Rebirth of England

"You can't say that, Duke Barron, I am indeed very sincere. You must know that it has been almost three years since the last financing. During this period, my company has found its positioning and is in the current business. It can be said that very few Internet companies can achieve this, so it is normal for the company’s valuation to double than before.”

If calculated based on the price given by Boss Ma, the valuation he made for Alibaba is roughly equivalent to the valuation corresponding to Barron's acquisition of Penguin shares.

For Barron, even if he invests in Alibaba according to his statement, he will make a lot of money.

However, even if he could give others the impression that he was wealthy and did not care about the company he was interested in, Barron did not need to come to "bargain" with Boss Ma in person, so he just smiled and said:

"Mr. Ma, the person in charge of DSIIC will discuss the specific matters with you. I hope we can eventually reach a cooperation, and you may know that my investment has always been only a financial investment, and it only recognizes the company's managers. This is too troublesome for me, so if we can cooperate, then the voting rights of the shares I hold will also be handed over to you to ensure that I am responsible for the company. control."

Barron's words made Boss Ma very happy.

You must know that the current period is not like later, when the financing of many start-up companies is very rhythmic. For example, when Xiaomi was later listed, Lei Jun held a considerable part of the company's shares until it went public.

In the early days of the Internet industry, even many entrepreneurs had no financing experience, so in the beginning, in order to seek funds, too many shares were paid in the first two rounds of financing - Penguin and Alibaba This is the case for all companies.

There is no way, when faced with life and death, we must first let the company survive.

But after the company develops well, holding too few shares becomes a worry for the founders of these companies. They need to use different means to ensure their control over the company - after all, even if they choose AB shares to control company, that also needs to wait until the company is listed.

At first, Boss Ma didn’t know much about financing. It was only after Cai Chongxin, who was engaged in private equity investment at the Hong Kong branch of Investor AB, the main investment company of the Swedish Wallenberg family, joined Alibaba that Boss Ma became familiar with financing. More awareness.

This is why when Alibaba raised funds again in 2004, Boss Ma would find a way to get Sun Zhengyi to agree to give him the voting rights of the shares he held for 10 years.

As 2015 approached, when this agreement was about to expire, Boss Ma raised huge sums of money from China for this purpose and repurchased part of the Alibaba shares held by Yahoo to prevent his control of the company from slipping away - because At that time, he and Sun Zhengyi had already had a rift due to the separation of Alipay from Alibaba.

Moreover, Barron's status at this time can be said to be much higher than Boss Ma, so even if he asks Amber to discuss specific investment matters with Boss Ma, Boss Ma will not care about it.

After all, the current boss Ma is not a person who values ​​​​face too much. Being able to solve the company's financial problems and allow Alibaba to develop better is what he cares about most.

The Duke in front of him is the most suitable "financier" he thinks at this time.

Having more money and less to do is not pleasant.

Speaking of which, although Boss Ma's reputation is not yet prominent nationwide at this time, his relationship with the local government in Hangzhou is still very good.

Later, he mentioned that people from the local government in Hangzhou also hoped to host a banquet to welcome the Duke of Devonshire.

After all, it is rare to hear that the Duke of England came to mainland China, and based on the Duke's previous investment skills, they also hope to attract investment...

However, Barron politely refused. After all, he did not plan to invest in too many industries in China on a large scale this time - the time was not right yet.

And after investing in Penguin and Alibaba, more of his funds need to be placed in England.

Because although it is indeed very promising to invest in some industries in China, such as the hotel industry and real estate industry, the problem is that due to the foreign exchange exchange system, within a certain period of time, more funds invested in China will In the form of Chinese currency, it is not convenient for global circulation to continue to stay here.

This is different from the fact that Penguin and Alibaba will be able to directly reduce their shareholdings and obtain U.S. dollars after they are listed overseas in the future.

In the future, when his assets reach a certain level, he will definitely invest on a large scale in China, an emerging market with strong growth, but now this plan needs to be postponed.

In this regard, Boss Ma also expressed his understanding. Anyway, for him at this time, it is best to be able to help connect people, but the financing of his own company is more important.

"I won't bother Mr. Ma anymore. Mr. Sheehan from DSIIC will come to Hangzhou soon to discuss investment with you. Tomorrow, I will ask Laura to accompany me for a walk around Hangzhou. Then I will Going back to London."

"Is it so fast? Why don't you go to the capital and the magic city to see it? After all, as the saying goes, it's not a true man who doesn't visit the Great Wall..."

"Haha, Mr. Ma, I have long admired the grandeur of the Great Wall, but I still have business in London, but I may come to China again soon. I hope that by then we will have become a close partner."

…

However, although Barron declined the banquet from Hangzhou, when he traveled the next day, he clearly found that he still received extra "care".

Because the former residence of Hu Xueyan he went to, it was obvious that security had been strengthened here, and there were several familiar security guards who had been accompanying Barron and his group from a distance.

This is understandable. After all, there are many tourists in Hangzhou at this time. The local people do not want Barron, the British Duke, to cause any trouble here. If a diplomatic incident occurs, it will be troublesome.

"This is the former residence of Hu Xueyan. Your Highness the Duke, have you heard of this person before?"

As Barron said before, when he came to Hangzhou, Wang Wanting became his tour guide and asked him at the gate of the garden.

"I know, this is a very famous big businessman in China, right? He was once so rich that he could rival the country."

"Yes, Your Highness the Duke, you have really studied Chinese history."

This garden was built in 1872, when Hu Xueyan was at the peak of his career.

The mansion project took three years and was completed in 1875.

The completed former residence is a beautiful residence rich in traditional Chinese architectural features and Western architectural style. Whether it is the architecture, the furnishing of indoor furniture, or the exquisite materials used, it can be called the largest mansion of a wealthy Chinese businessman in the late Qing Dynasty.

At the beginning of last year, it was officially opened to the public after more than 500 workers worked day and night for 16 months. The former residence has undergone surveying, archaeology, design and maintenance, with a total cost of 600 million yuan.

So while walking here, Barron couldn't help but immerse himself in this unique garden scenery.

"By the way, I forgot to ask. When you return to Hangzhou this time, why don't you go home and have a look? Laura, if necessary, I can give you a day off."