Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 460 Ma Yun's Fear, Chen Xiu's Plan

4 million daily active users?

Ma Yun exclaimed in disbelief.

He was so surprised and flustered because he knew the significance of this figure.

The family members sitting around Ma Yun, chatting with him to celebrate the New Year, also looked on with surprise at this rare reaction.

Seeing the looks from his family, he smiled apologetically, covered his phone, got up and went outside to the balcony to continue the call.

"Hey, please continue with our previous topic."

"As I just mentioned, Douyin announced that the number of people receiving Spring Festival red envelopes exceeded 4 million, and daily active users have further increased."

Ma Yun gazed at the brightly lit night view of Hangzhou in the distance, his expression dark and unreadable.

"Approximately how many people completed the Alipay Five Blessings collection task this year?"

"3.27 million, a 32% increase compared to last year."

On the other end of the phone, Jing Xiandong proudly announced the number.

He took over Alipay last year, and in less than a year, such a significant increase in numbers is definitely a remarkable achievement.

However, Ma Yun's response was unusually cold: "OK! I understand. That's all for now. Goodbye."

After saying that, Ma Yun hung up the phone without waiting for Jing Xiandong's response.

He gazed at the distant night view, rested his hand on the railing, and muttered to himself, "4 million, tsk tsk, 4 million daily active users..."

"Dad, are you okay?"

A sudden sound interrupted Ma Yun's thoughts.

He turned his head and saw his eldest son standing at the door, his face full of concern.

Ma Yun smiled and said, "It's alright. I'll stay here and think about something. You go in first."

"Oh well."

"Xiao Kun, you were born in 92, right?"

"Well, what happened?"

"Nothing, I just thought of someone, haha, he's a little younger than you."

Ma Yun sighed, then waved her hand, signaling her son to go inside first, so she could have some time alone.

Hearing the creak of the sliding door closing, Ma Yun sighed and thought: The second and third brothers have teamed up to challenge the eldest brother. Do they think Ah Li is the Wei Kingdom?
As someone who stands at a high vantage point and oversees the overall situation, Ma Yun's perspective on issues is definitely not limited to the gains and losses of a single city or region.

If Douyin is developing normally, then no matter whether its daily active users exceed 4 million or 5 million, Ma Yun will not care, and may even send Chen Xiu a congratulatory message.

However, with the traffic driven by WeChat, Douyin's daily active users exceeded 4 million, which led to many more associations in his mind.

Could this situation be a collaboration between Douyin and Tencent?
If the two companies join forces, what will they do next?

Douyin is fully developing its e-commerce business this year. Is it possible that WeChat will continue to drive traffic to them?

Given the current development trend of Douyin, is it possible that it could change the rules of the e-commerce game?

Pinduoduo's 10 billion yuan subsidy strategy has already made Taobao feel a bit threatened. If you add Douyin Mall's live-streaming e-commerce to that...

Ma Yun gasped, feeling that the consequences of Douyin and Penguin joining forces were too terrifying, and Ah Li probably wouldn't be able to withstand it.

However, the idea of ​​joining forces was ultimately just his speculation.

It's also possible that this Spring Festival red envelope campaign is merely a short-term collaboration between the two parties...

However, the huge discrepancy in Tencent's response to the Duoshan app incident a while ago was truly unsettling.

If Chen Xiu's skill in mediating could help, the two sides might be able to cooperate in the long term.

Ma Yun slowly stretched out her face, her lips trembling slightly. After hesitating for a moment, she picked up her phone, found Chen Xiu's number in her contacts, and dialed it.

"Knock knock knock... Sorry, the number you dialed is temporarily unavailable—"

"Tsk, no time to answer the phone, are you busy with a victory celebration?"

Ma Yun frowned, his suspicions deepening.

After much deliberation, he finally edited a message and sent it to Chen Xiu via WeChat.

When the message was successfully sent, Ma Yun couldn't help but sigh that WeChat was indeed indispensable in her life, and then she became increasingly wary of the possibility of Douyin and WeChat joining forces.

At this moment, Chen Xiu, whom Ma Yun was concerned about, was lying leisurely on the big bed in her new home.

The person lying next to him was Su Xiao, whose skin was as smooth as jade and whose hair was as black as satin.

After taking off her glasses, Su Xiao stared at the ceiling with dreamy, blank eyes and asked, "Where were we?"

"Penguin spun out WeChat and then partnered with TikTok to acquire Line, thereby creating a closer partnership between the two companies."

As Chen Xiu explained, she slid her fingertips along Su Xiao's collarbone.

Swatting away the mischievous hand, Su Xiao turned to face Chen Xiu, rolling her eyes with a captivating charm.

"What if Line refuses to be acquired? The shares issued on the secondary market should account for less than 51% of the total market value, right?"

"To avoid this situation from happening, I gave the penguin a suggestion."

Chen Xiu winked, leaned close to her crystal-clear ear, and whispered her plan to her.

Upon hearing the first step, Su Xiao's eyes lit up: "That's a good idea, but it's still not enough, and the acquisition plan needs to be announced. What if Line retaliates against it?"

“We’ve analyzed the most likely retaliatory actions Line might take, and the conclusion is that they will either activate a poison pill or seek a white knight.” Chen Xiu sat cross-legged on the bed, placed his hands on his knees, and tapped his four fingers rhythmically as he began to analyze the problem from Line’s perspective.

“Since its IPO in 16, Line has consistently reported losses, and its stock price has been hitting new lows. If they were to use a poison pill plan to issue preferred shares to common shareholders in order to dilute the acquirer’s stake, shareholders would most likely not support it.”

"This is only a high probability, it cannot be confirmed yet."

Su Xiao's nitpicking was actually helping Chen Xiu to find and fill in the gaps.

He was already prepared for this vulnerability.

"Everything is a matter of probability; we can only increase the probability that it won't happen."

Su Xiao moved her lips slightly, placed her hand on Chen Xiu's knee, her beautiful back was fair and smooth as silk, and she looked up at him with a smile.

"How did you handle it?"

Chen Xiu touched her cheek and said, "It's no coincidence that last November, Tencent partnered with WeChat Pay and Line's LinePay to launch a joint mobile payment service on Xiaorizi."

"In this collaboration, Line will have to bear the cost of the cashback payment, and it is expected that Line's losses will further increase by the middle of this year."

Su Xiaoyi immediately understood and continued, "Further widening losses are beneficial for acquisitions, but they will also make shareholders hesitant to increase their shareholdings."

"Yes, and TikTok's IPO is also scheduled for the middle of the year, so it all fits together."

Chen Xiu introduced a new variable.

With TikTok's current success, its IPO is bound to attract attention from various circles, and the news will also reach other internet communities.

Gently stroking Su Xiao's cheek, Chen Xiu narrowed his eyes and said:
"You know, if WeChat acquires a majority stake in Line, and I make TikTok Line's white knight by investing in and acquiring a certain percentage of the shares, and then partner with WeChat, wouldn't that allow us to immediately reach a 51% stake and take over Line?"

Su Xiao's breath hitched. She opened her eyes and stared at Chen Xiu with a shifty gaze. Then, she frowned slightly, used both hands to lift her body up, and moved closer to him with a wary expression.

"Who did you tell about this plan?"

"Currently, there is no one else besides you; even Penguin doesn't know."

"Phew, that's good. The fewer people who know about this, the better."

"..."

Chen Xiu nodded, her gaze lowered, watching intently.

Noticing the direction of his gaze, Su Xiao blushed and spat out, "Let's talk about work, be serious."

"What did I do that was inappropriate?"

"You know yourself... if you want to take the white knight route, you need to get TikTok to connect with Line. How do you do that?"

Su Xiao's expression, a mixture of confusion and shyness, added a touch of endearing contrast to her usual aloof demeanor.

Chen Xiu smiled and admired the view for a while before frowning and explaining, realizing something was amiss.

“There are many ways to connect with Line, the simplest and most convenient one is through SoftBank Vision Fund.”

"As one of the pre-IPO funding targets of TikTok, it is perfectly legitimate for them to become intermediaries."

"No, no, no. If we directly approach SoftBank and ask them to help us contact Line, it would be a bit too deliberate. It would be better to find a mutual friend and then do a brokerage deal."

Chen Xiu's eyes darted around, and the corners of her mouth continued to curve upwards.

Su Xiao's eyes darted around: "You mean, through Ma Yun?"

"Among my friends, he has the closest relationship with SoftBank."

"Hmph! One thing leads to another, your intentions are truly profound."

"Thank you for the compliment. To make this happen, we need to consider many details, prepare several backup plans, and even have a Plan B in place in case the acquisition fails."

Chen Xiu, true to his cautious nature, did not become complacent despite the logical consistency of his plan.

Because of his words, Su Xiao's already sparkling eyes were like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples.

Meeting those tender, gentle eyes, Chen Xiu paused, temporarily setting aside the weighing of pros and cons in her mind.

"It's still early, we can refine the plan gradually. Let's just enjoy tonight!"

"Eh……"

Feeling that she hadn't recovered yet, Su Xiao quickly dodged.

Chen Xiu also pretended to chase after him.

She ran to the bedside and glanced at her phone. Su Xiao quickly said, "The phone just rang. Go check your phone first."

"My phone rings all the time, it doesn't matter!"

Having already resolved the issues in the backyard and reviewed the work reports from Douyin and Datang Pictures, Chen Xiu didn't think there would be any important phone call coming in the early hours of the Spring Festival.

Seeing that she had no way to avoid it, Su Xiao was about to resign herself to her fate when a sudden flash of inspiration struck her.

"Xiao Yi went home for the Chinese New Year, what about the others?"

"Dilraba is filming, while Xiaotian and Nezha are in Shanghai. However, their families came over today, so they probably won't be free until tomorrow or the day after."

"Hiss... alright then."

Su Xiao looked helpless, but she felt a little more empathetic towards Meng Ziyi's open-mindedness in accepting this kind of relationship.

Disagreement is not an option!
It's your own fault for not being able to handle it all by yourself!
Lying back, Su Xiao's eyes became dreamy and unfocused again...

(End of this chapter)