I can become stronger by paying salaries. I have one billion employees!

Chapter 623 Breaking the 1800 Billion Dollar Barrier! Chen Yansen: Little Ma, I want to be the big brother, do you have any objections?

Ma Wenteng wanted to use the entertainment industry to expand the business scope and boost Tencent's stock price, while Chen Yansen also used the entertainment industry to add new employees to Senlian Capital, thereby gaining a large number of humanitarian benefits.

When two tigers fight, one will surely be injured.

Moreover, to be honest, the thought of going to war with Senlian Capital makes Pony Ma feel apprehensive.

Facing an opponent who has never lost, it would be a lie to say you're not worried.

"How much has the number of Tencent Video members increased in the past month?"

Thinking of this, Ma Wenteng asked casually.

"Around 910 million, and it is expected to reach 1000 million before the 15th."

Liu Zhiping was very familiar with this data and answered without hesitation.

"What percentage of Pinbei Prime members are there?" Ma Wenteng asked again.

“89.1%.” Liu Zhiping picked up his teacup and took a small sip.

"What if Pinduoduo changed the sign-up gift for Prime Super Member to Youku Video?" Pony Ma hesitated before continuing.

"Then Youku's number of paid users will once again be number one in the industry," Liu Zhiping said confidently.

In less than a month, Pinbei brought more than 800 million annual card users to Tencent Video, which is by no means a small number.

It's important to remember that Wang Xin, the founder of Kuaibo, had just been arrested, and the willingness of users on long-form video websites to pay for content was far less than it would be ten years later.

More than 90% of users think, "I won't buy anything if they charge me!"
Before Pinduoduo launched its Prime membership, Youku, as the industry's leading video website, only had over 600 million paying users.

iQiyi has over 400 million views.

Tencent Video ranks third, with just over 300 million paying users.

LeEco ranks fourth with approximately 140 million paying users. However, as is well known, buying a LeEco TV comes with a free annual LeEco Video membership, which appears to be paid but is essentially free.

It is easy to see how much revenue Pinbei generated for Tencent Video by using its co-branded membership sales model.

With 1200 million paying users, Tencent Video has now become the top video website.

If Chen Yansen and Gu Yongqiang reach a cooperation agreement, Tencent Video will immediately be exposed as a fraud.

As for finding a new partner, there is absolutely no hope.

Ji Dong is Pinbei's underling, so naturally he follows his big brother.

Can penguins collaborate with Ali?

Ma Wenteng shook his head; he knew Ma Liyun too well.

This person must have been a Pixiu reincarnated in their past life. Plus, with Alibaba's IPO imminent, they have no shortage of funds. Even if they wanted to learn from Pinduoduo and become Taobao members, they would most likely acquire a video website instead of partnering with Tencent.

Ma Wenteng's right hand was resting on the table, tapping it lightly without his mind, his brows furrowed into deep lines.

Liu Zhiping's words were like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the last glimmer of hope in his heart.

Pinbei holds the "lifeline" of Tencent Video's membership growth. If Chen Yansen loosens his grip, Tencent's hard-won position as the "number one video platform" will vanish instantly.

In addition, his attitude towards Senlian Capital has always been primarily cooperation, with competition as a secondary consideration.

Especially since the other side also holds three trump cards: the Orange Phone, the Tiangong Chip, and the Deep Blue Battery.

How was Baidu defeated?
He saw it all from beginning to end. Although Tencent was better than Baidu, it wasn't more than ten times stronger.

Therefore, there's no need to fight tooth and nail with Senlian Capital; cooperation is the best option.

"Martin, call Liu Shengyi from the online media division and Cheng Wu from the interactive entertainment division over here, and have them bring the business and financial statements for the past three months."

Ma Wenteng thought for a moment and then gave instructions to Liu Zhiping across from him.

"Okay," Liu Zhiping nodded in agreement.

He knew that Ma Wenteng had most likely made a new decision.

After receiving the notification, Cheng Wu arrived at Ma Wenteng's office ten minutes later, clutching a thick stack of reports tightly in his hand.

When he pushed the door open, he saw Ma Wenteng staring blankly at the office buildings outside the window, while Liu Zhiping sat to the side drinking tea. The atmosphere in the office was a little strange.

"Mr. Ma, Mr. Liu, these are the business and financial statements of the Interactive Entertainment Division for the past three months."

Cheng Wu quickly stepped forward and gently placed the report on the table.

The Interactive Entertainment Division's business mainly focuses on games, literature, and animation products. For Cheng Wu, League of Legends and QQ Games are the real money-making machines.

Chuangshi, Yunqi, QQ Reading, QQ Bookstore, and Penguin Comics are all money-losing ventures.

To his surprise, Ma Wenteng brushed aside the data reports for the game business and picked up a quarterly financial statement for the literature business instead.

"First-quarter revenue was 1.7 million yuan, and net profit was 2620 million yuan."

Ma Wenteng muttered to himself.

Looking at Tencent Animation, it suffered a loss of 1300 million yuan.

It doesn't make any money at all!
He is a typical Chaoshan businessman who values ​​practical interests more. It's not worth it to make an enemy of Chen Yansen for a mere few hundred million in net profit.

At this moment, Liu Shengyi from the online media business unit also arrived and handed Ma Wenteng a latest business report.

After some time, Little Ma suddenly put down the documents in his hand, looked at Liu Zhiping and said, "Martin, make a trip to Luzhou for me."

Liu Zhiping was taken aback when he heard this, but then he realized that Ma Wenteng was telling him to go and talk to Chen Yansen about cooperation.

"Okay, I'll arrange the itinerary right away. I'll fly to Luzhou no later than tomorrow morning."

A knowing glint flashed in Liu Zhiping's eyes, and he immediately responded.

Ma Wenteng nodded slightly, then instructed, "Don't rush to negotiate terms. First, meet with Chen Yansen and hear his thoughts. Remember, you can lower your stance, but you can't compromise on Tencent's core bottom line. You can discuss literature, animation, and video businesses, but you can't concede on anything else."

Although Little Ma spoke cryptically, Liu Zhiping, who had worked under him for many years, understood his meaning almost instantly.

It's simply a matter of using the cooperation model between Tencent and Sogou—investment, share swaps, mergers—to transform from a fierce battle into a defensive alliance, exchanging business ties for survival space.

Liu Zhiping immediately took out his phone and dialed Chen Yansen's number.

"Beep—beep—beep—!"

The waiting tone rang more than a dozen times before the phone finally connected.

"Martin, it's been a long time since you called me. So, what's the important thing?"

Chen Yansen chuckled and joked.

"Mr. Chen, you're too kind. I'm usually afraid of bothering you, but this time I really have something important to discuss with you in person. I'm flying to Luzhou tomorrow, and I was wondering if you'd have time?"

Liu Zhiping greeted him with utmost politeness.

His way of addressing Chen Yansen clearly reflects the trajectory of Chen Yansen's changing status and identity. Initially, Chen Yansen was the founder of FoxTao, while he was the vice president of Tencent, so naturally he addressed him by his first name.

Later, Chen Yansen founded Pinbei and Orange Technology, and made great strides in the e-commerce and smartphone industries. During this period, he quietly changed his address to "General Manager Chen".

Now, Chen Yansen is the richest Chinese person, the richest person in the world, and a co-mentor at the Davos Economic Forum. Liu Zhiping's title has changed again, and he is even using honorifics.

"Martin, I'm sorry, I have to go to Yanjing tomorrow, and I'm going to Europe with Mr. Li next Monday."

Chen Yansen politely declined.

Mr. Li?
Visit to Europe?

Upon hearing this, Ma Wenteng felt a pang of sadness. He had been in the business world for over twenty years and had never enjoyed such treatment.

But he knew in his heart that Chen Yansen's importance in the eyes of the higher-ups was indeed different.

Tiangong chips, Deep Blue batteries, and Orange phones—any one of these could be considered a highlight of a business association delegation.

In recent years, in particular, European environmental associations have become obsessed, constantly holding protests and forcing local authorities to shut down coal-fired and nuclear power plants and promote solar and wind power generation, which has led to occasional instability in the power supply in Europe.

Spring and autumn are manageable, but in summer and winter, power outages can cause problems for residents in some frigid areas, even basic heating becomes an issue.

DeepBlue Battery is perfectly suited for home energy storage devices. Last year, pilot projects in Germany and Sweden helped solve the emergency power outage needs of nearly 10,000 households.

Based on this alone, no one dared to object to Chen Yansen going to Europe with Li Qingsong.

Even if Ma Wenteng wanted to compete for this treatment, he didn't have the corresponding strength to back it up.

To put it bluntly, the supply order for DeepBlue Battery can bring China some valuable orders for optical and medical instruments.

Ma Wenteng's expression darkened slightly. He took the phone from Liu Zhiping and said slowly, "President Chen, this is Pony. May I take a few minutes of your time? I'd like to have a quick chat with you about the entertainment collaboration between Tencent and Senlian."

"Entertainment projects? It seems Mr. Ma has heard about it."

Chen Yansen said meaningfully.

He had just met with Gu Yongqiang from Youku when, unexpectedly, Pony Ma called.

Ma Wenteng let out a long sigh and said in as calm a tone as possible, "Actually, I've wanted to talk to President Chen for a long time. I've seen all of Senlian Capital's moves in the entertainment industry."

If Tencent and Senlian Capital compete head-on, it will only be a waste of funds and resources. So my idea is that we should work together to expand the market.

After all, given Senlian Capital's industry chain development and Tencent's massive user base, collaboration is far more cost-effective than internal competition.

Chen Yansen chuckled softly on the other end of the phone: "Mr. Ma is quite frank, but it's easy to say 'let's grow together,' but the real challenge lies in how to divide the pie."

Senlian isn't looking for a simple traffic exchange; it wants a deep partnership that connects 'IP → content → merchandise → overseas channels.' What can Tencent offer in return?"

Deep binding?

Ma Wenteng smiled dismissively. He was able to package QQ Input Method and Penguin Search together and hand them over to Sogou for operation, thus merging the input method and search engine businesses of the two companies.

It's not hard to see that in business competition, he prefers capital operation rather than fighting to see who is the boss.

"The deep integration that Mr. Chen wants is essentially a complementarity of industry and ecosystem, which is exactly what Tencent excels at. Just like last year's cooperation with Sogou, where we exchanged business for market share, we can follow a similar path with Senlian."

Ma Wenteng pondered for a few seconds before speaking.

"What do you mean by shareholding percentage? I want absolute control."

Seeing that Brother Ma was so responsive, Chen Yansen stopped beating around the bush and got straight to the point.

Absolute controlling stake?
Although Ma Wenteng was somewhat prepared, he still couldn't help but gasp when Chen Yansen made his point clear.

To give or not to give?
Ma Wenteng's expression was hesitant.

Relinquishing controlling stake is tantamount to handing over the "steering wheel" of the entertainment business entirely to Senlian Capital; if they don't, Pinduoduo will turn around and cooperate with Youku, and Penguin Video's "number one" status will be quickly restored, with most of the 1200 million paid users accumulated previously likely to be lost within a year.

The collaboration between Tencent and Sogou signifies Tencent taking the lead.

By partnering with Senlian Capital, Chen Yansen has clearly indicated his ambition to become the leader.

This is not just a concession of equity, but a compromise on industry position!
“Mr. Chen, the demand for absolute control exceeds Tencent’s bottom line for cooperation.” Ma Wenteng’s voice was low, but it carried an undeniable firmness.

He paused and then said, "The cooperation between Tencent and Sogou is also based on each other's strengths and joint management. Tencent has a slight advantage in shareholding, but the daily management work is handed over to Sogou."

"We can discuss a business split if Senlian wants a deep partnership, but controlling stake cannot be relinquished. This is a red line for Tencent's board of directors, and I cannot make that decision."

He deliberately used the "board of directors" as a shield, but in reality, he wanted to buy himself some breathing room.

In fact, his reaction was exactly what Chen Yansen had expected.

"Since we can't agree on the preconditions, there's no need for us to continue negotiating."

Chen Yansen said lightly.

Ma Wenteng was taken aback. He knew Chen Yansen's style of doing things all too well; once he said "no talk," he would never drag things out.

After a moment's thought, his tone softened: "Mr. Chen, everything can be discussed. There's no need to block the way."

We can think about it another way: for the animation business, we can establish a joint venture, with Senlian Capital holding 51% of the shares and having a relative controlling stake. The daily operations can also be handled by Senlian Capital, but the core decision-making power over the IPs will belong to Tencent. For the literature business, Senlian Capital can hold 15% of the shares, and the overseas distribution rights will be given priority to Orange Literature.

Senlian, the video business owner, invested in Tencent's Orange Short Drama platform. This satisfies Senlian's need for 'dominance' while also protecting Tencent's core interests. What do you think?

“This is not a deep partnership! Pony, my idea is that you take out Penguin Video, QQ Music, Penguin Literature and Penguin Animation, and I will take out Orange Literature, Orange Short Drama, Kuaiying, and Wanhe Tianyi, and merge them to form a large entertainment group. Both parties will share resources, with Senlian Capital holding 51% of the shares and Penguin holding 49%.”

Chen Yansen said bluntly.

"Merge to form a large entertainment group?"

Ma Wenteng was slightly surprised.

He originally thought Chen Yansen only wanted a controlling stake in a certain entertainment business, but he didn't expect the other party to have such a big appetite.

The plan is to package and merge Tencent Entertainment's core assets with Senlian's entertainment business, and to gain a 51% controlling stake.

"Mr. Chen, I can't answer you right now. Let's talk when you get back from Europe."

Unable to give an immediate response, Ma Wenteng suggested postponing the discussion.

“Sure, no problem.” Chen Yansen knew that this cooperation deal, involving hundreds of billions, would definitely not be finalized in a short time.

After that, the two of them didn't say anything more and simply ended the call.

For Chen Yansen, he has two options: first, to improve Senlian Capital's cultural and entertainment ecosystem through acquisitions; second, to join forces with Tencent to complete the industry layout as quickly as possible.

Both paths had their advantages and disadvantages, but he had already made up his mind.

the other side.

Pinbei surpassed Ali in single-day transaction volume, which was also reflected in its stock price, which hit the daily limit up immediately upon opening.

In just half an hour, its market value exceeded 1800 billion US dollars!
(End of this chapter)