Wall Street Legend

   Chapter 160 $62 million (33)

   It wasn't until Facebook had a certain user base that Ye Dongqing came up with the idea of ​​contacting those celebrities, politicians, singers, models, etc., and asking them to register and authenticate users for free.

   This is a win-win situation. They can get more attention, skip the media and directly interact with many people, and Facebook can use their star effect to attract more new users and keep them.

It’s a good idea, isn’t it? Currently, a team has been formed to be responsible for this, and they have contacted more than a dozen large brokerage companies. The first batch of red-named users are appearing one after another. They are somewhat different from ordinary accounts. From Ye Dongqing’s point of view, Young people will like this, it's like moving real social gossip into the digital network.

This is the benefit of rebirth, let him know what he wants to do from the very beginning, and understand which direction to develop in his best interest. At present, making money is only second, and he is still in the initial stage of attracting new users, let alone Eurasia. Even if the North American continent has not yet fully expanded, it is still too early to relax our vigilance.

According to the information Ye Dongqing has, there are already many large companies eyeing the new social model of Facebook. For example, a founder of Google, such as OICQ, a subsidiary of America Online, has followed suit and developed a large number of companies, mainly Gathering in the Silicon Valley area, you must first seize the vast majority of the market.

In his eyes, the market here refers to a population of nearly two to three billion people in dozens of countries. The reason why Ye Dongqing thought of Google early on was also because he hoped to use this platform to achieve a certain level of bundled sales in the future. After having experience in Microsoft's anti-monopoly, I believe that finding a way to avoid monopoly charges, such as developing a software sales platform, puts its own products in the forefront.

   Right now, he is just busy accumulating capital, which belongs to the initial stage of small business. The era that really belongs to him will not be realized until the future. When he has ambition and ability, it depends on his luck.

Not surprisingly, after Richard Rockefeller proposed the idea of ​​financing, Ye Dongqing also declined on the grounds that he had no financing plan for the time being. The two had just met for a short time, and there were not many topics to talk about. After talking for a while, they left each other on the phone The numbers go away...

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  Give a quotation of 60 million US dollars, and then there is no news from Mike Howell's real estate agent again. He can't make the decision, only the seller can make the decision.

Six days had passed when Ye Dongqing received his call again. During these six days, he went to Silicon Valley and was busy with the placement of the new company. In fact, there was not much work for him to deal with, mainly in front of the new employees. It looks familiar, and the employees in New York will soon move to the new headquarters to work. The Santa Clara area has developed well in recent years, and many apartments are vacant, so there is no need to worry about nowhere to live.

In order to avoid impulsive consumption, Ye Dongqing landed on the small island in the Long Island area again, and decided to buy it after the visit. She purchased it in the name of Danshui Investment Group, and handed over the specific matters to a lawyer for help. Most of the formalities were processed in just one day, the total price was 62 million US dollars, the seller bears all taxes and fees, the total down payment is 12 million US dollars, and the rest is paid in three years.

  It is difficult to make money, but it is too easy to spend money. Just like this, he easily bought a small island with a total area of ​​over forty-eight acres. It is about an hour's drive from Manhattan. Ye Dongqing feels that it seems necessary to check the prices of helicopters or speedboats in the near future.

Freshwater Investment Group’s performance did not fluctuate much, while Facebook’s valuation rose again and again, mainly because new users continued to join in, breaking through 20 million registrations at an almost terrifying speed. Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, who is a bit off-putting, just made an offer of 100 million US dollars, just to occupy 25% of the shares. Combined with the Skype call program that has not yet entered the market and is being optimized, the famous The rich man in Japan has already guessed what Ye Dongqing wants to do, and he is quite optimistic about it.

The user growth rate is too fast, which directly leads to the continuous upgrading of the plan to recruit new employees, from 300 to 800, otherwise it will be difficult to keep busy, because in addition to Facebook, Skype is short of manpower, and his video sharing platform The new idea is also short of people. I thought it would be enough to rent two floors of office buildings, but now I have rented two more floors to prevent the embarrassing situation of being separated by other companies due to insufficient space in the future.

Facebook is so popular recently, it is worth Ye Dongqing's high price to raise a group of people. It is only April. Some media even assert that it will be the most successful Internet company in 2003. After sweeping a bunch of colleges and universities, many people in their twenties and thirty Adults over 100 years old are also trying to use it, and the Japanese version, Spanish version, French version, etc. will be put on the market soon. As for the specific optimization for different regions, it will take a while before we can find time to start.

To be honest, even Ye Dongqing himself did not think that he would succeed so quickly. There is no competitive product of the same type on the market. It has only been more than five months since it went online before Christmas last year. He thinks Even if an offer of one billion dollars is made, there are still people who dare to take money to gamble.

Take a look at Google. In 1999, its founders tried to sell Google for $750,000. Now that Google is not listed, its valuation has reached nearly 10 billion U.S. dollars. Last year when Ye Dongqing first paid attention to it, the valuation was only Around five billion dollars.

This shows that investors have not really lost confidence in the Internet industry, but just no longer believe in lies, and know how to distinguish which companies are high-quality companies worth investing in. Judging from Facebook's current performance, it has recently won nearly 3,000 The advertising promotion contract of 10,000 US dollars seems to be in line with their appetite.

It is impossible to sell. Last year, Google founder Larry Page said that he would not sell below US$5 billion. Ye Dongqing has a better vision. He does not intend to accept financing for less than US$10 billion unless there is a need for financing. For example, the funding chain is about to break, and combined with the enthusiasm of potential advertisers, it is estimated that there is no need for financing. All in all, this trip to Silicon Valley made him feel much better.

  At this moment, Ye Dongqing took several employees of a famous architectural design firm to visit around the island.

The apron and pier need to be refurbished, and the main building where the Morgan family lived also needs to be refurbished. In fact, it’s okay to live here, but he doesn’t want to make do with this kind of thing. He has spent more than 60 million US dollars. What’s missing? Renovation money.

  …

  (end of this chapter)