August 7, Friday.
Henglong Headquarters In the office on the top floor, the air conditioner outlet continuously emits a very low air flow sound, maintaining the entire office at a constant temperature that is isolated from the outside world.
Zhao Chen handed a signed document to Liu Mingyu, leaned on the back of the chair, picked up Zisha Pot and poured himself a cup of tea.
The tea is Su Wantang, the new Pu'er that was delivered last week. The pot is still the same pot. The circle of tea stains on the inside of the lid glows with a warm old color under the light.
He walked to the window with the teacup in hand and looked at the Jiangbeizui traffic downstairs slowly crawling under the scorching sun. He suddenly realized something -
In the past six months, he has spent less and less time in this office, and it may be even less in the future.
The quarterly review meeting is hosted by Chen Xi, who only needs to sign and confirm on key nodes.
The Model update of Research Institute was completed independently by Chen Xi with the team. He only needed to ask whether there were any changes to the core assumptions at the quarterly review meeting.
Legal Department's compliance traces are solely responsible for Zhang Qingxue, and he does not need to worry about the wording of each memorandum.
Investment Decision Committee's agenda is supervised by Shen Jue, and he no longer needs to prepare thick analysis reports in advance as before.
The institutional framework is fully operational.
He sat back at his desk, put down the teacup, picked up his phone and flipped through the address book of Era Vanguard New York Office.
Lin Shicheng's name is ranked first.
He thought for a moment and dialed it.
"Zhao Zong." Lin Shicheng's voice came from Manhattan, and there was a faint sound of Bloomberg Terminal's low current in the background.
It's late at night over there at New York, but the lights are always on in Lin Shicheng's office.
"Lawyer Lin, starting from today, I will gradually hand over the daily affairs of Henglong to Chen Xi and Shen Jue.
My energy is mainly focused on Era Vanguard.
Please compile a complete list of all current positions of Era Vanguard and the core variable tracking report for me.
Including Nvidia, Tesla, SpaceX's latest position structure and Risk Exposure.
In addition, Era Vanguard will start to pay attention to some new directions next -
The US Stocks market has an unusually high proportion of Short Selling targets, as well as structural opportunities in the precious metals futures market.
You do a round of screening first and we will discuss it in detail after I arrive at New York next week."
Lin Shicheng answered on the other end of the phone without asking any more questions.
He has been the legal person in charge of Zhao Chen for so long that he knows that Zhao Chen has thought through the next three moves before making every decision.
Zhao Chen hung up the phone and was about to open the quarterly review materials sent by Chen Xi yesterday when the phone screen suddenly lit up.
The caller ID shows a United States number, and the area code is California.
"Zhao." Elon Musk's voice came from Fremont. In the background there were the intermittent buzzing of power tools and the voice of engineers shouting in Spanish.
He is probably on the final assembly line again.
But what was different from usual was that this time there was something close to excitement in his tone that Zhao Chen rarely heard from him.
"Are you on the production line?"
"Just got off. The tolerance problem of the seat folding mechanism has been solved. The first batch of fully inspected parts was shipped this morning."
Elon Musk paused for a moment. The sound of power tools in the background gradually faded away, replaced by the sound of footsteps and the sound of a door closing.
Then he spoke, faster than usual, with almost no pauses between each word,
"Zhao, I have to do one thing. Let me talk to you first. Tesla is going to split its shares. 1 will be split into 5."
Zhao Chen picked up the tea cup without drinking. "When?"
"Board of Directors will pass next Tuesday and will be announced on Wednesday. The effective date is the end of August.
After the stock split, the stock price dropped from more than 2,000 US Dollar to more than 400 US Dollar, and the threshold for retail investor participation was significantly lowered.
I know you feel that the level of stock price has no impact on long-term value - from the perspective of Fundamentals, it does not.
However, Tesla's current shareholder structure is too concentrated, with institutions accounting for too high a share and retail investors' participation being too low.
After the stock split, retail investors can come in, Trading Volume will amplify, and the market's attention to Tesla will further spread.
More importantly, I want more ordinary people to be able to afford Tesla stocks.
Let those who truly believe in Tesla not have to save two thousand US Dollar to buy one share."
Zhao Chen leaned on the back of the chair and gently rubbed his fingers on the cover of Zisha Pot.
He was very familiar with the matter of stock splits.
The news of Previous Life, Tesla 1 being split into 5 sets off a frenzy in the market.
The stock price went from more than 2,000 US Dollar before the stock split to more than 400 US Dollar after a five-for-one split, and then continued to rise within a few months.
Now Elon Musk calls from Fremont, using an engineer-specific,
When I told him this in a tone that described tactical actions as technical solutions, his mood was completely different from that of back then.
The stock split is not a calculation of capital operation, but Elon Musk is using the most direct way to let more people participate in the growth of Tesla.
"Board of Directors Is there any resistance there?"
"A few directors feel that it is not necessary - the high stock price is not a problem, institutional investors are the Tesla Core Shareholder.
But I told them one thing - Tesla is not a company that exists only for institutional investors.
What we make is electric vehicles, electric vehicles that ordinary people can afford.
If ordinary people can't even afford our stocks, how can we say we are changing the world?"
Elon Musk paused, "They didn't say anything else."
Zhao Chen picked up the teacup and took a sip.
"Era Vanguard No need to do anything here.
After the stock split, the holdings increased from 26 million shares to 130 million shares, with the market value and shareholding ratio remaining unchanged.
I will not sell a single share, nor will I take advantage of the stock split to increase my holdings."
"I know."
Elon Musk's voice contained a hint of restrained urgency, as if he had rehearsed all the actions in the next few months in his mind.
"I told you this in advance, not just to inform you of the stock split.
I don't have an answer to what will happen to Tesla's stock price after the stock split.
But there is one thing I want to tell you in advance - if there are short-term fluctuations in the stock price after the stock split, Short Selling institutions may come to test it.
Tesla and Short Position have always been very high. After the stock split, retail investors come in and the volatility will only be greater.
I'm not worried about you selling - I'm worried that you'll feel uncomfortable watching the stock price fluctuate."
Elon Musk is a person who never expresses concern on the phone. He only translates worries into technical language in an engineer's way.
"I've experienced enough volatility. I got through it all at 178, and the volatility after the stock split won't be bigger than that."
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment. Then Elon Musk said something that surprised Zhao Chen.
"The first person I want to inform about the stock split is you.
After the stock split, Tesla's Shareholder Register will become longer, retail investors will come in, and institutions will reprice.
But the guy who was the first to keep buying when everyone else was selling, I want to be the first to know about it."
Zhao Chen picked up the tea cup.
"After the announcement next Wednesday, Era Vanguard will not do any operations.
No increase in holdings, no reduction in holdings, no swings. The position logic remains unchanged."
Elon Musk smiled on the other end of the phone. It was the kind of light and short smile that comes out after finally saying a decision that has been backlogged for a long time.
"Okay. That's it. After the stock split takes effect, Shareholder Register will become longer. But the name at the top will not change."
Zhao Chen hung up the phone, turned the phone over and placed it on the coffee table.
If it were the stock split, he would have regarded it as a trading opportunity--
He bought before the announcement and sold when retail investors poured in after the stock split took effect, earning a wave of liquidity. But he doesn't need to do anything now.
The position logic of Era Vanguard on Tesla has never been based on short-term fluctuations in stock prices.
It is based on the mass production progress of Capacity Ramp-Up and Model Y from Shanghai factory.
The iteration rhythm of Autonomous Driving, and what Elon Musk says to the mirror every morning.
He picked up his phone and sent a message to Chen Xi.
"Tesla will announce a 1-for-5 stock split next Wednesday, which will take effect at the end of August.
Era Vanguard's position increased from 26 million shares to 130 million shares.
The position logic remains unchanged and no operations are performed.
Notify Research Institute to update the number of shares parameters in Model, and other core variables remain unchanged."
Chen Xi's reply popped up quickly.
"Received. Research Institute will be updated simultaneously.
After the stock split, the liquidity of Tesla will be better, and retail investor participation will increase.
This is a positive factor for the liquidity risk of long-term positions.
I will include this note in my quarterly review report."
Zhao Chen put the phone in his pocket, picked up Zisha Pot and poured himself the last cup of tea today.
He stood in front of the window holding a tea cup, remembering what Shen Jue asked him in the teahouse a long time ago -
"Are you ready that Henglong is no longer your Henglong?"
His answer at that time was that if Investment Decision Committee vetoed his proposal, he would accept it.
From that day to today, he handed Henglong's Decision-Making Rights over to the system step by step,
Leave daily tasks to the team and take your energy away from the operations of Henglong.
The institutional framework made decisions for him, and long-termism formed his habits.