Chapter 1629: A Gamble?

In fact, Zhao Fusheng had long guessed the different thoughts of the crowd, but he hadn't expected the divergence to be so severe.

“Didn’t expect that, did you?”

Zheng Yao sat before Zhao Fusheng, asking with a smile.

Zhao Fusheng smiled bitterly and nodded: “Yeah, looks like you guys discussed this before.”

Zheng Yao hummed in acknowledgment, not hiding anything from Zhao Fusheng, and said bluntly: “I always feel the risk of this matter is too great.”

Hearing this, Zhao Fusheng’s expression froze slightly, then he shook his head helplessly: “Do you think there’s any business without risk?”

Zheng Yao fell silent...

She had to admit that Zhao Fusheng was right.

Every business carries risk.

“Let me put it this way.”

Zhao Fusheng looked at Zheng Yao and said slowly: “Whether it’s Alibaba shares or Facebook shares, do you think we can keep our current stakes forever?”

“Of course not,” Dong Chenxi nodded.

She wasn’t stupid; she understood what Zhao Fusheng meant.

For any listed company, especially one with such promising prospects, once it goes public and its market value grows, it inevitably faces a situation where shareholders’ stakes get diluted.

Unless you keep injecting capital, that’s the inevitable outcome.

For example, Future Investment currently holds nearly thirty percent of Alibaba’s shares.

Once the company goes public and issues new shares, if Future Investment doesn’t subscribe, that thirty percent could become fifteen percent in no time.

Of course, fewer shares doesn’t mean lower value; on the contrary, as the company’s market cap grows, that fifteen percent could be worth more than the original thirty percent.

But what Zheng Yao and the others cared about was that if they could maintain the thirty percent stake, it would mean even higher market value.

The problem, however, was that it required investment—money!

In Zhao Fusheng’s view, once a heavily loaded vehicle starts going downhill, its speed increases rapidly, and any effort to slow it down will fail due to inertia. So when braking, one must be cautious and not apply too much force; otherwise, once the vehicle loses control, the driver can only watch the tragedy unfold, praying it doesn’t crash into something more valuable.

Although Future Group currently had considerable liquidity, it was far from enough to push several projects simultaneously.

“Trade-offs are never easy.”

Zhao Fusheng sighed and said to Zheng Yao: “To be honest, I’m more optimistic about Facebook. I estimate Twitter’s market cap at only tens of billions of dollars, but its current valuation is low, around five hundred million. Otherwise, I’d consider selling Twitter.”

“Huh?”

Zheng Yao was startled: “Five hundred million?”

Zhao Fusheng nodded. In this life, thanks to his early investment, Twitter had developed fairly well. After Evan Williams launched the software, it was hailed as a platform where people could change the world with 140 characters.

Simply put, Twitter was a mini-Facebook.

But compared to Facebook, which required various settings, Twitter was simpler.

Even so, in the eyes of Silicon Valley venture capitalists, Twitter had great growth potential.

Even Zuckerberg had suggested to Zhao Fusheng that they could raise five hundred million to acquire Twitter.

Of course, Zhao Fusheng rejected that suggestion.

He hadn’t invested in Evan Williams just to have Twitter acquired by Facebook.

That said, Twitter had its downsides; at the very least, the charge for sending text messages annoyed many people.

Not long ago, Jack Dorsey became Twitter’s CEO. By social networking standards, Twitter was still small, but it provided direct and important information—something other social networks couldn’t match.

Moreover, both Dorsey and Evan Williams had a visionary streak. For instance, Dorsey said, “We’re here to influence people’s lives, and we acknowledge our leadership position here.”

Williams admitted he had trouble explaining Twitter to his mother. Dorsey also worried about the impact of Twitter’s information sharing, as media journalists hoped to make a difference in the age of free information.

“What do you think about selling part of our Twitter shares to Samsung?”

After a moment’s thought, Zheng Yao suggested to Zhao Fusheng.

Twitter?

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, looking at Zheng Yao in surprise.

Clearly, Zheng Yao’s proposal was completely unexpected.

“Facebook’s value is beyond doubt; I don’t want to regret it later,” Zheng Yao shrugged and said seriously to Zhao Fusheng: “So, I think if Samsung is willing, we could sell them a portion of our Twitter shares—say, around ten percent—and have them act as our white knight, helping us enter Alibaba’s board when we’re in trouble. What do you think?”

Stunned!

Dumbfounded!

Looking at Zheng Yao, Zhao Fusheng really wanted to ask: same nine years of compulsory education, how are you so outstanding?

This line of thinking was way too broad!

After a moment, he asked cautiously: “What if they’re not willing? After all, Twitter’s valuation is only a few hundred million now—too small to compare with Alibaba or Facebook.”

Zheng Yao shook her head: “I’ve seen Twitter’s reports. According to Dong Chenxi’s documents, Twitter just completed its second round of financing. A company valued at five hundred million in its second round, even if its market cap doesn’t exceed a hundred billion after listing, will at least be worth tens of billions. I don’t believe Samsung won’t be tempted...”

Zhao Fusheng fell silent, thinking hard—not about whether Zheng Yao’s strategy was feasible, but about whether he had any information on Twitter from his past life.

The longer he had been reborn, the fuzzier his memories of that former world became. Besides, he was just an ordinary person, so he had to work hard to recall many things.

“Twitter, Twitter...”

Frowning deeply, Zhao Fusheng racked his brains.

Hmm?

Suddenly, he remembered something.

If he wasn’t mistaken, he had once read a report—he forgot when—that said Twitter’s development after its IPO wasn’t smooth. Investors had expected it to be the next Facebook or Google, but unexpectedly, its growth was surpassed by China’s Weibo.

As he recalled, Weibo’s market cap was only around ten billion dollars; Zhao Fusheng couldn’t remember the exact figure.

That meant Twitter’s future wasn’t as bright as Zheng Yao thought.

With that thought, Zhao Fusheng suddenly smiled.

“Uh, what are you smiling at?” Zheng Yao looked at him strangely, wondering what was so funny. Had her suggestion been that bizarre?

“Nothing.”

Zhao Fusheng shook his head and said to Zheng Yao: “I think your suggestion is quite insightful.”

“Really?”

Zheng Yao was taken aback, then beamed with joy, clearly thinking Zhao Fusheng was about to change his mind.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Fusheng said seriously: “How about this: we sell twenty percent of Twitter’s shares to Samsung in exchange for their support?”

Twenty percent?

Zheng Yao was startled, looking at Zhao Fusheng in surprise.

After all, Twitter was valued at five hundred million, and Zhao Fusheng held sixty percent of the shares. According to his proposal, he would be giving up control of Twitter.

Was this guy crazy?

“What’s wrong? Wasn’t it your idea?” Zhao Fusheng smiled, looking at Zheng Yao.

Hearing this, Zheng Yao frowned slightly, puzzled, clearly not understanding Zhao Fusheng’s words.

“Don’t overcomplicate things.”

Zhao Fusheng smiled and explained to Zheng Yao: “Think about it; this is just a multiple-choice question.”

Multiple-choice question?

Zheng Yao was stunned.

Zhao Fusheng nodded and explained calmly: “Exactly. It depends on who has the longer vision—Lee Kun-hee or us.”

Hearing this, Zheng Yao immediately understood Zhao Fusheng’s meaning.

This guy was gambling again!