Birth of an actor

Just as Chinese businessmen like to discuss business at the wine table, because of the prosperous party culture, many contracts in the United States are also completed in this seemingly informal occasion.

No one thinks that talking about cooperation at a party will be too casual or too serious-if they have a friendly and cooperative attitude towards each other-the two parties sit on both sides of the conference room with clear barriers. It is used to negotiate terms with opponents who have competition or interest disputes, or for lawyers to fight with each other.

So William didn't think it was wrong to directly propose to Steve Jobs to buy the other party's Apple stock at David Geffen's party. Steve Jobs immediately accepted the proposal and fell into thinking .

At the same time, William looked at Steve Jobs in front of him.

Different from William's famous image of thin face, bald head, gray hair and beard but a bit sharp in the impression of William's later generations, the current Steve Jobs is slightly fat, with dark brown hair and thick beard, and only a little hairline appears on the top of his head The problem of moving the line back is very different from the image of later generations.Of course, there are still some similarities, that is, no matter whether he is slightly fat or thin, whether he is suffering from illness or not, Steve Jobs always looks so radiant.

William knew that Steve Jobs still had 150 million shares of Apple, and he wanted them so badly—

In 1976, Steve Jobs, Stephen Wozniak, and Ron Wayne founded Apple together. At first, the shares of Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak were half and half, and later Apple The company received capital injections from angel investors Michael Markkula, venture capital funds Sequoia, and ArthurRock. Steve Jobs' equity was quickly diluted. In 1986, Steve Jobs left Apple due to internal power struggles At the time, he owned about 650 million shares of Apple, or about 11.3% of the company at the time.

However, after leaving Apple, Steve Jobs sold all the Apple shares he owned in resentment, leaving only one share so that he can still receive Apple’s annual report every year, and sold 650 million shares of Apple shares. million in cash, which he later used to found and grow NeXT and acquire Pixar Animation Studios.

At this time, Steve Jobs had nothing to do with Apple, but in the ten years from 1986 to 1996, Apple's development has not been smooth. Last year, Apple took a fancy to a number of technologies owned by NeXT and sought The acquisition, Steve Jobs agreed, so on December 1996, 12, Apple bought NxXT at a purchase price of nearly 20 million US dollars, and at the same time gave Steve Jobs 4 million shares of Apple stock.

Although he has regained contact with the company he founded, the current Steve Jobs is not really returning to Apple, because the current president of Apple is still Gil Amelio, who once brought the American semiconductor company back to life, and the board of directors is against him. Jill Amelio trusts very much. Steve Jobs' current position at Apple is only a consultant, and his daily work is only to lead NeXT employees to better integrate into the new company.

Steve Jobs finally looks like he's done thinking: "May I ask you a few questions?"

"of course."

Steve Jobs was very confused: "Why do you know that I have 150 million Apple shares?" Apple bought NeXT for $150 million. The media reported that Steve Jobs also received [-] million shares at the same time, which is almost only circulated in Silicon Valley.

"Because I have some friends in Silicon Valley." William shrugged and replied slyly.He really has a few geek friends, such as Harvard roommate Christopher Dixon, and his group of enthusiasts who are also obsessed with computers and the Internet.

"Then why do you think I will sell these stocks to you?" Steve Jobs pressed on step by step: "If you know enough, you will find that I am not short of money at all."

This is true, not to mention that the listing of Pixar made Steve Jobs directly into the billionaire club, and he has a lot of glory. The acquisition of NeXT by Apple alone brought him more than 2000 million. Unless Steve Jobs has some new ideas and wants to establish or acquire a new company, otherwise, he is really not short of money-Apple's current stock price is about 150 US dollars per share, 2000 The cash obtained from the sale of all [-] shares is only about [-] million US dollars, which is not as good as a fraction of Steve Jobs' current assets.

"I know you are not short of money." William nodded, seemingly casually said: "But I think you should really need to let everyone know that you are selling Apple's stock this month, since you can't wait to learn from Jill. Amelio's got-"

"Stop—!" Steve Jobs looked around vigilantly, then suddenly turned and walked towards the empty terrace, and asked William to follow: "Come here and talk."

William followed Steve Jobs to the terrace, and picked up two glasses of champagne with great interest on the way, and handed him a glass after Steve Jobs stopped.

Although Steve Jobs took the champagne, he didn't seem to be interested in tasting it at all. He just took a big sip in a hurry (swallowing it even faster than drinking water), and then signaled William impatiently: "Now you can Let's go on."

"You want to drive away Gil Amelio, let Apple's board of directors re-invite you to become CEO, and really return to the company you founded, am I right?" William did not use a questioning tone, but chose to make a statement The tone of voice, which fully demonstrates his confidence and affirmation of what he said.

Steve Jobs drank the champagne in one breath, then put the wine glass heavily on the terrace table, and asked William in a low voice: "I don't know why you think so, I'm an Apple consultant now, and I just Consultant, my real business is with Pixar, and Pixar is—”

"Forget it, Steve, you don't have to hide anything from me. If you really saw Pixar as your life's work, you wouldn't choose a Pixar partner between Disney and DreamWorks. Pixar just went public It didn't take long for "Toy Story" to achieve great success again, and it could easily develop into a series of movies that could make a lot of money. It stands to reason that Pixar can maintain a good momentum of independent development without the help of other companies... unless The owners of Pixar, like you, Steve, know that they can't devote their full energy to Pixar, so they are going to find a partner for it."

Steve Jobs frowned into a frown, and he asked William in an incredulous tone: "Are you really just a Hollywood star?"

William raised his eyebrows lightly and said, "It's definitely not a spy sent by Microsoft or Apple's board of directors anyway."

"Tell me everything you know." Steve Jobs stared closely at William and said, "What you've heard, your own guesses, I want to know how much you know, and then, then we'll talk about other things. thing."

"No problem." William turned his head slightly to look at Steve Jobs: "I'm not going to threaten you anyway."

Then William began to state all his conjectures: "When I first heard that you planned to choose Pixar's collaborator between Disney and DreamWorks, I knew that your greatest ambition was not in Hollywood. Get to know Steve, you are the type of person who is very controlling and wants complete control over everything, everyone, and everything in your life and career, and now you are going to put Pixar, which is booming, delivers some of it, and that just means one thing—that you have something more to desire than Pixar."

The facial expression of Steve Jobs changed significantly, and William knew that he had indeed said what the other person was thinking: "So I started thinking: What is that thing?"

"Actually, the answer is so simple that it's almost clear at a glance—you have only been involved in two industries in your life, high-tech in Silicon Valley and animated films in Hollywood. Hollywood has obviously been put in second place by you now, so you are very The thing you long for must still be in Silicon Valley. Since you sold NeXT, the company you built in the past few years, at the end of last year, and you also took a consultant position in Apple, so Steve Jobs, you What else can the ultimate goal of the company be other than to take back the Apple company that you first founded and that belonged to you at the very beginning.”

"You want to be like Captain Kirk in "Star Trek", taking his crew back to the Enterprise and eventually taking control of the starship."

Steve Jobs' facial expression, after a series of surprises, silences, deadpans, finally ushers in a small smile.

William breathed a sigh of relief—although he was exposed, Steve Jobs not only did not become angry, but smiled, which meant that he did not feel bad for William, and their cooperation was promising.

In order to show his sincerity, William declared himself a frank person to a suspicious person like Steve Jobs. William did not shy away from talking about the various ways he obtained inside information: "In order to verify the speculation, I asked Silicon Valley Some friends of mine helped me inquire about some news, and the information they fed back further confirmed my thinking—after completing the acquisition of NeXT, Apple’s board of directors didn’t want to invite you back, but you won the position of consultant yourself. ; It is said that Bill Gates once called Gil Amelio and said that it was a 'dangerous and stupid decision' for him to agree to your return to Apple; Gil Amelio was so afraid of you that he even called another Apple founder , At the same time, the relationship with you has become very bad. Stephen Wozniak also invited back to the company, just to check and balance you; although Jill Amelio is heavily armed, you still use the reason of building the core operating system for Apple to make yourself Rubin Stein, a friend of mine, held a key position in the company."

"So many connected incidents, it just screams that you're fighting Jill Amelio for control of Apple."

"Of course there are two most important points. One is that as early as 1994, when Apple's CEO position changed again, you lobbied many board members, hoping that they could invite you back, but the board rejected you; the other is that you Oracle’s close friend, Oracle’s CEO Larry Ellison has been criticizing how bad Apple’s performance last year was in the past two months, and has repeatedly publicly stated that “Only Steve Jobs can save Apple!” What a good assist, Didn’t it? That kind of swayed some Apple directors, right.”

Steve Jobs' smile deepened, his eyes twinkled startlingly: "Go on, young man, and let me know how far you can surprise me."

"The 1994 attempt made you understand that softer methods are no longer going to work, and you have to take some drastic and smarter actions to get back to Apple—"

"You have separated the power from Gil Amelio within the company with the help of friends and former NEXT employees;"

"You let reporters exaggerate Apple's performance failure last year and shake the confidence of the board of directors and employees in Gil Amelio;"

"You got your friend Larry Ellison to instill in Apple's board that only you can save this company;"

"The last step, you have to get rid of all the Apple stock in your hand."

"Because the 150 million shares were given to you by Apple when it acquired NeXT, they are registered shares, so as long as you sell them, everyone will know that you sold the shares, and everyone will know that you are not short of money. So your sell-off could easily be interpreted by the public as Apple's gradual decline, Jill Amelio's mismanagement, and lo and behold, the founders and company advisors have sold out now -- and Apple's stock price will suffer immediately. When the market value of the company evaporates hundreds of millions due to the turmoil of the story, but Gil Amelio can't do anything about it, the board of directors will be completely disappointed in Amelio."

"I have to say, this is basically a flawless combo. At that time, you only need to stir up a little in the board of directors, Steve, and you can come back in full glory."

"You forced the board of directors to fire Gil Amelio by further crushing Apple's stock price, completely ignoring that the company's market value may evaporate hundreds of millions of dollars, because you must be sure that you have the ability to lead Apple after becoming CEO again. Back to the top."

"You're a genius, and a mad genius, Steve Jobs."

"Terrible young man, William Bradley, you are a terrible young man." If the high eyebrows couldn't explain Steve's mental activity, his complicated eyes at least explained part of the problem.

"I got it?"

Steve Jobs finally nodded and admitted: "You got me right. Will, horrible young man. I should be annoyed by that, but strangely enough, I'm not."

William raised his glass to him: "Because I'm good at complimenting people? If you really heard what I just praised you."

"Hahahaha, I can tell." Steve Jobs laughed and said, "Apple's stock price is not only low, but also fluctuating violently. If you dare to take a position at this time, and believe me - you are still a person with nothing in Apple now. ——Can counterattack successfully, William Bradley, I have to say that you are crazy enough. Of course, I dare to swear by the name of Steve Jobs, what you made is definitely a crazy but extremely smart decision !"

William smiled: "So, are you willing to let me be the one who picks up the warehouse?"

At first, Steve Jobs felt that William Bradley was a terrible person. If he was interested in business, he would be a nightmare for all his opponents. Now he felt that William Bradley would definitely have a great success in Hollywood. As, come to think of it, with such handsomeness and acting skills, coupled with such brains, unless even God is jealous enough to call him back to heaven in advance, William Bradley will definitely succeed.absolute.

——It must be nice to be partnered with William Bradley, but it must be a nightmare to be played against.

"Is there anything more public opinion effect than selling stocks to a Hollywood star?" Steve Jobs laughed and clinked glasses with William: "Of course my answer is: YES!"

……

Maybe it was because they were too excited to negotiate a big deal, or because they drank too much champagne and ginger ale. After William and Steve Jobs said their friendly farewells, they immediately started looking for the bathroom all over the house.

After comfortably draining the water in the bathroom in the middle of the corridor on the second floor, William was drinking hand sanitizer under the tap while noticing the strange-looking man who came in after him in the room.

The black tight T-shirt and charcoal gray skinny jeans are different from those of the male waiters outside, but the face with heavy foundation and eyeliner gives this young man a kind of enchanting temperament. He really looks like a "Geffen" boy".Or at least, a bend.

William didn't have a problem with the way the young man (OR boy? looked in no way over 20, probably just coming of age) dressed, but he did have a problem with the way he was looking at him.

Ever since William entered the door, the other party has been staring at him intently. When William turned on the water, the other party's eyes kept wandering back and forth--William is also considered a very insensitive person, so he only noticed that people now. An uncomfortable look all over.

Just as William turned off the tap, wiped his hands, and was about to leave quickly, the man said, "Hi, Will."

This purposefully disguised hoarse voice made a row of small particles on William's arms: "Hi?" He replied politely, and then stretched out his hand to pull the door.

But the young man suddenly came over and held William's hand on the doorknob, held it, and leaned very close: "My name is Sam."

"Hello, Sam." William withdrew his hand, and at the same time moved his body to the side to avoid the pungent perfume smell on the other party's body: "I don't think I know you?"

"It's enough for me to know you." The man named Sam moved closer, his olive eyes looked at William's: "You are more handsome in real life than you look in magazine photos, Will, especially these eyes , the best painters could not paint such colors—”

When Sam's body was only 0.1 cm away from William's chest, William finally sneezed unbearably.

At the same time, the bathroom door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

"Is there anyone inside? I'm sorry, I'm really in a hurry—" The person who came in this time was even weirder, and it was actually Leonardo DiCaprio.

As soon as Leonardo DiCaprio stretched out a leg, he saw two men in front of the sink so close to each other, so close that they were almost stuck together, he immediately put his left hand on his eyes and said : "I'm sorry I didn't see anything!", closing the door with his right hand and backing out.

"..." William hoped that Leonardo DiCaprio hadn't seen anything. After the door closed again, he frowned and pushed away the person in front of him. His eyes became sharp and he asked impatiently. :"who are you?"

Sam hadn't answered yet, the next second, the door was pushed open again, and the golden head came in again: "Will?" The blue eyes circled around William and Sam, full of confusion Emotion: "What the hell are you doing?"