Yandex & Mail.ru United Technology Company and Facebook Russia were among the first internet companies under Wang Ye's control to go public.
Of course, companies like Apple, Google, and Amazon had already gone public long ago, so they did not count. Besides, Wang Ye did not hold controlling stakes in those companies—those could only be considered strategic investments.
He planned to cash out of his Google and Amazon holdings when their stock prices were right. He had no intention of holding them long-term.
Only his Apple shares were meant to be long-term holdings. After all, Wang Ye clearly remembered that Apple's stock price would continue rising over the next decade or so, with its market value eventually peaking at three trillion US dollars!
What kind of concept was that...
When Wang Ye invested in Apple a few years ago, he had put up a total of 800 million US dollars. At five US dollars per share, he had acquired 160 million newly issued shares specifically offered by Apple.
That represented 16 percent of Apple's total shares, making him Apple's largest shareholder!
The second-largest shareholder, Vanguard, held only 100 million shares, accounting for 10 percent.
As for the other shareholders, their holdings were even smaller.
Over the past few years, Apple's iPod products had sold well around the world, while the Apple Music Store had received widespread acclaim. As a result, its stock price had continued to climb, reaching around 400 US dollars!
Compared with the price when Wang Ye first invested, it had risen roughly eightyfold, and Apple's market value had surpassed 400 billion US dollars!
That was an astonishing increase.
But Wang Ye knew this was nothing yet. Apple had a truly era-defining product set to launch next year—the iPhone!
Only then would Apple truly become a global tech