Hong Kong Movies: You Hongxingzi, what the hell is the charity king?

Chapter 881 Domestic Side Story 2: Alibaba, the Showdown with Foreign Capital! (Part 1)
at this time,

Hangzhou.

The autumn wind is brisk.

Lakeside Garden, No. 176 Wenyi West Road, Building 16, Fenghe Garden.

This is Alibaba's temporary office. In the cramped space, rows of bulky desktop computers emit a slight warmth.

In one of the 'meeting rooms',

The eighteen founders of Alibaba are sitting together.

Eight months earlier, in January 1999, in the same somewhat shabby room, Jack Ma delivered a passionate two-hour speech, outlining a grand vision for Alibaba's future, which captivated everyone present.

Everyone put in their best efforts and scraped together 50 yuan, each holding a different percentage of shares.

The company they founded was called Alibaba.

What does this company do?
At this time, the only option available to small and medium-sized enterprises in Southeast University doing foreign trade business is generally the Canton Fair (Southeast University Import and Export Commodities Fair).

Jackma, with its experience in creating the Dongda Yellow Pages and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, positioned itself as a "Dongda SME Trade Service Provider," providing SMEs with "website design + promotion" services, essentially creating a "Network Yiwu" model.

The "online Yiwu" business model requires a sufficient number of suppliers, who then attract buyers, gradually enriching the transaction information.

Alibaba's website was launched in February 1999.

Then it continued to grow stronger.

During this entrepreneurial experience, everyone worked hard in this simple house with a meager monthly salary of only 500 yuan.

Despite the harsh conditions, no one complained.

But soon, reality slapped them in the face.

Despite Jack Ma's efforts to save money, the mere 50 yuan was completely spent in seven or eight months.

To ensure his employees didn't work on an empty stomach, Jack Ma tirelessly borrowed money to pay their wages, often leaving him overwhelmed with work.

However, Jack Ma also told his partners: Today is cruel, tomorrow is crueler, and the day after tomorrow will be beautiful, but most people die tomorrow night. We must persevere until the day after tomorrow!
Fortunately, perseverance finally brought a turning point.

Starting in July, Alibaba's performance attracted a lot of attention, with 38,000 new members in July.

In September, the number of members increased to 80,000, with 200,000 inventory trading records and 800 new daily updates.

As a result, investors began to want to invest in Alibaba.

However, in the ensuing negotiations, Jack Ma rejected 38 mainland investors.

why?

These investors are too localized, conservative, and also want to seize control of Alibaba.

Moreover, Alibaba needs more than just funding; it needs partners who can bring overseas resources and support the company's long-term development.

Therefore, Jack Ma refused.

Then in August, the appearance of Goldman Sachs brought a glimmer of hope to Alibaba.

Goldman Sachs began to take notice of Alibaba. After some investigation, they extended an olive branch to Alibaba, but also attached extremely demanding conditions.

Goldman Sachs sought to acquire a majority stake in Alibaba for $500 million, while demanding veto power over key decisions. Furthermore, Goldman Sachs required "anti-dilution rights," meaning it would have to participate in every subsequent round of Alibaba's financing to maintain a 50% stake.

50% equity stake, plus veto power, plus anti-dilution rights...

These three points combined are absolutely outrageous.

(Image: Final negotiation results.)
At this time,
Alibaba has not yet agreed to Goldman Sachs' terms.

Jack Ma is currently in a meeting, discussing whether or not to agree to Goldman Sachs's demanding requirements.

Acceptance means accepting many limitations.

Refusal might make it difficult to even maintain the present situation.

At this moment, the eighteen Arhats in the conference room each expressed their own opinions.

"Goldman Sachs' terms are too domineering. Not only will our equity be diluted, but our business direction will also be controlled by them. Aren't we just going to hand over the fruits of our hard work?"

"Yes, we've persevered all the way to where we are now, so we can't let this temporary difficulty block our path to the future."

Others hold the opposite view.

"Although the conditions are harsh, Goldman Sachs is, after all, a well-known investment company in the United States. Accepting their investment can solve our immediate financial problems, and it may even help us expand into the US market. They have a long-term vision and may be able to help Alibaba go international."

Jack listened quietly to everyone's discussion, a multitude of thoughts flashing through his mind.

He recalled all the hardships he had faced since starting his business, those days of hitting walls everywhere.

At the same time, he also looks forward to opportunities on a larger stage in the future. He wants money.

He wanted to leverage Goldman Sachs' influence.

But he didn't want to agree to these demanding requirements.

The meeting lasted an hour but ultimately yielded no results.

……

The next morning, sunlight filtered through the dappled leaves and shone through the windows of Alibaba's temporary office.

Jack Ma woke up from his sleeping bag.

Because starting a business is difficult, several of the founders slept at the company more often than in their dormitories.

After Jack Ma finished washing up and eating breakfast.

One of the Arhats rushed in, looking flustered.

"Old Ma, Old Ma..."

"good news!"

"What good news?"

"You know Mahuateng from Shenzhen, right? The one who was trying to sell us OICQ..."

"I know, what's wrong?"

The internet circle is too small.

So they naturally knew each other, and Xiao Ma often promoted his QQ account.

"The latest news is that his Tencent has received an investment of US$300 million from Mr. Kwan, the richest man in Hong Kong, in exchange for a 40% stake."

Guan Zu is a well-known name in the IT industry. The computers used by Jack Ma and his team are made by the Five Star Group.

"Do you think we can go find him too?"

"!!!!!!"

Jack Ma's slightly confused mind instantly cleared up.

He slapped his thigh!
Yup!

Why didn't I think of that?
"Old Ma, didn't you meet that Mr. Guan?"

Go find him!

"Yes! Old Ma, you told us that you had met Mr. Guan."

Old Ma was embarrassed.

Okay, he did brag to them before that he knew Guan Zu.

Of course, this isn't just boasting; I did indeed meet Guan Zu.

Moreover, he even chatted with Guan Zu.

At the time, Guan Zu even showed off: "Actually, I don't value money." "I've never touched money, and I'm not interested in money."

At the time, Guan Zu also gave him a business card and told him, "After this website (Taobao) is launched, if you need funds and want to raise money, you can contact me directly. I will invest."

After the last financial defense battle, Guan Zu was completely deified.

Now, a year has passed, and they are probably even stronger.

Although Alibaba today is not the Taobao model that was discussed with Mr. Guan back then, Mr. Guan might still be interested.

Thinking of this, Jack quickly ran to his safe, rummaged through it, and found Guan Zu's business card.

"here!"

"I found his business card."

The eighteen Arhats were stunned.

"Wow, it really exists."

"Brother Ma is awesome!"

"Call them right away and ask."

(End of this chapter)