Chapter 685 - 490: Capital Boom, Pinbei Takes the Lead, an Estimated Market Cap of 88 Billion US Dollars

The next morning, Chen Yansen took Song Yuncheng to the Penguin Headquarters. They had a pot of tea in Xiaoma’s office, scored a free lunch, and then headed to the airport for a direct flight to Luzhou.

At the same time, Lei Yijun publicly announced that he had completed a fourth round of financing on October 8th. The round was led by DST Capital, with follow-on investments from Qiming, Temasek, and Qualcomm, pushing their valuation past 10 billion US dollars.

Shortly after, Chen Ou of Jumei Youpin declared on Weibo that he would submit an IPO application to Nasdaq in late October, with plans to list in the United States.

All of these moves were spurred by Vipshop’s market capitalization on the US stock market exceeding 10 billion US dollars.

This figure had lit a fire under Chen Ou, Liu Qiangdong, and Ma Liyun.

After all, in their eyes, Vipshop was barely a second-tier player in Hua Country’s e-commerce scene. If even a company like that could achieve a market cap of ten billion US dollars, it meant that overseas investors held extremely high expectations for the Hua Country e-commerce industry.

The window of opportunity presented by the market boom was rare, and no one wanted to miss out.

Especially with competition in the e-commerce sector growing fiercer by the day, going public was a way to quickly replenish their war chests. It also allowed them to use capital to widen the gap with their rivals. No one was willing to be left behind.

Chen Ou aimed to use the IPO to claim the title of "the first publicly traded beauty e-commerce stock." Liu Qiangdong was scheming to use the funds to accelerate the construction of his logistics system. Although Ma Liyun didn’t say anything explicitly, he was secretly developing his overseas business, attempting to further expand Ali Baba’s territory.

The entire industry was swept up in this capital craze!

Everyone’s minds were filled with thoughts of ’going public,’ ’cashing in,’ and ’achieving financial freedom.’

Meanwhile, Huang Zheng had already set foot in New York. With Goldman Sachs Capital managing the process, Pinbei was being packaged as "Hua Country’s Number One Social E-commerce Stock."

The fact that Pinbei’s founder was the world’s new richest man only further ignited the enthusiasm of North American investors.

On Wall Street, a new breed of stock managers had even emerged, specializing in the study of Chen Yansen and Senlian Capital.

Many investment firms were rubbing their hands together, raising funds to subscribe to Pinbei’s depository shares.

There were a total of 220 million shares, priced at 34 US dollars each, representing 10% of Pinbei’s total share capital. The expected financing was 7.48 billion US dollars.

But the cake was only so big.

The five major underwriters, including Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, and Morgan Stanley, didn’t give outsiders a chance, carving up all 220 million depository shares for themselves.

Although Pinbei’s market share was less than Ali Baba’s, this fact, paradoxically, stimulated even more aggressive subscription interest from North American investment firms.

They weren’t just interested in Pinbei’s unique "social e-commerce" model, but more so in the business empire of its founder, Chen Yansen.

From the hardware ecosystem of Orange Technology to the massive user traffic pools of Toutiao, Lingxi Browser, and Lingxi Search, and the global influence of Deep Blue Battery, every step he took revealed a precise and strategic vision.

This combination of "founder endorsement + innovative model" led many firms to believe that even if Pinbei’s current market share was slightly inferior, its future growth potential was in no way less than Ali Baba’s.

Moreover, Pinbei’s user growth and conversion rates had consistently been at the forefront of the industry. These two points alone were enough to support the imaginative space for a high valuation.

Thus, the investment firms that failed to secure a share turned their attention to the secondary market, planning to buy in after Pinbei went public, terrified of missing the "Hua Country wealth train" that was the talk of Wall Street.

Suddenly, Huang Zheng became a hot commodity in the Lighthouse Country’s capital circles.

He led Pinbei’s finance, legal, and roadshow teams from New York, traveling through Boston and Chicago, and then on to the West Coast.

He might be at JPMorgan Chase headquarters in the morning, then have to rush to BlackRock for a luncheon investment meeting, and in the afternoon, he’d be off to Tiger Fund.

The roadshow PowerPoint presentation covered Pinbei’s unit economics, technological barriers, non-replicable competitive advantages, and a visual data dashboard, among other things.

After a few days of this trial by fire, Huang Zheng could already present parts of it without notes.

Facing the probing questions and challenges from major investment firms, Huang Zheng, having prepared thoroughly, remained calm and composed throughout, ensuring the roadshow went off without a hitch.

While Lao Huang was in the Lighthouse Country working himself to death, buried in social engagements, Chen Yansen moved into a villa in Luzhou’s Baohe District. Under the guise of a business trip, he began a leisurely vacation.

A year ago, on his orders, Gao Weilin had purchased a total of five villas in Luzhou. This was the first one President Chen had stayed in.

He had given Guo Mengjie a key to one of the villas, but she just hadn’t moved in.

Chen Yansen sat on the sofa with a laptop on his knees, having just finished a video conference with Huang Zheng.

Pinbei’s IPO process was going far more smoothly than he had imagined.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley recommended raising the issue price to 40 US dollars per share, as subscription orders had already oversubscribed the offering by thirteen times. Demand far outstripped supply!

A price increase was the only way to reflect Pinbei’s true value.

In other words, if the premium offering was successful, Pinbei’s market cap on its first day, based on the opening price, would be as high as 88 billion US dollars.

That was four times Jingdong’s valuation and eight times Vipshop’s market cap!

Calculated based on his 68.8% stake, his net worth from Pinbei alone would exceed 60 billion US dollars.

There was no helping it. Although Pinbei’s valuation wasn’t exceptionally high, his shareholding percentage was simply too large.

Take Penguin, for example. Though its market cap was over a hundred billion US dollars, Ma Wenteng’s stake was only 10.2%, so his net worth was only in the tens of billions.

Pinbei had developed too quickly. From its establishment to its IPO, it took less than three years—an estimated 28 months.

It had also broken the record for the fastest US listing by a Hua Country enterprise.

Of course, five years from now, Lu Zhenyao, known as the "Fast Man," would be even more absurd.

From its trial operation to its official listing on Nasdaq in May 2019, Luckin Coffee took only 17 months.

His operational prowess was truly something to behold.

Chen Yansen mulled it over for a moment, then tossed his laptop aside. He picked up a risqué, cutout Ultraman cosplay outfit from the sofa next to him and headed upstairs.

...

...

「The next morning. Luzhou International Conference Center.」

A giant advertising banner hung over the entrance: The 2013 Orange Technology Autumn Product Launch—Let Technology Change Life!

The parking lot was packed. Over ninety percent of the vehicles were luxury cars worth millions, with a few Hongqi, Audi, and Coaster models mixed in.

In terms of price, these cars certainly couldn’t compare to the neighboring Mercedes, BMWs, and Ferraris.

But one look at the license plates, and everyone’s first reaction was to take a step back, terrified of accidentally scratching the paint.

Chen Yansen was standing at the entrance. As soon as he saw Meng Yuanzhi and Tao Jingwen, he hurried over to greet them. "Mr. Meng, welcome!"

"I made a point to arrive half an hour early. This is Orange Technology’s first press conference in Luzhou. I have to witness the debut of the Celestial Craft A100 Chip with my own eyes."

Meng Yuanzhi said with a broad smile.

Logically, Orange Technology’s headquarters were still in Xucheng, so this product launch should have been held there as well.

But after learning that the Celestial Craft A100 Chip would be announced at this conference, Meng Yuanzhi must have offered Xu Zhenhui some kind of incentive, because he insisted on moving the event’s location to Luzhou.

"I’m more interested in the sales figures," Chen Yansen joked with a natural shrug.

Standing behind Meng Yuanzhi, Tao Jingwen gave Chen Yansen a deep look. She had constantly overestimated the value of Senlian Capital, only to find that she had still underestimated the speed of its rise.

He had appeared on the seven o’clock evening news twice. Li Qingsong had paid a personal visit. He was the world’s richest man of 2013, the owner of the lithium-sulfur battery patent, with a net worth exceeding one hundred billion US dollars.

Any one of these titles would be enough to make a person the center of universal attention.

And now, all of them belonged to Chen Yansen alone.

As Meng Yuanzhi’s chief secretary, Tao Jingwen had met countless geniuses. But in front of Chen Yansen, none of them were even worthy of carrying his shoes.

"Why would you worry about selling a good product? I believe in Orange Technology’s R&D capabilities, and I believe in your ability."

Meng Yuanzhi praised him generously.

"You flatter me, Mr. Meng. This way, please!"

Chen Yansen gestured, leading Meng Yuanzhi and his entourage into the 2,500-square-meter grand conference hall, and then to their seats in the front row.

He had just gotten Meng Yuanzhi settled when Meng Yun hurried over and whispered in his ear, "Boss, President Ren from Huawei is here."

Chen Yansen nodded, excused himself to Meng Yuanzhi, and turned to head back to the entrance.

Before he could get close, Ren Zhongfei was already waving with a smile.

Yu Chendong followed along like an eager subordinate, grinning from ear to ear.

"President Ren, it was a long trip for you."

Chen Yansen took Ren Zhongfei’s right hand and shook it with just the right amount of force, a sincere smile on his face.

Ren Zhongfei patted the back of his hand, his gaze sweeping over the poster at the venue entrance. "The Celestial Craft A100 is the first fully self-developed domestic chip. If I didn’t come, I’m afraid people in the industry would laugh at me for being behind the times."

Be that as it may, Ren Zhongfei’s performance estimate for the Celestial Craft A100 was, at best, on par with the Snapdragon 600 or Tegra 3.

It was precisely because he understood chips that he knew just how difficult it was to design a SoC chip that integrated modules like a CPU, GPU, baseband, and DSP.

’If Tiangong Technology had pulled it off so easily, what did that make Hisilicon’s decade of hard work? Did it mean Huawei’s R&D engineers were idiots?’

"You’re giving me too much credit, President Ren." Chen Yansen gestured for him to enter. With his sharp observation skills, he had naturally noticed Ren Zhongfei’s skepticism about the Celestial Craft A100, but he paid it no mind.

After all, Ren Zhongfei’s opinion didn’t matter. The market’s response would prove everything.

Chen Yansen saw him to his seat in the conference hall and then returned to the entrance.

Zhou Shouzhi was on a business trip in North America, so he had arranged for the remaining Orange Technology executives, Wang Shixiang and Wang Teng, to greet guests at the door. Ye Qiuping had also made a special trip from out of town to Luzhou.

The status, scale, and importance of the guests at this launch far exceeded any previous event. Hundreds of domestic and international media outlets alone had come, and even publications like *The People’s Daily*, *Time* magazine, *Fortune* magazine, and CCTV had sent staff to cover it.

Next, Hu Ruihui of the Huake Science Association, Ge Yue, the Apple Asia President, and He Dingyou, the ZTE Mobile Phone Chief, arrived one after another.

Representatives from mobile phone manufacturers like Coolpad, High Technology Corporation, Lenovo, Mountain Star, and Nokia had also arrived early.

Suppliers like Qualcomm, MediaTek, Sony, and BOE had also sent their highest-ranking regional heads in Asia to attend.

The reason was simple: Orange Technology had that kind of clout.

A host of fellow tech CEOs, like Rebus, Zhou Hongyi, Ding Lei, Jia Yueting, and Wu Xin Hong, also came to show their support.

After receiving their invitations, representatives from nearly half of the world’s mobile phone brands had chosen to attend.

Everyone wanted to understand if the "self" in the "self-developed" Celestial Craft A100 chip meant it was truly developed in-house, or if the technology had been bought or plagiarized.

Although Tiangong Technology had previously launched the Celestial Craft T100 AI chip, the R&D difficulty of the two was not on the same level, which was why many people were skeptical.