Chapter 1759: The Ambition of Going Public

In Liu Qiangdong's impression, Zhao Fusheng's terrifying degree was comparable to that of a big devil.

This was inevitable, because Zhao Fusheng held the most shares in Jingdong Mall. Although he had entrusted his voting rights to Liu Qiangdong, Liu Qiangdong was still well aware that there was a Sword of Damocles hanging over his head.

For him, this was not a comfortable feeling.

But even so, Liu Qiangdong still feared Zhao Fusheng and dared not have any other thoughts.

This was probably because, at the very beginning, the impression Zhao Fusheng left on him was too deep and terrifying.

"What's the matter? Why are you in such a hurry to see me?"

Zhao Fusheng looked at Liu Qiangdong and asked with a smile.

His tone was unhurried, but Liu Qiangdong felt quite pressured.

"It's like this: I want to talk to you about the company going public."

Liu Qiangdong cautiously glanced at Zhao Fusheng's expression and said to him.

Going public?

Zhao Fusheng was somewhat surprised. He looked at Liu Qiangdong in astonishment, found that he didn't seem to be joking, and then laughed.

He had forgotten that Brother Dong was a man with great ambition.

Seeing that Alibaba, which he regarded as a competitor, was about to go public, how could the flame in Brother Dong's heart not burn?

As a man who regarded surpassing Ma Xiaoyun as his lifelong goal, Zhao Fusheng could vaguely understand Brother Dong's thoughts now.

"Tell me, what plans do you have?"

Zhao Fusheng smiled and asked under Liu Qiangdong's anxious gaze.

Liu Qiangdong was stunned. He hadn't expected Zhao Fusheng to approve of his plan. Originally, he thought Zhao Fusheng would definitely think his idea was fanciful.

But now it seemed that was not the case.

Having confirmed this, an excited Liu Qiangdong began to seriously tell Zhao Fusheng about his plan.

After a long while, Zhao Fusheng looked up at Liu Qiangdong and said, "Not bad."

"Ah?"

Liu Qiangdong was a bit dumbfounded, staring at Zhao Fusheng with his mouth agape.

Accustomed to being rejected, even at this moment, he still couldn't believe that Zhao Fusheng actually supported his plan.

"What, can't believe it?"

Zhao Fusheng smiled and asked upon seeing this.

"A bit surprised." Liu Qiangdong was quite frank and said to Zhao Fusheng, "I originally thought you weren't optimistic about Jingdong's development."

Zhao Fusheng gently shook his head: "How could that be? If I weren't optimistic about Jingdong, why would I invest so much money in you? Do you really think I treat investing as gambling?"

Only then did Liu Qiangdong realize that, all along, this man had been very optimistic about him.

In the original history, if the恩怨 between Jingdong and Alibaba were written into a book, it would definitely be quite exciting.

Alibaba and Jingdong were like the two poles of domestic internet, with many helpers on each side—one was Suning, the other was Tencent. The competition and comparisons surrounding them were also very intense.

The competition between Alibaba and Jingdong was not a matter of a day or two. The two platforms had very different forms. For example, Alibaba was in the form of B2C, while Jingdong was in the form of C2C. Due to the difference in form, there was constant analysis about which form was correct.

Liu Qiangdong had once declared years ago that Jingdong would definitely defeat Alibaba and that his own form was the correct one.

And in fact, in Zhao Fusheng's memory,

In 2011, Jingdong Mall announced it would abandon Alipay.

The explanation was that Alipay's fee rate was too high, and Jingdong had to pay an extra five million yuan or more each year.

Ma Xiaoyun said: "Jingdong will become a tragedy in the future. This tragedy is something I warned everyone about from the first day. It's not that I'm stronger than him, but a directional issue. There's no way around it.

In ten years, China will have three billion packages a day. You'll have to hire a million people, and those million people will be the death of you. Try managing that!

Moreover, sixty percent of its revenue comes from Zhongguancun and Taobao. It can't possibly have such a large volume on its own website. So, I keep telling everyone in the company: never touch Jingdong, lest you die and blame us."

This was the "Jingdong Tragedy Theory," a passage that was made public after Fang Xingdong, author of "The True Story of Alibaba," broke with Alibaba. At that time, Alibaba's transaction scale, market value, and net profit were all higher than Jingdong's. In response to Ma Yun's "Jingdong Tragedy Theory," Jingdong only published a piece titled "Time Will Tell All; We'll Do Our Best" and responded weakly.

Ma Xiaoyun once said in public: "A big problem with China's internet now is relying on increasing transaction volume to raise funds. This business model is ridiculous; it can't make money in five years."

He was referring to Jingdong.

In fact, what Ma Xiaoyun said had some truth.

Jingdong started its e-commerce journey in 2004 but had been suffering huge losses continuously. Even from 2014 to 2016, it lost nearly 20 billion yuan in three years.

Continuous huge losses without achieving large-scale profitability—this was the biggest criticism investors had of Jingdong.

In Zhao Fusheng's memory, in the original history, Jingdong turned losses into profits only around 2017.

But now, all this had changed with Zhao Fusheng's arrival.

"Chairman, do you trust me?"

Liu Qiangdong looked at Zhao Fusheng, his face serious.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "Of course, I have always trusted your abilities."

"I plan to list on the ChiNext."

Liu Qiangdong looked at Zhao Fusheng and said seriously.

Clearly, he must have received some news, which is why he came to see Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, then laughed: "ChiNext?"

"Yes, barring any surprises, next year..." Liu Qiangdong said to Zhao Fusheng.

But Zhao Fusheng waved his hand: "Forget about ChiNext."

Huh?

In that instant, Liu Qiangdong felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him, chilling him to the bone. He felt terrible, as if Zhao Fusheng had dealt him a blow.

Could it be that the other party had long-term faith in his company, not just the present?

Just then, Zhao Fusheng slowly said: "I think Nasdaq is actually not bad."

Holy shit!

Liu Qiangdong couldn't contain himself and stood up abruptly, staring at Zhao Fusheng in surprise: "What did you say?"

Nasdaq?

He really hadn't expected Zhao Fusheng to think that way.

Seeing Liu Qiangdong's strong reaction, Zhao Fusheng smiled: "What, you lack confidence in yourself, or in the development of Jingdong Mall?"

"No, no, I have confidence, of course I have confidence." Liu Qiangdong quickly said.

He was certainly confident in his own company; otherwise, he wouldn't have come running to Zhao Fusheng to talk, nor would he have set Alibaba as his target.

But Liu Qiangdong never imagined that Zhao Fusheng's ambition would be even greater than his own.

He actually wanted Jingdong to ring the bell on Wall Street!

A Chinese company ringing the bell on Wall Street—Liu Qiangdong knew exactly what that meant.

At that moment, he felt a surge of excitement.

Looking at Liu Qiangdong, Zhao Fusheng said calmly: "I have high hopes for Jingdong Mall's potential. To be honest, although I own shares in both Alibaba and Jingdong, I don't favor either one, understand?"

Liu Qiangdong quickly nodded: "I understand, I understand your meaning."

The other party had made it clear: whether it was Alibaba or Jingdong Mall, to future investments or to Zhao Fusheng, it was just an investment project.

Moreover, Zhao Fusheng was a major shareholder in both projects.

Under these circumstances, whichever company developed well would not be a bad thing for him.

No one would turn their back on money, especially when there was more and more of it.

"Go ahead and do it."

Zhao Fusheng smiled and said to Liu Qiangdong: "Last time I chatted with Ma, the CEO of Tencent Technology, he was also very interested in Jingdong's development. I'll introduce you sometime."

"Tencent Technology?" Liu Qiangdong was startled, then looked at Zhao Fusheng: "Are you serious?"

Tencent had money now, after all, the massive cash flow from the penguin had greatly benefited Tencent. Liu Qiangdong had always hoped to get to know them, but unfortunately, Little Ma wasn't one to seek the limelight; he spent most of his time holed up in his Shenzhen headquarters.

Now that Zhao Fusheng said he would introduce them, Liu Qiangdong's mood was extremely excited.

At the same time, he became even more in awe of Zhao Fusheng's mysteriousness.

"Heh, I'm also a shareholder of Tencent Technology."

Zhao Fusheng seemed to notice Liu Qiangdong's confusion and explained with a smile.

"Oh, oh, oh."

Liu Qiangdong nodded repeatedly, finally understanding why Zhao Fusheng knew Little Ma.

"I'll visit Jingdong sometime."

Zhao Fusheng smiled and said to Liu Qiangdong: "I hope you won't let me down and will develop this company faster and better."

"Rest assured, I will not let everyone down."

Liu Qiangdong nodded to Zhao Fusheng with full confidence.

At that moment, he was immensely confident, just like when he first stepped into Renmin University, full of ambition.

For someone like him, having the chance to fulfill his dream and become the founder of a listed company was incredibly joyful.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "I believe you."

Then he smiled: "Let's have lunch together, and later I'll introduce you to someone."

"Huh?"

Liu Qiangdong was stunned. What was this? Was he going to meet Little Ma right now?

As it turned out, he was overthinking; Zhao Fusheng just had other matters to discuss with him.