Chapter 116 Rejecting the Banquet
“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. Among them, my company It has found its positioning and achieved profitability in its current business. It can be said that very few Internet companies can do 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. Only then can they invest and not interfere with the public affairs. The management of the company is too troublesome for me, so if we can cooperate, the voting rights of the shares I hold will also be handed over to you to ensure your control of the company.”
< br>Barron’s words made Boss Ma very happy.
You must know that in this period, unlike later, the financing of many start-up companies is very rhythmic, such as the later Xiaomi Company, until its listing, Lei Jun held all A substantial portion of the company's shares.
In the early days of the Internet industry, even many entrepreneurs had no experience in financing, so in the beginning, in order to seek funds, too many shares were paid in the first two rounds of financing. ——This is the case for both Penguin and Alibaba.
There is no way, when facing life and death, the first thing is to 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. After Cai Chongxin, who was engaged in private equity investment in the Hong Kong branch of InvestorAB, the main investment company of the Swedish Wallenberg family, joined Alibaba, Boss Ma Only then did I learn more about financing.
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 approaches, when this agreement is about to expire, Boss Ma has raised huge sums of money in China for this purpose and repurchased part of the Alibaba shares held by Yahoo to prevent himself from harming the company. Control was lost - because at that time, he and Sun Zhengyi had already had a rift due to the separation of Alipay from Alibaba.
Besides, 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 "finance owner" he thinks is the most suitable at this time.
It’s not pleasant to have more money and less to do.
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 said 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...
But in this regard, 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, he also needs to put more of his funds in England.
Because although investing in some industries in China, such as the hotel industry and real estate industry, is indeed very promising, the problem is that due to the foreign exchange exchange system, within a certain period of time, investing in China Most of the funds will be in the form of Chinese dollars and will continue to stay here, which is not convenient for global circulation. 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 to discuss investment with you soon. Tomorrow, I will ask Laura to accompany me in Hangzhou. Let's go, I'm going back to London."
"Why don't you go to the capital and the capital? After all, as the saying goes, you are not a true man unless you visit the Great Wall..."< br>
“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, you have really studied the history of China. . ”
This garden was built in 1872, at the peak of Hu Xueyan’s career.
The mansion project lasted 3 years and was completed in 1875.
The completed former residence is a beautiful mansion rich in traditional Chinese architectural features and Western architectural style. Whether it is the architecture, the furnishings of the interior 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 be immersed in this unique style of garden scenery.
"By the way, I forgot to ask. When you return to Hangzhou this time, won't you go home and have a look? Laura, if necessary, I can give you a day off."
< br>(End of this chapter)