Chapter 2145: Thoughts on Private Equity

Soon, Lee Boo-jin was invited before Zhao Fusheng.

"Sister Boo-jin, please sit."

Zhao Fusheng smiled, said to Lee Boo-jin, who was dressed in a black business suit, and nodded at the Director Kim beside her.

Zhao Fusheng had great respect for such old stewards who had loyally served a person or a family for decades.

Director Kim quickly bowed to show respect to Zhao Fusheng.

"I heard you just returned to Seoul?"

Lee Boo-jin smiled and asked Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "Just got back not long ago, just looked around."

As he spoke, he laughed: "But as soon as I returned, Sister Boo-jin came over. The timing is quite precise."

This was his honest thought. He had only been back a short while, and Lee Boo-jin showed up. If there was nothing behind this, Zhao Fusheng would find it hard to believe.

"Well, actually, I've been waiting for you to come back."

Lee Boo-jin chuckled softly at this, then looked at Zhao Fusheng and said candidly.

Zhao Fusheng frowned, gave Lee Boo-jin a deep look, waved his hand, and told Liu Yiming to leave.

Liu Yiming nodded and left the room.

And Director Kim also left, just like Liu Yiming.

Only Zhao Fusheng and Lee Boo-jin remained in the room.

"Have some water."

Zhao Fusheng poured a glass of water for Lee Boo-jin and said with a smile.

"Thank you."

Lee Boo-jin nodded, then said to Zhao Fusheng: "Speaking of which, I'm very interested in your previous proposal. If there's a chance, how about we cooperate?"

Zhao Fusheng frowned, then broke into a smile.

He finally understood what Lee Boo-jin meant.

After all this, she was very interested in his earlier suggestion of starting a private equity fund together.

Everyone has selfish motives.

Lee Boo-jin was no different.

Although as the eldest daughter of Samsung Group, her personal wealth far exceeded that of other women, she was well aware that it all came from Samsung Group.

In other words, once Lee Kun-hee stripped her of everything, she would lose her current status.

That was very unsettling.

"Sister Boo-jin, do you really intend to participate?"

Zhao Fusheng looked at Lee Boo-jin and asked slowly.

Lee Boo-jin nodded: "What, were you joking that day?"

"Of course not."

Zhao Fusheng quickly shook his head, waving his hand: "How could I joke about such a thing? But Sister Boo-jin, you need to understand, if you join me in private equity, I need to confirm that it's your personal investment, not from Samsung Group."

The broad definition of private equity (Private Placement) refers to a securities financing method that raises funds from qualified investors through non-public offerings. It is mostly issued to a small number of specific investors and is primarily used for investment targets such as stocks, equity, bonds, futures, and options.

In fact, simply put, it is the act of raising funds from investors in a non-public manner and making investments.

For example, if Zhao Fusheng and Lee Boo-jin jointly started a private equity fund, the funds they raised would become part of future investments.

Or more precisely, Zhao Fusheng planned to transfer the funds for future investments.

As far as Zhao Fusheng was concerned, most of the shares and assets held by Future Investment so far were his private property. Since that was the case, he did not intend to turn Future Investment into a private equity fund.

But the problem was, investing one's own money always involved risk.

Given that, it might be better to bring in a few partners.

And obviously, people like Lee Boo-jin met the qualifications.

Moreover, the private equity market was vast; successful private equity funds could raise hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars.

Of course, Zhao Fusheng didn't plan to raise that much.

Several billion dollars was what Zhao Fusheng expected.

"I know."

Lee Boo-jin smiled and looked at Zhao Fusheng: "What do you think of me, as your partner, helping you raise funds in Korea?"

Clearly, she was staking her claim.

"Let's give it a try."

Zhao Fusheng smiled faintly and said to Lee Boo-jin: "I'll send someone over to discuss it. You can talk the specifics with Miss Dong Chenxi from Future Investment, okay?"

"Okay."

Lee Boo-jin hadn't expected Zhao Fusheng to agree so readily.

Originally, she had thought that ten to one, Zhao Fusheng would try to hold out on her.

With this doubt, Lee Boo-jin left, while Zhao Fusheng called Dong Chenxi and told her about the matter.

Dong Chenxi had no objections and said she would arrive in Korea soon to discuss it in person with Zhao Fusheng.

In fact, she had long advised Zhao Fusheng to turn Future Investment into a private equity fund as soon as possible.

After all, private equity funds had many advantages.

Private equity funds are generally closed-end partnership funds that are not publicly traded. During the fund's closed period, partners cannot withdraw funds at will; the closed period is typically five to ten years, so the operation period is stable with no pressure from fund redemptions.

Moreover, compared to the strict information disclosure requirements of public funds, private equity funds have much lower requirements in this regard. Coupled with relatively loose government regulation, private equity investments are more covert, professionally skilled, and usually yield higher returns.

Additionally, the success of fund operations is closely tied to the fund manager's own interests, so fund managers are highly dedicated. They can attract specific investors with their unique and effective operational philosophies. The cooperation between both parties is based on trust and contract, so moral hazard is rare.

Most importantly, private equity investment targets are more specific, allowing for customized investment service products to meet clients' special investment needs. For example, Soros's Quantum Fund, in addition to investing in global stock markets, also heavily invests in foreign exchange, futures, etc., achieving very high returns.

More importantly, private equity has a simple organizational structure, flexible operating mechanisms, and high freedom in daily management and investment decisions. Compared to complex bureaucratic systems, private equity funds have a clear competitive advantage at critical moments when opportunities are fleeting.

Dong Chenxi was undoubtedly very happy that Zhao Fusheng was willing to start a private equity fund.

At the very least, she could finally put her previous ideas into practice.

…

…

Soon, Dong Chenxi arrived in Korea.

"I'm telling you, you should have sent a plane to pick me up."

Dong Chenxi's first words upon seeing Zhao Fusheng were a complaint of dissatisfaction.

"... You're overthinking it."

Zhao Fusheng said irritably: "Do you know how much it costs to fly once?"

"Isn't a plane bought to be flown?"

Dong Chenxi pouted: "Just admit you're stingy."

Zhao Fusheng was speechless.

The few people around them all laughed. Everyone knew that Dong Chenxi had a good relationship with the boss. Seeing the boss being 'bullied' like this was somewhat amusing.

"What are you two laughing at?"

Dong Chenxi's gaze fell on Wu Sijie and Liang Jingyu, and she glared at them: "You've handled things in Korea so poorly, you're really not up to par..."

The two immediately fell silent.

Liang Jingyu looked helpless, having nothing to say to his former superior.

As for Wu Sijie...

Hah, would he dare glare at his girlfriend?

"Come on, let's have dinner together tonight."

Zhao Fusheng said to Dong Chenxi.

With that, he turned and got into the car.

Dong Chenxi nodded and naturally had no objections, following him into the car.

As for Liang Jingyu and Wu Sijie, they could only follow behind and silently get into another car.

Today's protagonist was Dong Chenxi; they were all well aware of that.

After all, Dong Chenxi was the public face of Future Investment and a longtime friend of Zhao Fusheng.

In the moving car.

"What's going on? Why the sudden interest in private equity?"

Dong Chenxi casually asked Zhao Fusheng: "You don't have some new idea, do you?"

Zhao Fusheng smiled and nodded: "Actually, I do have one. How about it, want to give it a try?"

"I knew it..."

Dong Chenxi slapped her forehead and said to him: "Can't you give a heads-up? Every time it's like this, sudden, catching people off guard."

Zhao Fusheng chuckled but waved his hand: "Don't blame me. I've had the idea for a while, but this time I really intend to do it."

"Tell me about it."

Dong Chenxi nodded and said to Zhao Fusheng: "Don't tell me that woman Lee Boo-jin has been feeding you some love potion?"

To be honest, she had always found Lee Boo-jin disagreeable. Despite being so old, she still dressed like a little girl. A woman trying to act young was really hard to like.

"You..."

Zhao Fusheng shook his head helplessly. He couldn't agree with Dong Chenxi's words, so he changed the subject: "Have you thought about how much risk we'd have to take if we use other people's money to make more money?"

"I have."

Dong Chenxi nodded: "But at the same time, we can also get more profit, right?"

Then she said to Zhao Fusheng: "If we had had enough funds back then, how much more do you think we could have made from Twitter or Facebook?"

Zhao Fusheng was silent.

He had to admit that Dong Chenxi was right.

Many people don't understand why the rich get richer, with their wealth increasing at an astonishing rate.

In fact, everyone overlooks two important factors.

One is the ability to withstand failure, and the other is the ceiling for success.

The former means that even if these wealthy individuals fail in their investments, it's not a big deal because they can start over and make the next investment. The latter allows them to gain more benefits when they encounter good investment projects.

As Dong Chenxi said, if Zhao Fusheng were rich enough, whether it was Alibaba or Facebook, he could have gained more benefits.