Chapter 983 All Good Things Must Come to an End
With Song Yuanchao's consent, Qin Zhengguo and others enthusiastically discussed the next investment direction in Internet companies.
At this time, Luo Yang mentioned something. On May 15 last year, the first Internet website in China was established. This website was called "Window of China".
Speaking of this website, it was established by the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Academy of Sciences. Its establishment was simply a coincidence, because a researcher named Xu Rongsheng went abroad to attend the world's first 3W conference. While attending the conference, he found that many countries had their own web sites, but China did not have one yet.
Xu Rongsheng called his colleagues in China to help him build a 3W server. There were no dedicated servers at the time, so he installed a Linux operating system on a PC486 machine and ran HTTP software to publish content. The webpage he designed was relatively simple and did not contain much content, but under the conditions at the time, it was already a complete website, and was no less impressive than those in other countries.
After returning to China, Xu Rongsheng adjusted the website that had been temporarily established before. In addition to the original website that introduced professional information such as the developments in my country's high-energy physics research to the world, he also specially opened a professional publicity column called "Tour in China" to introduce contemporary China to the world.
Who would have thought that planting flowers with care would not bloom, or planting willows by accident would grow into shade trees? The former has not received many visitors due to its high professionalism. However, the latter has aroused the interest of many foreign netizens. Many foreigners have learned about many aspects of contemporary China through the Tour in China column. As time goes by, the number of visitors has increased, and it has gradually become famous.
For this reason, the original website was renamed "China Window" to enhance the information content and promotion of the previous columns. It can be said that the emergence of China Window is the first official website after China entered the Internet era, and it occupies an important position.
Following the success of China Window, various places have begun to imitate China Window and establish numerous local websites such as Yanjing Window, Shancheng Window, Shanghai Window, Tianjin Window, Hangzhou Window, Jinling Window, etc. since this year.
However, including the initially established China Window, the main function of these websites is just to serve as a window for external publicity. From the perspective of website usage and information, they are still very simple and have little commercial value.
"What do you mean...?" Li Daqi asked Luo Yang with a frown.
Luo Yang smiled and said, "My point is very simple. From this point, we can see that the Internet era is coming... No! It can be said that it has already arrived. Although our domestic Internet industry is still very rudimentary, or even very simple, the emergence of the China Window and other local windows has proved the role of the Internet."
"I think investing in the Internet is a very good direction, but given the current domestic situation, we have to invest overseas for the time being. After all, the Internet is developing faster overseas than in China, and the possibility of investment success is greater."
Li Daqi thought about it and nodded, indicating that he agreed with Luo Yang's opinion. However, he also proposed that since there are also primary Internet , we can also pay attention to the domestic aspects during the investment process. After all, Shenghua's advantages in China are greater than those overseas.
If possible, Shenghua can directly intervene in the Internet industry and build a similar Internet company according to the foreign model. However, Li Daqi does not have the ability to do it specifically. As for Qin Zhengguo, he is even more confused about it. Luo Yang, on the contrary, is somewhat interested in it. He suggests that his cultural company should give it a try. Anyway, the current investment in such things in China is not large. If it succeeds, it will be gratifying, but even if it fails, it doesn't matter.
Just when Song Yuanchao and his colleagues were discussing how to invest in Internet companies and plan to get a piece of the pie in the Internet wave, Zhang Hao, who was far away in the United States, had just finished discussing cooperation with a middle-aged man. The two men shook hands and said goodbye with smiles on their faces.
After seeing the middle-aged man off, Zhang Hao took a car to the company. As soon as he returned to the office, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in!"
"Mike!" Mark and Jimmy came in. They asked Zhang Hao anxiously, "I heard that you just transferred your shares?"
"Please sit down first. What would you like to drink? Coffee or tea? Or some wine?" Zhang Hao came up to Mark and Jimmy with a smile and asked.
"I don't want to drink anything, Mike, I remember you promised me!" Mark scolded Zhang Hao angrily. Jimmy on the side tugged at Mark's arm, indicating that there was no need to do this.
"Mike, Mark didn't mean that, he was just a little excited..."
"No! I'm not excited! I just want to know why you do this? Have you forgotten the original intention of our establishment of the company? Have you now become a businessman who only knows how to pursue profits?" Mark shook off Jimmy's hand and continued to question Zhang Hao.
Zhang Hao sighed. He knew that what was coming would eventually come. He said nothing, walked to the cabinet beside him and took out a bottle of wine. He then took three glasses and poured some wine. He handed one of the glasses to Mark: "Take a sip. Sit down and I will explain it to you slowly."
Zhang Hao was not surprised by Mark's rebuke, and he did not argue with him. With Zhang Hao's calm reaction, Mark's anger gradually subsided. He hesitated for a moment, took the wine glass handed to him by Zhang Hao, raised his hand and drank it in one gulp, then sat down on the sofa.
Zhang Hao motioned Jimmy to sit down as well. When they both sat down, Zhang Hao started talking about his own affairs.
Mark and Jimmy knew about Zhang Hao's nationality issue before. After all, it was Mark who rang the bell instead of Zhang Hao when Netscape went public, which proved this point.
As a friend and partner, Zhang Hao did not shy away from these things and told them that Netscape was developing very rapidly after its listing. As one of Netscape's largest shareholders and the actual controller of the company, unless he gave up his original nationality and applied for American citizenship, neither the American political nor business circles would allow a foreigner to control the existence of a thriving Internet company in the United States.
In this situation, Zhang Hao had to make a choice, which was to give up most of his interests in Netscape, thereby marginalizing his position in the company and solving this problem.
"Mike, why can't you consider the advice of the Immigration Bureau?" Jimmy asked with some confusion.
Zhang Hao smiled but did not answer. Jimmy had no bad intention in asking this because he was an American. From an American's perspective and as a friend, it was normal for him to ask such a question.
Mark understood Zhang Hao's idea. After all, he was much more mature than Jimmy. After listening to Zhang Hao's explanation, Mark's anger subsided a lot, but he still didn't understand: "Mike, even if that's the case, you don't have to decide so quickly. Maybe this matter will have a chance to turn around..."
Shaking his head, Zhang Hao said to them frankly, "That's impossible. In fact, the Immigration Bureau contacted me again on the third day after the listing and asked for my opinion. On the surface, they were still very polite, but in fact, this was already an ultimatum. If I don't respond or reassure them, I'm afraid it's not just me who will be affected."
This sentence made Mark stunned for a moment. He didn't say anything for a long time, and then he sighed after a long time.
"But don't worry, although I have made a choice, we are still friends and partners. You came at the right time. If you don't come to find me, I will come to you." With that, Zhang Hao stood up and returned to his desk. He opened the drawer and took out three folders that had been prepared long ago.
After returning to his seat, he handed two of the folders to Mark and Jimmy respectively. They took them with confusion and looked at them. When they saw what was in the folders, they were immediately shocked and hurriedly asked Zhang Hao what he meant.
"Haha, you don't think I will just transfer the shares directly, do you? Don't forget that we are partners, and the company has an agreement in the terms of share transfer." Zhang Hao pointed to the folder in their hands and said, "According to the agreement, when I, as the main shareholder, transfer the shares, you, as the founders, have priority. The transfer of these shares is to enjoy the priority. Of course, I will continue to retain a part of the company's shares as a common shareholder of the company. In addition, the transfer of other shares is for cashing out. This is also a little selfish of mine, and I hope you can understand."
"But Mike, this... this is really too much, and we can't come up with so much money right now." Mark said to Zhang Hao with wide eyes. Jimmy next to him had almost the same expression. Although Zhang Hao was right and they also had priority, this was based on the premise that they were able to take over Zhang Hao's shares.
With the listing of Netscape, the net worth of these three people skyrocketed, but in fact they did not actually gain much wealth. In other words, their wealth was only wealth on paper, not real wealth.
If they wanted to acquire Zhang Hao's shares, even if it was just a part of the shares, according to the priority of the founders, neither Mark nor Jimmy could come up with such a large sum of money. Of course, things would be different after one year. After one year, as the original shares entered the market, they could appropriately sell their shares on the stock market to cash out, and then the wealth on paper would become real wealth.
Now, Zhang Hao directly took out two equity transfer documents and gave them to them. In these two equity transfer documents, Zhang Hao transferred nearly one-third of his equity to Mark and Jimmy respectively, and he had already signed the documents.
As long as Mark and Jimmy sign their names where they sign, the document will take effect officially. At that time, Mark will directly replace Zhang Hao as the company's largest individual shareholder, and Jimmy's shares will increase to more than 5%.
"It's okay. This document was drafted by a law firm after I consulted a professional lawyer. You will hold these shares on behalf of me within the next year. After one year, you can make a formal purchase and payment according to the priority rights. There is no problem from a legal point of view. Of course, the payment amount is calculated based on the current stock price. I may have taken a great advantage in this regard, because no one knows what the stock price will be in a year. If it falls, you will suffer a loss." Zhang Hao explained with a smile. This sentence sounded very touching to Mark and the others. Netscape's current future is obvious to all, and the current stock price is also rising. After a year, the stock price will definitely be much higher than it is now. What Zhang Hao called taking advantage is actually a loss!
