My Age of Investment

Ma Yun was in a daze, sitting on the reception chair like a defeated rooster.

He raised his arm mechanically and took a few sips of coffee.

The bitter taste lingered in his heart, coupled with the recent series of blows, making Ma Yun feel even more bitter, and he held back his tears.

If he hadn't been forced to do nothing this time, he wouldn't have wanted to ask Xia Jingxing for help.

After all, he, Ma Yun, considers himself to be no weaker than others throughout his life.

As a result, he asked Xia Jingxing for help over and over again, almost becoming a younger brother once and always.

After finishing the coffee, Ma Yun, as if he had made a difficult decision, put down the cup in his hand and looked up at Xia Jingxing, who was sitting opposite, with a look of death in his eyes.

"Daerun, the main reason why I have the audacity to go to Beijing to ask for your help this time is because I can't think of any other way.

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I know the request is a bit excessive and a bit abrupt, but please forgive me. "

Xia Jingxing smiled and waved his hand, "Don't worry, I'll help you smooth it out first."

"More than half a year ago, your management teamed up with Vision Capital to pledge Ali's equity and borrowed US$1.25 billion to acquire 5% of Ali's equity held by Yahoo, right?"

Ma Yun nodded hurriedly, "Yes, the root of the matter lies in this loan!

Today, Ahri's share price in Hong Kong has dropped to HK$4.75, down nearly two-thirds from the issue price of HK$13.5, and down nearly 90% from its peak stock price of HK$41.8.

Now every investment bank is lowering our stock rating, and Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are following suit, adding insult to injury and constantly asking us to add collateral.

Originally, our equity pledge rate was only 50%, but now it is almost close to the limit of 100%. "

Speaking of this, Ma Yun spread his hands and said in a rather helpless tone: "Of course, I don't mean to blame you when I say this.

In the final analysis, we are still too greedy, eating too much at once and bloating our stomachs. "

Xia Jingxing found it funny in his heart. Why didn't he see you so calm when we acquired Yahoo together?

When I saw the opportunity to increase my shareholding in Ali, I wanted to pawn my underwear and get more shares.

Affected by multiple unfavorable factors such as the financial crisis, slowdown in performance growth, and the infusion of B2B business to Taobao and Alipay, Ali's B2B listed company on the Hong Kong stock market has long since lost its glory.

From last year's peak market value of more than 200 billion Hong Kong dollars, Asia's largest Internet company, it has reduced to an ordinary company with a market value of more than 20 billion Hong Kong dollars. If you compare the market value, it is even lower than Penguin, which is also falling.

Including unlisted businesses, Ali's overall valuation was as high as US$25 billion when it joined forces with Microsoft, Vision Capital, and Facebook to acquire Yahoo.

Now this valuation has been cut in half, leaving only about $13 billion.

Jack Ma and the founding team jointly hold 36% of Ali's equity. Calculated based on the 40% pledge ratio, the value can still be assessed at US$1.872 billion, which is enough to cover the entire loan exposure of US$1.25 billion.

But Jack Ma is indeed, as he admits, too greedy!

He alone took half of the 5% stake in Ali acquired from Yahoo.

If he had chosen to give profits to the team at that time, Jack Ma would not be in this situation today.

Today, Jack Ma personally holds about 10% of Ali's shares. The valuation of US$13 billion multiplied by the 40% pledge ratio, and then multiplied by the 10% shareholding ratio, equals US$520 million. This is the equity held by Jack Ma in the investment bank. The assessed value there.

The loan granted to Jack Ma by the investment bank was half of the US$1.25 billion, or US$625 million.

There is a difference of more than $100 million!

In other words, under normal circumstances, Jack Ma has already liquidated his position.

Why didn't it explode?

Mentioning this matter, Jack Ma was a little hesitant and explained sheepishly: "Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley urged me several times. In desperation, I had no choice but to convince the other seventeen partners to let them use their own money." The equity in Ahli provided guarantee for me, so I could barely cope with covering up my position."

The corner of Xia Jingxing's mouth twitched slightly, Ma Yun really has a bit of charisma!

Except for himself, the other seventeen people among the Eighteen Arhats were actually willing to use their shares in Ahri to guarantee him.

It sounds easy, but in real life, many relatives are unwilling to sign a guarantee agreement.

This thing is no joke. If the lender runs away, the guarantor will have to keep it. If the loan is not repaid, it will be listed as a defaulter.

When Ma Yun was eating meat, these people just took a sip of soup.

Now that Lao Ma Tan is in trouble, the Seventeen Arhats come together to help.

The cohesion of this team is really strong.

But then again, without Jack Ma, these people may not be able to succeed.

All the Arhats have been working with Jack Ma for ten years, and everyone is still willing to believe that Big Brother subdued the Dragon Arhat.

"Jianlong... Oh, Lao Ma, how do you want me to help you now?"

Hearing this, Ma Yun knew that the matter was basically done.

He immediately smiled and said: "I am worried that the financial crisis will continue to spread, the stock prices of listed companies will fall further, unlisted assets will also be dragged down, and the overall valuation of Ali Group will be lowered by investment banks.

By then, a new round of replenishment will definitely be necessary.

I can't ask other partners to sign guarantee agreements for me all the time. That will definitely destroy the internal cohesion and give everyone bad ideas.

So, I want to borrow money from you! "

After finishing speaking, Ma Yun rubbed his hands in embarrassment, but his eyes looked at Xia Jingxing expectantly.

We have been old brothers for so many years, and our friendship is here to stay, so I should help with this little favor.

And once he liquidates his position, it will inevitably cause huge turmoil within Ahri, which will also affect the interests of Vision Capital and Facebook.

Xia Jingxing nodded slightly and asked, "How much do you want to borrow?"

"You can borrow 200 million...100 million US dollars first!"

Looking at Ma Yun, who is currently groveling for one to two hundred million US dollars, Xia Jingxing feels sad.

People who are not interested in money need to practice some more. Their current strength obviously does not allow them to... say such big words.

Xia Jingxing rubbed his temples. He had actually had a thought in his mind just now.

How about joining forces with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to pull out the ladder, take down Jack Ma, and take over Ahri?

After thinking about it, he gave up the idea.

First of all, at most, Ma Yun will be liquidated personally, not the management collectively liquidated, and some basic business rules must be followed when pulling out ladders, not casual robbery.

Secondly, Masayoshi Son is also an uncontrollable factor. If SoftBank steps in to help Ma Yun, the latter will be able to survive this crisis safely.

Finally, he made a simple assessment of the risks and benefits of the entire operation and found that it was not cost-effective.

Envision Capital and Facebook now hold a total of 44% of Ahri’s shares. From a purely financial return perspective, they have already tightly held Ahri’s golden chicken that lays eggs, waiting to pick eggs from the henhouse.

Under such circumstances, it would be a bit too greedy to engage in Jack Ma again.

At the same time, Jack Ma is not a vegetarian. Ahri has countless old subordinates who have followed him in his business for ten years. His personal prestige within the company is at its peak.

If he messes around and triggers a counterattack from Jack Ma and his team, Ahri might be completely destroyed, and in the end the gain outweighs the loss.

If you successfully gain control of Ahri, it will not be without its drawbacks.

If social networking and e-commerce are combined into one, they will truly monopolize the Chinese Internet. They will definitely become the target of public criticism in the future, and may also destroy the entrepreneurial ecology of the Chinese Internet.

When Jack Ma is standing in front working hard for the major shareholders, why should he be greedy for the false fame and equity income?

Now, as his net worth and horizons have grown, Xia Jingxing has also begun to learn to restrain his desires.

After many people become the richest man, they completely lose themselves in desire, thus causing disaster.

He didn't want to make the same mistakes as those people.

"No problem, within three days, 200 million US dollars will be transferred to your designated bank account."

Seeing Xia Jingxing agreeing to help so happily, Ma Yun looked at Xia Jingxing gratefully, and at the same time felt that he had indeed made the right choice.

If Xia Jingxing doesn't help, then he will have no choice but to go to Tokyo to find Son Zhengyi to help him.

"Daerun, don't be so anxious. It's hard to say whether the loan you gave me will be used. It depends on the follow-up situation."

Ma Yun said with a very excited expression: "Anyway, thank you so much this time! Darren, I will never forget your help today!"

Xia Jingxing smiled brightly and said, "Old Ma, what you said is a big deal. I'm still waiting for you to make money for me. Anyone can get into trouble, but you can't get into trouble."

Hearing this, Ma Yun suddenly smiled and said, "Darren, don't worry, Ahri will give you a satisfactory answer sooner or later."

"Well, I'm waiting for that day!"

Xia Jingxing knew that Ma Yun was talking about Ahri going public as a whole, so he didn't seem too eager about it because he knew that it wouldn't be something that could be completed in the next year or two, so he should wait patiently.

"By the way, Lao Ma, half a year ago, 160 million shares of Ali's stock were unlocked, and CIC bought almost 100 million of them at an average price of HK$15.

This investment caused CIC to lose more than HK$1 billion!

You still have to be "skilled" next, otherwise it will be difficult to explain some things. "

Ma Yun suddenly felt shocked. He asked Xia Jingxing for help before the ban on these stocks was lifted. As a result, the other party introduced China Investment Group.

He was quite happy at the time, because after all, Ahri was joining the national team.

It is indeed a bit embarrassing for someone to become the receiver now, and it also hurts feelings.

Ma Yun was furious and quickly replied: "I will work hard and make a turnaround next year!"

"That would be the best!"

Xia Jingxing asked with a smile: "Will the listing anniversary be held this year? If so, send out the invitations early so that I can arrange the time."

Ma Yun quickly shook his head, "No more, it's boring! Now that the financial crisis has had such a huge impact on all walks of life, let's be more pragmatic!"

Xia Jingxing chuckled, that's not what you said last year when Ahri launched full-moon wine just one month after its launch.

In fact, even celebrities in the business world have many shortcomings. Xia Jingxing found that Ma Yun's biggest shortcoming is that he loves to be pushy and enjoys success.