State of Wyoming Billionaires in the wild

Status: 20.06.2021 09:34 a.m.

In Jackson Hole in the US state of Wyoming, the fox and the rabbit say goodnight – and recently the richest people in the country too. You will be attracted by unspoiled nature – and low taxes.

From Jule Käppel, ARD studio Washington

Real estate agent Andrew Ellett makes the dream of a ranch in the wilderness of the northern Rocky Mountains come true. Millionaires and billionaires come to him when they are looking for the perfect piece of land in the middle of nowhere: he has it.

“On this property, you can saddle your horses and ride right into the woods for hundreds of miles,” says Ellet. The property includes 120 acres of land, a main house with several hundred square feet of living space, a three bedroom guest house, and there is no limit to the number of horses on the ranch. This is also an important selling point here in the western United States, in the state of Wyoming. The price: $ 4.6 million. A good deal compared to the noble wooden house on the river for the super rich who love fly fishing. That costs almost 18 million.

Exclusive properties in the middle of nowhere

The agent says that’s the best thing about Jackson Hole: You can be close to town and still feel so rural. The Engel und Völkers broker can offer a lonely ranch a maximum of three times a year. Only three percent of the land in the parish is private. The rest is not for sale. Mountains and wide valleys, forests and crystal clear lakes are home to elks, herds of bison, bears – and wildflowers dance in the meadows in the summer breeze. An idyll with three ski areas and two national parks on the doorstep. One of them is the famous Yellowstone National Park.

Natural idyll with a low tax burden

The richest people in the United States move to this area in the north of Cowboy State. But they don’t just love the landscape. The community is one of the largest tax havens in the United States, explains Ben Williamson. “Property tax is minimal, there is no income tax.” The 28-year-old Williamson is against the fact that untouched nature becomes an investment.

The executive director of the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative finds it “absurd” that this isolated region has the highest per capita income in the country – more than $ 250,000. It’s almost a third less in Manhattan.

In the nearby Grand Teton National Park, grazing bison radiate the power of untouched nature. Image: AFP

Rich new citizens make life difficult for others

The folks who aren’t in the richest 1 percent have a hard time getting along, Williamson says. Because in the past few years rents have exploded along with market prices for luxury real estate. During the corona pandemic, even more people were relocated from the metropolises on the west and east coast. In addition to the hedge fund managers, CEOs and film actresses, the home office employees with a lot of money have now joined them. The apartments have become too expensive for the long-established residents of the town who take care of the ranches, hotel guests or hospital patients. They move to the neighboring communities, drive over the pass to work for almost an hour. Sometimes there is no getting through in snow. And then Jackson Hole, the dream place of billionaires, is cut off from the world for days

“The great progress of science comes from brand new and bold imagination.”-Dewey

Since modern times, with the rapid development of science and technology, many “illusions” that existed in the past have become reality. Mankind has realized the dream of flying in the sky and building a city under the sea, and can also meet people thousands of miles away across space. Countless people are shocked by the power of technology. Some people have put forward bolder ideas-through the ages, many people have hoped that they can “live forever”, so can this long-cherished wish be realized with the power of science and technology? A few years ago, a richest man in the United States frozen himself for 50 years and planned to resurrect him in 2017. What is his situation now?
Liquid Nitrogen Freezing Pictures

1. The richest man in the United States, James Bedford

James Bedford was originally a physicist in a well-known American university. In addition, he was also a successful businessman. With his super economic acumen, he became the richest man in the United States 54 years ago. But as he got older, James’ physical condition became weaker, and unfortunately he later contracted kidney cancer. Regardless of whether it was then or now, cancer is almost completely equivalent to a terminal illness, and the chance of recovery is extremely small. After a long period of treatment, James’ condition still hasn’t improved, but he doesn’t want to succumb to fate, because he is still very nostalgic for this colorful world.
James Bedford

2. Cryonics technology

At this time, Robert Ettinger, who has been working on “cryonics”, approached James Bedford. He said that he could use freezing technology to freeze James’ body unharmed and wait until the future When technology develops to cure cancer, let him thaw and “resurrect”. But this technology requires a lot of money and manpower, so Robert hopes that James, who has strong assets, can participate in this experiment and become the first person in the world to be artificially refrigerated.

Robert Ettinger At first, James was skeptical of what Robert said. As a scientist, he understood that freezing a human body is an extremely complicated and difficult task, and even if he can be successfully “resurrected” in the future, he may not be able to adapt to future life. There are also problems with this technology in terms of human relations and ethics. But as James’ illness became more and more serious, he agreed to Robert’s approach in order to have “a ray of life” when the deadline was approaching. The frozen man in the film and television series

3. Plans to resurrect in 2017

After a rigorous plan, James put out a large sum of money, and plans to resurrect in 2017. When everything was ready, James finally closed his eyes in peace. At the moment he just passed away, Robert led his team to get busy. They replaced the blood in James’ body with a cryoprotectant to ensure that the blood crystals after freezing would not pierce the cells. After a series of complicated operations, James’ body was placed in a special refrigeration facility care center. Time flies, and 50 years later, it is the time for James to “resurrect”. But the result is obvious, today’s medical technology has not broken the problem of curing cancer, and how to resurrect the “frozen man” is still an unsolved mystery. Liquid nitrogen tank for freezing

4. How is it now?

Although James failed to realize his last wish to be resurrected in 2017, his family said that the property left by James was enough to support the cost of the subsequent freezing, so they will continue to spend a lot of money to preserve James’s body and make him Continue to freeze until the day when science and technology are really developed to cure cancer and resurrect the “frozen man”. Today, James is still “sleeping” in the refrigeration facility care center, and there are hundreds of people waiting for the day of “resurrection”. Cryonics Many people find it very novel after hearing the story of James Bedford. It is true that “health and longevity” is a beautiful vision for each of us, but nowadays, using cryonics technology to wait for the “resurrection” day is more like Fantastic Nights. For ordinary people, the real secret of health and longevity lies in a good attitude and regular life. Instead of pursuing the “imagination” that can be realized when you don’t know when, it’s better to live every day steadily. What do you think What?

With a valuation of over 600 billion yuan, the world’s largest travel giant is about to go public!

On June 11, Didi Chuxing formally submitted a prospectus to the US SEC, officially sprinting for listing.

After 10 years of long-distance running and 22 rounds of financing, the largest travel giants in China and even the world have finally entered a new chapter.

Didi’s prospectus has a huge amount of information, including data that shocks the world, such as 493 million global annual active users and 15 million annual active drivers. Create nearly 600 billion yuan in revenue for platform drivers in 3 years…

But there are also multiple hidden worries, such as a three-year loss of 35.3 billion yuan, and continued large-scale profitability is still far away; the future of the autonomous driving business is uncertain; and it is also conducive to high-hanging antitrust supervision.

As a rare super unicorn that has not yet been listed in the past 10 years, who has benefited the most from this round of wealth creation myth Didi? Under the anti-monopoly background, where will its future go?

one

From the perspective of the shareholding structure disclosed in the Didi prospectus, among the hundreds of billions of dollars in valuation, The biggest beneficiary is SoftBank Group . That’s right, it is the Japanese richest man Sun Zhengyi who voted for Ali to become a god in the first battle.

Since its founding in 2012, Didi has seen endless battles and countless small battles over the past 10 years. Fortunately, the reckless era of mobile internet has given it tremendous gains.

As of Q1 of 2021, Didi has been operating in more than 4,000 cities and towns in 15 countries, including China. Its businesses include online ride-hailing, taxis, ride-hailing, shared bicycles, shared motorcycles, on behalf of driving, and car services. , Freight, finance and autonomous driving, etc., the king of proper travel.

Of course, without those 22 rounds of huge financing, there would be no Big Mac today.

According to data, Didi has completed 22 rounds of financing, with a total amount of more than 100 billion yuan.Didi The gold owners include SoftBank, Ali, Tencent, Apple, Hillhouse, Sequoia, and China Merchants Bank, Bank of Communications, Foxconn, Toyota, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs…the lineup is unprecedentedly luxurious.

In this day group, the highest shareholding ratio of Softbank reached 21.5%, compared with the founder Cheng maintaining only 6%, and co-founder Liu Qing holding 1.7%.

If calculated at a valuation of US$100 billion, Softbank’s investment in Didi will return as much as US$21.5 billion (137 billion yuan), enough to make Son Zhengyi the richest man in Japan again…..

And Didi is not short of money now. The sprint to go public has a lot to do with the eagerness of shareholders like SoftBank to exit.

Why are shareholders eager to withdraw? First of all, although Didi is the world’s largest giant, it still bleeds.

Looking at the data, its annual revenue from 2018 to 2020 is 135.3 billion yuan, 154.786 billion yuan, and 141.736 billion yuan, respectively. The net losses were 15 billion yuan, 9.7 billion yuan, and 10.6 billion yuan, respectively, with a huge loss of 35.3 billion yuan in three years.

With such losses every year, no matter how strong and firm shareholders are, they will not turn a blind eye to it, and there is a need to cash out as soon as possible.

Secondly, after the anti-monopoly storm in China, Didi has entered the supervision field. In May, it was jointly interviewed by eight major departments including the Ministry of Transport. , Requiring the platform to draw a high percentage, arbitrarily adjust pricing rules, and arbitrarily increase membership fees and other issues to immediately carry out rectification.

Under the high pressure of supervision, Didi’s valuation is no longer the same as it was three years ago, and various uncertainties and risks have also followed.

Therefore, the era of Internet giants making big fortunes has completely ended. Didi shareholders can no longer calmly accompany them, and the exit from the listing has become inevitable.

Moreover, the prospectus also pointed out that the board members appointed by Softbank will resign as Didi directors after the prospectus takes effect. This means that the major shareholder SoftBank has no desire to fight, you know what to do after listing.

This can also be seen from the use of Didi’s fundraising. The prospectus shows that Didi’s fundraising will be used in three aspects:

About 30% is used for international expansion, about 30% is used to improve technical capabilities including shared travel, electric vehicles and autonomous driving, and about 20% is used to launch new products and expand existing product categories to continuously improve user experience .

It can be seen that Didi spends all its money on expanding international business, investing in future technologies, and improving user experience. It is not a lack of money that requires a blood transfusion on the market.

In addition, Didi’s uncertain future technology also makes shareholders anxious.

two

Didi summarizes the current complex business lines into four cores and three major businesses.

The four cores are shared travel platforms, car service networks, electric vehicles and autonomous driving. The three major businesses are mainly Didi’s revenue composition. They are China’s travel business (online car-hailing, taxi, agent driving, and ride-hailing, etc.), International business (international travel and food delivery) and other businesses (shared bicycles, freight, autonomous driving, financial services, etc.).

Among them, autonomous driving is regarded by Didi as a key trump card in the decisive battle for the future.

We have said that the most prosperous 10 years of mobile internet have passed. In the future, model innovation will gradually fail. Real technological innovation is the kingly way.

Didi has also seen this trend and made a huge transformation.

As of the end of 2020, Didi has 15,914 full-time employees worldwide, of which 7,110 are R&D employees, and R&D employees account for 44.7%. At that time, Didi, which focused on operations and marketing, has gradually increased investment in R&D and innovation.

Speaking of technological innovation, in the field of travel, electric vehicles and autonomous driving solutions are definitely inevitable, and Didi has long established a plan for this.

In August 2019, Didi split the autonomous driving department into an independent company to focus on autonomous driving research and development. In May 2020, Didi Autopilot announced the completion of a round A financing of over US$525 million, which was jointly invested by Didi and Softbank.

After the A round, the valuation of Didi’s autonomous driving has reached US$3.4 billion, but it has recently been revealed that it has completed a new round of financing of US$300 million, and its valuation may have exceeded US$5 billion.

In addition, 30% of the funds raised this time will be invested in technologies such as shared travel, electric vehicles and autonomous driving, and Didi’s expectations for autonomous driving technology are self-evident.

However, autonomous driving is a big challenge. Technically, it involves functions such as visual computing, AI, 5G, human-computer interaction, as well as hardware such as lidar and chips, and the technical requirements are extremely high.

At the competitor level, the autopilot circuit has been chased by the two giants Tesla and Huawei, as well as players such as Xiaopeng and Baidu.

Judging from past experience, if Huawei does not do it, it will be a blockbuster. Every time it enters a track, it will have a strong voice and let its opponents walk on thin ice.

Now that Huawei’s autonomous driving technology equipped with lidar is mature, car companies such as BAIC and Changan may become its customers. On the other hand, Didi, although the valuation of the autonomous driving company has reached 5 billion US dollars, the specific results have not yet landed.

It is difficult to say whether Didi, which has crossed over from the Internet, can match Huawei in technological innovation, and it is difficult for shareholders to see clearly. This is the problem.

The vigorous model innovation is coming to an end. The market has no patience for Internet giants such as Didi, which have been losing money for years. For example, Kuaishou has plummeted by 50% after its listing, and giants such as Meituan and JD are also making significant adjustments.

Under the regulatory storm, the main business has suffered huge losses year after year, coupled with the huge challenge of autonomous driving. It is still a question of whether Didi, which has many worries, can hold the 100 billion U.S. dollar valuation…

Review of large-scale summits:

Nirvana Rebirth-2020 China Equity Investment Annual Summit

New Capital Bureau—2020 China Fund Partners (GPLP) Summit

Gathering Potential-2019 China Equity Investment Annual Summit

Capital Breaks-2019 China Fund Partners (GPLP) Summit

Return to Value Investment—2018 China Equity Investment Annual Summit

Big Waves Washing the Sand—2018 China Fund Partners (GPLP) Summit

Hundreds of Waters Strive for Streams—2017 China Equity Investment Annual Summit

The Great Era of Equity Investment—2017 China Equity Investment Summit

Looking for Capital Opportunities in Transformation—2016 China Equity Investment Annual Summit

Annual list review:

Investor.com 2020 China Equity Investment Annual Series List Released

Investor.com 2020 China Fund Partners Annual Series List Announced

Investjia.com announced the 2019 China Equity Investment Annual Series List

Investjia.com announced the 2019 China Fund Partners Annual Series List

Investjia.com announced the 2018 China Equity Investment Annual Series List

Investjia.com announced the 2018 China Fund Partners Annual Series List

Investjia.com announced the 2017 China Equity Investment Annual Series List

2016-2017 China’s equity investment industry series list announced by Investjia.com

Investjia.com announced the 2016 China Equity Investment Annual Series List

Seek coverage: yangqin6060 (WeChat)

Delivery BP: bp@wefinances.com

Disclosure report Bezos, Musk and Co. hardly paid any taxes

As of: 06/09/2021 05:04 a.m.

A new report reveals that the richest Americans hardly pay any income tax – among them Amazon founder Bezos and Tesla boss Musk. The tax authority wants to determine how the confidential data became public. By Torsten Teichmann, ARD studio Washington In 2007, multibillionaire Jeff Bezos didn’t pay a dime in US income tax. In 2011, too, the Amazon founder offset his income against losses so much that the US tax authority IRS granted him an income-related child allowance of 4,000 US dollars. This had often been speculated about. But now the numbers are known. The foundation for investigative journalism ProPublica quotes from Bezos tax return. These tax tricks are not illegal. But the network of loopholes and discounts remains denied to most Americans due to lack of assets. They move from salary to salary, as US President Joe Biden complains time and again: “Sometimes I argue with friends in the Democratic Party about it: It’s okay to be a billionaire or a millionaire, but pay your fair share.”

What tax amounts are fair for the rich?

But how much should the top 0.01 percent in the US contribute financially to society? There is a dispute about this. The ProPublica report rekindles this debate. The foundation has obtained official tax documents from thousands of the richest Americans, says the journalist Jesse Eisinger involved in the NPR radio station. They cover a period of 15 years. ProPublica initially refers to the reported income from the tax returns of the 25 richest Americans and the increase in wealth over the period that is not taxed. In addition to Bezos, Tesla founder Elon Musk, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg and New York’s ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be there.

If we look at the actual tax on capital growth – which is essentially your income – then its tax rate is 3.4 percent. For people like Jeff Bezos or Warren Buffet, it’s even less.

Far from the top tax rate of 37 percent

The investor Warren Buffet paid 0.1 percent tax on income and asset growth between 2014 and 2018, ProPublica calculates. At Bezos it is just under one percent. Americans pay an average of 14 percent income tax. The top tax rate would be 37 percent. America’s billionaires are far from that. The Biden administration reacted cautiously to the findings. Any unauthorized publication of government documents is against the law, said Biden’s spokeswoman Jen Psaki. The Ministry of Finance is trying to clarify how the tax returns have come to the public.

Generally speaking, we know that more needs to be done to ensure that businesses and high-income citizens do more of their fair share. This is what the President says in his proposals, in his budget, and this is how he wants to pay for his proposals. A government proposal provides for higher taxes for households with an annual income of more than $ 400,000. According to the ProPublica report, however, it is completely unclear whether a corresponding reform will generate additional income as long as the loopholes in the tax laws of the USA are not closed.

Is OEM still not a good business?

Wen丨Chinese Business Strategies A Yun

Compared with the “quick money” made by emerging industries such as the Internet, the traditional industry of shoemaking is often looked down upon, and the considerable productivity and steady growth in revenue of shoemaking companies in Taiwan have caused people to rethink about foundry. business.

【Shoe King】

On May 6, 2021, Forbes China Taiwan Rich List was released.

It was not Terry Gou, the founder of Foxconn, the world’s largest contract manufacturer, nor the Wei family behind the food giant Master Kong, who aspired to the throne of the richest man. Rather, it was a shoe maker with a net worth of US$13.8 billion (approximately 89 billion yuan). Zhang Congyuan.

Maybe you don’t know who Zhang Congyuan is, but the Converse, Nike, and Puma you wear on your feet are likely to come from his foundry-Huali Group.

Just over a month ago, Huali Group successfully went public and became the first sports shoe manufacturer in A shares. The prospectus shows that even in 2020 affected by the epidemic, its net profit is still as high as 1.876 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.27%.

▲Huali Group listed on the ChiNext of Shenzhen Stock Exchange

Zhang Congyuan was born in the countryside of Yunlin County, Taiwan Province in 1948. His father farmed the fields for a living. He graduated from Chiayi Agricultural School at the age of 18 and joined a shoe factory in Yunlin at the age of 20 as an ordinary administrator. After he became famous, the media interviewed his fellow villagers and classmates in Tainan and talked about his achievements. The most described as “unexpected”.

With management experience in a shoe factory, in the 1980s, Zhang Congyuan decided to start his own shoe factory, Jingxin Shoes. Due to limited funds, he can only buy pig houses and farmhouses as factories. “If I don’t have money at home, I will live a life without money. If people buy lots and buildings, I will buy pig houses and farmhouses in the country.”

With insufficient funds, it is natural not to choose products with high thresholds and difficult production. In an interview with the media, Zhang Congyuan said: “If football shoes and basketball shoes are the first and second profit kings in shoes, vulcanized shoes (canvas shoes) are probably the last one.”

And it is precisely this “least profitable” vulcanized shoe that made him start and gain a foothold.

Because Taiwan is rich in rubber and cheap in materials, if ordinary sports shoes are produced, there is almost no R&D cost; while vulcanized shoe soles need to be cross-linked with sulfur under a certain temperature and pressure environment to make the two strong Combining land together, the quality is not easy to be guaranteed, and many shoe companies have given up.

There is only one logic for Zhang Congyuan to change his original idea and choose to go the opposite way with his peers:

Doing business that others don’t mean less competition. As long as you do a good job, you can survive.

“I didn’t think it would be more difficult if you can only do the leftover orders from others… The point is, do you have the determination to do better than others.” Zhang Congyuan said.

Compared with “Huali”, Zhang Congyuan is better known in Taiwan as his shoe factory “Hongfu”. Hongfu is the world’s second largest shoe factory with 150,000 employees worldwide, and it is also the world’s largest vulcanized shoe factory.

Personal success is inseparable from the creation of the times and the environment. Zhang Congyuan’s story is only a microcosm of the development of the footwear industry in Taiwan.

【Rise】

In 1832, an Irishman immigrated to the United States. When he was a printer in a small town in Massachusetts, he stood in front of the machine every day. Because he felt pain after standing for a long time, he put a rubber pad on the sole of his feet and the pain was significantly reduced. After he got home, he simply fixed the rubber skin to the sole, and rubber-soled shoes were invented.

It is only natural that Taiwan, which has a huge rubber output, has become the “base camp of raw materials” for rubber soles.

During the Second World War, the Japanese established large-scale rubber factories in Taiwan, imported natural rubber from Nanyang, and mass produced products such as tires and rubber shoes.

In 1955, Hollywood star James Dean became popular with the movie “Rebellion Without a Cause”. He wore jeans and white canvas shoes, making canvas shoes (that is, sulfurized shoes) once a symbol of youth rebellion and hippie spirit. All the rage.

▲The image of James Dean wearing canvas shoes

Since then, Converse and Puma have carried out technical research on canvas shoes, through the use of sulfurized steam technology to make the upper and sole have higher strength and elasticity, which makes it possible to mass-produce sulfurized shoes and become popular consumer products.

The earliest companies that produced Puma and Converse were the “Hongfu” of Zhang Congyuan.

In the early 1970s, developed countries in Europe and the United States gradually entered the post-industrial era, and the market was in a highly competitive state. The transfer of manufacturing industries to reduce manufacturing costs became a common outlet for European and American companies. The central region of Taiwan, China, which has cheap labor, has become the “place of heaven,” and the shoe industry has been able to grow rapidly.

In 1971, the number of shoes sold abroad in Taiwan reached 100 million pairs. In 1976, the export sales of the footwear industry in Taiwan surpassed that of Italy, becoming the world’s largest footwear export region. The shoe industry, together with the electronics and textile industries, is believed to have created the economic miracle of Taiwan in the 1970s.

In the 1980s, internationally renowned foundry shoe factories such as Hongfu, Baocheng, Fengtai, Yuqi, Longdian, Qinglu, Kainan, and Jiuxing emerged in Taiwan, and Taiwan also gained the beauty of the “kingdom of shoemaking”. name.

In 1986, the total amount of footwear sold abroad in Taiwan reached its peak, exceeding 800 million pairs. At that time, the global population was approximately 4.9 billion, which means that one out of every six people in the world could wear shoes made in Taiwan.

▲Shoe factories in Taiwan in the 1970s and 1980s

In 1987, the total export value of rubber products in Taiwan was 7.46 billion Taiwan dollars (approximately 287 million U.S. dollars), of which the export value of rubber shoes was 3 billion Taiwan dollars, accounting for almost half.

However, Taiwan’s economy, which relied on the rapid rise of “foundry” in various industries, has gradually unbalanced the industrial structure due to long-term excess output, and at the same time is greatly affected by the export market, which has laid hidden dangers for its subsequent industrial predicament.

In 1988, Taiwan’s economy overheated and the Taiwan dollar’s ​​appreciation against the U.S. dollar accelerated, causing the footwear industry’s exports to suddenly chill. From January to April of this year, the number of shoes exported from Taiwan to the United States decreased by 29% compared with the same period of the previous year.

According to statistics from the Taiwan Shoemaking Association, in 1988 and 1989, more than 600 production lines in Taiwan were discontinued.

Exports are cold, production is trapped, and the “small profits but quick turnover” route is unsustainable. Taiwanese shoe companies, which control more than 80% of the world’s branded shoe production, have set their sights on the other side of the strait.

【migrate】

In the 1990s, many Taiwanese shoe companies moved their factories to the mainland, including Zhang Congyuan’s companies.

He co-founded Xinfeng Group as a joint venture to engage in sports shoes foundry in mainland China. In 1995, the company established its headquarters in Hong Kong and successfully went public. Zhang Congyuan owns 15.7% of the shares.

Cheap and sufficient labor was the advantage of the mainland at that time in attracting shoe companies in Taiwan. Statistics show that in 1987, the wages of shoe-makers in Taiwan were US$1.55/hour, while the wages of shoe-makers in mainland China were only US$1.75/day.

Coupled with the policy advantages of reform and opening up, In a very short period of time, the mainland shoe industry has replicated the glory of the shoe industry in Taiwan.

The two provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, which are the closest to Taiwan, have become destinations for the relocation of the shoe industry in Taiwan. Cities such as Dongguan, Putian, and Jinjiang have become beneficiaries of this wave of industrial relocation.

Take Putian as an example. Before Taiwanese businessmen entered Putian, Putian was already the center of the footwear industry in Fujian Province. In 1986, the total output value of Putian’s shoe leather industry exceeded 100 million yuan, accounting for more than 70% of the province. After Taiwanese businessmen brought in a large number of international orders, it exploded at an astonishing rate of development.

Putian had more than 100 shoe companies in 1993, producing over 100 million pairs of shoes each year; by 1996, Putian’s total output value of the shoe industry had risen to 4.29 billion yuan.

however, The brilliance created by relying on labor advantages and following the foundry model is also short-lived.

To put it bluntly, OEMs still make hard money. According to the survey of the International Consumers Union, the gross profit of the factory accounts for 2% of the cost of a pair of shoes, the labor cost accounts for 0.4%, and the labor cost accounts for 20% of the gross profit of the factory.

The rising cost of raw materials is inevitable, and the factory can only make a fuss on this 20% of labor if it wants to increase its net profit.

Thanks to the regional economic development brought about by the rise of the manufacturing industry, the rising labor cost in the mainland has once again made the foundry inevitably fall into a vicious circle. In 2001, the minimum wage in Fujian Province was 380 yuan/month, while the minimum wage in Vietnam was about 164 yuan/month.

In 2012, the sports shoe giant Adidas announced that it would close its only own factory in China and relocate its production line to Southeast Asia, kicking off a new wave of industrial transfer. Taiwanese shoe companies have also begun to move to Southeast Asia where labor costs are lower.

【future】

Labor costs continue to rise, and shoemaking alone can no longer bring considerable profits.

After Zhang Congyuan’s Xinfeng Group went public, it began to diversify its development and create a number of sports brands, and even increased investment in the real estate industry. The proportion of shoemaking businesses in the overall business has become smaller and smaller.

In July 2013, Xinfeng Group announced that it would sell the entire equity of Yiming Investment for a total consideration of 429 million yuan, and its main business is the manufacture of footwear products.

It was the Zhang Congyuan family who took over. Zhang Congyuan, who started from shoemaking, was obviously not willing to give up his old business that he had accumulated over the years. He renamed the shoemaking business of Xinfeng Group to “Huali” and started to operate independently.

A short time after taking over, the Zhang Congyuan family first acquired 15 Vietnam factories and Dominican factories through the family-controlled Hong Kong company, and the trading business of 24 trading companies, and then acquired 15 companies in Hong Kong, China through the subsidiaries of Huali Co., Ltd. .

At present, the majority of Huali Group’s employees are in northern Vietnam, while the proportion of manufacturing personnel in mainland China and Taiwan is only 0.3%. As of the first half of 2020, the company’s self-produced output totaled 75.4 million pairs, of which 74.61 million pairs were produced in Vietnam and 800,000 pairs were produced in Dominica, each accounting for 98.9% and 1.1% of the total.

▲Development history of Huali Group’s main customers

Image source: Huali Group Prospectus

Zhang Congyuan’s consistent strategy of “small profits but quick turnover” determines that the cheap labor force in Southeast Asia will be the key to Huali’s profit.

In the first half of 2020, Huali’s average sales unit price to Converse is 72.50 yuan/pair, and the average sales unit price to Nike is 80.20 yuan/pair. The other factory is mainly concentrated in Taiwan and the mainland shoe company Winterthur. The unit price to Nike is about 120 to 140 yuan, nearly twice that of Huali.

In terms of output, Huali is also far ahead among the shoe companies in Taiwan. In 2019, the per capita footwear output of Yuyuan, Yuqi, and Fengtai were 929 pairs/year, 927 pairs/year, and 792 pairs/year, respectively, while Huali reached 1,378 pairs/year.

In addition, compared with other Southeast Asian countries, Vietnam has the advantages of being close to China, which can effectively save transportation costs and have low import tariffs on European and American countries. This is why Huali chose to locate its factory here.

In 2018, the shoe manufacturing business revenue growth rates of several major shoe companies in Taiwan, Yuyuan, Yuqi, and Winterthur were -3.12%, -3.91%, and 9.41%, respectively, with an average growth rate of 0.79%. The closing achieved a high growth of 23.96%.

From the disclosure of Huali Group’s prospectus, Huali Group has nearly 136,000 employees in 2020, more than 180 million pairs of shoes, operating income of more than 15 billion yuan, and net profit of 1.821 billion yuan.

Huali’s considerable productivity and year-round steady growth in revenue have allowed people to see the amazing resilience of the traditional industry of shoemaking and begin to re-understand the business of “foundry”.

However, everything has two sides, What people see is brilliance, but what they don’t see is crisis.

Under the influence of the epidemic, European and American sports shoe brands have cut orders. The revenue of Huali’s two major customers, Nike and VF, has dropped significantly. The Nike report showed that the net profit in the fourth quarter of 2019 was a direct loss of 5.634 billion yuan; VF revenue also plummeted, and the revenue in the first quarter of 2020 fell by as much as 47.51%.

Misfortune never comes singly, Vietnam, which has an advantage in labor, has also been exposed to a “labor shortage”.

Vietnam Express (VnExpress) pointed out that in Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong Province, the monthly salary of textile and shoe factories, including social insurance and lunch, is between 5 million and 12 million VND, but they are affected by emerging industries such as the Internet. , Even if it pays 15 million (approximately RMB 4,200), it is still difficult to find workers.

At the same time, the emerging economy is surging, which has also accelerated the fleeing of some young people from traditional manufacturing. The prospectus of Huali Group’s listing also shows that the company’s turnover rates in the past three years have been 22.04%, 22.83%, and 27.31%. At least 20% of employees leave each year, and the turnover rate has increased.

Following in the footsteps of the footwear industry in Taiwan, Zhang Congyuan, who started from scratch, relied on the rapid pursuit of cheaper labor and now leads the way as a “dark horse”. However, under the general trend of accelerated disappearance of labor cost advantages, the future challenges will only be More.

Traditional “foundry” is still profitable, but when “low-cost labor” no longer becomes the advantage of the shoe industry, can Taiwanese foundry companies represented by Huali continue their shoemaking kingdom? In other words, whether the dependence on labor can be reduced will largely determine the future of “foundry”.

In fact, Huali is also making plans for its future, which is to upgrade from OEM production to design and OEM production, and gradually has a strong product development and design strength.

【Reference Materials】

[1]”Exclusive Interview: From Pioneer Entrepreneurship to New Richest Man” Business Weekly

[2]”Dismantling the “first share of sports shoe foundry” Huali shares: R&D investment is only 2%, binding to Nike and other big names, what is the competitive advantage” Vitality Capital

[3]”Taiwan’s new richest man, making shoes and making billions of net worth | Juchao” Juchao Business Review

[4]”Taiwan’s Export Industry-The Rise and Fall of the Footwear Industry” Journal of Hangzhou Normal University

[5]”Recent Situation of Taiwan’s Footwear Industry” Western Leather

——END——

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However, such a small town has been ranked as the richest town in the United States for many years, and its wealth will definitely refresh your new understanding.

Although it is more than 40 minutes away from the city center, it is only a dozen minutes away from the world’s most influential headquarters of Google, Tesla, and Facebook.

However, the people who live in suburban towns are not employees of these high-tech groups, but a large group of presidents.

More than a hundred years ago, Atherton was originally the most common agricultural town in the southern suburbs of San Francisco.

Later, with the rapid development of San Francisco, Silicon Valley gave birth to many high-tech companies that affected the world. Atherton, far away from the city center, had a quiet life and became a place where many CEOs bought real estate.

In just a few decades, Atherton’s housing prices soared like a rocket.

The most common house today is as high as 7 million U.S. dollars, and some large-scale luxury houses require more than 30 million U.S. dollars.

If it is some well-built manor, the price of more than 100 million US dollars is not surprising.

The reason why it is loved by these wealthy people is that Atherton is not far or near in distance, it can avoid the hustle and bustle of the city center, it can also provide a certain degree of privacy for the wealthy, and it can also facilitate work.

In addition, it is also a small town with investment value.

Over the past ten years, Atherton’s housing prices have risen by a minimum of about three times. If it was purchased 10 years ago, the price of a villa today is comparable to a huge windfall.

Of course, for those listed CEOs, Atherton’s real estate is just one year’s income. Living in Atherton is more of an identity in the circle.

Imagine that your neighbor is either the CEO or the chairman of a world-class company. This kind of high-level social interaction is itself a resource.

Children in public elementary schools are still descendants of high elites. In such an elite-to-elite atmosphere, the descendants educated by them will not be bad.

For example, there is an equestrian club in the town, and its membership costs hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

In daily life, rich people can take their families to ride horses, and horse races and other activities are held every year.

But most of the time, its existence is dedicated to the social services of the rich.

In fact, Atherton’s package is not perfect.

When we buy a house, we will consider supermarkets, commercial districts, subways, hospitals, parks, schools and other facilities. But except for a park and three public elementary schools, Atherton’s daily life is not convenient.

For example, if you have to drive to the city center for shopping, you have to drive more than ten minutes to a big town for meals.

Of course, the lives that we ordinary people consider are trivial matters to the rich, and naturally someone will handle such trivial matters.

For the residents of Atherton, being clean and undisturbed is what people want.

In Atherton during the day, people are often not visible on the sidewalk.

The manor houses and villas of every house are tightly fenced to avoid being snooped by strangers.

The exquisite and luxurious mansions are like small worlds. People do not disturb each other. This is the life circle of the rich.

There are about 7,000 residents living in Atherton.

Except for the aboriginals, all those luxury houses were purchased by the rich in Silicon Valley, so Atherton was also dubbed the CEO town by outsiders.

Here, meeting a CEO with tens of millions of dollars in assets is not unusual.

The gathering of the rich has made Atherton’s per capita income far ahead every year.

According to the latest calculations, Atherton’s family has an average annual income of more than 520,000 U.S. dollars, and an annual income of 500,000 U.S. dollars (approximately RMB 3.4 million) is still the “poor” at the bottom of the town.

And this is still an average. What is the annual income of those top families?

According to Bloomberg, Asia’s richest billionaire Mukesh Ambani has just bought another property in the United Kingdom through Relliance Industries, which he controls. Stoke Park Castle is considered an iconic property in England. This deal is estimated to cost the Indian billionaire £57 million (about $79 million). Photo: Stoke Park. With a fortune of $71.9 billion, Mr. Mukesh Ambani is currently the richest person in Asia and the 13th richest person in the world, according to Forbes. The Ambani family is also known for their lavish lifestyle and willingness to spend heavily on housing, security as well as fashion. Photo: Stoke Park. Stoke Park is an icon of England, with a history of more than 1,000 years, according to Forbes. The property is located on an area of ​​120 hectares (300 acres), about 40 km from the city of London. Photo: Stoke Park. Inside the castle includes a five-star hotel, three restaurants, a guest lounge, spa room, gym, 13 tennis courts and a 27-hole golf course for major tournaments. Photo: Stoke Park. The gym area in the castle has a 15-meter heated indoor swimming pool. In addition, the castle also has 13 tennis courts including 6 grass courts, 3 indoor courts and 4 artificial clay courts. Photo: Stoke Park. Stoke Park has appeared in scenes from James Bond movies and many other films. It is also home to the annual Boodles tennis event, which brings together many of the world’s top tennis players such as Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. Photo: Stoke Park. The same 27-hole Stoke Park golf tournament has been maintained since 1908. Photo: Stoke Park. The 5-star hotel in the castle has a luxurious, nostalgic royal style. Photo: Stoke Park. The hotel in Stoke Park has 49 rooms with prices ranging from 265 – 1,030 USD/night. A representative of Relliance Industries said that it will expand the entertainment and resort facilities of Stoke Park in the future. Photo: Stoke Park.

Popular swimwear brand Summersalt has recruited 24 inspirational women to participate in its new swimwear campaign. They include Mrs. Maye, the mother of the world’s second-richest billionaire Elon Musk, the two-legged girl Lauren Wasser, the oversized yoga devotee Jessamyn Stanley or the Paralympic gymnastics champion Chelsea Werner… With the theme “Every Body is a Summersalt Body”, the summer 2021 campaign aims to promote self-love and body positivity. “The women in the campaign represent a diverse group of activists, entrepreneurs and change makers who are pioneering in their communities,” Summersalt said. The swimwear brand also hopes to empower all women to feel confident no matter what shape, size and background they are in. The models range in age from 23 to 73, with Mrs Maye being the oldest. The model, author, and nutritionist looked elegant and glamorous in a black off-the-shoulder swimsuit. Pose with her hands on pink and her silver hair combed back helps Maye show a proud and attractive demeanor. “I’m happy to have confidence at the age of 73,” she said. Mrs. Maye achieved her greatest success as a model when she was in her 60s and 70s. The mother-of-three made history in 2018 when she became the face of CoverGirl at the age of 69. So far, career Her model continues to flourish. Mrs. Maye confidently modeled swimwear at the age of 73 Brand investor Sara Foster (40, right) and her sister Erin (38). The two are the daughters of composer David Foster. They are both successful performers and entrepreneurs. Two American female football players Ashlyn Harris (35 years old, left) and Ali Krieger (36 years old). They are both colleagues and are bound by a legal marriage relationship. Ashlyn Harris holds the position of goalkeeper on the Orlando Pride club and the US women’s national football team. Despite losing her legs, Lauren Wasser is not afraid to show off her body in a two-piece swimsuit. Former MC E! News Catt Sadler (46 years old). Oversized model Denise Bidot. Yogi Jessamyn is an advocate of body positivity and size inclusivity in the fitness industry. Paralympic gymnastics champion Chelsea Werner. Oversized vitiligo model Andrea Thomas. Travel blogger Jessica Nabongo, Seagram heiress (Canada) and entrepreneur Hannah Bronfman and chronic disease activist Nitika Chopra (from left to right). TikTok star Barbara ‘Babs’ Costello (left) and NBC News production associate Lauren Seely. Jari Jones, an actress, writer and LGBTQ rights activist. Stacey London is stylist and CEO of State of Menopause, a wellness brand that provides resources for menopausal women. Actress and YouTuber Anna Akana (left) wore a navy speckled piece, while athlete Meg Boggs posed in an off-the-shoulder swimsuit. Deepika Chopra, dubbed the Optimistic Doctor, is the founder of the wellness brand Things Are Looking Up. Fashion designer and Cushnie founder, Carly Cushnie (left), and best-selling author and stylist Micaela Erlanger.

The house, named Gulita, is the wedding gift of the groom’s parents for the couple. Anand Piramal (35 years old), husband of Isha, is a second generation heir to the Piramal, the second most powerful family in India. The residence of the daughter of the richest billionaire in Asia from the outside. Photo: Time Now News. Isha Ambani’s husband’s family owns many valuable real estate across the country. According to the Reuters They bought the Worli mansion for $ 61.2 million in 2012. Overlooking the Arabian Sea, the area offers beautiful ocean views, making it one of the most sought-after places in Mumbai. Before the grand wedding, the house underwent a complete remodel. This mansion is located near the road and is easy to see. From a distance, three large palm tree-shaped pillars made of 3D-enameled steel can be observed on the main facade of the building. Isha’s husband Anand Piramal is also in the second generation of the second most powerful family in India. The house is 11 m high, includes 5 floors and 3 basements, in which the second and third floors are used for entertainment rooms and parking. The first basement has a lawn and an open-air fountain, and many other small rooms. The ground floor is a lobby, with a high dome and transparent diamond-shaped windows overlooking the street in front of you. In addition, the temple area is also designed inside the house. According to the Times Now, the furniture in Gulita is custom made. Reuters reports Eckersley O’Callaghan, a London-based engineering firm, was involved in the redesign of the house. The mansion worth at least $ 61 million is a wedding gift that the parents-in-law give to the couple Isha Ambani. Photo: India Times. Before her marriage, the daughter of Asia’s richest billionaire lived in Antilia, a 27-storey building built by her father, Mukesh Ambani. This is known as one of the most expensive homes in the world with 6 basements for parking, 4 helipads and is served by a team of 600 employees. Currently, Isha Ambani’s two brothers still live with their parents in Antilia. In the interview with Femina A year after her daughter’s wedding, Nita Ambani said she felt strange after Isha got married and moved out of her parents’ home. “Although bittersweet, I understand that Isha now needs to take care of her own family,” said his wife, Mukesh Ambani. Pictures inside the house. Photo: BCCL. In December 2018, Isha Ambani’s wedding was compared to a “royal wedding” with a week-long period, with many lavish ceremonies and famous guests. The amount paid by the Ambani family to the organization is up to $ 100 million. Before the official wedding, the couple held a celebration party in downtown Udaipur with guests including powerful figures such as music superstar Beyonce, Mrs. Hilary Clinton. According to the Bloomberg The guest list was so long that the Ambani and Piramal families had to use at least five nearby 5-star hotels and a powerful logistics team to manage these guests.

The Rock is still the richest actor in the world. Last year, his income was $ 87.5 million, according to Forbes. Muscle star Dwayne Johnson, who for two years in a row holds the top spot on the list of the richest actors in the world has just spent $ 27.8 million (about 667 billion) to buy a monumental residence in Beverly Park. The newly purchased villa built in Mediterranean style, covers an area of ​​more than 1,600 m2 with 6 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, both indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, world-class gym, movie theater, music studio, lawn and lush gardens. Recently, the 49-year-old actor continued to be concerned with the intention of running for US President next term. A lot of Americans want a movie star Fast and Furious Contest and The Rock has mentioned this in many interviews in the past. The Rock intends to run for US President from 2017. The move to a new home is part of the actor’s plan to reach the upper class of the population. Beverly Park is home to many cult stars such as Denzel Washington, Sly Stallone, Rod Stewart, Eddie Murphy, Sofía Vergara. The newly bought mansion of The Rock was previously for sale for $ 30 million, but then the actor negotiated to reduce it to $ 27.8 million. This is really the dream residence of many people. Before that this mansion used to belong to rocker Alex Van Halen, who shaped this place since 1993. The living space of the villa is extremely quiet, avoiding any outside, it is like a resort. perfect maintenance.

Over the past 20 years, China has produced many of the richest people, but according to the geographical division, Zhejiang merchants are the most. There was Ding Lei of NetEase at first, Zong Qinghou, who became the richest man three times, and then Jack Ma, who was the richest man in China four times. Today, the new richest man is born, he is the founder of Nongfu Spring, Zhong Suansui, but he is still from Zhejiang. In fact, there is another Zhejiang businessman who hopes to become the richest man, but he himself gave up. He is the founder of Pinduoduo, Huang Zheng. He was once the second richest man in China and chased the richest man, but he took the initiative to give up 13.9% of the richest man. The share price dropped from 43.3% to 29.4%.

Judging from the current situation, it seems that Zhejiang merchants and Cantonese merchants will continue to maintain the “two-horse battle for hegemony” situation, but in fact there is a merchant gang that is rising rapidly and may give birth to the next richest man in China, which is Fujian merchants.

Recently, Hu Run said in an interview that the next richest man is likely to be Zhang Yiming. He thinks that after Kuaishou’s listing, the market value exceeds RMB 1 trillion, and Douyin is at least twice its value. After the listing, it is likely to rise again. It is possible to reach 2 to 3 trillion yuan. Zhang Yiming holds 15% of Douyin’s shares. , It is not difficult to become the richest man.

In fact, according to foreign media reports, the valuation of ByteDance, the parent company of Douyin, is approaching US$400 billion. Zhang Yiming holds a quarter of Bytedance’s equity, which will be worth $100 billion. According to the 2021 Forbes Global Rich List released some time ago, this value can enter the world’s top five, which is the highest record ever. In the “2021 Hurun Global Self-made U40 Rich List”, Zhang Yiming ranked first in China with a net worth of 350 billion.

Zhang Yiming was born in 1983 and is only 38 years old now. He grew up in a business unit family, but his father later went to sea to start a business. Zhang Yiming’s feeling is not good at words, even a little restrained and shy. But in fact, he is a very ambitious and challenging person. After graduating from university, he worked briefly at Microsoft, and then he continued to start a business until he founded Bytedance in 2012.

ByteDance launched its first product, Toutiao, a news information aggregation platform. Different from traditional news apps, Toutiao uses algorithms to recommend information based on each person’s interests, as well as accurately recommend advertising information. As a result, Toutiao has developed rapidly, gaining 300 million monthly active users under the noses of portal giants such as Tencent.

Another King Fried product of ByteDance is Douyin. Short videos have become the fastest growing track of the Internet. The largest one is undoubtedly Douyin. Statistics show that as of March this year, Douyin’s daily active users have reached 610 million. In the social field, Tencent has always occupied a dominant position through QQ and WeChat. Now Douyin is attacking, quickly grabbing user time and becoming a strong competitor of Tencent.

In the past two or two years, the “to-teng war” has continued to erupt. Tencent launched its own short video app Weishi, and has invested in Douyin’s competitor Kuaishou. In addition, Douyin was blocked on WeChat. ByteDance is not to be outdone, and its products are not allowed to display information such as WeChat signals. However, Tencent has been unable to stop the development of Bytedance, and can only let it grow into a super giant.

It is understood that Bytedance’s revenue in 2020 has reached 240 billion yuan, with a profit of about 45 billion yuan, of which advertising revenue is 183 billion yuan. And Tencent’s revenue in 2020 is 482.064 billion yuan, which means that the beating of bytes after just over 8 years of establishment has reached half of Tencent’s revenue.

In addition to competing with Tencent, Bytedance is increasing its competitiveness with Alibaba. Its e-commerce business will increase from 170 billion yuan last year to 600 billion yuan in 2021. In addition, Alibaba has always been the company with the highest advertising revenue. Now ByteDance wants to increase its advertising revenue to 260 billion yuan, which will undoubtedly compete with Ali.

Zhang Yiming’s ambitions are far more than that. He has extended the tentacles of Bytedance to industries such as gaming, finance, online education, office software, etc. From all indications, Bytedance’s goal is directed at China’s largest Internet company, surpassing Ali and Tencent.

In China’s Internet industry, there are two big mountains, Ali and Tencent, and emerging companies generally choose to stand on one side. But Zhang Yiming was the only one who insisted. ByteDance did not have Ali and Tencent in the 9 rounds of financing. He just blazed a trail from the two giants. Zhang Yiming does not want to be attached to these two companies, he wants to be his own giant.

Billionaire Jeff Bezos – the owner of the world’s largest e-commerce group Amazon – currently tops the list of the richest people in the world (according to Forbes magazine). Possessing assets of hundreds of billions of dollars, Jeff Bezos holds many giant real estate blocks, including a penthouse on 212 Fifth Avenue, downtown New York, USA. Inside the large penthouse there are up to 12 comfortable bedrooms. Billionaire Jeff Bezos owns a residence in Medina, Washington, worth about $ 53 million. Jeff Bezos’ residence in Medina is close to the home of Bill Gates and many other famous businessmen. Jeff Bezos generously spent up to $ 23 million to renovate his Medina mansion. Billionaire Jeff Bezos also has real estate in the “rich house” in Beverly Hills, California. In 2007, Amazon boss spent $ 24.45 million to buy a Spanish-style villa in Beverly Hills. 10 years later, Jeff Bezos spent $ 12.9 million to buy a house next door. Also in Beverly Hills, Jeff Bezos has bought more real estate blocks “giant” once owned by billionaire David Geffen. Billionaire David Geffen bought it in 1990 for $ 47.5 million. Jeff Bezos aggressively spent $ 165 million to buy one of the most expensive mansions in Los Angeles. In 2016, Jeff Bezos bought a textile museum in Washington DC for $ 23 million. The Amazon CEO immediately bought two buildings that make up the largest residential complex in Washington DC. He spent $ 12 million to improve his house and the surrounding area. In 2020, billionaire Jeff Bezos buys the opposite building to ensure privacy for the largest housing complex in Washington DC. The house at 212 Fifth, New York City was bought by Jeff Bezos for $ 80 million. In addition, the Amazon boss also bought 3 apartments in an ancient building in Manhattan’s busy street, heading to Central Park for $ 7.65 million since 1999./.

After retiring from the Sanchi podium at the age of 60, he started his own business selling bread. Twenty years later, the former teacher became the “Bread King of the Northeast”, and wealth came in with it.

This person is Wu Zhigang, the founder of Taoli Bread. On the 2020 Forbes China Rich List, ranked by place of residence, Wu Zhigang’s family has a wealth of 30.1 billion yuan, making it the richest man in Shenyang.

Starting from Dandong, a border city on the Yalu River, to Shenyang, the provincial capital, to occupy the Northeast market, Wu Zhigang wanted to replicate the peach and plum bread to the whole country through a “central factory + wholesale” model. However, the road to expansion was not smooth.

In the past two years, the growth rate of Taoli Bread’s performance has slowed down, and the growth rate of revenue and net profit has dropped to single digits. The performance report for the first quarter of 2021 released on the evening of April 11 showed that revenue was 1.327 billion yuan, an increase of only 0.31%; net profit attributable to the parent was 163 million yuan, an increase of -16.27% year-on-year, setting a first-quarter performance since Taoli Bread went public Record for the worst growth.

Moreover, the Wu Zhigang family, as the actual controller, continued to reduce their holdings and cash out on a large scale after the expiry of the restriction period, which also attracted a series of doubts.

The richest family cashed out over 3.6 billion

Taoli Bread is a typical family business, and a huge family crony runs through the company’s equity and management.

Wu Zhigang was born in 1935 and spent his life before the age of 60 in Dandong. In this small border town, he worked as a telegrapher and a teacher in the Dandong Municipal Telecommunication Bureau, from Dandong No.1 Silk Factory School to Dandong Silk Industry School.

In 1995, Wu Zhigang, who had worked so hard for most of his life, retired. The routine operation should be to enjoy the old-age life of a sweetheart and grandson. However, under the spring breeze of reform, Wu Zhigang was moved to start a business.

He took his second son, Wu Xuequn, to open a bakery in the local area. Perhaps because of his teaching, he named the bakery “Tao Li”, probably because he wanted to sell the peach and plum bread all over the world.

Twenty years later, in 2015, Wu Zhigang and his sons landed on the A-share market with Taoli Bread, and Taoli Bread became China’s “first share of bread”. At the time of listing, among the natural-person shareholders of Taoli Bread, there were about 20 relatives of Wu Zhigang’s family.

After the expiration of the restricted sale period, Wu Zhigang and his family members started a continuous reduction in holdings.

As of the end of 2018, the top eight shareholders of Taoli Bread are all members of the Wu Zhigang family. Among them, the top five shareholders Wu Xuequn, Wu Xueliang, Wu Zhigang, Sheng Yali, and Wu Xuedong are the actual controllers of the company, holding a total of 74.46% of the shares of Taoli Bread; Wu Zhigang and Sheng Yali are married, and Wu Xuedong, Wu Xuequn and Wu Xueliang are their eldest sons and second sons, respectively And three sons.

The other three shareholders are Sheng Yali’s younger brother and sister: Shenglong, Sheng Yaping, and Shengli. The three persons collectively hold 8.34% of the shares of Taoli Bread.

At the same time, Wu Zhigang is the chairman of Taoli Bread, Wu Xuequn is the director, general manager and executive general manager, Wu Xueliang is the vice chairman and executive general manager, and both Wu Xuedong and Shenglong are directors of the company.

In addition, Wu Zhigang’s younger brother Wu Zhidao, Wu Xueliang’s wife Xiao Shuyan, Sheng Long’s wife Fei Zhihui, Sheng Long’s brother-in-law Lu Changen and other close relatives of the actual controller and close family members all hold shares in the company.

In 2018, the directors, supervisors and senior executives of Taoli Bread reduced their holdings. At the end of December of the same year, Taoli Bread went public for three years, ushering in the large-scale lifting of the ban on the initial public offering of restricted shares. Only five days later, the Wu Zhigang family announced an announcement of their shareholding reduction plan. From this time on, the Wu Zhigang family began to reduce their holdings.

The implementation of the share reduction began in January 2019. As of February 20, 2021, Wu Zhigang and his family members have disclosed seven share reduction plans and announcements on the results of the share reduction. In the past two years, the Wu Zhigang family has cashed out a total of 3.633 billion yuan through stock reduction.

In 2020 alone, the Wu Zhigang family cashed out 1.754 billion yuan. In 2021, as of April 5, it has cashed out 436 million yuan.

In addition, in September 2019, Taoli Bread publicly issued 10 million convertible corporate bonds (1 billion yuan), and Wu Xuequn, Wu Xueliang, Sheng Yali and Wu Xuedong placed 55.27%. On the day the convertible bonds were listed for trading, Sheng Yali emptied her bonds. As of February 20, 2020, less than half a year after the listing and trading, the four members of this family reduced their holdings to only 5.41%.

Taoli Bread’s announcement on the results of the share reduction issued on February 20, 2021 shows that as of the announcement date, Wu Xuequn, Wu Zhigang, Wu Xueliang, Sheng Yali, and Wu Xuedong still hold 61.54% of the shares of Taoli Bread, while Shenglong, Xiao Shuyan, Shengli, and Shengjie , Sheng Yaping, Sheng Ling, Fei Zhihui, Lu Changen and Wu Zhidao still hold 6.37%. The Wu Zhigang family holds 67.91% in total.

Isn’t it optimistic about the company’s development prospects that the actual controller family continues to reduce their holdings and cash out?

After the shift, the pace of growth slowed down

After retiring from his post as a teacher, Wu Zhigang used his retirement time to create the second spring of his career. Not only did he sell bread to the Northeast, he also became famous. More importantly, the wealth he has created during these two decades is unimaginable when he was a teacher.

Wu Zhigang used to be the oldest chairman of A-shares. In April 2019, 84-year-old Wu Zhi just retired from the position of chairman of Taoli Bread, and finally handed over the business of Taoli Bread to his sons. At that time, the sons were not young anymore.

After Wu Zhigang retired to the second line, the 48-year-old third son Wu Xueliang took over as the chairman and concurrently the executive general manager; the 53-year-old second son Wu Xuequn was the director, general manager, and executive general manager; the 56-year-old eldest son Wu Xuedong was the director and the subsidiary Jinan Taoli’s executive director and general manager; Wu Zhigang’s 78-year-old wife Sheng Yali is still a director, and Sheng Long is also a director of the company.

In the two years after Wu Zhigang retired, that is, the two years after his sons officially took over, Tao Li Bread’s performance has fluctuated greatly.

First in 2019, Taoli Bread’s operating income increased by 16.77% year-on-year, but net profit only increased by 6.42%. This is the first time the company’s growth rate has fallen to single digits since its listing. The explanation given by Taoli Bread is that in order to effectively respond to market competition and increase market development, the company has increased its promotional activities, resulting in a year-on-year increase in the sales expense ratio.

In 2020, Taoli Bread achieved operating income of 5.963 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.66%; net profit was 883 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 29.19%. This is the first time that revenue growth has dropped to single digits since the company went public.

Regarding the reason why the growth rate of net profit far exceeds the growth rate of revenue, Taoli Bread said that the increase in sales revenue has promoted the expansion of production scale, and the overall scale effect has been enhanced. At the same time, due to the national phased social security reduction and exemption policy, the company’s costs and expenses have also been affected. decline.

In 2020, the gross profit margin of Taoli Bread is the lowest since its listing, but at the same time, the net profit margin is the highest since its listing.

Among them, the most influential is sales expenses. In contrast to 2019, sales expenses in 2020 are negative growth.

In 2020, the sales expenses of Taoli Bread was 524 million yuan, a sharp decrease of 57.31% compared to 2019. The company explained that it was mainly due to the implementation of the new revenue standard in 2020 and the adjustment of product distribution service fees to operating costs.

Since its listing, the sales expense ratio of Taoli Bread has continued to rise, from 14.04% in 2015 to 21.76% in 2019, showing an increasing trend year by year. In 2020, there will be a sudden turn and drop to 8.79%.

As a leading enterprise in the short-term bread industry, Taoli Bread’s main business and main products have not undergone major changes in 2020.

In terms of products, the company’s core products are Taoli brand breads and pastries, accounting for 97.89% of revenue in 2020, which is the absolute reliance of Taoli bread; and the two major holiday products developed for traditional holidays-moon cakes and Zongzi has always been a marginal product of the company, accounting for 1.97% and 0.13% of revenue in 2020, which has a negligible impact on performance.

Therefore, how well the bread and pastries sell is directly related to the performance of Taoli Bread.

In 2020, the operating income of bread and pastry products was 5.837 billion yuan, an increase of only 5.60% over the same period last year. Although the company claims that star products such as ripeness continue to grow steadily, and new products such as waffle cakes and soft mountain toast bread have shown relatively high growth, overall, the bread and pastry business of Taoli Bread last year was not as good as in previous years. it is good.

This is not unrelated to the hindrance of the national expansion of Taoli Bread.

Lost in Shanghai, defeated in Shenzhen

The Wu Zhigang family has always wanted to sell peach and plum bread to “all over the world”. This is also the strategy of peach and plum bread: focus on small but refined, not pursuing more varieties, but pursuing the scale of production and sales of single products, while reducing costs.

Nowadays, my country’s bakery industry has two main production and business models: one is to set up a central factory in the sales area to radiate the region in the form of wholesale. This model can improve production efficiency and increase the scale effect; the other is the establishment of chain bread Store, this model can meet consumers’ requirements in terms of product quality, taste and freshness to the greatest extent.

Peach plum bread small insulation delivery vehicle

Bread products can be roughly divided into short-term guarantee, medium-term guarantee, and long-term guarantee according to the length of the shelf life. Of course, different products have different characteristics, and manufacturers have different business models.

The products of peach and plum bread are mostly products with short shelf life. The shelf life of short-guaranteed bread is very short, generally 7-9 days in winter and 3-7 days in summer. Therefore, peach and plum bread mainly adopts the production model of “production based on sales”, and the production plan is formulated according to market demand, and then the central factory produces uniformly. , And finally wholesale to supermarkets and distributors in a certain area.

This is the model that Taoli Bread practiced in the Northeast market in the early years, that is, the “central factory + wholesale” model.

This model is conducive to standardized production, and can reduce production costs through large-scale production. More importantly, it is easier to replicate when expanded, and it can be called an “accelerator” on the road to expansion of peach and plum bread.

Before it went public in 2015, Taoli Bread, which occupied the northeastern market, had also gained a firm foothold in North China. So after it went public, it began to go south and east, building a central factory while seeking cooperation with supermarkets. As of the end of 2020, Taoli Bread has established production bases in 19 regions across the country.

Tao Li Bread stated in its annual report that in 2020, the company will continue to increase its efforts to expand into new markets in East China and South China, increase investment in key customers, and improve the quality of individual stores. At the same time, it will continue to accelerate sales network in mature markets such as Northeast and North China. The work of transformation and sinking, tap the market potential, consolidate and expand the company’s product market share.

From a regional perspective, the performance of Taoli Bread still depends on the “base camp” Northeast market.

In 2020, the revenue of the Northeast market will still account for nearly half of the company’s revenue. The second largest market is North China, and the third largest market is East China; Southwest China, South China, and Northwest China are followed, and Central China has the smallest income.

In fact, many of the descendants of companies located in East China, South China, and China markets are still losing money. Taoli Bread’s annual report lists 37 major holding companies, of which 17 are at a loss-mainly in these three markets.

In 2020, Shenzhen peach and plum and Jiangsu peach and plum will lose 13.86 million yuan and 9.73 million yuan respectively; followed by Shanghai peach and plum, Nanchang peach and plum, Xiamen peach and plum, Hainan peach and plum, and Fuzhou peach and plum, with losses of more than 5 million yuan; Then there are Guangxi peaches and plums, Hefei peaches and plums.

In 2019, 20 of Taoli Bread’s main holding and joint-stock companies were at a loss, with a total loss of RMB 73.57 million. In 2020, the 17 major holding companies that are in loss will have a total loss of 71.92 million yuan.

2020 is basically the same as 2019. The major holding companies with the worst losses are still in East China and South China.

From the perspective of the East China market, Shanghai peaches, Jiangsu peaches, Nanchang peaches, Zhejiang peaches, and Hefei peaches have long been losing money. For example, Shanghai Taoli, which was established in September 2000, started to lose money in 2018, with a loss of 1.2394 million yuan in the current period. In 2019, the loss expanded to 12.6882 million yuan and a loss of 6,536,200 yuan in 2020.

In the South China market, peach and plum bread is also difficult to blend in. For example, Shenzhen Taoli, which was established in 2015, suffered a loss of RMB 6,641,200 in 2018. The loss in 2020 has doubled.

In November 2020, Taoli Bread announced that according to the company’s current actual operating conditions and subsequent business development plans, in order to optimize resource allocation and asset structure, reduce management costs, and improve operational management efficiency, it intends to cancel the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Nanchang Taoli and Jinan peaches and plums. In January 2021, after an announcement, Shenzhen Taoli was also cancelled.

South China, East China and other regions have always been important cities in the bakery industry, ranging from well-known domestic and foreign brands to local large and small brands, such as Dali Garden, Bimbo, Manchester, Yamazaki, Paris Baguette, Yuanzu, Christine, Bread Talk, Hollyland, Delicious, 85°C, and more unknowns. Whether it is bread, cakes, or pastries, the competition is getting fiercer.

There are also new tea brands such as Nayuki’s tea that also make bread, and there are many other brands that do well online. This will also have a greater impact on the peach and plum bread that mainly sells supermarkets, convenience stores, commissaries and other channels.

The baking industry has a low threshold, serious homogeneity, and a relatively fragmented competitive landscape. In 2019, the total market share of the top five brands in the industry was less than 11%, while the market share of Taoli Bread was only 3%.

According to the analysis of Zhongyuan Securities, scale and single product will help enterprises maximize their benefits in the initial development, but in the later stage, enterprises will encounter the problem of insufficient response to the market, and for peach and plum bread, there is also a lack of certain production flexibility.

Taoli Bread said that in the future, the company will further strengthen and make bakery products with bread and pastries as its core, steadily develop traditional holiday products such as moon cakes, and further enrich the company’s product line. However, the pressure is conceivable.

At present, Taoli Bread’s situation is not optimistic, the descendants of East China, South China and other regions have been unable to achieve profitability for a long time, and the performance growth of listed companies has also encountered problems. It is not easy for the sons to realize Wu Zhigang’s dream of “all over the world”.

Source: City Boundary Lei Yanpeng

CEO Brian Armstrong has made $ 12.4 billion on the list of the world’s billionaires

On April 14, the largest crypto exchange in the US officially went public on the Nasdaq with a value of up to $ 86 billion. This helped the fortune of co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong rise to 12.4 billion USD, becoming the 175th person on Bloomberg’s list of world billionaires.

After earning a master’s degree in computer science from Rice University, CEO Armstrong founded UniversityTutor, a website that offers online tutoring services and has been running for almost a decade but with little success. He then moved on to work as a software engineer at Airbnb for about a year.

By 2012, founders Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam officially partnered to create Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to buy and sell more than 40 different digital assets, including cryptocurrencies. like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.

It is known that the 38-year-old billionaire currently owns about 40 million Coinbase shares. “I think some digital currencies will eventually be the world’s reserve currencies. I see their future,” said CEO Armstrong.

This Coinbase IPO is considered a turning point in the market because this is the first time that a company associated with a cryptocurrency has been listed on the public.

In the last two years, the value of Bitcoin has increased dramatically, making the names of CEO Brian Armstrong and Coinbase become famous in the tech world with about 56 million users worldwide, managing more than $ 320 billion in total volume. deal.

The bullish momentum of digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum currently reaching the milestone of $ 63,000 and $ 2,500 respectively are considered leverage to help Coinbase achieve impressive revenue and profit.

In 2020, this crypto exchange had a turnover of $ 1.3 billion. In its preliminary report for the first quarter of this year, Coinbase showed that revenue for the same period increased 9-fold to $ 1.8 billion and net income increased from $ 730 million to $ 800 million.

After the IPO, Coinbase is receiving a lot of expectations from experts as well as those who believe in cryptocurrencies for a solid future in the market.