On the night of May 25, Wu Changjiang posted on Weibo: "When I adjust for a while, I will still come back. I have devoted my life's efforts to NVC. I will not and never will." Give up, please believe me."
Earlier that day, NVC Lighting (02222.HK) announced that chairman Wu Changjiang resigned from all positions and Yan Yan took over as chairman. As soon as this news came out, it caused a stir.
Because Yan Yan’s other identity is the founding partner of SAIF Asia, SAIF Asia is also the major shareholder of NVC Lighting. Therefore, when founder Wu Changjiang left, the outside world speculated that he was "forced out by investment institutions."
However, two people close to NVC Lighting revealed that the real reason for Wu Changjiang's resignation was personal reasons, because Wu had been staying abroad since April and it was difficult to control the company.
Did Wu Changjiang’s resignation really leave NVC Lighting or just a temporary departure? What is the reason? What impact will the current departure have on the future of NVC Lighting?
It all seems to be a mystery.
Wu Changjiang who lives abroad
Wu Changjiang’s last public appearance in China was the press conference of NVC Lighting in Chongqing on March 20.
The press conference was held in Nan'an District, Chongqing, with the theme of NVC Lighting signing contracts with partners of the Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, and Macau Olympic Committees. Guests present included Wu Changjiang, Nan'an District Party Committee Secretary Xia Zeliang, the Olympic Council of Asia, and the aforementioned three Olympic committees.
Previously in August 2011, NVC Lighting moved its R&D and sales headquarters to Nan'an District, Chongqing, but most of the headquarters of other departments remained in Huizhou. According to the official website of the Nan'an District Government, NVC Lighting will invest HK$1 billion to establish a 100,000-square-meter global corporate headquarters in the Danzishi Demonstration Zone and build a 250,000-square-meter logistics project in the Tea Garden New District. The total investment in the project will reach 2 billion yuan.
On March 21, according to the Economic Observer Network, Xia Zeliang, secretary of the Nan'an District Party Committee, was taken away by relevant departments and "double-regulated".
On April 12, Wu Changjiang attended the opening ceremony of the expanded business address of NVC Lighting UK Branch.
Two people close to NVC Lighting told this reporter that Wu Changjiang has been staying abroad since then, neither making public appearances in the company nor participating in lighting industry activities as before. Even on May 2, when the newly appointed Chongqing Municipal Party Committee Secretary Zhang Dejiang went to inspect NVC Lighting, Wu Changjiang was not present. He was accompanied by his "direct line" vice president Mu Yu.
It is said that this is an important reason why Wu Changjiang resigned as chairman-it is difficult for others to control the company overseas. But at present, no one can tell clearly whether Wu Changjiang is just temporarily leaving the company, or whether other members of the board of directors are taking advantage of the situation and SAIF Asia will take over NVC Lighting from now on?
On the night of May 25, Wu Changjiang’s Weibo post of “I’ll be back again” seemed to appease many people. On May 30, a NVC lighting supplier in Chongqing told reporters: "Mr. Wu said on Weibo that he would come back. I support Mr. Wu very much."
However, this Weibo The blog was later deleted.
A person in the lighting industry told reporters that in the past year, NVC Lighting’s marketing and R&D departments have suffered a serious brain drain. “Some people who were poached from Philips later left. The Shanghai R&D department is responsible for People also left last year." He said that this may have something to do with NVC Lighting's slow deployment in the LED field. He claimed that it was also because of this that "I heard that Wu Changjiang had a dispute with investment institutions."
However, this industry insider still affirms Wu Changjiang’s authority in NVC Lighting and his status in the lighting industry. He said: "NVC Lighting is good at sales and channels. It has M&A value for foreign capital and some domestic companies. However, even if Wu Changjiang does not come back for a while, investment institutions are unlikely to dispose of the company regardless of his opinions. They will definitely Obtain his consent. If the investment institutions go too far, Wu Changjiang can leave NVC and build another brand. It is not that difficult to rely on his influence. Then some dealers will follow him. That will be a big deal for the investment institutions and him. , It’s a waste of time.”
NVC Lighting denied the above statement, saying: “The company has not experienced any brain drain. On the contrary, we have continued to increase the introduction and expansion of technical talents. Lighting is the company's future growth point. It has previously carried out upstream and downstream cooperation with many leading domestic and foreign LED companies. The company has a team of top light source R&D experts. The company's LED products have been used in the Beijing Olympics, Shanghai World Expo and Guangzhou Asian Games. It is used in major engineering projects such as conferences.”
As for Wu Changjiang’s overseas status, a spokesman for NVC Lighting said it was inconvenient to comment on Wu’s personal situation. The reporter tried to contact Yan Yan and Xu Fengyun, vice president of NVC Lighting, but they both said they could not be interviewed.
Wu Changjiang explained on Weibo: "I have been exhausted physically and mentally recently and wanted to take a break, so I resigned. It was not because I lost the bet as suspected by the outside world, nor did I have any differences with the directors and shareholders. contradiction.