Became the best actor, the system just finished loading

Chapter 393 I'm afraid of getting dirty
Brother Tongzi gave away Sina shares, but not Weibo shares. Who knows if Weibo is reliable?

Sina itself is still very strong.

Sina.com is one of the pioneers of portal websites in China and remains an important benchmark in the industry.

It wasn't until 2008 that Sohu's performance and stock price surpassed Sina's for the first time.

Sohu and Sina are fiercely competing in the portal and microblogging sectors.

In 09, Sina launched Weibo, and Zhang Chaoyang subsequently launched Sohu Weibo, stating that "there is no upper limit to investment."

Many people in the industry are not optimistic about Cao Guojiu.

"Let's not talk about those superficial things. You know me, you've looked into Sina, and you've been using Weibo all along. Mr. Qi, I've always admired your investment acumen. You dare to invest in things you've never used before. Now, why hesitate about a product you use every day?"

Cao Guojiu's words were somewhat provocative.

"Monetize it, brother. This thing of yours can't be monetized at all. Look at Baidu and Li Yanhong. They've lost all shame in order to monetize it. They've done all sorts of dirty tricks, like bidding for rankings. I'm not afraid of losing money. I'm afraid of getting dirty."

Qi Hao then stopped beating around the bush.

Let's take Li Yanhong as an example.

Last year, Li Yanhong of Baidu surpassed Zong Qinghou of Wahaha with a net worth of $94 billion, becoming the new richest person in mainland China with $59 billion.

Many people have praised it highly.

Qi Hao, however, wasn't particularly interested.

It doesn't matter if he badmouths Li Yanhong behind her back; even if Li Yanhong finds out, she can't do anything about it.

“We’ll run Weibo together. You’re a Sina shareholder, so you indirectly hold shares in Weibo. We can give you about 18% of Weibo’s total shares after dilution, and we can also give you an option that allows Donghao Venture Capital to increase your fully diluted shareholding in our Weibo company to 30% in the future, according to a pre-agreed pricing method.”

Cao Guojiu was also determined.

It's a Weibo war right now, and all the opponents seem very strong. He'll have a hard time taking on any of them, and he's even more afraid that the other platforms will join forces against him.

It's not that there aren't people outside who want to participate in the financing.

But those were all hungry wolves.

Sina has weathered the crisis of its founder being ousted, and has only recently stabilized. Weibo holds the key to the company's future. Losing control of it would mean the complete collapse of the company.

What is Weibo's current shareholding structure?

Qi Hao pondered for a moment.

To be honest, he was somewhat tempted.

Weibo is a very useful tool for him.

In the past two years, thanks to Janchi Leiden's sharp operations and abundant funds, he has not encountered any problems in public relations.

But the future is constantly evolving.

Just as probably few people could have imagined ten years ago, print media would disappear so quickly and completely.

Having cards in your hand makes you feel less panicked.

"We promise that over the next four years, we will issue stock options to employees representing a total of 15.9% of the diluted total share capital. Of these, management will receive 5.7%, and the remaining 84.1% will be held by Sina's wholly-owned subsidiaries. If you can get 30%, you will definitely be the largest shareholder of Weibo."

Cao Guojiu has known Qi Hao for quite some time.

Donghao Venture Capital even has a seat on Sina's board of directors.

This board seat has always been a support for him.

A generous and honest investor who doesn't cause trouble, isn't greedy, and has abundant financial resources—who wouldn't like such a patron?

"18%, how much?"

Qi Hao sighed. Sina was a company that Tongzi Ge had certified as decent. Since Weibo was now the company's core business, could it be assumed that this core business would not fail?

After all, if Weibo fails, Sina will be completely finished.

“You will be given preferred stock and common stock in a certain ratio, which will only cost you $3.6 million.”

Cao Guojiu cautiously offered a price.

"Pfft, Lao Cao, you're not being sincere. Weibo is worth $20 billion?"

Qi Hao immediately lost interest.

If you eliminate all your competitors, it's not impossible for you to be valued at 20 billion or even 30 billion US dollars.

However, in the current competitive landscape, no single Weibo product is worth that much.

"It costs hundreds of millions of dollars a year. If it's less than three hundred million, it really won't be enough."

Cao Guojiu doesn't play games; he analyzes things from the perspective of product management.

"Go talk to Lao Tian. In principle, I accept your equity distribution plan, but the price is just too outrageous. I hope you can persuade him." Qi Hao didn't want to waste any more words with him.

He really wants Weibo, but he doesn't want to spend so much money.

If it weren't for the fact that he was a shareholder of Sina, and that he and An Feng were both among the top three in the fan rankings, he would actually prefer to cooperate with Tencent.

Ren Yuxin, the third-ranking figure at Tencent, recently attended his wedding.

The day after the wedding, the two had a short get-together.

The partnership with the video websites has fallen apart.

Tencent established its own video website, and Qi Hao also created Bilibili, forming a powerful triangle of novels, comics, and videos, leaving Tencent no room to intervene.

Ren Yuxin felt quite regretful.

However, neither side intended to fall out, as there would be plenty of opportunities for cooperation.

Take film and television investment, for example.

Tencent also plans to start making moves in this area, and establishing a film and television company is only a matter of time.

Film and television projects often rely on collaborations with multiple companies.

If Qi Hao can bring Tencent Pictures along, it will definitely save Tencent Pictures a lot of trouble.

Tencent is also increasing its investment in Weibo.

If Qi Hao hadn't been involved with Sina, he might have collaborated with Tencent in this area.

Of course, Tencent Weibo is not without its problems.

One issue is the approach.

Tencent is using Taotao as a product to increase QQ user stickiness and is integrating its functions into products such as QQ Zone.

However, due to the strong influence of QQ's other services, the influence of its microblog is negligible.

In addition, there is the issue of the right to speak.

Qi Hao's collaboration with Tencent on a video project failed because neither side was willing to concede on the issue of who had the final say, and Weibo was clearly not going to back down either.

Things can't be settled in a single discussion.

The fact that there is talk means there is hope of reaching an agreement.

Cao Guojiu was already very satisfied.

Qi Hao asked Lao Tian to take the team to negotiate, while he himself began preparing for the start of filming for "My Love from the Star".

This is a TV series.

The filming of TV series is different from that of movies; TV series are relatively simpler.

As for which is more prestigious, it's really hard to say.

At the beginning of the year, the TV series "Palace" became a huge hit, and Yang Mi, Feng Shaofeng, and Tong Liya all reached the peak of their careers.

Not long ago, another drama, "Scarlet Heart," became a huge hit, and Liu Shishi (played by Nicky Wu) and his entourage of princes rose in popularity.

Since both of these are period dramas set in the Qing Dynasty, they are inevitably compared to each other, and fans of both have even started accusing each other of plagiarism, engaging in a war of words online.

What's even more outrageous is that Yang Mi's earlier drama, "Palace," is more suspected of plagiarism.

Reports indicate that Yu Zheng attempted to purchase the television adaptation rights to "Scarlet Heart" but failed. He then created and filmed "Palace," which premiered first and gained market recognition.

In any case, Yang Mi and Liu Shishi have both become famous.

Yang Mi also showcased her singing talent, performing "The Power of Love," though her singing skills were, to put it mildly, underwhelming.

Of course, their popularity is only relative.

There is no comparison between Anfeng and He.

However, since An Feng has been making movies for several years, and is now turning back to acting in TV dramas, it's inevitable that people will compare him to her.

Even some fans are starting to worry that after the drama airs, they might be overshadowed by these two younger actors.

Yang Mi played a supporting role to An Feng in "The Return of the Condor Heroes".

His breakthrough work, "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3", is also a sequel to An Feng's "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 1".

Liu Shishi even debuted under the name of "Little An Feng".

He is indeed a junior.

(End of this chapter)