Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1360 Closing the Net
As long as it doesn't fall into the hands of competitors, even an exorbitant acquisition price is acceptable.

Buying something at an exorbitant price might result in a loss, but even if you lose money, it's like keeping the loss to yourself. It's like owning a toy that you get tired of and don't want anymore.

But as long as it's not bought by our arch-rival, then we've made a profit.

If everyone loses money, then it doesn't count as a loss!

Yahoo is determined to acquire GeoCities; it absolutely cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of competitors like Excite.

Especially when an opportunity has presented itself, it is absolutely unacceptable to let it slip away.

"This transaction needs to be approved by Yahoo's board of directors!"

Yang Zhiyuan looked at Li Dongling and said, "I can make the decision to invest four hundred million US dollars in Himalaya Music."

But the $5.5 billion acquisition of GeoCities was not a decision he could make alone.

To be honest, this deal is simply outrageous, surpassing last year's record of $42 billion for AOL's acquisition of Netscape Navigator, and setting a new record for acquisitions in the internet industry.

Such a large acquisition definitely requires a resolution from Yahoo's board of directors.

Li Dongling neither confirmed nor denied Yang Zhiyuan's statement, but merely offered him a reminder.

"The internet industry is entering a mature stage, and the value of all internet companies is constantly increasing."

Yahoo's market capitalization is likely to exceed $100 billion, and GeoCities' valuation will naturally increase as well.

This statement also carries a subtext: if Yahoo doesn't buy it, Dongling High-Tech will have to let the Zhixing Foundation release the news, and then Yahoo's competitor will have to acquire the GeoCities website!
In the past, the acquisition of GeoCities would have been a huge deal for Yahoo, enough to attract all of Jerry Yang's attention.

But right now, Jerry Yang's biggest concern is not GeoCities, but Yahoo's equity.

Regarding the GeoCities website, whether or not Yahoo would acquire it was a matter of Jerry Yang acting as an intermediary, reporting to the Yahoo board of directors for a decision.

However, Jerry Yang could not remain indifferent to Yahoo's equity stake, as it involved the future power structure of Yahoo's board of directors and his own say in the matter, so it was impossible for him to ignore it.

"How much Yahoo equity are Zhixing Foundation and Feiyan Technology planning to transfer?"

Yang Zhiyuan asked Li Dongling, "Although Yahoo's shares are held by Zhixing Foundation and Feiyan Technology, the only entity that can make the decision to sell the shares is Dongke headquarters."

Li Dongling exchanged glances with Ren Yuefeng and Hu Zixian, and finally Hu Zixian, the chief financial officer of Dongke, spoke.

"This time, Dongke is preparing to transfer its approximately 6% stake in Yahoo!"

Hu Zixian said that although Dongke also wanted to cash out all of Yahoo's shares in one go, they had to leave Yahoo some dignity and not really skin them dry.

By selling the GeoCities website and acquiring approximately 6% of Yahoo's shares, Yahoo has essentially been drained of its resources in the short term, at least this year.

These two deals combined definitely exceed 10 billion US dollars. Even for Yahoo, it would be a huge struggle to come up with such a large sum of money, and they would have to tighten their belts and live frugally for the foreseeable future.

As for the remaining 7% of Yahoo's equity, the Zhixing Foundation symbolically retains 1%, which ensures that the Zhixing Foundation remains a member of Yahoo's board of directors.

The Yahoo brand can still be used for nearly ten years, and retaining the status of a Yahoo board member will be useful to Dongling Hi-Tech.

Furthermore, although Yahoo has been declining since the dot-com bubble burst, it can still hold on for a few more years and do a lot for Dongke in Silicon Valley.

In other words, after this wave, the remaining 6% of Yahoo's equity that still needs to be cashed out is...

Whether Yahoo's board of directors continues to buy back the shares or a buyer is found, there is still enough time to deal with this equity stake. There is no need to worry about it becoming a liability.

"6% of Yahoo's equity?"

Yang Zhiyuan pondered for a moment. He still held 9.7% of Yahoo's shares. If he could buy back these shares, or have them bought back by a consortium closely related to him, and if they could support him on the board of directors, then Yang Zhiyuan's influence at Yahoo would increase significantly.

Looking up at Li Dongling, Yang Zhiyuan asked, "At what price does Dongke want to sell this equity?"

Just now, Yang Zhiyuan had witnessed Li Dashan's ruthlessness; he really did resort to underhanded tactics.

He knew that Li Dongling would never agree to transfer this equity at Yahoo's current market value of $80 billion.

Yahoo's stock price is clearly soaring, and selling Yahoo shares at the current market value would obviously be a loss.

"Yahoo's future should be brighter than we expect, and its market value will be far more than it is now. A market value of hundreds of billions of dollars may just be the beginning for Yahoo."

The stars and the sea, the first trillion-dollar market capitalization in human history, should be Yahoo's final destination.

"Jerry, you and the Yahoo board should agree on this, right?" Li Dongling turned the tables on Yang Zhiyuan, asking him if he was optimistic about Yahoo's future.

Faced with this question, how could Yang Zhiyuan answer? If he dared to say he was not optimistic, then once the news got out, believe it or not, the angry Yahoo investors would all clamor to kick him out!

Anyone who dares to question Yahoo is making an enemy of everyone who invested in Yahoo. He founded Yahoo, but does Jerry Yang even know what Yahoo is?
Cutting off someone's path to wealth is like killing their parents. Anyone who tries to prevent Yahoo stock buyers from making money is considered an enemy of Yahoo, even if that person is the founder of Yahoo, they will still be attacked without exception.

Knowing full well that Li Dashan was blatantly robbing Yahoo and forcing the Yahoo board to buy back Yahoo's shares at a high price, Yang Zhiyuan still couldn't say no.

Looking at Li Dashanren, who had a warm smile on his face, Yang Zhiyuan had a feeling that he was completely under Li Dashanren's thumb.

"I will discuss both of these matters with the Yahoo board of directors."

However, I hope the news won't leak out before Yahoo makes a decision!

Yang Zhiyuan cautioned, knowing all too well that once the news leaked out, various parties would jump out to compete with Yahoo for the GeoCities website and Yahoo's equity.

Especially Yahoo's competitors, even if they can't afford it, will still try to annoy and disgust Yahoo by raising prices as much as possible, just to make Yahoo bleed more money.

Behind every industry giant is a bunch of mortal enemies, desperately trying to overthrow the mountain above them.

Even if they are not a match for the industry leader, they will definitely not let go of any opportunity to cause trouble.

After finalizing the agreement with Dongke, Yang Zhiyuan hurriedly left to have a conference call with the Yahoo board to discuss today's transaction.

Three consecutive transactions, even for Yahoo, would have a huge impact and should not be taken lightly.

"I wonder if Yahoo's board of directors will agree to Dongke's conditions!"

After Yang Zhiyuan left, Ren Yuefeng couldn't help but speak up.

By extracting so much profit from Yahoo, Dongke can obtain a large amount of cash flow.

Money makes the world go round. With this money, the chances of the Silicon Harbor project going through will increase by several times.

Furthermore, Dongke's chip, panel, and automotive businesses will also receive a significant amount of R&D funding.

The entire Dongling High-Tech team could potentially benefit from this funding, making their lives a bit better.

"There will probably be some haggling involved, but Yahoo won't miss out on these deals!"

Li Dongling said leisurely, "Yahoo will definitely try to negotiate, but giving up is absolutely out of the question."

Even if it costs a market capitalization of hundreds of billions of dollars to repurchase 6% of Yahoo's shares, as long as Yahoo's market capitalization exceeds hundreds of billions, the deal will still be profitable. For the Wall Street institutions on Yahoo's board of directors, they will never miss an opportunity as long as it is profitable.

Li Dongling calculated that Dongling Hi-Tech's investments in the internet industry over the years were now being gradually rolled out, and the big fish caught could be sold and cashed out.

Soxin was sold to Disney, generating $12.98 billion in revenue. As for ASK, the Zhixing Foundation is in contact with several major buyers, among whom Oracle and IAC have shown the most sincerity. The final transaction price could very well reach $4 billion.

If the Zhixing Foundation's 41% stake in ASK Search is sold at the target price, it could receive $16.4 billion.

In addition, with GeoCities website being sold at a valuation of $5.5 billion, and considering that the Zhixing Foundation holds a 35% stake, it will receive over $1.9 billion.

From these three companies alone, the Zhixing Foundation could earn nearly five billion US dollars. In addition, the Zhixing Foundation's shell company, Pacific Rim Ventures, also cashed out 1.4 billion US dollars from Napster.

If these investments are taken together, Zhixing Foundation is already the most profitable venture capital firm in Silicon Valley in recent years, with the highest return on investment.

Adding the money cashed out from Yahoo, the final cash flow that the Zhixing Foundation can bring back to Dongling High-Tech will probably be the most profitable among all the departments under Dongling High-Tech!
It's no wonder Wall Street institutions love to hype things up, because the money comes in so quickly. Look at how much money the Zhixing Foundation has made for Dongling Hi-Tech in just a few years—it's much more lucrative than selling Shenzhou mobile phones and computers.

If it weren't for the philanthropist Li, who was able to keep his mind in check and instead used the money he cashed out from the Zhixing Foundation to invest in Dongke's research and development, then Dongke would have been caught up in a frenzy and started speculating on NASDAQ. There would have been no time left for research and development.

Many listed companies in China, after going public, see that cashing out in the stock market is too quick and try to find all sorts of reasons to cash out, completely neglecting their main business!
……

"Jerry Yang, the world's first internet figure and founder of Yahoo, is currently in Pingyang, mainland China, and has been invited to visit Dongling High-Tech. This is a collision between the internet industries of the East and the West!"
Internet industry experts believe that Jerry Yang's trip to Asia will have a profound impact on the Asian internet industry.

Other sources predict that Yang Zhiyuan's trip to the mainland may lead to a new cooperation agreement with Dongling High-Tech.

Yahoo and Dongling High-Tech have a very close relationship. For example, Yahoo's first venture capital investment came from the Zhixing Foundation, established by Dongling's founder, Li Dongling…

In Hong Kong, the local media extensively reported on Yang Zhiyuan's trip to Asia, and the internet in Hong Kong also became very active, with everyone paying close attention to Yang Zhiyuan.

Upon seeing the news reports, the president of Yingke Power couldn't help but frown.

(End of this chapter)