Reborn: Billionaire in College

Chapter 244: The Myth of Wealth Creation
Even if he were to live his life over again, Chen Pingjiang could remain calm in most things, but that does not include ringing the bell for listing.

It is no exaggeration to say that it feels like the world is in my hands now.

In a few years, Chen Pingjiang may not dare to come to the United States, for fear that he might not be able to go back if he is not careful.

Although most of Renren's employees were unable to attend the actual bell ringing ceremony on site, Chen Pingjiang was thoughtful enough to organize a celebration ceremony at Dongjiang, ringing the bell simultaneously with the entire Nasdaq exchange.

Dongjiang and New York were connected to broadcast the listing ceremony live to all Renren and Weibo users.

Dongjiang invited Chen Pingjiang's relatives and friends, leaders of Dongjiang governments at all levels, partners, investors, and many loyal users of Renren.com.

"It's already past 10pm, why is it only live now? Didn't they say they won't be open during the day?"

"The person above must be a rookie. Renren is listed on NASDAQ, and the opening time there is 9:10, which is : pm in China."

"I'm so excited. Now I just have to wait for my husband to become the richest man and marry me."

"The beauty upstairs, Chen Pingjiang doesn't like you, so please consider me."

"Hey, hey, he's coming out, Chen Pingjiang is coming out to speak."

At 9:20 a.m. Eastern Time, Renren Group Chairman Chen Pingjiang took the stage to deliver a speech, looking forward to the bright future of Renren.

Afterwards, Renren's senior management team and accompanying companies and guests took the stage together, cheered and applauded, and took group photos. The company's publicity photos and the grand bell-ringing ceremony in the studio were broadcast live to the world on the world's first screen - the Nasdaq Stock Exchange screen, and major well-known foreign media such as Bloomberg, CCTV, and CNBC all broadcast the report.

What’s interesting is that when everyone thought that it would be Chen Pingjiang who would ring the bell, the media received the answer that six mysterious guests would ring the bell. This instantly made netizens curious about these six mysterious bell ringers.

The mysterious guests who came to the scene to ring the bell were Tian Gao, the first user to post on Renren.com and also an ordinary student from Dongjiang University of Finance and Economics. Although he had graduated, he was still invited by Renren.com.

The second mysterious guest, Wu Huiyi, is an ordinary user of Weibo who once won a grand prize in a lucky draw organized by Weibo.

Among the other mysterious guests are loyal DNF players, the user with the most posts on Renren, and a lucky person in the company.

When the time came, they pressed the button at the same time, and the bells rang simultaneously in two places across the ocean. Renren's listing attracted investors from all over the world!

"These six people are very lucky. Most people will never have such an opportunity in their lifetime."

"They were more than lucky. Their round-trip airfare, meals and accommodation were all covered. Renren even arranged a seven-day tour itinerary."

"..."

As expected, Renren opened at $45, a 32% increase from its IPO price of $40.6, and its stock price subsequently soared.

"It's over, it's over, it's broken, it's all green."

"Haha, you above thought it was the A-share market. Rising US stock prices are represented by green."

"Renren has succeeded. I wonder how many billionaires will be created overnight."

"It's amazing. The stock opened so high. The demand from investors is so strong."

"Looking at this trend, it wouldn't be surprising if the stock price could rise by 60% by the end of the day."

"Be conservative, brother. Think bigger."

After the bell ringing ceremony, Chen Pingjiang led a large group to the famous Buffett steak house - Smith Wollensky Steak House, where a separate bell ringing ceremony and celebration banquet were held.

Everyone held the bottle of champagne together, and finally Chen Pingjiang opened the cork with a "bang", and the sweet champagne splashed everywhere in an instant.

Chen Pingjiang raised his glass and said, "Thank you all for your support over the past three years, thank you all users for your support of Renren, and thank you all colleagues for your hard work. It is because of you that we have today's glory. I hope we can continue to maintain this in the next three years."

The celebration ceremony was very short and there were many people on the scene. After dinner, everyone returned to the hotel in the afternoon to continue watching the stock market and see the direction of Renren.

As of the closing, Renren's stock price stabilized at US$66, a 32% increase from the issue price of US$106. Its market value reached US$320 billion, making it the world's third largest Internet company after Google and Amazon, and surpassing Tencent by a slight margin to become the largest Internet company in China.

Many people in China woke up the next morning and saw the morning news and the front-page headlines of major newspapers, which were all filled with this news.

The related topic ranked first on the hot searches of Renren, Weibo, Baidu, etc.

"Renren.com ranked first among domestic Internet companies."

"If nothing unexpected happens, Chen Pingjiang will firmly hold the No. 1 spot on the Hurun ranking this year."

"A new richest man is born!"

"Exclusive revelation: The three years of Renren."

"What magic does he have? He built a business empire in three years." "Countless people on Renren became rich overnight."

In addition to making money for secondary market investors, Renren's shareholders, senior management team and employees also became the beneficiaries of Renren's IPO feast.

Although the prospectus does not specify the shareholdings of other senior executives, it is known that five senior executives hold a combined shareholding of nearly 1%, including Miao Bingwei, Li Xi, Tian Hongrui and others.

Calculated based on the closing market value on the first day of listing, these five people can get an average of US$6400 million, equivalent to RMB 4.8 million.

In addition, Renren's US stock listing also gave its employees a "generous gift". Some people roughly estimated that about 1000 Renren employees shared stocks worth $3.2 million, with an average of about $32 per person. This also means that Renren's IPO created more than a thousand millionaires, including managers, software engineers, sales and marketing employees, covering all major business groups under Renren.

Renren has thus set a record for the largest scale of employee "wealth creation" among domestic IT listed companies, and this record will not be broken until Alibaba goes public in the future.

In addition, Chen Pingjiang also launched the "Friends and Family" stock purchase plan, benefiting more people related to Renren.

Some of the original advertisers and partners were involved.

It is foreseeable that the wealthy Renren employees will soon drive up housing prices in Wujiang District.

Some people were worried: "With so many people getting rich all of a sudden, it will be difficult for Renren to motivate these employees in the future. Some people may start to retire early."

However, an employee who received stock options from Renren.com said: "This is all nonsense. I haven't exercised all my options yet. Besides, the money can only buy two houses."

While Huaxing Capital and the other four underwriters were making a fortune, IDG and Temasek were also very satisfied. They were the last to get on board, and Renren went public not long after. Although the two companies only had 2% of the shares each, they were worth 6.4 million US dollars. You have to know that they only invested about 6000 million US dollars in the beginning, and in just over a year, their investment increased tenfold.

The one that made the most money was definitely Sequoia China. Even though its equity was diluted after the listing, it still retained a 20% stake.

This portion of the shares is worth US$64 billion, far exceeding Sequoia China’s investment.

Shen Nanpeng had no other ideas but to be tied to Chen Pingjiang forever.

Whether it was Orange Mobile or Renrengou, as long as Chen Pingjiang asked for money, he would just give the money without saying anything.

"I've decided. When I graduate this year, I'm going to go to Mr. Chen's Renrengou."

"What a coincidence! Chen Pingjiang is planning to make mobile phones, and I from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications also plan to give it a try."

"Seeing so many people making money easily, I regret not studying hard before."

"This whole day and night feels like a dream. Today, the three words Chen Pingjiang are everywhere. Oh my god, it's so scary."

"..."

While the outside world was in turmoil, Chen Pingjiang ordered some food from the hotel to be delivered to his suite.

In the suite, Tian Hongrui, Li Xi, Wan Yuqian, Shu Mang, Guan Yifeng, Miao Bingwei, Wen Yan and others were all there.

"Come on, let's not go home until we are drunk tonight." Wen Yan laughed and secretly opened a bottle of Moutai.

"Fuck, where did you get this?" Miao Bingwei was stunned. He didn't expect that Wen Yan could get this thing in the United States.

Wen Yan chuckled and said, "I ran to half of the Chinese supermarkets in the city today and only bought two bottles."

"Come, I'll toast to you two." Chen Pingjiang said to Miao Bingwei and Wen Yan with a smile: "You are the second and third employees of Renren.com. The establishment of Renren.com depends on you. Thank you for your hard work."

Wen Yan drank the wine in his glass with some emotion, and then said: "Speaking of which, I want to thank you, Mr. Chen, and Lao Miao. At that time, I was not satisfied with my job in the previous company, but I didn't dare to resign. Hey, it's not easy for a technician like me with an ordinary bachelor's degree to find a job. Fortunately, Lao Miao approached me at that time, and I didn't hesitate. Thanks to you, I am where I am today."

Miao Bingwei, who has become a little bald due to overwork, smiled and explained to everyone: "I hesitated for a long time to come to work at Renren.com. Mr. Chen kept promising me a lot. Finally, I got impatient and decided to give it a try. I didn't expect that I could not leave all of a sudden."

Gradually, everyone started talking.

Shu Mang, who was relatively quiet, drank alcohol for the first time. After taking a sip, she felt the spiciness was unbearable. Wan Yuqian laughed at her, and then the two of them hugged each other and tickled each other.

Although both of them are quite young, their status normally prevents them from laughing and joking around like this in the company. They can only do so in front of Chen Pingjiang.

Li Xi stood up under the gaze of everyone and toasted Chen Pingjiang with a glass of wine: "Boss, thank you."

"I've said this many times. If it weren't for you, I might still be delivering food or taking a random class after graduation. It's you who never looked down on me and was willing to give me opportunities and teach me all kinds of knowledge."

Chen Pingjiang waved his hands and scolded with a smile: "What are you all doing? Reminiscing about the good times? Talking to each other from the bottom of your heart? Or showing your loyalty? Isn't it corny? Everything you have today is earned by your hard work, and your efforts are worthy of it. I am just providing a stage for you."

Guan Yifeng and Tian Hongrui, who joined the company last, were both deeply shocked by the cohesion of the founders of Renren.com.

(End of this chapter)