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Chapter 1276: Chapter 1132: Go Crazy (Subscribe Please!)
Looking at Tang Qing,
Ma Yun was momentarily at a loss for words.
From the beginning,
he went straight to the bottom line.
It was indeed a bit too quick, and if it had been an ordinary business negotiation, he could have been eloquently persuasive, but considering this was about the stock issues of Ali and concerned the future of Ali, he had to be cautious.
Recalling Tang Qing’s desire for control,
"Boss Tang, do you have any plans for Xiao Xiao?" Ma Yun asked cautiously.
Tang Qing smiled.
"Of course, you’ve seen it too, Xiao Xiao, with its diversified content expansion, coupled with the arrival of the mobile internet, you can see a part of Xiao Xiao’s future, how could I not see it?"
"Ali is still just a platform company, and Xiao Xiao is still just an enterprise management software, but, regardless of you or me, we both have our own plans for the future of the two companies."
"To tell the truth, Xiao Xiao and Ali are now manifesting a competitive situation, which I admit, but, I’m really not targeting you, I just feel that I also want to do this one thing."
"Just like your confidence in Ali, my confidence in Xiao Xiao is equally immense. In my view, in the future, it will be a company no worse than Ali and will also engage in meaningful business activities."
With that,
Ma Yun understood.
This negotiation
was likely coming to a close as, according to Tang Qing, if Xiao Xiao was no worse than Ali, then a buyout was almost out of the question unless... he was crazy.
Looking at the young Tang Qing,
Ma Yun felt that youth truly held endless possibilities, why not be crazy? Others might think it arrogant, but Tang Qing could build such a business empire, every step taken very steadfastly.
Certainly not just talking off the top of his head.
"Boss Tang, could I hear about the future of Xiao Xiao as you see it?" Ma Yun suddenly looked at Tang Qing seriously.
"This is, after all, a business secret."
"This will decide whether I reevaluate the value of Xiao Xiao."
Tang Qing looked at Ma Yun.
"Alright."
Given the consent, Ma Yun immediately straightened up.
"Xiao Xiao is an enterprise management software, just as Sky Eye is a business services company, the positioning won’t change, and on this basis, I redefine Xiao Xiao as: a data services company."
"A data services company?" Ma Yun was shocked.
This idea
was not avant-garde; foreign enterprises have always been involved in this, and Ali had already developed a nascent form of this. He had also considered Ali’s future; one aspect was to pursue the path of data services.
And the ecommerce platform is the entry point for data.
Tang Qing nodded.
This was not a new concept.
Ali
would indeed follow this path in the future; the ability to deeply mine data is the core of Ali, Taobao Tmall and the like are all data portals, Ali, in essence, is a data company.
"Yes, in the future, Xiao Xiao will provide support and services for global enterprises’ data needs, not limited to so-called common economic, financial, lifestyle, and trade data, but any kind of data needs we can meet."
This
is also how Xiao Xiao differs from Ali.
Tang Qing’s vision for Xiao Xiao is broader, considered its ultimate goal.
After hearing this,
Ma Yun fell silent again.
Tang Qing’s ambition was indeed enormous, surpassing even his own future positioning for Ali, but it also indirectly confirmed that his own path was correct. The difficult part was that a formidable competitor had appeared.
A competitor who can’t be knocked down or eradicated.
If that was indeed the case.
For Ali to trade controlling rights, a huge price would have to be paid, yet the cost of a fight for survival, Ma Yun was hesitant, because Tang Qing was building up a domestic company.
What about Ali?
He only owned less than ten percent of the stocks.
The majority of the remaining shares were in foreign hands, with Japan’s SoftBank and Yahoo together directly controlling over fifty percent of Ali’s shares. Honestly, Ma Yun was also quite unhappy about this.
But,
that’s how financing works.
He had to give up tangible shares to let Ali and Xiao Xiao fight to death in the future. Ma Yun dared not think about it, because with Tang Qing’s devilish ability, Ali’s chances of winning were just fifty-fifty.
"I wonder if Boss Tang is interested in becoming an independent shareholder of Ali," Ma Yun said.
"Do you have shareholders willing to sell their shares?" Tang Qing feigned surprise.
"Yahoo—they’re currently short on cash flow and might sell some of their shares, and as for Xiao Xiao, I can persuade the board of directors to go through with a one-to-two share swap. The swapped shares will not be less than fifteen percent of Ali’s shares, but the precondition is that you won’t give it up."
Ma Yun looked at Tang Qing.
What he feared most
was that after the cooperation, Tang Qing would start his own venture. Given Tang Qing’s personality, he found that no matter what industry he entered, he would do his best to excel, and all his companies were the same. This was his reason for going all out.
"Heh, that’s interesting," Tang Qing chuckled.
Ma Yun was really going for it.
To avoid a direct confrontation and reduce the company’s foreign-held share count, he planned to bring him in. Although it seemed like a slight loss for himself, getting the opportunity to buy into Ali wasn’t too bad.
"I agree. To be honest, my only issue with Ali is the foreign shareholders. A Huaxia company should be controlled by Huaxia people," Tang Qing thought to himself: Even if it goes global, it should still be controlled by Huaxia people.
"It can’t be helped. Ali’s operations burn through a lot of cash. Domestic investors are not only unprofessional but also like to interfere and are slow with their money. Necessarily, we have to attract foreign investment," Ma Yun said helplessly.
Tang Qing nodded.
That’s why many internet companies prefer to seek foreign financing.
It’s not without reason.
The investment strategy of nationals is simple: I’ve invested, so I have a say; I can interfere with the company’s operations and insert some people while their resources and management capabilities are weak, unless they’re out of their minds.
Otherwise,
it’s a choice between two,
and anyone would choose foreign capital. Nationals like to control, while foreigners pursue return rates, which directly conflicts with the founders’ teams. Therefore, for companies like Ali, if not foreign capital, who else to turn to for financing?
This time,
if Tang Qing’s industries hadn’t almost all been involved overseas, both in management and capital, aligning with international standards without ideological barriers, Ma Yun wouldn’t have proposed such terms.
"Mr. Ma, here’s to our happy cooperation," Tang Qing extended his hand.
"Regarding Yahoo, I’ll try to persuade them. Since Ali is going public in Hong Kong at the end of the year, they will definitely sell at a premium. I’m not sure how many shares you can handle," Ma Yun asked.
These two months,
Yahoo had been brutally beaten down by ERV, really needing some cash to recover. Since ERV’s shareholders didn’t include Yahoo, the beating was particularly severe; Ma Yun could barely stand to watch.
Being targeted by an ’ultra-predator’ like ERV,
Ma Yun could only mourn for Yahoo.
"I’ll take as many as you can persuade," Tang Qing said.
Money was no object for Tang Qing; Yahoo was just a declining company, after all. With ERV’s market value stabilizing at six hundred billion US dollars, Fighter had directly borrowed sixty billion dollars to aggressively expand his business.
Leveraging its substantial user base and technology.
Yahoo
was just a stepping stone.
These almost ’featureless’ internet companies fail quite rapidly; currently, Yahoo’s stock price had been halved directly. If not for Yahoo repurchasing shares, it could have fallen even further.
The financial crisis hadn’t yet started.
But they’d already been beaten to a pulp.
It wasn’t that Tang Qing was targeting Yahoo specifically; it was just easier to bully compared to Google and Apple, who were shareholders of ERV. When it came to action, ERV wouldn’t be so harsh; it would slowly erode them instead.
Now, Yahoo’s shareholders were contemplating whether to sell themselves to cut losses.
Therefore,
the current Yahoo,
desperately needed funds, and the sale of Ali’s shares wasn’t something Yahoo could just decide on—it needed Ma Yun’s approval since he was the chairman of Ali’s board of directors. With Ma Yun’s support, this acquisition should encounter no major problems.
After a thorough discussion with Tang Qing,
Ma Yun left satisfied.
Introducing Tang Qing as an investor, he felt, could be a great opportunity for Ali.
