"Director Feng, I heard from Old Liu that you want to have a chat with me. I am flattered." Zhang Ruimin reached out for a handshake after entering Feng Yu's office.
Feng Yu had flown back to Beijing from the US to meet Zhang Ruimin. Zhang Ruimin was an extraordinary person.
"Manager Zhang, you are too polite. I heard from Old Liu that he had invited you several times to join the Hua Xia Chamber of Commerce, and you only agreed this year."
If Zhang Ruimin had joined the Hua Xia Chamber of Commerce, then with his achievements and reputation, Wang Jianlin might not have a chance. Zhang Ruimin was not only famous in Hua Xia. He was also famous around the world. He was the leader of the home appliances industry.
"Haier is undergoing a transition period, and we are very busy. Of course, I am not as busy as you."
People who are not familiar with each other will exchange pleasantries. This was the first time Zhang Ruimin and Zhang Ruimin met. They had only heard of each other. Haier had gone through a transition period, and this change was different from other home appliances companies. Haier had removed their warehouses!
Their orders were on a weekly basis. That means they had to place new orders every week and then deliver the goods. Based on Haier's sales volume, this change will not increase their logistics costs. Instead, it will save on warehousing costs and prevent their products from being overstocked.
During the US economic crisis, Haier had avoided any losses. The European and US markets had shrunk, and many home appliances companies had overstocked their products.
When this change was proposed, everyone in the industry was shocked. No one had ever done this before, especially a multinational home appliance giant. Why would they make such a ridiculous decision?
But Haier had factories all over the world, and they could supply their products to all the markets on time. Then, during the off-season, many workers in the factory could be given annual leave. This was also a legal and cost-saving method.
Haier had many innovations, and these were called the Haier model in the industry. It was also an industry standard. That means Haier was the first company to set the standards, and that's why it was the leader.
"Manager Zhang, you should know about this. Our Wind and Rain Home Appliances and Aiwa Home Appliances are about to enter the Japanese market. We had contacted Sanyo Electric, but we heard that you are also interested in acquiring them. That means our investments are in conflict."
"Can we find a win-win solution? For example, we can form a partnership to acquire them."
"Joint venture? Half each? "Zhang Ruimin asked.
Although Wind and Rain Home Appliances and Aiwa Home Appliances were powerful and had Taihua Holdings as their backing, Haier will not give up their controlling stake. Haier was the industry leader, and they will not lack the money to acquire AQUA!
Zhang Ruimin was also a legend in the industry. Although she was not as legendary as Feng Yu, she was still talked about by many people. She could be considered as a mysterious tycoon like Hua Xia and the boss of SF Logistics, Wang Wei.
Wang Wei's company had never been listed, and he refused to be interviewed by the media. Even Hu Lian did not know how much money Wang Wei had. He could only make a rough estimate.
But on Zhang Ruimin's side, Hu Lian couldn't even estimate it!
Many people thought that Haier was a state-owned enterprise or was once a state-owned enterprise. This was not the case.
Haier was a collective enterprise founded by a few people. At that time, Haier had wanted to become a state-owned enterprise and be acquired by the state. This way, they could enjoy the same benefits as state-owned enterprises, like some government policies. This was very important to that small factory.
Later, a collective enterprise called Second Light Industry Collective Enterprise Union invested in Haier. The funds were mainly used for research and development, and this was the main shareholder of Haier. This had nothing to do with the state.
But at that time, the local government had included Haier in their statistics. Many people thought that Haier was a state-owned enterprise. After that, Haier started to enjoy the same benefits as state-owned enterprises, and this misunderstanding deepened. But Haier did not have any state-owned shares.
In the past, many people had accused Haier of embezzling the country's resources, pointing the spearhead at Zhang Ruimin. However, Zhang Ruimin didn't care at all.
But many people were curious about how much money Zhang Ruimin had. Haier had two listed companies. One was Qingdao Haier, and the other was Haier Home Appliances. They were listed in China and Hong Kong respectively.
In Feng Yu's previous life, many people thought Haier's market value was lower than Gree, Midea, etc. because they only included Qingdao Haier.
Even with Haier Home Appliances, this was not all of Haier's assets.
Haier's shares were mainly owned by Second Light Industry and Haier Workers' Union. Zhang Ruimin did not own any shares. This was similar to the ESOP set up by Lenovo's Liu Chuanzhi. This was the best example of collective ownership.
But as the Chairman and CEO, Zhang Ruimin was rewarded with a large amount of shares every year. These shares were all converted into the ESOP, and Zhang Ruimin owned a lot of Qingdao Second Light's shares. That was a non-listed company, and unless the ESOP told them, they could only do it through illegal means.
Some people said Zhang Ruimin's net worth was only tens of millions, and he was the poorest entrepreneur in the world. Some people said the shares owned by Zhang Ruimin and his family were worth more than 10 billion RMB, but no one knew.
No one knows what is going on, and this is why the leader of the world's number one home appliance giant has never been on the list of China's wealthiest people.
Some people felt Zhang Ruimin was keeping a low profile, and some felt he was mysterious. But he had been interviewed by the media frequently and never talked about his assets. No one had seen him owning anything extravagant.
Feng Yu was also curious about Zhang Ruimin. But when someone asked Feng Yu how much money he had, Feng Yu would only smile and not say anything. Feng Yu will also not ask Zhang Ruimin. Anyway, Zhang Ruimin was not as rich as him!
"Manager Zhang, I know Haier is the world's leading home appliance manufacturer, but our Wind and Rain Home Appliances and Aiwa Home Appliances are also strong. We are also working with Gree, Gramps, Midea, and many other home appliance manufacturers in China. We are also working with overseas electronics giants like Philips."
"If it is only Wind and Rain Home Appliances, I will not have any objections. But now, we are working with two companies, and each company should own a third of the shares."
Feng Yu does not care about these shares. Aqua's assets had been evaluated, and it was worth less than 200 million USD. It was not worth it for Feng Yu to come over personally. Feng Yu only wanted to have a chat with Zhang Ruimin.
But Wind and Rain Home Appliances and Aiwa Home Appliances still had shares from Jiang Wanmeng, Xu Lihua, and many other people. Although Taihua Holdings was the controlling shareholder, and Feng Yu could make all the decisions, Feng Yu must not be known as someone who used everyone's money as a favor. If not, he might lose his trust in the future, and it will be hard for him to lead the team.
"Director Feng, you also said that we are number one in the home appliance industry, and many of our businesses are way ahead of the second place. If it is a joint venture, we must be the controlling shareholder. It is because of Director Feng's subsidiary company that I chose to share half of the shares. I will not be able to answer to the other shareholders if I lose 0.1% of the shares. "
Liu Chuanzhi was laughing at the side. Feng Yu had always been a firm partner. Now that he had met Zhang Ruimin, he wants to see how he is going to negotiate!
… …
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
