Alibaba's acquisition of Yahoo China in 2005 was one of the highest profile M&A deals in China in recent years, and Alibaba's chairman, Jack Ma, is justifiably revered as a visionary and well-respected business leader in China. So in late 2005, when Jack Ma spoke at a seminar in Beijing to talk about the Yahoo China deal, the large audience of Chinese business leaders listened with rapt attention as he berated Yahoo's financial advisers and legal counsel, accusing them of taking a simple deal and making it too complex. "You may know how to buy a company," he reportedly told Yahoo's lawyers, "but you do not know how to sell one." The Chinese audience erupted in thunderous applause.
Jack Ma is no one's fool. When he scolded Yahoo's advisers, it might well be that he did so as a calculated tactical negotiating ploy. But his comments reflect a...