Zhongguancun, known as the "Silicon Valley in China", was once a desolate cemetery in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Most of the eunuchs in the palace were buried here when they died.

Eunuchs are also called "Zhongguan", so they are called "Zhongguan Tomb".

At the same time, the eunuchs also bought land and houses near Zhongguancun. When they were old, they would have a place to stay. When they died, they would be dragged to Zhongguancun to bury them. The powerful eunuchs built Buddhist temples here, asking the retired eunuchs to burn incense and worship Buddha, begging their ancestors to forgive their younger brother and have no face to face their ancestors after death.

Gradually, the "Zhongguan Tomb" became "Zhongguan Tun", and was renamed "Zhongguan Village" during the Republic of China.

After the founding of New China, "Zhongguancun" was designated as the capital's cultural and educational district, and a large number of universities moved here. "Zhongguan" was really nothing to do with cultural people. The literary tycoon Guo Moruo waved his pen and the name of "Zhongguancun" was decided like this.

Since 1984, a group of scientific and technological personnel have gone to business, and Zhongguancun has become the "electronics street" in Beijing.

Until now, there are many technology companies and many electronic shops, and it has developed to the point of daily traffic jams.

In order to alleviate traffic pressure, many big trees that were decades old were cut down last year and tried to widen the roadside as much as possible, but the poor traffic conditions were still not solved.

What’s even more troublesome is that there are no decent office buildings nearby.

This year, the signal released by the central government has become clearer and clearer. Real estate developers are moving, and Zhongguancun immediately becomes a large construction site and several office buildings are built at the same time.

...

Zhongguancun Building was built relatively early and finally completed and opened this year. Sohu Network and Sogou Search jointly rented a whole floor for office use.

Today, more than 30 mainstream media reporters from across the country gathered in the public conference room of Zhongguancun Building.

"Old Li, have you heard of Sohu.com before?"

"I learned to go online yesterday and logged in to Sohu.com. It feels pretty good."

"I heard from my friend that several American companies have invested in this time, and they have to invest at least one or two million, or US dollars!"

"I guess I'll invest $3 million!"

"This Zhang Chaoyang is about to become a millionaire."

“The high-tech industry is about making money.”

“…”

The reporters were talking privately, envious of Zhang Chaoyang, a young man, and were even more interested in the emerging industry of the Internet.

Zhang Chaoyang walked into the conference room in a suit and tie, stopped sideways at the door, and invited the investment representatives in with a smile.

"Crack, crack!"

Flashes are everywhere.

Everyone was listed as seats, and Zhang Chaoyang raised his hand and said, "Thank you all the journalists for taking the time to attend the Sohu Network's financing signing ceremony. My name is Zhang Chaoyang, and I am Sohu Network's ceo. After nearly two years of development, Sohu Network has grown into China's largest Internet business company and has taken the lead in launching the web comment function in the world. This is a great innovation. People will have closer connections with the world, the network is getting bigger, and the earth is getting smaller... After scientific investigation and calculations by Wall Street Investment Bank, Sohu Network's valuation is US$13.5 million. Idg, Intel, Harrison, Dow Jones and Hang Lung of Port City will jointly invest 6 million US dollars in Sohu Network today..."

"Wow!"

The audience was sensational and the reporters were shocked.

"13.5 million US dollars? That's more than 100 million yuan! Are foreigners crazy?"

"It's so amazing. Sohu has been founded less than two years ago and has not made much money. It is actually worth more than 100 million yuan."

"More than that, these five companies have to invest 6 million US dollars, and Sohu's market value is 160 million!"

"I can't understand, I can't understand, it's too profitable to do the Internet!"

"How many shares do Zhang Chaoyang have? Isn't he who is sole proprietorship?"

"I don't know, but the millionaire must have not run away."

“…”

This is the first time that a Chinese business website has received US financing. How have journalists seen such big money? In their opinion, it is just a website, but no matter how you think about it, it can be worth more than 100 million yuan.

Because this is 1998!

The Internet bubble in the United States has been blown up a lot, and many young people have become multi-millionaires and even billionaires through financing.

All investors firmly believe that the Internet represents the future, and the prosperity of the Internet has just begun. This is true, but the timing is wrong.

The Internet companies in the United States have been robbed, and Wall Street is looking for any potential website to invest in. China is still an undeveloped place, which has driven the inflated valuation of Chinese Internet companies.

Historically, in order to "scam investment", Zhang Chaoyang could only turn Sohu.com into a portal. Sohu had just successfully revised the version and visited much lower than People's Daily. It was valued at Wall Street by more than US$3 million and received an investment of US$2.1 million at one time.

It’s different now. Sina has not been officially established yet, NetEase is still selling software. Sohu is the only portal in China and the number of visits exceeds that of People’s Daily!

"Quiet, please calm down." Zhang Chaoyang smiled. He was the protagonist today.

Neither Song Weiyang nor Ding Ming appeared, just to highlight Zhang Chaoyang. In order to create momentum, Sohu.com must promote an entrepreneurial hero and create a wealth myth, which has become a hot topic that the people talk about.

Under the lens of the reporters, Zhang Chaoyang signed a contract with representatives of five companies on behalf of Sohu Network.

Sohu's equity structure has become: Song Weiyang (38.07%), Zhang Chaoyang (27.34%), Ding Ming (3.81%), idg (6.62%), Intel (6.81%), Harrison (6.65%), Dow Jones (5.95%), and Hang Lung (4.75%).

It is expected to be available for listing in the US IPO next year to make money!

If it cannot be listed next year, Song Weiyang will not be prepared to go public and will be delayed until after 2003.

Because until the first half of 2000, American investors were blindly enthusiastic about the Internet. Regardless of whether you make money or not, no matter whether your profit model lacks feasibility, as long as you have a large traffic and have a good reputation, you will spend money crazy.

And in the second half of 2000, the Internet bubble began to burst and investors became more and more cautious.

Historically, Sohu went public in July 2000 and repeatedly lowered the issue price, but it still broke the issue price on the same day. The closing price on the first day fell by US$0.0325 compared with the issue price.

If Sohu can go public next year, then Song Weiyang will sell part of it to cash out after the half-year period, and then sell part of it to cash out in another half a year. After enough money, it will basically be time for the Internet stock to fall sharply. At this time, buy the bottom and buy back the shares, and become a major shareholder in two or three years, and the stock price will rise again.

Free interview session.

The reporters held their energy and began to ask questions: "Mr. Zhang, how many Sohu shares do you own now?"

Zhang Chaoyang smiled and said, "Nearly 30%.

The reporter said: "In other words, your net worth is more than 6 million US dollars, which is 50 million in RMB!"

"It's almost the same." Zhang Chaoyang said.

"How much money did you have when you started your business?" the reporter asked again.

"Ten thousand yuan." Zhang Chaoyang said.

"Wow!"

The reporters exclaimed again, in less than two years, tens of thousands of yuan became 50 million yuan, and the assets increased by 1,000 times!

Another reporter asked: "Mr. Zhang, can you share your entrepreneurial experience?"

Zhang Chaoyang said: "Two years ago, Yahoo went public. The total stock price reached US$500 million on the first day, while their turnover last year was only US$1.3 million, and their actual loss was US$630,000. Among the two founders of Yahoo, one of them is a Chinese. I was thinking, Jerry Yang can, why can't I, Zhang Chaoyang? I returned to China to inspect China's Internet environment, so I wanted to be China's first commercial website. I was looking for investment everywhere in the United States and also looked for investors in China. After running back and forth for more than a month, I finally found a boss who was willing to invest."

"Who invested?" the reporters asked with small notebooks.

Zhang Chaoyang smiled and said, "Here, I want to thank Mr. Song Weiyang for providing me with the start-up capital."

"Song Weiyang, Chairman Xifeng?" The reporters were immediately excited, and there was another selling point in the news.

"Yes, it's Mr. Song Weiyang," said Zhang Chaoyang. "At the same time, I would like to thank my entrepreneurial partner Ding Ming. At that time, we had only a few employees, and we were all in the basement. We ate instant noodles for two months in the most difficult time. Ding Ming took care of all the logistics work and later was responsible for administrative work, making great contributions to the development of Sohu.com."

The reporter wondered: "Who is Ding Ming?"

Zhang Chaoyang said: "Ding Ming is Mr. Song Weiyang's college roommate. He has not finished his sophomore year in Fudan, so he started his business with me. His current net worth is almost 6 million."

It's another news point!

Fudan's sophomore is still Song Weiyang's roommate, but like Bill Gates, he dropped out of school and started a business. He has gained more than 6 million in two years.

The reporter asked: "Why didn't Ding Ming come today?"

Zhang Chaoyang said: "Ding Ming has quit his management job at Sohu.com and founded Sogou Network Technology Company by himself. This company is next door, and Mr. Song Weiyang and I also have shares. Ding Ming is very busy now, so he cannot come to sign the contract today."

The reporter asked: "Is Sogou a portal like Sohu?"

"No, Sogou is a search website, which is completely different from Sohu's profit model," Zhang Chaoyang said. "If it goes well, Sogou's valuation will reach more than $5 million next year."

The reporters are already numb. This is a few million dollars, making money is easier than robbing a bank.

Zhang Chaoyang talked about various entrepreneurial stories, half true and half made up. For example, living in the basement is a real thing, but eating instant noodles is fabricated out of thin air.
Chapter completed!