Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1357 Dig a hole and bury some soil

When the world's leading internet figure shook hands with one of Asia's two most "internet-savvy" people, the media reporters present frantically pressed their camera shutters.

If we ask who understands the internet best in Asia, then in the eyes of people in the internet industry and the media, there are most likely two people.

One is Masayoshi Son of SoftBank, and the other is Li Dashan!
Moreover, both of them were among the earliest investors in the internet industry, and crucially, they both placed bets on Yahoo, which makes one marvel at the wonder of fate.

In recent years, Masayoshi Son has been leading SoftBank to invest in internet companies all over the world, buying and buying. As long as it is an internet company with a little reputation, SoftBank will not let it go.

Therefore, Masayoshi Son also proposed the "time machine" theory, which states that the internet industry in America is developing many years faster than overseas, so everything that happens in the American internet industry will also happen elsewhere.

Therefore, in the global internet market, copying is possible; that is, it's possible to replicate American internet companies!

In recent years, Masayoshi Son has been investing heavily in internet companies according to his theory, claiming that he will invest in 800 internet companies.

Although it hasn't invested in 800 internet companies yet, SoftBank has invested in nearly 35 internet companies since the beginning of this year, and is expected to invest in more than 70 or 80 by the end of the year, which can be described as spending money like water.

As for Li Dongling, he doesn't follow the same path as SoftBank; he hasn't invested in a large number of internet companies.

But look at the track record of Li Dongling's Zhixing Foundation in the internet industry. Starting with its investment in Yahoo, it has almost never lost. Every investment has yielded returns of hundreds or thousands of times.

More importantly, Masayoshi Son and SoftBank are essentially following the trend and chasing the latest internet trends.

But Li, the philanthropist, is creating a trend. The Silicon Harbor project is now truly influencing the internet landscape of the entire port city and even Southeast Asia!

This approach, boldness, and vision have completely surpassed SoftBank. No matter how many internet companies SoftBank has invested in, it seems somewhat "petty" in the face of the Silicon Harbor project.

Therefore, Li Dashan, the man who "understands" the internet best in Asia, has spent the most money in the Asian internet industry and influenced the internet landscape of Hong Kong and even Southeast Asia.

When meeting Yang Zhiyuan, the first person in the internet industry, countless media outlets and reporters naturally looked forward to what kind of sparks would fly between them.

"Jerry's arrival will bring about new changes to the internet landscape in mainland China and Southeast Asia."

He is a leader in the global internet industry. Yahoo is leading the internet industry into a new era. Yahoo is exploring a new path for the internet industry and guiding its development.

Without Yahoo, the internet industry wouldn't be what it is today!

The arrival of Jerry will mark a new era for the Asian internet!

After Li Dongling and Liu Weiguang, along with senior executives from the Pingyang Municipal Government and Dongling High-Tech headquarters, gave Yang Zhiyuan a brief introduction, Li Dongling immediately launched into a "praise-praise" session in front of the media reporters, enthusiastically praising Yang Zhiyuan and Yahoo.

He claimed that Jerry Yang and Yahoo were the leaders of the internet, a beacon illuminating the industry.

He was practically shouting, "If Yang Zhiyuan doesn't debut, the internet will be plunged into eternal darkness!"
Faced with Li Dashanren's flattery, Yang Zhiyuan was clearly a little confused. He had come here originally to think about how to persuade Li Dongling.

But somehow, Li Dashanren's attitude towards him was quite unexpected. It didn't seem like he was begging Li Dongling, but rather like Li Dashanren was afraid he wouldn't come...

Yang Zhiyuan's feeling was indeed correct. After all, the philanthropist Li had already ordered the dishes and served a large table of food. If the person who was supposed to pay the bill didn't come, wouldn't that be ridiculous?
Ren Yuefeng, Hu Zixian, Zhang Ao, Gao Peng and other senior executives of Dongling High-Tech listened to Li Dongling's praise of Yang Zhiyuan and Yahoo.

For a moment, their expressions as they looked at Yang Zhiyuan became somewhat intriguing.

Ren Yuefeng and the others knew Li Dongling's style, but it was rare for him to praise a company like this. The last company that Li Dongling praised like this was... Microsoft.

How many times has Microsoft helped Dongling Hi-Tech take over its business?
"Yahoo will never forget that its first venture capital investment came from the Zhixing Foundation!"

This sentence will always be engraved on Yahoo's official website, and Yahoo's history will never be forgotten!

Yahoo! will always be grateful to the Zhi Xing Foundation and Mr. Li Dongling!

Despite the confusion surrounding Li Dongling's intentions, Yang Zhiyuan still expressed his gratitude to Li Dongling and the Zhixing Foundation for their support of Yahoo.

After a round of mutual flattery, they got into the car and headed from Pingyang Airport towards the city center.

The car drove towards Pingyang city. The airport area where Pingyang Airport is located is still somewhat deserted, but the road construction is the best in the entire Pingyang.

The scenery along the way wasn't particularly beautiful, and Yang Zhiyuan didn't pay much attention to it. However, when they reached the border between the Airport Economic Zone and the Shangguan Economic Development Zone and drove onto Dongke Avenue, the surrounding environment suddenly changed. Yang Zhiyuan couldn't help but sit up straight and look at a building that was vaguely visible in the distance. He knew that it was the global headquarters of Dongling High-Tech.

Yahoo has a great reputation now, but its foundation is too shallow. It has not yet built its own global headquarters building. Seeing the East China University of Science and Technology headquarters naturally makes Yang Zhiyuan pay more attention to it.

Yang Zhiyuan had heard some rumors about the East China University of Science and Technology headquarters. He knew that the headquarters was originally budgeted at 200 million US dollars, but the budget was increased several times, and it was finally completed at nearly 260 million US dollars.

Norman Foster, founder of Foster + Partners and the designer of the East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST) global headquarters, has also won several architectural awards for his designs for the ECUST global headquarters and the Oriental Tower.

The Dongke Global Headquarters is considered by many architecture and design media reports to be the most perfect combination of modern architecture and Eastern elements in a corporate headquarters building.

In addition, the Dongke Global Headquarters is a benchmark for optical architecture and digital architecture. It is hard to say whether it will become outdated in the future, but at present, the architecture and design industry highly praises and admires the Dongke Global Headquarters!

When Yang Zhiyuan saw the massive East Tech headquarters in front of him, he couldn't help but sit up straight. He wondered if Yahoo's future headquarters could reach the size of the East Tech headquarters in front of him.

If Li Dongling knew Yang Zhiyuan's thoughts, he would probably remind Yang Zhiyuan that whether or not to build the Yahoo headquarters building is another matter, but it would be very beneficial for Yahoo to stockpile more land in Silicon Valley. If Yahoo can't survive in the future, selling land can give them a much-needed breather.

Having a headquarters building and land does have its advantages. For example, when Yahoo was losing money hand over fist in its previous life, it raised several hundred million dollars by selling its headquarters land, which saved it a lot of time.

Upon arriving in Pingyang, as is customary, Dongling High-Tech hosted a grand welcome banquet for Yang Zhiyuan after his visit to the company.

Next, Yang Zhiyuan visited Feiyan Technology and Hanxi IT Training Center, and then participated in several interviews. He was also invited to give a speech at Pingyang University.

After a day or two of commotion, Yang Zhiyuan finally calmed down and, after shaking off the reporters and media, went to the global headquarters of Dongke.

Yahoo is performing a miracle!

Yang Zhiyuan, Ren Yuefeng, Hu Zixian, and Fu Cheng, the general manager of Feiyan Technology, were all in Li Dongling's office.

Li Dongling pushed a cup of coffee in front of Yang Zhiyuan and said to him.

"Wall Street institutions, internet industry insiders, and the media are all waiting for the day when Yahoo's market value exceeds $100 billion!"

Upon hearing Li Dongling's words, Yang Zhiyuan smiled, but there was also a hint of helplessness in his expression.

Yahoo was founded by him, and if its market value can exceed 100 billion US dollars, it will be a historic achievement for its founder, Jerry Yang.

However, this Yahoo was no longer under Jerry Yang's leadership, which would be something that any founder in his prime would find hard to ignore.

"Yahoo is looking to the future. Market value is important, but what's even more important is that it remains the best company in the internet industry five or even ten years from now!"

Jerry Yang was not blinded by Yahoo's market value. He knew that what was most important for Yahoo was to maintain its leading position in the internet industry.

But this is something Yang Zhiyuan can't control. He has the right to offer suggestions at Yahoo, but whether they will be adopted is anyone's guess.

"Mr. Li, I am here on behalf of Yahoo. I believe Dongling High-Tech knows why I am here!"
Yahoo! is hoping to invest in Himalaya Music, a subsidiary of Feiyan Technology!

After a few polite exchanges, Yang Zhiyuan got straight to the point.

Jerry Yang is somewhat dissatisfied with Yahoo's current acquisition spree. Yahoo is constantly acquiring various internet companies, but in reality, there is no concrete plan. It's more about acquiring traffic and users.

The goal of acquiring an internet company is not to consider its usefulness to Yahoo, but to attract its traffic and users to Yahoo's website, even if only in the short term. As for what happens in the future, Yahoo has no say in that.

Wait a minute, this move looks familiar. It's so similar to the tactics of Jack Ma from Alibaba in my past life—both of them earned the reputation of being the industry's paraquat.

Yahoo's investment in Himalaya Music was also driven by its desire for Himalaya Music's massive traffic and user base.

Regardless of whether Yang Zhiyuan liked this model or not, the continuous acquisitions were the key to Yahoo's soaring stock price and market value. Whether he liked it or not, Yang Zhiyuan had to do it. Whoever brought more traffic and users to Yahoo was the hero of Yahoo!
"Yahoo is Dongling High-Tech's best ally in America, and Feiyan Technology naturally hopes to start cooperating with Yahoo!"

Li Dongling revealed a gentle smile, making Yang Zhiyuan feel that this negotiation seemed to be much easier than he had expected.

Who spread these rumors? Li Dashanren is ruthless, but he's quite easy to talk to. Yang Zhiyuan felt that people in the underworld just love to gossip.

(End of this chapter)