My 1999

In the evening, in a manor villa on Long Island, New York, the lights were on, and guests gathered in groups of three or four, holding wine glasses and chatting, with smiles on everyone's face.

Just a few minutes ago, the young Wall Street tycoon Jin Caesar announced two good news to them.

The first good news is that the money they invested in Pacific Fund still has a return rate of nearly 1.5 times after deducting the excess profit share and management fees.

The second good news is that the rate of return is far from stopping growing, and there is still a chance to rise further this year.

In their eyes, Golden Caesar is undoubtedly a good friend of the American people.

Gates stood side by side with Xu Liang, looking at the guests with smiling faces around him, and said, "Xu, thank you very much. The $500 million that Cascade Investments invested in you is almost $1.2 billion.

The allure of finance is so strong that I don’t even want to sell software anymore.”

Xu Liang glanced at Gates and smiled secretly.

Last time, he and Gates had some unpleasantness because of the Android issue.

As a result, after receiving a fund performance disclosure document and a party invitation, Gates rushed from Seattle to New York and gave him a warm hug as soon as they met, as if the unpleasantness of the past had never existed at all.

"Bill, you're so polite. We can be friends."

"Haha, that's right. We are best friends."

Gates smiled and then asked, "Are you still in need of fundraising recently?

I just cashed out some Microsoft shares and was looking for a good investment channel.

After thinking about it, I found that there is no better place in the world than your place. "

Xu Liang smiled. He didn't mean to look down on Gates. It was human nature to chase rising prices and sell when prices fell.

“Why not invest in YouTube?”

The smile on Gates' face froze for a moment. Who in the entire Silicon Valley investment circle didn't know how deep the YouTube pit was?

The five big Hollywood moguls are regretting their decision so much. They were so enthusiastic when they got on the bus in the first place, and they are so eager to get off now.

They have become the laughing stock of the entire investment community.

Old Gates considers himself smart, but he is unwilling to fall into this big pit.

Moreover, his chief financial officer Larson told him that it would take at least several billion dollars, or even tens of billions of dollars, to make YouTube's business model work.

Even so, YouTube may not be able to turn a profit.

Gates took a sip of the whiskey in his glass and asked, "Xu, do you think YouTube has a chance to go public independently?"

"Of course!"

Xu Liang spoke with great force.

He also hopes to attract more people to fill the gap in the oil pipeline.

"How much money will it cost?" Gates continued to ask.

Xu Liang thought about it and felt that he couldn't treat Gates as a fool, so he said half-truthfully: "It may require an investment of several billion dollars."

Gates paused for a moment and then said, "I always felt that YouTube couldn't survive on its own."

Xu Liang's heart moved, and he pretended to ask casually: "Why, Microsoft is interested?"

Gates smiled and waved his hands, "You misunderstood, it wasn't Microsoft that acquired YouTube, it was Facebook!"

“Bill, I think you forgot. YouTube is a subsidiary of Hongmeng.”

Old Gates smiled and said, "Xu, I think you know the rules of the game in this country better than I do. If they cannot be controlled by American capital, then mainstream Internet companies will not be able to survive here.

The best outcome for YouTube is that it will be acquired by Facebook, otherwise it will be forced to shut down directly.”

Of course Xu Liang knew all this.

Originally in history, TikTok faced the same ending.

Either sell to American companies or be driven out of the American market.

Seeing him in deep thought, old Gates smiled.

"Xu, your strategic development layout for Hongmeng is very reasonable. You only focus on markets outside the United States and English-speaking countries. This saves energy, improves capital utilization, and allows Hongmeng to develop to its current level faster.

So I think YouTube should take the same strategic development direction.”

Xu Liang shook his head slowly, "Bill, your suggestion is good, but it's not realistic.

Facebook's financial situation has only just improved, and if it acquires YouTube, it would be like taking on a huge burden, and shareholders would not agree."

"First, take Facebook public, then issue additional shares to acquire YouTube."

Gates smiled and said, "During this period, we can jointly invest in maintaining YouTube, and then exit through mergers and acquisitions."

Xu Liang understood instantly.

This old guy's target was never YouTube, but Facebook.

But this is normal. It is already 2008, and Facebook is already the world's top social networking site with hundreds of millions of registered users and an increasing number of customers opening up its platform.

And profits are growing rapidly.

Everyone can see that Facebook has incredible potential in the future.

Anyone who is not a fool would come and have a piece of the pie.

However, Facebook's background is too strong. Hanhua, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Stanford University Foundation, Sequoia Capital, and the Bush family are all well-known.

Who dares to do something behind my back?

So old Gates had no choice but to persuade Xu Liang to get in the car.

"How about it?"

Gates lowered his voice a little: "If you are worried about the review and approval of the transaction, I can help with some work."

Xu Liang chuckled. He was not actually very worried about the problem Gates mentioned.

"Bill, you know that Facebook's board of directors is not run by me alone. Unless you can convince the majority, even if I agree, it won't solve the problem."

Old Gates frowned.

“Of course, this is an essential procedure.

However, you are a major shareholder in both companies and your opinion is crucial.”

Xu Liang had a headache. It seemed that Gates wanted him to express his opinion today.

"In principle, I agree."

Anyway, he didn't believe that profit-seeking guys like Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch would agree to Facebook's acquisition of YouTube.

Who is willing to bear a loss of $300 million a year?

Gates said in a joking tone: "Just your words are enough, but if this issue is ultimately rejected, I dare not participate in the financing of YouTube."

"That's a shame. Bill, YouTube is a company with great potential, but it needs more investment to grow."

"Haha, I believe it."

Old Gates laughed it off and avoided the topic.

"Xu, I heard that Facebook is investing in dark fiber, which is a business that requires a lot of capital. Maybe you can consider starting Facebook's Series B fundraising?"

“Forget about raising funds. Facebook Group has made considerable profits from the stock market recently, which is enough to invest in dark fiber business.”

“That’s a shame.”

Old Gates sighed inwardly, having missed the opportunity.

When Facebook started its Series A fundraising in 2005, Microsoft and others were not very optimistic about the social business which did not have a clear profit model, so they did not participate.

Who would have thought Facebook would grow so fast?

Relying on the open platform, the company quickly turned things around, with revenue increasing and starting to make positive profits.

By the time he wanted to get on the bus, it was too late.

The current Xu Liang is not someone he can easily control, so he can only look for opportunities later.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

"Xu, the global staple food prices are rising sharply now. Do you think there are any good investment opportunities there?" Gates Sr. changed the subject.

"Why, Waterfall Investment is also interested in the futures market?"

"A little bit. So we want to hear your opinion as a financial genius."

Xu Liang took a sip of the whiskey in his glass and said, “There are indeed some investment opportunities in the global staple food futures market, but the key is to grasp the timing of exit.

Don’t ask me.”

After interrupting the next sentence of Gates, he said, "I am not involved in the global staple food futures trading, so I can't give you an accurate judgment."

Old Gates stared at the man in front of him. "Xu, you participated in the entire soybean transaction last time. Why did you give up this time?"

"It's simple. Human energy is limited. I pay more attention to the subprime bond market than to staple food futures."

Xu Liang was half true and half false.

In fact, the main reason why he did not participate was that he was not optimistic about the Big Four.

There was no sign of abnormality in his deep and calm eyes.

Moreover, the fact that Xu Liang was pessimistic about subprime mortgages had already become known to the world.

Old Gates smiled and said, "I originally wanted to participate in global staple food futures with you, but now it seems there is no chance."

"There is still a long way to go, and I believe there will be many opportunities in the future."

Xu Liang handed over the wine glass.

Old Gates also came over.

bite……

A crisp sound was heard, and under the bright light, the wine seemed to become clearer.

…

After the dinner, Li Jinling came over and said.

"Mr. Xu just received news that the Thiel Fund and the Paulson Fund have also passed the news to their respective clients. They will hold thank-you receptions for their respective clients tomorrow and the day after tomorrow respectively."

Xu Liang touched his slightly rough jaw and said, "It seems that they have not been having a good time these past two days."

“No hedge fund manager wants to be in the media spotlight.”

Xu Liang nodded, and sent an email to each of the two companies in the name of "You think" and proposed to join forces to mobilize the investors behind each of them to block the news that slandered us.

"Okay. One more thing, Mrs. Helen has arrived in New York."

"She's coming? When?"

"I arrived at 5:30 this afternoon, not long after you left for the cocktail party."

Xu Liang nodded and said, "Go home."

…

Xu Liang has three houses in New York.

One is located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, with a construction area of ​​1,200 square meters.

One is located in Midtown Manhattan, with a construction area of ​​500 square meters.

Finally, there is the sea view villa in Long Island, which covers a total area of ​​4.5 acres (about 27.3 acres).

Make full use of the characteristics of the cunning rabbit with three kilns, take turns living in the three villas, and ensure your own safety as much as possible.

But this time Helen lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, so he came here too.

As soon as I entered the door, the two little guys rushed over.

"dad."

He picked them up one at a time and after a few intimate moments, he looked at the beauty behind them.

She was wearing a long red dress and her soft golden hair was casually draped behind her head.

Her legs were still straight and slender, but she was wearing a pair of slightly loose black trousers.

The originally slender waist is now much fuller.

He put his two sons aside and walked over to the woman, gently holding her in his arms for a moment before letting her go.

"Your belly is so big, why did you come here? Didn't I say I would be home in a few days?"

The last time he came to the United States, he gave Helen a triple embryo.

And it was a double hit.

It's only been four months and her belly is already very big.

"I'm not in such a bad health, and these two little guys miss you after not seeing you for a long time." Helen said with a smile.

Xu Liang helped her sit down.

The two little guys sat down, one on the left and one on the right, surrounding their parents.

They also knew that their mother's belly was too big and she couldn't move, so she played with Xu Liang more.

After making a fuss for a while, seeing that it was getting late, they asked the nanny to put the two little ones to bed.

"Are you sleepy?"

Helen shook her head. "I was a little sleepy, but now that you're back I'm not sleepy anymore."

Xu Liang stretched out his hand, and the beauty obediently leaned into his arms.

Neither of them spoke, and the silent warmth was transmitted in the depths of each other's hearts. For a moment, silence was louder than words.

I don’t know how long it was before the sound of clear snoring interrupted Xu Liang’s thoughts.

When I turned around, I saw that Helen had fallen asleep.