Chapter 1900: A Terrifying Enemy

If he had to choose the enemy or opponent he was most wary of in his heart, Ma Huateng would unhesitatingly rank Zhao Fusheng among the top three.

The reason was simple: among the companies involved in the internet in China, Zhao Fusheng was the only one Ma Huateng claimed he could not see through.

This inability to see through him did not mean Zhao Fusheng had a bad character. On the contrary, he got along well with every partner, faithfully fulfilled contracts, and did not casually interfere in the affairs of companies in which he held shares.

Without exaggeration, Zhao Fusheng was the kind of investor entrepreneurs liked best—the type who only put in money and did not meddle.

What truly baffled Ma Huateng was why Zhao Fusheng was so optimistic about Tencent Technology.

From the initial one million to the present, Zhao Fusheng's confidence in Tencent never seemed to wane.

Ma Huateng even felt that he himself was not as confident in the company as Zhao Fusheng was.

It was an intuition, and Ma Huateng had relied on that intuition to get where he was today.

"Could it really be you?"

Muttering to himself, Ma Huateng began to hesitate.

In fact, he knew very well that if Zhao Fusheng was indeed behind this, it would not be good news for him.

Although Chen Tianqiao was hailed as China's richest man, Ma Huateng knew that depended on who you compared him to.

At the very least, Ma Huateng was clear that if you compared only the funds they could mobilize, Zhao Fusheng definitely had more than Chen Tianqiao.

More importantly, Zhao Fusheng was the type who, once he set his sights on a target, would go all out.

"No! I absolutely cannot let him succeed!"

Gritting his teeth, Ma Huateng silently resolved in his heart.

To him, Tencent was his life's work, and he could not let it fall into someone else's hands under any circumstances.

In the original history, that was exactly what he did.

In the 2017 global internet company rankings, Tencent surpassed Facebook with a market cap of $522.9 billion, becoming the world's fifth-largest tech giant, behind only Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon.

Among Tencent's shareholders, the largest shareholder was not Ma Huateng and his team, but South Africa's MIH Holdings, holding 3.151 billion shares, accounting for 33.24%.

The origin of MIH's shares dates back to Tencent's early days. In its startup phase, Tencent faced many difficulties—insufficient funds and legal troubles.

Later, it received two venture capital investments from IDG and Pacific Century Group, which together offered $220 million for 40% of Tencent's shares. During the 2001 internet bubble, Hong Kong's Pacific Century Group sold its 20% stake in Tencent to MIH for $12.6 million. MIH then bought 13% of Tencent's shares from IDG, and later purchased another 13.5% from other founding shareholders.

In August 2003, due to listing requirements, Tencent repurchased 7.2% of its shares from IDG and a small number from MIH to meet listing conditions. After that, Tencent's equity was split evenly between Tencent and MIH.

After Tencent's IPO in 2004, Tencent issued 420 million public shares, diluting the original shareholders' stakes. Tencent and MIH each held 37.5%, and ABSA Bank acquired 10.43% of Tencent's shares with 185 million Tencent shares.

Thereafter, through negotiations and various legal means, Tencent managed to acquire some of MIH's shares.

Thus, South Africa's MIH became Tencent's largest shareholder with 33.24% of the shares.

However, although MIH held the title of largest shareholder, after 2004 Tencent's equity structure became: Tencent and its founders 37.5%, MIH Group 37.5%, ABSA Bank 10.43%. Ma Huateng personally held about 14.43%.

Generally, the shares of Tencent and its founders were on par with MIH Group. Ma Huateng held 14.43% of Tencent shares as an individual. In terms of decision-making power, Ma Huateng still had a certain say. Even if Tencent faced major changes or reforms, the combined shares of Ma Huateng, Tencent, and its founders would still outweigh MIH Group, giving them sufficient decision-making power.

Thus, it was clear just how strong Ma Huateng's desire for control over the company was.

Sometimes, the more a person knows, the less happy they necessarily are. Seeing through things does not always mean being free and easy.

Just like now, Ma Huateng knew, and others knew, that the future development of Tencent Technology was bound to be bright.

But the question was, under whose leadership would this bright future be achieved?

Ma Huateng certainly hoped it would be himself.

…

…

While Ma Huateng was thinking, Zhao Fusheng was laughing heartily after receiving a call from Dong Chenxi.

"Are you that happy?"

When Dong Chenxi called Zhao Fusheng, he was chatting with her in the office. Seeing him looking like a rich landlord's silly son, she couldn't help teasing him.

Zhao Fusheng waved his hand: "You, you don't understand, you really don't."

In this rapidly developing era, no one knew where the future was headed. Zhao Fusheng was the only one who knew the truth.

Although he wasn't very keen on Tencent, Zhao Fusheng had to admit it was a company with great potential. He hadn't thought much about it before, but now, holding 15% of Tencent's shares, he felt he could change more things.

"Should we try contacting Ma Huateng?"

Zheng Yao looked at Zhao Fusheng and asked slowly.

In her view, since Zhao Fusheng planned to negotiate with Tencent, he should naturally contact them.

"Not for now."

Zhao Fusheng chuckled and stopped Zheng Yao: "Believe me, Ma Huateng is having people investigate right now."

"That's for sure."

Zheng Yao nodded, not finding Zhao Fusheng's statement absurd: "Don't forget, that's 10% of the circulating shares. Tencent's shares are all accounted for. If you suddenly bought 10%, it would be strange if they didn't notice."

After all, it was a company with a market cap of over ten billion. If they lacked that much vigilance, Zheng Yao thought Ma Huateng might as well go home and sleep.

"I want him to notice."

Zhao Fusheng smiled and said calmly: "If he doesn't notice, how can I do what I need to do?"

Zheng Yao was taken aback, somewhat surprised.

Clearly, she hadn't expected Zhao Fusheng to answer that way.

Originally, Zheng Yao thought Zhao Fusheng was really planning to launch a takeover of Tencent Technology and fight for management rights. But now he was telling her that from start to finish, he never intended to do anything to Tencent Technology; instead, he wanted to force Ma Huateng to sit at the negotiating table with him.

What was he really up to?

Seeing Zheng Yao's expression, Zhao Fusheng knew his actions had confused her. Thinking about it, it made sense—suddenly investing hundreds of millions of dollars to buy a company's shares, just to get the other party to sit down and negotiate, would be incomprehensible to anyone.

It was only because Zheng Yao and the others had followed him for years and had a blind faith in him that they didn't think he had lost his mind. If it were a professional manager, they would surely think he had gone mad.

"It's not as complicated as you think."

Zhao Fusheng smiled and explained to Zheng Yao: "It's mainly for future cooperation."

Then he told Zheng Yao about the problems Future Technology was facing and concluded: "Now, Tencent Technology has a huge user base, which is their advantage and leverage, putting us at a disadvantage. Since that's the case, I have to use this method to make them sit down and talk with us."

"So it was because of this..."

After hearing Zhao Fusheng's explanation, Zheng Yao was silent for a long time. So that was the reason.

But upon reflection, she had to admit there was some truth in Zhao Fusheng's words.

What is the biggest taboo in business?

Of course, it's inequality.

When the other party has something you need, and you have no leverage over them, that's not good.

Clearly, what Zhao Fusheng wanted to do now was to make Tencent Technology realize that Future Group had something they had to take into account.

That way, at the very least, the two sides could sit down and negotiate on equal terms, rather than one having to rely on the other's goodwill.

"So, do you still have objections now?"

Zhao Fusheng asked Zheng Yao.

Zheng Yao shook her head: "I have no objections, but I still think we should start negotiations as soon as possible."

In her view, keeping a large amount of money in the stock market was not a decision a mature businessman should make.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled and nodded: "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Since he said that, Zheng Yao had nothing more to say and had to let him decide on his own.