Top of the big era

Silicon Valley is probably the only place that can compete with Wall Street in terms of IQ, so Wall Street’s methods can kill everyone in other fields, so you have to be careful when coming to Silicon Valley.

You might even get screwed by Silicon Valley.

For example, when Google went public, it played Wall Street to applause. Although Yahoo is in decline, it is still a real Silicon Valley technology giant.

Carl Icahn has been here for more than half a month.

The most ironic thing is that he is too embarrassed to make it public, so he can only secretly support the Yahoo management team behind the scenes to compete with Yang Zhiyuan for agency rights.

Because he was a bit miserable that time in 2008, and he almost publicly surrendered to Yang Zhiyuan.

I'm really embarrassed to go up to it this time.

However, his overall approach remained unchanged.

At this time, dismembering Yahoo is the best choice for shareholders. He has been giving advice to Yahoo's management team behind the scenes.

On this day, Zhou Buqi came to see him and talk about PayPal.

The location is in a very ordinary cafe on Sand Hill Road.

This is another different style between Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Business exchanges on Wall Street generally take place in very high-end places, and a bottle of red wine costs hundreds of dollars.

It's different here in Silicon Valley. It's just ordinary restaurants and cafes.

This has to do with the overall business environment.

There are no small people on Wall Street, or in other words, small people have no chance to rise to the top at all. They need to work their way up from the bottom.

Things are different here in Silicon Valley. Many entrepreneurs are poor and may even have to pay rent, but they are still qualified to sit down with the top investors to discuss business.

In comparison, Zhou Buqi prefers the environment here in Silicon Valley, which is more down-to-earth and less classy.

Sitting in the car, Zhou Buqi was accompanied by Ning Lu and went to the coffee shop together.

On the way, I received a call from Boss Ma.

"What's the matter?"

Zhou Buqi took the phone from Ning Lu and asked lazily.

Boss Ma said: "Do you know about Yahoo's big move?"

Zhou Buqi said angrily: "What do I know? You don't want me to participate. Why don't I stay away, so as not to cause trouble for you and affect your big plan?"

Boss Ma smiled and said: "This is best. No matter what happens, you don't get involved. Just go and raise money and prepare to take over Ali's stocks."

Zhou Buqi was a little surprised, "Huh? The agreement was settled so quickly?"

Boss Ma said: "It's still early. It's very complicated. Yang Zhiyuan may really be driven away by Yahoo this time..."

"Ah?" Zhou Buqi was stunned, "Then you still have a chance?"

Boss Ma was very relaxed and said with a smile: "It's okay. Before he leaves the Yahoo board of directors, we have arranged some things, otherwise he would not have left the Yahoo board of directors. He doesn't want to leave, and no one can do anything about him. It is estimated that both parties will have to make some compromises.”

"What compromise?"

Although Zhou Buqi did not participate, from Boss Ma's words, he could already feel some of the swords and swords in Yahoo's board of directors.

Boss Ma hesitated for a moment, "I'm going to tell you something, but don't make it public."

"good."

"Yahoo's new CEO candidate may have been confirmed."

"Really? Who?"

Zhou Buqi's energy was instantly boosted.

The proxy battle on Yahoo's board of directors is currently focused on the candidate for the new CEO. The management represented by Yang Zhiyuan has a favorite candidate, and the capital represented by Thirdpoint Hedge Fund also has a favorite candidate.

Who to choose?

From Boss Ma's tone, it seems that both parties have made a certain compromise on this candidate.

Could it be that Yang Zhiyuan asked for the hiring of a new CEO of his choice at the expense of resigning from Yahoo's board of directors and giving up all Yahoo positions?

It seems possible!

Boss Ma said: "Scott Thompson."

Zhou Buqi had never heard of this person, "What do you do?"

Boss Ma said: "He was the CEO of PayPal before."

…

Zhou Buqi walked into the coffee shop and had not yet recovered from Boss Ma's shocking news.

Somewhat dazed.

Then, I saw an old man with a white beard, standing up from a distance and waving to this side, "Zhou! Here!"

Walking over and sitting down opposite the old man with the white beard, he still felt that the drama was too deep. Fortunately, he was kind-hearted and did not want to affect Boss Ma's control of Ali for personal gain, so he accepted Boss Ma's suggestion and did not participate.

If you get involved, you might really get drowned.

The operations of various forces here are really intertwined and complicated.

The friendly-looking Carl Icahn sitting opposite seems to be the biggest operator behind the scenes. In a game of chess, both Yahoo and PayPal were included.

No wonder PayPal is doing so well now but suddenly needs to change its CEO.

Carl Icahn had a reputation for being evil, but he was well-educated. He smiled and said, "Mr. Zhou, you don't seem to be in a good state?"

Zhou Buqi quickly retracted his thoughts and looked around, "No, I just think it's a bit noisy here."

Carl Icahn looked at him meaningfully, "Why don't you find a quiet place? I thought there were no secrets in the Internet industry as it was said."

Meeting Carl Icahn is indeed taboo at this stage.

Everyone in the industry knows that this guy has bad intentions towards Yahoo and wants to dismember the Internet giant.

If Zhou Buqi met him at this time, it would easily cause misunderstandings.

Fortunately, Zhou Buqi acted more cautiously.

After coming to the United States, he has not had any contact with Yahoo. Neither Yahoo's owners nor management will have a bad impression of him. This is enough.

As for the outside world, blessings and misfortunes depend on each other.

Zhou Buqi said with a smile: "If it really causes some misunderstandings, maybe it's a good thing."

"A good thing?" Carl Icahn's eyes lit up and he was very interested. "Why is it a good thing?"

Zhou Buqi said: "I want to exchange some ideas about PayPal with you. I have said it in the email before. If we meet here, eBay may mistakenly think that we are talking about some Yahoo cases."

Carl Icahn was particularly happy.

I think this young man is very smart and good at talking.

This was actually the reason why he chose to meet at such a place, which was somewhat irresponsible for Zhou Buqi. But this kid can quickly find the logical line, his reaction is really fast, and he has a good personality.

Carl Icahn nodded, "Are you interested in PayPal? Financial investment, or strategic investment?"

Zhou Buqi said: "In the name of the company, Ziweixing International."

Carl Icahn said: "Then I want to start some cooperation with PayPal at a strategic level. I don't know the specific situation, but I trust your judgment."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "I heard that PayPal is short of money right now."

Carl Icahn said: "Indeed, fortunately, PayPal's debt rating is relatively high."

The higher the debt rating, the lower the interest rate on the loan.

In other words, PayPal can choose debt financing to raise funds, just like Ziweixing International is doing now, and has issued a total of US$6.5 billion in corporate bonds.

Zhou Buqi frowned, "However, the current financial market is relatively cautious, and it is not easy for PayPal to issue debt. It is either short-term debt, or the scale is very limited. A company as big as Ziweixing International only borrowed US$6.5 billion in debt. I can’t borrow it anymore.”

Carl Icahn said: "We have enough short-term debt, so we can get through this period first. When the capital market environment improves in a few years, financing will be easier."

Zhou Buqi said in a deep voice: "I think PayPal should not issue debt. This is not in your interest."

Carl Icahn laughed.