America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 353 Unified Market

Seattle in May should be a gentle haven blessed by the warm currents of the Pacific Ocean, but this year's heatwave is like someone who's taken a fake drink in advance, lingering over the city with an unreasonable, sultry heat.

The cherry blossom trees that used to turn the whole street pink in early spring are now just bare branches of green leaves drooping in the hot wind.

Inside the server room deep within Microsoft's Redmond campus, the air was bitterly cold, and the chill from the air conditioner made your breath steam.

Technician Kohl, wrapped in a dark blue anti-static jacket, was squatting in front of a row of server racks taller than himself, holding a network cable in his hand, moving slowly as if he suffered from severe procrastination.

The server bearing the ICQ logo was its indicator light flashing a weak, flickering red light, like a person being choked and making a final struggle.

The intern standing next to her, Lilp, still bearing the naivety of someone not yet worn down by the workplace, was rubbing her hands together, her voice barely audible, "Kohler, are you really going to shut it down?"

The first department he joined after entering Microsoft was ICQ. Although his daily work consisted of troubleshooting bugs and organizing user feedback, which was so tedious that it could make one's keyboard spark, it was, after all, his first love department in his career.

After three months, it would be a lie to say there were no feelings involved.

Koller didn't turn around, but simply nodded slightly. With his other hand, he grabbed a network cable and pulled it out with a click, the sound particularly jarring in the quiet server room.

"The company has already issued a notice that the ICQ department will be dissolved, and Microsoft will never touch instant messaging again."

""

His voice was devoid of emotion, but Lilp detected a subtle hint of helplessness.

Just then, the fire door to the server room creaked open, and a gust of hot air carried a familiar figure inside.

Lilp looked up and saw Ballmer walking in, wearing the same anti-static clothing as them.

He ignored the two of them and walked straight to the server that was flashing red light.

Suddenly, Ballmer spoke up, his voice not loud, but it instantly silenced the entire server room: "Let's restore it first."

Lilp's eyes lit up instantly, his previously listless expression transforming into one of boundless energy. He even doubted if he had misheard and hurriedly asked, "Mr. Ballmer, do you mean—the company has changed its mind? ICQ isn't going to be shut down?"

Ballmer slowly shook his head, tapping the server casing lightly with his finger. "ICQ still needs to be turned off, but we have to finish what we start. We can't let users wake up and not be able to export their contacts, can we?"

When talking about Google Messenger, his tone was completely calm, showing no anger whatsoever at all for Google Messenger pushing ICQ to the brink of collapse, as if the product being humiliated by the competitor was not his own.

In the business world, it's all about the winner taking all. You beat me black and blue today, but I might just pick up a weapon and fight back tomorrow.

Lilp felt a sense of loss, as if he had fallen from a mountaintop into an ice cave. He didn't say anything more, but silently picked up the network cable and began to plug it into the server, his movements much gentler than when he had unplugged it earlier.

While Ballmer was still in the server room staring at the servers, far away in San Francisco, California, Colin, a reporter for the technology section of the San Francisco Chronicle, was hunched over his desk eating a sandwich.

Suddenly, the phone on the table rang. Colin frowned, answered the phone, and had barely said "hello" when the voice on the other end made him freeze instantly.

He jumped up from his chair, dropping his sandwich and scattering breadcrumbs all over the floor, but he seemed oblivious. His voice trembled with excitement as he asked, "Are you sure? Is the information reliable?"

Colin's eyes widened as he listened to what the person on the other end of the phone said, and he couldn't help but smile.

Before hanging up, he lowered his voice and said, "Very good. If the news is true, your payment will be deposited into your account tomorrow night, not a penny less."

After hanging up the phone, Colin realized that his colleagues who hadn't left work yet were all staring at him.

After all, anyone would be curious about his series of reactions just now.

Colin cleared his throat and deliberately slowed his speech. "Microsoft has decided to shut down ICQ and sell Hotmail's personal email business. Google will be the buyer."

These words caused an uproar in the office.

Some people glanced instinctively at the calendar on the table, rubbed their eyes, and wondered if they had misread the date. "Are you kidding me? Today isn't April Fool's Day!"

Colin knew how shocking the news was; when he first received the call, he almost thought it was a prank.

If this informant hadn't been a mid-level manager within Microsoft, and the two hadn't collaborated several times with him, and his information hadn't always been incredibly accurate, he wouldn't have been so sure.

"My informant said that Microsoft will hold a press conference at nine o'clock tomorrow morning to officially announce this." Colin rested his hands on his desk, his tone filled with barely concealed excitement, as if he could already see his name printed on the front page of the newspaper, and a promotion and a raise beckoning him.

"So tomorrow's front page has to be reserved for me! If this gets out early, our newspaper will definitely be a hit!" Just as Colin was envisioning the future, a calm voice came from beside him, "Colin, do you think the editor-in-chief will agree?"

Colin turned around and saw that the speaker was Hank, a veteran reporter from the newspaper.

"Hank, what do you mean by that?" Colin frowned, his excitement suddenly dampened.

Hank put down his coffee cup, pointed to his head, and said calmly, "Colin, it's good that you're young and energetic, but you need to think carefully about what our newspaper relies on for its livelihood."

"Do you have any evidence? You're going to put such a big story on the front page just because of a phone call from an informant?"

He glanced at Colin with a hint of regret and continued, "What do editors-in-chief and general managers value most? Their own positions."

"If this news is true, our newspaper will definitely become famous overnight. But if it's false, all the reputation our newspaper has built up over the years will be ruined."

"Then all the readers who subscribed to the newspaper because of our truthful and objective reporting will leave, GG will withdraw its investment, and our newspaper might become a laughing stock across America. Who do you think would dare to take that responsibility?"

"Neither the editor-in-chief nor the general manager would do it."

Hank's words struck Colin's heart like a hammer blow.

He wanted to argue, but when he opened his mouth, he couldn't utter a single word.

Because Hank was telling the truth. Your position determines your thinking. If any of them were in the editor-in-chief's position, they would rather miss ten big news stories than take a single risk.

At worst, you won't get promoted if you don't perform well, but if you do something wrong, you could lose your job.

Colin slumped into his chair, burying his face in his hands. The sandwich that had fallen to the floor was still lying there.

Hank looked at him, smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a hint of comfort, "It seems you've figured it out."

That night, Colin was not alone in receiving tips from informants.

New York, Los Angeles, Chicago—almost every major newspaper received news that Microsoft was shutting down ICQ and selling Hotmail.

However, only one company actually released this information.

Before the sun had risen the next day and the streets were still shrouded in a thin mist, the West Coast News shocked several large states on the American West Coast.

The front page headline, printed in bold black font, read: "Microsoft Makes a Big Move: IcQ to End, Hotmail to be Acquired by Google."

The newspaper caused a huge uproar as soon as it hit the market.

But this wave wasn't praise; instead, it was a deluge of insults.

Especially in Washington state, where Seattle is located, the West Coast News's editorial office was inundated with calls.

Many people called to complain, accusing the newspaper of fabricating fake news and demanding a public apology.

However, on that day, when Microsoft held a press conference at 9 a.m. to announce these decisions under bright sunlight, the West Coast News reported...

The newspapers sold like hotcakes.

The West Coast News report mentioned many details that were not discussed at the Microsoft press conference.

Google acquired Hotmail for a mere one dollar.

ICQ's daily online user count has dropped to 260,000, while Google Messenger's daily active users are as high as 8.17 million, a significant difference.

There's also the issue of costs. Google Connect has long been profitable and making a fortune, but what about ICQ? It's losing over $80,000 a day, which adds up to nearly $2.5 million a month.

Two and a half million dollars is not much for Microsoft, but the problem is that no one will continue to invest in a project with no future in sight.

Forget about making a profit, even the number of users is decreasing day by day. Continuing to hold on is pointless except for wasting money.

West Coast News gained a large number of subscribers instantly thanks to this first-mover advantage in the news.

The newspaper, which originally had a circulation of only 88,000 copies, saw its sales exceed 150,000 copies on the first day, and its subscribers jumped from less than 50,000 to 93,000.

For elite individuals, what they value most is not how beautiful the newspaper layout is, nor how eloquently the articles are written, but rather the information gap.

Just like this Microsoft news, the West Coast News reported it several hours in advance, allowing those who saw the newspaper to make decisions ahead of time.

For them, subscribing to another copy of the West Coast News doesn't cost much, but if they seize an information gap, they can earn more money than the cost of subscribing to the newspaper for ten years.

Just like Microsoft this time, it abandoned its instant messaging business and sold off its loss-making personal email business, and its stock price soared accordingly.

Because the market itself did not favor Microsoft in this competition with Google.

Now that Microsoft is voluntarily giving up, the corresponding losses will decrease, which will indirectly lead to increased profits.

Similarly, Google-related stocks once again became the brightest stars on Nasdaq.

With Microsoft's exit, Google's dominance in instant messaging and email is now unstoppable, and it will completely monopolize these two fields.

Yahoo?

What a nobody he is.

Does it want to challenge Google's authority?

Take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror before you speak.