Film and Television World Life Record

However, this made Mingcheng and his wife's life even more difficult.

Especially in the month that Li Mu returned to the United States, the young couple only had a few thousand yuan left for their daily expenses that month.

Su Daqiang spent most of his money on a single trip to the hospital, leaving him with only enough to cover his daily lunch expenses.

The young couple had no money left for basic meals and groceries, let alone other expenses.

A living person can't be held back by their bladder, so the two had no choice but to cash out some of their credit cards to get through that month.

However, the expenses increased even more the following month. When they looked at the monthly expense list, they were shocked.

He has to pay off his mortgage, make installment payments to Su Daqiang, cover his daily lunch expenses of fifty yuan, and pay his credit card bills.

All of this added up to three-quarters of their monthly salary and bonuses.

The remaining quarter is for daily expenses, including meals, groceries, transportation, and phone bills.

Previously, their combined salaries weren't enough to cover their expenses, and they needed their mother's help; now, a quarter of their salaries covers their entire monthly expenses.

The same people, at different times, have vastly different living conditions, and Mingcheng and Zhuli find themselves in dire straits.

However, it's not something you can talk about, so you have to swallow your pride and keep quiet.

At present, the only hope is that the eldest brother can prepare as soon as possible to bring Su's father to the United States so that their lives can be more relaxed.

Although they are not as wealthy as before, they can finally have some peace and quiet, which is their only hope now.

……

Li Mu had been considering when to bring Su Daqiang to the United States, but he hadn't made a decision yet, so it was delayed.

On the one hand, they were genuinely unprepared, and on the other hand, they took advantage of Su Daqiang's mischievous nature to let the young couple experience the hardships of life in advance.

Especially Mingcheng, if he doesn't suffer and endure some hardship to mature, it will be too difficult to change him.

Time passed by little by little, and it was time for Mingyu to return to China.

During this period, although Mingyu was in the United States, traveling around to relax, her heart was in China. She would check on the company's situation through Liu Qing every day.

At first, I was worried that my older brother's guess was wrong and that things might change. As time went on, things indeed developed in the direction I had predicted.

Without Mingyu, President Meng's confidante, to take the lead domestically and rally a group of middle managers to fight against Vice President Sun, even the troublesome Liu Qing became more low-key after her persuasion.

With Lao Meng gone, Vice President Sun suddenly seized power and colluded with Lao Meng's wife's cousin, another senior executive in the company, to plant his cronies and eliminate dissidents within the company. For a time, he was incredibly powerful and influential.

Chapter 15 Harvest

On Lao Meng's side, while waiting for all of Vice President Sun's people to come forward, he also collected evidence and even took this opportunity to secretly make arrangements in Jiangcheng.

While everyone's attention was focused on the power struggles in Zhongcheng, he secretly acquired a company in Jiangcheng, thus completing his market presence in the local market.

Then, before the chaos in the company escalates into a widespread problem, he forcefully returns to the company, presents the evidence he has collected during this period, and directly eliminates Vice President Sun and his entire group.

The established goal was easily achieved.

It has to be said that experience counts. Although Lao Meng's move was risky, it successfully eliminated dissenting voices and factions within the company. In particular, he also took the opportunity to get rid of his wife's family, thus preventing another potential threat from arising.

……

After Mingyu left, Li Mu began the final roundup of his operations targeting cryptocurrencies.

In the blink of an eye, two months have passed since he shorted cryptocurrencies. During this time, the price of Bitcoin has fluctuated wildly, like a roller coaster.

Fortunately, the overall trend is still downward, and the price has now fallen to $6500.

Other cryptocurrencies have suffered even more severe losses, with many shrinking by several times or even more than ten times.

Despite the potential for further decline, the company continues to expand its profit scale.

Li Mu decided not to wait any longer and officially closed his position today.

The real world is different from this place, and given the butterfly effect his involvement will have on the price of cryptocurrencies, it's hard to say whether the price will rise or fall in the future.

If the price doesn't fall as expected, the profits you've already made will have to be given back.

It would be better to take profits while you're ahead; you've already made a fortune.

……

Subsequently, Li Mu used a credit escrow account containing $2.12 million to spend nearly $5400 million to buy back 8100 BTC on the market, and then spent another $1100 million to buy back other cryptocurrencies.

With this series of actions, he easily gathered up the virtual currency he had borrowed from the exchange two months ago.

That's exactly the amount of cryptocurrency he shorted back then.

Li Mu returned the cryptocurrencies to the exchange, settled the interest, commissions, and fees, and the short-selling operation officially ended. In just two months, the net profit reached a staggering $1.45 million.

Including the pledged $7800 million, the total is $2.23 million.

When all the money was withdrawn into his personal bank account, Li Mu was both excited and relieved. He was now a genuine billionaire.

……

However, the money did not stay in his account for long. After so much time, the acquisition of Olkus shares and the investment were completed thanks to Goldman Sachs' strong operational capabilities, and all that was left was for the funds to arrive.

The first step was equity acquisition. Olkus's early investors, given the current slump in VR technology and the lack of returns, were mostly forced to exit.

With Goldman Sachs' help, Li Mu acquired a 45% stake in Olkus for $1.1 million at a valuation of $4950 million.

Subsequently, as the largest shareholder of Olkus, with the assistance of Goldman Sachs' investment arm, Goldman Sachs initiated a round of capital increases and share expansions for Olkus.

Unlike the global capital market's view on VR, Li Mu is optimistic about the future of VR virtual reality and also about the future of Olkus, which is why he acquired equity and increased capital.

However, VR virtual reality technology is an expensive technology; if you don't invest enough money, you won't achieve the desired results.

Olkus's valuation in the capital market has dropped to $1 million, and the equity that Li Mu acquired at a valuation of $1.1 million actually had a certain premium.

Olkus, whose valuation has been declining this year and which still hasn't secured funding, is clearly desperate for capital. Li Mu wouldn't be so generous as to deliberately inflate Olkus's valuation.

They will still raise funds based on a valuation of $100 million.

He plans to invest $100 million to acquire 50% of Olkus's equity in one go.

Things went smoothly, and with the arrival of $100 million, Olkus issued an additional 50% of its shares to Li Mu.

Li Mu's original 45% stake was diluted to 22.5%, and combined with his existing 50%, his shareholding in Olkus reached an astonishing 72.5%, giving him absolute control.

Currently, Olkus's shareholding structure is as follows: Li Mu holds 72.5%, making him the undisputed largest shareholder with absolute control.

The founding team holds 17.5% of Olkus's shares, making them the second-largest shareholder.

There is also an institutional investor that has not withdrawn, holding 5.5% of Olkus's shares, making it the third largest shareholder.

The remaining 4.5% of the equity will be used as the company's option pool to implement equity incentive plans and attract talent.

In this way, the company's equity structure finally stabilized.

Despite having absolute control of the company, Li Mu did not interfere extensively in the company's affairs, nor did he replace the CEO and take over the position himself.

In fact, Olkus, which has been established for six years, has a deep foundation in the VR virtual reality field and has always maintained a high level of quality.

The CEO and founding team are very capable and value technology highly, but their ability to raise funds is somewhat lacking.

In addition, the current environment has resulted in VR technology not being favored by the capital market, leading to a relatively low valuation and development.

Although Li Mu acquired a controlling stake in Olkus, significantly reducing the founding team's influence, he also brought Olkus $1 million in cash flow, halting the wave of layoffs and allowing it to continue growing.

This left the founding team members with mixed feelings.

However, Li Mu has absolute control, which is an established fact, and they can only accept reality and cooperate with him to develop Olkus better.

……

Despite Li Mu's repeated statements that he would not interfere in the company's management and operations, as the largest shareholder and the absolute controlling party, he still took the throne of Chairman of Olkus.

Fortunately, he was self-aware enough to know that he had no management skills or entrepreneurial experience, whether in the real world or here.

Having good computer skills is just that—skills. It doesn't mean you have the ability to lead a company to greater success.

The only way is to learn more, observe more, and speak less, so as to gradually learn and adapt to your current identity.

……

After these moves, the $2.23 million in cash that had just been acquired and was barely warmed up was used to pay Goldman Sachs over $400 million in commissions after deducting the $1.495 million investment and acquisition costs.

There are about $7000 million left.

This money also needs to be subject to a portion of short-term capital gains tax, but with the help of professional accountants to legally minimize taxes, and most of the profits being reinvested, the tax amount is not high.

Li Mu decided to use the remaining money not for business expansion, but to ensure his personal living expenses.

There's a saying that goes something like this!

What's the most wasteful thing for a rich kid? "Starting a business."

How much can you squander on eating, drinking, and having fun? Starting a business can take you back to square one.

Li Mu is no different from those rich second-generation heirs now; he has a lot of money in his hands, but no corresponding ability.

His investment in Olkus was based on his real-world experience and forward-thinking, not on his own abilities.

In this situation, it's best to be honest and cautious.

Even if Olkus's future development is not as good as expected, with tens of millions of dollars as a guarantee, they will still be winners in life and have no worries about food and drink.