Chapter Summaries

Zhao Chen and Huang Renxun discussed the fear behind Huang’s bankruptcy mantra and the long-term conviction that kept both men invested in Nvidia. Huang recalled Era Vanguard’s purchases during Nvidia’s 2018 stock collapse and asked why Zhao had initially capped its stake at 9.99 percent.

• Zhao Chen explained that checking Henglong’s cash balance each morning had taught him the fear behind Huang Renxun’s daily bankruptcy mantra.
• Huang Renxun said Nvidia needed steadfast long-term shareholders as AI demand spread across traditional industries, and Zhao Chen presented Henglong’s quarterly research records and investment principles.
• Huang Renxun praised Zhao Chen for maintaining his Nvidia position through downturns and for studying the company’s purpose rather than only its financial reports.
• Huang Renxun recalled that Era Vanguard bought Nvidia shares steadily as Wall Street sold in late 2018, eventually building its initial position to 9.99 percent.
• Zhao Chen explained that Era Vanguard stopped just below ten percent to avoid additional SEC filings and scrutiny while it prepared for compliance, and that Lin Shicheng had warned him Wall Street would watch its trades.

Huang Renxun and Zhao Chen discussed how long-term AI growth could drive Nvidia’s future, with Zhao arguing that the emergence of AGI might make computing demand far exceed existing predictions. Huang explained Nvidia’s full-stack strategy and why quarterly market reactions could not capture the company’s long-term prospects.

• Huang Renxun praised Zhao Chen for maintaining his Nvidia investment and preparing the necessary filings and compliance measures in advance.
• Huang Renxun described the rapid growth in AI computing demand and asked Zhao Chen for his own view of AI’s future.
• Zhao Chen predicted a shift toward AGI, arguing that large language models could develop new abilities as their parameters and training data expanded.
• Zhao Chen said AGI could push computing demand far beyond the several-millionfold growth projected by existing models.
• Huang Renxun described Nvidia’s strategy across GPU hardware, networking, CUDA software, and industry application frameworks.
• Huang Renxun said Wall Street’s short reporting cycle overlooked the continuing growth of CUDA, AI training, and data centers as Nvidia’s leading revenue engine.

Huang Renxun took Zhao Chen to his longtime Japanese restaurant and explained how his early work at AMD and LSI Logic led him to found Nvidia around the potential of parallel computing. Zhao Chen traced Nvidia’s founding strategy through CUDA and asked why Huang had invested billions in it despite years of skepticism, leaving Huang poised to answer.

• Huang Renxun canceled his evening schedule and invited Zhao Chen to a Japanese restaurant in Santa Clara, where he recalled visiting during Nvidia’s early financial struggles.
• Huang Renxun described how his work on chips at AMD and LSI Logic convinced him that dedicated hardware could outperform CPUs in graphics computing.
• Huang Renxun explained that Nvidia’s founding purpose was to solve parallel-computing problems, with graphics as its first application and CUDA, data centers, and AI as later extensions.
• Zhao Chen cited Huang Renxun’s 1993 article as an early statement of Nvidia’s strategy to make graphics processors computing infrastructure.
• Huang Renxun recalled writing the article to clarify his own judgment before seeking investment, then Zhao Chen asked why he had backed CUDA despite widespread doubts about its prospects.

Huang Renxun explained how Nvidia built CUDA and why he kept investing through crises, while Zhao Chen described the pattern behind Huang’s strategy and Nvidia’s lasting advantages. Huang concluded that Nvidia’s moat began with his 1993 conviction about the chip industry, and he and Zhao Chen shook hands.

• Huang Renxun recounted how Nvidia developed CUDA to let programmers use GPUs for general-purpose parallel computing despite uncertain returns and heavy costs.
• Huang Renxun asked Zhao Chen why he had dared to invest in Nvidia during its hardest times.
• Zhao Chen pointed to Huang Renxun’s responses to the NV30 crisis, the 2008 financial crisis, and the 2018 crypto downturn as examples of turning crises into offensive moves.
• Zhao Chen identified Nvidia’s CUDA developer ecosystem and Huang Renxun as the company’s two deepest moats.
• Huang Renxun said Nvidia’s foundational moat began with his 1993 conversation at Denny’s, then he finished his tea and shook Zhao Chen’s hand.

At San Francisco International Airport, Zhao Chen and Lin Shicheng finalized how Huang Renxun’s private remarks would inform Henglong’s Nvidia investment review without being treated as inside information. Zhao Chen recorded that the investment thesis remained unchanged and headed home to continue the next quarter’s tracking.

• Lin Shicheng gave Zhao Chen a carefully indexed record of the meeting and explained that Huang Renxun’s private remarks would be kept for internal background only.
• Zhao Chen told Lin Shicheng to preserve the record and use Huang Renxun’s confirmed crisis response, strategic resolve, and attitude toward short-term earnings as benchmarks for future reviews.
• Lin Shicheng said he would reaffirm the compliance boundaries and document that Era Vanguard’s and Henglong’s investment decisions relied on independent research and public data.
• After Lin Shicheng departed for New York, Zhao Chen wrote in Henglong’s tracking manual that all three management variables had passed cross-verification and that the investment thesis was unchanged.
• Zhao Chen flew toward Hong Kong, where he would continue to Shan City and resume Henglong’s quarterly review and Nvidia tracking.

Zhao Chen officially opened the Henglong Research Institute, establishing its role as an independent research and validation body supporting the Investment Decision Committee. The chapter ended with Zhao Chen saying Henglong could make sound judgments even without him.

• Zhao Chen hung the Henglong Research Institute plaque and described its responsibility to screen major investments using data and models.
• Chen Xi presented the institute’s work plan, requiring independent review, archived inputs, and model traceability for every report.
• Zhang Qingxue confirmed the compliance rules separating the institute’s work from Era Vanguard’s analysis, and Zhao Chen approved the memorandum.
• Zhao Chen established immediate cross-validation requirements for all holdings and outlined the separate roles of the Investment Decision Committee, the institute, and the Legal Department.
• Shen Jue asked whether Zhao Chen worried about sharing Henglong’s judgment, and he replied that the system could make sound decisions without him.

Henglong's Investment Decision Committee held its first quarterly review under the amended charter, applying independent model validation and risk checks to every holding, including Zhao Chen's past judgments. The review found no alerts or compliance issues, and the committee established that the same framework would apply every quarter.

• Liu Mingyu sent the committee the meeting notice and Chen Xi's review materials ahead of the meeting.
• Zhao Chen wrote that the review covered all previous judgments made by the chairman, with no exceptions, and confirmed the rule would apply every quarter.
• Shen Jue endorsed the review's scope and standards before the committee began its formal agenda.
• Chen Xi presented the holdings' validation results; Song Zhongping questioned Bidiya's supply chain delays, and Chen Xi explained that stress tests showed no core variable alert.
• The committee reviewed Nvidia alongside Zhao Chen's supplementary tracking records, and all holdings received hold or continue-tracking ratings without alerts.
• Zhang Qingxue read the Legal Department's confirmation that the review used public data, registered models, and a complete audit trail.

At Henglong’s first full quarterly review under its revised investment framework, Shen Jue proposed that Zhao Chen assess how the institution-driven system had worked. Zhao Chen reviewed its milestones and identified a trigger-based interim review mechanism as the next improvement, leaving Shen Jue to keep his written summary safe.

• Chen Xi finished the quarterly review, reporting that the holdings were rated hold or continue monitoring and none had triggered an alert.
• Shen Jue proposed that Zhao Chen summarize Henglong’s institutional framework, and Zhao Chen agreed to review its development.
• Zhao Chen traced the system from the Investment Decision Committee’s establishment through the New Delhi Flu, the Fairy Mountain Meeting, the Research Institute’s inauguration, and the first complete quarterly review.
• Zhao Chen identified the lag between model updates and market changes and proposed automatic interim reviews when core variables crossed preset thresholds; Chen Xi noted that the Research Institute would submit threshold standards for deliberation.
• Zhao Chen said he would prepare an internal written summary, and Zhang Qingxue said the Legal Department would register its version and circulation scope.
• Shen Jue said she would keep the summary as a reminder of Henglong’s shift away from relying on one person’s intuition, and Zhao Chen adjourned the meeting.

Zhao Chen spoke with Elon Musk about his deep conversation with Huang Renxun and the shared ability of all three men to envision futures others could not see. Elon invited Zhao to the next Starship test in Boca Chica, and Zhao reflected on how he had built Henglong’s institutional framework to find a path forward.

• Elon Musk called Zhao Chen from Fremont after leaving the Model Y production line, where engineers had been correcting a rear-seat folding mechanism tolerance issue.
• Zhao told Elon about discussing Nvidia’s early history and computing demand with Huang Renxun, and Elon said Huang had found in Zhao a shareholder who understood him without explanation.
• Elon told Zhao that his resilience was his most valuable asset and that Huang, Elon, Zhao’s team, and Henglong’s review figures all recognized it.
• Zhao agreed to bring senior executives from Era Vanguard and Henglong to the next Starship test, planned for the first quarter of the following year.
• After the call, Zhao reflected that he had built Henglong’s institutional framework as a larger prototype to help himself and the company find their next steps.

Zhao Chen archived Henglong’s first half-year of institutional records and reflected on how the firm had moved from individual-driven decisions to a framework of committees, models, compliance, and reviews. He told Shen Zhiyi he no longer needed to carry the calculations alone, and Henglong began its next year operating under rules that could guide it without him.

• Zhao Chen arranged Henglong’s first-half records in an archive box and annotated his old Nvidia analysis as verified.
• Zhao Chen wrote that Henglong had completed its transition to an institution-driven framework and that the framework no longer needed him.
• Zhao Chen walked beside the Two Rivers Confluence and remembered Shen Jue asking whether he was ready for Henglong to stop being his.
• Zhao Chen messaged Shen Zhiyi that the institutional framework, models, and team were now doing the calculations for him.
• Shen Zhiyi replied that Zhao Chen had entrusted the framework to the people around him and that she trusted both the system and him.
• Zhao Chen continued along the river, leaving Henglong to evolve through its review mechanisms, independent models, and documented decisions.

Zhao Chen began handing Henglong’s day-to-day operations to Chen Xi and Shen Jue so he could focus on Era Vanguard. After Elon Musk told him Tesla would announce a five-for-one stock split, Zhao Chen decided the fund would hold its position unchanged and update its research model.

• Zhao Chen told Lin Shicheng he would transfer Henglong’s daily affairs to Chen Xi and Shen Jue, then requested a holdings and risk report and initial screening of high-short-interest US stocks and precious metals futures.
• Elon Musk told Zhao Chen that Tesla would propose a five-for-one stock split to the board, with an announcement planned for the following Wednesday.
• Zhao Chen said Era Vanguard would neither buy nor sell Tesla shares, and Elon Musk explained that he had wanted Zhao Chen to hear about the split first.
• Zhao Chen instructed Chen Xi to update Tesla’s share-count parameter while leaving the fund’s investment thesis and other core variables unchanged.
• Zhao Chen reflected that Henglong’s institutional framework now guided its decisions as he withdrew from its daily operations.

After Tesla announced a five-for-one stock split, Zhao Chen agreed to a Bloomberg interview about the split and Era Vanguard’s position as a major shareholder. He began preparing to answer Emily Chang’s questions using only public information.

• Bloomberg and other financial media reported Tesla’s stock split and highlighted rising retail investor interest in the company.
• Zhao Chen reviewed Bloomberg’s report and considered how the split would affect retail participation and Era Vanguard’s ownership percentage.
• Liu Mingyu told Zhao Chen that Bloomberg had requested an exclusive interview about Tesla’s shareholder structure and Era Vanguard’s position.
• Zhao Chen accepted a video interview with Emily Chang under limits on its duration and on questions about specific investment decisions.
• Zhao Chen asked Lin Shicheng to prepare public filing records and Henglong’s public Nvidia tracking manual, and Lin advised him to decide how much of his investment history to discuss.

Zhao Chen prepared for and completed his first media interview with Emily Chang, aiming to affirm that Era Vanguard’s Tesla investment rationale had not changed after the stock split. The interview ended with him explaining that Era Vanguard’s earlier investments in Nvidia and Tesla came from analysis of public information, not insider knowledge.

• Zhao Chen instructed Chen Xi to prepare a public summary of Henglong’s institutional investment framework and to describe Henglong and Era Vanguard as independent legal entities.
• Zhao Chen told Chen Xi to answer truthfully that he chaired Henglong and controlled Era Vanguard, while both institutions made investment decisions through their own frameworks.
• On August 19, Zhao Chen began a Bloomberg video interview with Emily Chang and said Era Vanguard had not traded Tesla shares because the split had not changed its investment rationale.
• Emily Chang asked about Era Vanguard’s large Nvidia, Tesla, and SpaceX holdings and how it had bought Nvidia and Tesla near their lows.
• Zhao Chen said Era Vanguard’s investment judgments came from independently analyzing public data and denying that it had received insider information or earlier access to data.

Zhao Chen explained to Emily Chang that Era Vanguard’s Bitcoin trades relied on assessing risk tolerance and market liquidity rather than foresight. Emily remained silent after his answer, leaving the interview’s challenge unanswered.

• Emily Chang questioned how many people knew Era Vanguard’s Bitcoin holdings and how Zhao Chen had timed the trade so precisely.
• Zhao Chen said Era Vanguard based its Bitcoin decisions on public data, independent analysis, and limit orders executed in batches.
• Emily Chang cited Era Vanguard’s successful Bitcoin, Tesla, Nvidia, and SpaceX trades and asked whether Zhao Chen had seen something others missed.
• Zhao Chen defended the Nvidia and Tesla positions by pointing to information already disclosed in public filings and earnings calls.
• Emily Chang pressed Zhao to explain why he risked nearly all his net worth on Bitcoin and what guided his entry, trading, and exit decisions.
• Zhao Chen said he entered because he could bear losing his initial capital and sold because he could not accept Bitcoin falling from $17,000 to $8,000 and believed the liquidity window might close.

Emily Chang questioned Zhao Chen about the risks of using his personal Henglong shares to secure financing for Era Vanguard’s Tesla position. Zhao explained his safeguards and said he had learned to rely on a decision-making system rather than bear every risk alone.

• Emily Chang asked whether financing secured against Zhao Chen’s Henglong shares had put Era Vanguard at risk during the 2019 Tesla margin crisis.
• Zhao Chen clarified that he had personally pledged Henglong shares and that the financing was separate from Henglong Group’s balance sheet.
• Emily Chang raised the possibility that a prolonged market crisis could have forced the sale of Zhao Chen’s Henglong holdings and affected both institutions.
• Zhao Chen said he had prepared for that scenario by arranging for Henglong Capital to provide funds to support the collateral without selling Era Vanguard’s positions.
• Emily Chang asked how Zhao Chen had handled the pressure when he was making decisions alone in Manhattan.
• Zhao Chen said he had since distributed decision-making among Era Vanguard’s committees and departments, and reaffirmed the reasoning behind its Tesla position.

After Zhao Chen’s Bloomberg interview led the market to attribute Times Pioneer Capital’s success to his supposed genius, he saw that investors were overlooking Henglong’s institutional framework. He resolved to keep the system running until it could prove its value without him.

• Bloomberg published Zhao Chen’s interview, and media coverage and online comments portrayed his investment record as almost superhuman.
• After the interview, foreign funds bought Henglong shares, which opened higher and later climbed to a new high.
• A Bloomberg follow-up examined Times Pioneer Capital’s trades and asked why Zhao Chen alone seemed able to interpret public data so successfully.
• Shen Jue and Chen Xi told Zhao Chen that investors and analysts focused on his personal decisions rather than the team, Research Institute, Investment Decision Committee, and other parts of Henglong’s system.
• Zhao Chen chose not to call Shen Jue and decided to keep the institutional framework running until the market saw the committee make a decision without him.

Shen Zhiyi asked Zhao Chen to accompany her to her high school reunion, where classmates compared his stock investing unfavorably with Li Cheng’s real estate career. The evening ended with the group toasting Li Cheng’s expensive wine while Zhao Chen quietly drank tea.

• Shen Zhiyi told Zhao Chen she did not want to attend the reunion alone, and he agreed to go with her.
• Zhao Chen and Shen Zhiyi arrived at the reunion, where Zhou Lin seated them beside Li Cheng and introduced him as a high-earning regional manager.
• Sun Tingting questioned Shen Zhiyi about her job at Henglong and asked what Zhao Chen did; Shen Zhiyi said he invested in stocks.
• Li Cheng criticized stock investing and praised his own experience in real estate, while Zhou Lin and Sun Tingting reinforced the comparison.
• Zhou Lin led a toast to Li Cheng’s wine, and Zhao Chen raised his teacup and took a sip.

At the class reunion, Zhao Chen revealed that he chaired Henglong Group and that Henglong Capital held a major stake in Bidiya, silencing classmates who had mocked his work. As Zhao Chen drove Shen Zhiyi home, she reflected on how his wealth had come from sound judgment.

• Li Cheng questioned whether Zhao Chen could provide Shen Zhiyi with a stable future, and Shen Zhiyi calmly defended him.
• Sun Tingting searched Zhao Chen’s name and discovered his roles at Henglong Group and his investment in Bidiya.
• Zhao Chen confirmed he was Henglong Group’s chairman and explained Henglong Capital’s 4.99% Bidiya stake, changing the mood at the dinner.
• Zhao Chen discussed Li Cheng’s real-estate business and Henglong’s shift from real estate to investment holdings, while the classmates grew awkward and deferential.
• Zhou Lin asked Zhao Chen to remember his classmates when good projects arose, and Li Cheng nodded to him as Zhao and Shen Zhiyi left.
• Shen Zhiyi told Zhao Chen that the reunion had shown her the results of the judgments he had made, and he drove on without replying.

Zhao Chen reviewed Lin Shicheng’s research on heavily shorted US stocks and rising commodity markets. Lin recommended limited options exposure to GameStop and AMC while favoring silver and lithium as longer-term holdings.

• Lin Shicheng presented a list of US stocks with high short interest, highlighting GameStop’s 105 percent short interest and Ryan Cohen’s efforts to transform the company.
• Lin Shicheng identified AMC as another potential short-squeeze candidate and placed Tilray and Sundial Growers on a lower-priority backup list.
• Lin Shicheng reported that silver prices had surged on global liquidity and recovering industrial demand, while lithium, cobalt, and rare-earth prices had also risen amid improving demand and supply constraints.
• Zhao Chen reviewed Lin Shicheng’s cross-screening conclusions, which treated GameStop and AMC as event-driven opportunities rather than core holdings.
• Lin Shicheng recommended limited options exposure to GameStop and AMC through a special opportunities account, and longer-term holdings in silver and lithium.

Zhao Chen told Lin Shicheng to prioritize secretly accumulating LME-deliverable nickel cathodes, betting that scarce inventories could provide leverage during a future short squeeze. He set a five-percent exposure cap for the special opportunities account and left Lin to prepare a procurement plan.

• Zhao Chen noticed nickel was missing from Lin Shicheng's screening reports and recalled the 2022 LME nickel short squeeze.
• Zhao Chen instructed Lin Shicheng to quietly target at least two hundred thousand tons of deliverable nickel cathodes, while Lin warned that the plan would require billions of dollars and exceed current warehouse inventories.
• Zhao Chen directed Lin to research delivery standards, certified producers, compliant capacity, warehouse inventories, and storage costs, and to build positions discreetly through offshore SPVs.
• Zhao Chen explained that low inventories and scarce deliverable nickel could leave short sellers without supply, allowing holders of compliant cathodes to gain leverage during a squeeze.
• Lin Shicheng agreed to prepare a procurement plan before mid-September, and Zhao Chen informed Chen Xi that the positions would be exempt from quarterly reviews.
• Zhao Chen set the special opportunities account's total exposure limit at five percent of Era Vanguard's net assets, with any excess requiring Investment Decision Committee review.