Tudou becomes Youku's wholly-owned controlling shareholder Ali Entertainment becomes an indirect shareholder

Economic Observation Network reporter Qian Yujuan went around, and Youku "returned" to the embrace of Tudou.

As the operating entity of Youku.com, Youku Information Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Youku Information Technology") underwent a change in industrial and commercial information on January 19, and the reporter checked through the corporate information inquiry platform Tianyan that Alibaba Culture and Entertainment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Alibaba Entertainment") withdrew from Youku's shareholder list, and then added a new shareholder, Shanghai Quantudou Network Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Tudou"), and 100% of the equity.

Public information shows that whether it is Tudou network or Youku information technology, its legal representative is Li Wei, and the two companies were established in 2004 and 2006 respectively.

The 100% shareholding shareholder of Tudou is Ali Entertainment, whose legal representative is also Li Wei, which was established in 2017. It is reported that Ali Entertainment's participation in Youku began on July 24, 2019, and now after the change of industrial and commercial information, Ali Entertainment will indirectly hold Youku.

The reporter also noted that not long ago, in December 2021, Ali Entertainment took over 100% of the equity of Beijing Damai Culture Communication Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Damai Network") from Youku Information Technology, becoming the wholly-owned controlling shareholder of the latter.

For the series of equity changes of its companies and the changes in related industrial and commercial information, the reporter asked Alibaba and Youku about it, but as of press time, it did not respond.

In an interview with the Economic Observer Network reporter, Chen Duan, director of the Digital Economy Research Center of the Central University of Finance and Economics, mentioned Youku and used the four words "lagging behind in development".

Looking back at Youku, founded by Gu Yongjun, in 2012, it merged with its "old rival" Tudou to form Youku Tudou Group, and two years later, Alibaba first made a strategic investment in Youku Tudou, and then in mid-October 2015, Alibaba paid $4.67 billion to acquire Youku Tudou Group and renamed it Heyi Group.

After being incorporated into the Ali ecosystem, Heyi Group quickly completed privatization, became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ali, and then became an important business in Ali's large cultural and entertainment business sector, after which Yang Weidong took over the management baton of Youku from Gu Yongjun, he was arrested in 2018 for personal bribery, and the Alibaba large cultural and entertainment business group was "in danger" by Fan Luyuan.

In addition to the problems at the management level, in the video industry, after "big waves and continuous iteration", Chen Duan believes that "Youku failed to adjust its business model and strategic layout in time, and even made the existing structure under the accumulation of advantages become an obstacle to innovation." "Nowadays, it seems that Youku's revenue has been included in Alibaba's digital media and entertainment sector, mainly affected by high-quality content and the contribution of members to drive revenue growth."

However, based on the entire video industry market, Cui Lili, a researcher at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and executive director of the E-commerce Research Institute, also pointed out the shortcomings of Youku, "At present, the output of long video content in China is affected by relevant policies, and it is more difficult to break through." ”

In response to the change in Alibaba Entertainment's direct holding to Youku's holding, Cui Lili analyzed that this reflects that "the platform has adjusted in the importance or priority of strategic investment". It should be mentioned that Tudou network in 2017 with a new brand image, positioning, transformation to do short video, although in the short video track, there is a gap from Douyin, Kuaishou, etc., but in the ecological layout of the "Ali system", it is an important chess piece that entered the short video track earlier.

"Short videos have higher potential in terms of drainage and monetization." Cui Lili predicted that from the perspective of Ali Group, more resources and energy will be put into other related fields, and she feels that Ali's optimization and integration of related businesses and resources through equity changes in the segment of culture and entertainment is aimed at focusing more on core capacity building.