Talking about Alibaba’s private enterprise attributes: an internationalization paradox

Regarding Alibaba's corporate attributes. A few days ago, I wrote an article about Alibaba's IPO, which attracted a lot of attention. In it, I defined Alibaba as a "private enterprise", which caused controversy.

I am not just saying this casually, but I have my own independent thoughts.

Let me write a little more to explain.

1. If the domestic capital and industry had a more mature understanding of the Internet, Jack Ma would not have gone to the United States to borrow money, but failed, and then went to Hong Kong. Earlier, he might not have had any relationship with SoftBank.

2. The relationship with Yahoo caused controversy and conflicts in the later period. Many people's comments were just hindsight. At that time, Alibaba was facing rapid expansion, especially the rise of Taobao, and the expansion of consumer demand. Second, Yahoo was indeed operating poorly. During that period, the media was full of comments about multinational companies not adapting to the local environment. There is room for complementary cooperation between the two sides in China. At that time, Yahoo was still in its heyday. In the future, no one could predict the changes in the past few years. The conflict was related to Yahoo's position in the industry and its demand for Alibaba's tooling.

3. I define Alibaba as a private enterprise, not because of its major and second largest shareholders, but because of its birth process, actual control and management rights. It is in China, in the hands of these partners.

There is indeed a contradiction in the equity of SoftBank and Yahoo under the VIE structure. Alibaba's actual assets and operations are basically in mainland China, and the local control cannot be covered by the concept of shareholders.

Overseas investors questioned this a few days ago, which actually reflects the two perspectives of China and the U.S. This contradiction itself shows that it is meaningless to look at the attributes of a company based solely on equity and terminology.

4. The equity of many industry giants is dispersed, including Intel, IBM, HP, etc. The equity of TSMC, a powerful company in Taiwan, is also dispersed. A few years ago, its major shareholder was Philips.

5. If we only look at the distribution of equity without considering actual control, the equity of most listed companies is held by the public.

6. From the perspective of corporate governance, under the VIE structure, the equity structure is only a formal form of ownership. Only by combining the actual ownership of assets, and the ownership of control and management and operation rights, can we truly discuss this topic.

7. The controversy between Hong Kong and American investors caused by Alibaba's partnership system precisely illustrates Alibaba's corporate attributes. It does have contradictions, but it was born and raised in the mainland, and its affiliation is not controversial.

8. Regarding the controversy surrounding Alibaba’s corporate attributes, in the context of globalization, narrow nationalist sentiments are meaningless and extremely harmful.

9. In my eyes, Alibaba is such a company: it integrates Japanese and American capital, American technology, and the huge Chinese market elements to form the world's largest Internet ecosystem. It is a private enterprise.

10. The scope of private enterprises should be expanded to a global perspective. Of course, this does not mean that they should become ubiquitous or empty. In addition to actual control, we should also look at the market elements they rely on, the groups they truly serve, and the ecological system that benefits the most.

The benefits that Alibaba has brought to China, the construction of its entire ecosystem, its promotion of innovation in traditional industries, its driving force for the globalization of China's Internet industry, and its huge brand influence are by no means comparable to the equity returns that Softbank and Yahoo have obtained from Alibaba. It is immeasurable.

11. Finally, I would like to say that the controversy surrounding Alibaba’s attributes not only proves that in the era of globalization, we are intertwined and it is difficult to separate and define us by past corporate attributes, but it also shows that Alibaba’s growth, like China’s rise, is multifaceted and complex. Moreover, it has developed from a low level and has gone through a process of imitation, replication, following, catching up, and partial transcendence, with complex nationalist sentiments.

When Alibaba grew from a seedling to a big tree and gradually integrated into the global ecosystem, and when China went from a period of humiliation and trauma to a weak and powerful country, becoming the world's second largest economy and building a huge value chain, they all encountered countless controversies and doubts. For Alibaba, the nature of a private enterprise is the focus; for China, the controversy over the state system is even more so.

This kind of contradictory thinking exists not only in China and Alibaba, but even in the United States, a so-called open and developed country, often brings up similar topics.

This at least shows that globalization is not just about one person, one global enterprise, or one awesome country. It really involves all people, enterprises, and countries around the world. The concepts of internationalized enterprises and countries are full of contradictory interactions, and the form of supranational enterprises has become a landscape. The more disputes there are, the faster the world flows and the faster the market resources flow. If this kind of power with national will can be constrained in a reasonable competitive market, it will play a role in world stability and harmony.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.