The story of entrepreneurs

The story of entrepreneurs (1)

The market does not believe in tears! Billionaires start businesses from scratch.

He has no capitalist ancestry, started from scratch, built a powerful business empire and created thousands of employment opportunities by personal struggle, business acumen and the "opportunity" in the cross period between planned economy and market economy.

1979, Zhou Furen is the production captain of a remote mountain village in Haicheng, Liaoning Province. He and the villagers pulled their feet in two wagons and set up the Western Group step by step. This year, Forbes, an American business magazine, ranked Zhou Furen as the 77th richest man in Chinese mainland, with personal assets of 786 million yuan.

Zhou Furen now dreams of becoming the "king of steel" in China. 10 year 10 month 1 day, Zhou bought Haicheng iron and steel plant on the verge of bankruptcy. Zhou Furen's positioning for the steel industry is: the quality of steel products is first-class in the world, and the scale of single machine and single furnace is the first in the country. In order to achieve the goal, Zhou Furen is prepared to invest a huge sum of 3.5 billion yuan at one time. Hot recommendation: Coal boss buys 20 Hummers! Coal bosses are crazy about buying and selling cars, miss! Scrap steel has made billionaires worth 654.38+088 billion. The secret of getting rich quickly is from herding sheep to the miracle of the president of steel. Multi-millionaires never come back to make money and take the right path.

Zhou Furen also accelerated the pace in the capital market. He is going to list the fertilizer business of Western Group on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Steel ambition

10 10/day, a downpour did not disturb the mood of Zhou Furen, the general manager of the western group. On this day, the Western Group acquired the bankrupt Haicheng Iron and Steel Plant. Throughout the day, Zhou Furen was busy entertaining with smiles. At 8 o'clock in the evening, Zhou Furen, who saw off the guests and was in a good mood, accepted an exclusive interview with the reporter. Zhou Furen does not have the style of a billionaire, but also looks simple, is not tall, has a dark red face and a northeast accent.

Zhou Furen's father died when he was 10 years old. Zhou Furen said that childhood poverty cultivated his fighting spirit and desire to make money. All employees of the Western Group know Zhou Furen's words: "The market doesn't believe in tears, but only loves it." Now, Xiyang Village, where Zhou Furen is located, has basically realized "productism": villagers live in allocated buildings, and food, water, electricity and gas are all free. All this is based on the iron and steel industrial empire of the western group. Enter the steel industry

For Zhou Furen, the acquisition of Haicheng Iron and Steel Plant is a very cost-effective deal. The acquisition cost is very low, because Haicheng Iron and Steel Plant is a bankrupt enterprise and has gone through the bankruptcy procedure of the court. An employee of the Western Group revealed that the purchase price was only about 5 million. For Zhou Furen, this move has realized a long-cherished wish. "We are very enthusiastic about the steel industry, and what we have been waiting for is the problem of capital accumulation and cutting-in time," Zhou Furen added after a pause. "I have been to all the major steel mills in the world, and the most visited are Pohang Steel and Taiwan Province Heavy Steel."

Zhou Furen's previous two attempts to enter the steel industry failed. The first time was at 1982. At that time, Xiyang Village was still a production team. "We made a small electric stove of half a ton, and it stopped soon." The second time was 1993. Xiyang Group invested 2.5 million RMB in Haicheng Iron and Steel Plant and purchased some equipment. However, at that time, the domestic steel industry market was in a bad state and enterprises were in a slump. When Zhou Furen saw that the time was not ripe, he immediately walked out.

This time, Zhou Furen is determined to win. "Our current positioning of steel is: the production level and quality of steel are world-class, and the scale of single machine and single furnace ranks first in the country."

This is an ambitious March. "We invested 3.5 billion yuan at a time to make it exceed the level. Unless there is a great leap forward in the steel industry in the future, as long as it develops at the current level, our technology will not lag behind for more than ten years. " Zhou Furen declared, "The level of single machine and single furnace we proposed is even greater than that of Angang. With a single furnace level as large as ours, there is only one Baosteel in China. " It is reported that the product quality design orientation of Xiyang Iron and Steel Plant was formulated by China Iron and Steel Design and Research Institute.

Where does the 3.5 billion reconstruction fund come from? Zhou Furen's answer is: 654.38+0.5 billion loans; During the construction of steel mills, the western chemical fertilizer plant can make a profit of 654.38+0 billion; In addition, Zhou actively operated and brought the fertilizer business to the Hong Kong stock market, which could solve the problem of 10 billion. There is no doubt that this is a great pressure on the capital chain of the whole western group. But in Zhou Furen's eyes, there is only one crisis, whether the speed in the west is the fastest in the country.

"When we do this, it is also called' upfront investment', and the money is still earned, and the next plan will come out. The utilization rate of funds is particularly high. If you earn money, you will immediately put it into reproduction and you can't stay any longer. " Zhou Furen said. Zhou Furen, a junior high school student, is determined to be the biggest and best enterprise in China. In 2000, the Western Group put forward a slogan called: "Enter the new century, set new goals, develop the western region, and achieve great development in five years". "Super-large" refers to the abbreviation of domestic super-large enterprises, and it is a concept with an annual sales income of 5 billion.

Zhou Furen told reporters that the reconstruction project of Haicheng Iron and Steel Plant is scheduled to be completed and put into production four years later. "As soon as it was put into production, our annual sales revenue increased by more than 8 billion. We are prepared to achieve 20 billion sales revenue in 2005. " "I don't like the feeling of pressure, but this feeling was immediately offset by another pleasant feeling. I am very excited about the rapid development of the enterprise. So I work harder. " Zhou said:

Landing in the capital market and entering the capital market is another important event planned by Zhou Furen.

Zhou Furen told reporters that the listing in Hong Kong is coming to an end, and the recommender is CLSA. Limited by the regulations of the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission, Zhou Furen is unwilling to disclose more details. But one thing is clear: Zhou Furen hopes to raise 1 100 million yuan for his steel industry by issuing shares for the first time.

"On September 24th, I told CLSA people not to regard the West as a very ordinary listed company. Western countries can get the best benefits in their own chemical fertilizer industry, and we should also get the best benefits in the world chemical fertilizer industry. At present, from the benefit of a single ton of chemical fertilizer, no one in the world can compare with us. " The road to listing in the west is full of twists and turns. Xiyang Group has wanted to be listed on domestic A shares since 1995. A lot of work has been done, but the goal has not been achieved. There is a simple reason. At that time, the listing rules in China were very complicated, and the listing threshold set by the regulatory authorities for private enterprises was very high. Earlier, Zhou Furen recalled in an interview that in 1997, Liaoning * * * had four listing indicators, and western countries also made efforts and efforts, but none of them were caught.

1995, an American investment bank found Zhou Furen and encouraged the West to go public in the United States. This investment bank went to the western headquarters in Haicheng, Liaoning Province many times, and then it went nowhere. Zhou Furen also recalled that in 1997, a well-known domestic consulting company introduced a so-called American listed shell company to the West. On second thought, Zhou Furen didn't give money to the company. It turns out that this shell company is not a listed company, but a company that has issued shares but has not been listed and traded.

Another company spent $300,000 to buy this "shell company", but it lost all its money and ended up with nothing. In retrospect, Zhou Furen's heart was still pounding. 20011On February 4th, Zhou Furen had a seven-hour talk with the Beijing representative of American Wanbao Global Capital Group, and signed the intentional Listing Work Agreement. Zhou Furen hopes to set foot on the Nasdaq market in the United States.

However, Zhou Furen quickly turned to CLSA, and its listing place became Hong Kong. "The strength of American Wanbao Global Capital Group is not good". Zhou Furen's explanation is simple. Meng Yi, director of CLSA's investment banking department, said that the reason for listing in the west is that "Western Group is very concerned about the cost of stock issuance, and our underwriting commission ratio is relatively low, which is acceptable to enterprises."

It is not easy.

Zhou Furen is not very worried about corporate risks. "Now is the time when the Western Group is booming. If it is booming, it will not go out at once."

Zhou's most admired businessman is Li Ka-shing. Like Li Ka-shing, Zhou Furen has good business intuition. During the period of 1998, the benefit of refractory industry declined seriously. Zhou Furen, eager to find new economic growth points, bought Jinzhou sulfuric acid plant on the verge of bankruptcy. In the first year, it lost 2.5 million yuan, earned more than 30 million yuan in the second year and earned more than 50 million yuan in the third year. On April 22, 2000, Western Group acquired Hongtai Chemical General Factory, a state-owned chemical enterprise that had stopped production for four or five years, and died for the country. Zhou Furen also showed the ability of "turning decay into magic". It took 1 year for construction and transformation, and only 1 year for fertilizer production. According to Zhou Furen, "At present, it is not only profitable, but also the most profitable in the national fertilizer industry."

These two acquisitions of dilapidated state-owned enterprises were strongly opposed by Zhou Furen's subordinates, who thought the risks were too great. Zhou Furen squeezed through the crowd twice. "No one else pushed me to do the project. I am forcing others to do it. " Zhou Furen admits that his style is a bit arbitrary. "I also have a problem with this person: I rarely ask for advice on things I am optimistic about."

There is no doubt that Zhou Furen's keen business intuition comes from his business practice for more than 20 years, but it is not a particularly scientific decision-making mechanism. In addition, it also exposed the reality that the western group lacks senior talents. Can listing in the west solve this problem? Zhou Furen's two sons are both important figures in the Western Group. Zhou Wei, the eldest son, is the general manager of Guizhou Xiyang Fertilizer Company. The second son, Zhou Chao, is the general manager of Jinzhou Fertilizer Plant. Will family governance hinder the development of western group in the future?

In addition, can Zhou Furen's grand plan in the steel industry be realized? It depends not only on whether the capital chain is strong, but also on whether a large number of senior professionals in the steel industry can be gathered.

Did Can Zhou Fu Ren "turn decay into magic" this time?

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The story of entrepreneurs (2)

Yang Guoqiang: From "Masons" to Billionaires

Yang Guoqiang, who is hidden behind his daughter "the youngest and richest man in China", is the first real estate developer in China to develop composite real estate.

It is reported that Yang Guoqiang never wore shoes before 17 years old. When he was young, he once raised cattle and worked as a plasterer. 1992 After entering the real estate industry, in just over ten years, Country Garden has built 38,000 houses.

Although Yang Guoqiang transferred all his rights and interests to Yang as early as 2005, he is still the executive director of Country Garden Group, responsible for formulating the development strategy, investment plan and overall project plan of the Group. Therefore, he is still the actual helm of Country Garden, a real estate giant.

Yang Guoqiang's wealth legend comes from the rapid expansion of the real estate industry in China. /kloc-Before the age of 0/7, don't wear shoes or new clothes. In order to save 7 cents for dinner, he has to walk home for an hour after school at noon. Years later, with slight baldness and sparse knife eyebrows, he still maintained the living habits of farmers, did not like to wear suits, and liked to take off his shoes and socks and sit cross-legged in meetings. After the successful listing of Country Garden, it closed at HK$ 7.27 that day, up 35%. Based on the total share capital of 65.438+06 billion shares, the total market value of Country Garden's assets reached HK$ 65.438+065.438+0632 billion, making it the largest real estate stock in the Mainland. Even then, for most people in China, the name Country Garden was almost unheard of.

Yang Guoqiang once defined Country Garden as a large-scale, fast-output and affordable housing factory. The classic of this model is Country Garden Phoenix, 200 1 development. The project covers an area of 1 1,000 mu. Country Garden is responsible for design, planning, construction, decoration and property management, and implements a high degree of vertical integration. At that time, 70 buildings were built and hundreds of cranes were working at the same time. Finally, the villa with garden is launched at an average price of more than 3,000 yuan per square meter, even cheaper than the blank house in the same lot. It is said that it has set an amazing record of selling a luxury villa in one minute, "selling villas like cabbage".

Large-scale thinking has made Country Garden the biggest "landlord" in China. In September, 2007, the Research Report on Competitiveness of China Real Estate Enterprises released by the State Council Development Research Center held that "by the end of July, 2007, the total land reserve of Country Garden reached an astonishing 45 million square meters, nearly twice that of the real estate enterprises with the second land reserve." Once again triggered public controversy.

Yang Guoqiang, who is hidden behind his daughter "the youngest and richest man in China", is the first real estate developer in China to develop composite real estate.

It is reported that Yang Guoqiang never wore shoes before 17 years old. When he was young, he once raised cattle and worked as a plasterer. 1992 After entering the real estate industry, in just over ten years, Country Garden has built 38,000 houses.

Although Yang Guoqiang transferred all his rights and interests to Yang as early as 2005, he is still the executive director of Country Garden Group, responsible for formulating the development strategy, investment plan and overall project plan of the Group. Therefore, he is still the actual helm of Country Garden, a real estate giant.

Yang Guoqiang's wealth legend comes from the rapid expansion of the real estate industry in China. /kloc-Before the age of 0/7, don't wear shoes or new clothes. In order to save 7 cents for dinner, he has to walk home for an hour after school at noon. Years later, with slight baldness and sparse knife eyebrows, he still maintained the living habits of farmers, did not like to wear suits, and liked to take off his shoes and socks and sit cross-legged in meetings. After the successful listing of Country Garden, it closed at HK$ 7.27 that day, up 35%. Based on the total share capital of 65.438+06 billion shares, the total market value of Country Garden's assets reached HK$ 65.438+065.438+0632 billion, making it the largest real estate stock in the Mainland. Even then, for most people in China, the name Country Garden was almost unheard of.

Yang Guoqiang once defined Country Garden as a large-scale, fast-output and affordable housing factory. The classic of this model is Country Garden Phoenix, 200 1 development. The project covers an area of 1 1,000 mu. Country Garden is responsible for design, planning, construction, decoration and property management, and implements a high degree of vertical integration. At that time, 70 buildings were built and hundreds of cranes were working at the same time. Finally, the villa with garden is launched at an average price of more than 3,000 yuan per square meter, even cheaper than the blank house in the same lot. It is said that it has set an amazing record of selling a luxury villa in one minute, "selling villas like cabbage".

Large-scale thinking has made Country Garden the biggest "landlord" in China. In September, 2007, the Research Report on Competitiveness of China Real Estate Enterprises released by the State Council Development Research Center held that "by the end of July, 2007, the total land reserve of Country Garden reached an astonishing 45 million square meters, nearly twice that of the real estate enterprises with the second land reserve." Once again triggered public controversy.

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