Picture source @Visual China
text | Handset tech, author | Rao Yan
After disappearing for more than half a year, real estate tycoon Pan Shiyi is finally no longer invisible.
html On January 15th and 16th, Pan Shiyi updated two messages on Sina Weibo, but both of them forwarded the Weibo content of his wife Zhang Xin.Prior to this, Pan Shiyi’s Weibo had been inactive for more than half a year, and there was almost no news about him on social media.
Pan Shiyi's Weibo has been set to be visible for half a year, and the content before the stop is not visible. However, before Zhang Xin updated the last two Weibos, the last Weibo stayed on July 28, 2023.
Zhang Xin's latest Weibo post was to celebrate the award-winning film of one of her film companies, "The first film 'the monk and the gun' shot by our film company Close Media was fortunate enough to be shortlisted for the 96th Academy Award for Best International Film. Congratulations. Bhutanese director pawo dorji!"
When Pan Shiyi retweeted this Weibo post, he added a three-dot red flower icon. It seems that after the couple moved to the United States, they chose the new track of film, and they succeeded in their first battle. Someone close to Pan Shiyi revealed that in addition to updating Weibo recently, Pan Shiyi is also in contact and communicating with friends in China.
But before that, Pan Shiyi and his wife had disappeared from public view for a long time. However, judging from the current signs, this mysterious former boss may return to the public eye.
During the golden age of rapid development of domestic real estate, Pan Shiyi was a man of the hour in the real estate circle.
In 1992, the wave of "100,000 talents coming to Hainan" drove Hainan's property market crazy. Feng Lun, Pan Shiyi, Yi Xiaodi, Wang Gongquan, Wang Qifu and Liu Jun, who were later known as the "Six Gentlemen of Wantong", stepped into this trend. , earn a pot of gold.
Soon after, the Hainan real estate bubble burst. Pan Shiyi, Feng Lun and others left Hainan and came to Beijing to establish Vantone Group Co., Ltd., with Feng Lun as chairman, Wang Gongquan as general manager, and the other four people were directors and vice presidents. " Wantong Six Gentlemen" was officially named.
The "Six Gentlemen of Wantong" once became the darling of the times. However, the highlight moment did not last long. As the business grew bigger and bigger, the differences between the six people's business philosophy and the company's future development path became more and more serious.
In the end, in its heyday, the "Six Gentlemen of Wantong" chose to split up peacefully.
In 1995, Pan Shiyi and his wife Zhang Xin co-founded Soho China Co., Ltd., focusing on commercial real estate. Jianwai Soho, Soho Shangdu, Chaowai Soho, etc. appeared one by one.
In 2007, soho China was listed in Hong Kong. This was Pan Shiyi's highlight moment. The SOHO project he developed is not only a successful commercial real estate, but also a famous landmark building in Beijing.
It is precisely through the development and operation of commercial real estate that Pan Shiyi and his wife gained both fame and fortune and made a lot of money. According to the 2021 Hurun list, Pan Shiyi and Pan Zhangxin have a net worth of 22 billion yuan, ranking 302nd.
However, since 2021, Pan Shiyi and his wife gradually sold their Soho China assets and moved to the United States. Since then, Pan Shiyi and his wife have gradually retired.
On September 7, 2022, soho China announced the resignation of founder Pan Shiyi and his wife. Among them, Pan Shiyi resigned as chairman of the board of directors, chairman of the nomination committee and chairman of the esg committee, and his wife Pan Zhangxin resigned as the company's CEO, saying she "focuses on supporting art and charity." The subsequent news from
was that before Pan Shiyi moved abroad, he had planned to package and sell the company to Blackstone in the United States, but fell short at the last minute and failed. After that, Pan Shiyi and his wife disappeared from the public eye and rarely spoke out on social media.
later encountered the downward cycle of the domestic real estate industry, and the commercial real estate business that had been doing well in the past also entered a trough. News about the couple's immigration often spread.
With Pan Shiyi's disappearance, there are no more "Wantong Six Gentlemen" in the real estate world.
Perhaps seeing the downward trend in real estate development, Pan Shiyi and his wife chose the track again and entered the film and television entertainment industry.
Judging from the information revealed by Zhang Xin on Weibo, their film company has already shot three movies.Some netizens also said that they had spotted Pan Shiyi at the Toronto International Film Festival, and said that Pan Shiyi was wearing a hat and a suit at that time, smiling brightly, and holding a SLR camera in his hand and shooting everywhere. From this point of view, they should not be making movies just for fun, but have made long-term plans to invest in film and television.
What is interesting is that not only Pan Shiyi, but also the "Six Gentlemen of Wantong" who were all-powerful at that time were all ill-fated.
Feng Lun has already bid farewell to real estate and is now working in "content and self-confidence media". According to people familiar with the matter, Feng Lun has recently started a business school with Wang Shi and others, called the "Future Industry CEO Growth Plan". Each person charges about 100,000 yuan. Those who want to change their destiny are becoming Feng Lun's disciples.
Yi Xiaodi's Sunshine 100 is struggling to maintain its position. Its share price has dropped to HK$0.073 per share, with a total market value of only HK$186 million.
Wang Gongquan was even sentenced to jail on suspicion of "gathering a crowd to disrupt order in a public place." After being released from prison, he founded Beijing Qingpu Tourism and Culture Development Co., Ltd. and the Chinese Poetry Research Institute. Since then, he has rarely appeared in the public eye.
As a senior cycling enthusiast, Wang Qifu founded Blue Sky Green Field Sports Culture Development Co., Ltd. in 2016, which mainly operates cycling and other sports-related activities.
Liu Jun rarely appeared in the public eye after leaving Wantong. According to previous media reports, Liu Jun has made great achievements in agricultural logistics projects such as fruit and vegetable preservation, storage, processing and marketing in Sichuan.
The once vigorous real estate industry has entered a cold winter, and a turbulent era has come to an end.
In 2007, Feng Lun, one of the "Six Gentlemen of Wantong", published a book called "Savage Growth", which summarized his insights and thoughts on Chinese private enterprises and entrepreneurs. The title of the book echoes the words in "Thirty Years of Stirring" In a sentence: "When this era comes, it will be unstoppable. All things grow wantonly, dust and dawn rise."
This may be a true portrayal of Pan Shiyi and others.
