Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

"Damn it! Meituan’s market share is nowhere near Dianping’s, and Wang Xin still wants to be in charge after a merger? The nerve of him, talking so big!"

In Hu City, in front of a private room at a clubhouse, Zhang Tao ignored Shen Nanpeng’s attempts to stop him, storming out while fuming.

"President Zhang, don’t be so hasty. Meituan and Dianping both have valuations around one billion US dollars. Isn’t it normal to not reach an agreement right away? Let’s all sit down and talk it over. We can always find the best solution."

Shen Nanpeng said patiently, holding Zhang Tao back.

From ancient times to the present, the vast sea of history books contains only four words: fight to be emperor.

The business community was no exception!

As the founder of Redwood Capital, Shen Nanpeng was pushing hard for the merger between Dianping and Meituan. But to his great frustration, both Zhang Tao and Wang Xin wanted absolute control.

From an investor’s perspective, he was more inclined to support Zhang Tao.

But Wang Xin was unwilling to relinquish power, which complicated things.

But in Zhang Tao’s view, Meituan was valued at about 970 million US dollars, with Wang Xin and his founding team holding 57.7% of the shares. Dianping was valued at 1.24 billion US dollars, and his own shareholding was 62.2%.

No matter how you looked at it, if the two companies merged, he should be the CEO, with Wang Xin as his subordinate.

The three parties had negotiated all morning, but it all boiled down to one core issue: Who would be the boss?

"President Shen, I have no objection to the merger itself, but if Wang Xin can’t see the reality of the situation, then this whole thing will have to be called off."

Standing outside, Zhang Tao felt a cold breeze that cooled much of his anger, and his tone softened.

The implication was clear: unless Wang Xin yielded to him, the merger was off the table.

Shen Nanpeng stared at Zhang Tao for a few seconds, understanding completely. ’Meituan and Dianping haven’t been pushed to the brink by Kuai Pao and Lashou yet. Wasting more breath right now probably won’t do any good.’

"Alright, I understand," Shen Nanpeng said with a deep sigh and a look of resignation.

Although the second merger attempt between Meituan and Dianping had reached the negotiation stage, they still couldn’t come to an agreement.

The two parties parted on bad terms!

Left in the private room, Wang Xin and Wang Huiwen exchanged a look, instantly understanding each other’s thoughts: ’First, we’ll pump money into the market to drive up our monthly transaction volume. Then, whether it’s for the next financing round or a merger with Dianping, we’ll have a stronger position.’

’The only reason Zhang Tao won’t let me be CEO is because he looks down on Meituan’s low market share, right?’

But in Wang Xin’s eyes, Dianping was far weaker than Meituan. ’If Kuai Pao and Lashou Network hadn’t come along and stirred things up, would Dianping even have a claim to the number one spot in the industry?’

"Old Wang, on product strategy, Meituan needs to learn from Kuai Pao. Besides food, leisure and entertainment, movie tickets, and the hotel and travel categories, we need to constantly expand our business boundaries, delve deeper into local lifestyle services, and build Meituan’s own ’T-shaped’ strategy."

Wang Xin said, casually swirling the wine in his glass as he looked at his old friend.

"Brother Xin, the more we expand, the higher our personnel and marketing costs will be. I’m afraid this follow-on investment from Redwood Capital won’t be enough to last us until Q2 of next year."

Wang Huiwen said with a frown, voicing his inner concerns.

"We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Ah Li and Redwood Capital have invested a total of 130 million US dollars in us. I don’t believe Ma Liyun and Shen Nanpeng are willing to just let all that money go down the drain."

Wang Xin said with a smirk.

The relationship between investors and entrepreneurs was both complementary and a constant game of strategy.

After several rounds of financing, he had lost a portion of his equity, but Ah Li and Redwood Capital had also become more and more deeply tied to Meituan.

With sunk costs already exceeding a hundred million US dollars, as long as Meituan kept fighting, Ah Li and Redwood Capital would have to grit their teeth and keep pouring in money.

Capital may hold entrepreneurs hostage, but aren’t the entrepreneurs also forcing capital to run along with them?

For example, in the subsidy war between Quick and DiDi Dache, Li Yanhong ultimately chose to fund it out of his own pocket because he couldn’t find a suitable investor in time.

"But Ah Li didn’t participate in Meituan’s last financing round. I think Ma Liyun might have given up on us."

Wang Huiwen said, pushing up his glasses as he analyzed the situation seriously.

"Old Wang, don’t worry. Ever since Chen Yansen’s 50-billion-US-dollar net worth was exposed, and with the three major e-commerce platforms hitting 30 billion in sales on Singles’ Day, capital from Europe, America, and the Australian Region is all watching China. With Meituan’s market position, do you really think we’ll have trouble finding investors?"

Wang Xin said dismissively.

"Brother Xin, I get it now." Wang Huiwen gave a knowing smile, raising his glass to clink it against Wang Xin’s as a hint of delight flashed in his eyes.

Wang Xin narrowed his eyes and thought to himself, ’Senlian Capital and Qian Du Network may be strong, but Meituan is not weak either. It’s still too early to tell who will win and who will lose.’

He didn’t believe that Kuai Pao and Lashou Network could swallow the entire national Group Buy market.

’Subsidy wars can’t last forever. In the end, it all comes back to the fundamentals of business, where service and quality determine the winner.’

A short while later, after seeing Zhang Tao off, Shen Nanpeng returned.

Looking at Wang Xin, Shen Nanpeng didn’t say much. After a few perfunctory words, he left with his assistant.

"I hear Kuai Pao’s Hu City Branch is nearby," Wang Xin suddenly asked. He knew that Pei Yi was based in Hu City year-round.

’Thinking of this, he really felt like paying a visit to his rival’s company and meeting his opponent face-to-face.’

「Meanwhile.」

Jingdong publicly announced that it had completed a new financing round of 700 million US dollars the previous day. Investors included the OTPP (Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan) and Saudi Kingdom Capital, resulting in a post-money valuation of 10.5 billion US dollars.

In just two short months, Liu Qiangdong had secured a cumulative 1.1 billion US dollars in financing, and the company’s valuation had skyrocketed from 6 billion to 10.5 billion US dollars.