Reborn in Hong Kong as a Tycoon

Chapter 575 The Development and Expansion of Starlight Company (Two in One)

The day after meeting William Gates, Lin Baicheng called Bill Hawes over while going to Starlight Company.

Lin Baicheng first called Bill Hawes to the chairman's office to speak.

"Yesterday Bill Gates' father, William Gates, found me and said that Bill Gates and Paul Allen wanted to reach a settlement with me. I put forward two conditions."

"The first condition is that I want a copy of Microsoft's computer operating system technology and patents, which William Gates has already agreed to."

"My second condition is that if Bill Gates and their current company, Blue Software, I said that I want 30% of the shares, William Gates said that they can only give up 10% of the shares, and this does not satisfy me. , need you to talk to Bill Gates and the others.”

"Bill, this time you will negotiate with them instead of me. If they are willing to give up less than 20% of the shares, then forget it. I will not accept such a settlement."

"You can be tougher, and it's okay for me to not reconcile."

Lin Baicheng told Bill Harveys that he wanted to let Bill Harveys know that he was the strong party and was in a strong position in the negotiation.

Bill Harveys asked: "Chairman, do you want to contribute capital to the blue software?"

"Of course, the money that should be paid still has to be paid."

Lin Baicheng nodded. He really wanted to be a white wolf, but such a good thing is obviously impossible. There is no intention of reconciliation if such a condition is raised, and the shares that do not give a penny are likely to leave hidden dangers.

Now Blue Software is not worth much, but if Blue Software develops into a large enterprise with a market value of tens of billions of dollars in the future, then Lin Baicheng, who has reached a settlement, must hold a lot of shares, even if the shares are diluted due to financing and listing. No, how can there be 10% of the shares left.

And a 10% stake in a company with a market value of tens of billions of dollars is equivalent to billions of dollars. Such a large amount of money is enough for many people to take risks.

Bill Harveys continued to ask: "Chairman, do you have any valuation judgment on Blue Software?"

Lin Baicheng said: "Based on the normal evaluation to calculate the valuation of Blue Software, we don't need to be greedy for petty gains, but don't be taken advantage of."

Bill Harveys nodded to express his understanding: "I know the chairman, and I will arrange for professionals to evaluate Blue Software."

"I will leave this matter to you."

Lin Baicheng said and said: "By the way, I don't want to leave any hidden dangers about Microsoft's computer operating system technology and patents, so the relevant ownership rights must be done well, and don't leave any traces."

"No, chairman, don't worry, I will definitely handle things beautifully."

Bill Hawes assured aloud that if there were hidden dangers, he would be the one who would be unlucky in the end, and he would not make such a small mistake.

"Well, I don't worry about your work."

Lin Baicheng nodded in affirmation, and then changed the topic: "Is there any progress in the acquisition of communication technology and the search and excavation of talents?"

"In the United States, Bell Labs and Motorola are the two places that have conducted in-depth research on mobile phone technology. The technology of other companies is far behind. They can't even make mobile phones, let alone make mobile phones. Commercial."

"At present, the negotiation between the acquisition team and Bell Labs has not made much progress. In order to put pressure on Bell Labs, we even contacted Motorola. However, Motorola should value this industry very much. It is not interested in our contact and has no intention of selling."

Bill Hawes gave a general account of the situation, and he couldn't help but feel a little worried, wondering if Lin Baicheng would blame him for his ineffectiveness.

"In other words, there is no progress."

Lin Baicheng could not help but frown slightly when he heard this. It has been less than a month since he left the United States last time. It is normal that the acquisition negotiations with Bell Labs did not reach an agreement. There has been no progress.

For the research and development of mobile phones, Lin Baicheng still hopes to spend money to acquire existing technologies, so that his mobile phones can be put into commercial use faster.If you are willing to invest money, maybe you can make mobile phones commercially earlier than Motorola.

The first name is usually very easy to use.

"Chairman, the negotiation with Bell Labs can only be done slowly over time. Once we are in a hurry and make Bell Labs think that we have to buy its communications department, then we will have to pay too much money."

"Therefore, we can only take our time, to prevent Bell Labs from seeing the flaws, and not to give Bell Labs any hope of opening up."

Bill Harveys explained aloud, in fact, he was defending himself.

"It's not unreasonable to say that there is really no need to rush the acquisition, but talent search and recruitment can continue. Now you can pretend that we failed to negotiate with Bell Labs and start from scratch while looking for industry talents and experimenting with Bell Labs." room to negotiate."

Lin Baicheng is not going to put all his hopes on Bell Labs. If the negotiation with Bell Labs fails, he must start a mobile phone company from scratch.Although the negotiation with Bell Labs is still in progress, time cannot be wasted. If nothing is done, once the negotiation fails, all the waiting time in the middle will be wasted.

Bill Harveys responded: "Good chairman, I remember, I will pay close attention to the invitation of talents in the communication industry."

At present, it seems that the mobile phone company will only be able to operate next year. All Lin Baicheng can do is to keep an eye on the progress of the acquisition and the progress of the recruitment of talents from time to time.

For now, the mobile phone company has brought the future. Even if everything goes well, it will take at least several years for the commercial use of mobile phones. His focus should not be on this company.

After what was said, Lin Baicheng asked Bill Hawes to go out, and then asked the secretary to call Eric Davis and ask Eric Davis to come over.

"Chairman!"

"Sit, Eric!"

Lin Baicheng signaled Eric Davis to sit down across the desk.

After sitting down, Eric Davis took the initiative to say: "Chairman, it is rare for you to come here. I think it is necessary to report to you about the company's development."

"Well, I happen to want to hear that too."

Lin Baicheng nodded with a smile, he has plenty of time now.

"The number of physical stores of the company has completed all expansion plans as of last month, and has 1025 stores across the United States. Except for some areas with a moderate economy and a small population, the company's physical stores have covered all of them."

"However, for the expansion of the physical store, the company took out another $2000 million loan, and the company currently owes a total of $5000 million in loans to the bank, which needs to be paid off in the next three to five years."

"In terms of product sales in the company's physical store, Xingyue host and Rubik's Cube are the main pushes at your request. After more than a year of preparation, Rubik's Cube is getting better and better, but the price is also falling. This Christmas Festival and beyond, the single price of Rubik’s Cube will be set at US$11.9, and it is expected that the price will be lowered next year.”

"The sales of the Xingyue console can't be said to be very good, but it's not bad, but the sales of the game cassettes that come with the console are very good, bringing a lot of profits to the company."

"There are also claw machines placed in physical stores. There are a lot of children who go to play with dolls every day, and the accumulated cash flow every month is quite good. The company shares equally with Jupiter Toys on the basis of the venue and electricity costs. Income, this piece brings a lot of profits to the company.”

"Then there are toys from other companies that the company is selling. The company's channels have been fully expanded now, and its bargaining power has increased, so its profits have increased. Our management plans to wait until next year to increase the profit margin to the average of the same industry. level, we gave up a lot of profits in order to gain a foothold, but now we don’t need it anymore.”

"About the company's development plan, we think."

Eric Davis reported in detail, Lin Baicheng asked aloud from time to time, Eric Davis answered and explained one by one.

The development of Starlight Company did not exceed Lin Baicheng's expectations, and there were no surprises, but it did not disappoint Lin Baicheng either. The company's development was carried out according to the plan, and the expansion of the channel can be regarded as completed this year.

After the expansion of Starlight Company's channels, Lin Baicheng's other companies can benefit. Xingyue Electronic Game Company's console and cassette sales, and Jupiter Toys Company's toy sales can expand to the entire United States through Starlight Company's channels.

With his own sales channel, Lin Baicheng doesn't have to worry about his products being stuck by other channel vendors, and some profits don't have to be earned by the channel vendors. He earns it himself, which increases the profit of the product in disguise.

"Eric, do you think the company's channels can be deployed in other overseas countries?"

Lin Baicheng asked aloud, although he can start a company overseas, expanding in the name of an American company may save a lot of trouble.

"It is possible, but we can only expand overseas slowly. At the beginning, the number of physical stores should not be too many. In case there are no products sold, resulting in loss of physical stores, the more physical stores are opened, the company will The greater the loss."

Eric Davis paused and continued: "Also, with the company's current scale and liabilities, if you want to expand overseas in the short term, it's okay to say that the number is small. Once the scale expands, then the funds That’s the problem. The company’s current debt of 5000 million US dollars is already quite high, and if the bank continues to lend to the company, it will be difficult, not to mention, even if there is a loan, the interest rate will be relatively higher.”

"Funding is not a problem. If necessary, I will continue to inject capital into the company."

Lin Baicheng said that Starlight's investment is incomparable to that of mobile phone companies, and the investment of tens of millions of dollars can be used for a long time.

Eric Davis was not surprised by this. He knew that his boss was very rich, at least billions of dollars, so he said after hearing this: "Chairman, if the company's channels are going to expand overseas , I suggest expanding from Canada first. Canada and our country are relatively closely connected, and if we expand there, we can avoid a lot of trouble."

"Okay, next year you can build a physical store in Canada."

Lin Baicheng did not object. Canada is indeed a very suitable place for American companies to expand. Like New Century Software, it also expanded to the Canadian market at the beginning.

Eric Davis said: "At that time, I will make a plan with the management and present it to the chairman for your review."

"it is good."

Lin Baicheng was very satisfied with this, and reminded: "Before planning and expanding, remember to send someone to investigate the market first. Only when you are familiar with the market over there, can you expand better and avoid trouble."

"Chairman, don't worry about this, we will do a good job in the preliminary investigation."

Eric Davis nodded. Of course, he and the company's management would not make plans without investigation. They would not make such obvious mistakes.

"Hearing you say that, I'm relieved."

Lin Baicheng nodded, said nothing more, and let Eric Davis do the work first.

And not long after Eric Davis went out, Catherine knocked on the door and came in, saying that Haruko Mori called here and asked when Lin Baicheng would go to New York.

"Did she say something?"

Lin Baicheng asked after listening.

Catherine replied: "She said it was a matter of work, but she wanted to tell you personally."

Lin Baicheng: "Did she say anything about work? Is it urgent?"

"I asked, but Manager Maori said she would tell you in person, but she didn't say it was urgent." Catherine said.

"If you're not in a hurry, let's forget it for now."

Lin Baicheng shook his head: "As for New York, I'll go there in a few days, so you can tell her that. By the way, tell her that if it's something really important, you can call me at night."

"Yes, Chairman!"

Catherine responded.

Lin Baicheng looked at the time and spent several hours chatting with Bill Hawes and Eric Davis. Now it is almost lunch time, and he will not stay at Starlight Company for a long time, so he will go home for dinner first.

In the afternoon, Lin Baicheng still went to Xingguang Company to inspect and chat with the company's management.

In the next two days, Lin Baicheng went to work at Venus TV Company and Morning Star Films respectively.

Especially for Morning Star Films, the company's "Home Alone" will be released before Christmas.Lin Baicheng wanted to release it at the best time for Christmas, but unfortunately, Morningstar Films is not well-known, so it would be good to be able to arrange the release schedule more than a week before Christmas.

Because the release time is only about ten days away, Morning Star Films has already started promoting "Home Alone". Lin Baicheng spent a sum of money on the promotion, in order to have a good number of opening screens for the film, as well as a Good debut at the box office.

The performance of the premiere is related to the number of films scheduled for the film and the popularity of fans, as well as the box office of the film during the Christmas period, which is very important.

(End of this chapter)