Chapter 46 Figures in Corporate History: Hurun Makes the List

Hurun's real name is Rupert Hoogewerf, he is a British born in 1970.Since 1999, he has launched the "Rich List" in China, and at the end of each year, there will be a wave of moderate waves in China. Hu Run came to China in 1990. As a student, he went to Renmin University of China to study Chinese for a period of time. In September 1997, Hurun returned to China after working for Andersen, one of the top five accounting firms in the world.He spent some time on the beach in Shanghai, but he couldn't make a name for himself. He was very distressed, so he complained to his father in his hometown.The old man woke up the dreamer: Have you figured out who you are in China and Shanghai?Hu Run said that from then on, he knew that only by being famous and making himself a "who" would he have a chance.So, he came up with the idea of ​​giving full play to his talent as an accountant and making a ranking list for the rich in China.As early as February 1995, "Forbes" once produced a list of China's richest people, but it was interrupted due to difficulty in operation. In 1999, a very rough ranking list prepared by Hurun came out, and he gave professional financial rankings to "Financial Times", "The Times", "The Economist", "Fortune", "Business Weekly", "Forbes" and other professional financial rankings. The media each sent a fax, and he wrote: "I am an accountant of Arthur Andersen, and I did this 'Top 50 in Mainland China' in my spare time. On October 1, China will celebrate its 50th anniversary. If If success is defined by the amount of wealth, then these 50 people are the most successful people in mainland China, and their stories can help us understand the 50-year history of the Chinese Communist Party. If your journal is interested, please contact me." As a result, "Forbes", which took creating "Money Vanity Fair" as its mission, expressed interest and put it on the cover of "Forbes Global Edition".In this way, Hurun became famous.

As soon as the list came out, voices of doubt and condemnation came overwhelming.Some entrepreneurs on the list want to go to court with Hurun, and rich people who are not on the list have to "seek an explanation". Some media even said that this is a very "funny" list with inaccurate information, narrow focus, and The calculation method is wrong, and even this practice itself has exposed countless problems. Niu Wenwen, editor-in-chief of "Chinese Entrepreneur", once had a very vivid narrative in an article entitled "A Dazzling Way of Making Money": Suddenly in autumn, our old friend Hu Run called and said that the new year's "Forbes" The list of China's richest people will be released in a few days. This time it will no longer be 50 people, but it will be expanded to 100 people. It may be too much at once, and there are still a few short of 100 people. Can I give it to you? He helped recommend a few people.In the middle of the night when I got home from the night shift, I turned the steering wheel with one hand and took the mobile phone with the other, and randomly said a few names that I thought were cutting-edge but that Hurun might not know.After a few days, the "Forbes" China Rich List will come out.Of the 12 names I have learned and sold to him, 4 of them are listed in the top 12, among which Yang Bin from Eurasia Agriculture ranks second!

However, no matter what, Hurun has become a character that people love and hate. Almost all the top rich people in China are afraid that he will miss him, but when he does appear on the ranking list, they avoid it. Lest not.It was in such a focus of public opinion that Hurun became famous overnight. He appeared in various media, and his comments on a certain entrepreneur could become a source of fermentation for financial or gossip news.When he appeared on CCTV's "Tell the Truth", the host Cui Yongyuan introduced him in the same tone that Mao Zedong wrote about Bethune, "Hu Run, a young British man, came to China from a long distance and became a hundred-year-old man unknown to the Chinese. The rich list has pushed Chinese rich people to the world and let the world know about China..."

By this time, Hurun and his rankings had formed a very interesting business humanistic phenomenon: the pursuit and attention to wealth made the rankings attract much attention, while the grayness of primitive accumulation, unscientific rankings and even considerable People's hatred of the rich has caused confusion in concepts and business operations.As a result, every time the ranking list is announced, there will be tax agencies going to the companies of the richest people on the list to check the taxes, and often they check one by one. Under the stalking of the media, those who are at the top often suddenly show their "tails" that they shouldn't have. For example, Yang Rong, Yang Bin, Gu Zhijun, etc., are all famous on the rich list, but under the high attention of the media, Watching them collapse or wither is chilling.In a sense, Hurun's Top 100 Rich List is like the "Biao Wang" of CCTV seven or eight years ago. It is because of it that it became famous overnight, and it is also because of it that it will never return. Some people even call it "Prisoner List" or "Pig Killing List".

Hu Run is quite proud of the sensation he has caused in the Chinese business world.In an interview, he said bluntly: "The Forbes list is a tool for me. If a Chinese or a Chinese organization makes this list, they will be scolded to death, but I happen to be a British person. There is an American magazine, let’s do it, and it will go smoothly.” Hoogewerf’s statement is undoubtedly true, and this British youth in his early 30s accidentally opened a “skylight for peeping” with his boldness and recklessness. Hurun established a relationship with "Forbes" by relying on the rankings. He has never been an official editor of this old American financial magazine. He has always carried out activities as the "Chief Researcher in China".When Hurun really became popular in China, "Forbes" was in a bit of a hurry. In November 2002, Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief of "Forbes", came to Nanjing to participate in the "World Capital Forum". Maybe even he himself did not expect that he would become a "star" surrounded by many reporters during the forum.Steve clearly felt the huge influence of the Hurun rankings in China, as well as the positive and negative effects brought about by the rankings.Soon, "Forbes" terminated the contract with Hurun.

However, at this time, Hurun’s feathers were full, and he soon launched the “Hurun Rich List” named after himself. He has completely integrated into the wealth game with Chinese characteristics, and he seems so at home. A lot of sub-lists have been produced one after another, such as the real estate rich list, philanthropist list, IT rich list, financial rich list, steel rich list, luxury list, etc., and even a Wenzhou rich list specially for Wenzhou.He also publishes a direct investment magazine called The Hundred Rich. These chaotic and exciting rankings have continued year after year, and Hoogewerf believes that he is getting closer to the truth.With the increase of information and data, and the improvement of working methods, Hurun is confident to create a real ranking list.At the same time, in this process, this bright and hard-working British young man also gained a new understanding of China, and his cross-international perspective enabled him to draw many "wealth details" that were not noticed by others.For example, he observed that real estate developers are the most rich in China, and in 2003 there were many new rich people related to agriculture—that is to say, related to land.There are only 4 or 5 people related to the IT industry, and in the United States, at least 5 of the top 10 richest people are from IT.Among the 400 richest people in the United States, the largest number in the United States is engaged in entertainment media, while there is only one person in China.The threshold for Hurun's "100 Rich Club" was US$6 million in 1999, and rose to US$80 million in 2002. By 2007, the bottom line of the top ten had risen to 33 billion yuan.

The average age of these mainland rich people has never exceeded 45 years old, and less than 2% of them can speak English fluently, and the children of these rich people can speak English, accounting for more than 50%... These interesting data, if there is no It is impossible to draw rankings and comparisons from multiple perspectives. Hurun is a careful person, and he takes rankings as a career.In addition, he is also keen on hosting all kinds of jeweled parties. In these shows, apart from the rich, there are beauties, foreign wine, jewelry and luxury cars. Hu Run knows that the meaning of luxury is to waste money for others to see, and he is willing to Create such opportunities.

Usually, Hoogewerf likes to wear casual clothes, a light yellow coat, and a black and gray plaid scarf around it, which reminds people of Salinger’s description of British gentlemen, “They either carry an umbrella, or hold an umbrella in their mouth. A pipe, or, regardless of the season, wearing a checked scarf.” Hu Run’s way of speaking is very meticulous, paying attention to the feelings of the other party, and using slightly exaggerated expressions from time to time to express your words. reaction.Not only is his Chinese surprisingly good, but his understanding of Han culture is even more surprising. Once, he asked a Chinese reporter who came to interview, "When did the first industrial civilization appear in Chinese history?" When the reporters hesitated, he proudly said, "That's the Song Dynasty, the four great inventions."