dognovel Chapter 85 A Dying Struggle
Chapter 85 A Dying Struggle
Chapter 85 A Dying Struggle
Inside the Hilton Hotel's banquet hall, crystal chandeliers shone brightly, illuminating the entire hall as if it were daytime.
The invited guests gathered in small groups, and what should have been a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere for conversation was instead shrouded in an indescribable sense of gloom.
People looked puzzled, many with furrowed brows, as if invisible question marks were hanging above their heads.
As scheduled, the evening will be a free networking cocktail party until 8 p.m., and the charity auction, the highlight of the evening, will start promptly at 8 p.m.
But now, the exquisite European-style wall clock is pointing to 8:20, but not only is there no sign of the charity auction starting, but John Reed, the CEO of Citibank and the organizer of the event, is nowhere to be seen.
The guests looked at each other, their eyes filled with confusion; no one could figure out what had happened.
Some people paced back and forth in the lobby with wine glasses in their hands, trying to glean information from other senior executives at Citibank, but all they received were helpless shakes of the head.
Some people simply found a seat and sat down, their faces full of impatience.
In an inconspicuous corner of the hall, Steve Jobs appeared remarkably composed, with his legs crossed, his hands casually resting on the armrests, and his signature smile on his face.
"That's interesting," he murmured casually, a hint of amusement in his voice.
The charity auction has been delayed for so long, yet the organizer, Citibank, has not provided any explanation whatsoever. This is undoubtedly a very impolite act for a high-end social occasion that always emphasizes etiquette and rules.
This can only mean that John Reed, as the organizer, must have been held up by something and was unable to show up on time.
But who tripped him up? Jobs saw with his own eyes Ernst leave the banquet hall with John Reed.
For Citibank to lose its composure like this, Ernst must have presented them with a considerable challenge.
It was indeed a difficult problem, but it wasn't Ernst who created it for him; it was entirely John Reid's own fault.
Rewind to an hour earlier, when Ernst followed John Reid to the small conference room specially prepared by the Hilton Hotel, he was quite flattered to see everyone sitting inside.
Basically, all the big names on Wall Street sent representatives to gather here, including some institutions that had never had any contact with Google before.
What surprised him even more, yet was not unexpected, was the almost blatant, eager behavior of these hyena-like financial tycoons.
After John Reed took his seat at the head of the table, he went straight to the point without any pleasantries.
"Ernst, we are all very optimistic about Google. Since Google is currently seeking funding, and we are all interested in investing, I think that if this matter is dragged on any longer, it will only harm the interests of both of us."
"The most important thing is to finalize the financing as soon as possible so that Google can get more funds, achieve faster development, and then go public smoothly."
Ernst nodded and nodded. "You're right, but the problem now is that we have a huge difference in price."
John Reed glanced around at everyone present, his eyes filled with a confident and assured look.
As if he had Ernst figured out, he made the decision for him: "So today I'm here specifically to help you solve this problem."
.
"A pre-investment valuation of $500 million is, in my opinion, a very reasonable price. Google is offering 20% of its equity, and you can choose four companies from among us to become Google's shareholders."
Ernst remained silent, instead looking at the other institutions. Everyone present appeared to be following John Reed's lead, while David Komansky, president of Merrill Lynch, who had offered the highest bid among the investors Google had previously contacted, even closed his eyes, seemingly oblivious to the situation.
Seeing this, Ernst knew in his heart that Wenger's earlier warning had come true.
More than two weeks ago, when Wenger sent him the invitation to this charity auction, he specifically warned him to be careful of the collusion of Wall Street capital.
First, several institutions jointly entered the target company, and then influenced the board members through various means, thereby deciding on the selection of the company's CEO.
Once the CEO they support takes office, they will never allow the company to develop smoothly. Their ultimate goal is to achieve rapid growth.
We will expedite the large-scale projects and push the company to go public as soon as possible.
Whether these projects are good or bad, the Wall Street financial giants don't care at all.
If the project succeeds, the company's market value will double, and they will make a fortune.
If the project fails, they can use various packaging methods to pass the hot potato to more retail investors, make a quick buck, and then walk away unscathed.
As long as a company's core business, such as Google's search engine, doesn't have problems, Wall Street has plenty of ways to come up with eight hundred insidious and vicious tricks to make money.
All of this is predicated on the fact that large projects require more funding.
Where does the funding come from? Whether it's borrowing from banks or raising funds again, it ultimately falls under the control of Wall Street.
The end result is that Wall Street gains increasing power within the company, and the founder gradually loses more and more equity, eventually losing all control of the company.
This is the typical framework and routine of Wall Street investment. However, few people have been able to resist the temptation of capital like Ernst, not only asking for exorbitant amounts but also standing firm to the end.
So this time, the Wall Street giants have chosen to unite, as can be clearly seen from David Komansky's attitude at this moment.
More than two weeks ago, Merrill Lynch valued Google at $500 million before the investment, the highest valuation given by any institution.
However, half a month later, Google's user base had exceeded 20 million, and logically, its valuation should have increased.
But now he has tacitly agreed to maintain the valuation at $500 million, which is clearly something they had planned beforehand. Ernst revealed a playful smile as he looked at John Reed, who was smiling and seemed to have him figured out.
"Give up 20% of the equity, no problem."
This is information that Google has already released to the public: the Series A funding round planned to allocate around 20% of its equity.
He paused, then continued, "Choosing four organizations to participate is also fine."
Ernst knew very well that he naturally hoped the more institutions involved, the better. These financial giants couldn't remain a united front forever; there would inevitably be conflicts of interest among them. More participants would actually make it easier for him to form alliances and maneuvers among them in the future.
"However, I have a suggestion regarding the selection criteria."
John Reed held out a hand, gesturing for him to speak.
"The bids are anonymous, and each person only has one chance. I will select four institutions from the highest bidders to participate in Google's Series A investment."
John Reed burst into laughter upon hearing this, believing that Ernst was merely making a death throes.
The price had already been agreed upon by them, and trying to get someone within their ranks to defect using this method was simply a pipe dream.
Google is a big enough pie for everyone to get a slice. Once Google goes public, everyone can hold shares in Google, and together they can nurture and grow this money tree, then harvest the profits and walk away unscathed.
"Alright, let's do it your way, Ernst." John Reed readily agreed, and then had his secretary prepare sticky notes and pens, which were distributed to everyone present.
Ernst watched as everyone took the paper and pen, cleared his throat, and added, "Everyone, there's something you might not know: Google has found a more advanced profit model."
"According to our internal calculations, Google's future profits will be more than enough to cover the funds needed for its own development. So today's financing may be Google's first round of financing, or it may be its last."
It's not unheard of for companies to go public after just one round of financing, but those events happened in the extremely distant past.
If Google can indeed go public after just one round of financing, the company's potential will be beyond imagination. This would also mean that Google will no longer have to worry about money and can generate huge cash flow on its own.
But John Reid saw these as nothing more than Ernst's fantasies about breaking the current situation.
He knows better than anyone how much money the internet industry burns, and so far, none of those so-called profit models have been able to truly enable companies to become self-sufficient.
As a star company in the internet industry, what about Yahoo? As a listed internet company, what about Netscape? Even though Netscape's market value has recently increased, its financial report last year still showed a loss.
The future of the Internet is very promising, but John Reed thinks it's pure nonsense to say that it can achieve self-sufficiency at this stage.
When the secretary collected all the notes written by everyone and presented them to John Reed, he confidently tossed his own note into the box and then very gentlemanly gestured in Ernst's direction.
"Merry, you've got it in the wrong place. It should be given to our Mr. Garfield so he can open and read it himself."
Faced with John Reed's confidence, and seeing Merry carrying the ballot box to his desk, Ernst smiled, sat up straight, and took out the first slip of paper from the box.
When he opened the note and read its contents, his face did not show the anger John Reed had expected; instead, it was calm.
"Not bad, Bear Stearns actually gave a valuation of $9.5 million." Ernst read the contents of the note softly.
"What?" Upon hearing the number, John Reed jumped up from his chair, his composure vanishing instantly. He stared incredulously at the Bear Stearns representative, his eyes filled with shock and anger.
Ernst's smile widened as he looked up at John Reed and offered words of comfort in a relaxed tone.
"No rush, President Reed. This is only the first offer. I believe Citibank's offer will not disappoint me."
The atmosphere in the conference room instantly became strange. The seemingly unbreakable alliance appeared to have developed a crack at this moment.
Seeing that none of the others showed any surprise, John Reed turned ashen-faced.