Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Chapter 160: Chapter 149: The End of an Era, the God of Wealth in the Eyes of VCs

「Five days later, on September 23rd.」

Ali Baba’s brand department officially announced that the company, in partnership with Lotte and Augusta Capital, would acquire FoxTao—the country’s leading e-commerce shopping guide—through an equity swap.

The 74.48% stake held by Chen Yansen’s Senlian Capital was jointly purchased by Ali, Lotte, and Augusta Capital.

Chen Yansen successfully cashed out 12 billion from the transaction.

Although he still had to pay over a billion in taxes, Chen Yansen’s ten-billion-plus net worth was finally the real deal—not just a valuation or market cap.

As for the shares held by Penguin and Siwei Capital, the transaction was kept exceptionally low-key, but it was exposed by industry insiders within two days.

Penguin raked in a cool 2 billion!

Siwei Capital pocketed 1 billion!

All at once, investment firms across the country set their sights on Chen Yansen and his Orange Technology.

This wasn’t some 19-year-old college kid; he was clearly the God of Wealth!

The co-founders of Digital Sky Technology, IDG, and Redwood Capital all called to exchange pleasantries, the underlying message being that as long as Orange Technology opened a funding round, everything was on the table.

He could name any price, and they would immediately go raise the funds.

Zhou Shouzhi, in particular, couldn’t sit still. That very night, he sent Chen Yansen a price list for electronic component procurement.

If Orange Technology agreed to Digital Sky Technology’s investment proposal, DST’s top boss promised to personally visit companies like Qualcomm and Sony to help him knock another 10-20% off the quoted bulk purchasing prices.

Additionally, the settlement period for payments could be extended from three months to six.

IDG Venture Capital also had extensive resources in the smartphone supply chain and could help Orange Technology integrate its suppliers and tighten cost controls.

After a moment of thought, Chen Yansen told Zhou Shouzhi and IDG’s head of investment, Dong Shun, to prepare valuation proposals.

Someone else might have rejected the investment offers from IDG and Digital Sky Technology, but Chen Yansen wasn’t that foolish.

He deeply understood the benefits of making the pie bigger. Besides investing in phone manufacturers, these venture capital firms were also involved with numerous suppliers of chips, batteries, screens, and cameras.

By bringing in their capital and resources, Orange Technology could optimize its supply chain, lower material costs, and increase its gross margin.

After finishing his work in Hang City, Chen Yansen returned to Xucheng with his team.

The homepages of the three major web portals and Penguin News were plastered with stories about Chen Yansen and FoxTao.

Previously, Chen Yansen had only been famous within e-commerce and internet circles. This time, he broke into the mainstream, and his public profile skyrocketed.

A 19-year-old college student, 6’1”, tall, handsome, with a net worth in the tens of billions.

This combination of keywords made Chen Yansen an instant internet sensation.

As a result, pre-orders for the Orange Mobile Phone hit a new high, surpassing 3.3 million units, with estimated delivery dates now five months out.

Meanwhile, the Xiaomi Mobile Phone, which had been on the market for nearly a month, had barely managed to sell 500,000 units.

It was already 6:30 p.m. when Chen Yansen and the others returned to Xuyuan.

The sky was growing dark, and the evening breeze carried a slight chill.

”Boss, I’ll be heading home. I’ll handle the tax matters related to the stock sale.”

Gao Weilin said to Chen Yansen after getting out of the car.

”I appreciate it. I’m planning to open Orange Technology’s Series A funding round, so things are about to get busy.”

Chen Yansen added, rolling down the car window to speak to Old Gao.

”No problem.” Gao Weilin smiled and turned to leave.

”Should we go to the Innovation Park?” Song Yuncheng asked quietly from the driver’s seat.

”Yeah, let’s head over,” Chen Yansen replied succinctly.

As the boss, Chen Yansen didn’t have to explain himself to his subordinates, but they had worked together for a year, and there were some loose ends that required his personal attention.

The Innovation Park was brightly lit. Aside from the clamor of the Investment Attraction team on the phone with merchants, the other workstations were completely silent.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP—

Footsteps echoed from downstairs.