Chapter 220 Goal ‘Enron’
When Hongyan Xiangjiang Company was established, Qiao Yuhui showed them photos of the company’s top executives, and Xu Liang, as the company’s founder and CEO, emphasized the explanation.
But photos are photos after all, and they are still a bit worse than real people.
“Let me introduce to you, this is the founder and executive president of our Hongyan Fund, Mr. Xu Liangxu. Welcome.”
Wow….
Applause broke out.
No one dares to give eye drops to the big boss.
Xu Liang pressed down his hands to calm everyone down.
I didn’t say anything about the scene.
“Who is Sun Zhenping?”
A young man of medium height, wearing black-rimmed glasses, in his early thirties, stood up quickly.
"I am."
"Introduce me to the people in your department."
Sun Zhenping agreed and walked over quickly.
He stretched out his hand and pointed at a young woman with short hair who looked ordinary but looked energetic.
"This is Zhou Rou, our analyst."
"Hello, Mr. Xu."
Zhou Rou greeted quickly.
Xu Liang smiled and nodded.
"This is our trader Hu Chao..."
The entire hedge fund department has three traders, two analysts, one actuary, plus Sun Zhenping, the director, for a total of seven people.
After Xu Liang got to know everyone.
After waving his hand to let someone close the door, he sat down on the chair next to him.
Look at Sun Zhenping.
“Do you know Enron?”
Sun Zhenping nodded, "Enron was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in Houston, USA. It was originally called Northern Natural Gas Company and was a joint venture of North American Electric and Light Company, Lone Star Natural Gas Company and United Electric and Light Railroad Company.
After seventy years of development, it is currently the largest natural gas purchaser and seller in the United States and a leading wholesale energy market maker.
It is also one of the largest electricity, natural gas and telecommunications companies in the world. The company's revenue disclosed in 2000 reached US$101 billion. The company has been selected as the "Most Innovative Company in the United States" by Fortune magazine for six consecutive years.
It is currently ranked 16th among the Fortune Global 500. Top companies.
Market value is nearly $90 billion.”
Xu Liang nodded slightly and said, "You seem to know it very well?"
"I know all the companies in the S&P 100 index." Sun Zhenping said confidently.
"What is Enron's stock price now?"
"I need to check." Sun Zhenping said.
Although he had a certain understanding of Enron, he did not pay special attention to it and naturally did not know its latest stock price.
After Xu Liang nodded, Sun Zhenping came to the computer and checked it quickly.
"$88 per share."
Xu Liang nodded and waved.
Lu Hui took out confidential documents from the briefcase and distributed them to everyone present.
"After signing it, I will have a major task for you."
When Sun Zhenping and others heard this, they couldn't help but look forward to it.
These days, they are just looking at the computer and are almost sick.
Quickly sign your name and give it to Lu Huihou.
“Two days later, I will transfer US$400 million in cash to the company’s account. Your task is to short Enron with five times leverage through the accounts we opened at major investment banks. ”
Everyone was shocked.
Unexpectedly, the first shot after the establishment of Red Rock Fund was actually aimed at the giant Enron.
"Mr. Xu, Enron is currently operating well. Especially last year, their revenue exceeded US$100 billion. Is it too risky to short it?" Sun Zhenping asked.
Xu Liang smiled faintly, "Sometimes the prosperity on the surface cannot cover up the losses inside."
As he said that, he took Lu Hui's briefcase and took out a document Passed it over.
“Enron has seven branches in the United States and 19 branches abroad.
Now, in addition to their domestic natural gas business operating well, their most important electricity and water businesses are suffering huge losses.
Especially the Dabhol power plant project in Marathtra, India, with an investment of US$3 billion. Enron, which was responsible for half of the investment, suffered a loss of more than US$1 billion on this project.
Now this power plant is not generating one kilowatt hour of electricity, and billions of equipment are slowly rotting in Dabol.
There is also the barge power plant opposite the Port of Brada in Dominica. An investment of US$95 million was only recovered to US$3.5 million due to environmental problems.
Similar examples include Mariner Energy Company, Cape Town Paper Mill, Kolite Steel Manufacturing Company, Thailand's NSM Steel Company, etc.
With so many losses happening at a company ranked 16th in the nation, it's hard to believe they don't have internal problems.
Moreover, Enron’s global consumer spending reached a staggering US$1.8 billion, and its extravagance and waste reached an astonishing level. The money they waste alone exceeds the net revenue of 95% of the world's companies.
Will such a company with a lot of internal losses and its top executives being extravagant have any problems? ”
Xu Liang’s words were like a gust of cold wind, calming everyone down.
Looking at the thoughtful people, Xu Liang breathed a sigh of relief.
When he decided to seize the opportunity of September 11 to make a fortune, he started looking for a way.
The simplest way is to find a big company to sell short in advance.
When 9/11 happens, no one will doubt me. When he chose big companies, he put all the companies in the S&P 100 index in front of him.
Eliminate everything that is still familiar twenty years later.
In the end there were only a few left.
Including Enron.
Xu Liang quickly remembered one thing. The Enron bankruptcy case in the early 21st century was mentioned in many financial and business administration books because it directly promoted the reform of the American accounting system.
Xu Liang had originally forgotten this matter.
But I thought about it again when I saw An Ran.
So in the past half year, he has been systematically collecting information about Enron.
What he just mentioned is the bad news about Enron that he collected from the American market.
However, although he knew that Enron was going bankrupt, he did not know when Enron would go bankrupt.
But it doesn’t matter, he was originally going for 9-11.
No matter when Enron collapses, once September 11th arrives, the stock price will definitely be ruined.
So he doesn't worry about losing money.
It’s just a matter of earning more or less.
After giving the reasons for short selling, regardless of whether Sun Zhenping accepted it or not, Xu Liang insisted on short selling, and it was impossible for them not to execute it.
Soon, US$400 million in cash went into Red Rock Fund and was scattered in accounts in Xiangjiang, the Bahamas and other places. Then, through these vests, it was transferred to Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Lehman, Merrill Lynch, and First Boston. When investment banks opened investment accounts, they were buying short positions in Enron.
The US$400 million and US$250 million are Yahoo Japan equity loans.
US$120 million is the proceeds from the sale of Hongmeng website.
The last 30 million US dollars were temporarily transferred by Xu Liang from Hongmeng Japan and Hongmeng South Korea.
As for the US$10 million invested in Tencent and the 120 million Huaxia coins invested in Jianlibao, they are Hongmeng Huaxia’s funds.
The outbreak of "Legend of Hot Blood" has allowed Hongmeng to earn nearly 60 million Huaxia coins every month.
Coupled with Hongmeng’s other businesses, the monthly revenue is close to 100 million Chinese dollars.
Today's Hongmeng is really making money every day.
——
The Peninsula Hotel.
The oldest existing hotel in Xiangjiang, it is also the most luxurious and famous hotel in Hong Kong and the world.
Xu Liang stood by the window holding a wine glass, overlooking the bizarre Victoria Bay shrouded in neon lights.
There are not many changes between Hong Kong now and Hong Kong more than ten years later.
Although it is still prosperous, it is gloomy.
This is a city drained of real estate.
After watching for a while, Xu Liang felt bored and sat down on the sofa next to him.
Dong dong….
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
Xie Wen opened the door and walked in.
"Lao Xie is here, come and sit down."
Xie Wen smiled and nodded and sat down on the sofa opposite.
"What can I drink?"
"Just plain water."
Lv Hui next to her quickly poured a glass of mineral water and handed it over.
“How are the talks with Goldman Sachs and Samsung going?”
“We asked for a price-to-earnings ratio valuation of 35 times, but they were unwilling and only agreed to 25 times. It is estimated that there will be more talks. ”
Xu Liang nodded.
The valuation of high-tech companies is generally 20 to 40 times.
Of course there are higher ones.
But now is the Nasdaq crisis. Although there are various signs that the crisis is over, there are no signs of recovery yet. Therefore, although Hongmeng’s various businesses seem to be developing well and making huge profits, major investments Institutions are also unwilling to give too high a price-to-earnings ratio.
“Don’t delay too long and try to end it in July. We need these funds to accelerate expansion.”
Xie Wen nodded.
“By the way, how is your European market research going?”
After determining the next direction of expansion, Hongmeng began to collect news about the European market after the year. Now Half a year has passed, and there should be results.
"According to Xia Wei's investigation, the most suitable place for our first stop in Europe is Italy."
"Why?" Xu Liangdao.
"There are two main reasons.
First, in the east, west, north, south, the least anti-China place in Europe is southern Europe, that is, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Romania and other places, and Italy is southern Europe Center.
Secondly, Italy has a large population, its economic development level is second only to Britain, Germany and France, and its market is large enough."
Xu Liang nodded and then smiled: "You analyzed it. Yes, but I prefer Spain. Although it may not be as good as Italy in terms of location and economy, don't forget that there are many countries in the world where Spanish is the official language, especially in South America.
If we can win the Spanish market, we will also occupy a place in the Internet market of Central and South American countries.”
"Mr. Xu, we have considered your proposal before, but when many Silicon Valley companies enter the European market, apart from the UK, their first choice is often Spain.
Therefore, the competition in the Spanish market is extremely fierce.
In comparison, the Italian market is easier."
Xu Liang said with a smile: "It seems that your investigation is indeed very detailed."
"It takes half a year. There must be some results.”
(End of this chapter)