Top of the big era

PayPal’s first board meeting has attracted attention from all parties.

Especially the media from all sides.

As the economy recovers, U.S. stocks are also rising at a high profile. Many financial media and industry experts have even given predictions that this year's Nasdaq may reach a new high!

However, under such a general trend, there are no good IPO projects in the United States.

They are usually small and medium-sized companies with a market value of several billion dollars.

What is most anticipated by Wall Street is the Chinese concept stocks listed in the United States. For example, the most watched IPO case this year is of course the IPO of Ziweixing on Nasdaq.

Other than that, it's PayPal.

This case is not small. Based on the current issuance price in the prospectus, the market value can exceed US$30 billion, and the financing scale exceeds US$4.5 billion.

So this new board of directors has attracted much attention.

If Zhou Buqi successfully becomes the chairman of PayPal as previously rumored, it will undoubtedly be huge good news for the capital market.

Also paying attention is Zuckerberg.

Unlike those media reporters who can only wait outside the PayPal building, he can get inside information.

Confidentiality in the Internet industry is extremely poor.

Kapinski hurried over and entered his office, with a bit of excitement on his face, "There is a situation! There is a situation!"

Zuckerberg quickly put down the document he was working on, looked up and asked, "What's wrong?"

Kapinski said: "We seem to have succeeded!"

They don't care about the success of PayPal's board of directors, they care about David Marcus. If the new board of directors captivated Marcus with a clear idea and attractive strategic goals, his plan to leave PayPal and join Facebook would be ruined.

Kapinski's face was a little rosy and he loudly said: "Their board of directors did not invite Marcus!"

"real?"

Zuckerberg stood up suddenly.

Kapinski said: "It's true, he didn't go to the board of directors. He didn't attend such an important meeting. There's only one reason. He was convinced by us. He may have submitted his resignation to the new board of directors. Report."

It is not surprising that there is such a misjudgment.

This is normal thinking.

Who would have thought that when PayPal was about to go public, Zhou Buqi would go crazy and want to change the CEO? Marcus was moved by the touching, sincere and long email sent by Zuckerberg this morning, and the only possibility was to leave voluntarily.

Zuckerberg still couldn't believe it, "Is it true? The news is reliable?"

Kapinski smiled and said: "It's very reliable. A product manager from PayPal is married to one of our accountants. I have seen it with my own eyes. People inside PayPal are panicking now. They all feel that something big has happened to the company and the CEO may need to be replaced. ”

"good!"

Zuckerberg made a fist and slammed it on his desk.

Kapinski said excitedly: "To be honest, I didn't expect that things would go so smoothly, nor did I expect that Marcus really had such great ambitions. He would rather not serve as the CEO of a listed company than to join." Our team comes to build dreams.”

Zuckerberg said with a smile: "Zhou Buqi's personal charm is still not very good."

Kapinski analyzed it very rationally: "I heard that he wanted to have a say in PayPal, and he also attracted Carl Icahn... I think this is also a factor that makes Marcus disappointed with the new board of directors. It just so happens that this We gave him a good project that was both challenging and aspirational.”

Zuckerberg nodded, "Facebook is a great company, not comparable to PayPal."

PayPal's market value is about $30 billion, and Facebook's market value is more than $130 billion. Being the CEO of PayPal is not necessarily any more glorious than being the senior vice president of Facebook.

Kapinski suggested: "How about you give him a call? Just to confirm?"

…

Zhou Buqi called a halt in time, ending this first board meeting.

Overall, the meeting was quite successful.

The candidate for chairman was determined, and Bill Gates was also introduced as an independent director.

Then, they dispersed.

Zhou Buqi, Boss Ma, Thompson and Jason Kilar took two separate cars and drove towards the headquarters park of Ziweixing International.

Not far away.

All within one city.

It only takes 15 minutes to drive.

This was Zhou Buqi's first time experiencing this kind of American-style voting system on the board of directors. He had no experience, so he was really put in a difficult position. It’s really hard to rely on the status of a chairman alone!

Fortunately, because of his status, everyone respected him and accepted his proposal to suspend the board of directors.

If it hadn't been stopped and the process had continued, it would have really come to the voting stage...

That would be really embarrassing.

Moreover, once a vote is taken, a board resolution will be formed, which will not be easy to change in a short period of time.

Now, Zhou Buqi is only suffering a setback, and has not actually made a formal decision. This gives him time and a chance to get his situation back.

Boss Ma shared a black Lincoln car with him. In the car, he smiled and said, "I was really afraid that you would slam the table and threaten the board of directors."

Zhou Buqi hummed: "Don't forget, they asked me to be the chairman. If I threaten to quit or withdraw, I don't believe they will not accept my plan."

"Listed companies in the United States all have independent directors. I want you to be the chairman, not to give you much power, but to be a mascot and give the capital market confidence to increase the stock price."

Boss Ma would not save face for him and told the truth bluntly.

"If you invite Bill Gates over, wouldn't it be a mascot?" Zhou Buqi curled his lips, "Who dares to offend Bill Gates?"

Boss Ma laughed and said: "Who said your threat won't work? If you act like a fool, it will definitely work. I think Bill Gates will give you a face and agree to change the CEO. But, are you sorry? "

Zhou Buqi sighed, "Honor, aura, wealth, status, fame, prestige...these are all shackles."

Those who are barefoot are not afraid of wearing shoes.

When a person has nothing, it is easy for him to be brave and radical. But once everything is there, many things cannot be let go.

Same goes for companies.

Small companies have strong innovation capabilities because they are willing to take risks; large companies have to worry about all aspects and weigh more, so they will inevitably be constrained.

The same goes for countries.

The poorer the poorer they are, the more they dare to fight against the United States without any scruples, as if they dominate the truth of the universe; once they live a prosperous life and have money, they must behave themselves, work hard to maintain good relations with all forces, and do good things. A good balance of competition and cooperation.

If Zhou Buqi had used some radical methods to threaten them in the board meeting just now...even if he achieved his goal, it would do more harm than good.

If word spreads, Boss Zhou's reputation will be ruined, and he will be labeled as an unscrupulous person, just like Carl Icahn.

Boss Ma said: "I have read the financial documents, and the most difficult thing now is the severance compensation. In order to prepare for this IPO, PayPal has reduced expenses on many projects this year and turned a profit. In the first quarter, it made a profit of US$24 million. ; Now in the second quarter, profits are estimated to exceed $30 million. This is the biggest obstacle to firing Marcus."

This is not unusual.

In the past few years, PayPal's performance has been unstable, mainly due to related transactions of its parent company eBay. Now it's going to be split and listed, and there are no related transactions... So how is the performance?

The financial reports for the two quarters before listing will become an important reference for many capital institutions.

We are making money and growing significantly month-on-month.

The stock will become more attractive.

The stock price can be higher.

However, if David Marcus is fired at this time, a one-time compensation of more than 40 million US dollars will be required, and then there will be no hope of making money in the second quarter.

The entire financial plan surrounding PayPal's listing was disrupted. Even the investment banks that were the underwriters of the IPO will take issue with this and require PayPal to significantly reduce the issuance price.

A series of bad chain reactions will occur.

Zhou Buqi said: "This is the disadvantage of capital society, everything is about money."

Boss Ma said with a smile: "If you don't look at money, what should you look at? The greatest responsibility of directors is to protect the interests of shareholders and create the greatest wealth for shareholders."

Zhou Buqi said calmly: "40 million US dollars is nothing..."

Boss Ma said angrily: "What are you doing? You still want to pay for it out of your own pocket? It's a taboo not to distinguish between public and private matters."

"What can you do?"

"Don't you have several companies in the United States? Change the mode of operation."

"Um?"

Zhou Buqi raised his eyebrows.

Boss Ma said: "Poach him away! If PayPal doesn't fire him, he was poached by another company. Doesn't PayPal have to pay compensation?"

"I'll go!" Zhou Buqi couldn't laugh or cry, "Old Ma, what's your bad idea? Let my company poach PayPal's CEO? Is this what I, the chairman of PayPal, do? If word gets out, do you still want my face? Isn’t this an asset transfer? Will I be sued?”

Boss Ma said: "Didn't you say that your ex-wife wants to start a cross-border e-commerce company? Let her dig it. An independent third-party company will do."

Zhou Buqi stopped talking.

The price is quite high.

Shi Jinglin is just starting a business project. She wants to poach David Marcus. How much will it cost? You must give him at least 30% of the shares.

The compensation for this kind of poaching may be tens of millions of dollars.

But even so, Marcus may not be willing.

After a while, I went back to the company and asked Thompson what he thought. He was the former CEO of PayPal. Maybe he could convince the CFO Patrick.

If you are convinced, you might be able to come up with another financial plan.

If you are not convinced...

Then you're welcome!

Find an opportunity to pack up Pierre, Marcus, and Patrick and take them away!