After Divorce, I Can Hear the Future

"In the future, Huanfang Technology will return to its roots and focus on the research and development of AI models."

Liang Wenhu pondered for a long time, then suddenly started talking about why he ventured into quantitative trading in the first place; fundamentally, it was because of lack of money.

A standard GPU core, such as the NVIDIA P100, costs 12,000 US Dollars, and towards the end of last year, the surge in Bitcoin drove the price above 20,000 US Dollars.

Huanfang's self-developed Firefly One AI model is equipped with 1,100 P100 GPUs.

Not to mention labor and other daily expenses, the expenditure for this alone is 13.2 million US Dollars.

Self-developing an AI model is a money pit; without continuous funding from cash-generating ventures, it would inevitably die prematurely.

So at that time, he decisively paused the AI model's development to focus on making money, which led him to discover quantitative trading.

Once you have money, you can do whatever you want without being bound by anyone.

"Mr. Lu, you also thought this way back then, right?"

The stock swap between Tianxing Quantitative and Huanfang Technology appears to be at a loss now,

But Liang Wenhu is confident it will become Lu Liang's most outstanding investment in his lifetime.

Tianxing OS wants to be the Android of the automotive world, but Huanfang Technology aims to be the terminal of the Internet of Everything.

Because artificial intelligence is a massive concept, virtually any networked product can extend AI applications.

If installed on a phone, it acts as an intelligent assistant, helping the owner answer any questions and arrange schedules as a personal secretary.

If installed in a car system, it acts as an intelligent driver, more human-like than any navigation available, knowing which route is smoother and more convenient, making travel worry-free for the owner.

If installed on a computer, it becomes a powerful office assistant that can autonomously generate spreadsheets and complete data statistics and organization upon entering relevant data.

And these are just civilian applications; military, space, and aviation functions are also included. Artificial Intelligence is the next big opportunity, beyond mere words.

"Wenhui, you've successfully convinced me."

Lu Liang smiled, reaching out his right hand, indicating agreement to Liang Wenhu's additional conditions.

In his view, with Huanfang Quantitative no longer in existence, Tianxing Quantitative takes its place, making it a trade that would inevitably yield no loss.

As for the stake in Huanfang Technology, that's just an unexpected bonus.

"On behalf of Huanfang, thank you for your recognition." Liang Wenhu stood up quickly, unable to hide his excitement.

It's important to know that Tianxing is reputed in the industry as a private equity tyrant, and Lu Liang's self-created 3 + 20N charging model has investors feeling both love and hate.

The reason for the hate, of course, is the high fees: taking 30% profit as a standard, with every 30% increase in profit leading to a corresponding 5% increase to the management fee.

If the profit rate reaches 60%, the management fee is 25%; at 90%, it's 30%; and at 120%, it goes up to 35%, capping at 40%.

Assuming a capital of 100 million US Dollars yields 150 million, of which 60 million US Dollars is taken as Tianxing's management fee.

Plus there's the guaranteed initial 3% entrance fee, Tianxing's total revenue reaches 63 million US Dollars.

The reason for the love is simple,

Tianxing consistently enables investors to earn substantial profits.

Because once the management fee hits the cap, it means the investors receive at least 90% of the returns.

Moreover, this usually happens within a year, with the first and second private equity rounds issuing dividends several times each year, ensuring every investor's total return exceeds 300%.

The international quantitative fund co-founded by Huanfang and Tianxing will unsurprisingly adopt this charging model.

A hundred-billion-dollar asset management scale,

Just the preliminary entry fee amounts to 3 billion US Dollars.

Huanfang Technology holds a 30% stake,

Providing a revenue stream of 900 million US Dollars.

The company won't be short of funds anymore, allowing Liang Wenhu to focus on leading the AI model R&D team.

Quietly working until they amaze the world.

"On the 13th, our fourth private equity settlement occurs; you should come and participate, then go with me to Xiangjiang."

Lu Liang pondered for a moment, suddenly suggesting his plan to place the headquarters of international quantitative operations in Xiangjiang; although Modu is a financial city, its freedom can't match Xiangjiang.

Regarding currency attributes alone,

Xiangjiang holds an incomparable advantage over Modu.

Because starting from 1983, the Xiangjiang Government abandoned its currency issuance rights, instead letting Bank of China, HSBC, and Standard Chartered issue Hong Kong Dollars.

However, these three banks are not unrestricted in issuing Hong Kong Dollars; for every 7.8 Hong Kong Dollars issued, there must be one US Dollar pledged with the government.

So Hong Kong Dollars, euphemistically called Hong Kong Dollars, are practically US Dollar exchange coupons.

While the currency circulating in Modu is known as Hutong, essentially it is Renminbi, whereas Hong Kong Dollars are essentially US Dollars.

Tianxing Quantitative will focus on international market trading, not involving the mainland market, nor engaging in risk investments.

Setting up the headquarters in Xiangjiang is the best choice.

Liang Wenhu nodded, and the two discussed some details and the time for their next meeting.

Soon, the conversation was coming to an end, his phone on the table rang, and Lu Liang also stopped talking.

Although the voice from the receiver was faint, the restaurant's environment became quieter with their presence, and hearing the familiar female voice, Lu Liang smiled knowingly.

Liang Wenhu coughed a few times, made some excuses, and then hung up the phone. Lu Liang said with a smile, "Wenhui, if you have things to do, go ahead and take care of them. We'll talk later."

"Alright, Lu, I'm leaving now." Liang Wenhui dryly smiled a few times, with a phony serious expression.

This was Lu Liang's gift to him, an evening is short, one night just isn't enough, he still has many moves to explore.

After all, she was once at the top, now still banned, Lu Liang invited her, surely promised more than just money.

So at least keep the relationship for three to five months, have fun and enjoy, to be worthy of the cost Lu paid.

Liang Wenhu left.

Lu Liang sipped his coffee, suddenly picked up his phone, and called Gunn at DC Studio, inquiring about the progress of the "Joker" project.

Gunn was startled, surprised by Lu Liang's call, because ever since injecting $250 million last year, Lu Liang hadn't bothered with them.

If Lu Liang weren't frequently active in financial news, and heard yesterday he took Wall Street by storm again.

Gunn would have thought Lu Liang had vanished.

He truthfully said, "The preliminary preparations are almost done, about eighty percent of the casting is also determined, the male lead is confirmed as Phoenix... Lu, I remember sending you the casting list and project funding approvals not long ago, didn't you look at them?"

"Hmm..."

Lu Liang was silent for quite a while, actually opened the email, glanced at it, and said, "An R-rated film, with a crime genre, a $55 million investment, yet losing the important Eastern Continent market, it's likely hard to make a profit."

Gunn was single-minded, couldn't catch Lu Liang's implied meaning at all, hurriedly explained, "Warner wants DC to list independently, you know about this too, the project just needs to be critically acclaimed, whether it's a box office hit is secondary."

"Gunn, if it's both critically acclaimed and a box office hit, that would be even better, wouldn't you agree?"

Lu Liang hinted so obviously, if Gunn still didn't understand, he'd be pretending to be oblivious.

He understood and cautiously asked, "Lu, do you have any good suggestions?"

Lu Liang said with a smile, "Although the Eastern market can't be accessed, we can let Eastern audiences actively walk into theaters, there are many Chinese in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and globally."

Gunn was thoughtful, thus following Lu Liang's remarks, "Perhaps we can start with the casting, choosing a heavyweight Eastern actor to attract Eastern audiences to theaters."

"Hmm, that idea is good."

Lu Liang smiled with squinted eyes, who says foreigners don't understand relationships, this foreigner sure does.

Looking at the plot summary of "Joker," he paused and said, "Arthur's imaginary girlfriend, the single mother role, really can be played by anyone, it's unnecessary to specifically find a black woman, it's a bit overly politically correct."

"Joker 2019" can also be called "Joker: Origins," telling how Joker was forced into becoming Joker by society.

There are two key female roles in it, one being Joker's mother, the other being Joker's imaginary girlfriend.

The imaginary girlfriend's identity as a black single mother, changing to an Asian single mother, isn't particularly jarring either.

"Lu, do you have any suitable recommendations?"

Gunn smiled bitterly, can only mentally apologize to Sage Beaz. The financer is the most powerful, let alone Lu Liang, if he wants to push someone for a role, even Warner can't stop him.

"Fan Bingqing seems good, hmm, let's go with her."

Lu Liang's attitude was very firm, didn't bother with a consultative tone anymore, almost commanding.

Gunn frowned, knowing few Eastern actresses, among them just happened to include Fan Bingqing.

Her status and influence are definitely enough,

But this one seems to be targeted for a ban by the dragon label.

"An R-rated film won't enter the mainland market anyway, does a ban even matter then?"

"That's true." Gunn sighed, indicating he would immediately send her a role invitation.

"Then let's leave it at that."

Ended the call with Gunn.

Lu Liang gazed at the cityscape outside the window, murmured softly, "Wenhui, don't let me down, I have high hopes for you."

A hundred million a year, thirty billion in two years, a trillion in four.

Lu Liang's confidence in Huanfang surpasses even Liang Wenhu's confidence in Huanfang.

In the quantitative field, with such extraordinary performance, Yinghuo No.1 will only be more outstanding in other application scenarios.

This is why Lu Liang spares no effort to win over Liang Wenhu and is even willing to protect him as well.