Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1201 Ignition
Currently, Yahoo is the leading internet company on Nasdaq, with its market capitalization exceeding $30 billion, several times higher than at the beginning of the year. Moreover, its stock price and market capitalization are still soaring, racing towards the $40 billion mark.

Yahoo targets the global internet market, not only in America, but also in North America, Europe, and Asia. It now boasts 80 million users and an astonishing 100 million daily pageviews.

Whether there's any exaggeration involved is unknown. After all, can you really call it "inflating" when it comes to Nasdaq? It should be called technological advancement, a well-intentioned lie...

Compared to Yahoo, China.com is certainly inferior, but compared to other internet companies, even in America, China.com's performance is actually quite impressive!

If China.com can maintain its current traffic, then a valuation of two billion US dollars is, frankly speaking, not too high, and could even be considered a bargain.

As for the valuation of China.com, as Yuan Tianfan said, it depends on whether investment institutions are willing to buy it and whether there are enough investors to support it.

Like a sedan chair carried by people, as long as there is profit to be made and investment institutions can make money, then let alone a valuation of two billion US dollars, even if it is several times higher, there will still be investment institutions willing to subscribe.

Once China.com goes public, won't we make back our investment several times over?

When internet companies raise funds and go public, it's like the miscellaneous taxes in a movie where people donate money to fight bandits. Once the money is raised, the officials' money is returned in full, while the money of the common people is split 30/70, with the officials taking 70%!

Similarly, when an internet company goes public, the founders certainly make a fortune, but the investment institutions also earn back several times their initial investment.

Every year there will be several rounds of speculation, with people shorting and going long to fleece retail investors!

Li Zekai was not unaware of this principle, but the fact that Dongling High-Tech Port City Company and Cyberport dared to play such a big game this time, openly blowing bubbles, still surprised him.

Even in Hong Kong, this kind of behavior has never been popular before. A lousy website gives a valuation of two billion US dollars on the day of its listing and then shouts that it wants to go public. What's the difference between this and outright robbery?
"That's how the internet works in Silicon Valley now; there's no logic to it."

An internet company with far inferior data to China.com can see its valuation continuously rise and eventually launch a NASDAQ listing simply by running a massive advertising campaign!

Yuan Tianfan said, "If China.com can be listed on NASDAQ, it will probably set off an internet feast in Hong Kong!"

When investment institutions and wealthy individuals in the port city saw the money-grabbing internet tactics employed by China.com, things like real estate, shipping, jewelry, and textiles suddenly lost their appeal and became worthless.

Compared to the internet, these industries make money way too slowly. This kind of business model—developing a website, hyping it up, and then listing it on the stock market to make money—makes money incredibly fast!
Even Yuan Tianfan could foresee that many wealthy families in Hong Kong were already approaching Cyberport, wanting to invest in China.com and get a share of the profits.

After tomorrow, when the media reports extensively, wealthy people from Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and other places will probably flock to my door!

Of course, this approach depends on who plays it. Everyone can play it, including the various wealthy families in Hong Kong, but whether the outside world will accept it is another matter.

After all, if China.com succeeds, Cyberport will have proven itself. Everyone prefers to cooperate with people who have already "successfully" rather than accompany others to try and fail!
Li Zekai watched the news from China.com that kept appearing on the TV. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Cyberport seemed to have stirred up a new wave in Hong Kong.

“Yingke Power should also establish an internet department!” Li Zekai finally said to Yuan Tianfan.

No one can turn down money, and PCCW is no exception. Whether it's to boost the stock price or to fleece investors, once the flames of the internet are ignited in Hong Kong, all listed companies in Hong Kong must get involved in internet-related stocks, otherwise they will be looked down upon!
As Yuan Tianfan predicted, when Peregrine hyped up China.com and gave it a valuation of two billion US dollars, it thoroughly stimulated various wealthy families and giant companies in Hong Kong.

These wealthy and powerful companies all started researching the internet market. They might not understand the internet, but they did understand the Hong Kong dollar and the US dollar!

……

While undercurrents were swirling in Hong Kong, China.com was too preoccupied to pay attention to them; the entire China.com was in complete chaos.

"Peak user visits reached 288 million!"

"The server held up!"

Wei Fang, from the technical department of China.com, finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the report from his subordinates, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

China.com withstood the peak influx of users. Although the website experienced some lag and pages could not be opened, the server did not crash.

Compared to this, everything else is a minor issue. Wei Fang is only grateful that the technical department, as requested by Mr. Li, rented an extra batch of servers; otherwise, they really wouldn't have been able to hold on today.

After weathering its peak, China.com's user base and page views began to gradually decline.

"At 2 AM tonight, we'll upgrade the website and fix all the bugs we received!"

Wei Xiang instructed the technical department staff that overtime was nothing compared to a monthly salary of 20,000 to 30,000 Hong Kong dollars.

"boom!"

Inside the China.com conference room, a shower of champagne-gold rain fell. China.com's launch performance today was absolutely perfect, even exceeding expectations.

Lin Xianhui, Li Xiao, and other executives of China.com were spraying champagne. While it's not certain that China.com will be listed on NASDAQ, based on today's performance, the probability is almost over 60%.

The brand has already been established; the remaining 40% depends on how it's managed!
Zhou Hongyi, Lei Jun, Wang Jiangmin, and others also watched this scene unfold.

Today was also a momentous day for these internet professionals from inland China. They witnessed the miracle of the internet, bringing together over two million people on a single website. They also saw that the internet market wasn't limited to inland China; the overseas market was equally vast.

Today, China.com is still attracting users from the Chinese internet community. What about users from overseas who speak other languages?

It's worth noting that Japan, the most economically developed market in Asia, currently has the most internet users, with nearly 20 million internet users.

Before the mainland internet market took off, capturing the Japanese internet market would be equivalent to capturing half of the Asian internet market!

Zhou Hongyi was somewhat provoked by China.com. Now, he only has one thought in his mind: to help 3721 Navigation, a subsidiary of Yahoo! China, go global!

Similarly, Lei Jun stood there, his eyes flickering, lost in thought. But today's experience was definitely the most special day for them.

"cheers!"

Li Dongling also raised his glass and clinked it with everyone's champagne.

It has to be said that every era has its own destiny, and in this internet age, it is the era of portal websites!

For users who are new to the internet, there is a great deal of curiosity about it. Portal websites gather news from all over the world, both domestic and international, satisfying user needs and naturally becoming the darlings of the internet.

China.com and Yahoo! also basically benefited from this wave of development.

As internet users mature, they will no longer just want to read news online; internet industries such as search, gaming, and e-commerce will also flourish.

"Starting tomorrow, China.com will announce that it has secured advertising placements from advertisers!"

Entering the office, shutting out the noise from outside, Li Dongling spoke to Lin Xianhui.

We are far from being able to rest easy; we have only taken the first step. China.com's goal is to complete its listing and launch the Silicon Harbor project in the port city.

"I see!"

Lin Xianhui quickly snapped out of his excitement and hurriedly spoke to Li Dongling.

In the early days of China.com, the advertisers it attracted were, unsurprisingly, mainly companies from the Dongling High-Tech Group, including Hong Kong City Telecom, Tse Sui Luen Jewellery, Ning's Trading, Hasee Computer, Feiyan MP3, Wanjia Appliances City, and advertisements from Focus Media, etc.

Regardless of whether this is a transfer of funds from one hand to the other, just ask yourself: doesn't China.com's performance look glamorous? It's even possible that with a little more encouragement, the advertising revenue from Dongling High-Tech Group could directly make China.com profitable.

However, that would be too unseemly, so we still need to be more considerate. As long as China.com doesn't lose too much money and has revenue from advertisers, that's enough.

……

When Li Dongling woke up in the villa on the hillside in the morning, he felt his palms were smooth as mutton fat.

When Li Dongling looked down at Ning Wenke in his arms, he noticed that Ning Wenke's figure had become fuller after giving birth to Xiao Keling.

Feeling the large, mischievous hand of the philanthropist Li, Ning Wen opened her blurry eyes and buried her head in Li Dongling's arms again. The philanthropist Li pulled the blanket up.

After some fuss, Li Dongling and Ning Wenke arrived at the dining table, and the nanny also pushed Xiao Keling, who was sitting in a stroller, to the table.

Li Dongling gently pinched his daughter's cheek as he ate his meal while reading the newspaper that had been delivered to him.

"China.com ignites internet frenzy in Hong Kong stocks!"

"288 million user visits, setting a new record for the Asian internet, Hong Kong is becoming the internet hub of Southeast Asia!"

"Asia's richest man becomes an internet tycoon!"

"Cyberport's major shareholder's net worth surged by two billion US dollars in a single day!"

"Some South Korean media outlets have questioned whether the data from the launch of China.com may have been fabricated!"

Hong Kong newspapers such as Ta Kung Pao and Ming Pao published news about the launch of China.com, which was mostly praising it.

However, some media outlets, citing news from South Korea and other regions, questioned whether China.com's data had been manipulated.

However, before China.com could respond to these questions from the Koreans, they were shattered by reports from Singapore, Japan, and even the Wall Street Journal…

(End of this chapter)