Meta spent tens of billions of dollars to acquire Manus, the third largest merger in history
The essence of this matter is not complicated, but the signal is very clear.
Manus went from launching its product in March to being acquired in December, taking only 9 months.
The speed is considered extreme in AI entrepreneurship.
The founder, Xiao Hong, is from Jiangxi, with a background from Huazhong University of Science and Technology,
In the early years, he worked on WeChat public account formatting tools and corporate WeChat CRM,
He is not an "academic type," but rather a typical product maker and business runner.
The points of controversy are also very straightforward:
Manus has been criticized by many as a "shell application,"
The underlying model was not trained by themselves; it is more about application layer integration.
But the reality is harsher and more real——
In 8 months, the annualized revenue reached 125 million dollars,
Subscription-based, global users, cash flow established.
The real key decision was made in July:
Manus moved the company from China to Singapore, downsized, keeping only the core team.
This step essentially equates to clearing the way for an acquisition by a U.S. company in advance.
It is also easy to understand from Meta's perspective:
A massive amount of money was spent on infrastructure
The model exists, but lacks money-making applications
#Manus has verified revenue, a clear subscription model, and global users
Buying it is much more cost-effective than betting on another application from 0 to 1.
There is no need to mention the return on investment:
Sequoia China, Tencent, Zhen Fund, etc., have seen dozens of times returns.
The only realistic insight for the industry is this:
In the current environment, for Chinese entrepreneurs to be acquired by global giants,
"Moving the company away" is no longer just an option, but a feasible path.
It may not sound pleasant, but it is very real.
#加密市场观察