Lin Fan was silent here, while the entrepreneurs watching the show over there were happy.
Lin Fan was silent because he remembered that this was Ahri's fourth round of financing, a massive investment of "Yahoo China + US$1 billion"!
Do you want to get involved?
Although he was not interested in Jack Ma, there was no reason why he couldn't get along with money.
Yahoo has made a lot of money by investing in Ahri, and its profit is second only to SoftBank.
"Okay! Add me. Lin Capital has just injected a sum of funds recently, but we haven't found a suitable investment target yet."
Lin Fan's understatement shocked a group of entrepreneurs, and then they all shook their heads and started laughing, thinking that this person was talking too much.
One billion U.S. dollars, can your little body afford it?
Charles, who was standing next to Lin Fan, thought it was Lin Fan who couldn't stand it, so he patted the former on the shoulder: "Lin, I'm joking, don't take it seriously."
Deng Feng also advised from the side: "Mr. Lin, everyone is joking.
Yahoo had talks with Ahri last month, and both parties have basically reached an agreement, with only some details still being communicated.
Do you really think that one shot of golf is worth a billion dollars? Bill Gates has a good relationship with you. Ask him if he dares to play like this?
I know you have the strength, but don’t join in the fun this time.”
"To be honest, I really want to invest in Ahri!"
Lin Fan was not joking, he was really tempted. Now that he has the opportunity and money, why not invest?
Entrepreneur Zhu Min, who looks exactly like Song Xiaobao, is the oldest person present, nearly sixty years old.
Seven years of working in rural areas left deep wrinkles on his face, making him look more like an old farmer than an entrepreneur.
The old man was very kind and thought that the young man Lin Fan was trying to vent his anger, so he also tried to persuade him: "Mr. Lin, this is not a small investment.
The investment institution I join now, NEA, only manages US$6 billion in funds.
Yahoo is a Silicon Valley giant, and their investments are for strategic planning purposes, which is different from ordinary venture capital institutions."
Lin Fan shook his head, "I have seriously considered it. Ahri is a good company and worth buying."
Seeing the determination on Lin Fan's face, everyone began to wonder, is this serious?
"One billion U.S. dollars is not a small amount of money. It is higher than the market value of many listed companies."
Lin Fan glanced at it and saw that the person speaking was Ding Jian, CEO of AsiaInfo Technology and the future managing director of Jinshajiang Venture Capital. He also has a wife who is a mistress and a CCTV host.
In terms of qualifications, Ding Jian, who founded the company in 1993 and led the company to be listed on Nasdaq in 2000, is much older than Lin Fan.
But the other party's words were a bit harsh.
"Mr. Lin cashed out 10 points of Facebook equity, which is 100 million U.S. dollars!"
Chen Hong put his arm around Lin Fan's shoulders, "You cashed out so much money and you didn't ask me to treat you to dinner."
Lin Fan naturally understood that Chen Hong was helping, and said with a smile: "Isn't this why you haven't returned to China? Since you are in the United States, it's my turn to invite you. How about tonight?"
"Okay, that's it, it's settled, don't be soft on the big players!"
Chen Hong laughed loudly and glanced at the people around him, "Let's all go together tonight!"
His eyes paused on Ding Jianjian for a moment, then quickly moved away.
He is also a person who is not used to showing off. To show off his qualifications, the gric communications company he founded was listed in 1999. Not only was it the first listed company founded by a Chinese student, it was also better than domestic AsiaInfo, Sina, Sohu, and NetEase.
A year too early.
AsiaInfo Technology's self-proclaimed status as "the first Chinese high-tech company listed on NASDAQ" was nothing to show off to him.
Lin Fan's transfer of ten shares was done in a very low-key manner. Even the American media didn't know about it, let alone the country.
But Chen Hong, Deng Feng and others in Silicon Valley had heard about it, and even called Lin Fan specifically to ask for confirmation.
This is the first time this group of entrepreneurs from China has heard of it.
Charles, Ding Sanshi and others secretly sighed, because the market value of Sohu and NetEase is currently only a few hundred million or more than a billion dollars.
Ding Jian realized that he had said the wrong thing. He did not expect that an unlisted Facebook company could cash out a billion dollars, so he said that.
As a result, they really swindled so much money, and the money they got out was more than the market value of AsiaInfo Technology.
When AsiaInfo Technology first went public in 2000, it caught up with the Internet bubble and survived for a while, with a market value of over 4.5 billion US dollars.
But later the bubble was burst, and the market value has been hovering below US$1 billion, rarely breaking upward.
Domestic listed Internet companies and technology companies currently have similar market capitalization levels, ranging from a few hundred million US dollars to more than two billion US dollars.
That's why Facebook's valuation of tens of billions of dollars was reported back to China, causing such a big sensation. There has never been such a large technology company in China, including those founded by foreign students.
Perhaps the technology tycoons present were a little unconvinced before. Why is Facebook valued at tens of billions of dollars? Just because the currency unit is different?
But people can cash out a billion dollars. This is their ability. Even if they don’t agree with its valuation, they still have to admit that it’s real money.
As the founder and first president of the Huayuan Technology Association, Chen Hong was still very prestigious. As soon as he spoke, everyone stopped continuing the topic and re-evaluated Lin Fan's strength.
"Why don't you fight?"
Deng Feng shouted to Yang Zhiyuan, Ma Yun and Wu Ying.
The three of them have been listening to the chat and are not interested in continuing to play.
Wu Ying glanced at Yang Zhiyuan, who had an unpleasant expression on his face.
Facebook has always been an enemy of Yahoo in the social and advertising fields, and has repeatedly rejected Yahoo's acquisitions.
Now Lin Fan wants to steal Ali Baba's investment.
It’s strange that Yang Zhiyuan has a good face!
On the other side, Jack Ma, who was pretending to swing and test the club, lowered his head to hide the joy in his eyes.
Wu Ying, as the middleman who brought Yahoo and Ahri together, was also a little worried about the sudden appearance of Lin Fan.
He looked at Lin Fan and asked with a smile: "Mr. Lin, this is no joke.
Jerry is playing with the company's money, but your money is really your money."
Lin Fan glanced at Jack Ma, who was silent, and said with a smile: "Because it is your own money, you don't have to worry so much about spending it. Just treat it as a financial investment."
Hearing this, Jack Ma's expectations became even higher.
On the other side, Yang Zhiyuan's face was as dark as water.
He is a person with a relatively good personality, but Lin Fan has been going against him time and time again, and he really can't stand it anymore.
"Lin, how about I give you the opportunity to invest in Ahri?"
Jerry Yang smiled and said: "But the investment amount is not just US$1 billion, but US$1.7 billion!
If you want to invest, I'm afraid you'll have to mortgage some of your other equity and add some leverage!"
A group of domestic and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs around looked at each other. Is this a real hit?
"Are you serious?"
Lin Fan heard the dissatisfaction in Yang Zhiyuan's words, but he deliberately said without leaving any room: "If you give it to me, then I will take it.
Even if I take out a loan, I can still collect the 1.7 billion U.S. dollars!"
1.7 billion US dollars, who do you look down on?
Lin Fan smiled inwardly, but didn't show it on his face.
Yang Zhiyuan kept a cold face and said nothing, while others did not dare to persuade him rashly.
It's a big business worth more than a billion dollars. Both sides are rich, so it's not good to offend either side.
So everyone turned their attention to Ma Yun, who was concentrating on looking at the club. This was the person involved, and it was up to him to make the decision.
Ma Yun knew that he couldn't escape, so he stopped pretending and said with a serious face: "You two, don't make it unpleasant because of this trivial matter about Mr. Ma. Please listen to me and make a decision before it's too late."
Yang Zhiyuan crossed his arms and looked confident.
What he just said was not only a squeeze on Lin Fan, but also a hint to Jack Ma to be brighter in his tactics and to recognize clearly who is the father of the financial backer.
Yahoo can spend a billion dollars without any effort and then build a Yahoo China.
But if Lin Fan wanted to come up with such a large sum of money, he would have to piece together everything.
It is so difficult to raise enough investment funds, let alone follow-up support.
According to what he knew about Jack, he was a good man and would definitely make the smartest choice.
Lin Fan quickly calculated in his mind. He clearly remembered that Yahoo took away 40% of Ahri's fourth round of financing.
Diluting so many shares at once and giving up the seat of the largest shareholder left hidden risks of corporate control.
He judged that Jack Ma would definitely not be willing to give in. Now that there was a "buyer" like him, and Jack Ma as a "seller" did not wait for a price, he was not a qualified capitalist.
In the previous life, Ahri had to face two foreign wolves, the acquisition of eBay's eaby and the acquisition of Joyo's Amazon.
It also needs to continue to inject blood into Taobao, which is not yet profitable, and it desperately needs a shareholder who is not short of money to build up its momentum.
And Yahoo was almost the obvious choice at the time.
Although he is not as rich as Yahoo!, he is a good weight. If Jack Ma does not use it, he will be sorry for the "Tai Chi" he has practiced for many years - borrowing strength to fight!
The other entrepreneurs present had different thoughts, and they all remained silent, waiting to see the next development of the situation.
Ma Yun adjusted his words, looked at Lin Fan, made a fist with his right hand, and pressed the four fingers of his left palm on the fist, giving the latter the highest etiquette in the world.
"Mr. Lin, on behalf of Ah Li, first of all, thank you for your love and appreciation, but..."
Hearing "but", a smile appeared on Yang Zhiyuan's face. He knew that Jack Ma would not be confused at the critical moment and was reliable.
Jack Ma paused for a moment, and then said with a sincere face: "But Yahoo and we have communicated for many rounds, and have done a lot of preliminary due diligence work, and we know each other well.
In addition, Yahoo also gave us a post-money valuation of US$4.25 billion, which is the highest valuation ever achieved by an unlisted Internet company in China."
Ma Yunxian glanced at Robin Li and joked: "Of course, Robin, your Baidu is about to go public, so it doesn't count!"
Robin Li didn't know that he had become a tool man. He smiled and waved his hands, saying that he didn't dare to be a tool.
Taking advantage of this interruption, the extremely cunning Jack Ma carefully observed the subtle expressions on Lin Fan's face.
But he was disappointed, there was no trace of emotion on the other person's face.
This made Ma Yun murmur in his heart, is it really a joke?
He didn't really want to reject Lin Fan, he just planned to use "decline" as an introduction to test the other party's attitude.
If the other party gives up at this point, it only means that the other party's investment intention is not strong, and it would not be a pity to give up.
If the other party raises the price and wants to compete for Ahri, then this matter still needs to be discussed.
Before today, he didn't know Lin Fan, but he had heard of his name and entrepreneurial story.
I just heard from a group of people that the other party had cashed out one billion US dollars and had strong financial resources.
But he still didn't get too carried away by Meng Lang and pounced on him now. What if the other party didn't have a strong investment intention?
In the end, the other party gave up. If he continues to hate Yahoo, the ending should not be too tragic.
Therefore, to be conservative, he kept telling the outside world about Yahoo's investment conditions. Lin Fan looked very impressive, so why didn't he understand what he meant?
You have to give me confidence!
Jack Ma shouted in his heart!
The negotiation between Yahoo and Ahri is almost at an advanced stage, and they just need to sign the final contract. Although he is still a little dissatisfied, he has no better choice.
Lin Fan came up today and said he wanted to invest one billion US dollars in Ahri. When he first heard about it, he was pleasantly surprised.
But the other party's understatement was like child's play, and he couldn't help but be cautious.
If you are really let go, you will cry without being found.
Lin Fan also realized that the rejection in Jack Ma's words was not firm, and it seemed that he was still sending messages to himself, even saying the valuation quotation.
Is this a reassurance?
Lin Fan didn't have the ability to read minds, so he could only half-guess.
In order to avoid making mistakes, Jack Ma really rejected him, so Lin Fan had no choice but to tentatively tell him about his understanding of Ahri.
"In 2002, I began to study Ali in depth. That year, your slogan was "Profit One Dollar". Through unremitting efforts, we achieved positive cash inflow throughout the year.
In May 2003, Taobao, a c2c platform, was established. Its free strategy was very clever and it took away a lot of eBay's market share.
In October of that year, you launched Alipay. This payment tool based on secured transactions not only solved the trust problem of buyers and sellers, but also improved the user's shopping experience, eliminating the need for cash on delivery and remote bank transfers.
At the beginning of this year, didn’t Alipay also launch the “full compensation” payment function?
The promise of "If you dare to use it, I dare to compensate you" makes users feel more confident in their transactions..."
Lin Fan knew Ahri's situation very well, and when he told him this, not only Jack Ma was dumbfounded, but also the entrepreneurs around him. Was he thinking about Ahri all morning?
Now Jack Ma knew what he was doing. It was probably not just for fun, the other party was obviously well prepared.
Then why didn't you find yourself earlier?
Then he thought that the other party had just cashed out one billion US dollars recently. He probably didn't have much money before. In addition, he hadn't resigned from Facebook at that time, so he probably didn't have the energy to invest.
There was no need for Lin Fan to explain more, Jack Ma had already figured it out automatically.
When Yang Zhiyuan saw Ma Yun stop talking and frowning in thought, something bad suddenly occurred in his heart.
He quickly spoke out to nail the matter, "Lin, Jack has rejected you. If you want to invest in Ahri, you should wait until the next round of financing!
I know you may feel a little uncomfortable, but when we do things, we have to be on a first-come, first-served basis!"
After speaking, Yang Zhiyuan glanced at the crowd, "Is everyone right?"
This is not easy to say, and it is easy to offend Lin Fan.
Even if he was as good as Ding Jian, he didn't say anything for fear of completely offending Lin Fan for the sake of the one billion US dollars.
Wu Ying, the bearded man, quickly came out to be the peacemaker, "Hey, if it's a big deal, let's discuss it later. Wouldn't it be great if you two each invest part of it?"
Wu Ying is not shy about her face. In her previous life, Jack Ma and Bonima had conflicts, and it was this bearded man who acted as the go-between and asked both parties to sit down and talk slowly.
His words were exactly what Ma Yun wanted. He hurriedly rolled down the slope and threw the club, "What else are you playing? Let's go and have a drink together! I'm treating you!"
Deng Feng also realized that this was a good opportunity to avoid a more intense conflict, and quickly echoed: "That's right, it's getting late, everyone is going to drink.
I know a place where the wine tastes particularly mellow."
The people around were not stupid either, and they all started shouting for good food and wine.
So, a group of people gathered and left.
Deng Feng deliberately stayed one step behind and accompanied Lin Fan, while Yang Zhiyuan walked at the back.
Ma Yun noticed this scene and knew that he was trying to persuade them to make peace, so he didn't say much. He pulled Wu Ying and the two of them walked quickly to the front.
"Ma Yun, why are you running so fast? I told you that I wanted to treat you to dinner, but today I'm sure you're a big business owner and I can't run away."
Charles Zhang saw Ma Yun and Wu Ying walking like flying and shouted.
Ma Yun was whispering something to Wu Ying. When he heard the shouting, he turned around and replied: "Okay, I'm discussing with brother Wu Ying where to go. I'm not familiar with this place, so I have to ask him for advice."