Chapter 503 I Want to Short US Stocks
Jack Ma was full of admiration for Lu Yiming's foresight and foresight: "Boss Lu, I am a few years older than you, but in terms of knowledge, you have left me far behind. I didn't notice some problems. If you hadn't reminded me, I would have stepped into a trap without even knowing it."
In his previous life, Jack Ma couldn't find anyone to invest in China and was even regarded as a liar. He felt quite depressed.
So after getting investment from Masayoshi Son, he was determined to go public in the United States and make a name for himself so that those old money people in China who once looked down on him would see that he was not a liar!
Masayoshi Son is both his success and his failure. When Alipay applied for a financial license, Jack Ma finally understood what "those who are not of my kind must have different hearts" meant.
Although the country has opened its doors to the outside world, it is still strictly guarding against foreign investment in key areas and will never allow foreign investment to cross the line.
The final result, naturally, was that Jack Ma had to take the blame for being "ungrateful", parted ways with Masayoshi Son, and directly kicked the other party out. Even many years later, people still made fun of this incident, saying that he was not a kind person.
In order for Alibaba Group to move its business to a higher level, he had no choice but to bear the blame himself.
Although he avoided a big pit, Jack Ma still felt very depressed when thinking about such a huge sum of money was about to slip away from him.
"Well, if that's the case, then wouldn't the US listing be a failure?"
According to Lu Yiming, if you want to survive in China, you must play by domestic rules, and listing in the United States is obviously impossible.
However, getting the company listed on NASDAQ was another boast that Jack Ma made to the 18 Arhats back then.
This put him in a dilemma.
Masayoshi Son not only has US dollars, but also connections and relationships on Wall Street, which are also crucial to Alibaba's development.
Now that he is rejecting Masayoshi Son, this network of contacts will naturally be gone.
Lu Yiming consoled him, "It's just US dollars. I have it. As for the people on Wall Street, there's no need to worry."
When Jack Ma heard this, he immediately said excitedly: "Mr. Lu, do you have this way? Do you know anyone on Wall Street?"
Li Yiwen snorted and said, "Don't forget, Mr. Lu is known as the stock god, and now some people say he is the executioner of Wall Street. Do you think he has any connections?"
Lu Yiming shook his head slightly and told Jack Ma the truth: "I don't know anyone on Wall Street, but I think there are people on Wall Street who want to know me."
These words were said with such domineering power that even Jack Ma, who was used to boasting, was shocked.
Then he immediately believed Lu Yiming's statement .
In fact, Lu Yiming was not bragging. With his current record on Wall Street, many people would try their best to find him, and there were even more people who wanted to get in touch with him.
"Mr. Lu, if Alibaba wants to go public on Nasdaq now..."
When Jack Ma heard that Lu Yiming had connections on Wall Street, he immediately became interested and asked about the listing.
However, Lu Yiming said, "Going public on NASDAQ now is no different from committing suicide. There is a 99% chance that you won't survive more than two years. And Alibaba has nothing right now, so why would you go public?"
Jack Ma said shamelessly: "How could it be? I can tell stories, and Wall Street likes to hear stories. As long as the stories are well told, there are people who will invest money. Mr. Lu, you must have confidence in Alibaba. The Nasdaq market is very hot right now, especially the Internet technology stocks, which are extremely popular. How can it not last more than two years?"
Lu Yiming didn't give too many reasons, he just sighed and said, "As the saying goes, everything will turn around when it reaches its extreme, and everything will decline when it reaches its peak. Now everyone knows that the Nasdaq market is booming, and you can make money by rushing in. But think about it, where does the money come from? If someone makes money, someone else must lose money, right? Whose money do you think is lost?"
The money in the stock market neither appears out of thin air nor disappears out of thin air. It only transfers from one person's pocket to another's pocket.
The key is, who is willing to be the one paying the money?
Lu Yiming's eyes were slightly cold, as if he had seen through the fog of the times: "Winter is coming. Lao Ma, if you trust me, just listen to me. Let's slow down the plan of going public and find a way to keep Alibaba alive first."
"Is this what you, the richest man, said?"
Jack Ma found it a little unbelievable.
"It's not that serious, is it?"
Lu Yiming was too lazy to analyze the situation with Jack Ma, so he just stated his conclusion: "According to my estimation, more than 90% of Internet companies will not survive next year. If Alibaba does not want to become a thing of the past, it should start preparing now. Moreover, this crisis is actually an opportunity for change. After all, so many of its peers have died. For those who survive, the large market that has been vacated will be within easy reach."
Jack Ma, who was originally worried about the coming of the Internet winter, came to his senses instantly after hearing this: "Mr. Lu is worthy of being Mr. Lu! That's right, a crisis is also an opportunity, and opportunities are only reserved for those who are well prepared. I know what to do!"
It has to be said that among the wealthy people in the domestic Internet industry, Jack Ma does not have a high level of education, but he has achieved great success. He has a very useful brain and knows how to make choices at critical moments.
Lu Yiming reminded him a few things, and he immediately understood what Alibaba was going to do next.
To put it bluntly, it is not complicated. It is nothing more than cutting off those businesses that are watery but have no practical benefits, saving expenses, holding cash in hand, and waiting for the death of competitors before entering the market to buy at the bottom!
Lu Yiming reminded him a few things, and he immediately understood what Alibaba was going to do next.
In order to appease Jack Ma, Lu Yiming was not stingy and waved his hand in front of him: "I plan to invest another 20 million US dollars in you."
When these words were spoken, Jack Ma was horrified.
Li Yiwen couldn't sit still any longer: "You..."
Lu Yiming did not give him a chance to speak, but continued: "Of course, this money is not given for free. I want to increase my stake in Alibaba by another 10%. Is that not too much?"
As soon as Lu Yiming opened his mouth, he held more than half of Alibaba's shares, which made Jack Ma a little unhappy.
However, Lu Yiming added: "For the shares I increased my holdings, the old rules still apply. You will hold them on my behalf, and we can also sign a unanimous behavior agreement."
Hearing Lu Yiming say this, Jack Ma's expression immediately eased a lot.
This means that although Lu Yiming paid for Alibaba's shares and now holds more than half of the total shares, for this additional share, Lu Yiming generally only enjoys the right to dividends. If he wants to make any decision about Alibaba, he needs Jack Ma's consent.
Of course, if Jack Ma wants to make a decision, he also needs to obtain Lu Yiming's consent.
Jack Ma drank a few glasses of wine and was deeply moved: "Boss Lu, so many people in China laugh at me, saying that I am a liar and talk nonsense, but you are the only one who has always trusted me."
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "They doubt you because they have no vision. Work hard and make sure these people can only look up to you in the future."
After a good meal and a good drink, Jack Ma cleared the haze in his heart and invited warmly, "Mr. Lu, as the saying goes, there is heaven above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below. The scenery of Hangzhou is very beautiful. Mr. Lu, Manager Li, you should stay for a few days. It's a pity that it didn't snow today. If it snowed, you could see the beautiful scenery of 'Broken Bridge with Snow' from here."
Lu Yiming declined politely, "No, my winter vacation is only a few days long. I'll just walk around the West Lake and go back in the evening. After the New Year, I'll have to go to school again in a few days."
Jack Ma wanted to accompany Lu Yiming to visit West Lake, but was rejected by Lu Yiming.
Cai Chongxin, who had been silent until Lu Yiming and Li Yiwen left, finally spoke up: "Mr. Lu's shareholding in Alibaba has exceeded 60%. This is too dangerous."
Jack Ma shook his head and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Lu never breaks his word. Moreover, he even let me hold the shares on his behalf and signed a consistent behavior agreement, which shows that he has no intention of interfering with Alibaba's operations. We can't judge others by our own standards."
Then, Jack Ma sighed again: "Besides, with the little property I have now, even if I sell it skin and bones, it's not worth Mr. Lu to even look at it."
Cai Chongxin also smiled bitterly when he heard this: "I have rarely admired others in my life. Apart from you, it is Mr. Lu's entrepreneurial experience that has opened my eyes."
Above the country of Xia, in the vast sea of clouds in the stratosphere, a Gulfstream GIV business jet is flying steadily.
Sitting in the cabin, Lu Yiming lay in a chair and closed his eyes to rest.
Just now when they were having dinner, there were many people in the audience, and Li Yiwen couldn't say some things to them in person. Now there were only him and Lu Yiming on the plane, so he immediately said, "Why are you giving money to that Jack Ma again? And 20 million US dollars, only to buy 10% of the shares? What? Do you think Alibaba is worth 200 million US dollars now? Do you really think this money just came from the wind?"
Li Yiwen was very unhappy when he thought about how he had worked so hard to make money in the United States, but as soon as he returned home, Lu Yiming came running to give money to others.
Lu Yiming couldn't sit still after hearing this, and immediately changed to a more comfortable position and continued to lie down, while smiling: "You blame me for spending money now, but you will know that we are making a lot of money in the future."
Li Yiwen didn't believe it: "That Jack Ma? Don't make me laugh. You gave him five million dollars before, and you haven't seen any results after all this time?"
Lu Yiming said something fair: "You can't blame Jack Ma for this. The development of e-commerce in China has just started. It is difficult to explode due to the number of computer users and the low penetration rate of the Internet. It takes time to settle. The problem now is that the development of technology cannot keep up with Jack Ma's imagination. It will be fine in two years. We investors need to be patient to make money."
Li Yiwen actually knew this. After all, to engage in e-commerce, the prerequisite must be that there are enough computer users using the Internet. Otherwise, if there are only a few people, how can you do online shopping?
The person who made Li Yiwen dissatisfied was actually Jack Ma.
"I still don't understand why you are optimistic about Jack Ma. There are many e-commerce companies now. Meishang.com and Yinghaiwei are developing very well. Even the newly established 8848 and eBay, I think they are more reliable than Jack Ma's Alibaba. Tell me, why do you have your eyes on Jack Ma?"
As early as 1997, Xiaguo Chemical Information Network officially provided services on the Internet, pioneering the Internet chemical industry and becoming the first state-owned institution in the country to engage in industry website services.
After that, Enmaotong launched a B2B trade portal website, and in the summer of the same year, the English version of Guohua Chemical was launched.
From then on, e-commerce, a new thing, developed rapidly in Xia Country like bamboo shoots after rain.
In October 1998, Meishang.com received tens of millions of dollars in investment from several well-known venture capital companies in the United States. It was the first overseas website in the United States to enter the B2B e-commerce market, and even pioneered the global B2B e-commerce market, enjoying great success.
In comparison, Jack Ma’s Alibaba cannot be said to be unknown, but it is definitely inconspicuous.
On the contrary, after him, Wang Juntao, who was known as "the first person in e-commerce in Xia Country", founded 8848 and raised US$2.6 million that year.
Among all the pioneers in the e-commerce field, Jack Ma has the lowest education, the worst connections, and even the ugliest appearance...
But he is still very confident and brags all day long without thinking.
No one with normal IQ would be optimistic about his prospects and future.
But Lu Yiming knew that among so many e-commerce peers in China around the millennium, only Jack Ma and his Alibaba persevered to the end.
As for the others, they will all die in the upcoming Internet cold wave.
No matter how much talent and wisdom they have, no matter how deep their connections and resources are, if they can't survive, then everything is over.
Because in this world, the survivors always win.
Jack Ma doesn't need to be outstanding himself. He just needs to live longer than his peers. He can grow and develop on their corpses, take up more market share, and reap the final fruits of victory.
Lu Yiming sighed, feeling quite touched. "Maybe Jack Ma is lucky, or maybe he is more eager to succeed than anyone else. At least in his eyes, I see ambition, madness, and indomitable fighting spirit. And those people you mentioned, whether it is Zhang Shuxin of Yinghaiwei or Tong Jiawei of Meishang.com, are too docile. It is difficult for them to survive in the turbulent market changes if they do business in such a gentle manner."
Li Yiwen seemed to understand what Lu Yiming meant, but he still understood what he meant - Lu Yiming was not optimistic about anyone except Jack Ma.
The plane landed and everyone went back home.
A few days later, Li Yiwen came to report to Lu Yiming.
"The $2.7 billion in funds earned in the United States have all been withdrawn. Should this money be remitted to China now?"
Lu Yiming asked back: "What are you going to do with the money being remitted into the country?"
Li Yiwen was surprised: "Didn't you tell me before that the US stock market was about to plummet and you wanted to shift the focus of development back to China? And you also promised the local officials in Baiyun that you would carry out some large-scale investment projects. Are you trying to fool everyone?"
"What are you talking about? I've said it, and I can't take it back, okay?"
Before Li Yiwen could ask, Lu Yiming continued, "There is no rush to transfer the funds back to China. I have other uses for the money."
"What are you going to do?"
Lu Yiming chuckled and said, "I want to short US stocks."
"Huh? Shorting US stocks?"
Li Yiwen was almost frightened to death.
"Are you mistaken?"
It goes without saying how powerful the United States is today. In 1991, it took only 42 days to crush a so-called "powerful country" that claimed to be the fourth in the world, which shocked the whole world.
Whether in military or economics, this is the era of the United States, and it has now reached its peak. The whole world, whether it obeys or not, has to follow the lead of the United States.
Let me put it this way, now for countries all over the world, if Americans scold you, you have to listen; if Americans beat you, you have to endure it; don’t even have the thought of resisting, otherwise you will die miserably.
It's just this extent.
And Lu Yiming actually said that he wanted to short US stocks.
Do you feel like you're not dying fast enough?
This is not a matter of money, this is something that will disappear physically in a matter of minutes!
As we all know, the United States is a financial country, relying on financial hegemony to reap the world, and Wall Street is the place that controls this financial tool. Who can become the president of the United States is determined by Wall Street.
To put it more seriously, if Lu Yiming attacks Wall Street, it would be tantamount to declaring war on the United States.
Previously, Lu Yiming's plan to go to the United States to reap profits was enough to make Li Yiwen nervous. Now, he actually wants to cut flesh and bleed the United States?
Li Yiwen took a deep breath and said helplessly: "I really want to ask you now, do you know how to write the word death? Is the United States something we can afford to offend?"
Seeing Li Yiwen's nervous look, Lu Yiming immediately smiled and said calmly, "Don't panic, I have already thought about this matter. The risk of shorting the United States is of course very high. If you are not careful, you will be blacklisted, so we have to do it secretly and cannot make it public."
"I'm so fucking..."
Seeing how seriously Lu Yiming spoke, Li Yiwen was simply too tired to complain.
"Well, what are you going to do?"
Facing Li Yiwen, Lu Yiming did not hide anything and said, "It's like this. I plan to transfer the funds transferred back to Hong Kong to Europe in batches, and then quietly enter North America to make arrangements. And this time, I plan to bring Bill Gates and other North American local snakes to do a deal together. With them in the front, we will secretly shoot from behind and run away after the robbery. Even if someone has any objections at that time, let him go to Bill Gates to confront him."
It has to be said that Lu Yiming was very cautious and cunning in this move.
After all, this is about shorting the United States!
The reason why the ruble was shorted was because the Polar Bear was in trouble. Secondly, it was because the funds invested by Lu Yiming were insignificant, so it did not attract the attention of the Russians.
But now it’s different. Lu Yiming has 2.7 billion US dollars in his hands. If he invests all of it in short selling, the losses to the United States will be immeasurable.
As the world's most powerful country, would it be fleeced like this without saying a word?
Do you really think the United States has no temper?
What's more, the financial capitalists on Wall Street are not easy to deal with.
He thinks he knows history well and does whatever he wants, but in the end he may not even know how he died.
So this time, Lu Yiming decided to be cautious and not use any financial leverage in order to achieve a quick victory.
After making a fortune, he will immediately move the money to the mainland for investment. Does the United States dare to attack the Xia country?
