Google.
When Larry Page informed all board members of Li Mu's latest asking price, there was a burst of curses in the conference room.
In front of this group of American capitalists, Li Mu became a vicious capitalist who bullied the market, used coercion and inducement, and raised prices on the spur of the moment.
Larry Page understands the feelings of these people very well. Asking them to dilute 15% of their shares is indeed an unacceptable thing, not to mention that after the dilution, Li Mu will become a new shareholder of Google, a person with 15% of the shares and several A new shareholder with a net worth of tens of billions of dollars is actually very important, and can even have a long-term and profound impact on the entire Google in the future.
Although these people can clearly see the benefits of Li Mu's investment in Google, they are unable to make an accurate measurement and judgment. Compared with the 15% direct loss of Li Mu's investment at a low price, compared with the net profit after Li Mu's investment, Which one is bigger? Larry Page insists the latter is bigger, but some shareholders think otherwise.
They feel that it is okay for Li Mu to want benefits, but the benefits must be limited. Even if he builds a highway, the tolls cannot account for 15% of the entire vehicle. This is no longer cooperation, but robbery.
Subsequently, in the first vote, 78% voted against, and the new offer was not approved by the board of directors;
Larry Page hurriedly explained to the board members present: "Although Makino Technology's way of raising prices is hateful, we must be aware of the potential threats of Makino Technology. If Makino Technology enters the search engine, our future will be huge." Affected!"
A shareholder said: "Makino Technology is about to complete the privatization acquisition of Apple. Li Mu will invest a lot of experience in corporate integration. In this case, I don't think Li Mu has the experience to develop a search engine. We As experts in the field of search engines, we know very well how strong technical support and development cycle an excellent search engine requires. By the time Li Mu launches his first search product, I believe we have successfully launched it."
This view was agreed by many people. Some people echoed: "I admit that Makino Technology is very powerful, but it is not omnipotent. Even if it is omnipotent, its energy and physical strength are limited. Makino Technology wants to be on the search engine It will take at least a year or two to form a positive competitiveness with Google."
Larry Page shook his head and said: "If Li Mu wants to build a search engine, he will never develop a new one from scratch. He said last time that he can ask Baidu's Robin to open up all Baidu's technologies and patents to He then divided the world with Baidu, with Baidu doing business in China and Makino Technology doing overseas markets. In this way, Li Mu could directly have his own search engine covered with Baidu's search core overnight, and it could be embedded the next day. Go to all products and conduct rapid introduction. You must know that Baidu's technical strength is not too different from ours."
"Hahaha!" A shareholder laughed and said: "Larry, are you too easily deceived? Baidu will open all its technology patents to Makino Technology? Why is Li Mu so confident? This is the most important thing for an Internet company. How could the core wealth be given away to others so easily? As for the matter of dividing the world into two, it is even more ridiculous. Is Baidu willing to be a local search engine in China for the rest of its life? As long as it cooperates with Makino Technology, it will be directly Lock yourself in the Chinese market, if it were you, would you agree?"
Larry Page explained: "You have ignored Li Mu's influence in China's Internet industry, and he himself is a shareholder of Baidu."
The shareholder curled his lips and said disdainfully: "I am a shareholder of Google, but I also invest in many Silicon Valley companies. Does this mean that one day I will ask Google for Google's patents and technologies? ?”
Larry Page retorted: "As I said just now, you ignore Li Mu's influence in the Chinese Internet industry."
The shareholder asked again: "Let's put aside Li Mu's influence and talk about the possibilities first. As far as I know, Baidu itself is also a company invested by Silicon Valley capital. The purpose of capital is development and expansion. Baidu's shareholders We are definitely looking forward to Baidu stepping out of the Chinese market and seeking breakthroughs in overseas markets. Under this premise, how can they be willing to limit their scope of activities to China? Don’t they want to develop overseas? "
Larry Page said: "I think Baidu Robin's character should be as stable as Li Mu said."
At this time, a board member frowned and said, "Larry, do you know Robin?"
Larry Page said: "Technically speaking, no."
The director said: "If you don't know him, how can you determine what kind of character he is? Is it just because Li Mu said he wants stability that you believe it?"
Larry Page was speechless for a moment. He really didn't know Robin very well. He believed that what Li Mu said was mostly based on his own intuition and judgment. However, such words were obviously not convincing. Instead of It's better to hold it in your stomach than say it out loud.
Seeing that Larry Page had nothing to say, the director pressed forward step by step: "Larry, in my opinion, you were completely frightened by Li Mu, and the gun in Li Mu's hand not only had no bullets, but even It might just be an imitation gun, just like the tactics used by high school dropouts to rob convenience stores. An imitation gun and a hood, pointing the gun at your head and threatening you if you don't take out the money. He will blow your head off! In fact, Li Mu just used a set of threatening words to scare you out of your wits. After you came back, you added fuel to Li Mu's threats, and then helped Li Mu to intimidate us. .”
Having said this, the director hurriedly added: "Of course, I am not saying that you have the intention to harm Google's interests, but your personal judgment has been somewhat affected by Li Mu."
Larry Page said with some sullenness: "Jesse, it's really irresponsible of you to say that. Everything I do is to make Google develop better, otherwise I wouldn't have to go to Li Mu again and again." The humble people in front of me are eager for a cooperation opportunity, and what I want to make today is that you should not let your judgment be influenced by the other party's quotation. When we were about to give 5 points to Li Mu, each of you felt that way. Very good, and they all agree very much. At the same time, they all recognize Li Mu’s strength and believe that Li Mu’s investment in Google will bring great improvement to Google. But now, when Li Mu asks for 15%, you not only refuse, but also start to give in. Subconsciously underestimating Li Mu’s actual ability, this is inconsistent!”
A shareholder said: "We were mostly influenced by you before, so it affected our subjective judgment. In fact, thinking about it now, Li Mu can't do anything to us in a short time. We just need to seize the opportunity and make another big move. Li Mu is here If you can’t catch up with us in the next two to three years, why not?”
Larry Page felt desperate. He kept shaking his head and said: "In the final analysis, you are just unwilling to make sacrifices in terms of interests. It is normal to be unwilling to sacrifice, but I still hope that everyone can face reality. Please be careful. Think about it, because someone else's quotation has increased, you start to think that other people's things must be a bunch of useless garbage. This is standard self-deception."
"Let's vote again." The person in charge of the board of directors said: "If we continue to argue, there will be no results. Let's vote again. If everyone still refuses to support the majority this time, then we will refuse; if everyone feels that If the contract Larry brings back is acceptable, then we will sign it and vote to adopt a best-of-three-game system."
Larry Page rubbed his temples and voted. He was not sure at all.
However, in this case, voting is already the best solution.
A few minutes later, the voting results came out: 73% were opposed.
Larry Page did not expect that after he said so much, the number of opponents only dropped from 78% to 73%, which had no impact on the result at all.
Given that the results obtained in the first two times were very consistent, the board of directors immediately announced that it would reject Li Mu's request to acquire 15% of Google's shares.
Larry Page shook his head helplessly and warned: "Everyone, Li Mu gave us 24 hours, which means we have at least one afternoon and one night to revise the decision we made. I I still hope that everyone can accept Li Mu’s offer. Although it seems that we have lost a lot, in fact... "
Before Larry Page finished speaking, the director just curled his lips and said: "Larry, please stop being alarmist here. Regarding Makino Technology, we have given the final result, and the final result is:" no! "
…
The 24 hours agreed with Larry Page are about to pass, and Li Mu still hasn't received any news about him. Li Mu already roughly understands Google's decision.
Just when there were still 10 minutes to 24 hours, Larry Page called Li Mu. As soon as the call was connected, he said very dejectedly: "Mr. Li. I am very sorry. After a day and night of hard work by our company's board of directors, After consultation, we ultimately cannot accept your 15% offer, so I think this cooperation can only be terminated early."
Li Mu nodded lightly and said: "It doesn't matter Larry, there is an old saying in China that business cannot be done without kindness. Although we failed to cooperate this time, I am still very happy to be friends with you."
Larry Page smiled bitterly in his heart, since when did you consider me a friend? I am almost having a nervous breakdown from you, but he said: "Mr. Li, I hope we can have the opportunity to cooperate in the future."
Li Mu nodded and said with a smile: "Yes, I hope it will be as soon as possible!"
Larry Page said: "I hope so!"
Li Mu smiled and said: "It's not a wish, it's a certainty!"
(End of chapter)