"What! Miss Liu, you're not joking with us, are you? You want to make chips?"
Ji Zhe and Chu Hai jumped up in sheer shock. They even changed how they addressed her, showing just how agitated and out of sorts they were.
Just a moment ago, they were inwardly complaining about whether she was digging a giant pit for them to fall into. They never expected that this pit wasn't just big!
It was practically a black hole!
The office fell silent for a moment.
Liu Yutong looked at them calmly. "Do I look like I'm joking?"
"Chairman Liu, but those are chips, semiconductors!"
"Could it be that you've poached Zhang Rujin?" Ji Zhe asked.
If that were the case, then it might be worth investing in.
Liu Yutong shook her head. "No, I don't even know him."
Chu Hai then asked, "Then do you have the technology on hand? Or rather, do you personally understand the technology in this field?"
Liu Yutong: "No, and I don't understand it."
Ji Zhe: "What about an engineering team? You must have relevant talent, right?"
Liu Yutong still shook her head. "I don't have that either."
Hearing this, Ji Zhe and Chu Hai's hearts turned completely cold.
No technology, no talent, and even the boss knows absolutely nothing about the industry. How are they supposed to play this game? Is this a joke?
Liu Yutong saw their concerns. "Isn't it enough that I have money?"
Ji Zhe: "..."
Chu Hai: "..."
They really wanted to say, "The money you're talking about is our money, right? You really don't treat us like outsiders!"
Ten billion!
Although the capital behind them was abundant and losing a few hundred million to play along with her wasn't something they couldn't afford, this was ten billion!
What is the concept of ten billion? Buying a cup of milk tea every day, you could drink it for over five million years.
"Chairman Liu, can we be a bit more pragmatic? I know you're a business genius, otherwise you wouldn't have built such a massive empire today. If you said you wanted to invest in group buying or other internet industries, we would follow without a second word."
"But the leap to chips is just too big, isn't it?"
"First, we have no technological accumulation. Second, we have no top-tier talent. Third, we have no supporting industries... Ultimately, this isn't something that can simply be built by throwing money at it."
"And even if we raised ten billion, which sounds like a lot, throwing it into the chip industry might not even make a splash. Building production lines and buying lithography machines cost astronomical figures. Furthermore, ASML won't even sell us their most advanced lithography machines!"
At this point, the two investors, Ji Zhe and Chu Hai, were practically ready to kneel down and beg her.
"Chairman Liu, can't we just focus on taking Wanhui Select public and making steady money? Why touch a field where you have a one in ten chance of survival... no, where survival is completely impossible?"
"You are both right," Liu Yutong said. "But I still want to do it. Let's invest ten billion in the initial stage. I can put up five billion, and you two can figure out the remaining five billion."
Ji Zhe and Chu Hai were on the verge of a breakdown. They had painstakingly tried to persuade her for ages, but it turned out she hadn't listened to a single word.
"Why! Why must you make chips!"
"Oh my mother, why don't you see how much the meat on my bones is worth and just sell me!"
"Chairman Liu, you must give us a reason, a reason that can convince us. Otherwise, even if you kill us, we absolutely won't provide this money."
Liu Yutong gestured to Yu Xin. Yu Xin understood and immediately took two non-disclosure agreements from Liu Yutong's desk, handing them to Ji Zhe and Chu Hai.
"You two bosses, sign these first."
Ji Zhe and Chu Hai were both stunned. "Chairman Liu, President Yu, what is this?"
"A non-disclosure agreement," Liu Yutong said. "Sign the NDA, and I can tell you why I want to make chips."
Ji Zhe and Chu Hai looked at each other in dismay, but ultimately they both signed their names and handed them back to Yu Xin.
"Signed. Now can you tell us the reason?"
Liu Yutong said, "My reason is very simple. It can make money."
Ji Zhe: "???"
Chu Hai: "???"
Wait, she acted all mysterious for ages and even made them sign some bullshit NDA, just for this?
Ji Zhe opened his mouth, wanting to curse, but in the end, he swallowed his words. If he was going to curse anyone, he should curse himself; he shouldn't have come to Pearl City.
Liu Yutong continued, "I really don't understand lithography machines, nor do I know how transistors are designed. I can say I know absolutely nothing about the technical aspects. But I do know that after the financial crisis, many international semiconductor companies are downsizing. A window period for talent mobility has appeared, making it a great time to poach people. Plus, the higher-ups have just introduced the four-trillion stimulus plan, which includes an inclination toward high-tech industries. This in itself is a business opportunity. Once we build the factory, as long as we can catch up with Zhongxin in Magic City, this investment will be extremely profitable."
"That's why I said doing this can make money. It's that simple."
Hearing this, Ji Zhe and the others' expressions finally looked a bit better. If looked at from the perspective of business development trends, this reason was indeed quite sufficient.
However, this was still far from enough to convince them.
"Chairman Liu, we trust your business acumen, but relying on these factors alone is still not enough. The semiconductor chip industry is simply too unique," Chu Hai said.
"Exactly!" Ji Zhe also nodded.
Liu Yutong smiled lightly. "What if I told you that I recently completed the acquisition of a foreign semiconductor equipment company?"
She wasn't speaking without basis. After acquiring an 80% controlling stake, she used offshore capital to purchase the remaining 20% of the shares. The company itself had some issues and didn't escape the fate of bankruptcy in the future.
Of course, in the future, it actually had a chance to avoid bankruptcy, for example, by bringing in investment from the Dragon Kingdom. Unfortunately, due to some external interference, it ultimately failed to materialize and was acquired by ASML.
"What?!"
"Chairman Liu, we didn't mishear, did we? You said you acquired a semiconductor equipment company?"
"Are... are you sure it's the kind we're thinking of?"
The two were shocked once again, almost to the point of incoherence.
"Chairman Liu, are you sure you're not pulling our legs?"
Liu Yutong: "The semiconductor equipment company I acquired mainly deals with the manufacturing and maintenance of some subsystems for lithography machines, as well as licensing some previous-generation technology. The scale is relatively small. I used an offshore capital structure to complete a wholly-owned acquisition, and now I have 100% controlling ownership."
"Is this a matter of small scale?"
"Chairman Liu, do you know how strict the West is with reviewing technology and equity transfers for this type of company? How could you possibly acquire it all so quietly?"
Ji Zhe's speech was even a bit clumsy as he spoke. This was just like someone saying they wanted to build a space shuttle but didn't even have blueprints, and the very next second, they casually told you they had just bought a rocket engine factory.
It was just that absurd!
Chu Hai also hurriedly asked, "Can I ask which company it is? Is it Micro Measurement? Or Sigma Optics? No, wait, those aren't purely lithography machine manufacturers. Could it be a spun-off division of ASML?"
Liu Yutong didn't directly name the company. "It has nothing to do with those industry giants. It's just a small-to-medium enterprise struggling with operational difficulties. However, to me, its value doesn't lie in immediately producing a lithography machine that rivals ASML. Rather, it lies in the fact that it has a fully intact team of professionally trained engineers, a solid technical foundation in optical processing, and intellectual property and patents for certain key technologies."
"Besides all that, there's one more crucial element. Through this company, we've essentially secured a guest pass into the global semiconductor equipment supply chain club. It provides us with a legal channel to access and study the industry. If necessary, we can even stea... cough, cough... borrow some technical concepts. In short, it gives us a lot more room to maneuver moving forward."
Hearing this, Ji Zhe and Chu Hai were left completely speechless.
Their main concerns previously had been a lack of technology, a lack of talent, a lack of supporting industries, and the fear of being at the mercy of others when it came to equipment.
They never expected the situation to completely turn around in the blink of an eye.
Sure, that company might only be capable of manufacturing low-to-mid-end lithography machines, or perhaps just certain components for them. But the gap between being able to build them and not being able to build them at all was like night and day.
With this overseas stronghold, importing technology would become much smoother, and it would also be significantly easier to secure national policy support.
