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As a result, the total share capital of Ygritte Company doubled again to 4000 million shares, and Westeros' shareholding in Ygritte increased to 97.5%. Tim Berners-Lee's shareholding The proportion of shares is reduced to 2.5%, and the number of shares held is still 100 million shares.

As for AOL, it was mainly about negotiating the exclusive agreement with Steve Case.

Although Simon plans to acquire a regional telecommunications company in advance, the pace of development of AOL will not be adjusted in the short term.As long as it can sign an exclusive agreement with the three regional telecom operators Bell Atlantic, NYNEX and Bell Pacific, AOL will get twice the result with half the effort in the next few years.

Of course, the biggest problem in this matter is funding.

AOL shareholders are not like Tim Berners-Lee, who proposed that after the agreement is concluded, they plan to use their own funds in the form of loans to pay for the first-year buyout payments of the three companies.

The three companies still insist on paying the exclusive fee based on the overall number of users, but there is still a lot of room for negotiation on the specific amount. In the end, the exclusive fee will probably be reduced to about US$1 per household, as the female assistant predicted at the last breakfast.At that time, the amount in the early 2000 million will be completely within AOL's credit capacity.

This time, Simon also had a general understanding of the operating conditions of the 100 Internet cafes under AOL.

Within one month of opening, thanks to the excellent promotion in the early stage and the public's curiosity about this brand-new leisure and entertainment place, the total revenue of the 100 Internet cafes under AOL reached 206 million US dollars in the first month, and the average revenue of each Internet cafe Turnover over $[-].

Regardless of the initial investment, excluding store rent, employee salaries and power grid expenses, in just this one month, AOL's Internet cafe chain generated a gross profit of 53 US dollars.

If this business situation continues, AOL will be able to recover its initial investment in about two years.

Because of the demonstrative role of these 100 Internet cafes, some people have already contacted America Online hoping to open franchise chain stores.

Moreover, in the previous month, more than 2600 users received customized coupons to access the Internet through Internet cafes under AOL, which is equivalent to 5% of AOL's Internet users in the same period. This is the most important point for Simon .

The fundamental purpose of Simon's original proposal to open Internet cafes was to guide people to become familiar with and access the Internet.

It brought more than 2600 new users in just the first month, and this conversion rate far exceeded the initial expectations of the AOL team.It is conceivable that with the continuous improvement of the functions of the IE browser and the further increase of the content services that the Eaglet Portal can provide, more people will definitely tend to connect to the Internet at home.

Now that this goal has been achieved and will continue to do so, AOL no longer intends to hold the 'Internet Bar' subsidiary in its hands.

Two years to pay back the cost is still a bit long.

AOL headquarters in Palo Alto.

After the discussion meeting on the progress of the negotiations on the exclusive agreement of the three telecom operators ended, Simon and Steve Case stayed alone in the conference room, and Steve Case talked about the Internet Bar.

"We have contacted several private equity funds on Wall Street, and three of them are interested in Internet Bar. America Online holds 50% of the shares, and the highest offer is 1000 million US dollars. I think we should be able to negotiate in the end. To 1500 million U.S. dollars. If we cash out in advance, we will settle most of the first-year expenses of signing the exclusive agreement with the three companies of Bell Atlantic."

Since he didn't intend to make money from these 100 Internet cafes from the beginning, Simon is actually not opposed to cashing out.

However, it must be a bit of a disadvantage to rush to sell it just a month after it opened.

Whether it is 1000 million US dollars or 1500 million US dollars, it is only an offer for 100% of the existing 50 Internet cafes.If you operate patiently for one or two years and develop Internet Bar into a larger chain operation system, the value of this company will definitely increase significantly.

Simon waited for Steve Case to finish, and asked, "Where is IBM?"

"IBM intends to continue to hold its own shares, but they have no objection to us selling our own shares. After we withdraw, IBM's team can take over the operation of Internet Bar instead."

IBM, a behemoth with a recent market capitalization of more than 500 billion US dollars, would not care about a small start-up company like Internet Bar. To be precise, the last time it participated in the investment was only the venture capital department of IBM.Every giant company will have a similar department.

Compared with America Online, which is in urgent need of funds, IBM's investment team understands that the Internet Bar still has a lot of room for appreciation, so naturally there is no need to choose to cash out too eagerly.

Simon understands why Steve Case lacks patience in this matter. The AOL team is very worried that he will continue to spend money to dilute the shareholding ratio of other shareholders. , then sell it. However, make sure that Internet Bar and AOL cooperate in user promotion.”

Seeing Simon let go, Steve Case nodded and said, "I understand. In fact, this matter was included in the terms of negotiation between me and those private equity funds from the very beginning. By the way, Simon, if Cersei Capital is interested in Internet Bar If you're interested, $1300 million is fine."

America Online only invested 350 million US dollars in the Internet cafe project, even if it is 1300 million US dollars, it can get a return of nearly 300%.

Simon shook his head. He had discussed this matter with Janet a long time ago.

Cersei Capital is a very important layout of Simon on Wall Street. Unless necessary, he does not intend to let Cersei Capital overlap with too many businesses under the Westeros Corporation, which will easily cause conflicts of interest and cause criticism. The $200 million It's a small bargain, and there's no need to take it.

"Cersei Capital will not participate in this matter," Simon said after refusing, "Let's talk about another thing. You should know that I have made a lot of money overseas in the past two years."

Seeing Simon's refusal, Steve Case secretly breathed a sigh of relief, $200 million is nothing to Simon, but America Online now needs to count every penny of expenses.

After hearing Simon change the subject, Steve Case nodded, waiting for him to continue.

Simon continued: "The war in Kuwait has caused the Federation's stock market to continue to fall recently. Now is just a good time to expand. My recent idea is to plan to acquire a regional telecommunications company. The initial target is one of the three that AOL is negotiating with."

Steve Case showed a surprised expression on his face, calmed down after a while, and said with a smile: "Simon, I thought you would use that money to buy a major Hollywood studio. After all, Daenerys Entertainment has no foundation. The big studios are so entrenched."

Simon knew that this was probably what many people thought, and he smiled and said, "A lot of things are still uncertain. This time I just want to say hello to you first. I will formally discuss this matter with James and the others when I go to New York tomorrow. In addition, Even for a regional telco acquisition, the whole process takes about a year. So business as usual here at AOL, what you have to do is try to negotiate that exclusivity deal by the end of September. Also, remember Confidential."

Steve Case solemnly agreed, but he couldn't help wondering which company Simon was targeting.

Although Simon was based on the West Coast, Case didn't think it would be Bell Pacific.

The name Bell Pacific sounds more generous than Bell Atlantic and NYNEX, but it is actually the smallest of the three companies, and it should also be the smallest of the seven small Bells. Its business scope is limited to California and Nevada.

NYNEX includes the abbreviations of New York State and New England. Several states in the northeastern United States, such as Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, are small in size and are called New England for historical reasons.

NYNEX, one of the seven small Bells, also operates in these two areas, and shares the Boston-Washington metropolitan area equally with Bell Atlantic.

Because the states of Pennsylvania and Virginia, where Bell Atlantic is located, are considered continents in terms of area and population, the scale is slightly better than NYNEX.

Steve Case felt that with Simon's appetite, the acquisition targets could only be the two companies of NYNEX and Bell Atlantic on the west coast, and it was more likely to be the latter.

But since Simon didn't tell him more, and Steve Case didn't get to the bottom of it, any of the three potential targets would be huge for AOL.Billion-dollar acquisitions are not something he can participate in.

Of course, if Simon's goal can really be achieved, Steve Case can also imagine how much help this will bring to AOL.During this period of time, he racked his brains to sign an exclusive agreement with the three companies, just to obtain the authority to enter their telecommunications network.

The huge buyout funds are not just for a simple monopoly agreement.

As long as the plan is reached, the three companies will open their network rights to AOL, and AOL will no longer need to invest huge sums of money in laying out its own network lines. If the network-covered telephone users install modems in their homes, they can easily access the Internet.

After finishing the affairs of America Online, Simon also went to Cisco headquarters.

Westeros has completed the increase in its shareholding in Cisco, and its shareholding ratio has reached 57.5% of its absolute holding.

Because the recent U.S. stock market has been continuously falling due to the impact of the Kuwait war, Cisco’s original IPO plan has slowed down. Simon did not let Cisco’s team completely stop preparing for the IPO. After all, no one knows better than him that this economic downturn will probably last. time.

In a blink of an eye, it was Thursday.

Get up early in the morning, run in the Woodside Mountains as usual, and plan to fly to New York after breakfast.Because of Simon's schedule, Janet stayed on and planned to spend the weekend together on the East Coast.

Shuttle between the cool mountain roads, passing a fork in the road, a middle-aged man also wearing sportswear followed from the other side.

Simon glanced at the other party and greeted with a smile: "Morning, Larry."

Larry Ellison knew from Simon's smile that the young man had seen through that he was here on purpose. Fortunately, he was thick-skinned, and there was nothing unusual on his unshaven face, but he was very enthusiastic He grinned heartily and responded heartily: "Good morning, Simon."

Seeing that the two knew each other, the bodyguard following Simon slowed down and walked a little further.

The two jogged side by side for dozens of meters, and Larry Ellison took the initiative to say: "Simon, Westeros' shareholding in Oracle has recently increased to 15%, do you still want to buy?"

Simon said: "The recent stock price of Oracle is so cheap. If you can buy more, you must sell. I am very optimistic about this company."

Larry Ellison wondered if Simon was laughing at him.

Oracle's stock price has been really low in recent months. Compared with the highest single-share price of $12 in the past 28 months, Oracle's stock price has recently fallen to around $8, a drop of 70%.The market value has also fallen all the way from the highest US$36 billion to the current US$10 billion, which is appalling.

Because of the continuous decline in stock prices, many shareholders have been selling Oracle shares in the overall situation during this time.

However, in a recent holding increase declaration document submitted by Westeros to the SEC, the shareholding ratio of Oracle has bucked the trend and increased to 15%, an increase of 4% in just one month.

Larry Ellison's shareholding in Oracle is only 33%, and Oracle does not have a multiple shareholding structure that allows him to maintain absolute control of the company.If Simon is allowed to buy it like this, his control over Oracle may be in jeopardy.

Chapter 365 The Oracle Bone Inscription Problem (Revised)

Trotting along with Simon, Larry Ellison followed what he said just now: "Simon, since you are optimistic about Oracle, how about giving me the voting rights of Westeros shares like Microsoft?"

Simon said bluntly: "Larry, just because I'm bullish on Oracle doesn't mean I'm bullish on you. If Oracle's stock price continues to fall, I think it's still necessary to change the person in charge."

Larry Ellison wanted to climb up the pole, but he didn't expect to dig a hole for himself. He laughed dryly and said, "Simon, you must be joking, right?"

The two turned another corner together, and in front of them was Simon's mountain mansion.

Simon didn't intend to invite Ellison to have breakfast together. He stopped jogging and said, "Larry, since Westeros has started to buy, this should be a great benefit to Oracle. Moreover, since a few years ago Since Westeros first purchased Oracle, I have never interfered with Oracle’s operations, and you should understand my attitude. Since you are here today, you are starting to worry about your control over Oracle. So, you Can you tell me, what happened to Oracle?"

Larry Ellison didn't expect what Simon said, and he didn't know how to speak for a moment.

Seeing that Ellison was silent, Simon asked a more specific question: "The financial report for the third quarter will be released next month. What is Oracle's loss?"

"Probably, $3000 million," Larry Ellison hesitated before giving a vague figure, and immediately added: "Simon, this is only temporary. Oracle's single-quarter revenue this quarter It can break through 2 million US dollars, an increase of 26% from the previous quarter. According to this growth rate, Oracle’s revenue in this fiscal year can exceed 10 billion US dollars.”

Simon didn't listen to Ellison's argument behind him, and couldn't help but confirm: "A loss of 3000 million US dollars in one quarter?"

Oracle's revenue has doubled in the past few years, and this year it has begun to expand its business to Latin America and Europe. The speed of development is very strong, which is why it was able to reach a market value of US$36 billion last year.

However, Oracle's net profit for the whole year of last year was only more than 4100 million US dollars, and now it has lost 3000 million in one quarter. Without major investment and acquisition projects, the sudden huge loss can only mean that there is a very serious situation within Oracle. serious problem.

Although Simon does not interfere with Oracle's operations, he is not completely ignorant of the company.

Since the first half of this year, some media have questioned Oracle's financial data exaggeration and false reporting.Unexpectedly, in the third quarter, a huge loss of 3000 million US dollars suddenly appeared.

Stared at by Simon's sharp eyes, Larry Ellison had to nod again.

Simon simply stopped and asked, "So?"

Larry Ellison knew what Simon meant, so he no longer concealed it, and said, "Simon, this is just a strategic mistake. In order to get more bonuses, some salespeople counted customers who just signed software purchase intentions as their own. In the performance of Oracle, it turned out that these customers did not adopt Oracle's software, and I have been dealing with this issue in recent months..."

Larry Ellison said that he didn't continue here, but Simon understood.

So far, it's still not finished.

The new quarterly financial report is about to be released. Serious sales strategy mistakes, exaggerated revenue figures and a huge loss of 3000 million US dollars are enough for angry shareholders to drive Larry Ellison out of office.This guy came to intercept Simon today, probably because he wanted him to help endorse.

Not to mention Simon's personal reputation of creating a wealth miracle in just a few years, only Westeros' 15% of Oracle's shares, plus Ellison's own 33%, can basically ensure absolute control over Oracle. control.

Early technology companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Oracle did not have a multiple shareholding structure that guaranteed the founder's control.

If Simon and other shareholders want to oust Ellison, even if he is the largest shareholder with a 33% stake in Oracle, he probably can only pack up and leave. Jobs was kicked out of Apple that year.

After thinking about it for a moment, Simon said: "You can contact Jim and write a report to me with the details of this matter and the follow-up plan."

Larry Ellison didn't want to go around James Raybould again, and said: "Simon, why don't we go have breakfast together, my car is over there. Or, you can come to Oracle headquarters in the morning , let's talk carefully."

"Forget about breakfast, and I'm going to New York soon," Simon refused. Although he didn't intend to replace Larry Ellison, he didn't intend to make himself appear too talkative, so he said, "That's it for now, You go back and contact Jim as soon as possible, I don't want Oracle to hide anything from our major shareholders."

After saying this, ignoring Ellison, Simon walked towards the door of his mountain mansion.

Leaving Woodside after breakfast, and after the private plane took off, Simon contacted James Raybould to discuss Oracle.

James has also been paying attention to Oracle's recent developments. If Oracle is not one of the companies that Westeros promised not to reduce its holdings for three years, he has already suggested that Simon sell Oracle's stock instead of continuing to buy it.

Oracle's problems should be much more serious than what Larry Ellison described to Simon. Excessive expansion has led to tight cash flow, plummeting stock prices have caused financing difficulties, and they may even face class action lawsuits from shareholders because of their previous exaggerated performance.If this hurdle cannot be overcome, the company may never recover, even if it does not go bankrupt.

The advent of the Internet era will greatly increase the market demand for database software. Simon is not as pessimistic as James. He just asks Westeros to continue increasing its holdings to take advantage of the slump in Oracle's stock price until the shareholding ratio reaches 20%.

Although it is not clear whether oracle bone inscriptions in the original time and space have experienced such a catastrophe, even if the business really loses all, Simon can fully afford it now.

There is a four-hour flight between the east and west coasts.

After hanging up the phone with James, Simon sat in the front cabin living room by the window and opened his laptop, starting to study the "Dune" video game that Nancy gave him a few days ago.

I don't know how long it took, a faint scent came from the air, Simon looked up, and the girl A, Alison Norris, appeared next to him. She also changed into a sky blue stewardess uniform, and she looked more and more slender because of her hair. Rolled up, the delicate neck looks white and slender.

It has to be said that all of the four vases selected by Janet can score more than 80 points.

Seeing Simon look up, Alison said, "Boss, let me ask if you want to have some lunch on the plane?"

Having said that, the girl couldn't help but glance at the video game on the screen of Simon's laptop, feeling a little frustrated in her heart. Could it be that she and Becky are less attractive than video games?

Simon raised his wrist and looked at his watch. The time is eleven o'clock in the morning. This is the west coast time. It should be two o'clock in the afternoon on the east coast. Even if he arrives in New York, he can only wait to have dinner with Janet, so he said: "Whatever Prepare some, I'll go to the restaurant later."

Alison nodded, but did not leave immediately. She walked down the spiral staircase to the cloakroom on the lower floor, opened the safe in the cloakroom, picked out a box of watches and came to the living room again, bowed and handed it to Simon, saying: "Boss , do you want to change a watch, these are adjusted to the east coast time."

The girl was bending over Simon, unbuttoning the neckline to reveal a greasy white.

The distance between the two was shortened, and the alluring fragrance of the female body became stronger.

Simon picked out a silver Rolex, took off the Patek Philippe in his hand and handed it to Alison, smiling: "Okay, go prepare lunch, don't seduce me here."

Her mind was broken, Alison blushed slightly, but looked at Simon more boldly, standing where she was, as if she could be picked by you.

It wasn't until Simon turned his attention back to the computer screen, apparently ignoring her, that Alison had to give up, put the box of watches worth more than one million dollars back into the safe, and left the front cabin to help Simon prepare lunch .

The beauty is in front of him, of course Simon will not be indifferent, he just has his own self-control.

Moreover, in Simon's current position, women are indeed not particularly attractive to him because they are too easy to obtain.

For example, in Hollywood, there are many lechers, but as far as Simon knows, the top studio bosses don't care much about women.

In a private chat, Robert Redford told him a joke. In the early 80s, a studio head wanted to hold a swimsuit party.

The parties of the studio bosses definitely attract more desperate men and women than any Hollywood star party.

When the hot bikini girls filled the pool of the mansion, the boss received a very important script temporarily, he was excited to watch it, and submerged in it unknowingly.After reading the script, he realized that it was late at night, so he casually told the butler that the party was over, picked up the phone and continued to discuss the revision of the script with the screenwriter, and he didn't pay much attention to the pool of beauty from the beginning to the end.

It was already Thursday afternoon when I arrived in New York.

The next day, Simon summoned James Raybould, president of Westeros Corporation, Leon Black, president of Apollo Management Company under Cersei Capital, and others to formally discuss the acquisition of Bell Atlantic.

James Raybould, Leon Black, Amy Pascal and others have been preparing for the MCA acquisition for several months. They were very surprised by Simon's sudden two-line operation and the acquisition of Bell Atlantic. Simon's decision is generally not favored.