King of Capital

Chapter 56: Silicon Valley
Fire is the starting point of civilization, a symbol of hope, and it ignites all light and heat.

When the brown-skinned Indian Prometheus stole the fire, Xie Jingxing responded immediately and flew to Silicon Valley ahead of schedule.

"The merger news has been leaked. Call me back as soon as you get off the plane!"

Xie Jingxing stared at the phone screen in a daze after reading the brief message from Yan Wenhua.

"Sir, our plane is about to take off, please turn off your cell phone." The flight attendant politely reminded again and again.

Su He sent the stewardess away with a smile on his face, and his expression instantly turned serious: "Leaked?!"

"How would Jim Goetz react?" she thought actively about the response.

The news Yan Wenhua had sent earlier was too important. They hadn’t yet arranged a specific time to meet Jim again. She and Xie Jingxing hadn’t even bought a direct flight to San Francisco, and had booked three short-distance transfers just to get to San Francisco as quickly as possible.

Su He's mind was working rapidly: "First, we need to find out how the news was leaked, what the public opinion is, and whether it can be suppressed..."

Xie Jingxing remained silent and did not reply.

She couldn't help but knock on the armrest of the seat: "What are you thinking about?"

"Has Peng Zhijian set off yet?" Xie Jingxing came back to his senses and asked.

Su He frowned: "They will fly directly from Hong Kong Island to San Francisco tonight and arrive tomorrow morning. I just told you."

Xie Jingxing nodded slightly: "That's good."

"You can't always hold back from me and then show some personal heroism on the spot. That's too irresponsible. We are a team, do you have to communicate with me clearly?" Su He said, suppressing his anxiety.

"A butterfly flapping its wings in South America can cause a tornado in Texas, USA."

Xie Jing Xing's lips gradually curled up into a bright smile and he said softly: "I think we have set off an unknown storm."

Before the fire was transmitted across 20,000 miles to Shanghai, everything was going as planned. But now it is not the case. Koum's meeting with Larry Page was brought forward by half a year, and Tencent's showing of its fangs to WhatsApp is known to everyone.

Then his advantage of foresight was reduced to zero, everything that was happening was unknown, and the billion-dollar transaction that could be counted in the history of the domestic M&A industry truly made sense at this moment.

"I think you might feel better if you take two tranquilizers."

Su He had seen through this man's true nature. He could still look so excited even after the secret was leaked. But then he thought there was nothing he could do now. He closed his eyes to conserve his energy but he couldn't relax. He took out two melatonin tablets from his bag and took them before he fell into a deep sleep.

They arrived in the Bay Area in silence, and the two immediately called Yan Wenhua and Jim Goetz separately.

I walked out of the airport and headed for the hotel. The screen of my laptop, which was plugged into the wireless network, showed that I was in a video conference. I waited for Mr. Liu and Xiao Ma to signal that they were ready.

Xie Jingxing was the first to say: "There was news on Twitter that Tencent, Facebook, and Google were chasing WhatsApp, and the specific time for Liu, Larry Page, and Koum to meet was mentioned."

"The IP address of the first-hand information source is in South America. The popularity is spreading rapidly. It has been hovering at a low level on Twitter and is spreading rapidly in a small range of industry circles such as Facebook and LinkedIn."

Su He shook his head: "Goz refused to meet. He said that Kum is very angry now and suspects that we leaked the news. Meeting with us will cause an irreparable rift between him and Kum."

Xie Jingxing did not comment, Xiao Ma Ge and Mr. Liu did not speak, and they all fell into silent thought.

Goetz's interests are not completely consistent with Kum's. This person really has a motive to leak information. It doesn't matter to him who acquires WhatsApp, as long as they are willing to pay the most US dollars.

Secondly, Facebook also has the motive to drag Tencent and Google into self-destruction. Zuckerberg went crazy and leaked news to attack Tencent, while at the same time provoking Koum and Larry Page, who they have not met yet.

But on the other hand, they have to face a large group of big sharks that smell blood and run into the arena.

Not only would this reduce to a minimum the personal friendship advantage he had painstakingly cultivated for more than a year, it would also cause things to develop out of control. Would it be a loss or a gain?

In the original timeline, he learned about Koum's meeting with Larry Page in advance and did not try to be so clever.

In the end, there is no reason for Google to blow itself up. Larry Page hasn’t even met Koum yet!

Kick Tencent out first. It will have to face Zuckerberg who is fighting for his life, a large group of sharks and the uncontrollable Koum. It will not get any benefits and will be a losing business.

Everyone tacitly agreed not to lift the lid, and Tencent has the lowest competitiveness in the private bidding among the three parties. Facebook and Google can both step on it and put it on the table... unless the giants led by Facebook reach an agreement to kill Tencent first, and then have a fair bidding full of chivalry.

As for Zuckerberg's arrogance, Xie Jingxing really looked down on him for having such blood. Larry Page dared to do it, but Zuckerberg didn't!

"Yan Wenhua is not good at public opinion, so I have to ask you to step in. Tencent's long-term public relations company in North America will need to come in handy." Su He carefully designed a response plan.

Mr. Liu on the other end of the video nodded in approval: "I will take the earliest flight to New York tomorrow. Mr. Ma will stay at home to deal with various domestic relationships and quickly review the internal M&A team. Please ask Mr. Chen to cooperate and execute according to the plan!"

"I asked Yan Wenhua to investigate whether this incident will appear in professional and authoritative newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal tomorrow. It will take some time to get results. If it is just an Internet rumor, the influence will not be that great." Xie Jingxing emphasized. Xiao Ma Ge said, "The most important thing now is who broke the news. We have to determine who the enemy is. Whether it is Google or Facebook, their influence on public opinion is very strong."

Tencent started out as a social media company, and he has a deep understanding of the influence of Internet giants.

"First, Yan Wenhua told me that the meeting between Koum and Larry Page has been postponed. Even if it is for the purpose of appeasing Koum and not attracting other competitors, Facebook and Google will not be happy to see public opinion spread widely."

Xie Jing Xing sorted out his thoughts and said, "But now that things have come to this, they will definitely be happy to get us out first, so I think they will temporarily let public opinion spread for a day or two, without controlling or fanning the flames."

"Going back to the starting point, the most important thing is that it cannot be published in authoritative newspapers. It is limited to the spread on the Internet and cannot be confirmed. Only then can there be room for maneuver!" Su He concluded decisively.

Xie Jingxing continued, "Secondly, Goz's attitude is questionable. We cannot completely trust him. We must meet with Kum himself as soon as possible."

"Enemy, maybe the enemies are not just the ones on the surface. The one who leaked the news may be a contestant other than us!" Su He told a cold joke while counting on his fingers.

Xie Jingxing couldn't help but smile in approval: "Third, it's not just our enemies. Who wants to see Facebook die? Who doesn't want Google to live too comfortably?"

"Friend, maybe Facebook and Google are our friends. We don't need to investigate to know that it must be Microsoft that leaked the information!" Su He raised his eyebrows with shining eyes.

Xie Jingxing parked the car on the side of the road: "So we won't go to the hotel now, let's go directly to Facebook to find Zuckerberg."

Xiao Ma and Mr. Liu were silent for a long time on the other end of the video. Until he thought the video was stuck, he said, "We don't understand the situation now. We need some time to think about it."

"Hurry up." Xie Jing Xing was speechless.

Either Tencent quickly reaches an agreement with Facebook and Google, tries to control the influence of public opinion, and excludes all other competitors, and the three parties fight each other behind closed doors.

Either Facebook and Google will tacitly go with the flow and increase their firepower, allowing things to develop into a stage where no one can control it, or they will reverse the principle of equality and kill Tencent first, and then the Americans will close their doors to compete.

Either possibility must be dealt with as quickly as possible. Facebook will not give others enough time to consider. Zuckerberg must be the most anxious now. WhatsApp is to Facebook as Sina is to Tencent.

It is a sharp knife that cuts into your arteries and makes you unable to sleep or eat, but it is also a ticket to the mobile Internet era.

This is also Tencent's only chance to convince Facebook to cooperate. At least Tencent is the weakest competitor. If Tencent gets angry and reveals that it is raising prices, Microsoft is not an enemy deliberately created, but a hungry wolf that no one wants to face.

"Xiao Xie, you know the situation in Silicon Valley better than us. Call me anytime when necessary. I will be in the office tonight and my phone will be on. I will give you the result tomorrow morning!"

Xiao Ma finally made the final decision and said slowly: "We must be clear about our attitude. We have an equal relationship with other competitors. Don't feel any psychological burden."

You must not be timid at this time. If you show any sign of timidity, you will be kicked back to your country by other competitors.

After the video conference ended, Su He breathed a sigh of relief: "We have to do something. We can't wait."

"Go to WhatsApp headquarters and create an encounter with Koum." Xie Jingxing said.

Su He was secretly complaining that WhatsApp had been infiltrated by various giants like a large fishing net, and the biggest hole in it might be the only investor. It was impossible to find who leaked the information, which was something no one could have imagined.

Otherwise, they could have let the informant pass on the message and naturally encounter Qom, instead of using the most primitive squatting method, which is too blunt...

…………

The next day, early Friday morning.

The New York Post became the first traditional mainstream newspaper to publish the WhatsApp acquisition rumor, with the front-page headline: [Chinese media giant Tencent Group will join hands with Facebook and Google to bid for WhatsApp! ]

Tencent was the first to suffer due to the black ink and bold font, and North American public opinion was in an uproar.

At noon that day, a congressman tweeted a declaration that he would stand up to prevent Tencent's acquisition of WhatsApp and would never let the Silicon Valley technology giant be acquired by a Chinese company. The last time such a horrific merger occurred was in 1989.

That year, Japanese businessmen waved large checks and claimed that they would buy all of North America. At that time, the United States was in a huge economic quagmire, and even the Statue of Liberty wore a kimono!
Twenty years later, he will never allow this situation to happen again. He will always stand at the forefront of America's resistance to foreign capital and defend the country's honor!
This exaggerated argument immediately gained enthusiastic support from conservatives, and even an extremist organization launched a small-scale protest march on Facebook to the WhatsApp headquarters.

Major media outlets followed suit, inviting experts and professors with various titles to the TV studio to analyze the possible risks of Tencent's acquisition of WhatsApp from various angles, among which the phrase "national security" was mentioned frequently.

At 3 p.m. in China, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' regular press conference, reporters from Europe and the United States asked how they viewed the possible merger and acquisition between Tencent and WhatsApp.

The spokesperson said that no relevant information has been received yet.

For a time, the situation seemed to be completely out of control, Facebook and Google were ignored, and Tencent became the absolute protagonist.

The other protagonist, WhatsApp, fell into a strange silence, and everyone involved knew that the storm was coming.

　happy weekend

　　
　
(End of this chapter)