Wall Street Legend

Ye Dongqing has a clear understanding of the environment he is in, and the scale in his heart is always weighing the pros and cons.

In his opinion, the development potential of Skype in the short term is not great, especially after Telecom Mexico took the lead in banning it. It is better to cash out part of it and invest in other places. It is the first company that he has harvested, and the early investment has already gained a lot. Return.

It's just a tricky little thing.

Looking back at Silicon Valley, since Fidelity Investment Group suddenly intervened, the confrontation between Ye Dongqing and the board of directors has been broken. Mr. Tim Cook successfully took over the interim CEO position of Apple, and the real nominal CEO Steve ·Jobs, recently entered the Stanford University Medical Center, and the surgery is being prepared, but it seems that it has not started yet.

I was going to take time to visit him in California in person, but I couldn't get away for the time being. There were some things in New York that needed to be handled by Ye Dongqing personally.

The secret development plan that was originally discussed with Jobs is now being implemented under the leadership of Mr. Cook, and the already insufficient funds are continuously invested in it, so that the financial report for the first quarter of this year is a bit embarrassing. That is because of acquisitions and mergers Because the five companies are all upstream companies in the industry chain of mobile smart products, including battery technology, microprocessor technology, touch LCD panel technology, etc., they spend a lot of money.

In fact, Apple's performance this year is very good. With the support of the App-Store, its PC products have enriched the user's operating experience and fun of use. Hundreds of games, hundreds of office programs, and countless new products have been added to the online program store. The program developed by the third party has resulted in a rare increase in sales, with an increase of 43.8% compared to the same period last year, and the revenue situation is very good.

Another flagship product, the iPod, has iTunes support and can download and delete songs in the Windows operating system. Coupled with increased battery life, sales are quite good. The shipment volume in the first quarter of this year has exceeded the total in the second half of last year. In terms of sales volume, Apple directly-operated flagship stores are being built in major cities in the United States. They are both stores and fixed advertising spaces. They are mainly concentrated in major business districts. There are already two on Fifth Avenue.

It's true that it made money, but it also required a lot of investment. It only said that it was developing an epoch-making product in an attempt to stabilize other investors and prevent the stock price from being affected.

Ye Dongqing now controls more than two-fifths of the company's shares, and it is impossible to increase it significantly. He is trying to get Apple to issue new shares. However, Cook is still undecided. As Apple The stock price continues to rise, which means that even if you decide to issue new shares, the price you need to pay will become larger.

Overall, it is enough. It has the right to speak and also the right to make decisions. Now it depends on whether Apple can develop a successful mobile terminal smartphone like in its previous life. At least there is no problem with the current research and development direction, Ye Dongqing I will occasionally find the energy to stare at it myself...

While maintaining success, he also had to open up new battlefields. The reason why he felt that he should stay in New York was mainly because he hoped to invest the idle funds on the company's books through Tamsui Investment Group in exchange for shares.

The matter of acquiring land is temporarily at a deadlock. It is true that I have the urge to build that building, but it has not yet reached the point where it will be implemented this year. It is temporarily deadlocked and it depends on whether the real estate company is willing to lower the price. With huge funds of hundreds of millions of dollars, Ye Dongqing was quite patient about it. In the next two weeks, he has been in constant contact with representatives of different institutions and company CEOs.

Take Green Mountain Coffee as an example. This company has little to do with Blue Mountain Coffee. It has agreed to accept a strategic investment of US$230 million from Ye Dongqing, allowing him to hold 64% of the shares. The negotiation process is still It was going well, but the other party lacked funds for expansion, and Ye Dongqing was optimistic about its development model, so the two parties hit it off immediately. The investment memorandum has been signed, and they just need to complete some procedures before delisting from Nasdaq.

Green Mountain Coffee Company was founded in the United States and is headquartered in Vermont. It was founded in 1981 and went public in 1993. Until recently, its performance in the securities market was not good because it embarked on the wrong development model.

Having seen the future, Ye Dongqing knows how to sell coffee and tea. If Starbucks is suitable for shopping or buying a cup at work, then Green Mountain Coffee is more suitable for home use, and is more suitable to be placed in the company or sold by retailers. .

The model is like the razor and blade of Geely's razor. The former is low-priced and does not make much money. The real money is the blade and foam. He plans to develop a new coffee machine through Green Mountain Coffee, and then through the cheap " K Cup" makes money.

The so-called "K cup" refers to a patented design that maximizes the aroma of coffee. It looks like a paper cup and has a smaller paper cup-like permeation device inside, which can only permeate liquid. It contains coffee or tea and is sealed with an aluminum foil lid. , to ensure that the aroma of coffee does not dissipate.

Put the K cup into a special coffee machine, press the button, and the pressurized water injection pipe will penetrate the aluminum foil cover and enter the filter cup, and inject hot water. A cup of hot coffee or tea is just like this. Compared with Starbucks or In fast-selling beverage stores such as Costa, a cup of coffee costs US$34 or US$45, but it only costs tens of cents to get it. It can be said to be a model of success through small profits but quick turnover.

He has recently become obsessed with business projects that can change people's lifestyles through his own efforts. These projects that go deep into people's lives often mean they are more stable and long-lasting, and can also bring abundant cash flow.

If it weren't for the lack of suitable people at hand, Ye Dongqing would even prepare to develop several e-cigarettes, including the heated iQOS. Smokers are already smokers. Although these e-cigarettes are harmful, the ones he plans to develop will definitely be better than traditional combustion ones. Tobacco is slightly better, which is barely a good thing, and it can make money. It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone.

It is definitely not in his interest to only get in but not get out. Now he has to pay a lot of interest every day when he opens his eyes, so he is trying to cultivate some cash cows to improve his financial situation and realize a diversified business development model, which is just right. If you have cash in your account, you can't just sit there and pay interest in vain.

Judging from the rate of appreciation of those Internet companies, it won’t be long before the bonds and currencies purchased by Tamsui Investment Group will be unfrozen. If the assets far exceed liabilities, the Securities and Exchange Commission will have no excuse to continue to force Tamsui Investment Group to acquire these. It is a low-risk asset, and it will be able to generate a lot of extra cash. Ye Dongqing is really not short of money recently...