In the United States, Wang Jianlin’s style seems to be no different from that in China.
In 7 days, he met with the acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the governor of Kansas, and the mayor of Washington - he seemed to be able to stand in a suitable position whether in front of Chinese or American officials. superior. He also visited the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, gave a speech at Harvard University, and generously donated $1.3 million in supplies to 11 Kansas City high schools.
Not afraid of officialdom, spending money lavishly, naturally compounding, and keeping his word, this potential makes Wang Jianlin quite mysterious - in the eyes of many people, Wanda, which is favored by the government, seems to have broken away from market competition.
Wang’s father was a provincial official. This family environment left Wang with no sense of mystery about the power system. But in the Chinese business world, there are many people with better backgrounds than Wang Jianlin. What are his strengths?
Bai Wangang, chairman of Shanghai Caihua Consulting Co., Ltd., believes that Wang Jianlin is good at doing micro things from a macro perspective. "Many people with backgrounds only know how to buy and sell short, and have no bottom-up ability to find real business secrets; while the general grassroots lack the courage to look from the top down." He believes that Wang Jianlin has successfully managed both the macro and micro aspects. Swing between.
Eighteen years of military career and experience in state-owned enterprises after changing careers have allowed Wang Jianlin to understand the way the government operates. He has always been more enthusiastic than ordinary Chinese businessmen about major policies, industry trends, and development hot spots. He is an excellent opportunity hunter in this era, discovering the thickest snow - the lucrative real estate industry; the longest slope - several major opportunities for urbanization and consumption prosperity. Wanda's success is not only due to the success of its products, but also because of its ability to accurately capture the times.
“Many developers’ understanding of commercial real estate so far is to collect rent from properties, which is much worse than Wanda. Wanda’s commercial real estate is not just about renting out properties, but about changing the functions and structure of the city. products." Bai Gang said. Mayors are keen on Wanda Plaza because it can turn the non-center of the city into the center and serve as an incubator for local government achievements. The opening of Wanda Plaza in 18 months met the needs of local officials to see their political performance during their term of office.
“When running a business, you must go with the trend and not against it.” Wang Jianlin Shi Ru said. He is good at taking advantage of situations. In 2002, Wanda tried to transform into commercial real estate. The first thing that came to mind was cooperation with Fortune 500 companies. In order to convince Wal-Mart, he personally visited the relevant person in charge many times, but was not allowed to enter. Later, through the matchmaking of government officials, cooperation was finally reached. During Wanda's initial expansion, Wanda, a small company that stood with the Fortune 500, increased its bargaining chips with the government to acquire land. Now the guests and hosts are different. If you want to visit Wang Jianlin at Wal-Mart, you have to make an appointment in advance. During the period of rapid expansion after 2008, Wanda took full advantage of the government’s potential; Wanda’s acquisition of AMC this time took advantage of the boom in the cultural industry.
The most difficult thing to consider when evaluating Wanda is whether it is a market-oriented company.
One observer believes that Wanda is a "market-oriented company with Chinese characteristics." In an industry where the government has a complete monopoly on resource supply, complete marketization is just a dream. "The idealist Vanke will bend down passively; the realist Wanda will bend down actively but without losing dignity." Wanda's dignity comes from its ability to innovate. Wanda invented a commercial real estate development model with Chinese characteristics - the comprehensive development model. The industry commented that Wanda Wuhan Chuhe Hanjie Project "changed the function and positioning of Wuhan." "Why I always want to innovate is to ask the government to come to me. If you go for it, it's great. If you get a card, what will you do? Will you give it to me? If it's you, then It’s much simpler,” Wang Jianlin said.
Regarding Wanda, we can easily see its two sides: on the one hand, its products (real estate, cinemas, department stores, etc.) are all market-oriented; on the other hand, it always seems to be subject to government regulations favor.
Wanda’s duality comes from Wang Jianlin’s duality. He knows how to leverage the government, and he is also the engine of Wanda’s innovation. "I just don't believe in evil," Wang Jianlin said. Wanda's early commercial real estate projects were not successful. He personally learned from a shopping mall in the United States that is good at designing shopping mall flow. What impressed Zhu Qiwei, deputy director of Wanda Planning Institute, most deeply was that on the day before the Spring Festival in 2003, most of the employees left the building. Wang Jianlin asked Zhu to give him the design drawings of the shopping mall so that he could study it during the Spring Festival. Wanda Cinema and Department Store were not optimistic when they were first established, and were even opposed by insiders, but this did not sway Wang Jianlin. Wuhan Hanxiu has complex underwater machinery and equipment that only Hollywood companies could do at first. After the company learned that Wanda had decided to invest, it deliberately raised the price from US$15 million to US$45 million. "This boy has completely activated my innovative spirit. If it costs 20 million US dollars, I will let him do it." Wang Jianlin changed his mind when he thought about being controlled by others in the future. Developing this thing by yourself is "impossibly more difficult than Shenzhou 5 and Shenzhou 6." In the end, this set of equipment really made Wanda herself.
“Keep close to the government and stay away from politics” is Wang Jianlin’s famous saying. He believes that the reason why Wanda transcends development is that it can do things that state-owned enterprises cannot and private enterprises cannot do. For many of the projects Wanda is working on, state-owned enterprises do not have the relevant capabilities and talents; and investments of tens of billions are common, the threshold is too high for private enterprises.
Wang Jianlin once gave lectures to many state-owned enterprise leaders in a state-owned enterprise training bureau. He said in class, "Today, private enterprises are not the same as in the past. If there are a number of 50 billion or hundreds of billions of enterprises in the future, private enterprises can also do great things, and state-owned enterprises will have no chance at all."
Wang Jianlin did not Appreciate Hong Kong entrepreneurs. "First of all, they are not market-oriented enterprises. They grew up in a special environment. Now that they have entered the mainland and are on the same competitive platform, they are not as good as mainland entrepreneurs; second, many enterprises and entrepreneurs in Hong Kong do not have academic qualifications. In addition to the innate business acumen, the company itself does not make money through organizational systems and culture. ”
Time is the origin of all things. When a person can control time, the energy he gains is self-evident. To a certain extent, Wang Jianlin is a time manipulator. From residential real estate to commerce, to services, to tourism, to culture, Wanda leads the industry every time.
Deep in his heart, Wang Jianlin has a preference for culture. When he was a child, he read many ancient books. It is said that his mother and grandmother could recite subsets of the classics. In the 1970s, Wang was a member of the Chinese Couplet Association and was passionate about antiphons, allusions and rhymes. In the army, he began to study Chinese calligraphy and painting. In 1992, he dared to spend all his money to buy a painting by Fu Baoshi for more than 8 million yuan. "This is a test of vision. This is this opportunity. If you miss it, it will be gone." Until now, Wang still likes to write seven-character poems. He doesn't like wasting time. Most of these poems were written in boring meetings, and the staff around him sometimes worried about how to publish them.
He once wrote such a poem: "After years of business war, wealth is great, but everything is always empty. I only do good deeds in my life, and I will be a pure land for ten generations." This poem reveals some religious flavor. Some people speculate that Hu Enji became religious because of the donation. There is a reclining Buddha in front of his office and a Maitreya Buddha in his living room. But Wang told himself that he was a staunch materialist and never asked anyone to read Feng Shui. "I firmly believe that what I feel comfortable with is the best."
Wang Jianlin's story is not a sample of an inspirational book. He did not experience hell-like hardships and grew up in a relatively privileged environment. His biggest setback was early unsuccessful commercial real estate ventures. One real estate project in Shenyang alone had “222 lawsuits.”
He is not an idealist. He is highly in tune with this era and makes the most of this existing rule. Wang Jianlin is a man of action, and he has no trace of the sadness common among idealists. As he created a brilliant business empire, he illuminated his dreams with reality.
Unlike many real estate tycoons, Wang’s private life is full of all kinds of gossip. He goes to work at seven o'clock every day and gets off work around five o'clock in the evening. He has no other hobbies than singing - he has always been proud of his "professional-level" singing skills. Because Wang Jianlin does not play golf, Wanda Group management is said to have given up the hobby.
As a coworker with him, you need to be able to withstand pressure. "He grasped the core of the problem in no time and responded very quickly." An employee said that no one dared to take risks with him. He had an astonishing memory, a near photographic memory of information, and if Wang wanted to, he could catch any loophole. In public, he is like an emperor, followed by a few assistants. At the meeting, whatever he saw would disturb the nerves of the assistants in the audience. But when he goes on business trips, he will carry things with his employees and has a firm attitude. He often blocks the closing elevator door with his hand and goes up and down the stairs with his employees. At Disneyland in Oakland, he remembered a very serious Chinese tour guide. In recognition of the young man, he asked his colleagues if they published letters of praise every day.
At the Dalian Davos Forum in September 2011, reporters met several different Wang Jianlins. At seven o'clock in the morning, he was the earliest customer. He is never late. It passed by the reporter's eyes like a gust of wind, followed by several men (assistants) in black about 1 meter behind, with a look of fear on their faces. At the 10:30 a.m. press conference, he was once again gentle and polite. When he left, he was surrounded by reporters and said softly that he was sorry and had other things to do. His attitude and pace were completely different from the morning.
Wang Jianlin, who is wearing a French Lanvin suit, owns a Sunseeker International "Battleship 108 Limited Edition Yacht" worth 78 million yuan, a private jet, and an amazing collection of paintings and calligraphy. The Wanda Football Team, which made Wanda famous in one fell swoop, has maintained an unbeaten record of 55 games. This is his "most proud thing".
He once said that when the company reaches 100 billion, he will retire. But this goal was achieved too quickly, and he was still not satisfied, and now it has been postponed again. "I want to take Wanda to a high level and become a world-class organization - there are still about 10 years before I will completely quit.
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