Since the launch of Alibaba's Taobao, Vivendi's CEO, Adrien, had been keeping a close eye on the e-commerce platform.
Prior to this, the French Ministry of Commerce had already spoken to him, insisting that he must ensure eBay China crushes Alibaba, which was backed by Mavi's investment.
At first, Adrien thought this would be an easy task. After all, eBay in the U.S. was worth billions of dollars, while Alibaba in China had a valuation of less than $30 million. More importantly, Alibaba had rarely turned a profit since its inception, making far less than eBay China.
However, to Adrien's complete surprise, Alibaba, which initially seemed easy to deal with, struck back fiercely by launching Taobao! And by offering free services and other unique strategies, they gradually siphoned off eBay China's customer base.
This turn of events made Adrien extremely uneasy! If things continued this way, not only would he fail to destroy Alibaba, but eBay China itself might end up being dragged down instead…
Adrien immediately contacted eBay China's CEO, John, to get an update on the situation and see if they had any countermeasures in place.
As soon as the call connected, John's somewhat panicked voice came through:
"Hello, Chairman Adrien! This is John, CEO of eBay China… Regarding Alibaba and Taobao, we are working on a strategy…"
It must be said—eBay's failure in China was largely due to its inability to adapt to the local market. If the company had been led by a Chinese executive, they might have been able to put up a real fight against Alibaba, which was backed by Mavi's investment.
Unfortunately, eBay's Western business model had no real advantage in China. They simply couldn't understand how powerful the appeal of free services was to Chinese consumers.
---
The EU had attempted to use eBay to pressure Mavi, but Mavi countered decisively with Taobao, dealing a significant blow to eBay China. In fact, things were going so badly for eBay that their team might not even be able to enjoy their upcoming New Year's celebrations.
As Taobao continued to mature, eBay's profitability in China kept shrinking. In just one month, nearly 20% of sellers and buyers had left eBay for Taobao, while another 40% had accounts on both platforms.
However, after actually using both, people found that Taobao was clearly the superior choice—it was easier to use, didn't charge transaction fees, and offered better security.
---
"Mr. Mavi, I have great news! Yesterday, Taobao's daily transaction volume surpassed 1 million RMB! We've left eBay far behind, which only managed 600,000 RMB!"
Over the phone, Ma Yun (Jack Ma) excitedly reported the update to Mavi.
Had Mavi not stepped in to support Alibaba in time, the company might have been in serious trouble due to the overwhelming gap between them and eBay.
"Well, congratulations, Mr. Ma," Mavi responded.
At that moment, he was in Russia. In just two weeks, his company's grand annual meeting would be held in the coastal city of Sochi.
Sochi, located in Russia's Krasnodar Krai near the border with Georgia and along the Black Sea, is one of the world's narrowest cities. It was also the host city for the 2014 Winter Olympics and has a Mediterranean climate, making it feel like China's Sanya.
"Oh, by the way, Mr. Ma, are you free in two weeks? I'd like to invite you to Sochi to attend the Ma V Group's annual meeting," Mavi said over the phone.
A few days earlier, he had consolidated his various companies into a multinational group. With Moscow now deep into winter, he needed a warmer place to stay.
"An annual meeting? Sure! Mr. Mavi, I'm available, and I'll definitely be there!" Jack Ma immediately agreed.
In his mind, a company's annual meeting was typically just a gathering where everyone ate, drank, received bonuses, and then worked hard again the next year to achieve better results.
However…
Mavi's annual meeting was nothing like that!
To be precise, it wasn't an ordinary corporate gathering at all!
---
Two weeks later, when Jack Ma arrived at Sochi Airport with 18 Alibaba partners, he was shocked to see Russian police and military personnel stationed all over the terminal.
At first glance, it looked like a war was about to break out…
"Mr. Ma, what's going on here? I heard that Ukraine, Russia, and the EU have been having conflicts recently. Is there some kind of danger?" one of Alibaba's partners asked nervously.
They had come to Russia excited to attend an annual meeting, but if they had walked into an international conflict instead, that would be a disaster.
"This is peacetime—what kind of war could possibly break out?" Jack Ma responded. Then he added, "Maybe some important Russian official suddenly arrived at the airport. Don't overthink it."
Just as Jack Ma finished speaking, a Russian Army officer in a major's uniform, fully armed and accompanied by soldiers, approached them. The sight of the heavily armed troops made the Alibaba executives freeze in place, too afraid to move for fear of being mistaken for a threat.
One of the partners, who could speak Russian, quickly stepped forward and explained, "Uh… we're tourists from China. We're not here to cause any trouble."
Before he could finish speaking, the serious-looking major suddenly raised his hand and saluted them!
"Are you Mr. Ma from China?" the major asked in somewhat broken English.
"Yes, and you are…?" Jack Ma was stunned. How did this Russian officer know who he was? As far as he could remember, he had never befriended a Russian Army major. Could it be…?
A thought flashed through Jack Ma's mind, and he suddenly had a realization—
Could it be that this major, along with all the Russian police and soldiers at the airport, were arranged by Mavi?!
That would be absolutely insane!
"I am Major Stepan. Mr. Mavi sent me to welcome you," the major said seriously.
As soon as he finished speaking, the 18 Alibaba partners standing beside Jack Ma were completely dumbfounded.
Their expressions were even more exaggerated than when Mavi had invested $30 million!
They were utterly shocked, their mouths hanging open so wide that an egg could fit inside.
"What?! This was all arranged by Mr. Mavi? Who… who exactly is he?" one of the partners exclaimed in disbelief.
"Holy crap… This is even crazier than the diplomatic convoy from last time! Did Mavi really pull this off?" another partner muttered, still unable to believe it.
(End of Chapter)