Chapter 703: A Top-Tier Talent for 3 Million US Dollars? That's Too Cheap! Making Money by Decree

‘With his clothes on, he’s actually hard to recognize.’

“Pony wants to merge Tencent Video’s and Sohu Video’s operations. What are your thoughts?”

Zhang Chaoyang asked out of the blue.

In fact, he and Ma Wenteng had grown quite close over the past six months, and their business dealings were frequent.

Penguin had already spun off QQ Input Method and Soso, merging them with Sogou Search and Sogou Input Method, and had even shelled out 450 million US Dollars for a strategic investment.

“Senlian Capital only holds a 20% stake in Tencent Video. Pony asked for my opinion privately, but I don’t really have one.”

Chen Yansen shrugged, looking indifferent.

His home turf was the short-video platform, which could funnel a steady stream of traffic to his other businesses.

As for long-video platforms, the investment was high, the returns were low, and the payback period was long. He had only invested in it on a whim.

“You’re a sharp guy. Give me some advice: merge or continue independent operations?”

Zhang Chaoyang stared at him with a burning gaze.

“Old Zhang.”

“Call me Charles.”

“Oh, Charles, do you personally want to merge or operate independently?”

“Operate independently.”

“Then operate independently.”

“…”

Zhang Chaoyang was struck speechless, then burst out laughing. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Chen Yansen. ‘You little brat, could you be any more perfunctory?’

But he wasn’t angry. Instead, he nudged Chen Yansen’s shoulder and whispered, “Feel like a change of pace tonight?”

As he spoke, he jutted his chin toward Yoshizawa Akiho on the set.

“You can have her,” Chen Yansen refused flatly.

‘This isn’t an issue of a used car anymore; she’s a public bus.’

“Fine. I’ll take you upstairs to see my wine collection. Take your pick.” Zhang Chaoyang didn’t seem to mind, leaving the studio laughing and chatting with Chen Yansen.

「Meanwhile.」

Liang Jingsong got off the plane and, with his younger sister, tried to hail a taxi. But after asking several drivers in a row, they all explained they were ride-share drivers at the airport to pick up pre-booked customers.

“You didn’t place an order in the app, so I can’t take you.”

Only then did Liang Jingsong realize that the adoption rate of ride-sharing apps in the country was even higher than in regions like North America, Japan, and Korea.

Left with no choice, he quickly downloaded Fast Taxi and requested a ride.

Since he had selected a business-class vehicle, someone accepted his request a moment later.

Just then, the phone in Liang Jingsong’s pocket rang.

He pulled it out and saw the caller ID: Hu Ruihui from the Huake Science Association.

After a moment’s thought, he answered the call and asked, “Lao Hu, how did you know I came to Yanjing?”

“Huh?! You’re in Yanjing?” Hu Ruihui was clearly taken aback, asking reflexively.

Liang Jingsong immediately realized his mistake and corrected himself. “I just left the arrival gate. Lao Hu, what’s up?”

“I want to introduce you to a new friend, Chen Yansen, the founder of Tiangong Technology and Senlian Capital.”

Hu Ruihui said, getting straight to the point.

Chen Yansen had asked him to help find a chief scientist or CEO for a new project, and Liang Jingsong was the first person who came to his mind.

In the current struggle between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Mountain Star, Liang Jingsong had become a sacrificial lamb, barred from working for Mountain Star for two years.

Wasn’t this the perfect candidate Chen Yansen was looking for?

The man understood technology and management, was familiar with process flows, and had deep connections in the supply chain industry.

If Chen Yansen hadn’t asked, he most likely would have introduced Liang Jingsong to Huaxin International.

“Chen Yansen again? As far as I know, Tiangong Technology is just a chip design company, right?”

Full of doubt, Liang Jingsong couldn’t help but press for more information.

“He plans to invest 30 billion to build a 28-nanometer process chip production base,” Hu Ruihui said slowly.

’30 billion?’

Liang Jingsong had first heard his nephew speak of Chen Yansen with the utmost admiration, and now, seeing Hu Ruihui personally making the introduction, his interest was genuinely piqued.

‘The world’s richest man at twenty-one… Even if I don’t accept his offer in the end, there’s no harm in meeting him.’

“I’m going to climb the Great Wall early tomorrow morning, but I’m free in the evening.”

Liang Jingsong replied after some consideration.

“No problem. I’ll send you the time and place later,” Hu Ruihui readily agreed.

「On the other side.」

Chen Yansen and Zhang Chaoyang were heading to a high-end bar nearby when he received a call from Hu Ruihui.

“Liang Jingsong? He’s in Yanjing? Okay, Mr. Hu, thank you very much.”

Chen Yansen thanked him sincerely.

‘I never thought Lao Hu would be so on top of things!’

With Liang Jingsong’s capabilities, he was more than qualified to serve as the new project’s CTO or co-CEO.

He had previously worked at AMD Company, then joined Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), making a name for himself with the 0.13-micron process technology.

Afterward, he joined Mountain Star as the Chief Technology Officer of the chip division, increasing the yield rate of the 28-nanometer process from 20% to over 95%, thereby enhancing Mountain Star’s competitiveness in the logic chip sector.

To put it simply, if Liang Jingsong hadn’t joined, Mountain Star would have been at the mercy of Qualcomm and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in the mid-to-high-end chip market.

Three days ago, Chen Yansen had sent his list of preferred candidates to the HR department, and Liang Jingsong was ranked second.

After some thought, he set the meeting place at Jingzhao Prefect.

…

…

The next evening, as the city lights began to glow, the streets were brilliantly illuminated.

Outside Jingzhao Prefect, Chen Yansen was chatting with Hu Ruihui.

“A one-time licensing fee of 20 million, plus a 0.5% royalty. That price is very reasonable. I’ll have my staff follow up with you later.”

Hu Ruihui quickly agreed, afraid that Chen Yansen would go back on his word.

After all, the performance of the Profound Core architecture far surpassed similar products from NVIDIA and ARM, whose upfront licensing fees alone were between 10 to 50 million US Dollars, with royalties as high as 2%.

Only major clients like Apple or Intel had a chance of getting an ultra-low royalty rate of 0.5%.

Clearly, Chen Yansen was returning a favor, thanking him for making the connection.

“What was Liang Jingsong’s compensation package like at Mountain Star and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC)?”

Chen Yansen smiled, waved his hand, and then asked casually.

‘When you work for someone, it’s ultimately for money and power.’

‘First, the money has to be right. Second, the trust and authority must be in place.’

“That question has me stumped. I’ve known Liang Jingsong for seven or eight years, but I’ve never inquired about his income.”

“His position at Mountain Star was President of the Semiconductor Business. I can help you ask around about the income level for similar roles in the industry.”

Hu Ruihui was slightly taken aback and said with a frown.

“I’ll have to trouble you then, Mr. Hu,” Chen Yansen said politely.

He had seen statistics from third-party agencies before and had a general idea of the income for someone like Liang Jingsong. However, in negotiations, a small difference can lead to a huge gap. Having more information was never a bad thing.

If you couldn’t even offer enough money, trying to poach someone was pure fantasy.

A talent of Liang Jingsong’s caliber was long past the stage of working just to make ends meet. He valued the platform, resources, and whether the effort matched the reward.

If you couldn’t offer sincere terms, you wouldn’t even get a chance for a deep discussion, let alone convince him to abandon his current plans and join you.

Chen Yansen knew perfectly well that so-called negotiation tactics were merely supplementary; tangible benefits were the key to moving people’s hearts.

Especially for someone like Liang Jingsong, who had been through the wringer in the industry for years and had seen it all, empty promises were far less convincing than a clear compensation plan.

The better you understood his expectations, the more precise your offer could be, ensuring you neither lost the talent by offering too little nor wasted unnecessary costs by offering too much.

This was the most surefire strategy in any negotiation!

Hu Ruihui took out his phone and sent a text message.

Less than three minutes later, he received a precise reply.

Hu Ruihui’s protégés and old acquaintances were spread across the globe, with most holding mid-to-senior management positions in the semiconductor industry. It was a simple matter for them to dig up this kind of information.

Generally, Liang Jingsong’s compensation package included a fixed salary, stock incentives, and performance bonuses, in a 4:4:2 ratio.

The CEO of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) had an annual salary of 6 to 7.2 million US Dollars; the President of Mountain Star Electronics earned 4 to 4.8 million US Dollars annually; and the head of technology at Huaxin International made between 2.6 and 3 million US Dollars a year.

From this, it was clear why it was normal to fail at recruiting talent.

Who would be willing to take a pay cut for a job?

“Liang Jingsong’s position at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) was Senior R&D Director, and his position at Samsung was Chief Technology Officer. His salary was most likely around 3 million US Dollars.”

Hu Ruihui analyzed with clear logic.

3 million US Dollars, equivalent to 18.6 million Hua Yuan.

To be honest, that income level wasn’t even as high as what Zhou Shouzhi, Gao Weilin, and the others made.

‘A top electronics engineer in 2013 is so damn cheap!’

Chen Yansen thought to himself.

About five minutes later, a BMW business van slowly pulled up. A man in his fifties wearing a suit stepped out. He had on an old-fashioned striped shirt, and his hairline was receding a bit.

“Lao Hu.”

The man in the suit waved, then his gaze fell on Chen Yansen.

‘The world’s richest man, founder of Senlian Capital, with a fortune of 98 billion US Dollars?’

‘He’s so young!’

A flash of surprise appeared in Liang Jingsong’s eyes.