Xing Liyuan Thirty years ago, Xing Liyuan was an agent of ESPRIT; thirty years later, he bought ESPRIT in the United States and became the world's top 500 richest man. With only a high school education, he is now the person in charge of listed companies in Hong Kong and London... "His ESPRIT ready-to-wear empire is expanding rapidly, spreading all over the world like GAP!" "Forbes" magazine, published at the end of February, described the new release in this way One of the world's 500 richest people - Xing Liyuan, chairman of the board of directors of Hong Kong ESPRIT Global Holdings Co., Ltd., and his business map. The ranking of the world's richest people published by "Forbes" shows that in 2003 there were 587 billionaires with a wealth of more than one billion U.S. dollars. Ten billion yuan), ranked 310th, becoming a new face on the rich list. According to Forbes' wealth statistics, Xing Liyuan's wealth exceeds Taiwan's Chimei Group Chairman Xu Wenlong, Quanta Computer Chairman Lin Baili, and Evergreen Group President Zhang Rongfa. Xing Liyuan's ESPRIT clothing is well-known in Hong Kong; Xing Liyuan's wife Brigitte Lin was a popular movie star in Taiwan ten years ago, so Xing Liyuan has a certain degree of popularity in both Hong Kong and Taiwan. However, it is unimaginable for ordinary Taiwanese people that Xing Liyuan can become a global rich man by selling ready-made clothes, and is even richer than Lin Baili, the owner of the world's largest notebook computer company. In recent years, Xing Liyuan's wealth has increased year by year, mainly due to the continued rise in the share price of Esprit Holdings. On March 1 this year, the closing price of Esprit Holdings was HK$31, and the stock price doubled compared with the same period last year. Xing Liyuan, who owns 33% of Esprit's shares, is naturally richer. After all, what kind of businessman is Xing Liyuan? How did he build a fashion empire? Xing Liyuan, 54 years old, only has a high school education. He married Brigitte Lin in 1994. In many public occasions, when he and Brigitte appeared together, they were always low-key and inconspicuous. Being low-key is his usual style. In addition, his attitude towards life shows a mellow understanding of human nature. When Brigitte Lin was interviewed by Hong Kong media, she mentioned that once when her daughter was full moon, Xing Liyuan asked Lin Qingxia not to dress up too beautifully, so as not to steal the guest's elegance. Precise Falcon uses internationalization and branding strategies. "He is not ostentatious, nor overly modest, and is extremely sensitive to the market." This is the observation of Xing Liyuan by Shenzhen Business Daily. Indeed, this Hong Kong garment manufacturer is pursuing an internationalization and branding strategy that is rarely seen among Chinese businessmen. Moreover, he is bold and careful, like a precise falcon. Every time he takes action, he never returns empty-handed. Xing Liyuan entered the garment industry in 1971 when he was 21 years old. At that time, he was learning business in a US-based weaving factory. It was in this factory that he met the founders of ESPRIT, a California-style clothing company in the United States (Douglas and Susie Tompkins). At that time, the couple felt that Xing Liyuan was "confident and shrewd to an impressive degree." Later, Xing Liyuan became the raw material purchaser of ESPRIT Hong Kong. Agent, opening the door to his garment business. In 1974, Xing Liyuan borrowed HKD 2,600 and each invested half of the capital with the founder of ESPRIT to establish a company to expand ESPRIT's business in Asia. Like many businessmen who seized opportunities and started from scratch, Xing Liyuan made fortune by chance during Hong Kong's economic development stage. But if he only relied on agents to make a living, Xing Liyuan would have been eliminated by the market. Different from ordinary agents, Xing Liyuan is extremely sensitive and understands the need to transform and follow the path of the brand. In 1981, he opened the first ESPRIT retail store in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, which was the first ESPRIT retail store in the world. His footsteps were earlier than those of ESPRIT in the United States. After that, ESPRIT retail stores were established in Singapore, Taiwan and Shanghai. Today, ESPRIT has 570 stores around the world. Bold enough to quickly expand stores during a recession. Xing Liyuan entered the garment industry in 1971, which was the beginning of Xing Liyuan's career. Starting to operate a brand in 1981 was the first turning point for his career success. By operating retail stores, Xing Liyuan took the ESPRIT brand to a new level. Xing Liyuan attaches great importance to store image. From time to time, he will disguise himself as a customer and walk around ESPRIT stores to observe the store decorations, atmosphere, service attitude and customer reactions. He himself is a man who is passionate about shopping. For example, when he was interviewed by "ASIA WEEK", he said bluntly: "I like to buy clothes, and I will definitely wear the clothes I buy!" The brand is Xing Liyuan's dream.

In order to fully own the ESPRIT brand, in 1996, after the founders of ESPRIT and his wife divorced, he bought 63% of the shares of ESPRIT in the United States. By 2002, he bought it for approximately NT$5.4 billion. At the price, the remaining 37% equity was repurchased, and from then on, it owned 100% of the US ESPRIT trademark rights. Thirty years ago, he was the agent of ESPRIT in the United States, but now he has turned around and bought the parent company. Xing Liyuan was also very happy to say that this was the happiest thing for him. In 2002, ESPRIT stock became a constituent stock of the Hang Seng Index. However, comparing these two happy events, Xing Liyuan believes that "buying the US business is more meaningful to me." Time to take action. Hong Kong was hit hard by the financial crisis in 1997. Instead of slowing down its expansion, Xing Liyuan took advantage of the sharp drop in store rents in Hong Kong to expand rapidly and opened several large-scale ESPRIT complex concept stores. News from the agent website (www.zdaili.com): Last year’s SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) storm caused revenue in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shrink by 30%, but Xing Liyuan decided to expand the store after the lease of Joyce Boutique’s store in a prime location in Hong Kong expired. Seize the location and open an ESPRIT flagship store. In addition to clothing, jewelry, accessories and homewares, there is also a top hair salon of the same name. He insists that ESPRIT "is not just about selling clothes... (ESPRIT) is about lifestyle and Attitude." Hong Kong consumer analyst Mark Rosenfeld believes that large stores can strengthen ESPRIT's brand and sell its image more than products. ” In fact, in recent years, ESPRIT has been actively developing large-scale specialty stores and department stores in Taiwan, but its growth has stagnated. It can be seen that ESPRIT hopes to build its brand image through specialty stores. The global vision acquisition action has set the stage for Qianjin New York listing The second turning point for Xing Liyuan's career success was internationalization. In 1993, Esprit Holdings was listed in Hong Kong. In the following ten years, he launched four acquisitions in 1995 and 1996, including ESPRIT in Australia and Europe. ESPRIT later purchased RED EARTH cosmetics. In 2002, it completed what Xing Liyuan called "the great cause of unification" and purchased the equity of the American ESPRIT parent company. A series of acquisitions were made to make Esprit a global player. Enterprise, his dream was to list ESPRIT on the New York Stock Exchange in the United States. In 1996, when he started to expand beyond Asia to Europe, he thought of the world. He pointed out at the time: "If you only have European business, you can only do it in Europe." When it goes public, the price-to-earnings ratio (i.e., the price-to-earnings ratio) will not be greater than fifteen or six times. Only by turning Esprit into a global company and listing it in New York can it be possible to obtain a price-to-earnings ratio of thirty times. "In 1998, ESPRIT was listed in London, and Xing Liyuan's dream of going public in New York seemed to be closer. In the international layout of a company, if you can afford a company, you must also be able to find good talents. Xing Liyuan found the best talent. Heinz Krogner is a German of Czech origin. Nine years ago, Xing Liyuan recruited Krogner from a German textile company to serve as the president of ESPRIT Europe. The European business has grown fourfold. Today, Europe has become the focus of ESPRIT's global business. Last year, 84% of the company's performance came from Europe, of which Germany accounted for as much as 53%. In 2002, Xing Liyuan simply gave up his position as CEO. He told Kroner: " You are my only choice! Croner also said confidently and without humility: "Absolutely correct!" " And Croner did not disappoint Xing Liyuan. Last year (Editor's note: refers to July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003) ESPRIT's revenue approached HK$12.4 billion. (approximately NT$53 billion), with profits of nearly HK$1.2 billion (approximately NT$5.1 billion), and growth rates of 34% and 28%, respectively. According to figures released in February this year, profits in Canada, Germany, the United States and Singapore increased by 53% in the second half of 2003, reaching HK$880 million (approximately NT$37 billion). In recent years, ESPRIT’s financial statements have been brilliant, mainly from the contribution of the European market, especially the German market. Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada, the United Kingdom and other markets are still in a state of loss. How to turn these markets into profits is Crone challenges.

Xing Liyuan built an international team. In addition to Croner, ESPRIT's chief financial officer is a Chinese-Canadian, the global retail business is an American, the image director is a Singaporean, and the wholesale business is a German. Xing Liyuan is not stingy with his strong players. According to reports, Croner's annual income in 2002, including stock warrants, was nearly HK$160 million (approximately NT$660 million). ). The 62-year-old Croner thus became Hong Kong's new generation of "employee emperor" (referring to the professional manager with the highest annual income). Xing Liyuan also had a good way of taking his career beyond the international level, and he fully authorized it. CHIBBER Surinder, who is responsible for ESPRIT's wholesale business in the Asia-Pacific region, said in an interview with Hong Kong media that Xing Liyuan delegated power to the extent that he did not even sign checks for more than 20 years. Xing Liyuan has also pointed out many times that in order to attract talents, we must give talents room to develop. Therefore, he emphasized "only relatives and not others". He not only does not want the next generation to take over the business, but also does not allow relatives to work in the company. In the past, Taiwanese consumers and media regarded Xing Liyuan as "Mr. Brigitte Lin". In fact, they underestimated Xing Liyuan. He was a major international businessman who "strategized and won decisively thousands of miles away." However, whenever someone asked him how he succeeded, he always replied: "I don't know, push, push, and things will improve before you know it!"