While executives at AliBaba are said to assume Microsoft will complete its $44.6 billion or higher bid, the company is concerned that its senior staff may lose control if Microsoft is successful. Chinese rules and social customs may also come into play as foreign companies are often discouraged from obtaining commanding positions in native firms, which could happen if Microsoft chose to replace AliBaba's executives with their own.

Publicly, Yahoo has rejected Microsoft's bid with the argument that it undervalued the search engine developer, though it did not mention whether the Microsoft offer would significantly reorganize Yahoo itself or related firms like AliBaba.