Chapter 2108 The hidden truth

Yang Mi was very quiet beside her, making tea and making tea obediently without making any sound. I knew they were talking about something important, but I didn't know what it was.

Zhou Buqi expressed congratulations to Boss Ma. He took back absolute control of Ali. This big plan has basically been completed.

However, there is still a little doubt.

Yahoo's capital shareholders all want to completely eliminate Yang Zhiyuan, the disaster star, and have him leave the board of directors. However, Yang Zhiyuan's influence is too great and cannot be eliminated at all.

So both sides took a step back and reached a compromise.

Yang Zhiyuan agreed to leave Yahoo's board of directors and give up some of their respective positions at Yahoo, in exchange for two conditions that he believed were beneficial to Yahoo's future development.

One, hire PayPal president Scott Thompson as Yahoo’s next CEO.

Second, ease Yahoo’s current cash flow crisis by selling 20% ​​of its shares to Alibaba.

But here comes the question, how can he ensure that these two conditions can be implemented?

He has already left Yang Zhiyuan. Isn’t it true that the board of directors controlled by the employer is doing its job?

More importantly, Zhou Buqi has already met Carl Icahn, which is a big threat.

Zhou Buqi said worriedly: "Are you sure you can get your shares back?"

Boss Ma was very relaxed and said with a smile: "Almost, it's basically decided. After the Christmas holiday, there is also the New Year's Day holiday. Once the New Year's Day is over, it will be officially announced."

"No..." Zhou Buqi waved his hand, "Are you not worried at all? If Yang Zhiyuan is out, then there is no chance at all. How can you guarantee that the employer will comply with the conditions?"

Boss Ma said with a smile: "The resolution of the board of directors cannot be changed at will. There must be terms and conditions."

Zhou Buqi said: "Even if the board of directors approves Yang Zhiyuan's nomination and appoints Thompson as CEO, after he is out, won't the board of directors controlled by the capital find a reason to fire him after a while? Then replace him with someone who can The CEO who pushed for the dismemberment of Yahoo?”

Boss Ma doesn’t think so, “The board of directors is not a housekeeper, so how can it change the CEO casually? The more management-controlled the board of directors is, the less likely it is to change the CEO easily. They are changing CEOs continuously in order to make money. Just let Yahoo’s stock price go even lower, let alone sell at a higher price?”

Zhou Buqi said: "It's not a good reason."

Boss Ma seemed very confident, "The only purpose of capital is to make money. Why did the management want to dismember Yahoo and sell it? Because they believe that the company has lost its future under Yang Zhiyuan's control. Now that he is out, what will happen to the management?" It’s like having one more choice.”

"That makes sense."

Zhou Buqi nodded, feeling that this reason was quite sufficient.

When Yang Zhiyuan was still on the board of directors, the management's biggest wish was to split the company and sell it because they were desperate. Yang Zhiyuan has made mistakes in too many major strategies. They have lost hope and sold out early.

But Yang Zhiyuan left the board of directors, which was different.

Splitting and selling Yahoo is still a very important option.

But for the board of directors controlled by the capital, without the constraints of Yang Zhiyuan, maybe they can really run Yahoo well... at least they can make major decisions according to their own wishes.

Everyone knows Yahoo is seriously undervalued right now.

Selling Yahoo now will be a huge loss.

If after the new CEO takes office, Yahoo's stock price can continue to rise and be recognized by the market, and even truly complete a recovery, it will of course be the best result for the investors.

The management is here to make money, and who the CEO is is not that important at all. As long as it can make money for the employer, it doesn't matter even if the CEO points at them and scolds them every day.

This is exactly what Yang Zhiyuan expected.

In other words, if Yahoo gets better and better after new CEO Scott Thompson takes office, then Yang Zhiyuan's goal will be achieved.

He has an entrepreneurial mind and wants to make Yahoo better and better.

The purpose of the capital has also been achieved.

In this way, differences are resolved.

Boss Ma said: "If Yahoo remains the same after Scott Thompson takes over as CEO, and the employer-controlled board of directors is disappointed, then he will definitely be fired. Even if Yang Zhiyuan is still on the board of directors, he will be fired. Therefore, whether Yang Zhiyuan is on the board of directors has nothing to do with Thompson's future career development. The board of directors cannot fire him without reason."

Zhou Buqi caught his words accurately, "Yes, for no reason."

"Um?"

Boss Ma raised his eyebrows.

Zhou Buqi narrowed his eyes, "That is to say, as long as there is a reason, the board of directors can fire him."

"Of course." Boss Ma smiled, "However, with Yahoo in such a mess now, the board of directors must give him a certain amount of time to sort out the business. The performance results in one or two years cannot shake his position, and he must be given at least three years. time."

Zhou Buqi's thoughts gradually connected, and he smelled a deep conspiracy. "You said this is a normal situation. I am afraid that some special events or accidents will happen."

Boss Ma was slightly startled, "What do you mean?"

Zhou Buqi said: "If this Scott Thompson breaks the law and commits murder, arson, robbery, and theft, no matter if you have been in office for ten days or half a month, do you have to step down when it is time to step down? This special situation can break the shortcomings of the new CEO." There will be no resignation within a certain period of time.”

"How can it be?"

Boss Ma felt a little baffled.

Zhou Buqi said: "If such a special situation really occurs, the board of directors can immediately remove him and replace him with a CEO that the management likes. Then he will completely give up treatment and promote the split and sale of Yahoo. All of Yang Zhiyuan's Long-term planning is meaningless.”

Boss Ma felt that this guy's thinking was too fast. "Before hiring, we always conduct due diligence, so we don't have this kind of worry."

Zhou Buqi doesn't think so.

Because Scott Thompson was previously the CEO of PayPal.

Carl Icahn has been eyeing PayPal for several years and wants to separate it from eBay and list it independently. It just so happens that there is also the shadow of Carl Icahn behind Yahoo.

Carl Icahn also revealed some remarks to Zhou Buqi before.

Although he said it very carefully, Zhou Buqi could also taste some meaning from his words.

Carl Icahn has said that he will take over Yahoo! within three years!

After taking care of Yahoo, he went back to work on PayPal!

Carl Icahn's investment philosophy is different from Buffett's. He will not see that Yahoo is currently undervalued by the market, and then buy Yahoo's shares in large sums, and then hold them for a long time to make value investments.

In other words, Yang Zhiyuan’s long-term plan is completely opposite to Carl Icahn’s philosophy.

Carl Icahn only wants to break up and sell Yahoo in a short time. He has no interest in waiting for Yahoo to grow and make money slowly.

If Scott Thompson performs well at Yahoo, the stock price gradually rises, and the development gets better and better... This is in line with Yang Zhiyuan's plan, and it is also a very good result for most capital investors.

Only for Carl Icahn, it was a result he could not accept.

He can't see Yahoo! getting better!

There must be chaos within Yahoo so that it can better operate the dismemberment of Yahoo and carry out the simplest and most direct sales and sales... one hand delivers the goods and the other hand collects the money.

Let's work together and call it a day!

This is Carl Icahn’s best way to make money.

Therefore, Carl Icahn cannot see Scott Thompson doing well at Yahoo. The worse he does, the happier he will be.

But here comes the problem again. Scott Thompson is a capable person with a very high level. PayPal has developed extremely well under his leadership. He even entered the mobile Internet market early. He has an extraordinary vision and is a very good profession. Manager, that's why Yang Zhiyuan took a fancy to him.

For Carl Icahn, the case that is most concerning right now is Yahoo. How could he tolerate such an outstanding Scott Thompson joining Yahoo and becoming its new CEO?

What if Thompson really leads Yahoo to change for the better?

Carl Icahn has been working at eBay and PayPal for several years and has great influence. If he comes forward and asks eBay to retain Scott Thompson no matter what, in exchange for not wooing all parties to break up PayPal in a short period of time, it will be really difficult for him to switch from PayPal to Yahoo.

Zhou Buqi was silent for a long time.

After such dismantling, he seemed to have seen possible answers.

If Carl Icahn wants to deal with PayPal, he must create chaos within PayPal, but Scott Thompson is too good, so he must deal with this person first.

Maybe Carl Icahn had already figured out what Scott Thompson was doing so that he could target PayPal. Unexpectedly, Yang Zhiyuan fell in love with Scott Thompson and wanted to recruit him to Yahoo.

This should be an unexpected surprise for Carl Icahn.

I happily worked behind the scenes and made some plans with several management directors. I accepted Yang Zhiyuan's proposal and agreed that Scott Thompson should be the next CEO of Yahoo.

And took advantage of the situation to ask Yang Zhiyuan to leave Yahoo's board of directors.

After Yang Zhiyuan left Yahoo's board of directors, Scott Thompson became Yahoo's new CEO. Before he could settle down, Carl Icahn suddenly dumped the dark materials in his hand and used special events to attack Scott Thompson. ! Yahoo's board of directors had to remove the newly appointed CEO.

As a result, Yahoo worsened and collapsed even more. At this time, Yang Zhiyuan, who was able to compete with the management within Yahoo, was already out and no longer on the board of directors.

Carl Icahn can just pull it off and call it a day.

Although these are all speculations by Zhou Buqi, he combined information from multiple parties and analyzed it based on Carl Icahn's past resume, and felt that this was the truth hidden behind the Yahoo case.

When Boss Ma saw Zhou Buqi being silent, he was very surprised, "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

Zhou Buqi shook his head.

Boss Ma was not worried at all, and said with a smile: "According to what you said, it has nothing to do with us anyway. Even if something unexpected happens, as you said, it doesn't matter. The most we can do is fire Scott Thompson and replace him." It’s just a new CEO. Alibaba’s repurchase of 20% of the shares is a decision that has been passed and cannot be changed. Just go back and prepare the money and prepare to take over.”