"Thank you. Xiya has no debt, absolutely no debt. Thank you!"
Connet was ecstatic; he could finally cash out and recover his investment!
Over the past three years, Connet had invested nearly $15 million in Xiya and its research institution!
Not only had he exhausted all his savings, but he had even sold his villa!
But even the best product is meaningless without excellent marketing and sales channels.
Xiya was simply unable to make a profit, suffering losses year after year.
If he continued, he would not only lose all his capital but also become heavily indebted.
He was afraid that within half a year, he would be completely bankrupt and become a homeless person...
It would be better to sell it directly to Wang Yi for $20 million!
This way, he would not only recover all his investment but also earn over $5 million more!
His efforts over the past three years weren't in vain; at least he made a profit!
With Wang Yi's subsequent investment, the entire research institution would be revitalized.
Connet would still be the spokesperson, still be able to lead the team in continued research, and earn high income and bonuses comparable to Estée Lauder!
He would transform directly from an entrepreneur on the verge of bankruptcy to Zhenyou's R&D Director with an annual salary of a million dollars!
From a soon-to-be homeless person to a winner in life!
With such a spectacular comeback, Connet was absolutely thrilled!
As for Wang Yi, he would have Xiya's research achievements, patents, and products.
Xiya's products had all received European and American approval, so there was no need for re-development.
They could be directly mass-produced in domestic factories and then launched on Meiyou's global channels.
After some hype and hitting the trending topics, they could launch global sales directly!
The $20 million spent would likely be recovered quickly.
Moreover, the fixed assets of the research institution, such as equipment and premises, were also valuable.
When Connet's team developed more products, Wang Yi could earn even more!
It could be said that this international acquisition was undoubtedly a win-win, bringing joy to everyone.
Connet was incredibly excited and deeply moved:
"Chairman Wang, you are truly my benefactor. Without you, I would have gone bankrupt and become a homeless person. Thank you for acquiring my company and not driving down the price! Thank you!"
In this situation, even if Wang Yi was only willing to offer $15 million, or even $13 million, Connet would still have to sell at a loss.
But Wang Yi didn't!
Connet asked for $20 million, and Wang Yi gave $20 million.
Connet was endlessly grateful for such generosity and integrity.
As for the reasons, firstly, Wang Yi didn't want to take advantage of someone's misfortune or profit from their distress.
Secondly, Connet and his team were very important, and Wang Yi highly valued them, pursuing long-term benefits.
If he had lowered the price by five or six million dollars and acquired Xiya, Connet would definitely harbor resentment.
Future cooperation would be difficult to discuss then.
To alienate talent for a few million dollars would be short-sighted!
"Chairman Wang, I thank you!"
Connet was deeply grateful.
Wang Yi waved his hand and said meaningfully,
"A qualified businessman only looks at profit. Logically, I should have driven down the price. However, you are not my competitor, but my right-hand man! I am always very generous to my own people!"
"Right-hand man, my own person!"
Connet's expression was complex, filled with emotion.
At Estée Lauder, he was the R&D director when there were achievements.
When a new project failed, he was cast aside and kicked out.
But with Wang Yi, he actually felt a sense of belonging and humanity!
'This boss is different from previous companies!'
'And what's with this excitement and passion?'
Connet suddenly understood what it meant to have a benefactor in life, and what it meant to be recognized and appreciated!
He made up his mind even more firmly to develop more and better new products, new products that would surpass the 'Little Brown Bottle', to repay Wang Yi!
"Boss, through this venture, I've realized that I'm more suited for R&D and not at all for being an entrepreneur. Management is too complex; pure R&D suits me better! Rest assured, Zhenyou will continuously have excellent new achievements! I, Connet, guarantee it!"
"Good, from now on, all R&D for Zhenyou Cosmetics will be under your command. In addition to your salary, as long as research achievements are outstanding and market performance is good, I will give you and the entire team higher bonuses and benefits than Estée Lauder!"
"Thank you, Boss!"
Afterward, Connet, accompanied by Wang Yi and Old Huang, toured the Xiya R&D Center.
The entire R&D center focused on research and development.
Although not large, it was fully equipped.
The equipment inside was all advanced.
Connet introduced their products and achievements one by one.
Wang Yi nodded occasionally and offered some suggestions.
They chatted until evening, when the group had dinner near the R&D center.
Wang Yi took the opportunity while going to the restroom to call Song Sining.
It was night in the Empire, which was morning domestically.
"Sining, I acquired a beauty company in the Empire called Xiya, founded by the former R&D director of Estée Lauder. Send a team to inspect it. If there are no issues, complete the acquisition."
Acquiring a company was a big deal, and 130 million yuan was not a small amount.
Moreover, it was a cross-border merger involving many aspects, so a team was naturally needed for inspection and handling.
If there were any real problems, Wang Yi would immediately halt the acquisition, but this possibility was small.
"Okay, boss, I'll arrange it right away,"
Song Sining replied.
Wang Yi nodded:
"Also, after signing the contract, establish the Zhenyou International R&D Center based on the Xiya R&D Center. Transfer a reliable team from Meiyou's beauty department to liaise with Xiya, and they will be permanently stationed at the Empire R&D Center afterward. You decide on the specific personnel."
After acquiring Xiya, Wang Yi completely entrusted the R&D aspect to Connet, but core positions like HR and finance at the R&D center still needed to be controlled by Meiyou's own people!
All expenses, such as R&D funds for Connet's team, salary expenditures, and personnel recruitment, would have to be reported to Meiyou's management for approval.
If Wang Yi entrusted everything to Connet without supervision, and Connet treated Wang Yi as a fool, swindled money, and ran off, Wang Yi would be helpless.
However, in terms of R&D, Wang Yi gave Connet full authority, and management would not interfere.
"Okay, boss, I'll arrange it right away!"
Wang Yi nodded:
"By the way, Sining, I've asked Connet to list the raw materials needed for new products. Please arrange someone to negotiate raw material orders as soon as possible. After the acquisition is complete, immediately start production and stock up at domestic beauty factories for a launch next month!"
"Understood!"
"Also, Xiya's packaging and casing are too mediocre, not upscale, and look cheap. They need to be redesigned! I'll send you the proposal later, and you can contact factories for mass production."
"Okay, boss."
It wasn't that Wang Yi didn't trust Meiyou's design team's abilities, but rather the limitations of the era.
Designs of this era still couldn't compare to those ten years later.
Of course, Wang Yi only designed a rough concept, then handed it over to professional designers to refine.
After the call ended, Wang Yi returned to the private room and looked at Connet:
"Sleep well tonight. Tomorrow, Meiyou Technology's team will come to finalize the acquisition. At the same time, there will be a dedicated team to help you operate and assist you in managing the R&D center. Just submit the necessary R&D expenses to them, and Meiyou will allocate funds immediately after approval! As for R&D matters, you have full authority!"
Connet's face lit up:
"Okay, boss, from now on I'll just focus on R&D, and I won't have to worry about R&D expenses or personnel management anymore!"
He truly wasn't good at these things.
Otherwise, Xiya wouldn't have been on the verge of bankruptcy within three years...
With the acquisition of Xiya, Zhenyou Cosmetics' path to high-end success was halfway there.
These days, the fastest way is through acquisition.
Currently, Xingyi Mobile would continuously burn money in the months leading up to its listing.
As for Meiyou Novels, it would also be burning money in the short term.
The only sources of income were Meiyou Apparel and Zhenyou Apparel.
But once winter arrived and revenue from 'pure desire' style dresses and autumn wear decreased, beauty product revenue would have to make up for it!
Especially Zhenyou Cosmetics, which focused on the high-end market, had to succeed and could not fail.
Domestically.
Song Sining gathered elites from several departments:
"Zhenyou International R&D Center has been established in the Empire. Those who want to go, raise your hand. Proficiency in English and possession of a passport will be prioritized!"
Everyone's eyes lit up, understanding that this was an opportunity for promotion and a raise, and they all raised their hands.
Finally, Song Sining selected a reliable and suitable group of people:
"Go home now, pack your things, get your passports, and head straight to the airport to fly to the Empire!"
"That fast!"
Everyone was startled but also understood that after landing in the Empire more than ten hours later, it would be daytime in the Empire, allowing them to directly advance business!
Meiyou's efficiency had always been high.
The Empire.
Wang Yi and his group didn't leave until after 10 PM.
Back at the hotel, Wang Yi couldn't help but sigh,
"I've been spending money fiercely lately!"
On the 6th, he signed a large order with NVIDIA for 5 million quad-core Tegra 3 chips!
On the 7th, he first signed with Qualcomm for 5 million dual-core chips + 5 million basebands.
Then he signed for another 5 million quad-core chips + 10 million baseband chips!
During this trip to the Empire, Wang Yi signed a total of 15 million application processor chips and 15 million baseband chips!
That's a total of 30 million chips!
Definitely a tycoon.
The chip orders for an entire year were settled.
But it was all money!
In total, nearly $500 million, or over 3 billion yuan, was spent.
However, these chips and basebands were divided into three stages and multiple batches, supplied from November this year until September next year.
Over 3 billion yuan would also be paid in installments, so it wasn't a big problem!
On the 8th, acquiring Xiya cost another 130 million yuan!
Fortunately, during this period, with the launch and hot sales of the high-end brand Zhenyou, Meiyou Technology's revenue was terrifying, with daily profits exceeding 300 million.
Even spending money like water, Wang Yi didn't feel too much pressure!
However, next year and the year after, as Xingyi Mobile grows, chip demand will increase, and total expenditures will also rise.
It can only be said that developing chips is imperative; otherwise, they would only be working for Qualcomm!
The chip self-development plan must be laid out as soon as possible!
Although difficult, it was the only way for Xingyi Mobile to become a high-end brand.
With this in mind, Wang Yi took out the information Steve had given him, which was about Texas Instruments' core R&D team!
When he decided to lay out the self-developed chip plan, Wang Yi had Steve investigate the information and backgrounds of Texas Instruments' core R&D team members.
After reviewing the information, Wang Yi discovered that there were a few experts who were very likely to be poached.
In the field of chip R&D, Texas Instruments was the overlord, and Qualcomm was merely its junior.
Texas Instruments' stability, power consumption, and performance far surpassed Qualcomm processors.
There was a popular saying at the time: "Qualcomm high frequency, low performance; TI low frequency, high performance!"
The Texas Instruments OMAP3430, with a main frequency of only 550Mhz, had better overall performance than the 1Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250!
Furthermore, the Texas Instruments OMAP3430 was very stable when overclocked, stably reaching 1Ghz, or even 1.5Ghz, from 550Mhz!
And Qualcomm?
Forget about overclocking; it would be good if it didn't overheat to the point of down-clocking!
As for why such a powerful Texas Instruments completely exited mobile phone chips in 2012?
It was still because of basebands and patents!
Texas Instruments also couldn't manage 3G basebands.
To buy Texas Instruments' processors, one also had to buy Qualcomm's basebands, and Qualcomm's basebands sold individually were expensive...
So customers directly bought Qualcomm processors + Qualcomm basebands.
Without customers, Texas Instruments had no choice but to abandon its mobile phone chip business.
This was Texas Instruments' tragedy, and also Wang Yi's opportunity to poach talent.
If Texas Instruments weren't abandoning its mobile phone chip business, Wang Yi wouldn't be able to poach anyone.
But now that Texas Instruments was completely abandoning its mobile chip business next year, news might already be circulating internally, and even large-scale layoffs might have already begun!
Wang Yi's move now was just right!
On the eve of layoffs, with unemployment looming, the entire mobile chip R&D department at Texas Instruments was in a state of panic.
At this time, Wang Yi's appearance was simply their savior!
As long as Wang Yi offered sufficient compensation, there was no doubt that Texas Instruments' R&D experts would join Xingyi Semiconductor!
However, Wang Yi did not bring Old Huang along for this matter.
It was better to proceed quietly.
After all, competitors are rivals.
Once Old Huang knew that Wang Yi also intended to self-develop chips, who knew what his attitude would be!
The next morning, Wang Yi set off again, heading straight for Texas.
He had been delayed yesterday due to poaching the former R&D director of Estée Lauder; there could be no more unexpected delays today.
If he could poach more experts and talents from Texas Instruments and then recruit top semiconductor talents domestically with high salaries, then Xingyi Semiconductor would be established.
Xingyi Technology's self-developed chips might even achieve tape-out success within one or two years.
After all, there was no doubt about the capabilities of Texas Instruments' experts.
Noon.
Wang Yi and Steve arrived at a clubhouse and met Williams, an R&D expert from Texas Instruments.
Steve introduced him:
"Mr. Williams, this is my boss, the CEO of Xingyi Technology."
"I know, Chairman Wang is very famous; his name is widely known throughout Texas Instruments!"
Williams laughed.
Steve was a little surprised:
"Our boss is so famous at your company?"
"Of course, NVIDIA ordered 5 million chips, Qualcomm ordered 25 million chips, a super big shot with a total of 30 million chips, shaking the Empire—who doesn't know him?"
Williams grinned:
"Chairman Wang's name is not only known by Texas Instruments, but the entire semiconductor industry knows it; everyone knows it!"
Wang Yi: "..."
Steve: "..."
"Look, you're trending!"
Williams pulled out his phone:
[The Wall Street Journal: Oriental Giant Appears in the Empire, Splashing Out on a 30 Million Chip Order!]
Wang Yi: "..."
Steve: "..."
Looking at the news headline, Wang Yi's expression was complex.
He had thought his reputation in the Empire wasn't prominent enough, and that Texas Instruments' R&D experts would look down on Xingyi Semiconductor.
Wang Yi was even prepared to throw money to attract Texas Instruments' R&D experts.
Now it turned out that his reputation was not only big enough but even a bit too big!
It was even on the Wall Street Journal, causing a sensation in the Empire!
(End of Chapter)