Chapter 383 The Frog Who Survived the Tribulation and Ascended to Heaven

Chapter 383 The Frog Who Survived the Tribulation and Ascended to Heaven

Chapter 383 The Frog Who Survived the Tribulation and Ascended to Heaven

South Africa's Naspers Group opened a small office in Silicon Valley, USA, and sent people to YouTube to conduct research.

A bunch of Silicon Valley venture capital firms make their livings on information, so it's hard for them to keep secrets.

After the news that Fan Wumian hoped to exchange YouTube shares for Penguin shares spread rapidly in the Internet technology circle, the three co-founders of YouTube finally got wind of it.

Chen Shijun, who had a good relationship with Fan Wumian, called to inquire about the authenticity of the matter and asked:

"Brother, do you really want to sell that 25% stake in advance? I think this is an unwise decision. The company's performance is soaring, and the valuation may soar again after the second quarter."

I have always said that I will not sell it.

At that time, Fan Wumian himself did not expect that he would suddenly change his mind.

Knowing that this was not done properly and might have some impact on YouTube, he replied in a relaxed tone through the phone:
"You have heard about it?"

"Don't get me wrong, I am very optimistic about your potential. It is because I know that YouTube still has huge room for development that I will use it as a bargaining chip to try to reach a deal with South Africa's Naspers Group. Otherwise, it will be difficult to convince it to transfer the Penguin shares to me."

"Penguin Group, which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, is very important to me personally. It involves some other business plans, and I need to rely on its user scale to reduce the cost of attracting traffic."

"Behind Naspers Group stands the largest bank in Africa and the South African sovereign fund. They are much stronger than me. From some perspectives, this deal is also a good thing for you."

When doing business in Silicon Valley, it is normal for shareholders to break up and merge.

Since no agreement has been reached yet, Fan Wumian chose to keep it secret for the time being, and there is nothing to blame him for.

Chen Shijun said helplessly:

"Half of Silicon Valley should have heard about it. Your initial shares have priority financing rights. We are both from Asia, so we won't play tricks on you. To be honest, there is a company willing to offer $300 million to buy your shares. They just contacted us a few hours ago."

Thinking that Fan Wumian was in Asia, Chen Shijun chose a time that was convenient for him.

Because I came to the UK.

This resulted in the time being wrong. It was just past 1 a.m. in the UK and he had just fallen asleep for less than two hours when Fan Wumian was woken up and felt as if his head had been hit with a hammer.

He only tells his private number to some close friends and important business partners. He is rarely disturbed, so he often turns on the vibrate function in the middle of the night to avoid major emergencies, but there is no way to get in touch in time.

After hearing the price, Fan Wumian immediately turned on the phone and asked:
"If they pay me $3 million in one lump sum, wouldn't that mean a valuation of $12 billion? Which company offered that price?"

Chen Shijun replied:

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you the name of this company unless you agree to discuss it with them. I can only say that it will help YouTube much more than the South African Naspers Group. To be honest, I have never even heard of Naspers Group before."

"I think the buyer's offer is very sincere, so I feel it is necessary to call you. It was just a valuation before, but now it can be cashed out and has real value."

“I would pay $3 million directly. This valuation makes me want to sell all my shares.”

It is far stronger than South Africa's Naspers Group and has been particularly helpful to the development of Youtube.

Be sensitive to the key information in the words.

In an instant, Fan Wumian first thought of several major Silicon Valley companies including Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, and IBM. If they invested huge sums of money in Youtube, it would easily explain why Chen Shijun was so excited.

It is good to lean on a big tree for shade. Once the company has its back against a big tree, the risks faced by it will be greatly reduced, giving the market more confidence in it.

The current situation is that Fan Wumian plans to trade Youtube, but Chen Shijun and others will stay.

Out of their own interests, several co-founders, including Chen Shijun, would of course prefer those who could help Youtube the most to buy the 25% original shares.

It may even further push up Youtube's valuation and make the net worth of several co-founders skyrocket.

This is very much in the interests of Chen Shijun and others, but it will disrupt Fan Wumian's own plans.

For the rich, certain high-quality assets are far more attractive than holding cash.

Compared with obtaining cash, Fan Wumian did not forget his goal, which is to obtain the 28.5% of Penguin Group's shares. South Africa's Naspers Group attaches great importance to Youtube, which makes him dare not act rashly.

If it took the cash and negotiated a takeover with Naspers Group, which has no shortage of money, even if the deal was finally successful, the premium would probably be much higher than the share swap, which would be a bit of a loss.

Take a step back.

If he cashed out his YouTube shares in advance and South Africa's Naspers Group did not plan to sell its Penguin shares, Fan Wumian would really be a fool then.

In terms of short-term rate of return, YouTube's original shares are definitely higher than holding cash, and it is easy to lose everything if you are not careful.

Fan Wumian was still sleepy and didn't have the brain to think about complicated questions. He was worried about saying something wrong, so he just continued to talk to Chen Shijun:

"It depends on the seller. If they want YouTube shares, I'll give them shares. If they want cash, I can sell them. But we've just started negotiations and haven't reached a final conclusion. I'll let you know when I have news, okay?"

Chen Shijun had long known that Fan Wumian particularly liked penguin stocks, and had also read news about the huge profits made from stock trading.

However, like many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, he also believes that Penguin Stocks has a huge shortcoming - being restricted to the mainland and unable to open up overseas markets.

Silicon Valley companies' markets cover countries all over the world, but Penguin Group only develops in the mainland and surrounding areas. From the mainstream thinking in Silicon Valley, this is destined to have a low ceiling and limited prospects.

Seeing that Fan Wumian actually wanted to exchange YouTube's original shares for Penguin shares, Chen Shijun was inevitably a little dissatisfied, and together with the other two co-founders, they began to treat him as an "outsider". In fact, just a few hours ago, the song "Jar Of Love" that had been pinned for a long time was quietly removed by another co-founder.

Fan Wumian doesn't know about this yet.

Even if I heard it, I would just smile and say "childish".

Business is business. I have only met Chen Shijun and his team twice, and we didn’t have a particularly close relationship.

It's not like he broke up with his girlfriend or lover, so it would be strange for Fan Wumian to take it to heart. Even if Youtube's stock price could double or triple in the future, it would still be nothing compared to the hundredfold return of Penguin stock.

After chatting for a few words, he hung up the phone.

Zuo Ziyan, who had been woken up, was only wearing a thin lace suspender nightgown, and the shoulder straps had slipped to her elbows, revealing a large area of ​​white in front.

Fan Wumian didn't dare to look at her any longer, as he had already lost his nutrition. He reached out and patted her head, saying with a smile:
"Go back to sleep. YouTuber Chen Shijun is looking for me to discuss a deal. It seems a company has offered $3 million to buy my YouTube shares."

Immediately, she no longer felt annoyed by being disturbed. Zuo Ziyan raised her eyebrows and asked, "From what you said, do you want to refuse?"

Fan Wumian said decisively:

"Well, I still think Penguin stocks have more prospects. Silicon Valley companies restrain each other to avoid a single company dominating the market. The situation in the mainland is different. If I take control of the Penguin Group, all the frogs that have survived the catastrophe and ascended to heaven will be in my hands."

With his memory advantage, plus the funding, resources and influence of the Penguin Group, the future will probably be quite interesting once the deal is done.

When Fan Wumian thought about the opportunity to invest in Meituan, Bibi Taxi, and Douyin, he would wake up laughing in his dreams.

Of course, opportunities are often accompanied by risks. If you enrich yourself too much, you may face a crisis.

However, those were things that needed to be considered in the future. He was too lazy to worry about it, so he just quietly wrapped himself in the quilt, hugged Miss Zuo and prepared to go to sleep.

Not understanding the joke about "the frogs transcend the tribulation and ascend to heaven, and the upper world feeds on our people", Zuo Ziyan was also very sleepy and muttered:

"Let's talk about it tomorrow. Frog or not, I'm so sleepy that I'm talking nonsense. That's $3 million, don't you really want to consider it? Telling me this late at night, I feel like I'm completely awake, do you want to?"

The seven-inch grip.

Fan Wumian closed his eyes, hugged her head, and whispered:

"Be good, you are dreaming, go to sleep quickly."

".Tsk, you weren't like this when we first got together. You even made me crawl under the table when I was tutoring you."

"."

Bring up old issues when there is a disagreement.

Fan Wumian was very convinced and replied calmly:

"It takes time to convert nutrients into bullets. Now that everything is gone, what can you ask me to give you?"

------------

The next morning.

If you get enough sleep but still feel tired, it has nothing to do with psychology; it is purely physiological.

The two woke up at around 8 o'clock and didn't go downstairs until almost 10 o'clock.

During breakfast.

Pu Jiajing came over holding a laptop, placed it in front of Fan Wumian and reminded him:

"Boss, you need to take a look at this email. The sports shoe brand Feili has agreed to sell you all the rights and interests in Greater China, including Hong Kong City, Formosa Boulevard, and Macau City, for US$2800 million."

The Fiorano brand was founded in Italy. After being acquired by an American hedge fund company for US$2003 million in 3.51, it has been losing money every year and lost more than US$4000 million last year.

Also last year, in order to recover funds, the Feili head office sold its shares in South Korea's Feili to a South Korean company, transferring high-quality assets to external parties like cutting meat with a blunt knife.

Zuo Ziyan heard Fan Wumian mention the attempted acquisition and laughed while eating fried eggs:

"Are you going to borrow money from the bank again? It's like you haven't eaten a meal yet. You have to eat until you vomit. That's not how you do business. There should be a limit to how much a snake can swallow an elephant."

Fan Wumian smiled happily:
"I can't help it. I was afraid of being poor before. I advise you not to say it too early. If I become rich, will your face hurt?"

Thinking of how she had pointed fingers at him in the past, Zuo Ziyan's face began to hurt. She smiled and said:

"I'm so happy that you made money, but I'm worried that you might get carried away. Sometimes I have to advise you to think more about it. Do you think I like to be a gossipy little woman?"

Pu Jiajing nodded and chimed in:
"Let me be fair. Miss Zuo is indeed thinking about you, the boss. I also feel that there are too many projects recently and the money will be drained."

Glancing at her, Fan Wumian replied:
"I've calculated carefully, and I can barely make it. If I'm really short of money, I can still go out and sing. I can sign some concert tours and ask the partners to transfer the money to me first."

(End of this chapter)