117: Chapter 117 The Talent Poaching Storm

That evening, Huang Tianya called Shen Fei.

"Mr. Shen, the people from Naspers are here."

"Who do they want, and how much?" Shen Fei immediately guessed what they were driving at. He glanced at Zhang Mingzhu, gently closed the door, and went into the study.

"They didn't specify. But reading between the lines, they want a major stake."

Shen Fei chuckled, then picked up the teapot nearby and brewed himself a pot of tea.

"Back then, they invested in Tencent and took 46.5%, and now they want to replicate that with AfriLink. There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world."

[Remember the domain name of this site: Taiwan Novel Network, accompanying you in leisure, waiting for your search]

Huang Tianya also laughed: "That's not all. They don't just want AfriLink; they have ideas about every project we've invested in. However, I've already politely declined them for now. Through our conversation, I discovered that he is even interested in Transsion."

During the negotiations, as they reached the latter half, Van Dijk directly revealed their intentions regarding Transsion. After all, the main entry point for the African mobile internet is Transsion...

"Transsion... let's not rush into that issue. Tell me, what did he mainly say during this negotiation?"

"He said..." Following that, Huang Tianya recounted everything Van Dijk had said that afternoon.

It was essentially that Huaxin held too many shares, and in more than one company. He argued that the golden profits from the development of the African internet were all going to Huaxin Capital, which was detrimental to regional development, and that once it grew to a certain scale, other forces would intervene.

Instead of things getting ugly later, they suggested it would be better to let Naspers get on board now, offering some help to shut some people up.

"They certainly have a nice way of thinking. The meat we've eaten was all won through real, hard-fought battles, and in all the years I've lived, I've never once spat out meat I've already swallowed." Shen Fei said mockingly.

"That's why he said they could offer resources in exchange." There was a subtle excitement in Huang Tianya's voice; after all, this wasn't something he had proposed, but something the other party had initiated.

"He asked me if Huaxin was interested in acquiring a bit more of Tencent's shares."

Shen Fei was silent for a long time on the other end of the line, then he laughed.

"Huang Tianya," he said, "when did that mouth of yours learn to bamboozle the people at Naspers?"

Huang Tianya on the other end couldn't help but laugh: "It's not bamboozling; he smelled it himself. Mr. Shen, the card we're holding is bigger than we imagined."

On December 30th, Van Dijk left Shenzhen.

Before leaving, he had a meal with Huang Tianya. No agreements were signed, and no verbal promises were made.

But as he left, he said one thing.

"Mr. Huang, I will be back. Please believe in my sincerity."

Huang Tianya saw him off at the airport, watching his back disappear through the security checkpoint.

He recalled 2001 and 2002, when Naspers invested in Tencent, and Pony Ma's company was still struggling on the brink of bankruptcy.

32 million US dollars saved Tencent's life. It also made that case a classic investment study worldwide.

But ever since then, Naspers had been unable to replicate that classic case, and Van Dijk wanted to prove himself again with internet companies in Africa...

One can only say that times have changed. Although the internet is a bubble, it remains the best material for telling stories and the best reservoir for capital.

Returning to Huaxin Investment headquarters, Huang Tianya opened his computer and began writing a memorandum.

Title: "Regarding the contact with Naspers and suggestions for the next steps."

First line: Naspers' intention is not to invest in AfriLink, but to invest in the future of the African internet.

It is also about proving themselves and ensuring continued profitability for the relevant funds.

This makes it actionable; in this conversation, no matter how they threaten, Huaxin will always have the upper hand.

January 1, 2010, Hangzhou, Geely Automotive Research Institute.

Chen Jianping is the Chief Engineer of Geely's powertrain system. Having worked at the research institute for 12 years, working his way up from a junior engineer to his current position, he could be considered to have fought his way up step by step based on his own ability.

He entered the office at 8:00 AM. The first thing he did was turn on his computer, and the second was to check his email.

Just as he was clearing out junk mail, his phone's email received a message: "Hello, Engineer Chen. We are Wang Xiang from Xinghai Headhunting.

We have noted your extensive background in powertrain R&D. Currently, a high-quality enterprise in the industry is looking for a Chief Engineer/Technical Lead. The company highly values your resume and hopes to have the opportunity to communicate with you briefly. Do you have any interest in learning about new opportunities in the near future?"

Chen Jianping subconsciously wanted to delete it. The so-called high-quality enterprise was surely that Transsion Auto which had just made such a huge splash. But apart from posting recruitment notices, they hadn't taken any action... he figured they were just another group making cars with PowerPoint presentations.

But as his finger hovered over the delete button, some technical data below made him hesitate. It wasn't the 100% salary increase, but the technical information at the bottom of the email.

Cold-resistant High-density battery with an energy density of 175wh/kg, the first pure electric car model has a standard range of over 600 kilometers, and the long-range version reaches 1000 kilometers.

Chen Jianping stared at those words for a long time.

Geely had also planned for pure electric cars internally, but management didn't want to make a large investment, so they took the path of converting fuel vehicles to electric...

As for the result... the range was too poor, so they decided to wait until the supply chain was more mature before cautiously considering whether to enter the new energy market.

At that time, their PowerPoint was still stuck at 400 kilometers, and now someone was shouting 1000 kilometers straight out. He clicked on the email...

At the same time, in Guangzhou, the Transsion Auto temporary preparatory group.

Wang Mengyang, the battery research expert, had also been packed off here to research personnel data and give his brain a rest in the process.

At this moment, on the computer screen, the numbers were scrolling in real-time.

Total resumes: 23,147. Of which R&D positions: 12,860. Of which Master's/Doctorate degrees: 7,431. Of which currently employed (non-fresh graduates): 18,522.

This was the number of resumes obtained in less than a month since the recruitment announcement was released.

Wang Mengyang rubbed his eyes, confirming he hadn't misread it. 23,000 resumes.

In all the years of China's automotive industry, no new force had been able to receive so many resumes in such a short period of time. Truly worthy of the '10-billion-subsidy'!

He remembered when Shen Fei announced the high-profile release at an internal meeting, and he had opposed it at the time...

"Mr. Shen, this will offend people."

Shen Fei was looking at a battery test report at the time, not even lifting his head. "Offend who?"

"Traditional car companies. Geely, Chery, and other new energy companies; these might all become our customers in the future. Putting up a 10-billion-subsidy and then poaching their people—how will we greet them in the future?"

Shen Fei finally looked up. "Wang Mengyang," he said using his full name, "do you think when they were poaching each other back then, they thought about how they would greet each other in the future?"

Wang Mengyang didn't answer. Shen Fei put down the test report.

"In the 90s, China's automotive industry was just starting. FAW and Dongfeng poached people from abroad, and the foreigners said they didn't follow the rules. Later, Geely and Chery poached people from FAW and Dongfeng, and FAW said they didn't follow the rules."