It is understood that Tianyi Pavilion, the "No. 1 Library in Jiangnan", collects a large number of family trees. Currently, the total collection of family trees is nearly 550, involving more than 100 surnames. In the 1980s, Bao Yugang discovered in Tianyi Pavilion that he was the 29th generation grandson of Bao Zheng.
Bao Yugang was born in 1918 in Ningbo, Zhejiang. His father, Bao Zhaolong, was a businessman in the paper industry. Pao Yugang studied in Shanghai when he was a child. When he was in college, the Japanese invaders invaded China and he could no longer read. He first worked as a clerk in a bank in Hengyang, and then went to work at the Chongqing Central Trust Bureau. With the shrewdness and conscientious style of Ningbo people, he made the business he started prosperous, so by the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he was already the manager of Chongqing Mining Bank. Later, he returned to Shanghai and served as the business department manager of Shanghai Municipal Bank. Many people believe that with Bao Yugang's performance and talent, if he works hard for a few more years, the position of president will definitely belong to him!
However, at this moment, Bao Yugang unexpectedly submitted a letter of resignation to the president, saying that his interest was not in banking, but in other aspects. He and his father gave up their career in Shanghai, and the family moved to Hong Kong, relying on the little money they had saved over the years to start a new career in the world.
At first, he partnered with his father in the import and export business, purchasing dry goods, bean cakes, duck feathers, fertilizers, livestock feed and other local products from home and selling them abroad. Later, because the Chinese government decided to implement unified state control of local product exports, the business of the Bao family's small company could not continue. What will you do next? My father's choice was to run real estate. He was an old-fashioned businessman and believed that "without land, you cannot get rich" is the truth. However, from his own perspective, Pao Yukang believed that the real estate industry in Hong Kong at that time could only collect land rents, which was a conservative investment and "dead"; and they did not have much capital, so they speculated on land in case they were eaten up. , there is nothing. The industry he was interested in was the shipping business. He said to his father: "Shipping is a global business, and assets can be moved. It covers property, technology, insurance, economy, politics, trade, almost everything!" Bao Zhao Although Long was not very happy, he admired his son's independent thinking and courage, so he finally agreed with Bao Yugang's opinion.
In 1955, the 37-year-old Bao Yugang began his dream of becoming a "shipping king". However, with the funds their Bao family had at the time, they couldn't even afford to buy an old boat. He made a special trip to England to borrow money from a friend with whom he had a good rapport. But as soon as that friend heard that he wanted to borrow money to buy a boat, he became like a stranger. Even if he refused to help, he even shook Bao Yugang's shirt and said sarcastically: "Brother Yugang, you are still young and know nothing about shipping. Be careful not to lose your shirt!" Pao Yugang's self-esteem was hurt, and he secretly vowed to do something big.
Pao Yugang returned to Hong Kong empty-handed and had no choice but to apply for a loan from HSBC Hong Kong. However, HSBC is not interested in the shipping industry. They believe that the risks of shipping are too great. These ship owners never know which day they will be driven into poverty by a storm, or even end up on some desert island to become "Robinson Crusoe"! And the Chinese don’t understand shipping at all. If you lend them money to buy a ship, the risk is too great. The principle of the banking industry is not to engage in risky investments! Bao Yugang was not discouraged even after hitting a wall. He turned around and went to Japan. Interestingly, the Bank of Japan agreed to lend him a loan without asking him to find a Japanese company as a guarantee. In this way, Bao Yu just scraped together US$770,000, went to England again, and bought an old coal-powered cargo ship. This ship had been in use for 28 years and had a displacement of only 8,200 tons. Bao Yugang looked at this old, hill-like ship as if he had acquired a rare treasure. He asked someone to renovate and paint it and named it "Jin'an". He said that this name symbolizes his vision and conception of operating the shipping industry: the word "jin" means to make money, and the word "an" means to win in a stable manner.
When the "Jin'an" sailed from the United Kingdom to Hong Kong and passed through the Indian Ocean, Pao Yugang had already done two things. One was to establish the "Global Shipping Group Co., Ltd." and the other was to cooperate with the "Global Shipping Group Co., Ltd." A Japanese shipping company negotiated an agreement to sublease the "Jin'an" to the company to transport coal from India to Japan. Bao Zhaolong watched his son sitting on the sofa in Hong Kong and arranged all this, and he couldn't help but admire his son's ability. This ship, which he hadn't even seen yet, was already making money for the Bao family!
At that time, people operating the shipping industry in various countries around the world used the traditional short-term rental method, that is, they settled with the person who rented the vessel for each voyage. Not only does this charge a high standard, but the freight rate can also be increased at any time. The world-famous Greek shipping kings Onassis and Niarchos, the American shipping king Ludwick, and the older generation of Hong Kong shipping king Tung Ho-wan all did this. However, Bao Yugang unexpectedly adopted a long-term leasing business method, that is, leasing his ship to others for a period of 3, 5 or even 10 years through signing a contract. The lessee pays the rent on a monthly basis, but the rent standard is much lower. When some colleagues saw Bao Yugang doing this, they ridiculed him as a "layman" and a "little fool"! However, Bao Yugang had his own calculation. He admitted that he was not familiar with the shipping business. It was better to rent it to others first, which would allow him to obtain continuous and stable rental income; and in the process, he could gradually learn the shipping business. Got it!
Bao Yugang did catch a good opportunity to make a fortune. The year after he bought the Jinan, shipping costs soared as the Suez Canal was closed due to the war in Egypt. By the end of that year, the money earned by the Jin'an was enough for Bao Yugang to buy seven new ships! In the second half of 1957, the shipping industry experienced a depression and freight rates fell to the lowest point. Those ship owners who engaged in short-term leasing had to lose money every day. Only Bao Yugang could steadily collect rents based on the contract. Facts have proved that his "layman" business strategy is the best business strategy. People have to admit that Bao Yugang's luck and vision are first-rate!
After this downturn passed, many people followed Yugang Bao’s approach and began to buy old boats for long-term leasing. However, Bao Yugang changed his policy and leased the new ship to others for a long time, while keeping the old ship for his own business. Because when leasing a new ship, the rent is naturally higher than that of an old ship; while if you use an old ship yourself, the effect is the same as a new ship.
Despite the victory in consecutive battles, Bao Yugang is still not satisfied. He believes that relying solely on operating profits to buy new ships is too slow, and he must try to obtain bank loans. At that time, Bao Yugang was still a relatively unknown wealthy man and was far from a promising investment target in the eyes of bankers. But Pao Yugang also has his advantage, that is, he has been a banker for 10 years and has a very accurate grasp of the psychology of bankers. Just look for a bank, and the bank in Hong Kong is HSBC. Some people say that Hong Kong is controlled by four major forces, which refers to the government, the Jockey Club, HSBC and Jardine Matheson Group. HSBC's assets exceed US$5 billion. It issues most of Hong Kong's banknotes and supports most of its trade. The role it plays is even more inestimable!
Bao Yugang found Sandus, a senior employee of HSBC Bank. With his fluent English and his familiarity with banking business, he quickly won the trust of Sandus. After Sandus learned about Bao Yugang's long-term rental business method and income status, he immediately agreed to provide a small amount of low-interest loans to Bao Yugang.
Once, Bao Yugang had the opportunity to purchase a new 7,200-ton ship for US$1 million and lease it to a Japanese shipping company. The two parties agreed that the lease period would be five years. The Japanese shipping company was eager to use the ship, so it was willing to ask its bank to help Pao Yugang buy the ship. Bao Yugang did some calculations and found that the first year's rent that the shipping company should pay him was US$750,000, so there should be no problem for the Japanese bank to issue him a letter of credit of US$750,000. So, Bao Yugang went to Sandus, hoping that HSBC would lend him US$1 million to buy a boat. He said that he could use a US$750,000 letter of credit as a guarantee, and HSBC would not be exposed to any risks.
One million US dollars is not a small number, and the cautious Sandus will not trust anyone easily.
He said unceremoniously: "Mr. Bao, are you telling a child that you will get rich?" Bao Yugang asked calmly: "Mr. Sandus, if I get the letter of credit, can you Can't you lend me a loan?"
Sandashi replied simply: "As long as you have a letter of credit, I will lend you a loan!"
Sandashi believes in his experience. : You, Bao Yugang, haven’t bought a boat yet, so you want someone to rent your boat? Do you want someone to ask the bank to issue a letter of credit for you? Doesn’t this mean that someone paid for you to buy a boat? ! How can there be such a good thing in the world! He decided that Bao Yugang was telling a joke.
Bao Yugang was not ambiguous at all. When he got home, he packed his luggage and went to Tokyo. He said to the Japanese shipping company: "I'm here to get a letter of credit. Because I still have a little money to buy the ship." , as long as you give me the letter of credit, I promise to deliver the ship to you within 3 days. If you can trust me, just give me the letter of credit first!"
In this "air-to-air exchange" In the fight against "empty", Bao Yugang's good reputation became the most powerful weapon. As a result, Sandus not only loaned $1 million to Yugang Pao as promised, but also established a long-term cooperative relationship with Yugang Pao. In 1962, Sandus was promoted to general manager of HSBC. Within two years, HSBC began to invest in Pao Yugang's Global Shipping Group Co., Ltd. HSBC actually became Pao Yugang's logistics department, making Pao Yugang's funds snowball. Pao Yugang's status in HSBC also rose steadily, and later he competed to become the vice chairman of HSBC!
As for the Japanese shipyards, they also trust Yugang Pao more and often ask him to "sail the ship first and pay slowly!"
In Bao Yugang's Under careful management, Universal's fleet grew rapidly, reaching its peak in 1980 with more than 200 ships and a total tonnage of 20 million tons. Foreign newspapers have devoted a lot of space to introducing Pao Yugang, with the title "Bigger than Onassis and Niarchos? Sir Bao of Hong Kong". The next year, the total tonnage of Bao Yugang's fleet reached 21 million tons, which was larger than the total tonnage of the state-owned fleets of the United States and the Soviet Union, and he became a veritable "World Shipping King"!
Although Bao Yugang became the world's shipping king, he also saw that the risks in the shipping industry were too great, and many once-successful shipping companies were ruthlessly eliminated. So starting from the early 1970s, he began to "land" and invest part of the property he earned in the increasingly prosperous real estate industry, while also operating hotels and transportation. In order to achieve the same brilliant achievements on land as at sea, he and Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-shing launched a thrilling struggle with the British Capital Group.
The British Capital Group and the Chinese Capital Group have always been the two major capital groups that have long been in conflict with the Hong Kong industrial community. Since Hong Kong became a British colony, British capital groups have monopolized many industries, and Chinese capital has been at a disadvantage for a long time. However, since Hong Kong's economic take-off in the 1960s, Chinese capital has gradually grown, and Li Ka-shing and others have long been eager to compete with British capital groups. Li Ka-shing first quietly bought the shares of Wharf controlled by the British group Jardine Matheson, and already controlled 18% of them. But at this time, Li Ka-shing felt that Hutchison Whampoa, which also belonged to the British-owned group, was more attractive to him, and it was difficult for him to have the financial resources to occupy these two places at the same time, so he made an appointment with Bao Yugang for a confidential discussion. I hope Pao Yugang can take over Wharf. If the two of them can successfully control Hutchison Whampoa and Wharf, the British Capital Group's monopoly in Hong Kong will definitely be shaken!
As a Chinese, Pao Yugang has long hoped that Chinese Capital Group can be proud and proud. He is also well aware of the important status of Wharf. Wharf is Hong Kong's wharf, with assets of 1.8 billion Hong Kong dollars. Land prices in that area have long been high. Controlling Wharf means controlling most of Hong Kong's material loading, unloading, storage and transportation business. Therefore, Pao Yugang expressed his willingness to accept Li Ka-shing's suggestion. Li Ka-shing said frankly: "All the 20 million shares of Wharf in my possession will be transferred to you at a price of 40 yuan per share. In addition, you will transfer part of the HSBC shares to me.
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Bao Yugang knew that when Li Ka-shing bought these stocks, he only spent 13 or 4 yuan per share, but he also knew more about the benefits that controlling Wharf could bring him. He pondered for a moment Then he said: "If you drop 4 yuan per share, we will deal immediately!" "
Li Ka-shing agreed without hesitation. The two Hong Kong "sea and land generals" smiled and shook hands and said goodbye. Pao Yugang, who controlled 20% of Wharf's shares, naturally entered the board of directors of Wharf . But he was not satisfied, but continued to quietly buy Wharf shares. In April 1980, Bao Yugang announced that he had controlled 39 million shares of Wharf, accounting for about 30% of the total. Because they only hold 20% of Wharf shares, this means that the power of chairman must be handed over to Bao Yugang! In other words, Jardine Group will lose Wharf Group. It negotiated with HSBC in the background and asked HSBC to support it with enough cash so that it could purchase a large amount of Wharf stocks. On June 20 of this year, taking advantage of Pao Yugang's vacation in Europe, Jardine Matheson Group suddenly launched a counterattack. They planned to acquire 30 million shares of Wharf stock at a high price of 95 yuan per share, making their holdings account for 49% of the total, far exceeding the number of shares held by Bao Yugang. They believed that as soon as this plan was announced, Bao Yugang would Yugang will definitely withdraw from this competition, because Bao Yugang must acquire another 20 million shares to maintain his advantage, and it is simply impossible to come up with 2 billion in cash overnight.
Bao Yugang received this urgent information in his villa in France. His heart could not help but feel a faint pain. He was deeply aware of the strength of Britain, an old capitalist country, and he was almost driven to despair. On the way! At the same time, he also realized that what Li Ka-shing sent to him was a rose with thorns!
Bao Yugang was determined to give the British a try. He went to visit the President of Mexico, but quietly set off back to Hong Kong on June 22. A few hours later, he was chatting and laughing at a press conference, announcing that he had "went around in a pawn shop" and had raised enough funds to pay for his debt. Acquired 20 million shares of Wharf stock at a high price of 105 yuan per share!
Early the next morning, a large number of small shareholders holding Wharf stock swarmed in and sold their shares in the short term. In just 2 hours, Bao Yugang mobilized 2.1 billion yuan to complete his acquisition plan. At this point, his holdings of Wharf stocks were 19% higher than those of Jardine Matheson Group, and he completely controlled Wharf!
I don’t know how many people are sighing: My God, 2.1 billion, it takes 2,100 millionaires to have so much money!
The "World Shipping King" can do it in one fell swoop! "Landing" and firmly controlling the land! After Pao Yugang became famous, he was respected far beyond the scope of the industrial world. After the Queen of England knighted him, the Emperor of Japan, the King of Belgium, and Panama. and the president of Brazil, have awarded him medals or medals. On the wall of his office, there are photos of him with world figures Deng Xiaoping, Reagan, Elizabeth II and others...
Although Bao Yugang. Although he has such a prominent prestige, he has been following his father's teachings for decades: "Work down-to-earth and treat people in an approachable manner. Do things physically. ”
Although Pao Yugang has countless properties, he never allows himself and his relatives to live an excessively luxurious life. He only allows his family members to vacation in Hawaii for 10 days every year, and his daughters can only spend 10 days at a time in Hawaii. To buy a pair of shoes, he never let his children participate in Hong Kong's "Rich Man Global Tour"...
However, he was generous to the motherland where he was born and raised. Not long after the founding of New China, he issued construction bonds for the first time. He used his own financial resources to subscribe for tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars in public bonds. After the reform and opening up, he took the lead in purchasing Chinese-built ships and promoted the export of Chinese ships. In 1979, he donated 10 million US dollars to build a new tourist hotel in Beijing, Zhaolong. Hotel; soon after, he donated another US$10 million to build the Zhaolong Library at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
He donated 50 million yuan to found Ningbo University, and invested 6 million US dollars in a joint venture with the mainland to build the Ningbo Steel Plant...
On September 23, 1991, 73-year-old Bao Yugang passed away at home.