Chapter 784 Facebook
Bill Gates was looking through the documents while listening to his subordinates reporting to him.
"This young man named Zuckerberg is really outstanding. He attracted the attention of Microsoft when he was in high school."
Bill Gates saw the photo and some introduction on the profile and immediately said, "Synapse Media Player was created by him alone, right? The R&D department recommended him to me at the time, but unfortunately he refused to work for Microsoft."
At this point, Bill Gates still felt it was a pity. He also thought of Lu Yiming who had also rejected Microsoft's recruitment. He then laughed at himself and said, "It seems that true geniuses all have their own ideas."
The subordinate continued, "After Zuckerberg received a $5 million investment, he immediately brought his roommate, Eglin, together to found a social networking site called Facebook at Harvard University."
When Bill Gates heard this, he was immediately surprised. He put down the documents in his hand, looked at his subordinates, and asked, "He used five million to create a social networking site? Didn't he use the money to buy anything?"
The subordinate said seriously: "As far as I know, no."
Bill Gates' expression began to become serious: "He suddenly became rich but was able to control his desires and not squander the resources in his hands. This is an ambitious and visionary young man."
For an ordinary person, five million US dollars, if he suddenly gets so much money, wouldn’t he buy a big gold chain and a small watch on the spot, and eat barbecue three times a day?
As for investment, those who understand it will understand. If you invest five million in me, I may not use all of it on this project. It is normal to use it to maintain personal needs.
But Zuckerberg didn’t do that. He directly invested five million. Not everyone has such courage.
Bill Gates has seen many young entrepreneurs, but many of them failed.
There are many reasons for these people's failure, but in fact, in Bill Gates' opinion, the biggest problem is that they do not have clear goals and do not know how to restrain themselves. In the face of sudden success, they become arrogant and inflated, and then they mess around and lose all the achievements and careers that they have worked so hard to achieve.
Because Bill Gates himself is an entrepreneur, he knows very well what to do to make the right choices in the early stages of entrepreneurship.
Originally, Bill Gates did not pay much attention to Zuckerberg. The reason he paid attention to him was because of Lu Yiming.
There is no way, Lu Yiming’s investment vision is too accurate.
But now, Bill Gates has begun to pay attention to Zuckerberg himself. In his opinion, this young man has a bright future.
Even if this business venture fails, with his ability and character, success is only a matter of time.
Bill Gates began to hesitate, wondering whether to bet on Zuckerberg.
In a shabby old classroom at Harvard University, several young people are cleaning. They are the newly formed Facebook team. This classroom is a temporary office space granted to them by the school.
Zuckerberg didn't even spend money on renting an office building. He really wanted to spend all his money wisely.
As his roommate and entrepreneurial partner, Eaglin was sweeping the floor while complaining: "I still can't believe that you got $5 million in financing with just an idea. My God, this world is crazy."
Zuckerberg was a little proud of what he said, but he quickly recovered. He wiped the table and said, "This is nothing. Believe me, one day we will become billionaires."
Just as the two were chatting, Zuckerberg's phone rang. After chatting for a while, he was stunned.
Seeing that Zuckerberg suddenly became abnormal, Eglin quickly asked: "What's wrong? Are you meditating or having an astral experience?"
Zuckerberg came back to his senses, extremely excited, grabbed Eglin's arm and said, "You will never guess who just called me."
Eglin was so angry that he couldn't help but yelled, "Who else could it be? Either the President or the richest man in the world."
Zuckerberg was surprised and asked, "How did you know it was Bill Gates who called me?"
Eaglin complained: "One of the most powerful, one of the richest...WTF? Is it really Bill Gates!?"
After Iglin realized what was happening, he was also shocked.
He was just joking, but he didn't expect his words to come true. The world's richest man, Bill Gates, really called him.
"Why did he call you?"
Zuckerberg excitedly said: "He said he wanted to invest in us Facebook."
Iglen was very happy. Lu Yiming was only the richest man in Asia, but he gave him five million US dollars in one go. Bill Gates was the richest man in the world, so the amount he gave would not be less than five million, right?
"Then you should quickly agree to him."
Zuckerberg has calmed down and said calmly: "I'm still hesitating."
Iglin was very puzzled: "Why are you hesitating about this?"
Zuckerberg was not overwhelmed by the title of the world's richest man. He said, "We have just started Facebook. If we just rent computers, the monthly operating expenses are less than $100. Five million dollars will be enough for a long time. I don't plan to accept financing from others before I spend all the money."
These words left Iglin dumbfounded.
But after calming down, he had to admit that his partner's analysis was correct.
Facebook is not worth anything right now. Five million US dollars is enough for its development. Selling shares for cash now is actually a big loss.
The reason why Zucker Berg agreed to Lu Yiming's investment was because he had no money. Without financing, the project could not be carried out. It was a time when "a penny can make a hero fail."
But now, Zuckerberg has five million US dollars in his hands, enough to support the early development of Facebook.
Facebook shares are not valuable now. According to the price given by Lu Yiming, even if all of them were sold, they would only fetch more than 10 million US dollars.
This obviously did not meet Zucker Berg's psychological expectations - it did not even meet Lu Yiming's psychological expectations.
Therefore, Zuckerberg decided to reject Microsoft's investment and use the $5 million in his hand to make Facebook bigger and stronger and increase its valuation first.
Finance is a very interesting thing. If you say that the same thing is worth 10 million, then it may be worth 10 million. But if you say that it is worth 100 million, as long as someone believes it, then it is worth 100 million. It is essentially a game of passing the parcel.
The game has just begun, and Zuckerberg plans to keep the flower in his hand for a while.
After Zuckerberg's analysis, Eglin came to his senses and couldn't help but say admiringly: "You are calmer. I almost lost my temper."
There is no way, Microsoft is so famous that it is hard not to be attracted by it.
Not everyone can be as absolutely calm and rational as Zuckerberg.
Zucker Berg thought about it carefully and decided to give Lu Yiming a call.
When Lu Yiming received Zuckerberg's call, he couldn't help but tease, "You called me again so soon. Did you spend all the $5 million?"
Five million US dollars is not too little, but it is definitely not too much either.
Especially in the Internet field, sometimes spending five million dollars may not even make a splash.
Zuckerberg said: "The money hasn't been spent yet, but there is one thing I think I should tell you."
"What's up?"
Hearing Zuckerberg's serious tone, Lu Yiming also put away his playful smile.
Zuckerberg said bluntly: "Mr. Bill Gates just called me and said he wanted to invest in Facebook."
Lu Yiming felt a little surprised.
When did Microsoft react so quickly?
It's only been a few days?
What happened to the big company disease?
Does finance no longer exist?
But Lu Yiming soon found a reason for himself.
He felt that it was impossible to hide his visit to the United States from Bill Gates.
Bill Gates even knew exactly where he lived and who he had coffee with these days.
Although Lu Yiming disliked being monitored and thought it was an immoral behavior, it was undeniable that it was a form of connection.
Besides, Bill Gates is a local boss, so it is not difficult for him to find out Lu Yiming's whereabouts.
Lu Yiming couldn't defend against this.
After thinking about it for a while, Lu Yiming smiled and said, "I guess you rejected Mr. Bill Gates' investment, right?"
Zuckerberg was so surprised that he blurted out: "How do you know?"
Lu Yiming said, "Because I can see that you are a smart and ambitious person, so you naturally know how to maximize your own interests. And I also guessed the reason why you called me. It was nothing more than telling me that Future Capital is no longer Facebook's only option. You can completely join Microsoft."
Zucker Berg's expression suddenly became a little embarrassed when Lu Yiming revealed his secret plan.
Lu Yiming was not surprised that Zuckerberg had his own plans, nor was he angry. Instead, he said calmly, "I am just a simple investor. Facebook belongs to you and the control will always be in your hands. I will not interfere as long as you can guarantee my interests."
Zucker Berg finally breathed a sigh of relief after receiving this guarantee. After all, Lu Yiming held too many shares. Even if the shares were continuously diluted in the future, Lu Yiming would definitely become the largest shareholder of Facebook.
As the founder of Facebook, Zuckerberg does not want others to dictate his position as the "king".
"Okay, I understand. I'll get back to work."
"Yeah, okay."
After Lu Yiming finished the call, he smiled and said to Shi Qingxue who was sitting next to him cutting fruit: "The first person who wants to share money with me has appeared, Bill Gates."
Shi Qingxue raised her head in surprise and said, "Microsoft is going to invest in Facebook? I remember you invested in Facebook a few days ago, and its business prospects are still unclear. Now you are being targeted?"
"Come, eat some fruit."
While eating fruit, Lu Yiming said, "It's a rare trip to the United States, and it's time to meet old friends. Come on, I'll take you to Bill Gates' house."
Bill Gates’s manor was mentioned in textbooks. Although he had been there several times, Lu Yiming still liked that place very much.
A few hours later, Lu Yiming met Gates in the manor.
The sun was shining brightly at this time, and the two of them sat on the beach chairs in the yard, drinking coffee while looking at the huge swimming pool in front of them.
Bill Gates said: "I was very optimistic about Xiong Minghua, but I didn't expect that you would poach him."
Lu Yiming pretended to be pitiful and said, "Microsoft is a big company with no shortage of manpower. It's not like my Yixun Technology, which only has a few small companies and lacks talent."
Bill Gates couldn't help but laugh and scolded: "We have enough manpower, but we still lack talent. In short, you are not a kind guy."
Then, he remembered the situation reported by the branch office and continued, "By the way, I heard that one of the employees who will take over Xiong Minghua's job is your old high school classmate."
This made Lu Yiming confused: "My high school classmate? Who is it?"
He really didn't know about this.
Bill Gates smiled and said, "His name is Li Zhengkai. I heard that he and you were rivals in high school. I have planned to promote him and make use of him."
Lu Yiming didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Promote? What's the point of you telling me this? Are you going to fight with me? You are old enough, can you not be so childish?"
However, although he said so, he also knew that Bill Gates was deliberately trying to seduce him by promoting his "old rival" as a counterattack against him for poaching Xiong Minghua.
However, Lu Yiming was too lazy to pursue the matter, not to mention that he hadn't seen him for many years. When he suddenly heard the news about Li Zhengkai, Lu Yiming felt quite emotional.
He had long forgotten the past grudges. No matter what the reasons were, since Bill Gates wanted to use him, Lu Yiming was happy to see Li Zhengkai achieve his brilliance.
Bill Gates then talked about Facebook again and said to Lu Yiming: "Zucker Berg is a very interesting young man. He is very similar to you back then, just as rebellious, smart and bold."
Lu Yiming said: "He is really brave. He told me the story the day you called him."
Bill Gates was also a smart guy. He immediately guessed Zuckerberg's intention and said with a smile: "I'm afraid you can't control this chess piece."
Lu Yiming met Bill Gates' gaze with a half-smile: What, I can't control it, but can you?
There is no doubt that Bill Gates wants to buy Facebook shares from Lu Yiming, but Lu Yiming is not stupid. Why would he sell such a hen that lays golden eggs?
Even if you really want to sell it, it won't be too late to sell it after the hen lays golden eggs.
"Don't talk about that. You just want to get some shares from me. I tell you, it's impossible. Hey, if you want to get shares in Facebook, just wait for the A round."
