The Industrial Giant Reborn

"It's true about the supermarket. I didn't deceive Mr. Caikens." Chen Zhiwen looked at Caikens on the side, and then said: "Similarly, I said that I want to support Hong Kong's clothing industry. One day, I will also make direct investment in this industry, but the current development of Hong Kong garment factories is not good. Although the quantity is large, the quality is not good. Although there are many other reasons, it is also a problem that many high-end raw materials need to be imported. Big problem, if Mr. Buffett invests, he can solve this problem very well, and at the same time, Berkshire Hathaway can also benefit from it, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.”

Chen Zhiwen is the only one who knows the future achievements of Costco on the whole planet, including Pierce, who is building this huge business empire, and he can't imagine how big a supermarket chain group he will create.

The same is true of Buffett. He thinks Wal-Mart is good, but it is only good. It may not meet the requirements of his own investment in his mind. As for Costco, he may not understand this business model at all, and he may find it novel. , and will feel that there will be a certain market after a certain understanding, but it is impossible to imagine the final scale. This is not because he is not smart, but because the new business model has not been developed to the end. Who will know its scale?

When Sam Walton wanted to develop Wal-Mart into a supermarket chain with small profits but quick sales, he never imagined that his supermarket would become the overlord of the global retail industry in the future, with a turnover of hundreds of billions of dollars. Neither did Bill Gates when he started his business. He will become the world's richest man in the future. When Comrade Xiao Ma created QQ, he didn't expect the future achievements. If he didn't stand on the shoulders of giants, who would know how tall the giants would be?

In fact, as long as it takes ten years, the development of Costco will be the same as that of the later generations, and with the financial support of Chen Zhiwen and a larger expansion plan, its scale will be much larger than that of later generations. Ten years later, the number of chain stores exceeded 60, and the turnover exceeded one billion US dollars.

One billion US dollars in the 1980s was an astonishing figure, and the proportion of clothing as a large category in supermarkets was very important. In particular, Chen Zhiwen planned to use clothing as a marketing tool for Costco, so he would definitely need a lower-cost clothing industry. The demand from Costco alone has a high proportion in Hong Kong's clothing export industry. Not to mention, the greater goal of Galaxy Trading in Hong Kong is to open up the markets of Wal-Mart and future European retail giants. The same is true for the clothing industry. A door opener.

Of course, another reason is that maybe in the future, he will enter the capital-heavy industry of clothing terminals, but definitely not now.

"Actually, I don't expect the textile industry to bring me much profit. Even if I move to Hong Kong, how much money can I make? At most, it will never go bankrupt and make a little profit." Buffett said indifferently : "The reason why I keep the textile factory is to keep thousands of people employed. I don't want these people who have worked in the factory all their lives to lose their jobs and lose the income to support their families. When they retire, the factory will naturally close. "

"That's right. The profits of a factory are far less than that of finance, let alone a sunset industry like textiles." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said that Buffett had made huge profits in the stock market a long time ago, using other people's funds to invest and then get dividends , when he was less than 30 years old, Buffett already had an annual income of millions of dollars, and now he is worth more than hundreds of millions of dollars, controlling assets worth billions of dollars. How can he value this outdated textile industry? Hong Kong or other Asian countries can earn millions of dollars a year, but it is just a drop in the bucket for him.

Several people drank coffee quietly, and Buffett continued: "Mr. Chen, I'm very curious, if I don't agree to invest in Hong Kong, or if I don't have a joint venture with you and invest solely, what will you do?"

"It doesn't matter if I don't have a joint venture, I don't care." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile: "If Berkshire Hathaway doesn't invest in Hong Kong, maybe I will visit other European and American textile companies. There are so many companies, there will always be one who agrees. .”

"If this is the case, Mr. Chen, you are a very strange person. I can't understand your idea from a business perspective." Buffett laughed and said, "But although there is no profit, I am very interested in Mr. Chen. This investment It's settled, as for the investment ratio, I want it to exceed 70%, and everything else can be discussed."

"No problem, I don't care." Chen Zhiwen shrugged and said, his purpose was just to let Buffett move some of the textile factories to Hong Kong. As for the number of shares in the joint venture, he really didn't care, more shares would cost more money, to be honest At this time, it is not cost-effective to invest too much cash.

Besides, it is definitely impossible for Berkshire Hathaway to make a real investment. The biggest possibility is that it will relocate all of a factory in the United States. The equipment and everything are old. As for the value, it is not up to Buffett to say Calculate.

"There is another problem. The cost of land in Hong Kong is too high. I roughly understand that the cost of industrial land is at least three times that of the United States. I also know that Mr. Chen has certain resources in Hong Kong, so the suitable land is , Mr. Chen needs to help the joint venture company solve this problem." Buffett continued.

"Land?" Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said, "That's no problem. I'll take care of this matter. For such a large investment project, the Hong Kong government will definitely give the biggest discount in terms of price."

We all know that Hong Kong's real estate market has plummeted in the past two years, and industrial land is the same. However, due to various reasons in Hong Kong, even if the real estate crisis occurs, the price of land is still much higher than other places. All countries designate a large area outside the city as an industrial zone, and then except for the infrastructure cost of leveling the land, other costs are basically gone, but Hong Kong’s industrial zones are all near residential areas, even if the location is remote, it is still a residential area Although the Hong Kong government has defined preferential policies for industrial land, the price is still much higher than other countries or regions.

Hong Kong's industry is able to live well, in fact, thanks to the floor-to-ceiling industrial office buildings, which reduces the average cost per unit area, but office buildings are only suitable for very basic assembly industries, and Hong Kong's mainstream industries are also these.

The environment creates organisms, and real estate prices determine industries. If Hong Kong's industries cannot develop, land prices are the most important factor.

Although the textile industry is also a light industry, large textile equipment can only be placed on the ground, and Berkshire's obviously belongs to this category.

PS: Today's New Year's Eve, I wish you all a happy Chinese New Year!