NOVPUBChapter 368 -365: An Invitation from Wall Street
“Ladies and gentlemen, if you’re interested, you can also try scanning this,” Lu Liang said.
The assistants accompanying Wilson were busy cross-checking the subscription contract to be signed tomorrow. Meanwhile, Lu Liang was leading a group of foreigners in a leisurely stroll through the nearby International Financial Center.
Although New York is one of the busiest cities in the world, some things are distinct to East Country, and cannot be popularized in Europe and America in a lifetime — mobile payments, for instance.
Up until a few years ago, Lu Liang still made it a habit to carry some cash when he left the house, but without realizing when, he stopped doing that.
It wasn’t that mobile payments were unique to East Country and couldn’t take off in Europe and America; they could, but they simply chose not to.
The underlying reason lay in the forces represented by the people Lu Liang was leading; they were impeding the development of mobile payment technology.
The rise of a new industry inevitably leads to the emergence of new industry giants, which shake the foundations of traditional industries.
Nobody could guarantee they wouldn’t become the victims of these new industries’ growth, so by not adopting the change, they could avoid making a mistake.
Furthermore, the credit card systems in Europe and America were well-established — the interests solidified, and relations were intricate and complex. The inclusion of mobile payment only benefited the public and the convenience it brought was negligible.
Therefore, no one bothered with this unrewarding task.
While everyone was experiencing QR code payments, Xu Jiawei came over to Lu Liang and whispered, “Mr. Lu, Director Zhou from the city government office is waiting for you at the company.”
“Zhou Li, what’s he here for?” Lu Liang wondered.
“According to Mr. Tang, he seems to have come for them,” Xu Jiawei said, subtly glancing at Wilson, the representative of the big investment banks and major funds from Wall Street.
Any one of them, if asked for singly, would be a figure many entrepreneurs and city investment promotion offices could only hope to meet.
Probably only Lu Liang treated them like ordinary people, casually showing them around as if he were hosting relatives who had come to the city from his hometown.
“Tell Mr. Tang to inform Zhou Li not to rush. After everything is settled tomorrow, we’ll organize a reception in the company’s name to create an opportunity for them to have a good talk,” Lu Liang couldn’t help but chuckle. These people were as cunning as devils, and getting them to leave even a little investment was tougher than reaching the heavens.
But he couldn’t afford to deny them this courtesy. Modu had an inexplicable longing for foreign investment, and creating opportunities was a simple matter of raising one’s hand.
Xu Jiawei nodded, stepped aside to contact Tang Caide, and arranged the venue for tomorrow’s reception.
Wilson came over with a smile and asked, “Lu, what are you whispering about?”
Mobile payments might be novel, but they weren’t some kind of special high-tech product. After a brief exposure to something not seen before, the novelty quickly wore off.
Smiling, Lu Liang replied, “Tomorrow evening there will be a reception to welcome and refresh you all after your journey.”
Wilson was taken aback and attempted to decline, “Lu, you should know we’re only here for the private equity fund subscription.”
Suddenly, Lu Liang’s face displayed nostalgia, “I still remember the event in New York more than a month ago, it still moves me.”
He knew Wilson didn’t want to participate; no one liked these social engagements that offered no practical benefit.
So, he used the New York reception to seal his lips. Lu Liang had attended and so they must attend too, a matter of reciprocity.
Upon hearing this, Wilson and the others exchanged glances, all showing a bitter smile, “Lu, then please arrange it.”
Night fell, and all the assistants finished cross-checking the contracts and returned to their respective bosses to report the contract details.
These people had all been bested by Lu Liang, so there were no objections to the 3+20N fee structure.
Even feeling that reaching a 150% return with just a 40% management fee was incredibly generous of Lu Liang.
“Lu, with your abilities, if you were to issue a private fund on Wall Street, achieving more than 60% wouldn’t be difficult,” Wilson sighed, his words laden with regret. The soil of East Country was just too limiting for Lu Liang.
Lu Liang should be on a bigger, freer, and more fitting stage to fully unleash his potential.
“Perhaps,” Lu Liang looked a bit forlorn, forcing a smile while a clear sense of unfulfilled ambition reflected in his eyes.
Seeing this, Wilson’s spirits lifted, and he promptly extended an invitation, “You are always welcome to join our big family.”
Lu Liang showed hesitation as if wrestling with a tough decision, then quickly changed the subject, “Wilson, it’s getting late. You should head back to the hotel and rest.”
Wilson paused but said no more, showing a warm smile, “Good night, see you tomorrow.”
He could tell Lu Liang was tempted,
but these matters couldn’t be rushed but had to be approached slowly.
One day, Lu Liang would choose to join them.
“See you tomorrow.”
Lu Liang watched as Wilson entered the hotel, his smile subtle until the other’s figure vanished.
Wilson’s words were just to be listened to; Wall Street wasn’t necessarily any freer, and the presence of the Squid Clan was enough trouble for anyone.
But in his home country, as long as Lu Liang didn’t make any grave mistakes in principle, there were no such restrictions for him.
Next, Lu Liang would have to assist Panda with its US listing, and potentially DiDi as well.
He couldn’t appear too firm in his stance; at least until there was no direct competition between the two countries, playing coy was the best choice.
…
The next day, at 2 p.m.,
Tianxing Private Equity’s fourth fund was launched.
Originally, there were only 18 investors, both domestic and international, but suddenly over fifty people showed up.
Those who were invited, those who weren’t, people from Beijing, Shenzhen, Hang City — everyone who could come did come.
“Including but not limited to DiDi’s Liu Qing, Xiaomi’s Lei Jun, Meituan’s Wang Xing, Redwood’s Shen Peng, and the Golden Sand River’s Zhu Hu.”
Lu Liang looked around and saw industry veterans everywhere. His mood was gloomy; he couldn’t really evict them, so he had no choice but to host them courteously.
Suddenly, he spotted Little Wang and decisively approached him, firing away, “You’ve got no stake here, what are you doing here?”
“Why can’t I come when others can?”
Little Wang looked disgruntled, seeing that Lu Liang was picking on the weak.
But he was used to it, and draping an arm around Lu Liang’s shoulders, he said with a smile, “Don’t you find today’s scene all too familiar?”
Last month, they had gone to New York together, and what started as a small gathering of a dozen people suddenly became a hundred.
Only unlike their trip to New York, today, the seven people who came represented Wall Street institutions.
The thirty-some people present all had reasons to invite themselves.
No need to talk about DiDi’s Liu Qing. Having mixed with Goldman Sachs since graduating from Harvard, he was warmer to these foreign investment tycoons than to his own father. 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝙢
Xiaomi and Meituan, both planning to go public next year, really needed to foster good relations with this crowd from Wall Street.
After all, they’d never had such opportunities before.
“Don’t worry, they will all owe you favors…” Little Wang suddenly stopped short as Wang Xing passed by, flashing a smile at Lu Liang, “Mr. Lu, my apologies for showing up uninvited, and thank you for giving us this opportunity to have a direct conversation with Mr. Lip from BlackRock.”
“Mr. Wang, you’re too kind. We’re all friends here; it’s normal to help each other out,” Lu Liang replied, beaming, a complete change from moments ago.
Little Wang, still an observer, saw clearly. Lu Liang shouldn’t be frustrated; he should be happy.
After all, the hard work was on the likes of Mr. Wilson and others, yet it was he who reaped the goodwill. This was a good deal.
“Right, we are all friends.” Wang Xing nodded with a smile, said his farewells, and went off to talk to the person in charge at Vanguard.
“Fucking two-faced,” Little Wang cursed under his breath. Lu Liang narrowed his eyes menacingly, “What did you say?”
“I’m going to have a chat with Cruick, see if we can speed up Panda’s IPO process,” Little Wang replied with a chuckle and quickly made himself scarce.
As three o’clock neared, the subscription meeting was about to commence.
Sun Yutao, wearing a helpless expression, sought out Lu Liang, hoping he could think of a solution. Sun dared not offend anyone in this crowd.
Lu Liang, all smiles, stepped up to the podium and took the microphone, “Ladies and gentlemen, tonight at seven o’clock, our company will host a welcome cocktail party on the eighth floor of the Hilton Hotel. Why don’t we save our discussions for then?”
“Mr. Lu, you speak the truth,” the crowd agreed, and the fifty-some visitors quickly dwindled to just over ten.
Mr. Wilson and others wore a look of grievance, staring at Lu Liang as if to say, a single event had suddenly turned into two.
“Close the door and let’s begin,” Lu Liang said, coughing a few times and feeling a bit guilty, not daring to meet their eyes.
He had Xu Jiawei close the door to start the meeting and had Sun Yutao take the stage to review the background, as was customary.
“In September 2015 and December of the same year, we issued two rounds of private equity funds: one worth 100 million US dollars and the other, 1 billion US dollars.”
“The first and second rounds of the fund have concluded, achieving total returns of 471% and 91%, respectively.”
“The third round of funds, issued one year and four months ago, has a size of 50 billion US dollars, with cumulative returns of 94.5%…”
Sun Yutao spoke with a smile, radiating pride as he addressed the audience.
Though he wasn’t a manager, the three projects had achieved amazing results, and as a participant, he shared in their glory.
Mr. Wilson and the others listened with solemn expressions, looking at Lu Liang with not grievance but profound respect.
Although they had collected plenty of information, it was not as detailed as what Lu Liang provided himself.
Admiration for the strong is human nature.
Others might not know, but they were acutely aware of the great risks involved behind each impressive return.
Take last February’s shorting of the British Pound, for example. They invested 90% of the fund’s capital and employed an exceptionally high leverage of five times.
They made the bold decision to short the Pound, betting on the UK’s Brexit in the face of universal bearishness.
Mr. Wilson didn’t dare imagine the mental pressure faced when making that decision. If it were him, he probably would have had a heart attack from the rapid heartbeat.
He looked at Lu Liang and couldn’t help licking his lips.
“Everyone, any objections to the details in the contract?” After Sun Yutao finished, Lu Liang stood up to take the stage for the final confirmation, “If there are no issues, please sign the contract, and the funds should be transferred within three days; a 5% penalty fee will apply for late payment.”
The crowd shook their heads, including Mr. Wilson and his group, who exchanged glances before signing their names and stamping their seals.
Lu Liang’s statement was just a formality since the contracts had already been sent to the 18 people in attendance at least a day in advance.
If there were objections, they wouldn’t be attending the meeting today.
After a while, Lu Liang had Sun Yutao collect the 19 subscription contracts, including his own.
He personally handed a cocktail party invitation to Mr. Wilson and the six other leading visitors, smiling, “Mr. Wilson, we’re looking forward to your presence this evening.”
“See you tonight, Lu.”
Mr. Wilson found the situation both comical and annoying; even a fool would realize that Lu Liang had handed them out as favors.
But what could he do? When they hosted a grand welcome dinner for Lu Liang in New York, it was only proper to return the courtesy now.
Moreover, they had decided together the previous night to court Lu Liang comprehensively.
The free capital market was his true destiny.
Much like Jack Ma.
