Chapter 286: The Vast Capital Pool and the Charity Night: Four Stars and Two Soldiers Gather

Since before last year's bull market began, Seeing Yan Li had gathered funds to start stock trading, accumulating over a year of time.

During this period, Seeing Yan Li made various investments and acquired property, with a significant portion of the capital originating from the stock market.

For example, the 150 million yuan invested in Yi'an Cinema Chain was entirely sourced from the stock market.

Currently, Seeing Yan Li's stock market funds total only about 250 million yuan, because he has consistently withdrawn profits for various reasons, keeping the stock capital at a level that is not particularly conspicuous.

Only as he approached the exit phase did he slightly increase it, but he still planned to gradually withdraw.

Exactly how much money Seeing Yan Li made during the entire bull market, he himself couldn't clearly say right now.

Because stock trading involves both losses and gains; although he withdrew substantial sums, during favorable market conditions or certain moments, he would reinvest some idle capital back in.

But it is certain that after retaining some long-term holdings and withdrawing most of the stock market funds, he held at least 300 million yuan+ in cash flow.

Moreover, these cash reserves were not his entire capital.

Yi'an's account held a sum of money; as of now, the company had consistently remained profitable.

Although most of the funds were reinvested into projects, the account still retained money, even under Seeing Yan Li's periodic withdrawals.

Yan Ye Capital also had funds, being an investment firm, it naturally retained some surplus capital.

And although most of Yan Ye's invested companies were in early growth stages, a very few could distribute dividends—in other words, Yan Ye was profitable.

Not only dividends, but shares in companies he no longer favored or whose market conditions had changed could also be sold or liquidated, similarly generating capital inflow.

Additionally, for the newly established Weibo, Seeing Yan Li allocated a sum to support its development, sufficient to cover all initial preparations and operations.

Combined, these cash flows exceeded 100 million yuan, but since they pertained to company growth, they could not be lightly touched unless necessary.

There were also usable liquid funds!

During the World Cup, Seeing Yan Li placed a sum of money in Xiangjiang; considering his financial crisis preparations, he also set aside additional capital to see if he could make a profit.

These two sums were, respectively, an overseas contingency reserve for operational flexibility, and chips for the gaming table.

Making a fortune during a financial crisis is no easy task.

Countless New Shanghai tycoons and financial titans had been utterly destroyed; even with his system's aid, Seeing Yan Li would never be blindly optimistic.

He had reached today, earned hundreds of millions from the stock market, withdrawn safely and with little attention, and propelled several companies into rapid, promising growth—all thanks to one word: 【Steadiness】.

So, gamble if you must, but remain cautious.

Seeing Yan Li specifically set aside a separate fund: if he made a huge profit, fine; if he lost, it would remain within acceptable limits and not disrupt his other strategies.

Then there was Seeing Yan Li's personal slush fund.

It was accumulated bit by bit, here and there, for his personal enjoyment or small purchases; the amount wasn't large—under 20 million yuan.

Dong Xuan and Qin Lan, due to the original "escape plan," had each saved some of the money Seeing Yan Li gave them.

The exact figures were unclear, but after several years, together they likely had around 8 to 10 million yuan.

But these two sums were purely personal or family savings; if Seeing Yan Li were forced to touch them, he might as well file for corporate bankruptcy and start over.

In short, Seeing Yan Li didn't just have multiple escape routes emotionally—he deeply understood the principle of not putting all eggs in one basket when it came to personal finances.

And notably, the above only accounted for Seeing Yan Li's personally free-to-move cash flow.

If he employed every possible means—borrowing, loans, financing—he could mobilize an astonishing amount of cash.

No exaggeration: given his reputation and aura, if he asked for money, several banks would compete to hand it over.

Seeing Yan Li acted with caution, planned three steps ahead, considered failure before victory, and withdrew immediately if things went awry.

Thus, he appeared relatively "small-scale," but if he unleashed his full power, combined with his intelligence network, even the top few on the leaderboard would be left with broken teeth.

…

After tallying his funds, Seeing Yan Li felt his wallet was still full and his confidence restored.

Then, he began spending.

"Spending" was an exaggeration—there were only two targets.

One was Yi'an Cinema Chain: the last two theaters were nearly complete, one already preparing for opening, the other in final renovation.

This officially marked the completion of Yi'an's initial cinema chain construction, and the company's funds were nearly exhausted.

Yi'an's account still held money, since theater profits were still minimal and the film market had not yet flourished; sufficient operating capital had to be retained.

New theaters could be postponed; if necessary, they could simply maintain current scale. If this money were misused, even salaries and utilities could become problematic.

Beyond this non-negotiable operating fund, the remaining money was insufficient to build another high-end new theater.

To expand, more investment was needed!

Because Seeing Yan Li intended to expand dramatically during the financial crisis, this investment didn't need to be huge, but couldn't be too small either.

After all, a financial crisis doesn't erupt overnight—especially one triggering global industry upheaval, which requires time to ferment.

At least a full year's time, even if not growing rapidly, must not be wasted.

Thus, Seeing Yan Li's plan was to raise 100 to 150 million yuan, primarily building standard auditorium theaters—six to eight in total—to further expand Yi'an's nationwide cinema network.

For this investment, Seeing Yan Li personally contributed 30 to 50 million yuan.

Considering the financial crisis, Seeing Yan Li wanted to invest less this time, planning to repurchase shares at lower prices later.

But he couldn't: since the cinema chain showed no returns yet, as the lead investor, investing too little would raise concerns among others; so, even if not half, he needed at least 20 to 30 percent.

The other target was still under discussion: JD. com.

Before traveling to Europe, Seeing Yan Li met Liu, the boss of JD Shangcheng, through Xu, the head of Today Capital.

Seeing Yan Li assessed him as bold and visionary, with more street-smart charisma than even Da Gao Cai Sheng, possessing undeniable personal magnetism—and a fondness for boasting.

It was unclear whether this was his true personality or merely a tactic to attract investment.

Liu constantly painted grand blueprints for JD, casually claiming he would "punch Taobao and kick Amazon."

Seeing Yan Li recognized this posture well—he had met many entrepreneurs, and was one himself.

A founder who can't boast isn't a good founder; even if the founder himself can't boast, he must find a partner or executive who can.

But boasts vary in scale—this Mr. Liu's were particularly large and blunt.

Seeing Yan Li didn't want to debate how big the bluff was.

But since Liu Laoban dared to make such a bold claim, he must have a strong vision for JD's future—in short, with high financing costs, he wouldn't easily give up shares at a low price.

Especially after today's capital had already invested $10 million, JD's need for funds wasn't that urgent.

Up until just before the investment, JD's revenue was only around $60 million, with fewer than a hundred employees, mostly focused on self-operated home appliances and digital products, while logistics was still in its early stages.

If Seeing Yan Li invested, JD would certainly accept it—who turns down money, especially when JD is in a rapid cash-burning phase—but the equity percentage would be hard to determine.

So their last meeting didn't go very well; Seeing Yan Li once considered abandoning the JD investment.

Until early September, Seeing Yan Li received a monthly intelligence report.

The report wasn't complicated—it simply outlined JD's projected valuation over the next five years.

In 2007, this year, today's capital valued JD at $150 million.

That valuation was inflated, riding on the hype of e-commerce and the internet bubble, and today's capital's equity stake certainly couldn't be calculated at that rate.

According to Seeing Yan Li's understanding, today's capital's stake should be around 15%, and Liu Laoban was extremely cautious and conservative about equity dilution.

Especially since he knew JD would need to burn massive amounts of cash in the future, he had to ensure he retained enough shares to keep raising funds.

The $150 million valuation was likely the result of both parties working together to inflate JD's value after today's capital's investment.

And the valuation Seeing Yan Li discussed with Liu Laoban was this number.

He'd have to pay $15 million to get 10% of JD, but key point: even though JD wasn't short on cash, they wouldn't give him that much—maximum they'd accept was 5%.

Seeing Yan Li even suspected, to some extent, that JD considered his investment not just for the media advertising and internet resources he could provide, but also to balance today's capital.

More money, fewer shares—so Seeing Yan Li once considered giving up.

But the monthly intelligence report showing JD's historical valuations changed his mind.

The report showed that during the 2008 financial crisis, JD's valuation was halved, especially during its tight cash-flow period, when its situation was dire, with a minimum valuation no higher than $30 million.

Neither JD nor today's capital could accept that valuation; they collaborated to raise over $20 million in 2009, weathered the crisis, and pushed JD's market value up, breaking $200 million.

After the financial crisis, as the economy recovered and industry conditions improved, JD grew rapidly.

In 2011, its valuation surged dozens of times; its Series C raised $1.5 billion for 25% equity, reaching a $6 billion valuation.

In 2012, it attracted more investment, bringing its total valuation to nearly $7.5 billion, preparing for an IPO.

The monthly intelligence covered five future years; Seeing Yan Li only saw up to now, but it was already enough.

Not to mention scattered fragments of other intelligence that also proved JD's limitless potential.

At today's valuation, $7.5 million for 5% equity—even if diluted later—if he could ensure retaining just 1%, it would still be worth nearly $75 million.

And this was only before listing; after listing, it would be higher, and Seeing Yan Li's future follow-on investments wouldn't necessarily be limited to just 1% equity.

Not to mention, one of Seeing Yan Li's main reasons for wanting to invest in JD was to coordinate e-commerce collaboration with Tudou and Weibo.

Helping his own company while making money—this deal, in Seeing Yan Li's view, was worth serious attention.

But $7.5 million for 5% equity was far less than today's capital got; even though they were the first investor, he wasn't far behind.

So they needed more talks—either pay less, like $5 million, or get more equity.

Of course, Seeing Yan Li had also considered abandoning this investment and waiting to buy in during the financial crisis.

But he feared misjudging the timing—if he failed to get on board then, he'd lose big.

A few million dollars? Seeing Yan Li could afford it, and the future return rate was extremely high.

Once on board, JD's Series B financing during the financial crisis couldn't bypass him—he might even end up as the main player.

Also, Seeing Yan Li had gauged Liu Laoban's character—he was, barely, a man of feeling.

Getting on board now, and contributing during the financial crisis, would mean sharing the same boat; future cooperation between both companies would benefit, binding interest and friendship deeper.

If he got on board only after the crisis, his motives might be questioned—he could be seen as taking advantage, damaging the relationship.

If he invested fully in both Yi'an and JD, it would total around $100 million.

Seeing Yan Li still held sufficient capital reserves to ensure stable progress for Yi'an, Weibo, and other projects, protecting his own interests.

But if he wanted to harvest maximum returns, it depended on how much he could pull from the money already on the table.

————

In September, "The Sun Also Rises" premiered to decent buzz but abysmal box office.

Seeing Yan Li estimated it wouldn't exceed $30 million; he thought that was conservative, but the current trend suggested even $20 million was doubtful.

More surprisingly, the film rushed to Venice but returned empty-handed, and at the Tokyo Film Festival, it won only two consolation prizes.

Aside from triggering a frenzy among indie intellectuals and leftists, it had no box office and no awards—by any standard, it wasn't a successful film.

Seeing Yan Li was fine—he had invested little due to Fatty Yu's all-in gamble, so his losses were minimal.

The Wang brothers were the same—not too upset, but now even more convinced Jiang Wen was a jinx; they swore they'd never invest in his next film.

Yang Laoban of Yinghuang held a larger share and lost more, but he displayed the demeanor of a true film tycoon, acting as if it were nothing.

This made Seeing Yan Li wonder: was he truly used to losing, or were these losses not his own "money"?

He'd heard Yang Laoban ran many other businesses, with significant interests in Macau and Southeast Asia.

The most deflated were Jiang Wen and Fatty Yu!

Jiang Wen had high hopes for this film, but was slapped hard in the face—he was stunned, and called Seeing Yan Li multiple times privately to apologize.

Seeing Yan Li personally lost little, but he had brought in Huayi, Yinghuang, and Bona—since the project flopped, it affected him somewhat.

Some even started rumors that Seeing Yan Li, since his debut, had never failed in film investments, but had now been defeated by Jiang Wen, breaking his unbeaten myth.

The Golden Touch couldn't beat the Box Office Curse!

Seeing Yan Li himself remained calm—he'd anticipated this when he invested.

He couldn't carry the myth of invincibility; no one wins forever. If he were forced to uphold it, the pressure would be worse—cooling down a bit wasn't bad.

Seeing Yan Li hadn't been Bai Hun for nothing—his track record spoke for itself; this incident couldn't shake his foundation.

If someone doubted him after one failure, they weren't a good partner anyway—the ones who stayed were more rational, and thus better partners.

Seeing Yan Li didn't care, but he might as well use this to provoke Jiang Wen.

I backed you and got crushed— if you're serious, launch a money-making project and slap them in the face.

To Jiang Wen, Seeing Yan Li used both soothing and goading; to Fatty, only comfort.

A 100-million baseline was a known risk to Fatty, but he was willing to spend money to buy market share and influence.

Still, his own estimate for "The Sun Also Rises" was at least fifty to sixty million in box office, so even if he lost, the loss would stay within acceptable limits.

But now the film's box office is under twenty million—far below Fatty's absolute minimum.

"Yan Er, I truly regret not listening to you."

Fatty was heartbroken— Bo Na made money hard; its core business of film distribution yielded low returns, film investment carried high risk, and its scattergun approach meant more losses than profits.

So despite Bo Na participating in many films each year and appearing bustling, its actual profits were far worse than Yi An's.