Dong Mingzhu and Zhang Lei: the advance and retreat of two villains

5,000 people may not seem to be many, but the background of Dong Mingzhu's voice is that the home appliance industry is gloomy: Hisense laid off employees 1 10,000 people, Midea executives laid off employees by 30%, and the retail sales of home appliances in Chinese mainland in the first quarter of 2020 (excluding 3C) was 65.438+0326 billion yuan, down 36% year-on-year. Gree is also hard to be immune, losing 20 billion yuan in February alone. However, Dong Mingzhu just dared to shout. Marketing guru Zong, her contemporary, once lamented: "We are not as courageous as her."

The outside world thinks she dares to shout, and Dong Mingzhu thinks she dares to do it-now it is the bottom of sales, but it is a good opportunity to accumulate human capital. She is at the bottom, saving strength for Gree's recovery in the second half of the year. Coincidentally, Zhang Lei, the head of Gaoyao Capital, who has just become Miss Dong's big boss, has also been betting around this time, going against the market. On February 6th/KLOC-0, Gloria Ying, a large and medium-sized pharmaceutical enterprise and biotechnology enterprise providing one-stop CMC services for drug research and development and production at home and abroad, disclosed that Gaoying Capital would subscribe for 23 1 1 100 million yuan of non-public offering shares in cash; On March 6th, Gaochun Capital increased its holding of 47.734 million shares of Minimally Invasive Medical, with a shareholding ratio of 66.1%; On March 17, Gaoying Capital participated in the financing of Shijiazhuang Junlebao Dairy Co., Ltd.; On March 19, Sansheng Pharmaceutical, a Hong Kong listed company, announced that Gaoying planned to purchase a loan through its investment fund in order to obtain the right to convert it into shares of the company. If the shares are converted, Gao Ying will own about 5% equity of Sansheng Pharmaceutical. In the traditional field of venture capital in science and technology, Zhang Lei is also crazy. In just four days from March 20th to 23rd, Gaochun Capital led the investment and participated in a new round of financing with Xiaohongshu's valuation of $5 billion and Xicha's valuation of more than 654.38+06 billion yuan.

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Like Dong Mingzhu, the partner, when Gaolin Capital led by Zhang Lei waved a check and smashed at least several billion RMB, the venture capital circle reduced investment one after another because of predicting the economic situation, and the Chinese stock market led by Ruixing forged, which led to great sorrow in the investment community. However, as he said in the dialogue with Blackstone boss Su Shimin, Zhang Lei also told the market with practical actions, "At present, I think the biggest investment opportunity is in China, and now it is the best opportunity to hold a heavy position in China".

Zhang lei

Facing the black swan, the same logic may explain why Zhang Lei and Dong Mingzhu came together. Buffett's famous saying was firmly and fiercely practiced by them: greed when others are afraid. An interesting question is, in the future cooperation, what will the other party do when one of them is afraid? Dong Mingzhu is a famous "Iron Lady". Zhang Lei once said something that many people may not know: "Investing in China is not suitable for people with weak hearts." And Liu must have learned the tough heart and means.

Zhang Lei gave a speech on "Looking for Iron Man in China" on 20 16. Although it is not clear who is Iron Man in China, it is generally believed that Zhang Lei is talking about Li Bin. Gao Xian's investment in Weilai is said to have been finalized when Li Bin and Zhang Lei skied together, which shows their friendship. In 20 15, Gao Yan Capital led Weilai to raise 6,543.8 billion dollars in Series A, and continued to follow Weilai in Series C and C+. When Weilai IPO, Gao Wei's shareholding ratio reached 7.5%, making it the third largest shareholder of Weilai. In the second quarter of 20 19, when the share price of Weilai was falling all the way, Gao Yan Capital also increased its holdings by 20618,500 shares of Weilai Automobile, accounting for more than 12% of the total shares, and Zhang Lei also bought 668,300 shares of Tesla.

At that time, Zhang Lei owned two Sino-US new energy automobile companies with a market value of over 200 million US dollars. However, in the third quarter of 20 19, when the capital chain of Weilai Automobile became more and more tense and the life in Li Bin became more and more difficult, Zhang Lei decisively let go, and Gao Xian began to significantly reduce his holdings of Weilai. In the fourth quarter, Zhang Lei's two "iron men" Wei Lai and Tesla were cleared by Gaoxian Capital. Liu has long understood the decisiveness and crispness.

At the beginning, Liu wanted to establish his own logistics, which met with almost unanimous opposition from both inside and outside. He approached Zhang Lei, hoping to raise $75 million, but Zhang Lei said, "If you don't spend money on this business, you can't see whether it will work. If you want to invest, you will invest 300 million US dollars! " Is it a scene like this-Lei Jun proposed to bet a dollar, and Dong Mingzhu said: What's the point of betting a dollar? If you want to gamble, bet 1 100 million!

Before JD. COM's listing, JD.COM also sent help to fix Tencent's equity, and JD.COM received huge and stable traffic support from WeChat. At that time, Liu was regarded as a benefactor and had a classic investment case. 20 18 Mingzhou Incident became a turning point in the relationship between Gao Ling and JD.COM. Before the incident broke out, although Gaoying Capital was reducing its holdings of JD.COM. COM stock, this is a normal profit-taking operation, it basically maintains stable trading. After the incident was exposed, Zhang Lei began to liquidate JD.COM shares without hesitation. According to the data, by the second quarter of 20 18, JD.COM Gao Yan Capital had reduced its shareholding from the highest of nearly1600,000 shares to 210,000,000 shares, and its shareholding ratio further dropped to 1.45%, and it has withdrawn from the ranks of major shareholders in JD.COM.

While reducing JD. Zhang Lei began to buy Ali's shares in succession. The investment in that year was 1 100 million USD, and it was held in a heavy position. By April 9, 2020, the latest shareholding statistics show that Gaoying Capital continues to increase its position in Ali, while JD.COM continues to reduce its holdings by 24%. There are no eternal winners at the gambling table. Zhang Lei knows when to put down the chips and walk away. It is this that distinguishes Zhang Lei from Dong Mingzhu.

Dong Mingzhu either advances or retreats. Toughness is not only Dong Mingzhu's character, but also her character. At least in public, I have never seen the iron lady soft. Since he was a business manager in Gree at the age of 36, Dong Mingzhu has turned Gree from a small factory into a giant with annual revenue of over 200 billion, becoming one of the best entrepreneurs today. From one victory to another, Dong Mingzhu gradually developed an uncompromising style in Gree. As a state-owned enterprise manager, his property rights are incomplete, and others may pick peaches at any time, which makes Dong Mingzhu unable to escape, revealing an empty net.

The problem is that no one can guarantee to win the war forever. Neither can Dong Mingzhu. There's nothing wrong with losing the battle. However, Dong Mingzhu's uncompromising victory, as well as her lack of sense of security, ruled out all the hedging forces within Gree, and it was bound to make it difficult for her to get out of a small defeat that was never enough to affect the overall situation at the most appropriate time. In 20 15, Dong Mingzhu announced that Gree would make a mobile phone and "kill Xiaomi in minutes" because of his bet with boss Lei in advance.

Shortly after the first generation of Gree mobile phone came out, Dong Mingzhu insisted on setting his personal photo as a built-in boot animation. In an interview, she said that her photo was put on the boot screen to show respect for consumers. However, the reality has severely educated Miss Dong. Coupled with the mandatory purchase by internal employees, the market sales performance did not exceed three figures, and Gree mobile phones became the well-known Waterloo. Miss Dong certainly didn't give up. She thought that the failure to make a mobile phone was just an accident. Unexpectedly, paranoia and insistence on ALL IN's investment in Yinlong Automobile led to a greater defeat. 20 16 1 At the Zhuhai People's Congress, Dong Mingzhu met Wei Yincang, who had engaged in real estate in Hebei and now went back to Zhuhai to engage in new energy vehicles. Dong Mingzhu made the decision to invest in Yinlong Automobile at that time, even though Wei Yincang didn't need to attract foreign investment at that time. On August 8, 20 16, Gree announced the acquisition of 0/00% equity of Yinlong New Energy1300 million yuan and related private placement plans. At the media meeting, Dong Mingzhu publicly declared that "Zhuhai Yinlong is Gree Automobile".

However, to Dong Mingzhu's surprise, at the shareholders' meeting on October 30th, 65438/KLOC-0, the shareholders who had been obedient to him turned against each other. A home appliance manufacturer wants to buy a new energy automobile company at a price of 654.38+0.3 billion yuan. After excluding state subsidies, the company has suffered losses year after year, while the "core technology" was bought from an American company that suffered long-term losses and delisted from Nasdaq. This kind of thing is not reliable in any way, and shareholders have not agreed. Dong Mingzhu was furious. She was dissatisfied with "no one applauded when entering the market" and raised her voice to remind investors, "How many listed companies do you think give you dividends like this? I won't give you a dividend for five years. What can you do to me? "

Dong Mingzhu, who was rejected by shareholders, was unwilling.

On the same day that Gree Electric announced the termination of the acquisition, she announced in a high-profile manner that she had signed a capital increase agreement with Zhuhai Yinlong together with Dalian Wanda Group and other four parties, * * * increased the capital by 3 billion yuan and acquired 22.388% of the shares of Zhuhai Yinlong. Among them, Dong Mingzhu's personal investment is about 1 100 million yuan. After that, on the one hand, Dong Mingzhu spared no effort to explore the market expansion potential of Yinlong and introduce large customers and channel resources. On the other hand, she also used her personal relationship to solve the financial problem for Zhuhai Yinlong. But it soon became clear that this Yinlong car, which was pushed to the market by Dong Mingzhu, was actually a "silver spear like wax". Their own technology is not enough, but also rely on usury for a living and default on suppliers' payment. Overdue payment is at least1200 million yuan. Dong Mingzhu began to change the management of Yinlong, causing a fierce rebound. After that, there was a protracted war of abuse and legal disputes between the two sides. So far, Gree Automobile is still a dream on a drawing.

As the Rand Handbook says, every outstanding leader constantly challenges bigger problems, which is regarded as a virtue. This is where they stand out, but it is often the beginning of their journey to Waterloo. After all, such a successful person is so stubborn that he won't change himself even if he knows that he has failed.

Gree's problem is obvious: no one can give Dong Mingzhu advice and let her listen. Zhu Jianghong used to be competent for this role, but since he retired, this role has been absent. And Zhang Lei, now favored by many big names in the investment circle.

Gao Xian won the fierce competition this time and became the major shareholder of Gree Electric accepted by all parties. The game process is unknown. However, in addition to rich investment experience and strong strength, it should be a factor that cannot be ignored that Zhang Lei dares to take the initiative to adjust himself when the project fails. Gree was once brilliant in the Dong Mingzhu era, but she is 66 years old this year. How does Gree develop after leaving Dong Mingzhu? Or what if Dong Mingzhu is not enough to drive Gree? It is logical to put this issue on the agenda, but it is unreasonable not to think about it. Under such circumstances, Gaoyou's advantages are particularly prominent: Belle is in trouble, and Gaoyou, as an investor, simply intervenes in management, realizes the digital transformation of traditional enterprises in two years, and re-splits the international part. If Gree has a plan B outside Dong Mingzhu, then Gao Ying is obviously the best executor of this plan B. ..

This leads to another interesting question: how do uncompromising team leaders get along with roles similar to escort?

Of course, Zhang Lei is also a person who does more than one thing. From the point of view of capital, if Gree's profits are rising year by year, Zhang Lei can also get dividends while lying down. Why not? To appease the management team, Zhang Lei was very generous. Not only did it promise to give Dong Mingzhu and other management and key employees nearly 4% equity incentive in Gree Electric, but Gao Xian also ensured that the nomination of the board of directors was led by the management of Gree Electric, and Gree Electric would be in a situation where there was no actual controller.

On April 14, Gree Electric announced that it planned to buy back the company's shares at a price of not less than 3 billion yuan (inclusive) but not more than 6 billion yuan. At present, Dong Mingzhu directly or indirectly holds 9.64% of Gree's shares. If the final repurchase ratio is calculated as 65,438+0.42% of the company's total share capital, Dong Mingzhu's shareholding ratio in Gree will reach 65,438+065,438+0.06%.

Regarding Gree's share repurchase, the media Alpha Factory commented: Gree Electric's action logic is more like a foreign-led US stock company. Gree's share repurchase funds come from ultra-short-term financing of China Bank, with a quota of 654.38+08 billion. Considering the current inflation rate, the money borrowed by Gree is almost equal to negative interest rate. In addition, in the process of transforming Belle, Gaoling has demonstrated strong online capabilities: arranging goods through big data, improving supply chain capabilities through lean management, optimizing the access of the entire supply chain, changing Belle's negative growth and greatly improving profitability. This is obviously a much-needed force for Gree, which is longer than offline and shorter than online.

Therefore, it seems that Gao Xian's presence in Gree, although low-key, has begun to play a role in finance and channels and has become a new force to promote Gree's progress. To be sure, there will be many stories between Zhang Lei and Dong Mingzhu.