Sina held three shareholders' meetings this year, two of which were temporary meetings. This was unprecedented not only for Sina but also for other portals and other Internet companies.
In 2002, there is no doubt that Sina was the No. 1 company in the Internet industry.
Even though Tencent later found value-added channels, and Baidu began to engage in bidding rankings, Sina is still the representative of the Internet industry in terms of scale, brand and influence.
Now, this representative who was the first to arrive at Nasdaq to set an example for domestic companies is about to hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to decide the fate of the next period of time.
This excites the media and attracts industry attention.
Duan Yongji unexpectedly lost the board meeting, but everyone did not think he could really lose to Fang Zhuo. All shareholders will exercise their rights.
Some media analyzed Sina’s current equity structure. Fang Zhuo holds 34% of the shares. Counting the revealed board of directors situation, he directly affects 40%+ of the voting rights.
Although Duan Yongji holds less shares, he has been deeply involved in Sina for many years and has a solid status as a business leader. In addition, he has two months to re-convince the board of directors, so he must have a lot of voting rights.
Not to mention that Duan Yongji still has the upper hand, the two sides are at least 50-50.
The unquenched enthusiasm of public opinion surged again, and Duan Yongji also frequently contacted small and medium-sized shareholders he knew, intending to fight back at the extraordinary shareholders' meeting.
Under such a situation, Fang Zhuo didn't do much. He just sorted out six weeks of KPI assessments, data from two operators, and more than a month's revenue statements, and then quietly contacted the directors and senior executives he could contact.
Finally, Fang Zhuo walked into the office of Sina President with the materials one day before the shareholders' meeting.
Sina President Mao Daolin.
As for the position of Sina's president, it was once achieved by four people in five years. Compared to what Ding Lei did to NetEase and Zhang Chaoyang did to Sohu, Sina's frequent changes of managers doomed it to gradually fall behind.
Even with the social media efforts of Sina Weibo, Sina.com, the most well-known portal in China, was delisted from the U.S. stock market after privatization.
Mao Daolin took over, or rather snatched, the title of commander-in-chief from founder Wang Zhidong, but the president did not escape being forced into the palace in the end. His prominent status on another level did not help the market value, so he was destined to be unable to stop the directors' vote.
"Mr. Fang, what's the matter?" Mao Daolin has been in a good mood recently. The development of Sina's hotline is a great benefit to Sina, and he increasingly feels that Fang Zhuo, the vice president who entered Sina through other means, is acceptable.
Fang Zhuo silently placed the materials in his hand on the president's desk and said with a smile: "Mr. Mao, take a look."
Mao Daolin took the materials and saw that these were the results of Sina Hotline since Fang Zhuo took over in July to the end of August.
He simply flipped through it, raised his head and praised: "Mr. Fang is indeed very capable. No wonder Yike is so successful."
“As for the development of the Internet, I do have some confidence. Yike still has room for improvement, and of course, Sina does too.” Fang Zhuo nodded slightly and said, “Mr. Mao, please watch until the end.”
Mao Daolin felt a little strange when he turned to the end and his eyes suddenly froze.
The last page is clearly signed by a name with a different handwriting.
Several directors and senior executives.
Mao Daolin slowly put down the material, and a subconscious question of "what does it mean" was suppressed in his throat. He shook his head slightly and uttered: "Why is this?"
Had Duan Yongji not been challenged and kicked out at the board meeting, he might have been more surprised, but now he feels strangely calm.
The signature includes the person who he last contacted to defect to Duan Yongji
What’s ridiculous is that there are still people who supported Duan Yongji’s stay last time.
Fang Zhuo hesitated and did not answer.
Mao Daolin finally felt some sarcasm in his heart and looked at Fang Zhuo: "Even if the board of directors is convened, your vote to remove me is enough. Now you want me to take the initiative to step down and make way for someone worthy of my post?"
“There are so many people, Mr. Fang, you really worked hard.”
Fang Zhuo nodded, then shook his head: "Mr. Mao, as the president of Sina, you will definitely stick to your own strategic plan for the company, right?"
Mao Daolin’s eyes were sharp: “Do you still want me to be your puppet?”
Fang Zhuo said calmly: "So, I didn't spend much time persuading these people who signed. I just showed them the same materials in front of you and said to them similar words to you just now."
Mao Daolin was stunned.
“You have to stick to your views on Sina, but no one likes your insistence now.”
“Sina urgently needs to make profits and increase its market value. Some directors want to leave the market at a high price, and some executives want to move towards further goals.”
“You won’t be my puppet. It doesn’t mean anything to you. They think I’m more suitable for Sina now.”
Fang Zhuo pointed to the materials again: "So, they signed it easily."
Mao Daolin looked confused. Is Fang Zhuo lying?
No, even I, the president of Sina, was satisfied after reading the materials, let alone those people?
As for the revenue of Sina Hotline, it has only been announced to the board of directors since July. The company only has independent estimates by employees, but the revenue in August was all collected by the Sina Hotline team.
In the first week of July, many employees knew that China Mobile had given the hotline a million-dollar repayment.
Mao Daolin clearly remembers his joy at that 2.53 million yuan payment.
Throughout the three weeks of July, Sina Hotline took back 8.36 million in revenue from China Mobile, while advertising revenue in the first month of the previous quarter was 11.52 million.
Sina Hotline has caught up with the advertising revenue of Sina's main business for several years in such a short period of time.
“Do you think this model of Sina Hotline can be sustained?” Mao Daolin asked, sitting steadily in his office chair.
“No.” Fang Zhuo gave an answer that surprised Sina’s president, “But your current strategy for Sina will not help Sina’s recovery.”
Mao Daolin was slightly angry: "What do you think?"
Fang Zhuo sighed: "Can you believe what I said? I have never talked with these directors and executives about Sina. They just saw the value that the hotline brings now."
Mao Daolin understood what Fang Zhuo meant. These people only looked at what Fang Zhuo did, not what he said.
With words alone, it is impossible for me to believe that Fang Zhuo can lead Sina to a better position.
He was silent for a long time, his eyes lowered on the list.
Fang Zhuo was also patient, waiting for Mao Daolin to convince himself.
“It seems that Lao Duan is also wishful thinking tomorrow.” Mao Daolin still spoke slowly, “The ownership of Sina is about to come to an end.”
"The curtain has actually come to an end since I arrived at Sina's hotline." Fang Zhuo recognized the meaning and affirmed, "Mr. Mao took over the job during Sina's turmoil last year, which helped Sina's financial income stop falling and rebound. This is destined to not be forgotten.
.”
Mao Daolin sighed. People who have not been in contact with Fang Zhuo will think that he is arrogant and domineering from the "hostile takeover of the board of directors to force the palace", but in fact he has a certain kind of magnanimity.
He stood up, stretched out his right hand, and gave his blessing in a graceful manner: "I hope Sina's tomorrow will be better."
"sure."
Fang Zhuo shook hands with the former president of Sina and settled the main issue of the meeting.
