"How are things?" the old man asked Hao Jianguo, who had rushed in, inside the familiar room.
"Everything is as planned!" Hao Jianguo said with a slight smile. "That old fox, Huang He, immediately agreed to my terms. He's no longer demanding the complete acquisition of Amazon, but only that Amazon agree to use the Western Mustang Wallet as its sole payment method!"
"Then it's up to Bezos. If Bezos strongly refuses to make the Western Mustang Wallet the sole payment method, what do you think Huang He will do?" the old man asked.
"Huang He will definitely increase his stake and acquire Amazon!" Hao Jianguo said without hesitation. "I know Huang He; he's a man who never gives up until he achieves his goal. If he spends tens of billions of dollars and still can't get Amazon, then Huang He will find this outcome unacceptable and will try every means to get more shares, and then forcibly oust Bezos from Amazon!"
"Would Huang He make such a simple and crude decision?" At this point, the old man himself suddenly hesitated. The worst possible outcome suddenly appeared in his mind: what if Huang He decides to cut his losses now and no longer confront Bezos, ending the acquisition with 56% of Amazon's shares? That would make all of this rather ridiculous.
"I know Huang He; he will absolutely not accept such an outcome!" Hao Jianguo insisted. However, Hao Jianguo was also somewhat apprehensive. If anything went wrong, he would likely experience the Ten Tortures of Goldman Sachs.
"Fine, we can only continue," the old man said, frowning. He disliked this feeling of uncertainty, waiting to see if the enemy would step into the trap themselves.
***
The next day, Hao Jianguo once again led his team to Amazon's headquarters. This time, however, he wasn't there for acquisition negotiations but as a shareholder of the company, demanding a board meeting.
"Everyone, for the faster development of Amazon and to become the premier platform in the global e-commerce field, I propose that Amazon should cooperate with the Western Mustang Wallet and make the Western Mustang Wallet the sole official payment tool for Amazon, thereby gaining access to the Western Mustang Wallet's massive user base!"
As soon as this impromptu board meeting convened, Hao Jianguo stated his intentions directly. At the same time, he subtly indicated that if the board agreed to his demands, he would no longer seek to acquire more shares, allowing the Amazon board to remain in its current state.
With Hao Jianguo having successively acquired 56% of Amazon's shares, plus another 20% in publicly traded shares, only the remaining 24% were left. Of this, 10% was held by Bezos, who thus naturally became the company's second-largest shareholder.
All eyes then turned to Bezos. If he agreed, this acquisition battle that had captivated the world would be over.
"I disagree!" To everyone's surprise, Bezos refused quite bluntly. "I believe the Western Mustang Wallet is not suitable as Amazon's payment tool, and I reject this suggestion and idea!"
"Chairman Bezos, please make your decision carefully and think before you speak. This is the only prerequisite for us to cooperate!" Hao Jianguo threatened directly.
"My stance is very clear. To be blunt, although your company holds the majority stake in Amazon, I possess over 51% of the company's voting rights. Other than me, no one can remove me from my position as Chairman and CEO, not even if you acquire 90% of the shares!"
"It's fortunate that I'm stating my position now. Either you abandon the Western Mustang Wallet, quietly remain as major shareholders, and enjoy your dividends without trying to dictate to us."
"Or, you can buy all my shares for $4 billion, and I'll leave immediately, handing the company over to you entirely. You can do as you please!" Bezos said very decisively, while the other shareholders present watched this scene with astonishment.
They had initially thought this board meeting was the beginning of a truce, but instead, the war continued, with Bezos even naming his price.
The board meeting naturally ended unpleasantly, and Hao Jianguo reported the day's work to Huang He immediately.
"Buying Bezos for $4 billion for his 10% stake? Do you think that's feasible?" Huang He asked, frowning after listening to Hao Jianguo's report.
"That's a difficult decision to make!" Hao Jianguo sighed. "We previously spent $6 billion to buy 21% of the shares, which averages out to $3 billion for 10% of the shares."
"And now Bezos is increasing the price to $4 billion for 10%. This means we not only need to pay an additional $4 billion but also compensate the other institutions for the additional $2 billion in fees. This would mean we need to pay another $6 billion to acquire Bezos's 10% stake. The cost is simply too high!"
"But if we can acquire this 10% stake for $6 billion, then Bezos can no longer constrain us with the dual-class share system, and our company will gain effective control of Amazon!" Hao Jianguo added, the next second.
Finally, he tossed the choice back to Huang He, saying, "Boss, such a significant decision is beyond my capacity to comment on further. You are the only one who can decide."
"Of the $15 billion borrowed, $6 billion has already been spent, leaving $9 billion. Spending another $6 billion would give us complete control of Amazon. Although this means we won't have absolute majority control of Amazon, it doesn't seem necessary. As long as we can gain complete control of Amazon, $6 billion is $6 billion." Boss Huang finally nodded helplessly. "Fine, one cannot abandon a task halfway. Moreover, if we don't remove Bezos from Amazon, we will never be able to establish our planned e-commerce system using Amazon. This money must be spent."
"Go negotiate with Bezos. Tell him we are willing to pay $4 billion for his 10% stake and ask him to sign the contract as soon as possible. Also, inform the other institutions that we will pay the difference on time, so they don't need to worry!"
"Understood!" Hao Jianguo said with a smile. But the moment the video call ended, the warm smile instantly turned into a cold sneer.
"Boss, boss, you've finally fallen into the trap this time!" The cold sneer on Hao Jianguo's face grew increasingly unrestrained, and the smugness radiating from him became almost palpable. In Hao Jianguo's view, Jiangnan Group was definitely going to suffer a huge loss and bleed a lot of money this time.
Next, it was he, Hao Jianguo, who would conspire with Bezos to set up the next fatal trap.
First, Hao Jianguo would reach an acquisition agreement with Bezos, smoothly purchasing the 10% stake for $4 billion. Then, the other institutions would naturally demand that Jiangnan Group pay the missing $2 billion difference. And Hao Jianguo, in order to complete the acquisition as quickly as possible, would carelessly pay the $2 billion difference in just a few days, prioritizing stability.
However, the equity acquisition between Jiangnan Group and Bezos would then be directly deemed invalid by the relevant institutions. This is because Bezos's shares were not actually his alone; his brother, Mark Bezos, also owned some shares. Not many, perhaps around 0.5% of the shares, as Mark Bezos had supported his brother with his entire fortune when he started the company.
It was this 0.5% that would later make Mark Bezos a billionaire and the first commercial space tourist.
However, Mark Bezos knew his own limitations and had always entrusted his shares directly to Bezos for management, without getting involved in any company affairs himself.
Therefore, as soon as Mark Bezos stepped forward and refused to sell his 0.5% stake, the previously agreed-upon $4 billion deal for 10% of the shares would be considered void.
In this way, the entire situation would return to its original state. Bezos's 10% stake would remain in his hands, but Jiangnan Group would have already paid the $2 billion difference, effectively increasing the price from the original $300 million per 1% to $400 million per 1%.
Furthermore, according to the floating agreement which stipulated that the price only increases and never decreases, and no refunds would be issued even if it fell, these institutions would not need to return this $2 billion difference.
Of course, there would certainly be loopholes in the legal interpretation, as the $4 billion transaction had not been successful, and Jiangnan Group would likely have the right to demand these institutions return the difference.
However, this would turn into a protracted legal battle. Given the nature of these institutions, this lawsuit could drag on for two to three years. During this period, the $2 billion would not need to be repaid, and by the time the final judgment was rendered, Jiangnan Group might have already completely collapsed.
And after all this happened, Huang He would be forced to make a new decision. Either he would accept the loss and negotiate with Bezos again, but at that point, Bezos would continue to demand an exorbitant price, raising the $4 billion to $5 billion, thereby continuing to bleed Jiangnan Group dry.
After all, if the price on this side increased, Jiangnan Group would still need to pay an additional $2 billion difference to those institutions.
This would cost Jiangnan Group an extra $3 billion, completely depleting the $15 billion that Jiangnan Group had borrowed. But this wouldn't mean Jiangnan Group could successfully acquire the 10% stake, because then, under the old man's arrangement, regulatory agencies would initiate an antitrust investigation, arguing that Jiangnan Group's acquisition of Amazon could lead to a monopoly in the entire US e-commerce industry.
Regardless of the final outcome of this investigation, once it was initiated, the entire transaction would be immediately suspended, and all transaction funds would enter the custody of the relevant departments until the investigation results were released.
And this investigation would likely last about two to three years. If Goldman Sachs was in a particularly bad mood, a five or six-year antitrust investigation would not be unusual, all in the name of due process. Every single procedure must be flawless. Once a mistake is made, everything must be redone. I am a master of stalling time.
Meanwhile, Jiangnan Group's $15 billion in funds would be frozen for over two years. Within a year, Jiangnan Group would need to repay Goldman Sachs $15 billion plus additional interest to cover the shortfall in the Western Mustang Fund.
Originally, this was merely a matter of transferring funds from one hand to the other. But if Goldman Sachs suddenly changed its tune, and as an intermediary, refused to allow Jiangnan Group to transfer funds from hand to hand, making it impossible to settle the money, and then secretly exposed all these facts.
Then, Jiangnan Group's act of taking money from its own investors' funds would become the most egregious financial fraud in history.
Not only would Jiangnan Group itself be drawn into a larger investigation, but the Western Mustang Fund would also be directly sealed, and all its funds would be frozen. At that point, Huang He would face millions of angry investors who had invested $40 billion and could not retrieve a single cent.
At that time, it would be the perfect opportunity to seize all of Jiangnan Group's US operations, and perhaps even leverage this opportunity to acquire Jiangnan Group's technology. That would be truly magnificent!
This was a complete and utter dead end.