Ten Years Against the Current of Rebirth

Chapter 252 Jack Ma's $1 Billion

Chapter 252 Jack Ma’s $1 billion

Ma Yun has imagined many occasions when he would meet Xu Xing.

It may be a splendid luxury hotel box, or an elegant and quiet secret tea room.

Most people who are successful in their careers usually have their own dedicated place to receive guests, which is more convenient for communicating on important matters.

However, thinking about the age of the boss Xu Xing and the speed of his achievements, Ma Yun didn't find it so strange when he looked at the store in front of him, which was obviously more like an ordinary restaurant.

In this year, the mobile Internet has just started. Jack Ma is already very well-known in the industry, and outside the industry, he has also created a very successful character by relying on his outstanding appearance and an inspirational story.

The skill of storytelling is already a deep-rooted instinct for these Internet tycoons.

Commonly known as painted cakes.

The secretary who had been in contact with the other party followed Ma Yun, brought out a mask for Ma Yun, and said softly: "Mr. Ma, Mr. Xu has arrived five minutes early and is in box 201."

"Let's go."

Ma Yun put on a mask to avoid being recognized. After approaching the restaurant, he heard lively shouts coming from three round tables not far away.

At a glance, it was probably a group of young people having a dinner, which was very noisy.

Ma Yun didn't pay attention to these episodes, and just followed the waiter's guidance all the way to the door of the box on the second floor.

The moment he opened the door, he was facing a young and handsome guy.

The other party was sitting in the window seat. He was smiling and talking to the female secretary next to him. After hearing the movement at the door, he turned around and looked over. He immediately calmed down the expression on his face, and then showed a very polite smile. He stood up from his seat to greet him.

"Mr. Ma, I have long admired you." Xu Xing walked over from his seat, stretched out his hand to shake Ma Yun's hand, and looked down at this celebrity who could only be seen online. He felt inexplicably excited in his heart to meet the newly unearthed man. Like an antique.

Ma Yun took off his mask, shook hands with Xu Xing with a smile, and did not show his aggressive side. He just said: "Mr. Xu, this is a famous name that I have admired for a long time. After seeing you today, I can only say that heroes come from young. I originally felt that I was young. , only then did I realize that I am really old when I saw you."

"Mr. Ma can work for at least another twenty years." Xu Xingye responded with a smile and led the two people who came in to sit down.

"According to what you say, you can do this for at least another fifty years?" Ma Yun sat down on the seat next to Xu Xing, looking closer, and teased with a smile.

"That's not the case." Xu Xing shook his head, "I will work for another ten years and then retire."

Ma Yun: "...If you say this, I'm afraid you'll be beaten."

A 20-year-old man said that he would retire after working for another ten years. What you say to me is not far behind.

But what Ma Yun didn't know was that Xu Xing's words really came from the bottom of his heart.

After all, he went against the current trend for ten years and returned to the present. He only had a few years of advantage. After taking advantage of these advantages and making enough money, he would of course go away to retire.

From now on, I will just do charity, support the development of the country, and just be a rich man with peace of mind.

"The waiter serves the food."

The two parties joked with each other for a while, and after becoming a little familiar with each other, Xu Xing called for the food to be served.

Because they had to talk about something, Xu Xing and Ma Yun didn't drink liquor, and beer seemed less formal, so they opened a bottle of red wine, clinked glasses, and started chatting while picking up food.

Neither of them took the lead in talking about important matters such as cooperation and acquisition.

"Now that the mobile Internet is booming, Mr. Xu must be able to take advantage of this trend to reach this point. He must have a lot of insights." Ma Yun said thoughtfully, "If your WeChat message can be snatched from the hands of QQ in the computer era A piece of meat, do you think Ali’s peach treasure is also in danger?”

"This is not a concept." Although Xu Xing didn't think so in his heart, he still said, "The nature of e-commerce is essentially different from social software. The key to social software is to seize the user's relationship chain and reverse the relationship. Force users to use it, otherwise all their friends in the relationship chain will be gone.”

"The key to e-commerce still lies in the supply chain, product prices and quality, as well as express delivery efficiency and services. Alibaba is strong in this aspect, and the mobile terminal is just a transplant of functions."

"In this regard, I think except for JD.com, probably no one can threaten Taobao's position in e-commerce."

Well, it's true that it doesn't exist now, but I won't be able to say for sure in the future.

However, Ma Yun is not his father, so it is impossible for Xu Xing to tell him all the important information.

Just cheat and that's it.

In fact, with the launch of functions such as Tmall Supermarket, Taobao has gradually embarked on the road of formalization.

This was originally a good sign.

But this also means that the pirated and low-quality products that once helped Taobao make a name for itself have also been squeezed out by Taobao himself.

It would be fine if no one discovered it, but there is never a shortage of people looking for opportunities in the market.

Well, in later generations, Pin Xixi, who is famous for relying on tens of billions of subsidies and cutting off one knife, actually has a similar logic to the original Taobao in terms of rise, and they all follow a cheap and low-cost path.

To put it bluntly, the e-commerce market is destined to have a market for low-end, mid-range, and high-end products at the same time.

Only one software can accommodate all kinds of products. Firstly, it is not conducive to brand development. Secondly, regulatory issues will be very cumbersome. In addition, there are various problems that are difficult to deal with and coordinate.

It is basically difficult for one company to become the dominant one.

In the computer era, the number of users was not large, and the e-commerce pie was not big enough, so Alibaba could still take the lead.

But with the advent of the mobile era and the popularity of smartphones, it means that the number of Internet users will explode at a geometric growth curve.

At this time, a Taobao can no longer bring all users into his network.

Ali must either start a new business or accept this fact.

In later generations, Alibaba launched software such as Taobao Express Edition and Taote, all of which were actually designed to solve this problem and try their best to include a full range of low-, mid-, and high-end products into their own industrial matrix.

The two of them were chatting about e-commerce, and Ma Yun turned to social software. Taking advantage of the relaxed atmosphere of the meal, Ma Yun joked: "According to the current momentum of WeChat, I am afraid that we will be able to share the world with QQ in the future." ."

"You can't take this seriously." Xu Xing said humbly, "QQ is our predecessor, and we still need to have the respect we deserve. I have been playing QQ since I was a child, and my classmates also have QQ. They are all memories of our youth. Doing WeChat The news is also to pay tribute."

Salute you big-headed ghost!

Ma Yun had a smile on his face, but he was already scolding Teng Xin in his heart.

Fortunately, you are paying tribute to QQ. It is best to keep paying tribute in the future and not worry about Alibaba's business.

Of course, it would be great if we could become a family in the future.

"On its own, WeChat may not be able to catch up with QQ, but if Mr. Xu is so determined, I can help you." Ma Yun raised his glass and touched it with Xu Xing. After taking a sip of red wine, he continued, "The best tribute to a senior is to catch up with him and surpass him."

"Mr. Ma's words are good." Xu Xing happily clinked a drink with him, and then asked tentatively, "So, how are you going to help me?"

"Before, you used 10% of WeChat's shares to raise 150 million yuan." Jack Ma shook the red wine glass and said after thinking for a moment, "I can understand your thoughts. You were unwilling to accept Alibaba's acquisition before, and you also didn't want to let it go. This business."

"In that case, I don't have to give up the control, and WeChat will still be controlled by you."

"Ali just needs a seat on the board of directors."

When Xu Xing heard this, he raised his eyebrows.

Alibaba's style has always been very distinctive. As long as it can be acquired, it will try to acquire it and integrate it into Alibaba's own system and ecological chain.

Only if it is really impossible to completely acquire it, we will relax.

A more classic case in the previous life was Meituan and Didi. Both of them have been relying on Alibaba and Tencent for many years, using the relationship between the super giants to achieve a delicate balance, thus ensuring their relatively independent status. .

It’s just that in this life, WeChat’s status is a bit magical.

Because Preparatory's parent company, Qunxing Company, has a steady supply of funds from Tianshu Games, WeChat does not need to consider its own funding issues at all.

This is what worries Alibaba and Tencent.

"So, what does Mr. Ma mean?" Xu Xing asked curiously.

"I want 35% of WeChat shares, one billion." Ma Yun tapped his fingers on the table and said neatly, "A beautiful knife."

Upon hearing this number, Xu Xing's eyes narrowed and he was a little surprised.

Yan Chijuan, who had been obediently helping Xu Xing pick up the food next to him, also flicked his wrist, almost thinking that he had heard wrongly.

35% of the shares is almost one-third. What did Jack Ma say?

$1 billion?!

Is this really not taking money as money?

You know, just a few months ago, when Alibaba came to discuss the purchase price of WeChat, the price for 100% equity was US$1 billion!

As a result, just a short time later, one-third of the shares were worth US$1 billion, so wouldn’t Alibaba’s total valuation of WeChat have already reached US$3 billion?

Is it okay to triple it in a few months?

What’s even more exaggerated is that just a week ago at the WeChat 2.0 launch conference, Shanghai United Venture Capital acquired 10 shares for US$150 million, bringing the total valuation of WeChat to US$1.5 billion.

It has only been a week, and Jack Ma’s valuation of WeChat has doubled!

It can be seen that when he came to see Xu Xing this time, Ma always made a lot of determination and was determined to win WeChat.

With 35% of the shares, if it exceeds one-third, although it does not have absolute control over WeChat, it at least has a veto power.

This means that in the future, Alibaba can choose to veto any major decisions within WeChat that will be detrimental to Alibaba to protect its own rights and interests.

This is a very correct multiple-choice question for Jack Ma.

QQ on Tencent's side is enough. Now add WeChat. If it still can't win over Alibaba, then at least it must ensure that it is harmless to Alibaba.

Especially if this 1 billion US dollar is spent, Alibaba will be regarded as the second largest shareholder of WeChat no matter what.

By then, even if the cooperation between the two parties cannot completely satisfy Alibaba, it will at least have a basis for in-depth cooperation.

Although he failed to fully integrate WeChat into his own Alibaba system, he can still be regarded as a foreign aid player.

It is much more useful than those social software that are made by our own companies and have no charm at all.

"This is really a generous move." Xu Xing did not comment immediately, but just sighed, "To be regarded so highly by Mr. Ma, my life has not been in vain."

"Mr. Xu is exaggerating." Ma Yun laughed and did not force Xu Xing to express his position. He just said, "This is Alibaba's sincerity and its emphasis on the future potential of WeChat."

"But to be honest," Xu Xing said, "Weixin is really not short of money now. After all, we have just completed the first round of financing."

"No one will object to having a lot of money, especially in promotion and publicity. If you are not short of money, it means Mr. Xu that you are not good at spending money." Ma Yun leaned back in his chair and said with a smile, "TV, Internet, streets, etc. Subways, airports, shopping malls, celebrities, everything you can’t imagine, there’s nothing you can’t spend all your money on.”

"That's the truth." Xu Xing nodded, "But 150 million US dollars is enough for WeChat to spend a while."

"Then what?" Jack Ma then asked, "Before WeChat has its own revenue to cover the costs, you can't always rely on a few mobile games. The game industry is too risky, and no one can guarantee the next game. Can it still explode?"

You can't guarantee it, but I can.

Xu Xing complained in his mind, but it was impossible to say it in person.

During this period, Jack Ma was still at the stage where "Alibaba will never make games".

But in a year or two, he will probably slap himself in the face.

"I don't want to reach a cooperation now." Jack Ma continued, "This time can be now or a few months later. I am here just to show my sincerity."

"Well, I do feel Mr. Ma's sincerity." Xu Xing nodded without giving the slightest guarantee.

"Ha." Ma Yun didn't look angry at all, he just smiled and shook his head, "Alibaba can definitely give you more than you think, and money is only the most important thing."

"If you are willing, you can imagine how powerful the accounts of WeChat, Taobao and Alipay can be."

"And that's just the surface."

Jack Ma's words are very tempting.

The main reason is that Ali's own cards are so solid that people are very appetizing at first glance.

But for Xu Xing, Taobao and Alipay are, in fact, just like QQ, very respectable seniors in his eyes.

Well, senior.

Isn’t it just for catching up?

This is what Jack Ma himself said.

Seeing that Xu Xing was a bit out of touch, Ma Yun sighed, as if he had run out of tricks.

But then he said: "Actually, there is another way of cooperation."

"oh?"

"Xu Xing." Ma Yun called him by his real name for the first time, "Do you understand Alibaba's partnership system?"