Lin Zuhui received the visiting Bill Gates at the ICQ US headquarters.
It turns out that after Microsoft acquired the hotmail free game last year, it was discovered that ICQ had also added a 'free mailbox' function; and as ICQ added free mailboxes, the user growth rate increased exponentially, and now it has become the choice of 10 million users.
If Microsoft is not interested in Internet companies that are growing so fast, they plan to acquire them.
In the conference room, Lin Zuhui looked at Bill Gates, but he had already dismissed the possibility of acquisition. It was not that he and Bill Gates had any grudges, on the contrary, they were familiar with each other; New Era Group held 1.5% of Microsoft's shares, which was obvious.
It is a public investment; Lin Zuhui also personally invested 2% of Microsoft's equity, which is a secret investment.
However, ICQ is obviously not ready to be acquired yet. Lin Zuhui also has some ambitions. He wants to copy the success of QQ in his previous life and build ICQ into a global social software. When the time is right, he may sell it at a high price, maybe after the bubble crisis.
"Mr. Lin, when I arrived in Hong Kong in 1995, you said you were going to develop a 'Cyberport' in Hong Kong. To be honest, I was a little skeptical. But with the achievements you have made in the Internet, I think Hong Kong has great development potential." Bill
Gates said with a smile.
In fact, there is another meaning in his words. I stood up for you at the beginning, now it's time for you to return the favor!
How shrewd Lin Zuhui is, there is nothing Bill Gates wants to do. What he means is that he is right. When Lin Zuhui wanted to engage in high technology, the public opinion in Hong Kong was indeed not good. When Bill Gates came to Hong Kong, he took advantage of a wave of popularity.
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But, for such a small thing, you actually used it as a favor. I treated you to that meal for free!
Lin Zuhui said with a smile: "The United States is the paradise and the best soil for the Internet. Although ICQ originated in Hong Kong, it is an American colleague and customer who has carried it forward!"
Bill Gates immediately said: "In this case, Mr. Lin is also an Internet investor, how about selling ICQ to Microsoft?"
Lin Zuhui said calmly: "How much do you plan to value it?"
Bill Gates was immediately very happy and said impatiently: "$600 million in cash, or Microsoft shares of the same value; I believe Lin Zuhui knows the prospects of our Microsoft, after all you have invested!"
Lin Zuhui said with a smile: "Thank you very much for letting me know the value of ICQ, but I don't plan to sell it for the time being, because it has just been launched. I don't know how many customers it will have in the future, and I don't know what its prospects are.
I want to wait a few more years and see!”
Bill Gates' face turned dark and he thought about it for a long time. He didn't even mean to sell it!
At this time, the overlord and monopolist of the Internet, Bill Gates, showed his "true face" and said: "Mr. Lin, you have to know that developing software like ICQ is very easy for Microsoft."
If you can't acquire it, you just copy it. This is how the big fish eats the small fish in the Internet, and in the end it almost creates a few oligarchs.
Lin Zuhui said calmly: "ICQ is not Netscape. In five years, you will come to discuss acquisitions with me for dozens of times the price!"
Bill Gates was embarrassed, because Netscape was also a company invested by Lin Zuhui, so the two parties actually had a "bad blood"!
"I hope ICQ can have one day, Mr. Lin, but I still tell you clearly that we will do instant messaging."
"Welcome, with competition, products will become better and better!"
The words of the two bosses made it obvious to the subordinates of both sides that Lin Zuhui behaved calmly and gracefully, while Bill Gates behaved aggressively, but he was relying on Microsoft's monopoly position. It was as if Microsoft had already begun to file a lawsuit.
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After Bill Gates left, Lin Zuhui became very interested and decided to develop ICQ globally and add new features.
Therefore, he first arranged for Jingwei Capital to interview an elite CEO for ICQ. The original one was a technical talent after all and was no longer adaptable to the new development.
Next, Lin Zuhui formulated new functions and improvement plans for ICQ:
For example, the previous ICQ information was stored in the client, and then the ICQ information will be stored in the server. In this way, you can send offline information, add offline friends, and save some historical records.
For example, add chat rooms, group chats, and group messaging functions.
In short, ICQ is upgrading step by step and will always be ahead of its competitors.
Microsoft just relies on having strong talents, but ICQ is also very wealthy. It is backed by Wanhui Media Group, so it is not short of money or talents. ICQ is an independent free software, and Microsoft just wants to learn how to bind it like IE browser.
Competition is of no use.
Therefore, facing the threat from Microsoft, Lin Zuhui was not afraid at all.
After all, he still has many combinations that he has yet to defeat, such as developing ICQ games and adding entertainment functions; such as developing ICQ space and taking the lead in entering the social field; such as increasing the ICQ hierarchy and establishing red diamonds, blue diamonds, and pink diamonds.
After 2002, he wouldn’t sell it if he didn’t have 10 billion US dollars!
If Activision Blizzard is included, the US$20 billion will definitely be worth it!
Speaking of which, one company Lin Zuhui invested in went public every year. Netscape went public in 1995, YAHOO went public in 1996, and Amazon will also go public this year. For a time, Lin Zuhui became famous in the American investment community.
Kingston, the company he invested in, had a turnover of less than US$500 million that year, but the turnover rose to US$1 billion the next year, which also shocked the investment community. Of course, Kingston is still expanding, so there is almost no dividends, and the payback period is probably very long.
It's after the millennium.
The 'somewhat wrong' investment was undoubtedly Apple. When it was invested last year, its market value was still US$3 billion; after the issuance of new shares, its market value was US$3.5 billion.
Unexpectedly, within one year, Apple's market value had plummeted to nothing, and now its market value is less than 3 billion.
Sure enough, two days later, Jobs asked Lin Zuhui to meet.
As soon as they met, Jobs said: "Mr. Lin, do you think Jill is qualified to be the CEO of Apple?"
Why he first approached Lin Zuhui was because he knew that Lin Zuhui was the first to propose that he return to Apple and serve as CEO.
Lin Zuhui knew that clearly supporting Jobs at this time would definitely gain a wave of goodwill. The only pity was that Jobs only lived until 2011.
It's not that Lin Zuhui begged Jobs, but that Lin Zuhui just wanted to increase his influence in the United States to ensure that he could make money steadily.
"Of course not, I have always supported you becoming CEO! But as you know, Jill is a director of Apple, so my proposal was not adopted at the beginning."
Jobs was immediately very happy. He said: "Apple's stock price continues to fall, and the directors are also somewhat dissatisfied with Gill. Therefore, I would like to ask Mr. Lin to convene a board meeting to remove Gill. In this way, I hope to lead Apple to turn around the situation."
The current unfavorable situation.”
The words are very straightforward. Maybe Jobs just became a consultant and waited for Gil to 'make mistakes'. Of course, it is not a mistake. It can only be said that Gil was not born at the right time. He also has some abilities, but maybe he is not as good as Jobs.
It's just awesome.
"No problem, but can Apple's stock price fall further? Maybe the directors will be more determined to replace Jill. I also bought some Apple shares before, but still not much!"
Jobs' eyes lit up and he immediately said: "I can sell 1 million shares!"
As for stocks, after you sell them, you can slowly buy them back.
Lin Zuhui said with a smile: "I don't have many stocks that can be sold, only 500,000 shares."
Next, the two agreed on a time to sell a large amount of stocks in the market together, causing Apple's stock price to plummet again. Then, they challenged Gill in the board of directors.
Of course, Jobs still has to convince a few more shareholders, at least 7 more, before the situation is decided. Selling stocks is only a small auxiliary role.
A few days later, Apple's stock price began to plummet again, and its market value once fell to about 2.5 billion US dollars. At the same time, the board of directors proposed by Lin Zuhui was also held subsequently.
In the conference room, Lin Zuhui said directly: "Since President Gill has not improved the current situation of Apple in the past year, I suggest that another president be elected to improve the current situation of Apple."
For a time, everyone concentrated their attention. Lin Zuhui is the major shareholder of Apple, but he has not interfered in many things in the company. He has only been holding the position of president, hoping that Steve Jobs can take up this position.
Gill, who is also a member of the board of directors, immediately retorted: "Mr. Lin has just joined the board of directors of Apple and does not understand the current situation of Apple. In fact, the situation of Apple cannot be changed overnight. It takes time to change. I think I have already done so."
The situation has improved a lot, and Apple will slowly get better!" He controlled his emotions and did not attack Lin Zuhui. After all, this Chinese man had very good connections on Apple's board of directors.
Lin Zuhui immediately said: "You cut off some of Apple's redundant businesses and streamline some departments. I agree with that. But you are like a quack doctor who has not cured the root cause of Apple's illness. In short, there is no
Find the key questions!”
He is the richest man in the world and has a vicious vision, so what he said was very convincing, and all the directors nodded. For a while, the scene was obviously favorable to Lin Zuhui's point of view.
In fact, Jobs also convinced many directors at this time, and everyone was already intending to resolve the matter today. However, being able to get more directors to come in would obviously be conducive to the unity of Apple.
Gill said unconvinced: "Mr. Lin seems to understand very well, or you agree too much with Steve Jobs, so you have a deep prejudice against me!"
Lin Zuhui shook his head and said: "I have no prejudice against you, I just think about Apple! In my opinion, Apple needs a 'hot-selling' product, rather than a large number of products, an excellent computer product
, can restore Apple. As for this product, I believe Jobs can create it. Don’t forget that it was Jobs who created Apple’s great technology in the 1970s and 1980s.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a director said: "That's right! It's time to re-appoint the president. Now that Apple's stock has fallen so much, we have no patience. In other words, Apple will go bankrupt if it doesn't change!"
Another director said: "Yes, I choose to believe Steve Jobs!"
Soon, the public opinion in the conference room became one-sided, and Jill sat in her seat dejectedly.
During this period, Lin Zuhui also said: "President Gill, thank you for everything you have done for Apple. We will take care of you according to a generous dismissal package!"
Firing a president requires far more effort than electing a president. For example, Jill's salary is about $2 million, but to fire him, it would take more than $6 million.
Gill finally took the initiative and said: "Now that everyone has decided, I just need to abide by the board of directors' decision and let's formally vote now!"
13:2, a unanimous vote passed to fire Gill and appoint Jobs as the new CEO.
In fact, Jobs was only half convinced!
Jobs' return to Apple has aroused great public opinion in the United States.
After all, Apple was once a great technology company, but now it's in decline.
Today, the world is dominated by IBM, while Apple's market share has dropped from 16% to 4%.
And Lin Zuhui is very satisfied with the role he plays in Apple's CEO replacement, which has further consolidated his position in Apple as a major shareholder.
Of course, after helping Steve Jobs take over, Lin Zuhui once again kept a low profile at Apple. In the future, he may choose to have Lu Bingwen, the president of Matrix Partners, attend some board meetings on his behalf.
For Lin Zuhui, maintaining a friendly relationship with Steve Jobs is more meaningful than being on the board of directors of Apple.