Wind Rises 2005

Chapter 600 Change the gameplay

Twitter's proposal to acquire Zynga was successfully approved by the board of directors, and Ma Liang was also very excited.

As previously discussed, Twitter, valued at US$150 billion, will fully acquire Zynga, valued at US$15 billion, in a stock exchange, without spending a penny in cash.

Once the contract is signed and all processes are completed, Zynga will become a 100% owned subsidiary of Twitter.

Twitter will pay 10% of the equity for this, 4.9% of which will be distributed to Mark Pincus and his partners, and some stock awards will be given to Zynga’s founding team.

The other 5.1% of Twitter's equity belongs to [Dafeng Capital].

The equity of Twitter's original shareholders will be diluted by 10% after the merger.

After the original equity held by Dafeng Capital is diluted and the newly acquired 5.1% is added, the total equity ratio held will reach 32.397%.

In one fell swoop, he surpassed Evan Williams and became the largest shareholder of Twitter.

At this time, the shares held by Comrade Ivan Dae have dropped to 28.99%. It can be said that he has automatically lost his veto power.

Since then, Ma Liang has become the most controlling person on Twitter.

And as subsequent mergers and acquisitions and stock exchange plans advance one by one, this control will be further strengthened.

But for Twitter's IPO plan, he won't look too ugly.

What should be kept low-key must be handled in a low-key manner, and the pie that should be divided must be divided. Even if [Dale Capital] is the largest shareholder, the equity must be dispersed by then to avoid attracting too much attention.

The acquisition has come to an end, but discussions on Series B financing will continue.

However, Twitter was able to successfully acquire Zynga as expected, which finally made the biggest stone hanging in Ma Liang's heart finally fall to the ground.

From the moment of angel round investment, he has been planning for today's acquisition.

Twitter’s so-called life-changing plan is now almost 99% complete. As long as Zynga is included in its fold, Twitter will be invincible.

After all, the combination of social networking and games has been fully verified in Goose Factory in the previous life, and no one will question this.

Especially Zynga card and board games, this is the basic set.

In the previous life, Goose Factory laid the foundation through board and card games and gradually developed into the largest game company in the universe.

Although making games may not sound that high-end, this path can bring a steady stream of cash flow to Twitter, and it is still an exaggeration on the scale of tens of billions of dollars.

As long as it relies on this amazing revenue, Twitter will have the strength to invest in various fields in the future.

As for what to do with technology, that depends on fate.

Even for Facebook, one of the so-called five technology giants in its previous life, its pursuit of technology was like a joke in the end.

After the advertising revenue of its social products dropped sharply, its market value plummeted.

Even though Xiao Zha made a lot of efforts later, and even did not hesitate to hype the concept of the metaverse, he still could not reverse the decline.

It can be seen that clicking on the technology tree is not something that can be done just by thinking about it.

Looking back at Goose Factory in its previous life, because its gaming revenue has become stronger and stronger, it invests heavily in the Internet and gaming fields every year, and the boundaries of its business empire are also widening year by year.

Not only has its own business flourished, but it has also controlled half of China's Internet industry. This is the benefit of having sufficient cash flow.

I get a lot of cash every year, and I am so arrogant that I don't need it.

At that level, there is so much money in your pocket that you can't spend it all, so why do you need to raise money by hyping up vain concepts?

So from the very beginning, Ma Liang’s life-changing plan for Twitter was to combine social networking with gaming, and he had to establish his footing first.

When the revenue from social networking and games makes Twitter achieve the status of a giant, it will not be too late to slowly build up the technology tree in the future.

In order to achieve this goal, Ma Liang did not hesitate to shady the Big Four of Twitter behind his back.

When Twitter becomes the king in the future, I believe Jack Dorsey and others will understand his painstaking efforts.

Besides, what if you don’t understand it. Judging from the prospects of Twitter in the future, if it is their turn to bet, one by one might have cashed out and left the market.

The four giants of Twitter in the previous life all left the company one after another.

Although they returned later, it still did not change the fact that these guys were not up to par. It can only be said that once most people achieve financial freedom, their thoughts are no longer on the company's business.

The four giants of Twitter must bear the main responsibility for destroying Twitter's good card.

So when Twitter develops and grows, it is still unclear whether these four guys can continue to manage the company's business. You must know that Ma Liang will definitely have the strength by then. After all, through the subsequent step-by-step stock exchange and merger and acquisition operations, he will definitely become the largest shareholder of Twitter.

Anyone who wants to be a CEO needs his nod.

While Ma Liang was pondering these things, the board of directors had already started working on the next topic, Twitter's Series B financing.

"Marlon, the acquisition has been finalized. What are the rules for the next financing?"

The person asking the question was Gene Sabet, a partner at Spark Capital, who couldn’t wait to continue to invest in this round.

Only then did Ma Liang come to his senses and agreed calmly: "We might as well change Twitter's funding round this time and not set a capital limit.

The financing window period is tentatively set at 6 months, and the process is divided into four phases.

The financing raised by Apple and Google counts as the first phase, and the valuation reported to them is US$100 billion.

Google will invest US$5000 million, as will Apple, and Steve Jobs will personally invest US$1.66 million in shares, for which Twitter will need to pay % of the shares.

The first phase of financing is expected to be completed before the end of the month.

As for the second phase of financing, the acquisition of Zynga will be included, and the valuation will also be set at US$150 billion. This round of financing will raise a total of US$3.5 million.

If shareholders who participated in the previous round of investment still want to invest in this round, they can do so in this round.

What I need to explain in advance is that among the second phase of financing, US$100 million needs to be allocated to shareholders of the five major leagues and the four major record companies.

If you want to follow the investment, the amount is only 2.5 million US dollars.

Therefore, we must give priority to our own people first, and then it is the turn of external investment institutions to participate.

The second phase of the financing plan must be completed before the end of next month.

Only then will the third phase of financing be opened to the public. The valuation is tentatively set at US$200 billion and may be adjusted at any time.

As for the fourth round of financing, let’s wait until after Christmas.

According to my expectations, Twitter's valuation will have to reach over US$500 billion by then, and it will be the last round of financing before going public.

As for whether the goal can be achieved, we will wait and see. "

Ma Liang unhurriedly explained the Series B financing plan, which he and Jennifer had determined after careful discussion.

This plan can be described as a comprehensive plan, which not only takes into account Twitter's incredible growth, but also takes into account the interests of old shareholders. No one can find fault with it.

Since he himself has taken advantage through stock exchange and mergers and acquisitions, he must let other old shareholders buy it at the same valuation price.

This is fair, and the investment tycoons here naturally have nothing to say.

As for the third and fourth phases of financing, the operations will still be postponed as Ma Liang wishes.

Anyway, with the first phase of funds from Google, Apple and Qiao Bangzhu, it is enough for Twitter to spend a while.

Coupled with the participation of existing old shareholders in the second phase, a total of US$6 million will be raised for Twitter.

It can be said that Twitter’s Series B financing has just passed half, and the total financing amount has already exceeded Facebook’s Series C financing. I don’t know if Zuckerberg will be angry to death when he finds out.

This is the benefit of playing a game, and it also benefits from the smooth implementation of the fate-changing plan.

Otherwise, Twitter's goal of this round of financing will not be so easy to achieve, and it may die halfway like in its previous life.

As a result, Ma Liang's financing plan was revealed, and everyone present was once again confused.

A big deal, still a big deal...

Can the Capital Bureau still play like this?

Young people today are so fierce!

The capital tycoons present here all had the illusion that they were already old?

Everyone was impressed by Ma Liang's operation, and a feeling of "looking up to the mountains" arose spontaneously in their hearts.

No one stood up to object at this moment, and there was even a feeling of being taken away.

Some big guys even secretly had the idea to investigate other projects that [Dale Capital] had invested in in the past.

If every project could be as easy as Twitter, then this venture capital game would be too easy.
-

PS: The next chapter will be a little late, sorry, sorry, I will update more tonight.

(End of this chapter)