Chapter 168: Wei Jin

The fourth round of financing for Tudou had begun, but Wei Jin had not expected Wang Wei to come to Beijing in person.

Last year, Tudou's third round of financing was 20 million USD, which was basically taken on by Wei Jin alone; at the time, it had only taken a phone call.

Currently, Tudou's shareholding structure is: Wei Jin holds 42%, Sina holds 8%, and Wang Wei holds 50%.

"President Wei, this round of financing is quite large, and Youku has already started to exert its strength; we must keep up."

Speaking of this, Wang Wei felt some regret for his own timidity; he had been intent on keeping the shares in his own hands, and each time the financing amount was not very large, appearing somewhat stingy.

Yet the competitor Youku had clearly started a year later than Tudou, and now they had already completed their third round of financing, with an amount much larger than Tudou's; Gu Yongqiang truly had boldness.

"How much do you need?"

Wei Jin had long anticipated the money-burning nature of video websites; furthermore, under his own suggestion, Wang Wei had bought a lot of copyrights in advance, so naturally, money was spent like water.

"60 million, USD."

Speaking of this, Wang Wei was actually a bit embarrassed; it was just that 20 million USD had been spent in less than half a year, and he felt he hadn't achieved much of anything.

"President Wang, money is not the problem; how are you calculating the valuation?"

The previous round's valuation had reached as high as 200 million USD, which Wei Jin hadn't quibbled over, as Tudou would be his sooner or later; if this time it still wasn't reliable, at worst Wei Jin would just not lead the investment and would introduce other capital instead.

"President Wei, a valuation of 300 million, still 20%; Sina recognizes this valuation, what do you think?"

Currently, Tudou's market share is as high as 15%, followed closely by Youku at 12%, while the rest—PPS, Ku6, and UC—are all under 10%; as the undisputed big brother, a valuation of 300 million USD is not excessive.

"That's fine, is Sina following?"

"President Cao doesn't intend to follow this round; if it's inconvenient for you, President Wei, IDG is also contacting me."

"No need, it's only 60 million; I'll take it all."

A mere 60 million USD was something Wei Jin didn't take to heart at all; he didn't even know exactly how much money he had himself.

His layout in North America from previous years had already begun to show results, and for YouTube, which he invested in earliest, Wei Jin's shareholding ratio was as high as 70%.

At the end of the year before last, Google offered 1.65 billion USD, and the founder team very much wanted to sell, but Wei Jin did not agree and only accepted an equity stake; from this one transaction alone, Wei Jin received 500 million USD, and he still holds 45% of the shares, with this portion currently valued at as high as 3 billion USD.

The reason for introducing Google was also to avoid attracting the attention of North American internet giants; one must know that North American capital does not play by the rules, and without big capital behind you, you will be eaten clean sooner or later.

He also has 14% of the shares in Facebook, invested in successively over these years, and this portion is currently valued at as high as 1.4 billion USD.

In addition, the cash earned from Netease stocks alone in these few years is no less than 2 billion USD, though most of it has been successively invested in companies famous in his past life, such as Tesla, Apple, Twitter, and Netflix.

Therefore, it is truly not an easy matter to have Wei Jin clearly state how much money he has.

If one insists on estimating a rough figure, adding in his domestic assets, it's probably in the tens of billions of USD.

After this wave of the financial crisis, Wei Jin estimates his wealth will have to double a few times over.

However, these shares all need to be held long-term; in the short term, Wei Jin's liquid capital is only a few hundred million.

"By the way, President Wei, could you communicate with Yinxiang Net and put Tudou's video links on there?"

Seeing that the financing was no longer a problem, Wang Wei proposed a new idea.

Yinxiang Net's traffic is too high; if they helped drive traffic, the boost to Tudou would be too great.

"Isn't this caused by piracy? Your content isn't standardized right now, so they don't dare put links up for you; if a dispute arises, who is to blame?"

Wei Jin did not open this door; Yinxiang Net has its own separate considerations and does not serve Tudou, unless you can ensure clear copyright ownership.

"I understand this principle; I am already stepping up copyright purchases, but for those that already have copyrights, you can open it up, right?"

Speaking of piracy, Wang Wei was also very distressed; currently, the biggest bottleneck for development was actually not coming from competitors.

Over these years, Tudou has bought quite a few copyrights, and they have basically bought all the films and television dramas produced by Wei Jin, and even those in the Golden Harvest film library, but they couldn't withstand the fact that there was too much piracy from peers; it was impossible to sue them all.

"That is possible; I'll make a call later, and you can find time to talk to them directly."

Wei Jin did not continue this topic; in his view, these were all small matters, so he directly called for the legal department to prepare to sign the contract, though there was one thing that had to be mentioned.

"Old Wang, we've known each other for two or three years now, right? You got married last year, and I truly couldn't get away; please forgive me."

"Eh, you've already explained that; I understand."

Wang Wei waved his hand, indicating he didn't mind; furthermore, the gift money Wei Jin sent was enough to show his sincerity.

"You have also stayed in North America and should be clear about the rules of Wall Street; once an investor's marital status changes, then legal constraints must inevitably be made regarding property to protect the rights of the investors."

"Mm, I understand; I will supplement the agreement when I go back."

Wang Wei understood quickly and also understood Wei Jin's worries; this was indeed a problem.

"That's good; don't blame me for overstepping."

Wang Wei being so reasonable actually made Wei Jin feel a bit embarrassed, because this was clearly him not being optimistic about someone else's marriage.

"It's only right; the capital market should be a bit more rational."

As the two spoke and laughed, they signed the contract, though Wang Wei knew that before the agreement was supplemented, the financing funds would not arrive in the account.

After this financing was completed, Wei Jin's shareholding in Tudou exceeded 55%, making him the undisputed largest shareholder; it would no longer be possible for Tudou to escape Wei Jin's control. — Calling his dad to tell him he wouldn't be coming home for the Spring Festival indeed brought about a round of complaints; it was just that Wei Jin wasn't very used to going back, and he was pondering having his dad and uncle come to Beijing to spend the New Year instead.

After listening to Wei Xingbang's nagging and just hanging up the phone, Wang Zhonglei called to arrange a meeting with Wei Jin to talk.

This left Wei Jin a bit confused; there didn't seem to be any business dealings with Huayi recently, but after thinking it over, he agreed to meet.

On the other side, seeing Wang Zhonglei hang up the phone, Chen Guofu hurriedly asked: "How was it?"

"He agreed, but be mentally prepared; this little fox is not so easy to dismiss."

Wang Zhonglei also felt a headache at this moment; some time ago, Chen Guofu had taken a fancy to a novel, and after evaluation, the company also felt it had great adaptation value, but who would have thought the copyright had already been sold; after much inquiry, he found out it was bought by Wei Jin Company.

"Then it depends on what conditions he proposes, but this drama really has high hopes of becoming a hit; Zhonglei, I hope you support me."

Chen Guofu really wanted to film this piece; when he saw the novel, he already had the images in his mind, but who would have thought it would be stuck on the copyright hurdle.

"Set your mind at ease, Guofu." — Zhu Wei quickly drove the car to the location; his boss wasn't going back for the New Year, so naturally he wouldn't either, but he had already brought his family to Beijing, which could be considered letting his family spend the New Year at the root of the Imperial City.

Wei Jin quickly arrived at the private room; besides Wang Zhonglei, there were three other people, one of whom was very eye-catching: Dong Xuan.

Before he could look around more, Wang Zhonglei had already started introducing: "President Wei, we've been waiting for a long time; this is Director Chen Guofu."

"President Wei, hello." So it was him; although Wei Jin didn't know him, he knew some of his gossip; it was said he was Liu Naicha's soulmate, and *A World Without Thieves* was a film he had forcibly made Liu Naicha star in as the lead; he was also Huayi's trusted aide.

Chen Guofu wore black-rimmed glasses, and his appearance was somewhat similar to Xu Laoguai.

"Hello, Director Chen."

While speaking, Wang Zhonglei gestured for Wei Jin to take a seat; Dong Xuan and another female artist both sat beside Wei Jin, looking as if they intended to engage in some public relations.

"President Wei, we are old friends, so I won't beat around the bush. Can you yield the copyright for *The Message* to Huayi?"

Wang Zhonglei's words made Wei Jin understand the situation today; so this was the scheme they had in mind.

Wei Jin's idea of hoarding high-quality content was strongly supported by Chen Zhiming, who had also purchased many novel copyrights over the years; the prices weren't high anyway, and that was how *The Message* had been secured, costing no more than one million.

"Oh? What can President Wang offer me?"

"Huayi is willing to pay a premium; how about three million?"

Wang Zhonglei had naturally done his homework, and he felt this price was very sincere.

"Does President Wang think I am short of this little bit of money?"

Wei Jin felt it was somewhat amusing; never mind that Huayi hadn't gone public yet, even if they had, they would still be a junior compared to him. Trying to throw money at him? They were thinking too much.

Chen Guofu already had a bad premonition at this moment and hurriedly poured wine for Wei Jin.

"Then I wonder, President Wei, what are your thoughts?"

"Right, President Wei, tell us your thoughts. The relationship between our two companies has always been quite good."

Wang Zhonglei also reacted; Wei Jin was definitely not short of money, so he could only play the emotional card, and he immediately gave Dong Xuan a wink.

"President Wei, I toast you."

Dong Xuan's voice was somewhat gentle; she was originally of a calm and indifferent nature, and she was still somewhat unaccustomed to Huayi's style of conduct.

Wei Jin naturally would not refuse a toast from a beauty, especially since Dong Xuan was considered a female artist with a good reputation.

"Miss Dong, when did you join Huayi? Did you never consider coming to my place?"

"President Wei is joking; how could your company possibly look upon someone like me?"

Dong Xuan was originally an artist at Xinbaoyuan, but her development over the past few years had not been too good; after her contract expired, they parted ways peacefully.

As for Wei Jin Company, she had indeed considered it, but she didn't know where she had heard the rumor that the female artists under Wei Jin were basically his playthings, so she dismissed the thought. She had just signed with Huayi two months ago, but she hadn't expected that she would still have to do things that couldn't be brought to light.

If Wei Jin knew what she was thinking inside, he would definitely cry out that he was wronged; it was true that he, Wei Jin, was a romantic, but he was not a lecher.

"President Wei, our two companies have never formally collaborated before; what do you think about this time?"

Wang Zhonglei meant to co-produce; his calculations were quite good.

"."

Seeing Wei Jin lost in thought, Wang Zhonglei frantically winked at Dong Xuan, and the latter, somewhat unwillingly, pressed against Wei Jin, her small hands rubbing against Wei Jin's thigh.

"It's not that it's impossible, but that depends on Huayi's sincerity."

Wei Jin's move was, of course, not driven by lust, but was a result of careful consideration. Among the well-known companies in the industry, he indeed hadn't collaborated with Huayi before, so this could be considered an opportunity. Besides, he hadn't intended to direct this drama anyway, but it remained to be seen if Huayi could take the hint.

"A 40% investment stake, President Wei, what do you think?"

"The sincerity is still not enough."

"President Wei might as well speak plainly; what do you want? As long as Huayi has it, I, Wang, will never be stingy!"

Wei Jin did not answer immediately, but instead fixed his gaze on Dong Xuan, his mouth curling with a hint of playfulness.

Just as Dong Xuan was feeling embarrassed by the gaze, and Wang Zhonglei thought he understood something, Wei Jin spoke:

"How about Huayi's original shares?"

"?!?"

Wang Zhonglei was stunned by Wei Jin's sudden turn, unable to react for a moment.

"Is President Wei saying you want to subscribe to Huayi's stock?"

"Yes, I heard from Young Master Zhou that your company has started internal subscription, and I also have the intention to invest. I assume President Wang won't refuse, right?"

"Does President Wei think so highly of the listing?"

It was no wonder Wang Zhonglei was surprised; even many artists under Huayi were not very optimistic about their own company's stock, and even the two brothers themselves had no confidence in their hearts. After all, it was the first film and television company stock, and they didn't know if the listing would be successful.

"It's not about being optimistic; as the first film and television stock, it will at least have some reference value. Who can say for sure about the future?"

Wang Zhonglei nodded, seemingly understanding Wei Jin's meaning; this was to test the waters and prepare for his own company's future listing.

"Since President Wei trusts Huayi, I, Wang, will naturally not be stingy. Currently, the internal purchase limit for company artists is 1.8 million shares at 3 yuan per share. President Wei is, of course, not restricted, but I don't know how many you want?"

"How about 50 million shares?"

"Good, President Wei has great spirit. In that case, we can truly be considered one family."

Wang Zhonglei was pleasantly surprised and hurriedly agreed. Wei Jin was essentially giving money to Huayi; once announced, his participation would surely give the market more confidence, and the road to listing would be smoother.

Wei Jin was naturally secretly happy in his heart as well; this wave could be considered a win-win. Once Huayi went public, the money for Tudou's fifth round of financing would be secured.

"Naturally so. *The Message* will be left to Director Chen, but I want half of the roles, and there must be a producer from my side."

"That is only right. President Wei, I wish us a pleasant cooperation. Cheers!"

The smile on Wang Zhonglei's face was very sincere; with 50 million shares, Wei Jin's stake would reach nearly 15%, definitely making him one of their own.

The subsequent banquet was very harmonious. Dong Xuan was also shocked by Wei Jin's grand gesture; talented and young with money, for a moment she felt that coming to today's dinner was the right choice. After eating and drinking to her heart's content, Wei Jin left with Dong Xuan, and Wang Zhonglei was naturally happy to see it happen.

From the moment she got into the car, Dong Xuan was no longer in control of herself; Wei Jin's techniques were so superb that they made her, who was not very experienced, feel as if she were in heaven.

Arriving all the way at the Golden House, Dong Xuan's consciousness was already blurring, so Wei Jin stopped testing her, took safety measures, and began to savor this Snow Goddess Dragon.

That night, Dong Xuan experienced unprecedented pleasure; she regretted why she hadn't joined Wei Jin's company. Today's second update, I implore all book friends to reward me with subscriptions, follow-up reads, and collections. You must flip to the last page for the follow-up read, thank you everyone! (End of chapter)