Liu Chuanzhi finally "let go"! On December 18, 75-year-old chairman of Lenovo Holdings , Liu Chuanzhi, announced his retirement and Ning Min took over the position of chairman.
Liu Chuanzhi, 75 years old this year, founded Lenovo at the age of 40, and resigned as chairman of Lenovo Group in 2011, at the age of 67; at that time, Liu Chuanzhi said that he would focus on his parent company Lenovo Holdings business. On the evening of the 18th, Lenovo Holdings issued an announcement announcing that in accordance with the established plan, Liu Chuanzhi, chairman, executive director and founder of Lenovo Holdings, resigned as chairman and executive director of the company, and will serve as honorary chairman, senior consultant and member of the board of directors’ strategic committee.
The "godfather" Liu Chuanzhi is about to retire
Liu Chuanzhi and his wife Gong Guoxing
House, Lenovo Holdings, including Lenovo Group, which is engaged in PC business, Junlian Capital , Hony Investment and Lenovo Star, etc.; in addition, Lenovo Holdings also covers financial services, innovative consumption and services, agriculture and food, etc.
Like technology tycoon TSMC Zhang Zhongmou , Acer Shi Zhengrong, etc., Liu Chuanzhi's retirement this time is considered the official retirement after "the second time comes out". In 2005, Yang Yuanqing , who was then the president and CEO of Lenovo Group, officially took over Liu Chuanzhi and became the chairman of the board of directors of Lenovo Group. However, in just four years, Lenovo suffered its first loss since its entrepreneurship, and Liu Chuanzhi, the founder and leader, had to return to save the situation and serve as the chairman of the group's board of directors again.
Half a year later, Lenovo turned losses into profits, and after the company stabilized, Liu Chuanzhi retired again in 2011. Liu Chuanzhi, who once retired, shouted when he came out again: " As long as Lenovo needs me, I will go through fire and water! "
Acer founder Shi Zhengrong and his son Shi Xuanhui
Objectively speaking, Lenovo Holdings Group, a parent company of Lenovo Group, which is a PC, is not a pure IT company, but more like a financial holding company, but in people's impression, Lenovo is always related to computers, mobile phones, etc. Among the
IT bosses, Acer founder Shi Zhengrong and Lenovo founder Liu Chuanzhi are competitors, but they are even more sympathetic and are both of them, both born in 1944. Similarly, Shi Zhengrong also had the experience of "second birth". In 1976, Acer's Shi Zhenrong was founded for NT$1 million. He is known as the principal of the Whampoa Military Academy in the IT industry and has cultivated a generation of talents in his hands. In 2013, Acer fell into the darkest and most loss-making year since its establishment. Shi Zhengrong, who originally insisted on "not getting back", only struggled for half a year, but he reluctantly returned to Acer.
In fact, whether it is Lenovo Liu Chuanzhi, Acer Shi Zhengrong, and TSMC's Chang Zhongmou, who has not made a comeback for the second time? From a certain perspective, it is enough to prove that the IT industry is difficult to do, and it is even hard to find a suitable successor.
in the country, Liu Chuanzhi can be called a big shot in the technology industry, and his company management also has many remarkable aspects. For example, Liu Chuanzhi said that management is nothing more than "three things", namely "build a team, set a strategy, and lead a team!" The nine words are clear at a glance and very refined.
The successor Liu Chuanzhi was looking for was Ning Min. Similarly, Acer Shi Zhengrong did not hand the baton to his son Shi Xuanhui, but instead found a professional manager Chen Junsheng to take over his shift.
In the past, Liu Chuanzhi said: Choose a successor, just like choosing a wife: First, be beautiful, and second, love me! Two years ago, his son Liu Lin "finally" got married, which made Lao Liu so happy! But from the moment, his son Liu Lin is not the person Lao Liu said, "first be beautiful, and secondly, love me." Of course, the head of Didi and her beloved daughter Liu Qing is not very much like the second generation successor of Lenovo.
It can be seen from this that it is very brain-burning to find a suitable successor in the technology industry.
2009, Liu Chuanzhi and his wife Gong Guoxing were at the Doumen Baiteng Farm in Zhuhai
Liu Chuanzhi, whose ancestral home is Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province, was born on April 29, 1944. When he was the president of Lenovo Group in 1984, he was 40 years old that year. In fact, Lenovo was only a small company with 11 people and 200,000 yuan in funds. Because of this, Liu Chuanzhi was regarded as a legendary figure in entrepreneurship.
On June 29, 2015, Lenovo Holdings was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. At the bell ringing ceremony, the reporter visited a woman who was Liu Chuanzhi's wife Gong Guoxing. At that time, the reporter asked her, are you a Lenovo employee? Answer: Yes; when did you join Lenovo? The answer was: 1986.
Gong Guoxing, Liu Chuanzhi's wife, is from Hunan. She and Liu Chuanzhi are classmates. They are both Northwest Institute of Telecommunications Engineering , which is an old alumni of Xi'an University of Electronic Science and Technology today. At that time, this university was a military academy (also known as Xi'an Institute of Military Telecommunications Engineering ). Liu Chuanzhi later said that his wife was good at studying back then and never ranked in the top three in the class. She was also the object of admiration for many classmates and even teachers, but the school stipulated that love was not allowed.
It was not until he was working in the graduation project that Liu Chuanzhi wrote a love letter to Gong Guoxing, "If others can't do it, let's try it." "If you are willing to be friends with me, just put a Chairman Mao seal on your chest." But when you were queuing up for dinner the next day, Gong Guoxing did not put a Chairman Mao seal on your chest. Lao Liu was up and down at the time and was uneasy; however, when he was washing dishes, he still secretly stuffed a small note to Gong Guoxing. Later, the two gradually walked in.
In 1968, the "Notice on Assigning Some College Graduates to the People's Liberation Army Farm to Exercise" was issued. After two years as intern researcher at the 10th Institute of Chengdu Tenth College of the National Defense Science and Technology Commission, Liu Chuanzhi and Gong Guoxing were both arranged to work and exercise at Zhuhai Baiteng Farm. In 1969, the two held a simple and simple wedding at Baiteng Farm.
1985, Liu Chuanzhi took a photo with his wife Gong Guoxing, son Liu Lin and daughter Liu Qing when he moved his new home
In fact, in addition to Zhuhai Baiteng Farm, Liu Chuanzhi also trained at the West Lake Jiefang Farm in Hunan. Liu Chuanzhi said: Those heavy work that back then was a "painful thing." In 1970, Liu Chuanzhi returned to Beijing and worked as an assistant researcher at the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. After 1983, he worked as a cadre in the Leading Cadre Department of the Personnel Bureau of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
At the Institute of Computing, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the couple spent 13 years. They first lived in a collective dormitory, and later they set up a small room in the computer room. They were not assigned to the new house until 1985, which is the "902" apartment in Zhongguancun sorting. At that time, the couple had grown up. The daughter Liu Qing was born in 1978 and was 7 years old when they moved.
When Liu Chuanzhi started his business, he was already 40 years old. Later, he attributed it to "I can't hold it in a hurry". "I have the energy and don't know what to do, and I can't do anything I want. I feel very angry." Previously, Liu Chuanzhi, who was engaged in magnetic recording circuit research in the Equipment Research Office of the Institute, also won an award, but after doing the research, it was useless. In fact, Liu Chuanzhi later said that he made a dual-density tape recorder in 1980, and later found that what he made was far worse than foreign products. In fact, "closed" to do scientific research is one of the disadvantages.
When Lenovo was founded in 1984, the starting capital of 200,000 yuan was not small at that time. However, compared with the "two-connection and two-sea" (Sitong, Xintong, Jinghai, and Kehai) of Zhongguancun's generation, it was almost unknown. That year, Liu Chuanzhi, with the support of Zeng Maochao, director of the Institute of Computing of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, founded the Beijing Computer New Technology Development Company, the predecessor of Lenovo.
Lenovo was founded by Liu Chuanzhi
Hong Kong Lenovo was founded in 1988. Liu Chuanzhi was the chairman of Hong Kong Lenovo. At that time, he and several people were in Hong Kong, holding 300,000 Hong Kong dollars, mainly relying on trade profits to accumulate capital. In fact, Lenovo also did trade and sold machines for others. The ASTPC agents sold hundreds of units a month.
During Lenovo's entrepreneurial process, there were many classic cases of business wars, such as launching a PC price war in 1996 and winning the industry sales championship. In 1997, after the merger of Beijing Lenovo and Hong Kong Lenovo, Liu Chuanzhi became the chairman of Lenovo Group and later split the group's business, such as "Shenzhou Digital", which was listed in 2001, and also developed diversifiedly. During this process, Liu Chuanzhi also trained a group of leading players, such as Yang Yuanqing, Guo Wei, Zhu Linan, , Zhao Linghuan, etc., and were in charge of the spin-offs and new businesses.
In 2004, after Lenovo acquired the PC business of IBM, he resigned from the position of chairman of Lenovo Group. The acquisition of IBM is also the beginning of Lenovo's "going out" and moving towards globalization, and it is also one of the initial explorations of huge overseas mergers and acquisitions by Chinese private technology companies. After the merger and acquisition was completed, Lenovo became the world's third largest PC manufacturer and ranked among the top 500 in the world.
's acquisition of IBM is a "snake swallowing elephant" cross-border merger case. The US$1.25 billion in cash paid by Lenovo for the acquisition was approximately 73% of the market value of Lenovo, a Hong Kong-listed company at that time. However, at that time, IBM's PC business was in a state of losses for years, and many people were more concerned about a question: "Is it worth it?" Will it succeed?
On December 8, 2004, at the Wuzhou Hotel in Beijing, Lenovo held a press conference and officially announced that it would acquire IBM's global PC business for a total price of US$1.25 billion in cash and stock. Among them, IBM's global PC division's net liabilities of 500 million will be transferred to Lenovo's name, with the total acquisition transaction amount reaching US$1.75 billion. At the same time, IBM also holds 18.9% of Lenovo's equity, becoming its second largest shareholder.
2004, the Lenovo negotiation team that attended the press conference
2004 was the 20th anniversary of Lenovo's establishment. At that time, Liu Chuanzhi, chairman of the board of directors of Lenovo, said at the press conference: "This acquisition is a historic and powerful strategic combination of Lenovo and IBM." At the press conference, Liu Chuanzhi also announced that the chairman of the board of directors of New Lenovo will be Yang Yuanqing, then president and CEO of Lenovo Group, and the new CEO will be Stephen M.Ward Jr, former senior vice president of IBM, general manager of the Global Personal Computer Business Division. However, the new CEO Stephen M. Ward Jr. was not present at the scene at the time and attended the press conference through trans-ocean video. After the acquisition of
, Liu Chuanzhi retired and came out again in September 2009, re-elected as chairman of Lenovo Group. On November 2, 2011, Liu Chuanzhi stepped down as chairman of the board of directors and changed to the honorary chairman of Lenovo Group; on June 18, 2012, "Lenovo Holdings", listed in Hong Kong, announced that Liu Chuanzhi resigned from the position of president of Lenovo Holdings, and after his nomination, Zhu Linan was the president of Lenovo Holdings. Since then, Liu Chuanzhi, who is nearly 70 years old, is "an old horse" and strives to promote the overall listing of Lenovo Holdings.
In fact, Liu Chuanzhi's retirement this time was not "groundless" and there were signs in advance. In September this year, he resigned as the legal representative of Lenovo Holdings (Tianjin) and also resigned from his position as director.
Like Liu Chuanzhi, TSMC founder Zhang Zhongmou has already planned to take over the baton. Zhang Zhongmou was one year later than Liu Chuanzhi and was handed over in 2005. Cai Lixing, a capable player who has followed him for many years, took over the position of TSMC's CEO. However, after the global financial tsunami in 2007, TSMC's performance plummeted, which also changed the relationship between the two. 78-year-old Zhang Zhongmou made a comeback again until he officially retired in June this year.
Jack Ma is also retired this year. He once joked with the technology industry tycoon: " Once on the dining table, there were a group of very old entrepreneurs with very white hair. People in their seventies or eighties are still talking about innovation. I don't believe that young people are more innovative than them. There is no hope! "
Liu Chuanzhi: A thorough entrepreneur
Liu Chuanzhi, Jack Ma and Houpan University second phase students
For Jack Ma, in March 2016, Liu Chuanzhi said in his speech at the opening ceremony of the second phase of Lakeside University: "I have known Jack Ma for 13 years, because it is said that we respect each other and have become friends. What kind of person is Jack Ma now? He is an iconic figure in the Chinese private business community and a person who gives Chinese economy and Chinese enterprises internationally."
That day, Lao Liu chose the title "How entrepreneurs deal with complex relationships". He said: "In addition, he (referring to Jack Ma) has become a people's diplomat, and he also has to deal with various complex relationships very seriously. I have seen many photos of him and saw him holding the hands of people from all walks of life with a smile on his face, including politics, business, technology, literature and art, and sports. The concierge made him very worried. I don’t know if he still needs to do his homework when he gets home. "
Liu Chuanzhi is the head of Hupan University. He once corrected the name of Hupan University and said, "Hupan University is not the Donglin Society."
So, Liu Chuanzhi, known as the "Godfather of Chinese Entrepreneurs", said that President Ma is a "icon character in China's private enterprise circle" and a "people's diplomat". How should we evaluate Liu Chuanzhi?
There is no doubt that most of Liu Chuanzhi's life has been deeply related to Associated Its importance to Lenovo is self-evident. He is the spiritual leader and soul figure of Lenovo. In the domestic technology industry, although it is difficult to compare Lenovo with Huawei, Xiaomi, etc. today, one thing is certain that for a long time, Liu Chuanzhi has been one of the top leaders in the domestic IT industry. Although every move cannot be said to make the market "swaying" the market, it will at least tremble a few times.
American psychologist Abraham Maslow said: People have the need to realize themselves. But the problem is: no matter how strong a person is, no matter how hard he is, "old" is the law of life, and no one can break free. Therefore, we must also look at Liu Chuanzhi's retirement in a normal manner. In fact, it is also the beginning of a new era of Lenovo's business giant. Doing a good intergenerational alternation is the most important part of the inheritance of family businesses.
Lenovo Holdings Senior Vice President and CEO Ning Min
It is reported that taking over as chairman of Lenovo Holdings and the successor of Liu Chuanzhi is the current senior vice president and chief director of Lenovo Holdings. It is reported that the successor of Lenovo Holdings and the successor of Liu Chuanzhi is the current senior vice president and chief of Lenovo Holdings. Ning Min, financial officer and executive director. Ning Min, 50, is currently mainly responsible for capital and capital operation, risk control and auditing.
According to the official introduction of Lenovo Holdings, Ning Min joined Lenovo in 1991 and served as a member of the executive committee and chief financial officer of Lenovo Holdings for a long time. In 2012, Ning Min began to serve as the senior vice president and member of the executive committee of Lenovo Holdings; in 2014, when Lenovo Holdings was restructured into a joint stock company, Ning Min was appointed as the company's senior vice president, chief financial officer and secretary of the board of directors; in 2015, Ning Min was appointed as the joint company secretary, which was officially described by Lenovo as "an outstanding senior management talent with international background".
will manage Lenovo's task is handed over to Ning Min, the current senior vice president and chief financial officer of Lenovo Holdings, and his management team. Liu Chuanzhi's five "young marshals" including Yang Yuanqing were excluded. What is the intention?
Ning Min, graduated from the EMBA graduate class of Renmin University of China in 2001 and joined Lenovo in 1991. She is usually relatively low-key and has a bit of mystery. However, as the "money shopkeeper" under Liu Chuanzhi, her ability level and loyalty need no doubt.
As for why it is not Yang Yuanqing and other five "young marshals", it is easy to understand. "There is a specialty in technology", Lenovo Holdings is not a pure IT enterprise, but a similar financial holding company with diversified layout. Let a chief financial officer who is good at finance and capital, capital operation, risk control and audit, a sufficient way to make oneself It is also appropriate for people you trust to take the helm.
On September 17, Luxembourg International Bank announced the establishment of its Beijing representative office, which is the first Luxembourg Bank to open a representative office in mainland China. In July 2018, Lenovo Holdings completed its strategic acquisition of Luxembourg International Bank.
Obviously, Lenovo Holdings' operation of purchasing and building pillar assets in the financial services field is not a field that Yang Yuanqing and others are good at. For Liu Chuanzhi, every link involved in Lenovo's strategic actions in layout and development must be inseparable from the participation and investment of "money shopkeeper" Ning Min.
Even if the financial power is in hand, Ning Min never relied on it. He usually acts very low-key and has a tight tone, which is also one of the characteristics of the helmsman.Of course, in the future, Lenovo's successor will be Ning Min and the management team, and will be a collective successor. They will be "divided up labor and industry" between them. Compared with the powerful leader Liu Chuanzhi, the power allocation should be different, and it cannot be said in other words.
Lenovo acquired Luxembourg International Bank
For Liu Chuanzhi, there was an official evaluation. On December 18, 2018, he was awarded the title of "Pioneer of Reform" as " pioneer of technology industrialization ".
The People's Daily commendation list was announced and commented on Liu Chuanzhi:
Liu Chuanzhi: As an outstanding representative of the first generation of science and technology entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs in reform and opening up, he is based in my country's local market, vigorously develops national brands, and constantly reforms and innovates. In 1984, he founded Lenovo company , winning the competition with international personal computer giants, and driving the innovative development of national information technology enterprises. Formulate and implement the international development strategy of the enterprise, and lead Lenovo to acquire the personal computer business of International Commercial Machinery Company (IBM), and accumulate valuable experience for Chinese companies to "go global". Organize and implement the company's shareholding transformation, support the innovative development of enterprises, promote the transformation of a series of scientific and technological achievements and the cultivation of many scientific and technological enterprise management talents. He was awarded the title of "National Model Worker".
Of course, everyone, people from different eras, such as older and young people, will have different angles and draw different conclusions on the evaluation of a business giant, which is also a very normal phenomenon.
My evaluation of Liu Chuanzhi is: He is a complete entrepreneur, and his fame is a symbol of an era.
To achieve a great enterprise, it must have multiple factors, such as having a large enough target market, a scalable business model, a clear and reasonable profit model, and in addition, it must also have perfect institutional management, industry prospects, etc., and more importantly, having a strong enough corporate leader; from this perspective, Liu Chuanzhi deserves it.
Lenovo founder Liu Chuanzhi
In recent years, Lenovo and Liu Chuanzhi have "downgraded" and "devalued" in the minds of some people in the minds of "ZTE" and even later 5G standards. In addition, compared with Zhang Zhongmou's TSMC, Cai Lixing's MediaTek , etc., Lenovo's advantages and recoil in industrial technological competitiveness and not many seem to be remarkable.
In addition, for Lenovo, the diversified transformation of is a risk-diversifying strategy, and can also be regarded as a path for capital expansion. Compared with ordinary people's feelings about Lenovo's entry into the technology industry, it seems a bit "unprofessional", which is also the aspect of Lenovo's "endurance" in the future. After all, over the years, there has not been a company invested by Lenovo. It has made Lao Liu particularly "faced". Its strategic thinking has also made people "vague" because it penetrates the so-called agricultural field. Its strategic thinking is also "cloudly foggy". No wonder some people call it "speculation".
In the complex and complex business world, the market is not always "pointed to the point" and "scarce clouds and bullets". Perhaps for Lenovo and Liu Chuanzhi, what can be made peace is also a win-win situation based on their own interests. Because once an irreversible confrontation occurs, all parties interested will be harmed, and the final result is nothing more than who loses more than who! From this perspective, Lao Liu and Lenovo made key decisions on some key issues based on their own rights and interests, so he is a complete entrepreneur.
The miracle created by Liu Chuanzhi and the success of Lenovo in the past are just as Lao Liu said when he won the award last year: "Reform and opening up have brought about earth-shaking changes in China, and have also created Lenovo and us." There is no doubt that Liu Chuanzhi is the "trend player" of the times. His fame is a symbol of an era, and it does not mean that the future will be like this.
A few days ago, CCTV commentator Liu Ge said this: "How many types of entrepreneurs are there, some will become heroes, some will become criminals, some will become role models, some will become liars, and some will be just entrepreneurs. Liu Chuanzhi is the last one. The term entrepreneur can cover their lifelong achievements. "
What do you think?
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