Chapter 976: Miracle of Wealth
This is actually the case with the development of history. After Netscape’s IPO was a huge success and it became a world-renowned Internet company, Microsoft and Bill Gates finally woke up and took notice of Netscape.
Soon Microsoft again expressed its intention to cooperate with Netscape, and even proposed to acquire Netscape through an equity swap to gain a monopoly in the browser market.
Unfortunately, Netscape was at its peak at that time, and after its successful listing, it had no shortage of money. The conditions offered by Microsoft were not very good, so Netscape certainly would not agree to cooperate with Microsoft and directly rejected Microsoft's proposal.
Under such circumstances, Microsoft decided to develop its own browser to compete with Netscape for the market. However, due to technical and other reasons, the browser developed by Microsoft was far inferior to Netscape at the beginning. Even with the advantage of operating system, it could not compete with Netscape.
It was not until August 1995, with the release of Microsoft's new generation Windows 95 system, that Microsoft's browser began to improve slightly, but Netscape Navigator still had an absolute market share.
Relying on its own advantages, Netscape forced Microsoft to invest heavily in the browser market but failed to make a breakthrough. Netscape looked down on Microsoft even more and began to feel proud and look down on Microsoft.
It was for this reason that Microsoft and Bill Gates made a decision to make the browser completely free, turning the browser into a part of the operating system as software running on the operating system, thereby defeating Netscape in this way.
When Microsoft released Windows 98, its new operating system in the true sense, in 1998 , Microsoft came up with the IE browser directly embedded in the operating system, which completely subverted the browser market.
Because Microsoft is in the process of acquiring other software companies and improving, the new IE browser is slightly inferior to Netscape's in performance, but the difference between the two is not big. In addition, IE is a browser embedded in the operating system and is completely free, which directly rubs the paid Netscape browser on the ground. After comparing the usage of the two browsers, users naturally choose the free Microsoft product and abandon the paid Netscape product.
Due to this reason, the market share of Netscape Navigator plummeted. In just two or three months, a large number of users were snatched away by Microsoft, and the stock price began to decline. The situation became more and more serious over time.
Faced with this situation, Netscape panicked for a while, and adjusted its strategy in desperation, announcing that Netscape's browser would be free forever. But even so, Microsoft still relied on the advantages of being built into the operating system to gain ground, and it didn't take much effort to drive Netscape, which originally had an absolute advantage in the browser market, off the throne and replace it. It was this change that caused Netscape's glory to plummet, and even though Netscape tried its best to change this situation, it was still powerless.
As a middle-level manager in telecommunications in his previous life, Song Chaoyuan had experienced this era. He understood how Netscape rose to prominence and how it was suddenly defeated by Microsoft's unethical tactics at the height of its glory.
In Song Yuanchao's view, Netscape's fate without an operating system support is doomed, unless Netscape cooperates with Microsoft or even the two companies merge, then Netscape's browser will still have a bright future.
If this cannot be done, Netscape's defeat by Microsoft is doomed. Song Chaoyuan originally intended to remind Zhang Hao to pay attention to this problem and make timely adjustments. But before Song Chaoyuan could think about how to tell Zhang Hao about this, Zhang Hao expressed his attitude of being ready to withdraw from Netscape, which made Song Chaoyuan swallow the words that were already on the tip of his tongue.
Be willing to give and give, only by giving can you gain.
Song Chaoyuan couldn't help but sigh in his heart. It seemed that Zhang Hao's current choice was a big loss, but from the perspective of the future, wasn't it a good choice?
"Now that you have made your decision, I will support you no matter what."
"Brother, I thought you would object?" Zhang Hao said unexpectedly.
Song Chaoyuan laughed: "What are you against? You founded Netscape without telling anyone and didn't ask for our opinions. Besides, this is your own business. In the end, you make your own choices. You can listen to other people's opinions, but that's just for reference. Besides, I don't understand these things."
Zhang Hao gave Song Yuanchao a thumbs up with a sincere smile on his face: "No wonder you can do such a big business, brother. I am impressed by this pattern. Thank you for your understanding."
"Stinky boy!" Song Chaoyuan cursed with a smile, and then asked Zhang Hao what other ideas he had after leaving Netscape. Zhang Hao told Song Chaoyuan that he had no other ideas for the time being, but there was one thing he had to do, which was to complete his studies. Although Bill Gates dropped out of school and founded Microsoft and has become an idol for young people, in Zhang Hao's opinion, his studies have not been completed. After leaving Netscape, he will have no burden and can go back to school to finish his unfinished studies. People always have to have a beginning and an end, and Zhang Hao doesn't want to leave any regrets in this regard.
Song Chaoyuan stayed in Zhang Hao's room until dinner time. While having dinner at the hotel, Zhang Hao introduced his friends, Mark and Jimmy, who were also the founders of Netscape.
During the meal, everyone did not discuss the stock listing tomorrow, but chatted about other topics. Mark was a technical talent, so he talked more about technology. As for Jimmy, he had some business talent. After hearing that Song Chaoyuan's company in the United States was related to communications, he asked about some situations with great interest. Song Chaoyuan picked out some things he knew and could talk about and told them. After dinner, they said goodbye and went back to their rooms to rest early, because they had to get up early tomorrow, because tomorrow was the day when Netscape would ring the bell for its listing.
The next morning, everyone came to Four Times Square, also known as the Donatus Building, located next to Times Square. There were no hardware facilities like the Nasdaq Stock Exchange as imagined. Instead, this place was more like a large studio or a stage for banquets.
The Nasdaq bell ringing is held here. The so-called bell ringing is not a formal bell ringing. Instead, a button is installed on a platform with the company logo. The bell ringer presses the button on behalf of the company. When the button is pressed, the mechanism above opens , just like a wedding ceremony. Countless ribbons will fall from the sky. This ceremony is the so-called Nasdaq bell ringing ceremony.
Song Yuanchao had never seen such a scene in his two lives. As a small shareholder of Netscape, he was of course able to attend the scene. Wearing a neat suit, with a pass hanging on his chest, Song Chaoyuan followed the people in front into the venue.
When he entered, Zhang Hao and others had already arrived. In addition to Zhang Hao, Mark and Jimmy, there were also core members of several Netscape technical teams who had just arrived and heads of other departments, as well as representatives of capital and so on.
Song Chaoyuan nodded slightly to Zhang Hao who had already come on stage. Zhang Hao smiled at him and didn't say much. After all, there were too many people coming to such an occasion. In addition to people related to Netscape, there were also securities staff and people from the news media.
The most dazzling person today was not Zhang Hao, but Mark, who represented Netscape. Mark was in high spirits, wearing a handmade suit and standing in the center, with Zhang Hao and Jimmy on his left and right, and others behind and outside.
Mark's appearance attracted a lot of attention. For a time, countless reporters rushed to interview Mark, asking him about his views and judgment on Netscape's listing today, and curiously asking how he came up with the idea of establishing this company and how he was able to grow the company to its current scale in such a short time.
Because of the previous reminders and preparations, Mark's answers to some questions were quite standard. When Mark was answering the questions, Zhang Hao slightly moved aside. Although his oriental face attracted some people's attention, Zhang Hao still deliberately avoided them to avoid causing trouble because of the attention.
The brief interview did not last too long. Soon the staff reminded that the time was up and the bell ringing ceremony was about to begin. Everyone gathered on the stage as arranged by the staff. Naturally, Mark was in the middle.
In the last ten seconds, Mark put his hand on the button on the stage, and looked around at his two partners with a smile. Suddenly, Mark pulled Zhang Hao's left hand with his right hand and put his left hand on his left hand on the button, and then pulled Jimmy's right hand over and put it on Zhang Hao's right hand.
"mark……"
"This is our common glory, let's do it together!" Mark said seriously to Zhang Hao and Jimmy. Zhang Hao immediately laughed so brightly, and Jimmy laughed so hard that his eyes could not be seen on his chubby face. The three of them nodded vigorously at the same time, and as the reminder time was up, they pressed down together. Then there was a slight sound, and countless streamers fell from the sky. Cheers suddenly rang out at the scene, and the flash lights were flashing at this moment.
On that day, Netscape officially went public and opened for trading. The stock price reached $29.5 as soon as it opened (the historical price was $28). This stock price was shocking as soon as it came out. It was not that the price was low, but that the price exceeded many people's expectations.
That’s not all. Buying orders continued to pour in, and Netscape’s stock continued to rise at a speed visible to the naked eye. By noon, Netscape’s stock price had soared to $79.66, which was simply jaw-dropping.
In the afternoon, the stock price continued to rise, reaching the highest point of the day at $79.97 and then began to fall, then fell to $56.03 before retracing and rising again, and then fluctuated between $56 and $62.
At the close of the market, Netscape's stock price closed at $61.77, which was higher than the historical closing price of $58.25. Based on the closing stock price, Netscape's market value on that day reached an astonishing amount of nearly $2.5 billion. As the chairman and shareholder of Netscape, Zhang Hao's wealth suddenly reached $700 million based on his current 28% stake.
Before the IPO, Mark's shares were 17.5% and Jimmy's shares were 3.3% (the equity ratio was further diluted before the IPO). This calculation showed that Mark's personal wealth reached approximately US$440 million. Even Jimmy, who had the lowest shares, had a wealth of nearly US$83 million.
Netscape's technical team and other employees, because of their shares , had wealth of tens of millions of dollars, and the least became millionaires overnight. When the news spread, the whole world was amazed at the wealth miracle created by Netscape in one day.
