Written by Wang Wenji
Nowadays, there are more and more rich lists, such as Hurun Rich List, Forbes Rich List and New Rich List. Every year, we go through the list several times, coming and going, making the poor envious of it again and again. But in fact, there are many very low-key invisible rich people in China who have more money than those on the list. Most of the people on the list have virtual wealth, based on market value and valuation. For example, Cheng Wei, founder of Didi, has assets of 18 billion yuan. But in fact, Didi has been losing money since its establishment and has never made a profit. His value is entirely based on the market’s valuation of Didi.
There is a wave of investors, especially angel investors, who are very wealthy. Once they successfully cash out a project, they will have hundreds of millions or even billions in cash, but these lists won't count them. For example, Hu Weiwei, the founder of Mobike, is said to have earned 1.5 billion yuan, but she is not on the list. She is also a very wealthy person. However, Hu Weiwei can only be regarded as a small rich man.
The real invisible millionaires are people like He Boquan. Many people may not be familiar with this name because he has been lurking for more than ten years. In the 1990s, he was all-powerful in the shopping mall and could compete with Zong Qinghou. He is also the founder of Le Pepsi. On Hurun's 2018 rich list, He Boquan ranked 728th with a net worth of 5.5 billion yuan. In fact, his true wealth may be far greater than that.
There are two types of people in the Chinese business community: one is those who make money and retire in time to live a comfortable life; those who have real ambitions for their careers, and those who want to fight for their careers all their lives. The former is represented by Lebest founder He Boquan and BBK founder Duan Yongping, while the latter is represented by Wahaha founder Zong Qinghou and Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei.
At that time, Robust was sold to France's Danone, and Ho was blamed for destroying a national brand. But He Boquan didn't think so. He has no regrets at all. Businesses should not be managed like sons. They can be sold at any time at the right price. At that time, he had no passion for entrepreneurship. He was thinking about another life. As for Duan Yongping, at the peak of his career, he chose love and retired to the United States to accompany his wife. He became an investor and lived a comfortable life. His stalls in the country were handed over to a few good generals to manage and operate.
Comparatively speaking, Zong Qinghou and Ren Zhengfei’s life was not easy. Not long ago, some netizens met 74-year-old Zong Qinghou on the high-speed rail. He went on a business trip to do market research. Although Wahaha has done so much and Zong Qinghou was once the richest man, he had almost no time to enjoy it because he spent his time on work. The same is true for 75-year-old Ren Zhengfei, who has been fighting for his career all his life. At this age, he is still fighting on the front lines, often flying around the world. Maybe for them, work is just a kind of enjoyment.
He Boquan, born in 1960, is from Xiaolan Town, Zhongshan City, Guangdong. The first barrel of gold naturally came from Robust. In 1989, He Boquan, deputy secretary of the town Youth League Committee, was assigned to run a factory. He spent 950,000 yuan to rent the Robust trademark and established Zhongshan Robust Company. In fact, Robust's success mainly depends on three products, one is Robust's purified water. The slogan "Level 27 Purification" at that time was well-known to men, women and children.
In 1996, Wahaha was the leader in bottled water at that time. It sells 100 million yuan every year. Nongfu Spring was just formed, and Robust’s pure water only came later. But two years later, Robust's sales exceeded 200 million yuan, forming a tripartite structure of Wahaha, Robust, and Nongfu Spring.
The second product is lactic acid bacteria drink. Wahaha's AD calcium milk is very famous. In fact, Robust's milk was launched earlier and found business opportunities in Hong Kong. There are still gaps in China. He Boquan resolutely launched AD brand calcium milk, which quickly became China's first brand in 1993 and maintained performance for six years. However, Wahaha later adopted the strategy of surrounding cities through rural areas. Finally defeated Robust.
The third product is bionuclear energy. This is a health product formula worth 10 million yuan. In the 1990s, the healthcare industry was extremely popular. Sun God, Three Plants and King of Hearts were the most popular businesses at the time.
From the beginning of 1989 to the revenue of 2 billion in 1999, Robust has developed very rapidly, competing with Wahaha for the top spot. Unexpectedly, in 2000, Hequan shocked the country by selling Lebai to Danone for US$19.7 billion. Boquan Ho quit Robust in 2001, and it's unclear how much he made on the deal, leaving him at least financially free. Unfortunately, Lebaishi has been abandoned by Danone. In 2016, domestic companies recycled, but they have declined.
Like Duan Yongping, He Boquan, who is economically free, also chooses to travel to the United States and other European countries. He spent several years in a leisurely life, studying and traveling everywhere, and his mind was empty. It was not until 2003 that he returned to China and became an investor. Once you are rich and want to make money, the best way is to invest, but He Boquan has a unique vision and all investment projects are successful. Jiujiuya, Seven Days Hotel, Aikang Guobin, Noah Fortune, Heytea, one successful project after another made him an invisible millionaire.
The first investment project is the duck neck brand Jiujiuya created by Robust’s old ministries. It only spent 500,000 yuan, but occupied 49% of the shares. However, Jiujiuya has developed very rapidly, and the number of stores has also expanded rapidly. In 2016, He Boquan successfully cashed out 170 million yuan.
After that, the most successful case was the 7 Days Hotel. In 2004, Zheng Nanyan and Zheng Nanyan, an industry veteran and former vice president of Ctrip, jointly invested 60 million yuan to establish the 7 Days Inn chain. It only took 5 years, that is, in 2009, to be successfully listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 7 days. He Boquan is the largest shareholder.
In 2015, Jin Jiang International Hotel Group officially acquired 81% of the shares of Plateno Group (the parent company of 7 Days Inn), and subsequently acquired 12% of the shares, accounting for 93%. As one of the founders and one of the largest shareholders, He Boquan sold all his shares and earned 2.34 billion yuan in cash, so he is a truly super rich man.
As China’s first comprehensive inspection company, one of the bosses behind Aikang Guobin is He Boquan. He first purchased 80% of the shares of Guobin Physical Examination Company for tens of millions of yuan. In 2007, Guobin and Aikang merged to form Aikang Guobin, each holding 50% of the shares. In January this year, Alibaba and Suning jointly acquired 100% of Aikang Guobin's shares for US$1.5 billion, which means that He Boquan's tens of millions of dollars of investment that year may have brought hundreds of millions of dollars in returns.
In addition, it is said that He Boquan's investment in Noah's wealth has obtained a return of more than 4,000 times. In 2016, Hequan joined IDG and invested 100 million yuan in Heytea. Heytea is currently the most popular tea chain brand in China. It has good development prospects. If listed or sold in the future, He Boquan will receive good returns.
Therefore, after so many years of successful investment, for He Boquan, the cash on hand should be very abundant, which is the real intangible wealth. If we continue to be Robust, we may become a company like Wahaha, with tens of billions of dollars in wealth. But we could not be as free as we are now. We're going to have to worry about a lot. We will have to work hard every day and be as tired as Zong Qinghou. He Boquan didn't want to live such a life at all, so he decided to sell Robust from the beginning.
Everyone has different ideas. What kind of life they want to decide is also He Baiquan's life choice as a low-key invisible rich man.