Chapter 985
Is the Opportunity Here?
Unlike the argument between Du Yuanyuan and her daughter Xu Siqi.
Yin Mingzhu, who also lives in this city, just laughed three times with a self-deprecating tone after hearing the news.
These three sounds!
She was laughing entirely for herself.
He laughed at his own stubbornness and unwillingness to admit defeat. He had worked hard and struggled for so many years, remaining independent and resilient, yet he was still inferior to the man his sister married, who casually gave him this small share of the property.
And this man was someone she hadn't wanted before.
She thought this man was unambitious, lacked drive, and had no fighting spirit; he was only fit to stay in that poor mountain village in his hometown, toiling in the fields for the rest of his life!
And her?
She is a woman of exceptional talent!
They were determined to get out of this poor and backward mountain village.
I absolutely cannot let this man drag me down.
Therefore, she resolutely chose to break off the engagement, even pushing her innocent younger sister to him to pay off the emotional debt she owed.
but,
Why is God playing such a cruel trick on her now?
She clearly didn't make the wrong choice back then.
But time proved her wrong, terribly wrong. That man was not some unambitious, good-for-nothing coward, nor was he the kind of old-generation farmer she had imagined, toiling in the fields. He simply had a lower starting point and was just feeling unappreciated. Once the opportunity came, he would rise to prominence like a dragon emerging from the sea.
Today, he has become someone she needs to look up to.
Lu Yang transferred a portion of his group shares to Yin Mingyue, his daughter Lu Xin'er, and his son Lu Fan.
She knew the news earlier than many others; her mother, Ma Xiulan, told her personally over the phone.
On the phone, my mother couldn't stop smiling.
"Now I can finally rest easy."
"Mom no longer has to worry about that girl Mingyue, who is too weak and easily bullied, and who can't hold onto this immense wealth."
“Mingzhu, I was wrong before. I shouldn’t have tried to sacrifice you for your sister’s position as Mrs. Lu. You and that brat Lu Yang grew up together as childhood sweethearts. Although you broke off your engagement with him after you got into university so that you could go to university with a clean slate.”
But in the end, he didn't lose anything, and he even got your sister, a beautiful young woman, for free. So, I'm thinking, if you and your sister both marry him, wouldn't Lu Yang be eternally grateful to our Yin family?"
"Two celestial twin sisters are with him. If he still dares to go out and have affairs, then he is... he is heartless and will definitely be struck by lightning."
"Oh dear, your mother has gone off on a tangent again. Let's not dwell on these old stories; they're all in the past. Now that you haven't listened to your mother and haven't let that little brat Lu Yang get away with it, let's not bring this up again."
Oh my god, I'll never force you again. Your sister is all the rage now.
They were born with a life of wealth and privilege.
My goodness! I heard that if you sign this fortune, my two little grandsons and your sister Mingyue will all become billionaires on the Hurun Rich List.
"Mingzhu, do you know about the Hurun Rich List?"
Although Ma Xiulan's words were full of concern and greetings for her eldest daughter, they were not without the underlying message.
Actually,
Yet every word he uttered struck a nerve with the eldest daughter.
Yin Mingzhu stood with a cold expression in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the company's president's office, listening to her mother's rambling on the phone.
My phone is getting hot and it's almost out of battery.
Ma Xiulan stopped, still wanting more.
On the other end of the phone, she instructed Yin Mingzhu, "Mingzhu, it's not that I'm criticizing you, but you're just too stubborn and won't back down. Otherwise, given your past relationship with him, the fact that he's so good to your sister shows that he has a conscience. If you could be good to him too, he would definitely treat you well too..."
"mom!"
There was a long, long silence.
Only now did Yin Mingzhu interject, "Didn't you just say you wouldn't try to persuade me anymore? What, you've already forgotten?"
On the other end of the phone, Ma Xiulan's voice clearly paused for a moment.
He stammered, "Well... Mom wasn't trying to persuade you, I just couldn't help it. Okay, okay, Mom won't say anymore. Think about it yourself."
He hung up the phone in a hurry after saying that.
The eldest daughter is quick-tempered and stubborn. She can easily make you feel ashamed after just a few words, and even her mother is no exception.
She's been in a good mood lately and doesn't want her daughter to ruin it with this phone call.
On the other side, Yin Mingzhu hung up the phone and stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the office for a long time.
Then, assistant Yu Li knocked on the door and came in.
"Mingzhu, this is the company's latest equity distribution plan and shareholder private placement process. Please take a look and see if there are any improvements needed..."
Mingzhu Media is currently in the IPO stage before its listing and financing on the A-share market.
The first hurdle is to dilute her shares as the founder.
When Mingzhu Media was first established, Yin Mingzhu personally held as much as 90% of the shares. Yu Li and other members of the original team who supported Yin Mingzhu in starting the business together held the remaining 10% of the shares.
The first step in going public is to allocate a certain percentage of shares from the company's total share capital to be traded on the market after the listing.
It can be 10% or more, or it can be 25% or more.
In the former case, the founders and core team members are shareholders, and can hold a maximum of 90% of the shares in total.
The latter refers to a situation where the founder and core team are shareholders, with a combined maximum shareholding of 75%.
Yin Mingzhu chose the latter this time.
Firstly, issuing more publicly traded shares at the same issue price allows the company to raise more funds.
Secondly, although the Listing Regulatory Commission does not set a hard limit on excessive concentration of shares, it is highly vigilant against "one company dominating".
Excessive concentration of shareholding can lead to scrutiny and a high likelihood of rejection during the IPO process.
This is exactly the kind of trouble that Yin Mingzhu also encountered.
That's why she was stuck for several months before.
She asked, but the other party never confirmed her explanation.
For example, the following questions.
"Is it easy for excessively high shareholding to lead to misappropriation of funds, illegal guarantees, transfer of benefits, high dividend payouts, and the hollowing out of the listed company?"
"Do your company's board of directors, supervisory board, and independent directors possess substantial checks and balances?"
She went through countless connections to solve just these two problems, but they were all stuck and couldn't be resolved!
It wasn't until later, after her mother Ma Xiulan's birthday banquet, that things changed.
The guy's identity was exposed. Someone found out that she was actually the guy's sister-in-law, so they gave her a few pointers: "In our practice, if the founder and his concerted parties hold more than 70% of the shares, they will almost certainly be subject to in-depth questioning. They need to build a sound internal control system, restrict the powers of major shareholders, and establish a mechanism to protect minority shareholders. Even if they do all of the above, it is difficult to pass the test. Only a very small number of traditional essential industries can barely get approved."
I suggest that Chairman Yin go back first and readjust your company's equity structure, introducing more parties acting in concert. Alternatively, you might have more shell companies, but remember, once you leave this room, I won't acknowledge what you just said.”
It was because of this reminder.
Yin Mingzhu finally made up her mind to take the company's equity structure back and readjust it.
Now, this adjustment plan has been released.
The new equity plan proposes a total share capital of 4 million shares, of which 25% is intended for the listing and issuance, 35% belongs to Yin Mingzhu personally, and 20% belongs to a shell company registered in a third-tier city in mainland China. The legal representative of this shell company is Yin Mingzhu's mother, Ma Xiulan, and the registered address happens to be in Zhaoxian County.
Of the remaining 20% of the company's total share capital, apart from the shares held by core members such as Yu Li, Yin Mingzhu decided to introduce celebrity studios as shareholders.
"That's settled then. Announce the plan and invite our A+ level and above artists to subscribe for company shares with cash or by signing indefinite long-term contracts, so they can share in the fruits of this IPO."
Behind Yin Mingzhu,
Yu Li nodded, "Yes, Sister Mingzhu, I understand. I'll get on it right away. I'll make sure to get those most difficult but high-potential artists all on board with our company."
Yin Mingzhu trusted Yu Li to handle things.
So he gave a soft "hmm".
Having received affirmation, Yu Li turned around, took the documents in her hand, and left the office.
Yin Mingzhu's idea was simple: since she was going to be ripped out anyway, she might as well benefit the artists under her own company and give them the opportunity to grow with the company, rather than letting outsiders benefit.
Once the company successfully goes public, we'll all eat our fill, eat well, and eat to our hearts' content!
The company's interests then become everyone's interests.
Even if some celebrities want to switch companies or become independent, they should first consider how much real money they will lose by leaving the company.
Don't forget that although the lock-up period for shareholders of listed companies is only eighteen months.
Eighteen months later, the celebrity studios that have purchased the company's stock can sell their shares to investors in the secondary market.
However, Yin Mingzhu will definitely not give them such an easy chance to get out of this predicament.
She will definitely take this opportunity to sign even more stringent breach of contract agreements with them.
Refuse to sign?
It's easy. If you don't want to sign, just give up this opportunity to go public and raise money with the company.
To paraphrase Yu Li, "If you don't sign, plenty of others will."
Holding the equity subscription agreement given to her by Yin Mingzhu, she was tempted by wealth in one hand and wielded the big stick of power in the other. She went around asking each of the company's A+ level or higher artists questions, as if she were checking roll.
agree!
Happy to everyone!
disagree!
It's alright. Those who agree to this will get all the benefits, and you'll just have to watch. They'll become shareholders and the boss's people, so the company will give them priority and resources. You'd better not be jealous, because jealousy won't help!
As soon as this matter came out.
It became known to everyone in the domestic entertainment industry.
Some people in the industry envy it, some despise it, and some condemn it.
I believe that Mingzhu Media's actions have seriously infringed upon the artists' right to choose their own management companies. I suggest that all artists under Mingzhu Media should not only focus on short-term gains, but also stand up collectively to reject and boycott this equity subscription plan.
Unfortunately, Mingzhu Media also has quite a few artists under its umbrella.
Most of them actively and proactively participated in the pre-sale.
A small number of them had long wanted to switch jobs or go solo, and their contracts were about to expire...
This group of people still needs to be discussed.
Some people eventually agreed.
Because of greed, they chose to stay.
The rest are completely unyielding; no matter how much you pressure them, they'll find a way to leave eventually.
If that's the case, then why should the company respect this group of people?
Upon closer examination, it seems that Pearl Media has gained all the advantages, while the disadvantages appear to be relatively few.
No!
Our competitors have it!
We need one too!
From that moment on, film and media companies that also planned to list on the A-share or Hong Kong stock exchanges began to consciously win over their contracted artists, encouraging them to re-sign agency contracts with the company in the form of studios, giving them a certain percentage of company shares, thus giving them a sense of belonging to the company, and making it more difficult for these artists to break free from the company's control.
This is what they want.
Even Yin Mingzhu herself did not expect that she had only adopted a set of equity optimization plans in order to speed up the IPO process and make it easier for the organizing committee to approve the listing.
Unexpectedly, it became a tool used by companies in the same industry to harm their own artists.
In name, they are given the opportunity to invest money and subscribe to the company's initial public offering (IPO) shares.
In fact, at least 90% of their peers have virtually no chance of going public.
Pengcheng!
Lu Yang, on the other hand, was not disturbed in any way.
Eat and drink as you please, and when you have some free time, invite a few friends to go fishing at sea.
On this day, a beautiful sunny day, Mu Qizhong and Xiao Jun arrived as promised.
But once on the ship, the two of them mysteriously pulled Lu Yang aside and started talking about the recent Nasdaq Chinese concept stocks, especially the collective collapse of the stock prices of several portal websites!
"Brother Lu, is this the opportunity to buy at the bottom that you mentioned before? I, Lao Mou, have already prepared the money."
Mu Qizhong is one of the investors in the listed company Sohu.
But today, he came with a smile on his face, as if the stock price of Sohu, the company he invested in, had not plummeted recently, but rather soared.
Lu Yang could understand him.
This guy had always wanted to take over Zhang Chaoyang's Sohu, hoping to become the major financial backer and actual controlling shareholder of Sohu.
But Zhang Chaoyang completely ignored him.
After being harassed by him repeatedly, they finally allowed him to join the Chinese investors in the Series C funding round, out of consideration for his reputation as Mou Qizhong.
Remember, this is just copy trading.
So to be honest, Mu Qizhong's shares in Sohu were not only few, but very few, barely enough for him to secure a seat on the Sohu board of directors.
He was able to sit and listen to Zhang Chaoyang, the actual controlling shareholder, speak at the meeting.
Now that Sohu's stock price has fallen, and plummeted, he is naturally happy.
Because his opportunity, that of Mu Qizhong and others, had arrived. (End of Chapter)