Chapter 197: Lindsay Wants to Buy the Knicks
“NBA Dynasty Sniper ()”
The next morning, Zhao Dong went to Feilong Sports Goods Company.
The company's address is in Chaoyang District. He has already bought a Huayang Building in his own name, which has just been built for a year and has just been renovated. It has 15 floors, 3,200 square meters per floor, and cost 320 million yuan. .
The ground floor of the building is a shop, which has been rented out, and half of the other floors have been rented out. The remaining half of the floors are vacant, and Zhao Dong is not going to rent out any more.
Feilong Sporting Goods Company and the soon-to-be established China Julong Venture Capital Company are located in Huayang Building. There is enough space and area here, and Dongcheng Club will also move here.
When he came to the top floor, there were no other offices, it was his own space.
He found a conference room and took out all the sneaker technical paper materials from the system space. There were 8,200 technical materials, and the 150-square-meter conference room was piled all over the floor.
"Where did this come from?"
Chen Jian was called up, and after seeing these materials, he was dumbfounded.
"I bought a research institute with a total of 8,200 basketball shoe technologies, all of which are high-end technologies that can be patented and have reached the world's top level. You can ask the R&D department to sort it out as soon as possible, apply for a patent immediately, and then do it. A value assessment." Zhao Dong said.
"Okay okay."
There was some disbelief in his heart, but Chen Jian still nodded.
But after a day, he had to believe it, because the R&D department was going crazy.
Most of the R&D department he just established are professionals from Europe and America, and they are of good level. Everyone told him that these technologies are the top technologies, even far surpassing the top technologies in the world.
Zhao Dong didn't care about these, and only asked the security department to keep an eye on those materials.
The security department he formed is all retired soldiers or armed police, a total of 30 people, and there is absolutely no problem with their sense of responsibility.
In addition, he was setting up China Dragon Ventures, and through the recommendation of a headhunting company, he hired a general manager named Wang Xin.
Wang Xin, a 40-year-old master student in the Department of Economics and Management of Fudan University, used to be a director of the Shanghai Merchants Bureau. He went to sea five years ago. This time, he resigned from the position of deputy general manager of a real estate company in Hainan and applied for Zhao Dong's venture capital. company.
This venture capital company has a registered capital of one billion yuan, with Zhao Dong contributing 800 million and Lin Sai contributing 200 million.
"Mr. Wang, does NetEase know?"
After the company was established, Zhao Dong gave the first venture capital project to Wang Xin.
"Netease? Director Zhao, is it too risky to invest in these Internet companies now?" Wang said.
"Venture investment, risk-taking means high return, no risk, how can there be high return? I am optimistic about the founder of this company. I do risk. I invest not in companies, but in this person." Zhao Dong laughed.
"Well, I happen to know that NetEase's funds are very tight now, and they are seeking the next round of financing. I will contact you immediately." Wang Dao said.
"Pay attention, this is the principle, we are venture capital, we only invest and don't interfere with the operation of the company." Zhao Dong said.
"Okay, I see." Wang said.
"Take as much as you can get." Zhao Dong urged.
Wang Xin was a little worried, would this be too risky? But he was powerless to object to what the boss said.
Zhao Dong didn't care about the next thing, he took Lindsay around to play.
On August 24, Wang Xin came to Guangzhou with an assistant and met Ding Lei, the founder of Netease.
One wanted to raise funds, and the other wanted to invest, and they hit it off. It only took ten minutes to negotiate the deal.
Ding Lei originally only wanted 10 million, but Wang Xin directly gave 30 million, which made him very happy.
The company had just been established, and he himself didn't even have the confidence that the company would survive. How could he be unhappy when there was such a generous financier at this time?
Wang Xin called Zhao Dong from Guangzhou to inform Zhao Dong that with 30 million RMB, he got 45% of the voting shares of Netease and had the priority for the next round of financing.
"Well done." Zhao Dong praised.
The development of NetEase is quite smooth. With his funds, the development will be smoother.
However, NetEase will be listed in the United States on June 30, 2000, with a sky-high price of 15 US dollars, but NetEase's luck ends here, because just in time for the Nasdaq bubble to burst, the three-year bull market has turned to During the 30-month-long bear market, NetEase's shares dropped to as low as US$0.48, and the entire company was only worth US$20 million.
But the bad luck was not over yet. In 2001, NetEase was suspected of accounting fraud and was suspended. Ding Lei wanted to sell NetEase, but no one dared to take over.
NetEase's listing in the United States was actually driven by foreign capital, because only by listing in the United States can it maximize its benefits.
But now that he has invested in Netease, the influence of foreign capital can be minimized.
In late September, Zhao Dong and Lin Sai traveled all over China and returned to Beijing from Xi'an.
During this period of time, Zhao Dong spent some money to buy some high-end courtyard houses. They were all the old princes’ Baylor mansions.
At the end of the month, Dorisa and his wife came to Beijing from Switzerland.
The two's engagement ceremony was scheduled for September 28th, and because Lindsay's faith was respected, it was held in a Catholic church in Beijing.
Those who participated in the ceremony were basically Zhao Dong's relatives and friends. He also invited Liu Yumin, teammates from the national team, and several company executives.
In addition, the Knicks management also sent general manager Neil Grant, along with owner James Dowland.
Agents Wells and Oakley, Larry Johnson and Alan Houston also rushed to Beijing to attend the ceremony.
On Lindsay's side, there is the Dorisa couple, and no one else.
The two are engaged, and the wedding has also entered the agenda.
But Lindsay is only nineteen years old, and she cannot get a marriage certificate in China, so she has to get married abroad.
After the two families discussed it, and it didn't take long, they planned to get married on the All-Star Weekend. It happened that Zhao Dong had time, so he didn't need to ask for leave.
Time has entered October, and Zhao Dong and Lindsay are also preparing to leave for the United States.
"Mom, don't save money at home. I have more money for your son. If you miss me, buy a plane ticket to go to the United States. I will arrange the passports for you. You will go anyway when you get married, you know?"
"I know, Dongdong, be nice to the girl, don't wrong her."
"How can that be?"
On the 3rd, after packing up the luggage, Zhao Dong and the two are ready to leave, and my mother Li Meizhu wiped her tears.
"Brother, the family is in your hands, take good care of grandparents."
"Do not worry."
"No, brother, where is the sister-in-law you found for me? I haven't seen her since I've been back for a few months!"
"Hey, I'm not in a hurry, why are you in a hurry? I'm still young."
...
At eight o'clock in the evening on October 3rd, American time, Zhao Dong and Lindsay arrived in New York.
"Linger, find me a penthouse, the one with a swimming pool and a helipad."
Wells came to pick up the plane, and was taken aback by Zhao Dong's words when they met.
"Feilong, such a mansion is worth tens of millions of dollars, even more valuable than the Knicks. How much money did you make in the foreign exchange market?" He asked in a daze.
"Haha, go find it. I said I would give Ai Weier a top-floor mansion, so I can't break my promise." Zhao Dong laughed.
Wells glanced at Lindsay next to Zhao Dong, who smiled and said, "Mr. Wells, can you do me a favor too?"
"Tell me, Miss Lindsay." Wells said quickly.
"I want to buy an NBA team and give it to the Flying Dragons. Or the Knicks? Of course the Lakers are fine too. I want a big team, not a small team." Lindsay laughed.
"Ahem..."
Wells nearly choked on himself.
"Ha ha……"
Zhao Dong shook Lindsay's hand and laughed.
During this period of time, his funds once again reaped a wave of huge profits in the Asian financial market, 800 million U.S. dollars, which has rolled to 2.7 billion U.S. dollars during this period.
Even Lindsay has made nearly one billion dollars in profits from the Asian financial turmoil. It is nothing to buy an NBA team. The current team is not worth much at all.
Moreover, this wave of huge profits in Asia has not yet ended, and the storm between Japan and South Korea has just begun.
"Where does this make me go to buy a big team?" Wells said after a wry smile.
"Is the bull for sale? Mr. Wells, you can inquire about it. If it can be sold, I will give you a commission. The bid can be generous. The most important thing is the team." Lindsay said.
"Bull?" Wells felt strange in his heart.
If the owner of the Bulls really went crazy and sold the team to Miss Lindsay, I don't know what expression Jordan will have when he finds out?
"Miss Lindsay, it may be difficult. There are only a few big teams. We missed the best opportunity to get the Knicks." Wells said helplessly.
"You can test it out. The first acquisition target is the Knicks." Lindsay laughed.
Wells nodded with a wry smile, thought for a while and said, "Can other league teams do it?"
"NFL?"
Lindsay's eyes lit up, she knew that Zhao Dong also liked football.
"Flying Dragon, okay?"
She tilted her head and looked at Zhao Dong and asked.
"Okay, as long as you are happy." Zhao Dong smiled.
The two just wanted to give each other gifts, but in fact, they were the happiest.
"Um."
Lindsay nodded, and said to Wells, "It's best to be an NBA team. If not, an NFL team is fine. But you also need a big team in a big city, and the market is better."
"no problem."
Wells laughed.
After returning to New York, Zhao Dong first went to the team to find out the situation.
He is just pretending, after all, he is the boss of the team, so he can't help but care about the new season's lineup.
When they came to Grant's office, Old Nelson happened to be there, and the three chatted.
"Where's Jeff?" he asked casually.
"Flying Dragon, Jeff led the team to the preseason. Marcus Camby, who was just traded in, and rookie Danny Fortson have all gone." Old Nelson said.
"How is our lineup?" Zhao Dong said.
"Look."
Grant took out a list and handed it over.
Zhao Dong took it over and saw that there were no major changes.
Oakley, Larry Johnson, Alan Houston, John Starks, Charlie Ward, Chris Childs, Buck Williams, Herb Williams, this is last season's players, plus him a total of nine people .
Marcus Camby, Danny Fortson, Pete Meyers, Brooks Thompson, Ben Davis, Anthony Powe, this is a newcomer, a total of six people.
"Is there a contract?" Zhao Dong asked.
"No, the newcomers behind, except for Camby and Fortson, have no contracts yet." Grant explained.
"How is the strength of these people?" Zhao Dong asked.
Grant said with some embarrassment: "I originally wanted to trade Buck Williams and Herb Williams, as well as Charles and Charlie Ward, and bring in a top-notch point guard and choose a good small forward. Unfortunately, The deal didn't go through."
"These four are veterans who are about to retire. They are cheap." Old Nelson turned his head and pointed to the last four names.
When he said this, Grant became more and more embarrassed.
"Is the boss unwilling to invest?" Zhao Dong asked.
He actually knows that James Dowland is not such a person. In his last life, after Jordan retired next season, Dowland threw away 150 million to build a garbage lineup, and then the team collapsed in the offseason Well, Oakley and John Starks are all gone.
Now that the team is the defending champion, Dolan absolutely spares no expense, no matter how much he invests.
Sure enough, Grant shook his head and said: "Mr. Dowland said that we should strengthen at all costs, but we are the defending champions, and no team in the East is willing to make a deal with us. In the West, we have taken a fancy to two people, the young general Johnson, Mark Jackson, None of the transactions were successful."
Then he said: "I haven't decided to give him a contract for these four people, the transaction is still going on, we still have time.
By the way, Feilong, do you have any suggestions? I know you don't want to interfere with the operation of the management, but you are the boss of this team, and it is necessary to express your views appropriately. "
"Do you really want me to tell you?" Zhao Dong laughed.
Grant chuckled. If it was Jordan, he would definitely shake his head, but he still knows Zhao Dong well. If he wanted to interfere with the team, he would have interfered a long time ago. Why would he wait until now?
Zhao Dong nodded and said: "Well, Charles has an alumni named Ben Wallace, a small center, who lost the draft with me in 1996. He was in the Bullets last season and didn't have much chance. I think his style is very suitable We, I think we can give him a chance, the cost is not high, and training for two seasons will definitely be of great use."
"Ben Wallace?"
Grant and Old Nelson looked at each other, and the former began to ask people to check the information.
Of course they dare not take the undrafted pick lightly, because the most powerful undrafted pick in history is sitting in front of them.
Zhao Dong said again: "I still have another candidate, Neil, maybe you can take a look and give him a chance to try out. He is the main shooting guard of the Chinese Men's Basketball Team, a swingman at the front and back, and he was the first player last season. The CBA MVP, named Hu Weidong, dunked Pippen in the Atlanta Olympics."
"I can assure you, both of these guys are better than the four retiring veterans on your roster, we need to play immediately, and he is." He finally said.
These two people, since Zhao Dong said, of course Grant will give them a chance, at least take a look, that is, a trial training.
And the boss is not afraid of spending money, he is even less afraid of not being able to find good players.
After getting the answer, Zhao Dong called Hu Weidong.
"Zhao Dong, is the chance great?" Hu Weidong said excitedly.
Zhao Dong thought for a while and said, "Brother Hu, our team's chances are pretty good. There is just a lack of outside players. You should be fine as a swingman."
He still knows Hu Weiwei, not to mention now, even after more than 20 years, there is no one with Hu Weidong's quality in the second and third positions in China.
At that time, there was a saying that among domestic players, Hu Weidong was the only one who could do moves that foreign players could do, and he could also do them.
"That's fine, Zhao Dong, I thank you. Being able to go to the NBA can be regarded as a fulfillment of my dream." Hu Weidong made up his mind.
On the 5th, Mrs. Dorisa arrived. She and Lindsay started to set up the Storm Financial Investment Fund. There were many things and they got busy.
Zhao Dong resumed his training and started preparing for the new season.
In the 1997-98 season, the strength of the Knicks was not as good as last season. Although Ewing was old, he was not comparable to Marcus Camby. He knew this well.
And Jordan's physical fitness may further weaken, but under reasonable and rigorous training, the weakening range should be small, and with more and more experience, his strength should remain at its peak.
Therefore, the Bulls with Jordan, Ewing, and Kidd, plus the old and vigorous Rodman, have completely surpassed the Knicks this season, and even surpassed the Bulls during the three-peat championship. A super-strong team at the level.
And this team, because of having Kidd and Ewing, not only solved the organizational problem, but also solved the problem of inside offensive ability, and at the same time strengthened two weaknesses, which is really super strong.
Even, Zhao Dong thinks this should be the strongest team in history.
Of course, the Bulls also have weaknesses. Toni Kukoc and two role players were traded, and the bench was weakened, relying more on the main lineup.
So this season, Zhao Dong knows that the strongest opponent is the Bulls.
As for other teams, it shouldn't be a problem for the Heat to have an extra McGrady who hasn't grown up yet.
But without Ewing, the Knicks are weaker than the Bulls and Heat in terms of inside offense.
To put it simply, in his opinion, the Knicks in the new season have much weaker offensive ability inside. Except for Larry Johnson's already diving low-post offense, no one else has low-post offensive ability.
In terms of offense, it must be supported by the whole line.
It is extremely difficult to defend the title.
But the more this happened, the more excited he was.
There is a hang on his body, if it does not increase the difficulty, it will be difficult to make him excited.
And he estimated that if the Bulls could complete the deal this time, maybe Stern contributed, at least he didn't stop the Bulls from strengthening at all.
This should be because Stern was dissatisfied with him, and still chose to support Jordan who was starting to age.
But it doesn't matter, what he has is the sniper system, not the kneeling and licking system. Enemy is his future.
"NONONO, Mr. Wells, I have no intention of selling the team at all, and I won't sell it for any money."
James Dowland felt that Ringo Wells was completely crazy. Why would he think that he would sell the Knicks just after he joined the team and won the championship?
"That's a pity. I can only ask other people. Of course, if you want to sell it in Jinsi, you can let me know."
Wells was very conscientious. Even though he knew that James Dowland would not sell the team, he still made an appointment with him to discuss the acquisition of the team.
"Mr. Wells, who are you buying the team for?" Dowland asked curiously.
"You know, Mr. Dowland, I work for Miss Lindsay. She wants to give Feilong a team, a big team." Wells laughed.
"What?"
Doran was taken aback, his mouth opened wide.
"The nobleman's behavior style is really unexpected." He said in a daze.
"Yes." Wells laughed.
"Will Feilong accept it?" Dolan suddenly asked gossip.
"Feilong will also give Miss Lindsay an equal gift." Wells shrugged and smiled.
"Is Feilong so rich? Does he have a good background in China?" Dao Lan asked in surprise.
"how to say?"
Wells smiled and said, "Probably so."
He only knew that Zhao Dong copied foreign exchange, and he really didn't know how much money he made, and he would not reveal it casually. Dao Lan's self-righteousness just saved him from explaining.
"Okay, Mr. Dowland, I have to ask the owners of other teams. Miss Lindsay wants a big team, the Lakers, the Bulls, and these two teams." He was about to leave at this time.
"You can buy the Bulls for Miss Lindsay, and then dismantle the Bulls lineup, so that our Knicks can successfully defend the title." Dowland joked.
He knows that it will be too difficult for the team to defend the title in the new season, almost impossible, and the lineup is too poor for the Bulls.
Now he is a little dissatisfied with Grant's ability. The team's transaction was not successful. If Grant hadn't picked up Zhao Dong, he would have been fired a long time ago.
Wells laughed and said, "Then Jordan will go crazy."