147: Chapter 147 38%, Tencent's Largest Shareholder

On the other end of the line, Shen Fei simply set his phone aside, letting Pony Ma "roar" for a while...

Two minutes later.

"Mr. Ma, let me say this again, don't overthink it..."

"38% of the shares, how do you expect me not to overthink it?"

Shen Fei didn't continue speaking and threw the phone aside again. It seemed this news was quite a shock.

3 minutes later.

"Mr. Ma," Shen Fei paused, "Our goal is the same as Naspers'."

"It's a financial investment. At most, we'll send someone to join the board of directors. The real decision-making power remains in your hands. Have you heard of a dual-class share structure?"

Pony Ma was stunned; he hadn't.

Tencent didn't have AB shares, nor did it have unequal voting rights. Theoretically, whoever held more shares had the final say, but Tencent was a different beast: the major shareholder voluntarily gave up interference in operations, and the board seats were firmly held by the founding team.

It was like a house you paid to buy, but the property deed, the keys, the tenants, the renovations, and the leasing were all managed by someone else; the shareholder could only collect the rent.

"The Hong Kong Stock Exchange doesn't allow AB shares, but..."

"In that case, why did Mr. Ma call?" Shen Fei said, "To give me a warning?"

"Besides, I bought these shares to help you."

Pony Ma frowned.

"Help me..."

For a moment, he couldn't wrap his head around it and didn't understand what Shen Fei meant.

"Yes." Shen Fei's voice was very serious, "Mr. Ma, Tencent is China's largest internet company and also in the top three globally."

"But who is your largest shareholder? Naspers, from South Africa."

Shen Fei specifically emphasized the word "South Africa," and the name made Pony Ma ponder.

Foreign capital! As the major shareholder, who does Tencent really belong to? Is my data security guaranteed?

Most of the public didn't care whether the shareholders intervened in operations; previously, they only knew that the shares were in Naspers' hands...

"Do you think that once the mobile internet develops, no one will bring this up?"

Pony Ma fell silent.

Theoretically, a shareholder who only collects dividends shouldn't cause much of an impact.

But, how is that possible in reality?

"Think about it," Shen Fei continued, "Tencent manages the social data and living habits of hundreds of millions of Chinese people. If the largest shareholder is foreign capital, what will public opinion say?"

Pony Ma's brows furrowed even deeper.

"Things are different now," Shen Fei said, "The largest shareholder has become Huaxin Investment, with a Chinese capital background. Who can use this as an issue now?"

He paused here: "Mr. Ma, I am shielding you from fire."

There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

Pony Ma paced around while holding his phone. Shen Fei was right.

The fact that Naspers was foreign capital had always been a thorn in his side. Although South Africa and China had a very good relationship, and Naspers had never interfered in company decisions.

But in the court of public opinion, foreign capital was just foreign capital.

If one day someone were to make an issue of this, Tencent would be very vulnerable.

But now that thorn had been removed; Transsion had become the largest shareholder.

Chinese capital.

"Mr. Shen," Pony Ma's voice softened, "You have considered this very far-sightedly, and you've also given me a reminder."

Shen Fei chuckled on the other end.

Whether others would use this tactic, he didn't know, but he certainly would. What conscience is there in the business world? Eliminating competitors and capturing the market is what matters most.

A conscience will only make you die faster.

Just like now, it looks like he lost money on the shares of the three companies, but in reality, each company had been inflated by more than three times...

"Mr. Ma, I am not a saint. Buying these shares, of course, I have my own calculations."

Pony Ma waited for him to continue.

"Transsion is mainly overseas and needs many friends. Some necessary share swaps are also essential."

Pony Ma gave an affirmative "Hmm." Previously, holding over 80% of the shares in each company on average was indeed a bit too much.

Not to mention whether the founding teams had ulterior motives, the local governments definitely had suspicions.

"Besides, holding Tencent shares isn't a loss. In case Transsion encounters difficulties one day, I can sell them to save the day."

Pony Ma suddenly laughed: "Mr. Shen, you are leaving yourself a way out."

Shen Fei also laughed: "Mr. Ma, who doesn't leave a way out?"

Pony Ma chuckled; he did indeed have backup plans.

"Then I hope that before you sell, Mr. Shen, you'll give me a heads-up. Don't pull such surprise attacks again; it's really easy for people to overthink."

...

After hanging up the phone, Pony Ma stood by the window for a long time, then turned and said to his secretary.

"Convene a shareholders' meeting and issue an announcement at the same time."

The secretary didn't react for a moment and was still a bit dazed: "Issue what announcement?"

"Shareholding changes. Huaxin Investment has become Tencent's largest shareholder, currently holding 38%, and Naspers' shareholding has dropped to 7%."

The assistant hesitated. Last time Huaxin invested, Tencent fell for over a month... Now that they had eaten up another 18%, that would surely cause another month of volatility.

It had been hard enough for Tencent to achieve seven consecutive days of gains thanks to angry birds...

After all, this game was completely different from his previous life. Besides GG, there were some paid value-added items, easily achieving a monthly revenue of over 100 million. The market had a lot of confidence in Tencent...

"Mr. Ma, if this news gets out..."

"Issue it." Pony Ma didn't hesitate at all, "The sooner, the better."

He hesitated slightly.

"Write in what Shen Fei said as well. Just say that Huaxin Investment is a strategic investor, will not participate in operational decisions, and is bullish on Tencent's long-term development."

Pony Ma picked up the fax again.

38%, a way out...

Did he believe it? Fifty-fifty.

But at least for now, he had no better choice; a Chinese capital background was indeed better than a South African one.

...

This afternoon, Tencent released another announcement, simultaneously announcing that trading would be suspended starting the next day.

In just a few hundred words, it caused an uproar in the capital market.

At the close, Tencent rose sharply by 1.3%.

A certain analyst posted on a stock forum: "Huaxin Investment's continuous increase in holdings shows they are extremely bullish on Tencent. This is a shot in the arm for the market.

There will definitely be consecutive sharp rises next. Those who didn't get on board today should hurry up, otherwise... you can only watch others get rich."

"It's you again, you asshole analyst. Last time you tricked me into getting on board, and it ended up falling for over a month."

"How many shares is the OP dumping... You want us to take over again? We aren't some ordinary newbies, getting fooled over and over..."

"Doesn't anyone think Huaxin is overreaching? They have Tencent, Transsion, and Huawei terminals, and they are the absolute major shareholder in all of them. Is this foreign infiltration... How did the authorities approve this?"

"So what if they're overreaching? They have money..."

"I'm talking about security issues..."

"To the guy above, the capital market is regulated so strictly. If Huaxin could get in, do you really think it's foreign capital..."

"Stop arguing about that. 38% of the shares—what if they want to control Tencent? Once there's infighting, our stocks will turn into waste paper..."

"The announcement says they won't participate in operations. Besides, Pony Ma and Huang Tianya have a good relationship; someone even photographed them eating together a while ago."

"Eating is eating, money is money..."