Li Dong was busy, but the rest were busy too.
On the 28th of March, Ali Network stopped trading in Hong Kong. This meant that Ali was entering the final phase of privatization!
Ali spent 2.5 billion USD to buy back the shares at the issue price.
When the news came out, the business world was shocked.
They were shocked by Ma Yun's determination!
Ali had become Asia's number two internet company when it was listed. Although the share prices had fallen, it was not something anyone could do.
Also, it was not worth it to privatize the company at this time.
Anyway, they had raised 2.5 billion USD, and it would be a waste if they did not use it. Even if the company was privatized two years later, it would be equivalent to using the 2.5 billion USD to develop the company for free for two years.
But Ma Yun had forcefully delisted the company!
Everyone knew the reason for the privatization. It was not because the share prices had fallen. This did not affect the listed Ali much, unless they were prepared to cash out.
The main reason was because the company was listed in Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange had rejected Ma Yun's partnership proposal.
This way, Ma Yun would not be able to get back control of the company. That was why he chose to privatize the company a year after it was listed. He did not mind using 2.5 billion USD.
To get back control of the company, Ma Yun had gone all out.
The current Ali was not very powerful, and using 2.5 billion USD at this time was equivalent to going bankrupt.
Also, even if the company was privatized, there was still Yahoo to stop them.
… …
The news of Ali's privatization spread quickly, and everyone in the industry was talking about it.
At the same time.
Far away from the building.
Li Dong complained. "Old Ma has learned to steal the limelight. He is quite efficient this time."
Yuan Chengdao laughed. "We forced him to do this. He has no choice now, and that's why he forced the shareholders' meeting to pass the resolution. I heard that to force Yahoo to give in, he even threatened to disband the management team. This is killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. It will not be easy to deal with the investors like this, and their reputation will not be good. "
Li Dong sneered. "What's there to be afraid of?! These days, as long as you make money for the investors, they can even call you daddy! If he can't, it's useless even if you kneel down and call him father! These people were the ones who only cared about profit. They didn't care whether you were embarrassed or not. They didn't care what methods you used to make money for them. As long as Ali can still make money, it's not a problem. It doesn't matter if his reputation is good or not. "
No one could refute his words.
Yuan Chengdao chuckled. "In the end, it's still not too good. But let's see how it goes."
"I don't care about them. We can't let them take the lead. Ali was actually trying to steal the limelight from Far away. That would not do. The entire industry was talking about them, so what was there to talk about? So far away, it should have dominated the headlines! "
After Li Dong finished speaking, everyone looked at each other. This old man was really domineering.
It wasn't easy for them to use 2.5 billion USD in exchange for a chance to make headlines. What do you want?
Soon, everyone knew what he was going to do.
"Immediately announce to the public that Weibo's Series C financing has officially entered the negotiation stage! This time, the new share capital was increased by 40 million shares, and the plan was to raise 1 billion US dollars, with a total share capital of 300 million shares. After the financing, Weibo is valued at 7.5 billion USD. Most of the 1 billion USD raised will be used for user feedback … "
Before Li Dong could finish, Liu Hong could not help but say, "7.5 billion USD?"
Li Dong glared at him and said, "Do you think it's 7.5 billion just because I said it's 7.5 billion?
Which other company would be so honest with So far away?!
Don't you know how to use your brains?
It's not listed anyway. Who cares how much I brag or how much I raise? Do I have to report it to outsiders?
I said I raised 1 billion USD. Even if I raised 300 million USD, is it illegal for me to report 1 billion USD?
You're always questioning me because of these questions. Are you guys too stupid, or am I? "
Everyone looked embarrassed. Who knew when he was telling the truth and when he was lying?
Now that they were all on the same side, he was still bragging and they thought it was true. Who else could he blame?
Li Dong looked at them unhappily and frowned. "To the public, we announced that we're raising 1 billion USD. Internally, we're trying to raise 800 million USD and raise 40 million shares.
Each share is worth 20 USD. After the financing, it will reach 6 billion USD.
It was worth 5.2 billion dollars before financing, which wasn't an impossible task.
After the financing, Faraway Group's shareholding will be diluted to 34.67%.
The management and employees' shareholding will be diluted to 3.33%.
A total of 38% will be in line with our expectations.
Before we go public, we'll buy back more than 40% of the shares. After we go public, we'll dilute the shares and still maintain more than 33% of the shares. "
"5.2 billion USD …"
Liu Hong and the others frowned. This was not a low target. Of course, as Li Dong said, it was not particularly high.
But even if it was not particularly high, it was higher than the evaluation given by the major organizations.
Li Dong could not be bothered with them. He said, "Release the news to the public that we've reached an agreement with several organizations. Focus on advertising for 7.5 billion USD. I'll let Ali grab the headlines for 2.5 billion USD. Can they beat us? "
Yuan Chengdao and the others were all embarrassed. Why did they have to do that?
Did you have to release the news in advance just for this trivial matter? Did you have nothing better to do?
After Li Dong left, Liu Hong smiled bitterly and said, "Is General Manager Li under too much pressure? So, a little … a little … "
"What's that?" Yuan Chengdao could not help but ask.
Liu Hong laughed dryly and said, "Nothing, nothing. If General Manager Li says to announce it, then let's announce it. CEO Yuan, I'll get back to work. "
Yuan Chengdao nodded and shook his head helplessly after he left. How could I not know what you mean?
Li Dong's menopause is coming early. What can we do?
It's better not to say bad things about the boss. Be careful not to be heard and cause trouble for you.
Liu Hong really did not learn his lesson. He had forgotten how he had been taught a few times before.
…
Ali announced that the privatization had entered the final stage.
Far away soon announced that Weibo's financing had also entered the final stage.
The Series C financing was worth US $1 billion, and Weibo was valued at US $7.5 billion after the financing.
Meanwhile, Far away Holdings, which was owned by Li Dong himself, held 34.67% of the shares.
According to the valuation after the financing, Li Dong's personal shares on Weibo were worth US $2.6 billion, which was about 18 billion yuan.
When the news came out, everyone stopped talking about Ali and started talking about Li Dong.
The Great Hoodwinker Li's money was indeed worthless.
Weibo was worth US $7.5 billion just like that?
The Great Hoodwinker's shares on Weibo were worth more than 18 billion yuan in such a short time?
Don't forget that he had used his shares to exchange for quite a lot of Gome's shares. If he had not exchanged them, the shares he owned would have been worth US $4 billion, which was worth more than 26 billion yuan!
Back then, Li Dong's shares were only worth about 13 billion yuan after the Series B financing.
How many months had it only been?
The financing started in November 2008, and it was not even April yet. It had only been five months in total.
In just five months, he had earned more than 10 billion RMB on Weibo?
The netizens did the math for Li Dong and sighed, "Anyway, Cannon Bro's money is not money, don't mind it."
"Exactly. Last year, he said that his wealth was only a little more than 100 billion yuan. This year, he dares to say that he has 300 billion yuan. An increase of 200 billion is nothing compared to an increase of 10 billion on Weibo. "
"That's why Cannon Bro dares to say that he can do whatever he wants because he's rich. He can earn money so fast, so what's wrong with investing a little in traffic? What's wrong with sending red packets? What's the point of returning that little bit of money? If I were Brother Cannon, I'd give each of the 1.3 billion people in the country 100 yuan to celebrate. It's not even half of his assets anyway, so it's not a big deal, right? "
"That makes sense. I strongly urge Brother Pao to give each of us 100 yuan. Brother Pao can earn back such a small amount in a few days!"
…
There was a lot of discussion online, but Ma Yun was mentally exhausted.
Actually, he did not want to be in the limelight. The privatization of Ali was also a product of helplessness.
Because of the privatization, some shareholders who owned Ali shares were on the verge of cursing.
At this time, he was not in the mood to show off, nor was it worth showing off.
Who knew that Li Dong, that bastard, would insist on going against him. Right after Ali announced it, he announced it. It was not intentional. Ma Yun jumped off a building!
Seeing that Old Ma was in a bad mood, Cai Chongxin was eager to give it a try. He suggested, "Give him a call and scold him to vent your anger?"
Ma Yun rolled his eyes at him and said speechlessly, "Are you stupid or am I? He was already prepared for it the last time. Believe it or not, if I call him now, he will provoke me the moment he opens his mouth. He won't even give me a chance to speak. "
Cai Chongxin could not help but laugh. "That's true. He would do something like that. But then again, is his news trustworthy this time? Can Weibo really be worth that much? "
"You're asking me that?"
Ma Yun said with a laugh, "Don't you know what the internet industry is like? If he can make it sound and move the investors, so what if he says it's 10 billion USD? If he can't make it sound, no one will invest even 1 billion USD. Who can say for sure about this? What do you think? "
As he said that, Ma Yun shook his head and said, "Ignore him. The atmosphere in the business world has been led astray by him. Everyone talks based on money. In the past, everyone talked about ideals, prospects, and the future. Now, we don't talk about them anymore. We just talk about money. This guy, it's a pity if he doesn't become a businessman. He's the type of person who only cares about profits. "
Cai Chongxin said softly, "The nature of the business world is like this."
Ma Yun did not reply. That was the nature of the business world, but no one would expose it so blatantly.
Li Dong was the only one who embodied this essence to the fullest.
Perhaps this was one of the main reasons why he could always succeed. Li Dong was a realist. Like Ma Yun and the others, they more or less had the style of an idealist.
However, talking about ideals was the quickest way to die. Nowadays, everyone rarely talked about ideals.
In the past, Ma Yun often liked to brag about how the future would be. Now, he rarely talked about it. He would settle the matter in front of him first.
Only when the matter in front of him was settled would he be qualified to talk about the future.
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