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

The eunuch is also called "Zhongguan", so this place is called "Zhongguan's Tomb".

At the same time, the eunuchs also bought a house near Zhongguancun, and when they were old, they had a place to stay, and when they died, they were directly dragged to Zhongguancun for burial. And the powerful eunuchs built Buddhist temples here, let the retired old eunuchs burn incense and worship the Buddha, and pray for the forgiveness of the ancestors - the little brother is gone, and he has no face to face the ancestors after death.

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

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, "Zhongguan Village" was designated as the capital cultural and educational district, and a large number of colleges and universities moved here. "Zhongguan" really has nothing to do with cultural people, and the writer Guo Moruo waved his pen, and the name of "Zhongguancun" was decided.

Since 1984, groups of scientific and technological personnel have gone to the sea to do business, and Zhongguancun has become an "electronic street" in Beijing.

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

In order to alleviate the traffic pressure, the government cut down many decades-old trees last year and widened the road as much as possible, but it still could not solve the poor traffic situation.

To add insult to injury, there are no decent office buildings nearby.

This year, the signal released by the central government became clearer and clearer, and real estate developers moved when they heard the news, and Zhongguancun immediately became a large construction site - several office buildings were built at the same time.

……

Zhongguancun Building was built relatively early, and it was finally completed and opened this year, and Sohu Network and Sogou Search jointly rented an entire floor for office.

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

"Lao Li, have you heard of Sohu before?"

"Yesterday, I temporarily studied the Internet, and I logged on to Sohu.com, which felt pretty good. ”

"I heard from a friend that this time there are several American companies that have invested in the shares, and they must invest at least one or two million, or dollars!"

"I estimate $3 million!"

"This Zhang Chaoyang is going to become a multimillionaire. ”

"The high-tech industry is all about making money. ”

“……”

Reporters discussed a lot in private, envious of Zhang Chaoyang, a young man, and even more interested in the emerging industry of the Internet.

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

"Click, click!"

Flashing lights are everywhere.

Everyone sat in the seats, and Zhang Chaoyang raised his hand and said: "Thank you reporters and friends for coming to participate in the financing signing ceremony of Sohu.com in your busy schedule." My name is Zhang Chaoyang, and I am the CEO of Sohu.com. After nearly two years of development, Sohu has grown into the largest Internet business company in China, and is the first in the world to launch the web comment function. It's a great initiative, people are more connected to the world, networks are getting bigger, and the planet is getting smaller...... Sohu is valued at $13.5 million after a scientific investigation by Wall Street investment banks, and IDG, Intel, Harrison, Dow Jones and Hang Lung of Port City will jointly inject $6 million into Sohu today......"

"Wow!"

The audience was in a sensation, and the reporters were stunned.

"13.5 million US dollars? That's more than 100 million yuan! Foreigners are crazy, right?"

"It's so godly, Sohu has been founded for less than two years, and it hasn't made any money, but it is valued at more than 100 million. ”

"What's more, these five companies still have to invest 6 million US dollars, and the combined market value of Sohu is 160 million!"

"I can't read it, I can't understand it, it's too profitable to engage in the Internet!"

"How many shares does Zhang Chaoyang have? It won't be a sole proprietorship, right?"

"I don't know, but the multimillionaire certainly didn't run. ”

“……”

This is the first time that a Chinese commercial website has received financing from the United States, and this reporter has never seen such a big deal of money? In their view, it is impossible to understand that a website is just worth more than 100 million yuan.

Because it's 1998!

The dot-com bubble in the United States has blown up so much that many young people have become multimillionaires or even billionaires through financing.

All investors are convinced that the Internet represents the future and that the Internet boom has only just begun – and that's true, but the timing is wrong.

U.S. dot-com companies have been snapped up, and Wall Street is looking for any website with potential to invest in. China, on the other hand, is still an untapped area, which has pushed the valuations of Chinese Internet companies to be inflated.

Historically, in order to "cheat investment", Zhang Chaoyang could only make Sohu.com a portal website. Sohu has just been successfully revised, and the number of visits is much lower than that of People's Daily Online, and it was valued by Wall Street at more than $3 million, and received a one-time investment of $2.1 million.

Now it's different, Sina has not been officially established, NetEase is still selling software, and Sohu is the only portal in China, and the number of visits exceeds that of People's Daily Online!

"Quiet, please be quiet. Zhang Chaoyang is smiling, he is the protagonist of today.

Song Weiyang and Ding Ming did not show up, just to highlight Zhang Chaoyang. In order to build momentum, Sohu must hold up an entrepreneurial hero and create a wealth myth, which has become a hot topic for ordinary people.

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

So far, Sohu's shareholding 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 that it will be able to make money in the IPO listing in the United States next year!

If it can't be listed next year, Song Weiyang will not be ready to go public, and it will be delayed until after 2003.

Because until the first half of 2000, American investors had a blind enthusiasm for the Internet. It doesn't matter if you make money or not, no matter how feasible your profit model is, as long as you have a lot of traffic, as long as you are famous, then you will throw money in.

By the second half of 2000, the dot-com bubble had begun to burst, and investors were becoming more cautious.

Historically, Sohu was listed in July 2000, repeatedly lowering the issue price, but the result was that it still broke on the same day, and the closing price on the first day fell by $0.0325 from the issue price.

If Sohu can be listed next year, then Song Weiyang will sell part of it for cash after half a year, and sell part of it for cash after half a year. When you have enough money in the circle, you should basically encounter a sharp drop in Internet stocks, and then buy back shares, and become a major shareholder two or three years later, and the stock price will rise again.

Free interview session.

The reporters held their breath and began to ask: "Mr. Zhang, how much Sohu equity do you own now?"

Zhang Chaoyang smiled: "Close to 30%. ”

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

"Pretty much. Zhang Chaoyang said.

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

"Tens of thousands. Zhang Chaoyang said.

"Wow!"

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

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

"Two years ago, Yahoo went public, and the total stock price reached $500 million on the first day, while their turnover in the previous year was only $1.3 million, and the actual loss was $630,000," Zhang said. One of Yahoo's two founders was Chinese. I was thinking, Yang Zhiyuan can, why can't I, Zhang Chaoyang? I went back to China to inspect China's Internet environment, so I wanted to make China's first commercial website. I searched for investment everywhere in the United States and also in China, and I went back and forth for more than a month, and finally found a boss who was willing to invest. ”

"Who invested?" the reporters asked, holding small notebooks.

Zhang Chaoyang said with a smile: "Here, I would like to thank Mr. Song Weiyang, who provided me with the start-up capital. ”

"Song Weiyang, chairman of Xifeng?" the reporters suddenly became excited, and there was another news selling point.

"Yes, it's Mr. Song Weiyang," Zhang Chaoyang said, "and at the same time, I would like to thank my entrepreneurial partner, Ding Ming." At that time, we only had a few employees, and we ate and lived in the basement, and we nibbled on instant noodles for two months at the most difficult time. Ding Ming took care of all the logistics work, and later took charge of 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, and he didn't finish his sophomore year at Fudan before he started a business with me. His current net worth is almost more than 6 million. ”

It's another news explosion!

A sophomore at Fudan University, he is still Song Weiyang's roommate, but like Bill Gates, he dropped out of school to start a business, and he has a net worth of more than 6 million in two years.

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

Zhang Chaoyang said: "Ding Ming has resigned from the management of Sohu 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 can't come to the signing site 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," Mr. Zhang said, "and if it goes well, Sogou's valuation will reach more than $5 million next year." ”

Journalists are already numb, this Nima is millions of dollars at every turn, and it is easier to make money than to rob a bank.

Zhang Chaoyang also talked about various entrepreneurial stories, half true, half made up, such as living in a basement is a real thing, but nibbling instant noodles is a fabrication out of thin air.

But reporters like it, they don't know much about the Internet, and it's enough to catch these entrepreneurial stories and report them wildly.