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- Source/Night Deep Finance
- Author/Night Deep Finance
Introduction: Maybach was indeed auctioned off, but the bidder's balance was not received for a long time?
In the past two days, the topic of Zhou Hongyi's auction of second-hand Maybach has continued to dominate the hot search on Weibo. Originally, at the end of April, the car had been successfully auctioned, and Zhou Hongyi also participated in the dinner with the bidders, and the two sides chatted happily. Unexpectedly, only two days apart, this matter ushered in a reversal and reversal.
First of all, it was reported that President Chu, the bidder who auctioned Zhou Hongyi's second-hand Maybach, could not settle the balance smoothly, and Zhou Hongyi, who played traffic, was put together by a group of second-hand car dealers; then Zhou Hongyi took the initiative to say that President Chu needed time to raise all the funds, and he should not be impatient; and then in the early morning of May 3, Zhou Hongyi released a video saying that the balance payment had been obtained, please rest assured.
A series of ups and downs made Zhou Hongyi and the bidders the most beautiful boys on this Labor Day.
01, the turmoil of selling cars, reversed one after another
I believe that many people still remember Zhou Hongyi's auction of his Maybach a few days ago. At that time, second-hand car dealers from all over the country gathered at the 360 Beijing headquarters building, eager to try and win this second-hand Maybach of Zhou Hongyi.
The starting price of 600 yuan was finally sold at a sky-high price of 9.9 million yuan after many rounds of bidding, and even Zhou Hongyi himself stood up and said that the price was unbelievable.
So Zhou Hongyi fulfilled his promise to participate in the dinner, communicate with second-hand car dealers, etc., but he didn't expect an embarrassing situation during this May Day Golden Week.
On May 2, it was reported that Chairman Chu, who had previously won Zhou Hongyi's second-hand Maybach with a huge bid of 9.9 million, had not been able to pay off the balance until the auction was won on the evening of April 28.
According to the pictures on the night of the auction, the bidder needs to complete the contract signing within one hour after the car inspection, and the payment is completed within two hours, which is obvious that Chairman Chu has constituted a de facto breach of contract.
▲ Source: Douyin
Immediately afterwards, it was revealed that Beijing Tian'an Old Motor Vehicle Brokerage Co., Ltd., where President Chu is located, has just undergone industrial and commercial changes, and the registered capital has been reduced from 150,000 to 50,000, and President Chu has also stepped down as the legal representative.
This instantly ignited the enthusiasm of the people who ate melons, and the related topics of the unsettled balance quickly rushed to the hot search on Weibo, and netizens said that Zhou Hongyi was put on the spot by the second-hand car dealer this time. There are even bloggers who participated in the second-hand Maybach auction during the same period and said, "I am willing to take 9.9 million and arrive at the 360 headquarters at any time for delivery."
However, Zhou Hongyi is quite calm about this, it takes time to publicly stand on the platform President Chu, so everyone should be calm.
I didn't expect that this melon that couldn't afford to pay was not finished, and in the early morning of May 3, Zhou Hongyi posted a new Weibo saying that he had received the final payment, and everyone could rest assured that he would choose an auspicious day to deliver the car and return to his original intention.
▲ Source: Zhou Hongyi's social platform
"Good guy, shouldn't it be a game deliberately made by the joint bidders", "I also said that I would choose an auspicious day to deliver the car, I'm afraid it won't be another hot search", "Zhou Hongyi can only rely on these means to make it hot now", the car selling turmoil has come to an end, and many netizens complained on social media platforms.
02. Sold a Taiwan and not your own car?
The car was sold, but there are many more stories behind this second-hand Maybach.
Before Zhou Hongyi's public auction of Maybach, some netizens posted a bidding agreement and found that the owner of the car was not Zhou Hongyi himself, but Beijing Dajue Investment Consulting Co., Ltd., including the information provided to the second-hand car dealer on the scene and the signing contract also showed the same owner's name.
▲ Source: Douyin
I don't know if I don't know, and I'm shocked when I understand. According to Tianyancha information, Dajue Investment, which was established in early 2004, is officially the ex-wife of Zhou Hongyi, whose 100% controlling shareholder is Hu Huan.
As we all know, Zhou Hongyi and Hu Huan are still in a state of divorce, why can Zhou Hongyi still deal with his ex-wife's property privately?
According to industry insiders, Zhou Hongyi could not be listed because he did not have a driver's license, so he registered the car in the name of Hu Huan's company. Although the registered name and the actual user are different, the auction can still be held as long as both parties agree on it.
Just before the auction, Zhou Hongyi publicly said that he had "used" this car for 9 years, cleverly bypassing the issue of ownership.
It is understood that on the evening of April 4, 2023, 360 issued an announcement stating that Zhou Hongyi and Hu Huan had gone through the procedures for dissolving their marriage after friendly consultation. Zhou Hongyi split the 447 million shares directly held by him into Hu Huan's name, which was converted into a market value of nearly 9 billion yuan according to the stock price at that time.
However, this question was quickly publicly countered by Zhao Luming, secretary of the board of directors of 360, in the WeChat circle of friends, expressing his belief that most people still regard feelings as more important than money, and it is obviously more beneficial to cash out 4.99%.
Of course, for all the money received by the auction, in the early morning of May 3, Zhou Hongyi once again responded on Weibo that he would jointly donate to the Wang Xuan Foundation in the name of himself and the bidder.
Anyway, the traffic is already there.
03, the operation continues, or can't you play Lei Jun?
In hindsight, whether it is for Zhou Hongyi or the bidder Chairman Chu, the purchase and sale of Maybach is only a superficial phenomenon, and the more critical thing is the traffic outside the car.
After all, relying on an auction, more than 50,000 people poured into the live broadcast room of Chairman Chu's personal Douyin account, with a net increase of 400,000 fans overnight, and the number of fans of the entire account is still in the growth channel. It is foreseeable that when this second-hand Maybach is officially delivered, President Chu will have a series of actions.
▲ Source: President Chu's Douyin account
Zhou Hongyi held an auction of "abandoning Maybach and embracing domestic new energy", and of course he also had his own small abacus.
As we all know, 360 as an Internet company, the core source of revenue is advertising and game distribution and other businesses. It's just that in recent years, both the user's mind and the actual market performance have basically been in a downward channel, which has also made the market value of 360 companies decline from 450 billion at its peak to just over 60 billion now.
In order to save the company from danger, Zhou Hongyi, as a former "Internet cannon", began to incarnate as a traffic star and constantly do things.
First, with the help of AI heat, the market value of 360 Company once rebounded to more than 150 billion, and then there was news that Zhou Hongyi wanted to bring goods live broadcast, and of course, there was also the desire for the new energy vehicle track.
As early as May 2021, Zhou Hongyi announced that he would officially invest in Nezha Automobile, but unfortunately he lacked patience or realized that it was too late to enter the game, and only one year later, 360 transferred his 3.53% stake in Nezha Automobile.
Zhou Hongyi, who couldn't squeeze into the new energy circle, began to unite others to engage in traffic. However, judging from the entire car circle at present, the only ones who can compete with Zhou Hongyi's popularity are probably Lei Jun and Xiaomi SU7.
▲ Source: Xiaomi Auto's official Weibo
Since the official end of the press conference, the popularity of Xiaomi cars has always remained high. The reviews of major bloggers, visitors to offline stores, and discussions among netizens, until now, seeing a Xiaomi SU7 on the street can still attract many people to stop and take pictures.
On the other hand, Zhou Hongyi's second-hand car auction has been going on for a month, which is incompatible with the bidders' dinner, in addition to various actions at the Beijing Auto Show, which is somewhat embarrassing.
From this point of view, Zhou Hongyi's "choose an auspicious day to deliver the car", the attention is likely to plummet.
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