王石留下的遺產(chǎn)

Two years ago, it looked like Wang Shi would be able to retire on his own terms.

兩年前，王石似乎本可以功成身退。

Back then, the founding chairman of China Vanke, the country’s most valuable property company, could look back on an almost 30-year career with few regrets. In addition to building one of China’s most admired corporate brands, he had attained an almost rock-star-like popular following for his personal exploits, which have included summiting the highest mountains on all seven continents and trekking to both the North and South poles.

那時(shí)的王石，作為中國(guó)最有價(jià)值的房地產(chǎn)公司萬(wàn)科(China Vanke)的創(chuàng)始人兼董事長(zhǎng)，回顧近30年的職業(yè)生涯，幾乎可以毫無(wú)遺憾。除了創(chuàng)建了中國(guó)最受尊敬的企業(yè)品牌之一，他還以個(gè)人壯舉——包括成功登上七大洲最高峰，以及徒步抵達(dá)北極點(diǎn)和南極點(diǎn)——贏得了搖滾明星一般的大眾支持。

Uniquely among his China Inc peers, Mr Wang built a business that could not be slotted neatly into either the state or private spheres. While Vanke’s shareholders included large state and private-sector enterprises, until late 2015 none held more than 12 per cent of the company and all were content to let Mr Wang’s management team run it as they saw fit.

王石創(chuàng)建了一家不能完全歸類為國(guó)有或民營(yíng)的企業(yè)，這在中國(guó)企業(yè)界是獨(dú)一無(wú)二的。雖然萬(wàn)科的股東包括大型國(guó)企與民企，但直到2015年底，其股東持股比例無(wú)一超過(guò)12%，而且全都愿意由王石的管理團(tuán)隊(duì)按照其所認(rèn)為合適的方式來(lái)運(yùn)作萬(wàn)科。

Last week Mr Wang, 66, confirmed that he would be leaving Vanke, whose shareholder register now includes a state-owned mass transit group with a 29 per cent stake: Shenzhen Metro, which builds and operates subway systems, will henceforth be Vanke’s dominant owner.

上周，66歲的王石證實(shí)自己將離開(kāi)萬(wàn)科。萬(wàn)科現(xiàn)在的股東名冊(cè)包括持股29%的國(guó)有軌道交通集團(tuán)深圳地鐵(Shenzhen Metro)，這家主營(yíng)建設(shè)和運(yùn)營(yíng)地鐵系統(tǒng)的集團(tuán)今后將成為萬(wàn)科占主導(dǎo)地位的股東。

Vanke’s journey from management-led champion to de facto ward of the state in less than two years was, for Mr Wang, the best of some pretty bad options. He had been on the verge of having to surrender control of his company to an upstart rival who he dismissed as a “barbarian”. But for a corporate boss who appeared to revel in his reputation as a maverick, it is a humbling outcome.

萬(wàn)科在不到兩年的時(shí)間里，從管理層領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的冠軍企業(yè)，變成實(shí)際上受國(guó)家監(jiān)護(hù)，對(duì)王石來(lái)說(shuō)算是一些糟糕選項(xiàng)里最好的選擇。他曾險(xiǎn)些不得不將公司控制權(quán)交給一個(gè)被他鄙棄為“野蠻人”的暴發(fā)戶競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手。但對(duì)一個(gè)似乎醉心于特立獨(dú)行者名聲的企業(yè)老板來(lái)說(shuō)，這是一個(gè)屈辱的結(jié)果。

It is also an outcome that demonstrates, for all the Chinese government’s talk of giving market forces an ever freer hand in the world’s second-largest economy, the still very real limits of Beijing’s tolerance. Vanke is a listed company operating in a sector that is not considered particularly “strategic”, compared to telecommunications or energy. Its shares should be worth whatever a willing buyer is prepared to pay for them. But when just such a buyer emerged intent on acquiring control of Vanke, government regulators decided to intervene.

這一結(jié)果也表明了北京方面的寬容仍十分有限，盡管此前中國(guó)政府一再表示讓市場(chǎng)力量在這個(gè)全球第二大經(jīng)濟(jì)體中越來(lái)越自由地發(fā)揮作用。萬(wàn)科是一家上市企業(yè)，與電信或能源行業(yè)相比，其所在行業(yè)并不被認(rèn)為特別具有“戰(zhàn)略性”。只要買家愿意出價(jià)，其股票就應(yīng)該值這個(gè)價(jià)。但就當(dāng)這樣一位買家出現(xiàn)、意圖收購(gòu)萬(wàn)科的控制權(quán)時(shí)，政府監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)卻決定出手干預(yù)。

The disappointing denouement of Mr Wang’s career began in the second half of 2015 with the appearance of a then 44-year-old nemesis, Yao Zhenhua, who was as little known as Vanke’s chairman was famous. Mr Yao’s Baoneng Group acquired more than 20 per cent of Vanke’s shares. It was the most dramatic hostile takeover ever attempted in corporate China. In just three weeks in December 2015, Vanke’s share price shot up 71 per cent.

王石職業(yè)生涯的結(jié)局令人失望，這一切始于2015年下半年一位強(qiáng)硬對(duì)手的出現(xiàn)，當(dāng)時(shí)44歲的姚振華還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不如王石那樣有名。姚振華的寶能集團(tuán)(Baoneng Group)收購(gòu)了萬(wàn)科20%以上股份。這是中國(guó)企業(yè)史上最戲劇性的敵意收購(gòu)嘗試。萬(wàn)科股價(jià)在2015年12月的短短三周內(nèi)上漲了71%。

Like Vanke, Baoneng is based in Shenzhen, the special economic zone bordering Hong Kong, and began life as a property developer. That is where the similarities between the two groups and their warring chairmen end. Vanke stuck to its core business. Baoneng diversified, most notably into the insurance sector, where looser regulations were allowing asset managers to raise enormous sums of money. In the four years through 2015, the premium income of Baoneng’s insurance arm soared 30-fold, from Rmb272m ($38m) to Rmb78bn.

與萬(wàn)科一樣，寶能也位于毗連香港的經(jīng)濟(jì)特區(qū)深圳，而且也起步于房地產(chǎn)開(kāi)發(fā)。這是兩家集團(tuán)以及它們相互敵對(duì)的董事長(zhǎng)之間僅有的相似之處。萬(wàn)科堅(jiān)持其核心業(yè)務(wù)。寶能則更為多元化，尤其是進(jìn)入保險(xiǎn)行業(yè)，該行業(yè)較為寬松的監(jiān)管使資產(chǎn)管理者能夠籌集大量資金。在截至2015年的四年里，寶能旗下保險(xiǎn)業(yè)務(wù)的保費(fèi)收入增長(zhǎng)了近300倍，從2.72億元人民幣(合3800萬(wàn)美元)漲至780億元人民幣。

Mr Yao also kept a tight grip on his group. Baoneng’s wealth was his wealth, which the Hurun Report estimated at $1.9bn in 2015 and $17.2bn just a year later.

姚振華也牢牢把持著他的集團(tuán)。寶能的財(cái)富就是他個(gè)人的財(cái)富，《胡潤(rùn)百富榜》(Hurun Report)估計(jì)，2015年姚振華個(gè)人財(cái)富為19億美元，而僅一年后就達(dá)到172億美元。

Mr Wang never parlayed his position as Vanke’s founding chairman into a sizeable — let alone controlling — stake as its business took off in the 1990s. Had he done so, he would have become one of China’s biggest billionaires. So when Mr Yao decided to take a run at Vanke, Mr Wang could only resort to rhetoric and politics. He dismissed Baoneng as “barbarians” and sought government protection.

萬(wàn)科的業(yè)務(wù)在1990年代就已起飛，王石從來(lái)沒(méi)有將自己作為萬(wàn)科創(chuàng)始人兼董事長(zhǎng)的地位轉(zhuǎn)化為可觀的股份，更不要說(shuō)控股股份。如果王石這么做了，他應(yīng)該已成為中國(guó)最大的億萬(wàn)富豪之一。因此，當(dāng)姚振華決定收購(gòu)萬(wàn)科股份時(shí)，王石只能訴諸于言論和政治。他鄙棄寶能是“野蠻人”，并向政府尋求保護(hù)。

Vanke’s fate hung in the balance for a year until December 2016, when China’s securities regulator borrowed Mr Wang’s “barbarian” rhetoric in criticising highly leveraged insurance companies and their hunger for acquisitions at home and abroad. Luckily for Mr Wang, his interests had dovetailed with the government’s growing concern about the financial risks building in the insurance industry. Mr Yao was subsequently banned from the sector for alleged violations by Baoneng’s insurance unit, and Shenzhen Metro paid $9.4bn to acquire its blocking stake in Vanke.

萬(wàn)科的命運(yùn)懸而未決了一年，直到2016年12月中國(guó)證券業(yè)監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)借王石“野蠻人”的說(shuō)法，批評(píng)保險(xiǎn)公司的高杠桿以及它們對(duì)國(guó)內(nèi)外收購(gòu)的饑渴。王石很幸運(yùn)，他的利益與政府對(duì)保險(xiǎn)業(yè)金融風(fēng)險(xiǎn)日益增長(zhǎng)的擔(dān)憂相吻合。姚振華隨后因?qū)毮芷煜卤ｋU(xiǎn)部門(mén)存在違規(guī)行為而被禁止從事這一行業(yè)，深圳地鐵以94億美元贏得在萬(wàn)科的第一大股東地位。

In the end, Mr Wang got the politics right. Unfortunately for his legacy, he will be remembered as much for that as for the business he built.

最終，王石正確利用了政治——遺憾的是，就他留下的遺產(chǎn)而言，人們既會(huì)記住是他創(chuàng)建了萬(wàn)科，也會(huì)記住這一點(diǎn)。