also an investor in Google, holding 7.3% of the shares. If Google develops well, I can earn more." Xu Liang said with a smile.

"Mr. Xu, Google is Hongmeng Bing's competitor."

“I can’t remember who said it: The people who know you best are often your enemies. So no one understands the value of Google better than me.

Of course, there is no reason to extrapolate projects that can make money.

What's more, having a competitor is also a good thing for Hongmeng Bing's development.

Drawing the sword and feeling confused is the beginning of decline. "Xu Liang said with a smile.

In addition, from the time Google went public until now, he has been asking Hongyan to acquire its shares.

7.3% is not the end point.

Like Apple and Amazon, 15% is an appropriate number.

"Then I should call Chu Gang and ask him to buy some shares of Google."

"Haha, there's no need to call.

Lao Chu, despite being a polite person, is really a thief at heart.

The investment portfolio of the White Tiger US Fund he manages already has a 3.2% stake in Google. "

At this time, Lu Hui came over and interrupted the exchange between the two.

"Mr. Xu, your guests have arrived."

Lin Junrui also stood up knowingly.

"Mr. Xu, I'll go to work first."

Xu Liang nodded and patted his shoulder.

"From now on, you will be responsible for the work in the United States. The burden is very heavy, so don't slack off."

"Don't worry, I will do my best to live up to your expectations."

"Go ahead."

After Lin Junrui left.

Xu Liang adjusted his suit, turned around and walked downstairs.

When I arrived on the first floor, I happened to see Du Deheng and Henry Paulson getting out of the car.

After taking two steps forward, both parties also saw each other.

"Xu, congratulations."

Henry Paulson led the way.

Du Deheng is not far behind.

"Xu, congratulations on becoming a father. This is a great role."

"Thanks."

Henry Paulson continued with a smile: "I heard that Chinese tradition requires newborns to wear long-life locks. I consulted some people and specially customized three locks in Xiangjiang."

The secretary who came with him quickly took out a long wooden box from his briefcase and opened it. Inside was a three-sided silver lock.

The decoration is exquisite, and the edges are inlaid with diamonds, which makes it look more luxurious.

Xu Liang knew at first glance that it was produced by Chow Tai Fook.

Because this is not the first time he has bought it.

Du Deheng immediately took out his gift.

"We Westerners are used to wearing amber on babies and young children. I have prepared three necklaces, all made of the best Baltic amber. I hope the three little ones can grow up safely and live a long and healthy life."

"Thank you both for your gift. I like it very much."

He welcomed the two of them into the office politely.

After the guests and hosts were seated.

Serve tea.

"Xu, as soon as we received your call, we rushed here non-stop." Du Deheng said with a smile.

Henry Paulson echoed: "I also postponed Mr. President's State Council in order to have this meeting."

Of course Xu Liang knew that they were exaggerating to pave the way for more favorable conditions later.

smiled.

"I promise you two, you will never regret coming here today."

With that said, he placed the information prepared in advance in front of the two of them.

"Please look."

The two looked at each other and quickly picked up the information.

It's still calm at the beginning, but it changes more and more later on.

Shock, disbelief, and then overwhelming excitement.

Fortunately, both of them are used to big storms and can basically control their emotions.

"Xu, your plan is simply a genius idea." Henry Paulson said excitedly.

"Xu, Damo is willing to cooperate with Hanhua with the highest sincerity."

Du Deheng also said quickly.

They are different from Reed Montes. As veterans who have been on the financial streets for most of their lives, they know the tricks within rating agencies better than anyone else.

Therefore, in their opinion, the feasibility of Xu Liang's plan is almost over 90%.

Now they also understand why Reid Montes kept acquiring Oppenheimer.

With such huge benefits in front of you, no one can resist it.

"I believe in the sincerity of both of you, but why should Hanhua cooperate with you? Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Lehman, Merrill Lynch, and Bear Stearns can also be our choices."

Paulson said quickly, holding the document tightly in his hand.

"Xu, don't beat around the bush. I believe you called us here because you want to cooperate with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, so come up with your conditions. As long as we can do it, we will do our best to help you."

Du Deheng nodded in agreement.

"OK, I like to work with cheerful people the most."

Xu Liang waved his hand.

Lu Hui placed the other two documents in front of the two of them.

Pick it up and take a look.

Du Deheng looked surprised.

"Are you planning to acquire Unocal?"

"That's right."

Xu Liang nodded simply.

Hanhua and Hongyan have accumulated nearly $40 billion in cash.

This money cannot always remain in the account, it must be invested. Otherwise, just the annual depreciation would make him heartbroken.

At present, China's domestic market has limited capacity to absorb funds and requires approval. This does not mean that you can invest money if you want.

Then eliminate some companies with less appreciation potential.

After searching around, Xu Liang gradually focused on Unocal Oil Company.

This is a California oil giant with a history of more than 100 years.

In 1903, Unocal established the West's first oil factory and built the world's first oil tanker.

Huge economies of scale brought business opportunities, and the support of the oil industry enabled California to develop rapidly in the southern United States.

Similar to the gold rush of that year, large numbers of investors came here with dreams of getting rich, but this time they came here for the oil economy created by Unocal.

For Americans in the 1930s, Unocal's "76" logo was to some extent a characteristic representative of the American spirit.

Until the mid-1990s, Unocal was the leading oil and gasoline producer in California, and currently ranks ninth among U.S. oil drilling and production companies.

Like many large companies that have reached their peak, in order to pursue the so-called high efficiency and high revenue, the management made many mistakes.

While Texaco, Chevron and Exxon Mobil are all expanding through mergers and acquisitions to seize the market, Unocal has formulated a development strategy to put aside its gasoline business and focus on oil exploration and production in other regions, especially overseas regions.

First, it sold a 140-seat bus and truck station worth $180 million in 1993.

Then in 1996, it sold its three refineries in California, 1,350 natural gas stations on the West Coast, a sales system and other resources to Texaco, and even its once-proud " The 76” trademark was also sold, with a total value of US$2 billion.

But unfortunately, the success rate of oil exploration is not high.

There are too many examples of companies losing billions and not being able to get even a drop of oil.

Unocal didn’t have a father named ‘God’, and coupled with the low international oil prices at the time, Unocal almost lost money due to attacks from both sides.

Debt once reached $6.1 billion.

After selling off a large number of assets, it finally reduced its debt to the current US$2.9 billion.

The reason why Xu Liang took a fancy to it.

Except that he knows that oil and natural gas prices will skyrocket in the future, and investing in energy companies will make huge profits.

There is another very important point.

About 70% of Unocal's proven oil and natural gas reserves are located in Asia and the Caspian Sea region.

Its energy production bases in the United States are mainly in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico, while its main foreign production bases include the North Sea, Indonesia, Thailand and other places, of which Southeast Asia is its more important base.

In other words, Laos and the United States will start a trade war in the future.

It has a great impact on Unocal, but at least the roots can be retained.

This is critical.

"Xu, although Unocal is encountering difficulties now, it has huge oil and natural gas reserves, and it is very difficult to acquire them smoothly," Du Deheng said.