九城董事长朱骏,九城老板朱俊现在在干什么

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① Jia Yueting joins hands with Zhu Jun to make another bet

Life is more dramatic than film and television, and Jia Yueting has found a financial sponsor again , this time the protagonist is Zhu Jun...

On March 25, The9, a game company founded by Zhu Jun (referred to as "Nintendo"), and Faraday Future Company (referred to as "Nintendo") founded by Jia Yueting : "FF") announced the signing of an agreement. The two parties will jointly establish a joint venture to manufacture, market and operate electric vehicles in China.

Like Jia Yueting, Zhu Jun is also a controversial figure. In early 2000, Zhu Jun became the second person in the Chinese gaming industry after Chen Tianqiao to be listed on the Forbes Billionaires list by acting as an agent for the online games "Miracle" and "World of Warcraft". However, these two games failed to gain popularity. Zhu Jun has been running it for a long time. After that, he invested in football, with mixed success, and joined forces with 360 to make "games". In the end, the two families fell out.

Betting on "Warcraft" and losing "Warcraft"

When Ninetowns is mentioned, many people born in the 80s and 90s will think of "World of Warcraft". Ninetowns was founded in 1999. As an agent of this game, Zeng became one of the earliest companies in the Chinese Internet industry to make a fortune from games after Shanda.

In 1998, Zhu Jun created an online virtual community called "Gamenow" in Hong Kong. A year later, it was revised to The9 (i.e. "The Nine").

In 2001, Shanda became an instant hit by distributing the Korean game "Legend". Seeing Shanda's success, Zhu Jun also began to bet on online games. In 2002, The9 cooperated with South Korea's Webzen Company and obtained the agency rights in mainland China for the online game "Miracle" (MU) developed by it. "Miracle" is South Korea's earliest full 3D online game. Once launched, it relied on its perfect and gorgeous graphics to become an online game star of the year. This game is estimated to have generated nearly 600 million yuan in revenue for Ninetowns in 2003, which is close to the 800 million yuan revenue of Shanda "Legend" in 2003. Zhu Jun has also become the second Chinese to make the Forbes billionaire list after Chen Tianqiao. People in the gaming industry.

In 2004, Zhu Jun won the exclusive rights to operate the online game "World of Warcraft" developed by Blizzard for many years in mainland China. In the trading market, the stock price peaked at nearly $60. "World of Warcraft" has always accounted for more than 90% of The9's overall revenue. In 2008, The9's total game business revenue was 1.56 billion yuan, making it the number one player in the game industry that year.

However, Ninetowns failed to operate these two games well.

First, "Miracle" declined in the hands of Ninetowns. After 2005, cheating in the "Miracle" game became more and more rampant. At that time, Ninetowns was putting all its energy intoIn the operation of "World of Warcraft", cheats in "Miracle" have gradually been allowed to run freely, and a weird cheating legal area "Greed Island" has even been opened. The legalization of cheats has brought "Miracle" into a world that will never see the light of day in China. period of decline.

Later, Blizzard and Ninetowns parted ways. Although Ninetowns won "World of Warcraft" at that time, Blizzard had extremely strict requirements for cooperation with Chinese game operators from copyright fees to operations, hardware and security restrictions. This was also the reason why Shanda gave up its agency for this game at that time. Zhu Jun chose the strategy of agreeing first and talking later, and finally got the agency right. However, in the subsequent operations, Zhu Jun's promises were often unable to be fulfilled, leaving the operation of "World of Warcraft" in an unstable state, which caused Blizzard's dissatisfaction. Finally, after the agency period expired, Blizzard made a tough decision to replace the agent. business.

After losing the agency rights of "World of Warcraft", Ninetowns began to go downhill. The9, which made its fortune through agents, has never had a breakthrough in self-developed products. The first games were "Legend of Miracles" and "Planetside 2", but they both performed tepidly after being launched. The9 later placed bets on an open-world shooting game "Firefall". CEO Zhu Jun made a bold statement: "Back then I brought "Warcraft" to China and achieved success. Today I will also bring a good game to China. China and kicked out "Warcraft"." However, the end result was that "Firefall" was directly hit the street, which triggered a war between Zhu Jun and 360.

Hand in hand 360 finally fell out

At the end of July 2014, Zhu Jun and Qihoo 360 Chairman Zhou Hongyi jointly announced at a press conference that The9 and Qihoo 360 signed an agreement, and both parties ( That is, City Channel, a subsidiary of The9, and Qifei International, a subsidiary of 360, will jointly form a joint venture. The name of the joint venture is System Link. Both parties will each own 50% of the shares and profit sharing rights. At the same time, the joint venture will issue and To operate the online game "Firefall", according to the agreement, the joint venture company needs to pay the "Firefall" signing fee plus a minimum share margin totaling US$160 million.

At the beginning of the cooperation, Zhou Hongyi personally flew to Shanghai to discuss the details of the cooperation with Zhu Jun to show his importance. However, it didn't take long for the differences between the two sides to grow. According to Jiemian News, some employees said that The9 and 360 were at loggerheads with each other. No one liked the other, and they often had disputes over some pictures and promotional pages. In the end, the game was handed over to The9 for operation.

"Firefall" was initially Zhu Jun's favorite project. It is known as a "Hollywood blockbuster-level" shooting hard science fiction online game. The production team Red 5 Studios (hereinafter referred to as Red 5) is located in An online game developer in California, USA, it was established in 2006 by former Blizzard Entertainment management and R&D staff.

However, when Zhu Jun took over Red 5, most of its core talents had been lost and it gradually became a zombie company. After Ninetowns took over, Red5’s internal conflicts intensified. In 2013, founder Mark was expelled from the board of directors, and in 2016, Red 5’s R&D team was collectively laid off. But even under such circumstances, Zhu Jun still had to forcefully launch "Firefall".

However, due to the poor quality of the game, "Firefall" has never met the standards for online operation. The European and American servers of the game stopped opening registration in 2016 soon after it was launched. In 2017 Officially discontinued in the year. "Firefall" has been in closed beta and uncensored testing in China since 2015. However, until April 2016, the Chinese server game continued to be in the closed beta stage, and then there was no movement. Its official website also stopped in 2016. March.

The differences between Ninetowns and 360 have also continued to expand due to the delay in the launch of "Firefall". Game development, operation and maintenance require capital investment, and the initial US$12 million provided by both parties was quickly burned out. 360 refused to invest an additional US$4 million, and System Link faced the problem of a broken capital chain at any time.

At the end of 2017, when 360 was planning its A-share listing, City Channel Limited, a Hong Kong subsidiary of The9, sued Qifei International Development Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of 360), targeting both parties. The dispute over the joint venture established by System Link requires Qifei International to compensate RMB 2.25 billion. Earlier, Red 5 filed a complaint against five companies including System Link, namely: System Link, Jiuhuo Qitian, Shanghai Aozhi Network, The9 Hong Kong subsidiary and 360. Among these five companies, except for 360, the other four are all Ninetowns companies. In other words, the plaintiff Ninetowns Company Red 5 sued the defendant Ninetowns Company and 360. Regarding Zhu Jun's method of fighting each other, some media called it "self-inflicted" fighting. The core purpose is 360.

However, Zhou Hongyi was not a believer. It was not until 360 announced that it would backdoor Jiangnan Jiajie's A-share listing that Ninetowns failed to get money from 360.

Investing in football has mixed reputations

Another thing worth mentioning is Zhu Jun’s football career. After Warcraft brought stable income, Zhu Jun handed over the company to professional manager Chen Xiaowei, and began to get involved in football.

In 2007, Zhu Jun personally acquired Shanghai Shenhua Football Club, which promoted the merger of Shenhua and United City to form a new Shenhua Club. Under Zhu Jun's planning, Shenhua successively introduced Anelka and Drogba. Becoming the first and second foreign aid in the history of the Chinese Super League so far.

However, since then, Shenhua was once involved in the scandal of salary arrears. Football circles also have mixed feelings about Zhu Jun: some say he has brought Shenhua's brand awareness to a higher level, but others say his businessman model of seeking quick success and quick profits has led to Shenhua's continuous internal strife.

For hisRegarding his football experience, Zhu Jun summarized: "First, when I play professional football, I play the real-life version of Football Manager; secondly, the money I earn must be divided into several parts, such as raising a daughter, raising a family, and playing football. Part of it is my spiritual sustenance, which is no different from ordinary people paying 10 yuan to watch a movie."

Finally, in 2014, Zhu Jun sold Shanghai Shenhua Football Club.

Jia Yueting's reputation is not very good. First, he left LeTV in a mess, leaving Sun Hongbin in a quagmire. Later, he jointly built a car with Xu Jiayin, but ended up turning against each other. Why did Zhu Jun take the risk to cooperate with Jia Yueting?

Perhaps it is another bet by Zhu Jun.

Since the loss of "World of Warcraft" that year, The9's stock price has been in a state of decline. From its opening price of $19 that year, it has been falling by about a dollar or two. It has also been criticized because the stock price has been below $1 for a long time. Nasdaq delisting warning.

In October 2018, The9 was “downgraded”. The9 issued an announcement to withdraw from the Nasdaq Global Market, retaining the code and transferring it to the Nasdaq Capital Market. The Nasdaq stock market is currently divided into three levels: Nasdaq Global Select Market, Nasdaq Global Market, and Nasdaq Capital Market ). Nasdaq Capital Market has the lowest listing threshold among the three levels and is mainly used to attract smaller and higher-risk companies.

The announcement at the time showed that the reason Ninetowns was removed was that it could not meet the minimum market value of 50 million US dollars in the Nasdaq Global Market. According to the regulations of the Nasdaq Exchange, if a company listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market and the Nasdaq Global Market cannot meet the continued listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Market (there can be a rectification period of up to 180 days) , but if it meets the Nasdaq Capital Market’s continued listing standards, it can apply for listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

On March 27, The9’s share price was US$1.85, still hovering at the lowest threshold of the Nasdaq Capital Market. Judging from The9’s 2018 interim report, the company’s total revenue during the reporting period was only US$2 million, a sharp decline of 33.63% from the same period last year. Net profit during the reporting period was -US$11 million, an increase of 34.09% compared with the same period last year. From 2013 to 2017, The9 has accumulated losses of 1.825 billion yuan. The financial report shows that the revenue of The9 in these five years was 106 million yuan, 64.84 million yuan, 46.61 million yuan, 56.28 million yuan, and 73.2 million yuan respectively. The net profits were respectively They were -563 million yuan, -129 million yuan, -354 million yuan, -673 million yuan, and -112 million yuan.

In this case, the company urgently needs to find new business methodsTowards.

In 2018, the concept of blockchain became popular, and Zhu Jun chose to test the waters of blockchain. In February 2018, The9 signed an agreement with C&I, an energy company registered in Singapore, to cooperate in a blockchain solar distributed power generation project; on April 30, The9 announced the establishment of a wholly-owned subsidiary to fully promote the blockchain technology service business. ; In May, Zhu Jun posted on Weibo that he was “preparing to plant Bitcoin.” On May 10, CellLink, a gaming blockchain company with The9 as a cornerstone investor, held a roadshow in Hong Kong. Zhu Jun, who had not appeared in public for a long time, appeared. At a roadshow related to the gaming blockchain company CellLink. However, in 2018, after the blockchain concept became popular for a while, it gradually cooled down due to the decline of virtual currencies.

Now, Zhu Jun suddenly turns to the field of electric vehicles and cooperates with FF.

On March 25, The9 and FF announced their cooperation. According to announcements and relevant documents from both parties, the location where the two parties plan to establish a joint venture is Hong Kong, China. The joint venture will establish a wholly-owned subsidiary in mainland China to conduct business. FF and The9 will each hold 50% of the equity of the joint venture. The9 will have corresponding strategic management and operation rights. The9 will inject up to US$600 million into the joint venture. FF will inject technology and property rights resources into the joint venture, including land use rights in China as a production base, and will grant the joint venture the exclusive production, marketing and sales rights for the FF V9 model and other designated models in China.

Ninetowns’ US$600 million will be paid in three installments in cash. For each payment, FF or the joint venture company needs to complete a “milestone” within a specific time limit. However, it can also be paid according to special circumstances. The situation will be extended for a certain period of time.

Specifically, the first payment of US$200 million should be paid within two months after the date of the agreement, provided that the joint venture company is established in Hong Kong, China. At the same time, FF needs to find a land asset. After the first payment is fully received, FF needs to transfer the rights to the above land asset to the joint venture company.

The second payment of US$200 million is conditional on the Chinese local government (including the Moganshan local government) providing financial support (if applicable) to the joint venture company that has the right to use local land. The second milestone "Second Installment Milestone Event" that needs to be reached for the second payment should be within 4 and a half months after the first payment is completed.

The final amount of 200 million US dollars can be unlocked only after the completion of FF's V9 model design concept (the third milestone "Third Installment Milestone Event"), and the time cannot be later than after the second payment. Within 3 months, but FF can also choose to extend it for 3 months.

Documents show that the board of directors of The9 and FF joint venture company consists of 5 directors.Among them, Ninetowns can nominate 3 directors, and the other 2 director quotas belong to FF. The adjustment of directors appointed by both parties can only be made by both parties. Although Ninetowns has more seats, the nomination right of chairman belongs to FF.

In the "Liquidation" section, The9 has the right to give priority to the liquidation of the assets of the joint venture company based on an interest rate of 25% per year on the capital contribution of The9.

So, how can The9, which is also having a hard time, raise US$600 million to build a joint venture with FF?

It is reported that Ninetowns intends to use the money raised from US listed companies to establish domestic joint ventures. According to China Business News, in addition to The9's own funds, Hong Kong investment bank AMTD (AMTD Group) and US boutique investment bank Maxim (Maxim Group) are the largest investors behind this transaction and will provide support for the joint venture. Provide financial support for the establishment and operation of the joint venture, and upon completion of the agreed conditions, assist Ninetowns in realizing capital injection into the joint venture.

According to public information, AMDT has helped many of China’s leading new economy companies such as Meitu and 360 Finance achieve IPOs in Hong Kong and the United States in recent years. It completed 18 IPO projects in 2018 and raised more than 20 billion in funds. U.S. dollars; it has also successfully assisted Hong Kong blue-chip companies such as New World China, Sun Hung Kai Corporation, Far East Development and Emperor International, as well as mainland Chinese companies such as Minsheng Bank and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, to take the lead in completing more than 80 overseas U.S. dollar bond issuance projects, raising more than 50 billion US dollars. Maxim is committed to providing strategic advice and financing solutions to companies in multiple industries in the United States, Europe, Israel and Asia, covering more than 2,000 U.S. institutional investors, global financial institutions and high-net-worth private clients.

Outsiders have different opinions on the cooperation between Zhu Jun and Jia Yueting.

Some people think that the current situation of the two companies is not good, and based on the previous experience of the two, it is difficult for people to believe that the cooperation can be successful. Some people even question the two of them laundering money through cooperation. However, , and some people think that it is unknown whether it will succeed or not. After all, there is support from the financial backers behind him.

More exciting Jia Yueting joins hands with Zhu Jun to make another bet