Chapter 1854: Tacit Understanding?

The idea of a takeover battle had always been in Dong Chenxi's mind.

Ever since receiving the news, she had felt that Future Investment couldn't simply hand over the position of major shareholder.

Counterattack!

That was Dong Chenxi's thought.

So when Zhao Fusheng asked her, she said they should contact Sequoia Capital.

All of this was not unexpected to Zhao Fusheng.

After all, he knew Dong Chenxi's temperament too well—if she didn't fight back when someone came knocking at her door, it wouldn't be her.

But this time, Zhao Fusheng didn't plan to counterattack.

Or rather, he felt he didn't need to go that far.

"Do you think, if SoftBank becomes the major shareholder, what can they do to us?"

Hearing Dong Chenxi's proposal, Zhao Fusheng smiled and suddenly asked her.

Dong Chenxi was startled, frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and replied, "They can't do much, after all, they only have shares. In terms of voting rights, Ma Xiaoyun and we together still hold the initiative."

"Exactly."

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "Not just us, even Ma Xiaoyun alone has already grasped the voting rights, hasn't he?"

Dong Chenxi didn't deny it; it was the truth.

Equity and voting rights are two different things. If becoming a major shareholder meant one could do whatever they wanted, corporate management would become a money game—whoever had more money would laugh last.

If that were the case, not to mention Ma Xiaoyun, even Zuckerberg might not end up a billionaire.

Equity only represents the value of the shares you own, while voting rights are the key to determining one's voice in a company.

This is especially true in foreign companies.

Including Mark Zuckerberg and the Lee Kun-hee family, they all control a huge business empire with minimal shares but maximum voting rights.

Most domestic companies like JD.com, Alibaba, and Tencent are similar.

To put it bluntly, for a founding team to grow a company, selling equity is inevitable, but to ensure their absolute control over the company, they will not yield an inch on voting rights.

In other words, investors can get shares and see their investments return tenfold or a hundredfold, but taking control of a company is never that easy.

Unless the founder loses their mind, no founder would ever hand over control of the company to someone else.

Ma Xiaoyun is certainly not insane, so he would never give up control of the company to anyone.

"Then we..."

Dong Chenxi looked at Zhao Fusheng, puzzled. She didn't understand why, if he wasn't planning to cooperate with Sequoia Capital, he chose to meet Ma Xiaoyun now.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled and explained to Dong Chenxi, "Simple, I plan to do Ma Xiaoyun a favor."

"Huh?"

Dong Chenxi clearly didn't grasp Zhao Fusheng's words; she didn't understand what he meant.

Could it be that Zhao Fusheng was already planning to retire?

No wonder—he had mentioned retirement before, so as soon as he spoke, Dong Chenxi's mind went astray.

"What are you thinking?"

Seeing Dong Chenxi's strange expression, Zhao Fusheng knew she was overthinking. He said helplessly, "Don't jump to conclusions. I just want to chat with Ma Xiaoyun and give him some reassurance."

Then he said to Dong Chenxi, "I'll say it again: Alibaba still has growth potential. Although I want to retire, it's not the time yet, understand?"

Dong Chenxi nodded, indicating she understood.

Zhao Fusheng didn't say more. Some things, if those around him could understand, fine; if not, only facts could prove his words.

...

...

The next day, Zhao Fusheng met with Ma Xiaoyun.

"Chairman Zhao, are you seeing me about the Yahoo and SoftBank deal?"

Ma Xiaoyun got straight to the point.

He wasn't stupid; Zhao Fusheng's urgent meeting could only be about that deal.

"Yes."

Zhao Fusheng didn't beat around the bush either, nodding.

With a smart person like Ma Xiaoyun, the more you beat around the bush, the easier it is for him to take the lead in the conversation.

If Zhao Fusheng chose to dodge the issue, he could be sure Ma Xiaoyun's Tai Chi would be no worse than his own, which would be pointless and unhelpful in solving the problem.

So Zhao Fusheng simply admitted his purpose, which was also a way to express his attitude.

Sure enough, after hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, Ma Xiaoyun's eyes lit up; he was clearly also paying attention to this news.

"What are your thoughts, President Ma?"

After speaking, Zhao Fusheng looked at Ma Xiaoyun: "I think we might have some common ground, don't you?"

Ma Xiaoyun took a deep breath but didn't speak immediately; instead, he looked at Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng said nothing, just smiling as he looked back.

In Zhao Fusheng's impression from his previous life, Ma Xiaoyun was a legendary figure whose position in the business world seemed unshakable.

He founded Alibaba, Taobao, Alipay, and Ant Financial, all of which changed people's daily lives. Especially Taobao, which truly facilitated people and transformed traditional shopping methods.

The development of the logistics industry meant that, except for remote areas, goods bought online could reach consumers in about three days.

On Taobao, you could buy almost anything; some items hard to find in stores were available there.

Moreover, Alipay changed the way people paid.

Through Alipay, many things could be done online: phone bills, mortgage payments, electricity bills, credit card repayments—all those troublesome tasks could be handled without leaving home.

It must be said that this was thanks to Ma Xiaoyun and his team's contributions.

Mobile payments became extremely popular, even surpassing foreign credit card payments; people no longer needed to carry cash when going out.

Without exaggeration, Ma Xiaoyun, in a sense, changed the consumption habits of many Chinese people.

Given such a person, Zhao Fusheng didn't believe Ma Xiaoyun would have no reaction to this situation. After all, SoftBank's ambition was obvious to any businessman.

Zhao Fusheng might know Ma Xiaoyun better than Ma Xiaoyun knew himself. No matter how calm he appeared, Zhao Fusheng was a hundred percent sure that this guy would never give up control of Alibaba.

"Chairman Zhao, I'd like to ask you a question."

After a long silence, Ma Xiaoyun spoke, looking at Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng nodded and made a gesture: "Please."

"Personally, how far do you think my team and I can develop Alibaba Group?" Ma Xiaoyun suddenly asked.

"Me? I think Alibaba's market value should at least exceed one trillion RMB." Zhao Fusheng said with a smile.

"Ah?"

Ma Xiaoyun was startled, looking at Zhao Fusheng in surprise.

He really hadn't expected Zhao Fusheng to give such an answer.

He had always known that Zhao Fusheng was bullish on Alibaba, otherwise he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to acquire Alibaba shares from SoftBank. Now, facts proved that Zhao Fusheng's acquisition back then was undoubtedly very successful.

And now, Zhao Fusheng was still so optimistic about Alibaba's future, even setting such high expectations. Ma Xiaoyun suddenly felt a sense of kinship.

So there was someone else besides himself who had such high hopes for the company's future.

He was a fan of wuxia novels, calling himself Feng Qingyang, and indeed had a romantic streak.

Of course, that was after he achieved success, when he no longer needed to measure wealth by numbers.

But now, this trait was deeply hidden in Ma Xiaoyun's heart. Yet facing Zhao Fusheng, he still felt that this person seemed to see through everything.

"What, President Ma lacks confidence?"

Zhao Fusheng smiled and asked Ma Xiaoyun.

He didn't believe that Ma Xiaoyun lacked the ambition to develop Alibaba. If there was a ranking of the most ambitious corporate leaders in China, Zhao Fusheng believed Ma Xiaoyun would definitely be in the top three.

"Confidence naturally exists, but I still need people to believe in me and support me."

Ma Xiaoyun looked at Zhao Fusheng and said slowly.

Zhao Fusheng smiled slightly: "Of course. I have always believed in you and your team, haven't I?"

Hearing this, their eyes met, and both laughed.

Both were smart; the rest went without saying—they understood each other tacitly.

When Ma Xiaoyun left Future Group headquarters, Zhao Fusheng personally saw him out. Dong Chenxi accompanied them, but she looked at Zhao Fusheng with confusion, clearly curious about what they had discussed.

Zhao Fusheng kept a smiling expression until Ma Xiaoyun's car disappeared from sight. Then he dropped the smile and looked at Dong Chenxi: "What, curious?"

Dong Chenxi nodded: "Yes, what did you talk about?"

"Nothing much." Zhao Fusheng shrugged: "Just a tacit understanding."

Tacit understanding?

Dong Chenxi was startled, frowning. She suddenly felt that Zhao Fusheng was playing a very big game.