"Melon King" Xu Bo, why does he have a net worth of 30 billion

City Boundary

2024-04-29 10:00Posted on the official account of Beijing Municipality

Xu Bo, who has been rampant on the Internet for many years, was "tricked" by his girlfriend into taking 300 million yuan, which has become a hot topic after the tea and dinner of the people who eat melons recently. Is this rich man with a junior high school education, who is keen on objectifying women and challenging the bottom line of the public, with a net worth of nearly 30 billion, genuine, and where does it come from?

At the end of April, Xu Bo, the "melon king" in the game circle and chairman of Duoyi Network, staged another farce. However, the new plot made the melon-eating masses who gritted their teeth at him finally breathe a bad breath.

Over the years, Xu Bo has relied on unscrupulous output of remarks such as "female function is fertility" and "dominant races should have 100 children". This time, it was finally his turn to seek justice on the Internet - his girlfriend, who was called virtuous and beautiful by Xu Bo, "doesn't love money but loves me", and "who can let her leave me and give 10 million to whom", "cheated" him of 300 million.

On April 25, the official blog of "Duoyi Network" posted 4 Weibo posts in a row, telling the story of Xu Bo's transfer of more than 800 million yuan for his girlfriend Tang, and then Tang fled with the money, and is still in arrears of more than 300 million yuan. Just the day before, the Weibo was also on the hot search because of "stipulating that the bride price of employees marrying wives shall not exceed 100,000 yuan".

People's curiosity about Xu Bo, in addition to his constant remarks that constantly challenge the public's bottom line, is the confusing problem of the unknown origin of the huge amount of wealth. According to the latest "2024 Hurun Global Rich List" released by the Hurun Research Institute, Xu Bo ranks 900th on the list with a wealth of 27.5 billion yuan, and is also the richest man in Huangpu District, Guangzhou.

Under several Weibo posts that he complained about his girlfriend and "has a lot of slots", the popular comment in addition to "deserves it" is "what kind of person is it, who will make so much money".

But what may be disappointing is that, at least for now, the revenue of one company is enough for Xu Bo to have the capital to continue to be arrogant. With 3,000 employees, the Guangzhou-based gaming company bills itself as one of China's top 10 gaming companies and has been listed nine times among China's top 100 internet companies.

In terms of game publishing and promotion, Duoyi has always taken an unusual path, with products not being available through channels or intermodal transportation, and only relying on the official website and iOS "tap water" players to download. Its classic IP "Phantom Tang Zhi" (formerly known as "Shenwu") and "Dream World 3" still creates a steady stream of cash flow. Less than a week ago, Duoyi Network also released a new game "City Building and Exploration" that is positioned as an oriental ancient style simulation operation.

01, tens of billions of net worth, muffled to make a fortune

Viewers who surf the Internet all year round should not be unfamiliar with the name Xu Bo. He has many identity labels: the founder of Duoyi Network, and a Forbes billionaire with a net worth of tens of billions. He has also refreshed public perception by advocating various bizarre remarks and values such as "polyphony" and objectifying women.

In the past ten years, Xu Bo's output of "no lower limit" words and deeds are numerous, the most classic is to recruit "virgin beauties" on the Internet to have a son with him. and a series of descriptions of women's value: "A woman is virtuous if she is not talented." A woman's main value is the value of fertility and the value of educating children, so that she can really attract men who love her. If it is talented, it is used to make money, then it is only people who are greedy for money. If it is good-looking, it attracts lustful people, and when it is old and decrepit, it will be replaced. Men who attach importance to giving birth to children and educating children will pay attention to their children and their mothers for a long time, which is the only love. ”

can make Xu Bo have such unscrupulous confidence, is the strong family property he has accumulated through games. In the queue of game companies, Duoyi Network has always been regarded as non-mainstream, but it can make a steady fortune.

According to the official website, Duoyi Network, which was established in 2006, currently has a total of 9 terminal games and 18 mobile games, including a series of online games such as "Dream World" and "Shenwu" (now renamed "Phantom Tang Zhi").

▲(Duoyi online game products)

According to Qimai data, in March this year, Duoyi Network still ranked 11th in the estimated IOS revenue list of domestic game publishers with a monthly revenue of about 56.21 million yuan - even surpassing well-known manufacturers such as Youka, Eagle Corner, Giant Network, and Lilith.

Previously, Duoyi Network had twice tried to go public. In 2016, the company submitted a prospectus to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in an attempt to board the GEM. This is also the first time that the financial status of Duoyi Network and Xu Bo has been officially disclosed. According to the data, in 2015, the revenue of Duoyi Network was 1.456 billion yuan, and the net profit exceeded 1 billion yuan, surpassing most of the game companies listed on the A-share market at that time.

In terms of controlling persons, Xu Bo is the dominant company in Duoyi Network, accounting for 99.5% of the shares. At the same time, the prospectus shows that "Shenwu", whose mobile game revenue exceeded 1 billion, contributed 90% of the company's revenue that year.

Such a single shareholding structure and income structure are naturally difficult to escape the eyes of the CSRC. Duoyi Network later chose to voluntarily withdraw its IPO, but the listing failed.

Two years later, Xu Bo, who did not give up, submitted his statement again in Hong Kong stocks. According to the prospectus, from 2015 to 2017, the revenue of Duoyi Network was 1.629 billion, 1.552 billion and 1.934 billion respectively, and the net profit was 1.040 billion, 841 million and 1.007 billion respectively, with a gross profit margin of more than 98%. This time, its revenue structure from mobile games has been gradually optimized, accounting for 46.7%, 45% and 50.7% of its revenue in the same period, respectively, while its revenue from mobile games is decreasing.

Although in the end, Duoyi Network still failed to enter the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, thanks to the huge revenue of Duoyi Network, it is enough for Xu Bo to be a happy rich man who "flies freely" and carries forward the "Xu Bo theory" of his own school. As he puts it, he is "full of cash, debt-free, and will never go bankrupt."

02, a game can be eaten for ten years

If it weren't for Xu Bo's strange words and deeds, most people might never have known about the existence of Duoyi Network. Unlike many large factories that rely on large sums of money every year to brush up on the presence of games, under Xu Bo's insistence, the company's marketing expenses are almost zero all year round.

However, in the eyes of high-frequency game users, the reason why the 18-year-old Duoyi Network can kick many major manufacturers in terms of monthly income lies in its in-depth insight into and satisfaction of players' needs.

"In turn-based game development, there should be no producer in China who can beat him," a senior game producer told "City Boundary".

As the company's "evergreen", the turn-based game "Shenwu" series has been online for 14 years, and it is still able to create high turnover. A person in the game industry told "City Boundary" that many companies can nourish their lives for more than ten years with a single game, "such as Changyou's "Dragon Babu" mobile game and mobile game. ”

Xu Bo's own story also has a bit of a "hero doesn't ask where he comes from". It is rumored that he only has a junior high school education and worked as a network manager in an Internet café in his early years.

In November 2001, when NetEase had just established its game division, 24-year-old Xu Bo was recruited by NetEase to be the customer service of "Westward Journey Online". However, after the launch of the game, it did not go well, and Xu Bo wrote more than 30 pages of revisions for it in his spare time.

According to Xu Bo's personal blog in 2010, at first, no one cared for his opinions after they were handed over to the product manager. Later, when "Journey to the West Online" was on the verge of suspension and rushed to the doctor, NetEase overturned and redid the game according to Xu Bo's plan, and renamed it "Fantasy Westward Journey" public beta again in November 2003. This time, the game was a great success, and Xu Bo also became famous.

Today, 20 years later, "Fantasy Journey to the West" is still NetEase's popular trump card. In 2022, "Fantasy Journey to the West" generated nearly $600 million in mobile game revenue, making it the highest-grossing product in NetEase's mobile game series.

However, the industry believes that Xu Bo's contribution to "Fantasy Journey to the West" is still in the gray line of the grass snake. After he left, "Fantasy Journey to the West" didn't have any direction, just look at how "Shenwu" designed "Dream" and changed it accordingly. The aforementioned producer said to the "city boundary".

Soon after the success of "Fantasy Journey to the West", because he suspected Ding Lei of being stingy, Xu Bo poached the team and ran away to start a business. At that time, it was rumored that Lei Jun's Jinshan Department gave Xu Bo 10 million yuan as a start-up capital. In July 2006, Xu Bo founded Duoyi Network, and soon after launched his first game, Dream World.

Although there are countless slots in his private life and values, Xu Bo does understand the pain points of players. Sleepwalking was known for having the most balanced combat system in the industry at the time, with 11 genres and 421 moves, each of which was mutually reinforcing.

▲ ("Dream World 3" game.) Source/TOEIC Network official website)

In 2010, Xu Bo personally led the launch of "Shenwu", which is highly similar to the gameplay of "Fantasy Journey to the West". Veteran players who like to play turn-based games often compare Shenwu and Fantasy Journey to the West side by side. Fans of "Shenwu" believe that the criticized gameplay of "Fantasy Journey to the West" has been completely dissolved by "Shenwu".

Some players told "City Boundary", "The core of "Shenwu" is PK, which is more friendly to civilian players. The core of "Fantasy Journey to the West" is cultivation, and the main play is to move to make money. ”

Compared with the main mechanism of "Fantasy Journey to the West", which recharges points and cards, spends money to buy equipment upgrades, and finally sells the account and leaves to make a lot of money, Shenwu does not need "krypton gold is king", it can be played for free, the account is binding, and the account cannot be sold, and the gameplay is also more exploratory. In other words, players of "Fantasy Journey to the West" need "both liver and krypton", while "Shenwu" only needs the time and energy of crazy liver.

It is this mechanism of "you can continue to play without going on for three years" that allows "Shenwu" to achieve a life cycle as long as "Fantasy Journey to the West". On social platforms, there are not a few loyal players of "Shenwu", "I do tasks every day during the day, and I don't have to fight at night." It doesn't take much time, and the main thing is a companionship. ”

With this game, Xu Bo has made a lot of money for more than ten years, and he repurchased all the investments of Jinshan with a return of more than 8 times PE very early. From 2012 to 2013, Shenwu was named one of the "Top 10 Most Popular Online Games" by China's Game Billboard for two consecutive years.

Since February 2015, NetEase has also been suing Duoyi, accusing the game "Shenwu" of infringing "Fantasy Westward Journey". In September 2016, the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court made a first-instance judgment, ordering Duoyi Network to stop the infringement and unfair competition, and compensating NetEase 15 million yuan. However, these legal constraints made "Shenwu" still unable to stop continuing to attract money after it was renamed "Phantom Tang Zhi".

▲ ("Phantom Tang Zhi" game.) Source/TOEIC Network official website)

At the same time, the high return of Duoyi Network also stems from the fact that the company is one of the few companies in the industry that insists on self-development and self-transportation at the moment when game agency and intermodal transportation are common.

In 2018, Duoyi Network announced that 80% of the 1,000 employees were R&D personnel. "For example, when the game effect is not achieved, we can even modify the self-developed game engine," Wang Rujie, vice president of Duoyi Network, told the media at that time.

In the game market where "buying volume is king", "Shenwu" is also a rare terminal game that does not rely on overwhelming delivery. "Shenwu" is not available through other channels, it can only be downloaded from the official website, there is no channel sharing, and Xu Bo himself firmly controls most of the company's equity. So he's very confident in his product," the producer told City Boundary.

03, Xu Bo's back garden

If it weren't for Xu Bo's later alternative behaviors, his life resume of brushing up the "plug-in" all the way would indeed be like a "male frequency" cool article.

In 2017, Duoyi Network was ranked 25th among the "Top 100 Internet Companies in China", ranking fourth among the online game companies on the list. According to Frost & Sullivan, in 2017, the revenue of self-developed and self-operated games of Duoyi Network ranked third among Chinese online game companies.

In 2018, TOEIC launched 8 new games in one fell swoop. In addition to the turn-based games it is good at, it has also launched a number of game categories such as SLG (strategy games), two-dimensional, match-3 and sandbox, expanding its territory to multiple categories.

But also in this year, Xu Bo himself took a sharp turn for the worse with the reputation of Duoyi Network. An explosive article of "A former NetEase executive with a net worth of 28 billion: giving birth to 12 babies, a realistic version of polygamy" made his early remarks mentioned again.

NetEase hurriedly came forward to deny the identity of the "former executive", and in the statement, it reiterated that it must adhere to and defend the bottom-line values, and any disregard for women's rights. "It has been 106 years since the Qing Dynasty died in 1912. ”

In this regard, Xu Bo angrily denied it and was deeply dissatisfied with the former owner's "cutting the seat". Since then, he has also been keen to "add fuel to the fire" when there is a negative public opinion incident on NetEase.

In addition to tearing up his face with his old employer, Xu Bo also ignored modern management and turned the TOEIC network into his backyard for unscrupulous personal fun.

According to media reports, TOEIC Network's value test for employees began with the online application - the questionnaire was asked to answer their views on tattoos, pet raising, women's rights, and childbirth. "If there is no limit, I hope that my parents will have several siblings", "300 words to evaluate my father", etc. "Talking about personal privacy, this is a kind of obedience test, don't come if it doesn't meet his value orientation. An employee who has participated in the online application commented.

In order to screen out highly obedient employees, the questionnaire also included questions such as "I am off on the weekend, and my boss asks you to deliver a package immediately, which will take you four hours to complete, how to choose?".

In terms of management style, Xu Bo is keen to frantically test the edge of labor law: requiring employees to delete each other's WeChat, not allowing them to join groups with current and former colleagues, and encouraging whistleblowing and joint sitting.

Every once in a while, Xu Bo sends out a questionnaire to his employees, asking who his favorite and most hated colleagues are. The company also uses the color of the card to distinguish the grades, from the white card (CEO, CTO) to the red, purple, blue and green, the lowest level of green card employees can not be drawn at the annual meeting, the higher the level, the higher the probability of the lottery.

In 2019, Xu Bo's dream of a "small kingdom" reached its peak. Duoyi Network was exposed that employees who have been employed for one year are required to say thank you to "Lao Xu" or "feedback opinions related to work and life", and there is an option to send thank you red envelopes below, with the amount ranging from 100-500 yuan, and it will be deducted from the next month's after-tax salary.

Soon after, Xu Bo put on a posture of changing the order, and said at the annual meeting that he would refuse to accept all the red envelopes and return them 10 times.

In recent years, Duoyi Network's revenue has risen year by year, but Xu Bo seems unwilling to share the results with his subordinates.

In 2020, Xu Bo spoke at the company's general group: "The company's benefits are good, and employees are allowed to voluntarily reduce their salaries by 10%. Duoyi's official Weibo immediately responded: "100% of Duoyi's old employees and executives applied to participate in the voluntary salary reduction activity, and they are truly happy and satisfied." 93% of all employees who are eligible to participate in the event participated. According to the employees at the time, the remaining 7% of employees who did not agree either wrote a review, or were persuaded to quit and take a disguised salary cut.

After making all kinds of outrageous remarks, Xu Bo, after his personal Weibo was blocked, used the company's official Weibo as a sounder, and frequently "exposed his own ugliness".

In 2021, Xu Bo issued an article saying that Tang Yilu, the former CEO of the company, and others harbored and connived at plug-ins, and were suspected of embezzling hundreds of millions of yuan in advertising expenses every year, and would swear to investigate Tang Yilu's corruption case thoroughly at all costs and reward the whistleblower with 10 million yuan. At that time, it was also revealed that 11 female employees within TOEIC were suspected of being implicated and were violently dismissed.

However, although Xu Bo treats commercial companies as his personal property, it is clear that his grip on the "small kingdom" of Duoyi Network is becoming more and more solid.

In several posts complaining about the strange deeds of Xu Boqi and Duoyi Network, some people asked why employees would go to such a company. An employee who joined the company in 2020 replied, "I don't have a choice, I have to have a job." ”

(Author |.) Zhang Jikang and Zhao Zikun, editors Li Yuan)

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