Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

In the afternoon…

Zhang Yuan was extremely busy.

Today was November 2nd, Wednesday. Boss Pei was only giving them three days. In other words, on November 6th, a Sunday, all GPL spots would be officially sold.

Not only would they have to bid for the GOG teams and their respective slots, but they would also have to bid for the other six GPL spots.

Within those three days, he had to give the various clubs advanced notice and arrange the relevant matters. Time was tight.

However, Zhang Yuan was not the most nervous. Instead, the companies that were bidding were.

That was because Zhang Yuan only needed to arrange the schedule, while the other companies had to make a decision.

Should they buy a ready-made GOG team or just a spot?

How much should they budget?

What was the quality-price ratio of different teams?

What was the expected price?

If they didn'tnt buy it now, what if they wanted to buy it in the future?

In just three days, it would probably be very difficult to think through these questions thoroughly.

What's more, some companies had to raise funds in advance and prepare ammunition before bidding.

Thus, Zhang Yuan began to worry about the companies that were bidding.

Yet, although he was worried, he could not be muddle-headed about Boss Pei's decision.

Zhang Yuan could only tell this news to all the companies that were participating in the bidding, including the clubs that were 'selling themselves' and the companies that were preparing to bid. He wanted them to prepare in advance and make a decision as soon as possible.

As for how much money they would be able to make, who would be able to obtain the GPL slots, and whether new companies would want to enter…

These were not things that Zhang Yuan could control or speculate.

Boss Pei's plan was too deep and unpredictable.

Therefore, he just had to execute it seriously.

…

SUG Club…

Manager Li frowned as he read Zhang Yuan's new message. He was at a loss.

Boss Pei was not playing by the book again!

For the past two days, Manager Li's mood had been like a tree branch in the sea, rising and falling as he suffered.

At first, he had thought that there was nothing much to Boss Pei.

Slowly, he realized that Boss Pei had signed a contract, but thought that Boss Pei was bluffing.

Now, he realized that Boss Pei was being serious! He had prepared a backup plan!

All of Manager Li's previous judgments had been based on the assumption that if there were not enough companies, Tengda would not take over.

However, to Manager Li's horror, there were people taking over the business, and many of them at that!

The other three clubs had backed out, and now ten bidders were vying for three GOG teams.

Moreover, most of those ten buyers had powerful backgrounds!

Now, Manager Li was conflicted again.

That was because he felt that this group of big shots would definitely be able to pay an astronomical figure if ten of them were to fight for three spots.

If he could really sell his GOG team for twenty million yuan, Manager Li would probably be able to give his boss an explanation. After all, the premium was too high, and his boss would find it hard to reject it.

As for re-entering the scene in the future… that would have to wait.

Who knew how good the GPL would be? What if its popularity gradually decreased and the GPL slots became cheaper?

It was entirely possible!

Therefore, after the three clubs backed out, Manager Li consulted his boss and decided to continue selling SUG's team because it would generate more profits.

Yet, in less than half a day, there were new updates.

Boss Pei had decided to sell six GPL slots at once!

Originally, ten buyers were to fight for three GOG teams; now, the ten buyers were to fight for three GOG teams and six GPL spots. The competition was now less intense!

In other words, the GOG teams would not be able to sell for a high price!

Thus, Manager Li found himself in a dilemma, completely embarrassed.

If he sold it, it would not fetch a high price.

If he did not sell it, he would lose three to four million yuan in compensation.

No matter which one it was, it would be very difficult to answer to his boss!

He would look very stupid and incompetent, especially if he incurred losses. He would be giving Tengda money for nothing.

The bosses of the three clubs who had given up were the ones who had made the decision. Those club managers would definitely have been scolded badly when they returned. They might even have been punished.

Manager Li did not want that to happen.

He frowned and gritted his teeth. "Boss Pei is so ruthless…

"He had predicted all of the nuances in my thinking.

"He's selling all six GPL slots at once just to lower the prices of our GOG teams and take revenge on the three remaining clubs.

"Does he have to be so vengeful?"

Now, he was in a difficult position. His best bet was to raise the price as high as possible, sell it at a price that his boss would not be able to refuse, and then let his boss decide to sell it.

That way, the responsibility would be split between his boss and him, and he would not be too harshly blamed in the short term.

After all, Manager Li was just an employee. It was impossible for him to consider everything from his boss' point of view. At a time like this, he had to admit that he was not that good at his job.

In E-Sports Clubs where rich second-generation heirs played, promotions and raises depended on one's performance in front of the boss. It did not matter if one made a mistake, as long as they knew how to cover it up.

At that thought, Manager Li made up his mind.

He could only continue to stir up the public!

He had to strive to sell the GOG team at a high price to satisfy his boss. He could only think about the future.

It was also wishful thinking on Manager Li;s part. What if he sold it at a high price this time, and the GPL failed in the future, causing the quota to become increasingly worthless?

Wouldn't he have made a fortune?

He could make himself seem more important to his boss at the same time.

Manager Li guessed that the other two club managers who were planning to sell their teams also had the same thoughts.

They were all stuck between a rock and a hard place. They could only solve the problem in front of them without thinking too much about the consequences.

Manager Li quickly called the managers of the other two clubs. He tried to reason with them and appeal to their emotions. Finally, they agreed to stick together.

…

On the other side, at Fu Hui Investments…

The investors were confused after receiving Zhang Yuan's notification.

He was going to sell the remaining six GPL slots in three days?

What's more, GPL's quota might remain at 16 for the next few years?

Initially, when the investors saw Shenhua enter the market and three GOG teams remaining, they decided to focus all their funds on one team.

However, now that Boss Pei had decided to release so many GPL slots, Li Shi felt that he could buy two of them.

Yet, he was confused. Why was Boss Pei so nervous?

In three days, he was going to sell all the GPL slots for the next few years?

Selling one every year would have been the most profitable option, right?

Everyone looked at Boss Li.

At that moment, everyone needed Boss Li to interpret Boss Pei's true intentions.

Boss Li remained silent for a moment. "I think… this is a huge piece of good news that Boss Pei has given us! We have to raise more funds. Even if we sell everything we have, we have to get two GPL slots!"

The investors were confused. "Huh? Why is it another huge piece of good news?"

It seemed like anything that Boss Pei decided was a huge piece of good news to Boss Li.

Boss Pei was not giving them any preferential treatment this time. What was so good about it?

Li Shi smiled. "Think about these two statistics: six GPL slots, three days.

"Do you think Boss Pei doesn't know how to maximize profits by selling the slots one by one?

"Yet, why is he selling them all at once, and in such a hurry at that?

"I think there are at least three reasons for this!

"First of all, we have to receive the news, raise funds, and participate in the auction in three days. That is actually an invisible threshold. There will only be two types of companies left: the first would be like us - those who have obtained insider information in advance, made preparations in advance, and been following Boss Pei resolutely. The other would be like Shenhua - huge and not lacking in money. To them, price would not matter.

"This would shut out companies that only want to make a profit and run off. The remaining companies would all be capable and willing to cooperate with Boss Pei to do well in the GPL league!

"Secondly, Boss Pei is showing off.

"Throwing all the slots out at once shows Tengda's determination to make the e-sports industry huge. The more teams there are, the more intense the competition would be. Then, the audience would have the best viewing experience.

"This would be a clear signal to all participating clubs: GPL will be a large-scale and high-value formal league in the future. Everyone can invest in it without worrying, and they will definitely be able to obtain generous returns!

"At the same time, it is a form of support that Tengda offers to its partners, who will get to share in its profits.

"Think about it. If the spots for the GPL league become more and more valuable like Boss Pei expects, and they sell them all now, wouldn't we stand to gain the most as the ones who joined him the earliest?

"Even if capital inflows get larger and larger, our club would still be able to sell its slots at a high price if it cannot carry on operations anymore. No matter what, we would not lose out!

"Lastly, I think Boss Pei is trying to generate some hype.

"If he only sells three slots, he would only earn fifty to sixty million yuan at most. However, selling all of them at once would easily earn him over a hundred million yuan!

"The unit price might be low, but the total price would definitely be high!

"Fifty million yuan and over a hundred million yuan are completely different in terms of publicity. The concept of 'over a hundred million yuan' alone is enough to generate hype!

"That would attract a lot of attention and make the GPL popular even before its premiere. How much in publicity fees would that save?

"As for whether there are other reasons, I think there are.

"It's just that I'm too inexperienced to guess."

The investors were enlightened. "I understand now. Boss Pei is actually giving us profits! Does he want us to put in more effort to make the GPL bigger?"

Li Shi nodded. "Yes, that must be it!"

"Therefore, we'll follow the same strategy as before and try to buy two GPL spots! No matter what, we have to buy them first!"

The investors pondered for a while. That was true.

If the bidding was three months from now, they would still have a lot of time to think about it.

However, there were only three days left!

What was there to think about?

It was just like how some limited edition products could only be sold for three days at a time. Anyone who missed the opportunity in those three days would not have such an opportunity for years to come.

Wouldn't they have to buy the slots at all costs?