"Xiao Lei, who are these guests? Why didn't you inform me!" Old Ma Ge, seeing Huang He and the other two enter, asked the receptionist who had just opened the door for them.
"They said they were here to talk business with you, and it was very, very important business. So I asked them to wait in the living room. I tried calling your mobile, but you forgot to bring it!" Peng Lei, the receptionist, said softly.
"Ma, it seems you have guests. I'll be going back then. We can continue our discussion tomorrow in my room," Masayoshi Son, despite being worth billions of dollars, appeared quite approachable. He said in English, taking the initiative.
"Wait," Young Ma Ge's English was also excellent. Hearing Masayoshi Son about to leave, he couldn't bother with anything else and quickly stood up, saying, "Mr. Son, I am Young Ma Ge, the chairman of Tengda Group. I actually came here specifically to find you. Can we talk? I have something very important to discuss with you!"
"Tengda Group! Looking for me?" Masayoshi Son showed a slightly surprised expression, then looked at Old Ma Ge as if asking something.
"Oh, this Tengda Group is also a domestic internet company. They operate an instant messaging software called QQ. It's quite user-friendly. We've used this software before to communicate with friends online," Old Ma Ge explained.
"Oh, instant messaging software! Is it similar to ICQ?" Masayoshi Son asked.
"Yes!" Young Ma Ge confirmed eagerly.
"I'm not interested in that," Masayoshi Son shook his head. "I have other things to attend to. I must leave."
"Please wait a moment, Mr. Masayoshi Son. Our QQ already has over 10 million active users in China. Aren't you even a little bit interested?" Young Ma Ge shouted in English.
"Ten million active users!" Masayoshi Son took a sharp breath. He indeed stopped, and glanced at Old Ma Ge again. Old Ma Ge could only say very honestly, "Their officially released data is indeed like that, and based on our actual experience, this data should not be false."
"I see!" Masayoshi Son smiled. "Old Ma Ge, you don't mind if I borrow your place to talk with this Young Ma Ge, do you? Don't worry, our conversation won't affect my investment in you!"
"Of course, all guests are welcome. I am very pleased!" Whether Old Ma Ge was truly very pleased or not, his smile was certain. So, Masayoshi Son also sat down in the living room, and Old Ma Ge, without any sense of shame, also sat over.
"They're discussing business, why are you joining the fun!" Huang He said disdainfully from the side. At the same time, Leng Zhiruo was quietly translating the conversation of these three people into Huang He's ear.
It couldn't be helped. Our Boss Huang, although he graduated in the era of universal English and passed CET-4, unfortunately, he returned it to his teachers after graduation. Currently, he could only understand some simple words and sentences.
Masayoshi Son grew up in America, Young Ma Ge was a top university student, and Old Ma Ge was even a university English teacher. The three of them naturally communicated directly in English, and Huang He couldn't understand at all.
Fortunately, Leng Zhiruo was by his side. She scored 138 in English in the college entrance examination and later passed CET-6 in university. So, she could at least understand their conversation and act as a real-time translator for our Boss Huang.
Although there were two extraneous people around, and commercial secrets would inevitably be leaked if he spoke, since Masayoshi Son chose to sit in the living room, and the other two didn't have the sense to leave on their own, and Young Ma Ge was not the host here, it was even more inappropriate for him to ask them to leave. He could only comfort himself that these two people would not significantly affect his business, and his words would not have any impact.
Thus, Young Ma Ge briefly explained the matter of needing investment.
"Okay, I understand!" Masayoshi Son nodded. "I will send people to conduct a detailed investigation of your company later to see if you truly possess your current market position. However, I am curious, how much equity are you willing to offer, Mr. Ma, and how much financing do you want?"
"50 million US dollars for 40% of the company's shares!" Young Ma Ge said.
"50 million US dollars!" Old Ma Ge's teeth felt sore upon hearing this. He and Masayoshi Son hit it off immediately, had a great conversation, and even went on a trip around West Lake together. It took them a full half month to finalize an investment of 20 million US dollars, but they had to take away 50% of Alibaba's total shares, with only the guarantee of Old Ma Ge's control over Alibaba.
As a result, this Young Ma Ge asked for 50 million US dollars and only sold 40% of the shares, which made Old Ma Ge feel envious. However, he thought it was normal. After all, Alibaba at that time was just a website with millions of registered users, but QQ already had tens of millions of registered users and over ten million active users. They were not on the same level at all!
"As far as I know, early this year, Pacific Century CyberWorks sold 20% of its shares for 12.6 million US dollars. Looking at it that way, your company's 40% shares should only be worth 25 million US dollars. Why are they double the price for me?" Masayoshi Son, who had just said he had never heard of Tengda, now actually obtained detailed data on Tengda's previous financing round.
Of course, this was not Masayoshi Son pretending to be ignorant. It was just that during the conversation just now, Masayoshi Son's secretary had collected a simple piece of intelligence about Tengda and handed it to Masayoshi Son, giving him a preliminary understanding of the company.
"Because at the beginning of this year, Tengda had 5 million active users, but now it has over 10 million active users!" Young Ma Ge said in a deep voice. "In terms of user numbers, this price increase is reasonable."
"Over 5 million active users increased in less than a year!" Masayoshi Son was once again shocked by Young Ma Ge. This specific data was not something he could find out. Upon hearing this, he was naturally already a bit tempted.
Of course, Masayoshi Son also identified a very crucial question that he needed to ask our Young Ma Ge.
"Regarding your current competitors in the market, oo, what does Mr. Ma think?" Masayoshi Son asked with a smile. This question went straight to the core!
Upon hearing this, Old Ma Ge's face immediately showed a curious and interesting expression.
However, the most curious and the most interested were naturally Boss Huang He, who had been expressionless and acting as an impartial spectator, and Leng Zhiruo behind him. Upon hearing this question, they both immediately perked up, their faces showing expressions of curiosity.
"Although it's a bit tricky, it's not worth mentioning!" Young Ma Ge said proudly.