Being surrounded on the street and demanding money, former billionaire group | Yao Zhenhua | Rich man

Yao Zhenhua, the actual controller of Baoneng Group, who was blocked outside by his own security guard, never expected that this was just the beginning. A few days later, he was once again surrounded by his own employees on the street.

Recently, a video of Yao Zhenhua being surrounded on the street has been circulating on social media. In the video, Yao Zhenhua was chased and intercepted by a group of people, and his glasses were "knocked off". He shouted, "This is illegal!" Then he was scolded, "Two years of unpaid wages are not illegal?"

What exactly happened to the former billionaires who were so embarrassed?

Being beaten up by employees and stopped by security guards!?

"You're breaking the law, what are you doing?" Yao Zhenhua shouted in the video. He wanted to run away for a while, but was soon pushed to the ground by the people chasing and blocking him. In the end, the "security guard" came out and broke free. Some people in the crowd shouted, "Do you have any quick acting heart saving pills?" "I can't do it, I can't do it."

Yao Zhenhua was surrounded. According to China Securities News, the people surrounding Yao Zhenhua are all employees who are owed wages. In the video, there are multiple car windows with the words "Pay me back my salary" pasted on them.

There are reports that Yao Zhenhua was beaten and entered the conference room for a meeting, issuing a layoff target. Yao Zhenhua said, "When it comes to contribution, no, why do you get such a high salary? Everyone has to lower their salary." "If you don't create production, what else will you do besides asking for money?"

According to multiple media reports, the salary arrears table circulated by Baoneng Group shows that the entire system of Baoneng has 16 sectors with unpaid wages exceeding 1.3 billion yuan, of which the unpaid wages from July 2021 to April 2022 alone reached 720 million yuan. The automotive sector is the hardest hit area for wage arrears, with Baoneng Automobile having a cumulative wage arrears of 647 million yuan and Guanzhi Automobile having a cumulative wage arrears of 130 million yuan. In addition, both the group headquarters and Jushenghua have outstanding salaries exceeding 110 million yuan.

Yao Zhenhua. Video screenshot.

Just a few days ago, Baoneng announced that as the major shareholder of Zhongju High tech, Yao Zhenhua went to Zhongju High tech headquarters for research, but unexpectedly was refused entry by security guards. In the video, Yao Zhenhua shouted to the security guard, "Just tell the truth, you two. You've never seen anything like this before. It's so chaotic."

At one point, with a net worth of billions,

Exceeds Robin Lee, Ding Lei, etc

Why did Yao Zhenhua, as a well-known figure who made a name for himself in the "Battle of Ten Thousand Treasures", fall here? You should know that Yao Zhenhua was once a billionaire. According to the Hurun Top 100 Rich List in 2016, Yao Zhenhua's wealth reached 115 billion yuan at that time, ranking the fourth in China, and he outdid Ding Lei, Robin Lee and other billionaires.

Especially the textbook style "barbarian" operations of Baoneng have made the A-share market tremble with fear. The story of punching Vanke and kicking Gree has been passed down in the capital market.

In 2015, Baoneng Group continuously increased its holdings in Vanke through its subsidiary, becoming Vanke's largest shareholder. At that time, Vanke's founder Wang Shi publicly stated that he did not welcome it and called Yao Zhenhua a "barbarian". In the end, Baoneng Group failed to control Vanke, but made a lot of money by buying low and selling high.

Using the same formula, Baoneng Group once became the major shareholder of Gree Electric Appliances. Dong Mingzhu publicly stated, "If they become Chinese made disruptors, they are criminals.". Under pressure from all parties, Baoneng gradually withdrew from Gree Electric by the end of 2016.

Most of the companies targeted by Yao Zhenhua have a commonality of dispersed equity. At present, the companies controlled by Baoneng are still major shareholders of multiple listed companies. According to its official website, it supports the compliant operation of three listed companies: South Glass Group, Zhongju High tech, and Shaoneng Group.

Falling into a debt crisis,

Consecutive selling of assets

The glorious era of Baoneng Group, or Yao Zhenhua, saw a change in 2021, when Baoneng Group was accused of falling into a debt crisis. Zhongju High tech has disclosed that as of the end of December 2021, Baoneng Group's total interest bearing liabilities were RMB 191.8 billion, with a balance of RMB 30.8 billion in external guarantees.

As the core financial and capital operation platform of the Baoneng series, Jushenghua disclosed in its annual report that as of the end of 2021, its interest bearing debt balance was 82.291 billion yuan; The total amount of external guarantees provided by Jushenghua and its subsidiaries is 57.289 billion yuan; The litigation involving Jushenghua's financing and external guarantees amounted to RMB 55.02 billion.

In a letter to investors released by Baoneng at the end of 2021, it stated that the company's current difficulties are temporary, and all of its interest bearing liabilities have sufficient collateral to guarantee them.

Subsequently, Baoneng continued to sell assets, including real estate, equity, etc. In Yao Zhenhua's words, it is called "disposing of high-quality assets", but in many cases, if the debt is not repaid, it is because Baoneng's subsidiary company receives a ruling and the debtor sells its shares.

According to incomplete statistics, since 2023 alone, Zhongju High tech has issued a series of progress announcements regarding the receipt of execution rulings by its controlling shareholder Zhongshan Runtian. Most of these announcements involve creditors selling their shares in Zhongshan Runtian through bulk transactions. Zhongshan Runtian was controlled by Baoneng Group, and at that time Zhongju High tech was also the only A-share listed company that Baoneng still controlled.

In just July, Baoneng's control over Zhongju High tech also faced challenges. On July 24th, the first extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of Zhongju High tech in 2023 passed a proposal to dismiss four members, including He Hua, Huang Wei, Cao Jianjun, and Zhou Yanmei, from their positions as directors of the 10th Board of Directors.

There are reports indicating that these four individuals are all related to Baoneng Group. The resolution of this shareholder meeting also means that Baoneng Group has completely lost control over Zhongju High tech. And this kind of drama has been staged for the Nth time, and Baoneng Group was once the largest shareholder of South Glass A and Shaoneng Shares, but now they have lost control.

Screenshot of Tianyancha

Baoneng's control over many enterprises is achieved through Jushenghua. However, according to Tianyancha, Shenzhen Jushenghua Co., Ltd. is a dishonest company publicly disclosed by the Supreme People's Court, and the company has also been listed as a restricted high consumption enterprise by the court. Jushenghua has been enforced by the court as many as 39 times for failing to fulfill legal obligations on time.

Difficult to abandon automotive business

Regarding the problems that Baoneng has encountered, some analysts believe that Baoneng's stall is too large and its business is complex. Among them, the automotive industry, due to its large investment and long return period, is one of the main reasons for dragging it into a debt crisis.

According to Tianyancha, Baoneng Automobile Group Co., Ltd. was established in 2017 with a registered capital of 10 billion yuan. But the company's business development has not been very smooth. In May 2022, Baoneng Group announced that the Shandong Automobile Distribution Association had issued a consumer warning stating that several car owners had complained about the lack of 4S stores for after-sales maintenance.

Baoneng responded at the time and conducted an investigation and verification as soon as possible, actively contacting relevant consumers for understanding and communication, and resolving the issue properly. Baoneng Automobile also announced that its cumulative production will exceed 10000 vehicles in 2022. However, Baoneng cars are rarely seen on the market.

There are reports that Yao Zhenhua has invested up to 53 billion yuan in the automotive business, but this has not been confirmed by Yao Zhenhua and Baoneng Group.

In December 2017, Baoneng also invested in Guanzhi Automobile. According to China Fund News, in 2021, the sales of Guanzhi Automobile were only 5200 units, with an average monthly sales of less than 450 units. According to other media reports, in 2022, the cumulative sales of Guanzhi Automobile were only 720 units.

Nevertheless, Yao Zhenhua is committed to the automotive business and will not abandon it. In March 2022, according to a notice delivered by the Guangzhou court system, the whereabouts of Yao Zhenhua, Chairman of Baoneng Group, are unknown. At that time, Baoneng responded that Yao Zhenhua was not missing. He walked into Baoneng Automobile's Shenzhen factory for work inspection. At the 2022 Baoneng Chairman's Office Meeting, Yao Zhenhua also mentioned "rapidly promoting the listing of automobiles and other products".