Chapter 415: A/B Share Structure

In the meeting room of Fanghuan Investment, Liang Haiyuan reported:
"Chairman Su, because of this interest rate hike storm, FaceWeb's stock price has collapsed again, like a sudden plunge.
Now the market is saying that it might really fall below the $200 billion mark."
FaceWeb, this social media giant that once briefly entered the "trillion-dollar club," now sees its stock price plummet like a fallen angel.
Its decline has many causes, each one a major scandal.
First, there was the global data breach scandal;
Then came their ambitious "Facecoin," which was met with a united crackdown by governments worldwide, becoming a colossal joke.
And the final straw was Fanghuan Investment's "picpic" app.
The devastating wave of short videos, like a flood bursting its banks, swept away FaceWeb's seemingly impregnable social media dominance, dragging it off its throne.
"Of course, even a weakened giant is bigger than a horse. FaceWeb's registered user base is still terrifying, a staggering 3.7 billion. We still can't compare."
"What about active users?" Su Hao asked.
"Hey, of course we're far ahead! Our traffic data can crush them.
Besides, Fang Huan's company is huge, with multiple revenue streams. If one channel doesn't work, another will."
In contrast, FaceWeb's revenue structure is pitifully singular; over 90% of its revenue comes from advertising.
They did consider transformation, launching all sorts of flashy projects, but what was the result?
They spent a lot of money, but made no progress whatsoever. Instead, investors constantly pointed fingers and called them "wasteful."
“With the anticipated economic recession, where do companies find the spare cash for advertising? Advertising revenue has plummeted, which is why FaceWeb's stock price has fallen so drastically.”
After all this build-up, Liang Haiyuan finally asked the question that had been on his mind:
“Chairman Su, regarding FaceWeb's stock, should we... continue buying?”
Recently, Su Hao's intuition, while scanning the entire M-share market, had focused solely on FaceWeb, a stock that had already plummeted to rock bottom, like a spotlight shining brightly.
So, at his command, Fanghuan Investment began a buying spree.
They not only swept up all the circulating shares on the market, but even the inventory held by large asset management companies was bought up by Fanghuan Investment at high prices.
Logically, with the stock price falling to this level, it should have been time to stop.
Su Hao closed his eyes, feeling his intuition still firmly locked onto FaceWeb; the illusory light in his mind hadn't dimmed, but rather grew even brighter.
Could it be that this seemingly outdated social networking site still harbors some earth-shattering secret?
“Keep buying,” Su Hao’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was resolute.
The conference room door opened, and a group of well-dressed elites filed out, each with a mixture of excitement and confusion on their faces, hurrying off to their respective battlefields.
The orders they were about to execute weren’t something that could be completed with a few keystrokes on a computer.
Chairman Su's order quantity was too large; they had to personally approach the major shareholders, negotiating with them one by one and breaking into their warehouses.
"Hey? Isn't this Chairman Lin?"
"You're here to see Chairman Su?"
Lin Fan, Vice Chairman of Fanghuan Investment, happened to walk over. "Ah, yes. What's up? The meeting's over?"
"Yes, Chairman Lin, just came out."
"Chairman Su...does he have any new instructions regarding FaceWeb?" Lin Fan asked casually.
Upon hearing this, everyone's faces showed expressions of "I knew you couldn't resist either."
Clearly, Lin Fan had the same thought as them.
"Yes," Liang Haiyuan said in a low voice, mysteriously, "Chairman Su said...we need to continue buying up inventory."
"So...it's what I thought?" Lin Fan's pupils suddenly contracted.
Lin Fan and the others exchanged glances, each seeing the same suspicion in the other's eyes.
"Chairman Su... he wouldn't really want to...swallow FaceWeb whole, would he?!"
That's right, there's no other explanation.
Otherwise, why would he specifically target FaceWeb and relentlessly exploit it when the entire M-share market is in turmoil?
"But...can a hostile takeover of FaceWeb really work?" someone questioned.
"It won't work," Lin Fan immediately shook his head.
"That's FaceWeb! Founder Mark Berg holds a dual-class share structure!
He only owns 13% of the shares, but his voting rights are a whopping 52%!"
Dual-class shares, a shareholding structure not common in China, are a well-established practice in Europe and America.
It's called "differential voting rights."
To put it bluntly, even if you only hold 10% of the company's shares, as long as you hold Class A shares with super voting rights, you can firmly control the entire company with those 10%, preventing those "barbarians" who hold far more shares from even uttering a sound.
"There's no way around it; the West has mastered this long ago, euphemistically called 'protecting the founder's business philosophy.'
This prevents a strong takeover by capitalist barbarians. This kind of approach is rarely seen in China."
"The national conditions are different. Unlike the West, which encourages innovation and entrepreneurship, if this system were implemented in China, it would quickly turn into an endless family business. The risk is too great, so it's never been common."
"Therefore, as long as Mark Berg holds more than 50% of the voting rights, even if we buy all the shares of FaceWeb except for his, we can't touch a hair on his head."
Does Chairman Su not understand this principle?
He couldn't possibly not understand it.
Yet he's still on a buying spree.
"Perhaps... Chairman Su has a backup plan that we mortals cannot comprehend?"
"Sigh, that's true. We mere mortals shouldn't presume to fathom the schemes of a god."
Lin Fan waved his hand:
"Alright, alright, stop speculating.
It's no use racking our brains; we can't fathom Chairman Su's grand plans anyway.
Stop thinking, execute orders, that's all!
As before, wherever Chairman Su points, we attack! Get moving!"
"Yes, sir!"
The crowd scattered, once again transforming into rapidly spinning gears, rushing to their respective battlefields.
Lin Fan, who had initially intended to probe for information, silently abandoned the idea.
Having worked under Su Hao for so long, he had long since grasped a truth:
Sometimes, the less you know, the longer you live.
Rather than racking his brains to understand, it's better to keep your mind at bay and be a ruthless execution machine—that's a kind of happiness.
Because he knew very well that once he glimpsed the full extent of Su Hao's terrifying plan, he might be scared half to death by its suffocating scale; his pitiful psychological resilience probably wouldn't be able to withstand such an impact.
However, he still couldn't help but be curious occasionally.
What exactly was going on in the mind of this Su Hao chairman, who manipulated the entire world?