Hong Kong's new giants

Chapter 604 [Refused to be acquired]

Early December.

Lin Zuhui received the visiting Bill Gates at the ICQ US headquarters.

It turns out that after Microsoft acquired the hotmail free game last year, it was found that ICQ also added the "free mailbox" function; and with the addition of free mailboxes, ICQ's user growth rate increased exponentially, and now it has become the choice of 1000 million users.

An Internet company that has grown so fast, Microsoft plans to acquire it if it is not tempted.

In the conference room, Lin Zuhui looked at Bill Gates, but he had already denied the possibility of the acquisition in his heart. It wasn't that he and Bill Gates had any hatred, on the contrary, they were familiar with each other; Investment on the surface; Lin Zuhui also personally invested 1.5% of Microsoft's equity, which is an investment in the dark.

However, ICQ is obviously not yet the time to be acquired. Lin Zuhui also has some ambitions. He wants to replicate the success of QQ in his previous life and make ICQ a global social software.

"Mr. Lin, when I came to Hong Kong in 1995, you said that you wanted to develop a 'cyberport' in Hong Kong. To be honest, I was a little skeptical; but now that you have made achievements in the Internet, I think Hong Kong has great potential for development." Bill Gates said with a smile.

In fact, there is another layer of meaning in his words, I stood up for you back then, now you should repay the favor!
How shrewd Lin Zuhui is, he didn’t move what Bill Gates meant. What he said was correct. Lin Zuhui wanted to engage in high-tech, and the public opinion in Xiangjiang was really bad. Taking advantage of Bill Gates’ coming to Xiangjiang, he borrowed a wave of popularity .

But, for such a small matter, you actually took it out as a favor, my meal was for nothing!
Lin Zuhui said with a smile: "The United States is the paradise and the best soil for the Internet. Although ICQ originated in Xiangjiang, it is colleagues and customers in the United States who have carried it forward!"

Bill Gates immediately said: "Since this is the case, Mr. Lin is also an Internet investor. How about selling ICQ to Microsoft?"

Lin Zuhui said calmly, "How much do you plan to value?"

Bill Gates was very happy immediately, and he couldn't wait to say: "6 million US dollars in cash, or Microsoft shares of the same value; I believe that Lin Zuhui knows the prospects of our Microsoft, after all, you have investment!"

Lin Zuhui said with a smile: "Thank you for letting me know the value of ICQ, but I don't plan to sell it yet because it has just started sailing. I don't know how many customers it will have in the future, and I don't know its prospects. I want to wait a few more years to see!"

Bill Gates' face darkened, and he thought about it for a long time, but this guy didn't even intend to sell it!

At this time, the overlord and monopoly of the Internet, Bill Gates showed his "true face" and said: "Mr. Lin, you must know that it is very easy for Microsoft to develop software like ICQ."

If you can't buy it, just copy it. This is how the big fish eat the small fish on the Internet, and in the end it almost becomes a few oligarchs.

Lin Zuhui said calmly: "ICQ is not Netscape. In five years, you will come to discuss acquisition with me at dozens of times the price!"

Bill Gates looked embarrassed, because Netscape is also a company invested by Lin Zuhui, so the two parties actually have a 'feud'!

"I hope ICQ will have such a day, Mr. Lin, but let me tell you clearly, we will do instant messaging."

"Welcome, with competition, the products will be better and better!"

The words of the two big bosses made the subordinates of both sides clearly feel that Lin Zuhui's performance was calm and graceful, while Bill Gates' aggressive performance was just relying on Microsoft's monopoly position.It seems that Microsoft has already started to eat lawsuits at this time.

After Bill Gates left with people, Lin Zuhui became very interested and decided to let ICQ develop globally and add new functions.

Therefore, he first arranged for Jingwei Capital to interview an elite CEO for ICQ. The original CEO was a technical talent after all, and he was not suitable for new development.

Next, Lin Zuhui formulated new functions and improvement plans for ICQ:
For example, the previous ICQ information was stored in the client, but next ICQ information will be stored in the server. In this way, offline information can be sent, offline friends can be added, and some historical records can also be saved.

For example, adding chat rooms, group chats, and group sending functions.

In short, ICQ is upgrading step by step, and will always be ahead of competitors.

Microsoft is only relying on its strong talents, but ICQ is also rich and powerful. Backed by Wanhui Media Group, it is not short of money or talents.ICQ is an independent free software, and Microsoft just wants to learn from IE browser to bind and compete, but it will not help.

Therefore, facing the threat of Microsoft, Lin Zuhui is not afraid at all.

In the end, he still has a lot of combination punches that he hasn't done yet, such as developing ICQ games and adding entertainment functions; such as developing ICQ space, taking the lead in entering the social field;
After playing in 2002, if there is no 100 billion US dollars, he will not sell it!

If Activision Blizzard is included in the package, 200 billion US dollars will always be worth it!

Speaking of which, the companies Lin Zuhui invests in go public once a year. Netscape went public in 1995, YAHOO went public in 1996, and Amazon will go public this year.

Kingston, which he invested in, had a turnover of less than 10 million U.S. dollars that year, and it rose to [-] billion U.S. dollars in the following year, which also shocked the investment community.Of course, Kingston is still expanding, so there are almost no dividends, and the payback period may be after the millennium.

The "somewhat mistaken" investment is undoubtedly Apple. When it invested last year, the market value was still 30 billion US dollars; after the issuance of new shares, the market value was 35 billion US dollars.

Unexpectedly, in one year, Apple's market value has fallen into a dog, and now the market value is less than 30 billion.

Sure enough, two days later, Jobs asked Lin Zuhui to meet.

As soon as they met, Jobs said: "Mr. Lin, do you think Jill is qualified to be the CEO of Apple?"

The reason why he approached Lin Zuhui first was because he knew that Lin Zuhui was the first to propose to let him return to Apple and serve as CEO.

Lin Zuhui knew that supporting Jobs with a clear banner at this time would definitely gain a wave of goodwill.The only pity is that Jobs only lived until 2011.

It's not that Lin Zuhui wants to ask Jobs, but Lin Zuhui just wants to increase his influence in the United States to ensure that he can make money safely.

"Of course not, I have always supported you as CEO! But you also know that Jill is a director of Apple, so my proposal was not adopted."

Jobs was very happy at the moment, and he said: "Apple's stock price continued to fall, and the directors were also somewhat dissatisfied with Jill. Therefore, I would like to ask Mr. Lin to convene a board meeting and remove Jill. In this way, I hope that I can lead Apple to turn around The current situation is unfavorable.”

To put it bluntly, maybe Jobs became a consultant and waited for Jill to 'make a mistake'.Of course, it's not considered a mistake. It can only be said that Jill was born at the wrong time, and he has abilities, but he may just not be as powerful as Jobs.

"No problem, but can Apple's stock price go down again? Maybe the directors are more determined to replace Jill. I also bought some Apple shares before, but still not much!"

Jobs's eyes lit up, and he immediately said: "I can sell 100 million shares!"

As for stocks, after throwing them away, you can slowly absorb them back.

Lin Zuhui said with a smile: "I don't have many stocks that can be sold, only 50 shares."

Next, the two agreed on a time to sell a large number of stocks in the market together, causing Apple's stock price to plummet again.Then, challenge Jill in the boardroom.

Of course, Jobs had to convince a few more shareholders, at least 7 more, and the general situation was settled.And selling stocks is just a small auxiliary effect.

A few days later, Apple's stock price began to plummet again, with its market value falling to around $25 billion at one point.At the same time, the board meeting proposed by Lin Zuhui was also held subsequently.

In the meeting room, Lin Zuhui said directly: "Since President Jill has not improved the current situation of Apple in the past year, I suggest that another president be elected to improve the current situation of Apple."

For a moment, everyone was focused. Lin Zuhui was the major shareholder of Apple, but he had never interfered with the company's affairs. He just kept worrying about the position of president, and hoped that Jobs could take up this position.

Jill, who is also a member of the board of directors, immediately retorted: "Mr. Lin has just entered the board of directors of Apple, and he does not understand the current situation of Apple. In fact, the situation of Apple cannot be changed overnight. It takes time to change. I think I have done A lot, Apple will gradually get better!" He controlled his emotions and did not attack Lin Zuhui, after all, this Chinese has a good connection on Apple's board of directors.

Lin Zuhui immediately said: "You cut off some redundant businesses of Apple and streamlined some departments. I also agree with this. But you are like a quack doctor, and you have not cured Apple's disease. In short, you have no Find the key question!"

He is the richest man in the world with a vicious vision, so when he said it, it was very convincing, and all the directors nodded.For a while, the scene was clearly in favor of Lin Zuhui's point of view.

In fact, at this time, Jobs also convinced many directors that everyone already intends to resolve this matter today.However, being able to get more directors in is obviously beneficial to the unity of Apple.

Jill said unconvinced: "Mr. Lin seems to understand very well, or you approve of Jobs too much, so you have a deep prejudice against me!"

Lin Zuhui shook his head and said: "I have no prejudice against you, I just think about Apple! In my opinion, Apple needs a 'popular' product, not a large number of products, an excellent computer product , can make Apple recover. And this product, I believe Jobs can create it, everyone don’t forget the 80s, it was Jobs who created Apple’s great technology.”

As soon as the words fell, a director said: "Yes! It's time to re-appoint the president. Now that Apple's stock has fallen so much, we have no patience. In other words, if Apple does not change, it will go bankrupt!"

Another director said: "Yes, I choose to believe in Jobs!"

Soon, the public opinion in the conference room was one-sided, and Jill sat down in a decadent position.

Lin Zuhui also said during the period: "President Jill, thank you for everything you have done for Apple, we will take care of you according to a generous dismissal plan!"

The cost of firing a president is far greater than the cost of electing a president.For example, Jill's salary is about 200 million U.S. dollars, but to fire him, he needs to spend more than 600 million U.S. dollars.

Jill finally took the initiative to say: "Since everyone has decided, then I just need to abide by the decision of the board of directors, and now officially vote!"

13:2, the high vote passed the dismissal of Jill and appointed Jobs as the new CEO.

In fact, Jobs was only half convinced!

Jobs returned to Apple, which aroused great public opinion in the United States.

After all, Apple was once a great technology company, and it's just gone.

Today, it is IBM's world, and Apple's market share has dropped from 16% to 4%.

And Lin Zuhui is very satisfied with his role in the replacement of Apple's CEO this time, and has further consolidated his position in Apple as a major shareholder.

Of course, after helping Jobs to the top, Lin Zuhui once again kept a low profile in Apple. In the future, he may choose to let the president of Jingwei Capital Lu Bingwen attend for him in some board meetings.

For Lin Zuhui, maintaining a friendly relationship with Jobs is more meaningful than being on the board of Apple.

(End of this chapter)