Now that Anjing Online Supermarket was open to brand merchants, it posed a significant threat to Taobao.

It was one thing to simply invest and set up an online supermarket, but Yi Anguo also invested in founding Hua Xing Technology Company, which produced the Hua Xing smartphone. Upon its release, it became a hot seller and was in short supply. It was also a high-end phone, with each unit selling for 3,999 yuan.

Not only that, but he had also invested in Penguin Company, Strong East Company, Vancl, and the No. 1 Online Supermarket.

The companies Yi Anguo invested in weren't just competitors to Taobao; they also competed with his own Anjing Online Supermarket.

Moreover, Penguin Company had handed its e-commerce business over to Anjing Online Supermarket, opening up all its traffic portals to them.

If one could say that Anjing Online Supermarket and Taobao Company were in fair competition before, that was no longer the case. After integrating Penguin Company's e-commerce sector and gaining its traffic portals, it could no longer be called a fair fight—Anjing Online Supermarket was practically cheating.

In every city where Anjing Online Supermarket had launched, Taobao's performance took a big hit.

Furthermore, after Anjing Online Supermarket integrated Penguin Company's e-commerce division and began accepting brand merchants, even the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth-tier cities where it had not yet launched started to feel a major impact.

This was because as soon as brand merchants joined Anjing Online Supermarket, they also began offering free shipping. This service had originally been one of Taobao's key advantages, but now, that advantage had all but vanished.

Anjing Online Supermarket's logistics division had now been spun off to operate independently. After the separation, the development speed of Anjing Logistics became even faster.

The services of Anjing Logistics didn't just cater to cities where Anjing Online Supermarket operated; they had also expanded into cities where the supermarket had not yet launched.

Additionally, Anjing Logistics expanded its scope of operations. It was no longer limited to serving just Anjing Online Supermarket; it now also served other e-commerce platforms and had begun accepting courier business from individuals, companies, and factories.

Now, Yi Anguo had spent a staggering sixty billion US Dollars to acquire a forty percent stake in Taobao Company. He also proactively told Jack Ma that he would not participate in Taobao's management, encouraging him to lead the company well and not let his sixty-billion-dollar investment go down the drain.

Jack Ma was a bit puzzled by Yi Anguo's move. What on earth does he mean by this? Does he really hope that Taobao will grow stronger in the future and defeat his own Anjing Online Supermarket?

However, Yi Anguo's proactive assurance that he wouldn't interfere with Taobao's management was somewhat comforting to Jack Ma.

But Jack Ma felt this wasn't secure enough, so he replied to Yi Anguo, "Since you don't want to meddle in Taobao's internal management, why don't we sign an agreement? You can delegate the voting rights for the shares you've acquired to me."

"Entrusting them to you isn't out of the question," Yi Anguo said, "but there's one condition: you cannot harm my interests or pull any tricks behind my back. If I discover you've done anything detrimental to my interests, I reserve the right to reclaim my voting rights at any time."

After all, Jack Ma was a very calculating man; Yi Anguo had to be on his guard. If Jack Ma were to hollow out Taobao and set up another company, wouldn't he suffer a tremendous loss?

"Mr. Yi, you're a shareholder in the company, and so am I. Harming your interests would be the same as harming my own, wouldn't it?" Jack Ma said with a smile.

"As long as you manage the company well and don't harm my interests, I won't exercise my voting rights," Yi Anguo stated. "Lead Taobao just as you have in the past. The only difference is that Yahoo used to hold forty percent of Taobao's shares, and now Hualong Investment Company holds that stake.

"If you still feel that's not secure enough, I can do as Yahoo did and transfer five percent of the voting rights for you to exercise."

Jack Ma's main worry had been losing control over Taobao. Now that Yi Anguo was willing to proactively transfer five percent of the voting rights to him, he felt much more at ease.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.