The US$5 million + US$5 million that Li Mu gave to Louis Martin quickly had an effect.
Although Louis Martin was in Yanjing, he used his personal connections and obtained first-hand information about Apple at this moment in an unprofessional manner.
Ever since Tim Cook was appointed at the critical moment and took over the position of Apple CEO, there have been several intensive and fierce debates within Apple about the next direction. At this time, Apple executives are mainly divided into two camps, one is One is the stop-loss faction and the other is the counter-attack faction.
The attitude of the stop-loss faction is very simple. They want to split and sell Apple immediately to prevent Apple's stock price from falling below the net assets in the future. This group of people are mainly investors and the capital behind them. They see the money invested in Apple being lost at the speed of light, and the capital Their instinct drives them to just end this failed investment as soon as possible, and then quickly find profits from other projects to make up for this hole.
For many private equity funds, the money invested at the same time may exceed billions of dollars. Losing tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars on a single project is not the end of the world, as long as other projects can make up for this part of the funds. They can trade normally, so it is very important for them to stop the loss in time, because they don’t know how big the black hole will spread next. If you want to fill a hole, you must first stop the hole from expanding, and then based on The actual size of the hole, and try to find a way to fill it.
As for the counterattackers, they are mostly the founders and senior management team of Apple who have been working side by side for so many years. For example, Tim Cook joined the company five years ago with great trust in Apple's future. Although he did not make much money, But they have placed their enthusiasm and belief in this company, and now they are asked to surrender immediately, which is unacceptable to them.
The counter-attackers' view is that Apple is different from most Internet companies. Apple is a company with hardware as its core and supported by patented technology and software technology. As a pure Internet company, if it encounters a bubble, its market value may shrink by 95%. That's because they are like rubber balloons that have been inflated to a huge size. After they explode, they are basically left with a pile of rubber skin;
But Apple is a polar bear weighing more than 1,000 pounds. Even if there is no food in the cold winter, it can still survive on its own fat for a long time. Even a polar bear that is hungry to the point of being skinny and bones still has a strong fighting capacity. Apple The same is true. At this critical moment, Apple should calm down and think about countermeasures and find a breakthrough to counterattack its opponents.
Both factions have their own advantages and disadvantages. For example, although the stop-loss faction does not have a large number of people, it controls a high proportion of shares; although the counterattack faction has a large number of people, most of them are company employees and professional managers, and their actual control over the company is limited. Some are not enough.
Legally speaking, the stop-loss faction has the absolute power to make a decision and implement it, but they are also wary of the fact that the counterattack faction accounts for the majority. Once they completely lose confidence in the company, they are very likely to walk away at any time. , if Apple loses more than half of its core team when it is sold, the company's market value will inevitably suffer a greater blow. This is a result that the stop-loss faction is unwilling to see anyway.
When Apple's stock price fell below the $4 mark on the next third trading day, the stop-loss faction and the counter-attack faction still could not reach a consensus.
According to Louis Martin’s news, the stop-loss faction is constantly persuading the counter-attack faction to accept the company’s capital plan. This will at least ensure that everyone’s jobs have a chance to be retained. Even if they cannot be retained, they can at least get the compensation they deserve;
The counter-attackers are also persuading stop-loss parties to have more confidence in the company. They believe that with Apple’s existing technology accumulation, Apple’s team will definitely find an opportunity to turn things around.
Li Mu is very concerned about the counterattack within Apple, led by Tim Cook, and whether there is any clear counterattack strategy at present. The iPod business has been ravaged by the unlisted Mango-ME2. If Apple still wants to win over Mango-ME2, Going back to Yichen, that might really trigger the nerves of these guys and force them to decide to upgrade the iPod by half a generation, or even one generation.
However, judging from the information obtained by Louis Martin, the counterattacks have not yet found a very clear entry point.
Louis Martin also contributed another very valuable information to Li Mu. Microsoft is making several rounds of indirectly controlled offshore companies through one of its funds to make an acquisition offer to Apple. However, Microsoft is not prepared to acquire the entire Apple. Here, they only hope to acquire Apple's operating system and Mac business line. As for iPod and iTunes, which have become junk assets in the eyes of investors, Microsoft is not interested.
After Li Mu got the news, he cheered excitedly.
Others don't quite understand why Li Mu is excited about Microsoft's intention to acquire Apple. After all, Microsoft is a behemoth in the IT field. Even Makino Technology seems a bit weak in front of them. Its market value, cash flow, technology reserves and profitability are all. It is much worse than Microsoft. If Microsoft also wants Apple, it will obviously be difficult for Makino Technology to ensure its competitiveness.
However, Li Mu had his own point of view. He told everyone: "The U.S. government will not allow Microsoft to acquire Apple, so Microsoft can only use this sideline approach to achieve its goals, so they use companies to control funds, and funds then control offshore companies. , turned many corners to acquire it, the purpose is very simple, it is to get Apple's OS operating system, and then make it into a human pig in the operating system, so that the OS can breathe and live like shit. In the future, the OS will not only not pose any subsequent threat to Microsoft, but will also prevent Microsoft from receiving antitrust law sanctions."
At this point, Li Mu added: "First of all, let me state that I have no discrimination against the gay community. I just used some scum in this group to make an analogy. What Microsoft wants is actually a gay man who longs to find a woman to marry. , he doesn’t want to fall in love with a woman, he just wants to marry this woman so that no one will doubt his sexual orientation and his parents will no longer put pressure on him.”
Everyone nodded in agreement, it certainly sounded like that.
Li Mu added: "For Apple, Microsoft should be the company they least want to be acquired. But now, the company they least want to be acquired has taken the initiative to come to them. I believe the Apple team must be thinking... We are extremely unhappy. In this case, even if we are the initiators of beating Apple to death, Apple will feel much more friendly to us than Microsoft."
"Really?" Louis Martin laughed: "If I were Apple, then you must be the person I hate the most."
Li Mu smiled and said: "You people who are purely interested in capital only care about money, but you have to know that technology geeks value not only money, but also dignity. You can defeat them and even kill them on the battlefield. Yes, but you can’t buy them into your home as slaves and then throw their children into a cesspit.”
Louis Martin said: "The stop-lossists within Apple are just like me. They are purely capital players. They only care about who gives them more money. If Microsoft gives them a higher price, they will not hesitate. If Apple is sold, those people with a sense of honor will not have the right to vote, and they will not be able to decide the future fate of this company."
Li Mu said: "Louis, look at the details, why is Microsoft only willing to buy Apple's operating system and computer business? To put it bluntly, they are not willing to spend a penny more for Apple. They only hope to use the least amount of money to achieve their goals, so they They don’t care about the iPod and iTunes businesses at all, let alone the life and death of Apple’s employees in these two business lines;
Even if Apple’s stop-loss approach is all based on capital thinking, they still have to consider one issue. The only opportunity to cash out the iPod and iTunes businesses is to package and sell them together with the entire Apple. Otherwise, no one will be interested in just these. This part of the assets has become bad debts, and the stop-loss faction still has to pay severance pay for all employees of the iPod and iTunes divisions. Compared with Microsoft, I, a successor who is willing to take over everything, is Apple’s most anticipated savior. . "
Louis Martin shrugged his shoulders and smiled: "That makes sense."
Lei Jun said: "I think Mr. Li's analysis is right. Even the stop-lossists don't want to leave useless bad assets in their hands. At the same time, they also have to use part of their limited money to compensate employees. Microsoft must now feel that "No one in the capital market is willing to take over Apple. They may be Apple's only buyer, so they are unwilling to give Apple any extra offers. If Microsoft maintains this attitude, it will be a huge help to us in acquiring Apple."
Ding Jian, who was in charge of capital operations, asked Li Mu: "Mr. Li, since Microsoft has already contacted Apple, is it necessary for us to also contact Apple in the near future?"
Li Mu said: "No need for the time being, otherwise if Microsoft knows that we are also eyeing Apple, it is very likely to increase its offer and conditions to avoid long nights and dreams."
After that, Li Mu said to Louis Martin: "Louis, keep your eyes on the activities of Apple and Microsoft. I want to know what kind of price Microsoft quoted to Apple, and Apple's internal reaction to Microsoft's offer."
Louis Martin nodded: "Don't worry, I will pay close attention and report any news to you as soon as possible."
Li Mu said: "Tell Sequoia's senior management to keep silent and not to reveal the news that Makino Technology is preparing to acquire Apple."
Louis Martin said hurriedly: "Understood, I will communicate."
Li Mu smiled with satisfaction and said, "The rest will wait until I arrive in the United States and talk to them in person."
As soon as she finished speaking, Li Ziwei knocked on the door hurriedly and said to Li Mu excitedly: "Mr. Li, the World Health Organization has just announced that the epidemic warning has been lifted across China!"
(End of chapter)