King of Capital

Chapter 57 Prism
“Our business has become a fishing net.”

In the early morning, in a hotel suite, Koum threw the New York Post on the table: "Take a look, what do you want to say?"

"This is a second-rate newspaper. At least the authoritative media such as The Wall Street Journal did not follow up."

Goz immediately made his position clear, saying that the current development of things was something Sequoia was happy to see, but it was not really his doing.

Koum opened his mouth with a half-smile: "The reporter from the Wall Street Journal has his phone number right outside our company, ready to rush in for an interview at any time."

"Yang, calm down. Today is Saturday. There should be no one in the company, right?"

Brian had to step up to ease the relationship, even though he, like his friend, believed that Goetz had a strong motive to leak the information.

The company has only fifty or so employees, and only a few of them have control over core information. Apart from the three of them, there are only a few technical development managers left. They are all colleagues who have been through hardships together. Out of personal feelings, he and Kum instinctively avoid internal suspicion.

There’s no point in going into this in depth, it’s too complicated, so let’s move on and talk about what to do next.

“Gotz, I really just want to have a strategic partnership with Tencent,” Koum said seriously.

Goetz shrugged and spread his hands. “Tencent’s M&A consultant called me last night to arrange a meeting. I declined. WhatsApp is yours.”

"The young boy you mentioned? I have seen him. At four o'clock this morning, at the entrance of the company, he had a clumsy encounter with me in the morning dew on his body, and told me with extraordinary confidence that he was the only person I could trust the most at the moment."

Koum paused for a few seconds and announced his final decision: "So I decided to give him the opportunity to join the acquisition bidding."

The development of the black humor story is too bizarre and tortuous, but it is true. Anyone could leak the information except Tencent. From the perspective of public opinion, it is about to be blown up!

"Bidding?" Goz grasped the point sharply.

Koum looked at his friend, and Brian cleared his throat: "He will meet with Larry Page next Monday as planned, and then Google, Tencent, and Facebook will have a three-way bidding that will not be made public to keep things simple."

"This is ridiculous. Have you ever thought about what will happen in two days over the weekend? Tencent is likely to withdraw from the bidding. They just invested in Snap, so it doesn't have to be us." Jim suppressed his boredom with the two unprofessional founders.

"That's great. We have eliminated one more option, making things much simpler."

Koum offered a final compromise: "The only thing I can do is to remain silent and not speak to reporters over the weekend."

"I have to meet with that young man," Goz said.

Koum nodded. "Whatever, Jim, you are the founder I respect the most. I will always remember the recognition you gave us at the beginning of WhatsApp's development."

"I'm very sorry Jan, I have my own position." Goz hesitated and reminded, "Pay attention to Microsoft."

Koum smiled and said, "Fuck it! It was Microsoft that leaked the information. I can be sure of that without any investigation!"

Goz was overwhelmed with emotion and didn't know what to say. He stood up and hugged Koum and Brian one by one, saying with a deep and emotional expression: "You are really not qualified founders."

…………

Afternoon, Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park.

In a conference room, Peng Zhijian frequently raised his watch to check the time: "It's useless to control public opinion. Our most important thing now is to talk to Koum, otherwise everything we do will be in vain."

"WhatsApp is also in a meeting, and Koum promised to give me a response later today." Xie Jingxing explained calmly.

Peng Zhijian raised his head and glanced at the camera in the corner of the ceiling: "By the time he finishes the meeting, the opportunity will be gone. We should deal with him before the meeting!"

Xie Jingxing didn't want to say more. Su He turned his gaze away from his phone and looked up at the man in front of him: "If you had arrived a few hours earlier, you wouldn't have to sit here waiting for Zuckerberg to start a meeting."

Peng Zhijian was choked to death and was in no mood to talk. He arrived in San Francisco this morning and passed the news to China after learning about the situation. Pony Ma made a decision to allow an attempt to negotiate with Facebook to cooperate in controlling public opinion.

As a result, he was a step too late. After more than ten hours of reaction time last night, Zuckerberg actually chartered a plane to invite a third-party consulting company team from Wall Street to a meeting. The head of business development who received them said that anything could be discussed after the meeting.

The same thing happened to Xie Jingxing and Su He. They waited outside the WhatsApp company all night and ran into Kum who was getting information from the company at around four in the morning. Both of them sneaked around and spoke briefly to the reporters who were also waiting there.

The other party said that if there was anything, they could discuss it after their internal meeting.

Once a decision is made in a meeting, it will be difficult to change it. Peng Zhijian secretly felt that this was a pathetic job.

If Tencent and WhatsApp reach a merger intention, they will be unable to avoid public relations to some extent, so he really doesn't think there is much point in seeking cooperation with Facebook. He can only say that he will do his best as a second best.

What made him depressed was that Xie Jingxing and his companions had waited all night but still failed to deal with Kum. If he were to take over, even if he couldn't handle it, at least he wouldn't be unwilling to see the project die in his hands. He was just incompetent because he was not as skilled as others.

"Hurry up. Waiting foolishly is not a solution."

Peng Zhijian suggested while suppressing his annoyance, regretting in his heart that he should have been more decisive before and should never have let Juntai get involved.

Su He ignored him and turned to look at Xie Jingxing for his opinion: "It's half past three." While they were talking, the door of the conference room was pushed open and Amin Zoffernong, head of business development at Facebook, walked in.

He said apologetically with a fake smile: "Sorry for the long wait. Unfortunately, we don't have any opportunities for cooperation at the moment."

"You guys have finished the meeting, right?" Xie Jingxing confirmed.

Aimin Zoffernong was silent for a few seconds, and then said with a strange expression: "Didn't you receive any news? I mean, the news from your country."

Xie Jingxing frowned and was about to say something, but Su He waved his phone to signal him. He gave Peng Zhijian a look, and the three of them immediately packed up and prepared to leave.

Aimin Zoffernong saw the three people off and walked all the way to the parking lot. He lowered his voice and emphasized: "I am sorry for what happened to you, but this has nothing to do with Facebook. We are also victims."

prism.

——The code name for a top-secret communications monitoring program that the U.S. intelligence agencies began implementing six years ago. The program covers the entire world and involves Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo... many Internet technology giants.

Last month, when Xie Jingxing was reborn, the Prism Project was revealed by an insider, which immediately caused an uproar among the people. Officials from various countries were cautious in their words and deeds, claiming to be victims one after another. Apart from that, they all maintained a subtle silence and did not express any opinions.

In the United States, the current president is gritting his teeth and not breaking the rules of the game, and both the Democratic and Republican parties have tacitly agreed not to investigate further. The public is allowed to make a fuss, which seems to be very loud, but in fact has no follow-up and cannot cause any waves.

But this is for officials of various countries. Specifically speaking, the weight of the WhatsApp acquisition is no less than a mountain that can crush countless people.

The "whistleblower" who has now fled to Moscow to seek asylum made another public speech half an hour ago to reveal the inside information, which was instantly linked to WhatsApp. It was also at a routine press conference held by the domestic diplomatic department half an hour ago.

Some European and American reporters asked: Is Tencent's acquisition of WhatsApp a state act? How do the relevant departments view this acquisition?

Experts from all walks of life sitting in TV studios in the United States all mentioned the topic of "national security". WhatsApp is an instant messaging product with 200 million active users. If it is acquired by Tencent, how can the privacy and national security of the people be guaranteed?

The news displayed on Su He's mobile phone screen brought low pressure to the car. Everyone had been busy formulating the merger plan two or three weeks in advance and had some contingency plans for this social event with a huge impact.

But what is happening is seriously deviating from expectations. First of all, it was exposed too early, and Tencent has not yet reached an acquisition intention with WhatsApp. Secondly, who could have thought that it would be exposed the day before, and the great whistleblower would jump out to take advantage of the popularity the next day.

In short, public opinion and bombs doubled in a short period of time, and no prior plan could withstand this.

"In any case, it is certain that it was not Facebook that exposed the merger and acquisition." Xie Jingxing broke the silence to ease the atmosphere.

Peng Zhijian's face was tense: "It sounds more like a move by the US officials to divert attention."

"It doesn't matter whether it's Microsoft or the US government. What's certain is that Facebook and Google will add fuel to the fire and kick us out first, completely muddying the waters and making it uncontrollable." Su He was thinking about how to deal with the aftermath.

Peng Zhijian blurted out without hesitation: "There are too many variables. I have to communicate with the Chinese side first. Mr. Liu must be in New York in the evening to see what the public relations team says."

"We will first try to establish communication with Koum himself."

Su He did not comment. She also had to consult Juntai's leaders. The situation had developed to the point where it was no longer a simple business event.

Xie Jingxing had no position to show any attitude towards this, so he could only wave his phone and said, "Jim called me, he wants to meet with me."

…………

Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park.

This street is home to numerous venture capital firms, including Sequoia Capital, and its importance to Silicon Valley entrepreneurs is like Wall Street's influence on international finance.

"Don Valentine joined Sequoia and founded the venture capital business. Initially, he had no money, so he went to Salomon Brothers to seek investment. He was received by a rookie who had just been in the industry for less than two years. The young rookie threw his resume aside with contempt and said: We only invest in people who graduated from Harvard Business School..."

Jim Goetz strolled along the street and told a funny story: "The first decision he made when he took over Sequoia was that Sequoia would not recruit people from Harvard Business School!"

"It sounds legendary. I would do the same if I were in your shoes."

Xie Jingxing walked side by side with him, his hands in his pockets, and commented in a relaxed manner.

Goz smiled helplessly: "I thought the focus should be on why Salomon Brothers is so arrogant."

"Because in their era, people from Harvard Business School controlled the entire venture capital industry?" Xie Jingxing cooperated and said.

Goz nodded with satisfaction: "Yes, the venture capital circle is very particular about personal connections. The same is true in this country. It is easier to get things done if everyone is friends."

"So are we friends?" Xie Jingxing asked again.

Goz stopped and said with a big smile: "Of course, we can be very good friends!"

(End of this chapter)