The discussions at Tengda continued until early morning. During this time, many people tried to contact potential investors, but securing funding is a process that is both incredibly easy and exceedingly difficult.
Sometimes, a flood of people will eagerly offer you money, but when you truly need it, finding funds can be a monumental challenge. The situation was made even more difficult by the major problems QQ was facing.
"Actually, I have an idea. We might be able to get funding from him," said Ma, who had been silent until then.
"From whom?" everyone asked curiously, looking towards Ma. Ma seemed hesitant about mentioning the name, and after a moment's thought, he shook his head. "Never mind, let's forget about him!"
Ma's reaction only intensified everyone's curiosity. They pressed him, and finally, Ma reluctantly said, "I'm talking about Huang He!"
"Huang He! He wants to destroy us, how could he possibly invest in us?" exclaimed everyone in shock.
"How is that possible? Huang He started oo after failing to invest in QQ, so he has always been covetous of our QQ. Not to mention that our market share and user base are still several times larger than oo's. If he has a chance to invest in us, Huang He would definitely not refuse!" Ma said confidently. In reality, as long as Ma took the initiative to ask, Boss Huang would be the first to offer money.
"How could he be so kind? Isn't he afraid that our QQ will defeat his oo in the future?" Li Dan still couldn't believe it.
"Therefore, he won't invest a small amount. He will definitely make a large investment, seeking to obtain more than 51% of the shares to gain controlling interest in Tengda. After that, he can merge QQ and oo. This way, neither side will have to worry about being defeated, and he will be the ultimate victor!" Ma continued. The people around him fell silent.
That's right, if that were the case, Huang He would definitely invest heavily in QQ, and he would absolutely not refuse this opportunity.
Moreover, this plan also had benefits for them. They all held some shares in Tengda, and if Huang He spent a lot of money to acquire them, their shares would turn into a considerable amount of cash. They could then leave Tengda without having to endure Huang He's arrogance, which would be quite fortunate.
Of course, just as Lu Su said back then, having Cao Cao as a leader was acceptable to others, but not to Sun Quan, or to Ma.
Given the animosity between Ma and Huang He, and Huang He's own capabilities, if Huang He were to take over, Ma would inevitably be ousted. Therefore, Ma only considered the idea for a fleeting moment before rejecting it outright. He would not engage in such a suicidal act unless it was absolutely necessary.
In reality, at this point, these people were harboring petty suspicions towards a gentleman. Is Boss Huang the kind of person to do such a thing?
Even if our Boss Huang bought 100% of Tengda's shares, he would absolutely not drive Ma away. Instead, he would grant Ma all authority, allowing him to continue to steer Tengda as he did in history. Boss Huang would be content to be a hands-off owner, which would be very convenient.
Unfortunately, Ma was not magnanimous enough and thus missed out on his second life-changing opportunity.
"Chairman, I actually heard some intelligence. I don't know if it's useful!" suddenly, someone spoke up.
"What?" Ma immediately looked over upon hearing this and found that the speaker was someone who usually kept quiet.
"It's like this, SoftBank Capital from Fusang, their chairman Masayoshi Son, seems to be in Hangzhou right now, discussing investment with a company!" the person said. "SoftBank Capital currently has assets exceeding fifty billion US dollars. If we can secure investment from SoftBank, all our problems will be solved!"
"SoftBank Capital? I seem to have heard of this name!" Ma nodded thoughtfully. "But would Masayoshi Son be willing to invest in us?"
"I'm not sure about that, I just heard about this matter!" the person said with a wry smile.
"It's very possible!" Li Dan chimed in. "Chairman, I know SoftBank Capital, its full name is SoftBank Group, and its chairman is Masayoshi Son. He was born in Japan and grew up in America. It is said that this person generally does not look at a company's specific performance or financial reports when investing. He only looks at the prospects of the industry and the person leading the company. It is said that as long as he takes a liking to you, he will invest regardless of how poor the performance is or how much losses the company incurs!"
"Isn't this purely acting on intuition? How can such a person succeed!" Ma exclaimed in surprise.
"Quite the opposite. This person has many classic investment cases. The most classic among them is his investment in Yahoo and Cisco when Yahoo was just founded. In our Huaxia, the most famous one currently is Shanda. He invested in Chen Qiang, and has already received at least a tenfold return!" Li Dan said.
"I see!" Ma nodded, then said, "In that case, I will personally go to Hangzhou and make sure to meet Mr. Masayoshi Son and secure his investment! I just don't know if he will be willing to see me!"
"If the chairman goes with sincerity, Mr. Son will definitely not refuse!" everyone chuckled.
"Yes, by the way, you mentioned earlier that Masayoshi Son is going to Hangzhou to invest in another company. Which company is it? What is its name?" Ma asked curiously.
"Oh, this company seems to be called Alibaba. The boss and chairman share the same surname as you, and his name is Old Ma!" the subordinate said.
"Old Ma? That sounds very old. Is he already forty or fifty years old?" Ma asked with a smile.
"Yes, he does look quite old."
——————————————
"Brother-in-law, did you come to Hangzhou specifically to see me?" Leng Zhiruo asked delightfully after picking up Huang He from the airport.
"Of course!" Huang He nodded vigorously. "Zhiruo, you've worked hard recently. I heard you traveled to ten cities in one month, and you've gotten much darker from the sun. Now that you're in Hangzhou, of course I have to come and see you!"
"Thank you, brother-in-law!" Leng Zhiruo said happily.
"By the way, have you found the office address for the Forty Thieves that I asked you to look for?" Huang He asked casually.
"I had to ask many people to find it. But this company doesn't look like a legitimate company at all. Their office address is squeezed into a small apartment room. The apartment management unit even said that during a crackdown on illegal activities, they were caught, and they were accused of being involved in pyramid schemes there. It took a lot of effort to explain clearly!" Leng Zhiruo said as if telling a joke.
[PS: Masayoshi Son's investment in Alibaba was in 2000, but in this world, it has been postponed to 2001. After all, it's two different worlds, so it's different.]