"BYD has a technical 'fish pond', there are various technologies in it, when the market needs it, we will fish one out, chips, electric vehicles, rail transit, etc. are the big fish in the 'fish pond'."
—— Wang Chuanfu
01
The "chip fish" of the friends of the company
At a closed-door media conference at the end of 2021, Wang Chuanfu was radiant and introduced his "fish farming" experience to dozens of media leaders across the country, like a fishing man with a full load. Li Yunfei, who was sitting next to him, listened to the rise and his face was full of smiles.
Wang Chuanfu's words are not false. Just over a month after he finished talking about his experience of "fish farming", the Listing Committee of the ChiNext Board released a review result: BYD Semiconductor's IPO was successfully held. Since then, the "first share of the core" has turned out, with a valuation of more than 30 billion yuan. This is also the third IPO that Wang Chuanfu will soon harvest after BYD and BYD Electronics.
Unlike many domestic chip semiconductor big-name players who are heading for IPOs, who have serious losses, rely on secondary market financing for blood transfusion, and take the money of shareholders to save the emergency, BYD Semiconductor is a money-making company. In the first half of 2021 alone, the net profit reached 184 million yuan. Wang Chuanfu also revealed that he will give 10% of the equity to the management team.
In fact, as early as 2005, Wang Chuanfu began to raise the chip fish. It was the tenth year of BYD's establishment, and The forward-looking Wang Chuanfu set up a team to develop IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor), and three years later acquired Ningbo Zhongwei Semiconductor Fab. On December 10, 2018, BYD did a technical analysis meeting in Ningbo, and BYD Semiconductor was a blockbuster. After 13 years of dormancy, BYD has built a complete industrial chain from chip design to wafer manufacturing to testing and packaging. Previously, 90% of mainland IGBT devices relied on imports, and after BYD Semiconductor turned out to be born, it was monopolized by Mitsubishi, Infineon and other manufacturers for decades in the IGBT market, and since then it has been torn open.
Since the second half of 2020, the "chip famine" has swept the world, and while most car companies are subject to people on IGBT chips, BYD has successfully controlled the entire electric vehicle industry chain. Today, BYD's cutting-edge IGBT 5.0 products have reached the international leading level in key indicators such as chip loss, module temperature cycling capability, and current output capability.
Wang Chuanfu's "chip fish" not only filled his stomach, but also helped friends and businessmen. An employee of BYD once revealed in private that in 2021, the price of some automotive chips on the market will increase by dozens to hundreds of times. At this time, domestic car companies found BYD and hoped to buy BYD chips. At that time, the price of chip raw materials rose, dealers hoarded strangely, and the price was outrageous. Wang Chuanfu did not fall into the well, but with a big wave of his hand, he gave the car company an emergency chip. And said that this batch of chips do not want money, is borrowed, wait until the chips are not so nervous, and a batch of back on the line.
Sure enough, people who have been drenched in rain always want to hold umbrellas for others. At this time, Wang Chuanfu must still remember the scene when his sister-in-law Zhang Juxiu not only pawned his dowry in order to raise 5 yuan for his living expenses in high school, but also went door to door, begging his ancestors to tell his grandmother, and borrowing money for a few cents.
02
The "Original Thing" that Changed His Life Against Heaven
Wang Chuanfu may have showered more rain in his life than any well-known Chinese entrepreneur, more than enough to fill several West Lakes.
13-year-old lost his father, 15-year-old lost his mother, the youngest sister was forced to send people because of inability to support, he swore to be admitted to secondary school, grew up to eat public meals, but his mother died suddenly on the day of the middle school examination, even if he missed two exams and ran home, he still could not see his mother for the last time...
If it is an ordinary person, I am afraid that there will be no improvement in this life. But Wang Chuanfu is not very human, he seems to be the old fisherman in "The Old Man and the Sea" who "can only be destroyed, cannot be defeated", and has launched a counterattack against fate again and again. Among them, Wang Chuanfu also found the essence that would help him change his life against the sky in the future- the battery. This is the foundation of Wang Chuanfu's fortune and the first fish in BYD's fish pond.
On November 18, 1994, a small workshop was established in the metallurgical compound of Buji, Shenzhen, and the name of this workshop will be known all over the world in the future, it is called "BYD". Wang Chuanfu led a dozen workers to work on nickel-chrome batteries in the factory overnight. Because he had no money, Wang Chuanfu could only sleep with his co-workers in the Chase Bunk on the roof of the building, eating boiled vegetables.
Later, Wang Chuanfu spent 1 million yuan to build a production line with a daily output of 4,000 nickel-cadmium batteries. At that price, which is less than one-tenth of that of a Japanese production line, it makes batteries that are half cheaper than competitors. In 1997, BYD sold 150 million batteries, accounting for nearly 40% of the global market share.
In July 2002, BYD was listed in Hong Kong, and Wang Chuanfu entered the top 50 of the Forbes mainland rich list. The following year, BYD surpassed Japan's Sanyo to become the global king of batteries. Wang Chuanfu is also known as the "battery king".
Five years later, when Buffett's right-hand man Sokol came to visit byddie's production base in Pingshan, Shenzhen, he witnessed a scene he will never forget. In order to prove that his battery is 100% environmentally friendly, Wang Chuanfu drank a cup of electrolyte in front of him. After drinking it all, Wang Chuanfu also handed a cup to Sokol, saying that he was toasting everyone's friendship.
After Sokol returned home, he immediately reported to Buffett, "This guy's amazing. You want to meet him.” (This guy is so attractive, you must be eager to meet). Three months later, Buffett, the world's richest man at the time, spent $230 million to eat 225 million shares of BYD, accounting for 10% of the shares. The following year, Wang Chuanfu became the richest man in China.
Bydie's battery once again made waves in the public eye on March 29, 2020, when Wang Chuanfu, who was dressed in a straight suit, stood in the spotlight in the center of the stage and said in an unmistakable tone: "Blade batteries 'will completely erase the word spontaneous combustion from the dictionary of new energy vehicles'." ”
What Wang Chuanfu wants to erase is not only "spontaneous combustion", what he wants to erase more may be the advantage of competitors leading the way. Although as early as 2007, Wang Chuanfu announced that he had created the world's first iron battery that could be used for car charging. Even in 2016, Wang Chuanfu proudly said:
"BYD's batteries will not be sold to the outside world for the time being, and we must maintain BYD's leading position in the battery field."
As a result, only a year later, A sudden look up, only to find that the market value of the Ningde era has surpassed That of PetroChina and become the world's largest power battery factory. The roof leaks coincide with overnight rain, and the throne of BYD's new energy vehicle global sales championship is about to be taken away by Tesla.
But the battery is ultimately Wang Chuanfu's lifeblood. With the outstanding performance of blade batteries, not only has its flagship product "Han" become a star model, but its monthly sales have stabilized at more than 10,000 units. It also opened up the road to export, FAW Hongqi, Ford, South Korea Hyundai all use blade batteries. Even the old rival Tesla also raised an eyebrow at the blade battery and secretly sent Qiu Bo.
With the decline of subsidies, the shipment of lower-cost and safer lithium iron phosphate batteries in China has soared, which in turn has increased the attractiveness of blade batteries. At the closed-door media conference, Wang Chuanfu also mentioned that bydy," BYD's power battery sector, which is famous for its "blade battery", plans to be listed independently in 2022-2023.
Although life is at stake, the battery is not Wang Chuanfu's biggest fish. In BYD's fish pond, there is also a big fish that was almost strangled by capital.
03
The Big Mac in the fish pond
In 2003, the year Wang Chuanfu became the "battery king", he found a new fish - new energy vehicles. He unabashedly declares that he has 200% confidence in electric vehicles.
At that time, China's automotive industry ushered in the "cross-border blowout year", Xinfei, Midea, Oaks, Xia Xin, Bird, Wuliangye, Yunnan Hongta Group... Just as in previous years, LeTV, Evergrande, Baoneng and so on have entered the new energy vehicle market. At that time, Wang Chuanfu's acquisition of Qinchuan Automobile for 273 million Hong Kong dollars was scolded by shareholders, and the market value evaporated by billions in two days. In the same year, Silicon Valley on the other side of the ocean quietly gave birth to an electric car company called Tesla. In the darkness, they stepped into the same river.
Four years later, BYD's Pingshan base was completed, and Wang Chuanfu held a grand press conference to announce BYD's goal: to become the first automobile manufacturer in China in 2015 and the world's first automobile production enterprise in 2025. Even the most arrogant people in China at that time thought that Wang Chuanfu was bragging.
After another 6 years, in the Hexagonal Tower in Pingshan, Shenzhen, more than 100 shareholders attended the BYD shareholders' meeting, and the national media flocked to it. At that time, Tesla, the same age as BYD Motors, was out of bankruptcy with the Model S, making its first quarter profit, doubling its stock price, and building its first gigafactory.
But Wang Chuanfu is slightly dismissive of Tesla, he believes that the million-dollar Tesla is "just a toy for the rich, only suitable for a small group of people", and said that "as long as household consumption starts, BYD can build a Tesla in minutes." The words quickly reached Musk's ears, and he laughed and asked the North American media, "Have you ever seen BYD's car?" I think it's just not good enough from the product level. ”
Judging from the situation at that time, Wang Chuanfu's assertion was not unreasonable. Like Henry Ford, BYD began to build durable and inexpensive cars. More than 100 years ago, Henry Ford pulled down the average market price of $2,000 for an American sedan to $360 for the Model T, and only $260 thereafter, equivalent to half a year's salary for an average worker. Rather than building a toy for the rich, Wang Chuanfu, who came from a poor background, is more willing to create a "dream fulfillment" tool for civilians - Build Your Dreams!
Relying on this concept, IND has sold the most new energy vehicles in China in the past decade, and has won the global sales champion for several consecutive years. However, with the construction of Tesla's factory in Shanghai, China in 2018, the price dropped to 200,000 to 300,000 yuan, sales broke out, BYD fell off the throne, and global sales were surpassed by Tesla for three consecutive years. But in the Chinese market, BYD is still the unshakable first.
On May 19, 2021, 55-year-old Wang Chuanfu watched BYD roll off the production line of its 1 millionth new energy vehicle in Shenzhen, becoming the first Chinese car company to achieve this milestone. At this time, just 18 years have passed since he acquired Qinchuan Automobile, and just as the so-called my family has a female growth, BYD Automobile has finally come out of the sky.
At the beginning of 2022, the sales report of China's new energy vehicles in 2021 was released, and the cumulative sales of BYD new energy vehicles approached 600,000 units, becoming the annual sales champion of domestic new energy passenger cars without suspense. Tesla has only sold 320,000 units in China, but this has exceeded the sales of Wei Xiaoli in 2021 combined. People lament that in the field of new energy vehicles, the only Chinese car companies that can really fight with Catfish Tesla may be BYD.
However, Wang Chuanfu was not intoxicated in front of him. He warned his subordinates, "Now it is a fast fish eating a slow fish, and it is definitely not a big fish eating a small fish." As long as you step in the wrong direction, you will lose ten billion yuan, and at the same time you will lose three years. ”
Sure enough, it is still Wang Chuanfu who is the most able to "raise fish".
04
Wang Chuanfu recreates Wang Chuanfu
At the end of the closed-door media meeting, a reporter asked, "What is the mental process of splitting and supplying the BYD Empire that originally developed the whole industrial chain?" ”
Wang Chuanfu smiled and said that only earning BYD's money is not called a skill, and it is called a skill to break out and make money in the market. After 2 to 3 years of reform, we have finally emerged a number of products that can be sold, such as compressors, such as batteries. Now it is time to consider selling the company and making it recognized by the capital market. In addition to semiconductors, there will be more business units listed in the future, batteries, motor drives are possible.
"If I have achieved a little success myself, our aim is to make every subsidiary a 'little king'." Wang Chuanfu, who is well versed in the dafa of fish farming, even began to "clone" himself.
Looking back, Wang Chuanfu has been raising "fish" for nearly 30 years, and BYD has become a veritable "sea king". Not only the production of cars, but also deeply engaged in IT, new energy and foundry and other fields, and even masks. Without exception, BYD has been successful in almost every area it has dabbled in. Wang Chuanfu confidently said that BYD has the potential to become a "unicorn" in various technology sectors.
In the eyes of the world, the poor boy who came out of Wuwei County in Anhui Seemed to do everything. Someone once asked, where is the border of BYD?
Wang Chuanfu smiled mysteriously and only said four words: "I will not say it first."