Chapter 195: Planning the feud with Sina

February 10th, Beijing, Donglaishun.

In a private room, two people were sitting opposite each other, one of them was Liu Zhou, who had just returned to Beijing from Shanghai two days ago.

"Mr. Liu, the place you choose to invite people to discuss business is quite unique. You actually chose a hot pot restaurant." Another man said with a smile.

“I have never been abroad, and I am not one of those elite returnees. Compared with coffee and red wine, I still prefer shabu-shabu mutton.

When I was in college, I often came here with my classmates to eat mutton hotpot. It has been almost ten years now, and I never get tired of it. "

"It seems that this Donglaishun store is indeed unique. It is surprising that you, Mr. Liu, like it so much."

"This restaurant is a time-honored brand. Besides, Mr. Wang, you have been working in Beijing for so long. Haven't you ever eaten at this restaurant?"

"To be honest, not really."

"That's great. Mr. Wang, you can take this opportunity to try Donglaishun's mutton hotpot. It's really delicious."

"Then try it."

After that, the two chatted while eating hot pot. They looked like two good friends who had not seen each other for many years, but in fact, they met for the first time today.

Half an hour later, the man put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief.

"Mr. Wang, have you finished your meal?" Liu Zhou also put down his chopsticks upon seeing this.

"It's good to eat. The hot pot is really good, and the mutton is very tender. It seems that the old brand in Beijing is really worthy of its reputation."

"Then Mr. Wang can come over often to eat in the future."

"Of course, but Mr. Liu, I'm here and I've eaten hot pot, so you can just speak frankly if you have anything to say."

Liu Zhou poured a cup of tea for the two of them, then looked at him and said:
"Mr. Wang, have you ever considered returning to Sina?"

The man opposite couldn't help but pause with his calm expression, then he couldn't help but reveal a look of surprise as he thought of something.

"Mr. Liu, please stop joking. I've been away from Sina for five years. Besides, even though you are now a major shareholder of Sina, it's impossible for me to return to Sina."

"Can I talk about it another way? I just want to ask Mr. Wang if you want to."

After hearing what Liu Zhou said, Mr. Wang fell silent.

This Mr. Wang is none other than Wang Zhidong, the founder of Sina.

However, he may be the most tragic founder of a major Internet company in mainland China.

Because in 2001, during the Internet bubble, when Liu Zhou bought the bottom of Sina, he was removed from his position as CEO by the board of directors and kicked out of the company.

Moreover, the voting result of the board of directors was six votes in favor and one abstention, which was almost unanimous agreement to expel Wang Zhidong.

Although Sina's stock price hit rock bottom due to the Internet bubble at that time, the stock prices of all Internet companies were plummeting, and it was not his turn as the CEO to take the blame.

Of course, this is Sina’s external statement, indicating that Wang Zhidong resigned due to Sina’s operational problems.

The real reason is the power struggle within Sina.

This has to start with Sina’s predecessor, Sohu.com.

Wang Zhidong graduated from the Department of Radio Electronics of Peking University. Because of his outstanding abilities, he came to work at Founder Group after graduation.

Founder Group was cooperating with Situng Group at that time. During the work exchanges, Duan Yongji, the boss of Situng Group, highly appreciated Wang Zhidong.

He then invested five million yuan in him and helped Wang Zhidong establish the Sitonglifang Company.

Just by looking at the name, you should know who the real head of this company is.

But Wang Zhidong didn't care much about it and devoted all his energy to developing and expanding the company.

In 1998, Wang Zhidong attracted investment from Walden International, and with Walden International's help, Sohu.com acquired Huayuan Information, the largest overseas Chinese Internet company, for US$3000 million.

The new company was then officially renamed Sina, becoming the largest Chinese website at the time, with Wang Zhidong as its president.

Under Wang Zhidong's leadership, Sina achieved very good results in reporting major events such as the World Cup, the Kosovo War and the Sydney Olympics.

In 1999, Sina was valued at US$8500 million and was known as the number one Chinese portal.

In 2000, he led Sina to go public on NASDAQ. The VIE structure he created was called the Sina structure, and became the organizational structure system for many domestic Internet companies to go public overseas.

But Wang Zhidong's glory lasted only a year before the Internet bubble hit, and he was kicked out at a board meeting held in Silicon Valley.

And all this was because Wang Zhidong's position threatened Duan Yongji.

Although Sina's shares are dispersed, it seems to have always been in a state of no controller.

However, Sina was always under the control of Duan Yongji in the early days. Although he did not hold many shares, he firmly controlled the board of directors.

We all know that after Wang Zhidong, Mao Daolin was his successor.

However, Duan Yongji did not take into account his other prominent identity and replaced him anyway.

After that, Sina experienced a rare phenomenon among mainland enterprises: the company's helmsman changed five times in seven years.

It was not until Cao Guowei later acquired more than 10% of Sina's shares through MBO, and because Duan Yongji's influence had declined after so many years of trouble, that Sina finally stabilized.

But at this point, Sina, apart from its Weibo account, has already fallen from being a leading Internet company to a second-rate one.

Now, Duan Yongji is at the peak of his power in Sina, and he is also the biggest obstacle for Liu Zhou to take over Sina.

Duan Yongji is no ordinary person. He is not only the founder and chairman of the Soitong Group, but also transformed the company from a state-owned enterprise into a private enterprise through capital operations.

In the 1990s, he used the same method to take over Zhongguancun Technology.

He is a master of capital operation and power struggle. Not only that, he is also the founder of Taishan Industrial Research Institute.

Taishan Industrial Research Institute also has another name, called Taishan Club.

Now, Boss Liu, who has led Lenovo into the Fortune 500 and is enjoying a rising reputation, is considered a junior in front of him.

Boss Liu used capital operations to transform Lenovo from a state-owned enterprise into a private enterprise, which he also learned from Duan Yongji.

It was just that at that time, Boss Liu’s reputation was so high that he was even considered the number one in the mainland’s business community, so he became the leading figure in the Taishan Society.

At this time, Jack Ma is just a younger brother in Taishan Club.

However, more than ten years later, the members of this huge mountain of mainland business collapsed one after another.

There is no need to mention Boss Liu. Sun of Sunac, Lu of Fanhai, Shi of Giant and so on also fell one after another.

Only the cunning Duan Yongji still lives a comfortable life.

Even at a financial forum in 2022, Duan Yongji, who is nearly years old, made a bold statement, saying bluntly that we have a thousand reasons to have good relations with the United States and no reason not to have good relations.

At the same time, he also used the former SL as an example to advocate full privatization of enterprises.

Damn, it’s already the third decade of the 21st century, and we’re still advocating the American way of doing things.

But no matter what kind of person Duan Yongji is, he is undoubtedly very capable and has great skills.

He now controls the board of directors and has good relations with many shareholders.

When Shanda wanted to acquire Sina, the resistance it encountered came from Duan Yongji.

At that time, there were Sina shareholders who were tempted by Shanda's bid, but they were all stopped by Duan Yongji.

Although Liu Zhou acquired Sina's shares from Shanda and became Sina's absolute majority shareholder, it would not be easy for him to take control of Sina, and he would definitely encounter a fierce backlash from Duan Yongji.

But despite this, the arrow has already been drawn on the string, and Sina is also very important to his career. No matter how capable Duan Yongji is, Liu Zhou has to give it a try.

However, confronting him head-on is not a matter of course. He has already gained the advantage in terms of shares. As long as he loses control of the board of directors, then no matter how powerful and experienced he is, he will not be able to stop Liu Zhou from taking over Sina.

Wang Zhidong is no longer a member of Sina's board of directors. Liu Zhou approached him because of his influence at Sina.

Duan Yongji is able to control Sina because, in addition to being on the board of directors, many senior executives were also promoted by him.

If he wants to truly control Sina, he must offset his influence within Sina, and Wang Zhidong is undoubtedly a very good candidate.

Although he was kicked out of Sina, Wang Zhidong can be said to have played an indispensable role in Sina's gradual becoming of the number one portal in mainland China and its listing.

His influence on Sina is still very strong, but he cannot bring it into play because he is not there.

If Liu Zhou invited him back, it would also help Liu Zhou control Sina Corporation.

At this time, Wang Zhidong sighed and said:

"If you had asked me this two years ago, I would have wanted to do it very much, but now I have let it go. I am very happy to see that Sina is developing well today, and my decision at the time was indeed problematic."

Liu Zhou knew what Wang Zhidong was talking about.

After the Internet bubble occurred, all companies were trying to save themselves.

At that time, someone suggested charging users, but he rejected it. Wang Zhidong, who came from a technical background, always believed that the Internet model for users was free, and charging would only make users go further away.

This is undoubtedly very correct.

But he then proposed to transform Sina into a software company and was very persistent, which aroused opposition from many directors and shareholders.

This also became the fuse for him to leave Sina, and Duan Yongji took advantage of the situation and directly kicked him out of Sina.

But now it seems that it is fortunate that Sina did not become a software company.

"Mr. Wang, in that crisis, no one knew where the future of the Internet would go. It's great that you were able to actively save yourself.

Now that Sina is on the right track, I think it will develop even better if you lead it forward.”

Hearing Liu Zhou's words, Wang Zhidong smiled and said:

"Mr. Liu, please stop complimenting me. I know my own level, and I feel that my ability can no longer keep up with the development speed of Sina. Besides, I have my own new career now.

Besides, Duan Yongji is now the boss of Sina, and there is no way he would let me return to Sina."

"What if Duan Yongji is no longer the controller of Sina?"

Wang Zhidong was shocked again by Liu Zhou's words, even more than before.

He sighed, looked at Liu Zhou with a wry smile and said:

"Boss Liu, you are really impressive. You are so young, but you are so courageous. I know why you specially invited me to eat hot pot here."

Liu Zhou smiled and replied:

"Then Mr. Wang, are you willing to help me?"

However, Liu Zhou still felt a sinking feeling in his heart when he saw Wang Zhidong shaking his head.

But what he said next made Liu Zhou happy again.

“Although I feel relieved about returning to Sina, I am not relieved about Duan Yongji!
Although I have been away from Sina for five years, Sina was founded by me after all, so I still have some connection with the company.

If you want to deal with Duan Yongji, I can help you!"

(End of this chapter)