Top of the Great Era

Chapter 2992 It's all about you

It may be because there are too many things going on recently, or it may be because I decided not to return home for the Spring Festival this year.

In a hurry, the New Year is coming.

There is no festive atmosphere at all.

It's already New Year's Eve, and Zhou Buqi is still busy at the company. PayPal will hold a board meeting in the morning, and will meet with Netflix's Hastings in the afternoon to discuss the future cooperation between Netflix and Ziweixing Global.

Whether it is the Spring Festival or not, it doesn’t seem to matter so much anymore.

The elders in the family, on the other hand, were having a great time.

all happy.

  Zhou Buqi is not only good at making money, but also very capable of carrying on the family line. Seeing that Yang Mi is about to give birth and Baoshan is also pregnant with her second child, it is really as festive as it can be. Grandpa is still not satisfied and gave him a new order, saying that he should make progress in the new year!

While you are young, you should have more children if you can!

It was originally planned that Zhou Buqi would take Chen Yutong to celebrate her coming-of-age ceremony on New Year's Eve. However, the girl was still too young, and he was a little hesitant to do it to a 17-year-old girl. Although some people were clamoring, Zhou Buqi still restrained himself and gave up the idea of ​​having a happy first birthday this year.

Here in the United States, there is no holiday for the Lunar New Year.

On the fourth day of the first lunar month, Zhou Buqi attended another board meeting. This was his first time to attend a LinkedIn board meeting in person. In the past, Senior Sister Zhen Yu always attended on his behalf.

There are two main points.

1. Block LinkedIn’s plan to develop in China.

Second, promote the merger of LinkedIn and Ziweixing International.

These two points are interrelated.

If LinkedIn is able to successfully merge with Ziweixing International, then it will be easy to say. I respect your opinion, Mr. Zhou, and LinkedIn will not develop the mainland market. However, if the merger fails, then there will be problems.

Even if you are Zhou Buqi, what gives you the right to interfere?

  There is a conflict of interest here!

Is the reason why LinkedIn is not allowed to develop in China because Ziweixing also wants to do similar business and is worried that LinkedIn will grab the market?

From this perspective, Zhou Buqi should even withdraw from LinkedIn’s board of directors!

If you are a tech person, you will have some respect and admiration for Zhou Buqi, a leader of the new generation of tech industry. However, most of the board members are investors, and there are only two tech people among the seven directors.

They don't care about any feelings.

Only from the perspective of logic and interests.

  Fortunately, Reid Hoffman still had a certain influence, and he and Zhou Buqi took control of the situation. He also came up with a very bold plan, saying that the board of directors should find a way to promote the merger of LinkedIn and Ziweixing International. If the merger failed, it would delay LinkedIn's development plan in China, and naturally someone would have to bear the cost. At that time, not only Zhou Buqi would quit the board of directors, but he would also quit!

In order to avoid suspicion, Zhou Buqi and Hoffman will not participate in the voting in the next few board meetings to discuss whether to sell LinkedIn as a whole. The choice will be entirely given to other directors. All parties only need to proceed from their own interests and seek to maximize value.

Zhou Buqi now realized Reid Hoffman's determination.

At the same time, I also felt the chaotic atmosphere in LinkedIn's board of directors.

No wonder Senior Sister Zhen Yu said that every time she came to LinkedIn to hold a board meeting, she basically abstained from voting because she really didn’t want to get involved in their internal struggles.

If investors want to make more money, they can certainly do so given LinkedIn's current size and scale.

Just put up more ads and get more sponsorship.

It's just that Hoffman disagrees, not wanting too many ads to affect the user experience of the product. Especially now that LinkedIn has developed a mobile app, it should be more cautious when placing ads. Now that even Yahoo has significantly reduced page ads, LinkedIn is still using page ads, which is too outdated.

This shows how important it is to form a united board of directors.

After the board meeting, Zhou Buqi gave Hoffman hope and said with a smile: "If the transaction is really advanced and completed, you will have to work hard and serve as the executive director of Ziweixing International."

Hoffman smiled and said, "Okay, I'm looking forward to it!"

Zhou Buqi sighed, "Actually, I'm not very good at fighting for power in the board of directors. We're all just people who do things, and we don't have the eloquence to form cliques."

"It's normal for all parties to actively fight for their own interests." Hoffman was very calm, as if he was used to it. "How is your side? Is the IPO going smoothly?"

Zhou Buqi said, "It went smoothly. The materials for the first phase have been reviewed." Hoffman said, "It will be soon. If the first phase is approved, there will be basically no problem. It will be available on the market within half a year."

Zhou Buqi nodded, "Well, late May or early June!"

Hoffman hesitated for a moment, then suddenly said, “Three years ago, Microsoft made an offer to acquire LinkedIn.”

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "I know. $5 million is too low! I didn't have any plans to do business social networking at the time, and I was planning to acquire Yahoo at the time, so I didn't have more energy to spare. Otherwise, Ziweixing International might have merged with LinkedIn a long time ago."

Hoffman said, "Yes, it is Yahoo. Microsoft also wanted to acquire Yahoo at that time, but it failed to snatch it away from you."

“Yes, why do you always mention Microsoft?”

Zhou Buqi began to worry.

Because Microsoft's board meeting is also meeting today, if nothing unexpected happens, Microsoft has now completed the power transition. Ballmer has stepped down and Nadella has taken over as Microsoft's new CEO.

Hoffman said: "After Microsoft lost the bid for Yahoo, they contacted me again and expressed their intention to acquire LinkedIn. But I still rejected it."

"Huh?" Zhou Buqi was a little surprised, "Why don't I know?"

He is a director of LinkedIn.

Such a big matter must be approved by the board of directors.

Hoffman said: "Microsoft contacted me and I rejected it. After I rejected it, they really didn't follow up, and no written materials were submitted to the board of directors. The matter was over. Later I found out that Microsoft was cooperating with you and acquired UC Browser."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "So it's all my credit!"

"Yes, everything is related to you." Hoffman also felt that this was too coincidental, and it felt like fate. "Now that Microsoft has a vacancy again, it might make another offer to LinkedIn. If I had to choose between Microsoft and Ziweixing International, I would definitely choose you. But the people on the board of directors are different. They will definitely choose whoever offers the highest price. They have no long-term strategic judgment at all."

This is the difference between founders and capital institutions.

The founder not only wants to make money, but also wants the company to get better and better.

Only when LinkedIn and Ziweixing International merge will they have greater development potential and market vitality, and will they have more monopoly-level advantages and be more competitive in the global market. If they cooperate with Microsoft... Microsoft simply does not have the ability to do social business.

In Hoffman's opinion, even if Ziweixing International's offer is slightly lower, it is still a better choice.

Unless it is absolutely necessary, you really can't cooperate with Microsoft.

Zhou Buqi knew some of the inside story of Microsoft, so he was relaxed and said with a smile: "It probably won't happen in the short term. Nadella was recommended by Bill Gates, and he will definitely implement Gates' ideas."

"What is Gates' philosophy?"

“It’s a combination of software and hardware, just like Apple!”

"Steve Jobs is truly a shadow that Bill Gates will never be able to get out of for the rest of his life!"

Reid Hoffman couldn't help laughing.

In recent years, Microsoft has indeed focused on the fields of software and hardware, making tablet computers and even acquiring Nokia. The strategic direction is very clear, that is, to get closer to Apple and do whatever Apple does.

Nadella is not someone Ballmer likes. He was pushed to the position by Bill Gates, so his first thing to do is to fulfill Gates' instructions.

The first thing is to integrate Nokia.

  Then launch the Microsoft version of Nokia smartphone and make a final desperate attempt in the market!

At this stage, Microsoft simply doesn't have the time to grab LinkedIn.

However, Zhou Buqi could not be careless and said, "We still need to act as soon as possible. It would be best if we raise our placards and initiate the offer in July! Again, from any perspective, the merger between the two parties is a perfect deal!"