Pay back the money, pay back my hard-earned money.
Article 1 Chinese Business Strategy Zhang Jingbo
In 2018, Peng Xiaofeng, the former richest man in Jiangxi, disappeared mysteriously after he pocketed more than 23 billion yuan in the bank and swept away thousands of investors.
The police then issued a warrant for him, but he has not been brought to justice.
Six years later, just as everyone was about to forget, this former photovoltaic giant suddenly appeared in the United States and was involved in an illegal cannabis cultivation case.
["Be mistreated like a prisoner!"]
August 2020, Farmington, New Mexico, United States.
Someone was near a motel, smelling a pungent smell, and then called the police. The local police immediately searched the hotel and found:
There are many workers processing marijuana here, with a total amount of 900 kg!
This was an ordinary marijuana case. However, some good news media found that there was a big guy behind the case:
Peng Xiaofeng, the former richest man in Jiangxi, is on the run.
However, at the moment, his identity is no longer the richest man in new energy in China, but the head of SPI Energy in the United States.
During the investigation, the police found that an American businessman named Dine Benali was responsible for running these marijuana businesses. By the time the case was solved, its business had expanded to:
More than 20 farms, 1100 greenhouses, covering an area of 400 mu, employ more than 2000 workers.
The Native American Agricultural Company of Benali accepted the financial support from a company called CBD Group in 2019, which can also be regarded as commissioned production, because the two sides signed an agreement.
CBD Group is a subsidiary of Peng Xiaofeng's SPI Energy.
It's not surprising that things should stop here. After all, marijuana is legal in many states of the United States. But soon, 15 workers came forward to accuse:
They were abused like prisoners, working 14 hours a day, monitored by cameras and security personnel, some of whom also carried weapons.
According to local people, they once saw workers sleeping in fields and ditches, "shivering all night".
What's more shocking is that many of these workers are illegal immigrants, many of whom are from China. They were promised a high salary of 12000 dollars per month. They came here with joy, but they entered the Devil's Cave.
On this basis, the local prosecutors filed a lawsuit against the persons involved. Peng Xiaofeng is on the list of defendants.
Although Peng Xiaofeng himself strongly denied his involvement, his interest in cannabis has long been no secret.
As early as 2019, when the wave of legalization of cannabis swept across the United States, Peng Xiaofeng's SPI Energy made a high-profile announcement that it had entered the cannabis market and signed a cooperation agreement with Native American Agricultural Company.
"We are eager to enter the cannabis market and are very happy to cooperate with the Navajo people." Peng Xiaofeng said.
Spurred by this news, SPI Energy's share price soared.
Navajo is a reserve of Native Indians. Peng Xiaofeng may not know that Navajo is not allowed to grow marijuana.
What's more surprising is that he was involved in illegal immigration and abuse of workers.
But people familiar with Peng Xiaofeng should not be surprised because His life is always full of accidents.
[From the richest man to the world]
"Let the sun work for us."
In the chilly spring of 2008, Peng Xiaofeng, 33, stood on the dusty construction site, imagining his photovoltaic empire.
This is a place called Mahong Town, only a few kilometers away from Xinyu City, Jiangxi Province. At Peng's feet, there were two hills, but 15 days later, they will be:
To the ground!
Xinyu cadres are no strangers to this speed.
Three years ago, Peng Xiaofeng, who was still doing labor insurance business in Suzhou, met Wang Dehe, then mayor of Xinyu, because of a car accident. After half an hour of secret talks, the two decided unanimously:
Enter the photovoltaic industry and do something important!
Specifically, Xinyu provides preferential policies for land and electricity prices, as well as 200 million yuan of supporting funds, while Peng Xiaofeng is responsible for the project implementation.
Since then, in just over two years, Peng Xiaofeng has made LDK the first in Asia and successfully landed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Peng Xiaofeng after listing, With a value of 40 billion yuan, he became the new richest man in Jiangxi.
But like other domestic PV giants, Peng Xiaofeng turned around and saw that although the downstream PV modules were overwhelming, the upstream silicon materials were monopolized by overseas giants, and the price was soaring.
He was born strong and had a keen sense of smell. He immediately decided to build the world's largest polysilicon factory in Mahong Town:
The total investment is 12 billion yuan, and the planned production capacity is 15000 tons!
How exaggerated is this figure?
At that time, China's polysilicon production capacity is also less than 2000 tons.
However, at this time, an accident occurred. In October 2008, the global financial crisis broke out, and the price of silicon materials avalanched. Peng Xiaofeng accurately stepped on the historical peak of polysilicon price.
Thereafter, there is no suspense. Mahong Silicon Material Plant has hardly made profits since it was put into operation in 2009, and was forced to stop production until 2012.
Peng Xiaofeng, who had fallen from the peak, left 23 billion yuan in bad bank accounts and fled.
In 2014, he founded P2P Green Energy Treasure to try to make a comeback. It was announced that an efficient Internet financial leasing platform should be established between investors and photovoltaic power generation enterprises.
Facts have proved that this is just a fraud.
Four years later, in 2018, thousands of investors were accidentally informed that Lvnengbao was suspected of illegal fund-raising. Peng Xiaofeng, their hero, disappeared mysteriously with huge sums of money.
However, Peng Xiaofeng, who was far away from home, did not stop struggling.
Soon after, people found that he appeared in the United States, served as the head of SPI Energy, and resumed his photovoltaic business.
It seems that Americans do not care about this businessman who left bad deeds in China, but regard him as a guest of honor. After all, he can give local people investment and employment.
So, from California to South Carolina, Peng Xiaofeng has traveled all over the country, SPI Energy has also become the second largest photovoltaic module manufacturer in the United States.
SPI Energy is more than just a component factory for the United States.
Under the impact of China's photovoltaic industry, the United States has never produced silicon wafers since 2016. You know, the United States is the ancestor of photovoltaic industry.
In order to revive the past, the Biden government provided huge tax relief for the photovoltaic industry in the Inflation Reduction Act enacted in 2022.
Peng Xiaofeng, who was looking for "flavor", immediately announced:
Enter the silicon chip field, and plan to deliver the first batch of products by the end of 2023, and increase the capacity to 3 GW by 2024.
At this time, Peng Xiaofeng may think of Mahong Silicon Material Factory again. It seems that the opportunity to get rid of his former shame is near at hand. However, this time he miscalculated.
In the face of China, which controls more than 90% of the world's silicon wafer production capacity, SPI Energy and the US photovoltaic industry have little chance of success.
Shortly after Peng Xiaofeng made a bold statement, CubicPV, which started earlier than him, announced that it would stop producing solar silicon chips in the United States.
This news is a big blow to the Biden government, which is trying to revitalize the US photovoltaic industry.
Affected by the industry environment, SPI Energy has been struggling at the break even line. Peng Xiaofeng, however, has not yet gone out of the shadow of the industry and has run into another case of illegal cannabis cultivation.
Angel or devil
Since he came to Suzhou to start his own business in 1997 with 20000 yuan earned from foreign exchange speculation, Peng Xiaofeng's life has been full of accidents for more than 20 years.
These accidents were more directed by him than by the current situation and luck.
Peng Xiaofeng, a talented person, has been fond of gambling since he was young, and has Cheetah like sense of smell and speed.
When he graduated from junior high school, he unexpectedly chose an unknown foreign trade vocational secondary school instead of going to a key high school with the first grade in the county.
After graduating from technical secondary school, he was assigned to work in Ji'an Foreign Trade Bureau. At that time, when China started the reform of its foreign exchange system, the RMB fell sharply against the US dollar. Peng Xiaofeng seized the opportunity to earn 20000 yuan.
With this money, he wandered around Suzhou and founded a foreign trade company called Liuxin Industry to do business in labor protection products.
At this time, his bright head began to run at a high speed.
In 2002, European countries revised their traffic regulations and listed reflective vests as standard equipment for vehicles. Peng Xiaofeng urgently adjusted the production line to produce reflective vests.
As a result, it quickly occupied more than 30% of the European market before others started.
The photovoltaic industry, in particular, shows Peng Xiaofeng's lightning like sense of smell and speed.
One day in 2003, Peng Xiaofeng, who was on a business trip in Europe, learned from his customers that Europe was actively developing photovoltaic and other renewable energy.
After returning to China, he immediately conducted research on the photovoltaic industry, and finally decided to leave the foreign trade business to his family.
Since then, Peng Xiaofeng, Like a cheetah, he is totally immersed in his calculation and sprint of prey. In this respect, he is always one step ahead of others.
But at the same time, it also led to his loss.
As soon as he entered the photovoltaic industry, Peng Xiaofeng spent tens of millions to buy nearly 70% of GT-SOLAR silicon wafer production equipment at one go, and increased the capacity of LDK to 200 MW within one year, accounting for almost 80% of the country's polysilicon capacity at that time.
When Mahong Silicon Material Factory arrived, he wanted to become the world's largest single polysilicon factory in one breath.
At the same time, many of his opponents were shrinking.
Jin Baofang, the founder of Jing'ao, walked around the southeast coast and found that many small workshops were pulling silicon rods, and announced production reduction immediately after returning.
Gao Jifan of Trina Solar was frightened by the data of the Great Leap Forward of China's photovoltaic project displayed by the American contractor, and he lost sleep for three consecutive nights. Finally, he asked the leader to say, "I will not do this."
As a result, Jing'ao and Trina Solar, which were braked in time when the industry was crazy, are still evergreen trees in the photovoltaic industry today. Peng Xiaofeng, who did not know how to step on the brake, fell from the richest man.
Peng Xiaofeng, who fled to the United States, did not seem to reflect on his own failure and still went his own way:
Seeing that the United States is trying to revitalize the photovoltaic industry, it immediately enters the field of silicon chips; As the legalization of marijuana swept across the United States, it rushed into the marijuana industry.
Even when the wave of electric vehicles is surging, he also started electric vehicles.
As a result, most of these investments met with accidents without suspense. The marijuana business was sued, and the electric car business had to be sold at a discount.
Peng Xiaofeng said that his dream when he was young was to be a physicist, which was also his driving force in photovoltaic industry. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the publication of General Theory of Relativity, he also tweeted in memory of his idol Einstein.
Physics is a subject that respects objective laws, but Peng Xiaofeng, who ran all the way, never seemed to believe in objective laws.
He was a gambler by nature. He once brought gospel to many places with his crazy attack and was regarded as an angel by many people.
At the peak of 2011, LDK became the largest financial contributor in Xinyu. However, angels are fickle and become devils in a twinkling of an eye.
At the critical moment, Wang Dehe, the then mayor of Xinyu who bet on Peng Xiaofeng, was blocked in his career.
The suppliers and investors whose funds were damaged in the bankruptcy of LDK and the illegal fund-raising case of Lvnengbao are still healing themselves.
On microblog and post bar, people sometimes shout: Pay back, pay back my hard-earned money!
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