The American Kill Line: I Can Predict the Future

Chapter 101 Establishing a Security Company

Since the shooting, Ron has been reluctant to reveal his whereabouts.

His arrival in Silicon Valley also went unnoticed.

Thomas was notified only after they got off the plane.

The security level was raised to a maximum of 30 people.

He also recently applied for a professional security license through connections with two major military industrial companies.

I plan to set up my own security company.

The reasons have all been prepared: protection of Texas oilfield assets.

Raytheon has recently been assisting with, but not limited to, private security service licenses, firearms carrying and use permits.

Security personnel training qualifications.

Now we're just waiting for the paperwork to be completed and the license to be issued.

The Koch family will immediately help connect with the Texas Department of Veterans Affairs to recruit retired U.S. special forces soldiers.

It's better to rely on yourself than on others.

Thomas received the call and waited quietly downstairs at the company.

The employees of Hunter Capital Ventures were also very curious about who this never-before-seen big boss really was.

It's important to know that Hunter Capital Ventures is a relatively new venture capital firm.

But in Silicon Valley, connections are everywhere.

When they went out to discuss business, they encountered employees of internet giants.

Anyone with a bit of experience or position would be very warm and polite upon hearing that they were from Hunter Company.

What impressed me most was when CEO Thomas took them to an offline mobile credit card payment financing event last month.

The project was valued at $2.4 million at the time, and the company had been established for just over a year.

The founder is also a former co-founder of Twitter.

He is a star figure in Silicon Valley, with his own built-in audience, attracting media attention and being sought after by venture capitalists.

This Series B funding round was once again led by Sequoia Capital, a top-tier VC in the industry.

When they went there, they thought they were going to learn from others' experiences and broaden their horizons.

To my surprise, I was treated with great respect as soon as I entered the venue.

Their young CEO was on equal footing with the representative from Sequoia Capital.

At that moment, the employees of Hunter Ventures realized for the first time just how powerful their company's network was.

Ron arrived with great fanfare.

Ten military off-road vehicles and bulletproof luxury Mercedes-Benzes were parked in an orderly fashion downstairs at the commercial building.

It immediately attracted the attention of those around, who all turned their heads to look.

Subsequently, dozens of security personnel cleared the scene and set up a cordon.

Once everything was arranged, Ron got out of the car at a leisurely pace.

Thomas jogged over and stopped a meter away: "Sir!"

"No need to be so polite, Thomas. Come on, let's go upstairs and have a seat."

Ron smiled and patted Thomas on the arm, showing his affection.

Then the colleagues went into the building to visit their own companies.

Thomas did a good job and had a good eye for talent.

Among the submitted projects, besides Square, which is expected to have a market value of over 100 billion, there were others.

There is also an online payment project called Stripe that is still in the incubation stage.

The seed round valuation was $200 million, and Ron directly invested $60.

Compared to a future valuation of $95 billion, this investment represents a return of over $10,000.

Even if he doesn't invest later, the profit from cashing out will still be very substantial.

Accompanied by Thomas and several department heads, Ron first took a tour of the work area.

Then we went to the tea room.

Thomas habitually made his boss a cup of coffee.

This is something he used to do often, and he still does it with ease.

Ron took a sip and smiled at Fang Wei, the assistant standing with Thomas, saying, "Fang, the coffee you made is really bad, and it's not sweet enough."

Fang Wei gave an awkward laugh.

Ron smiled at Thomas and said, "But Thomas, we can buy some better coffee, and we can also have some afternoon tea. We're not short of money."

Thomas agreed.

Then the group went to the office, where Ron said, "The place is a bit small, the office area is a bit cramped, the total area is about 2000?"

Thomas replied, "2100."

"It's still a bit small," Ron said in a deep voice. "Let's get a 5000-square-foot apartment in two months. If Sophia asks, just say I approved it."

"Okay." Thomas replied without hesitation.

Actually, this area is not small in Silicon Valley where land is extremely valuable.

This Grade A office building in Menlo Park, located on Sand Hill Road, is particularly renowned as the most expensive office building in North America.

Top global venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital, KPCB, Silver Lake, and Baishang Investment have all gathered here.

Annual rent is $110 per square foot.

However, Thomas naturally wouldn't argue with the boss's words.

They also presented several project proposals.

These project proposals are all fairly standard, or haven't been reviewed and sent to the boss yet.

But Thomas still took it out, and was prepared to be criticized.

The big boss has come all this way, we can't let him come for nothing.

Ron pretended to flip through it, but after not getting any hints, he gave up and stopped looking.

I guess I got to experience being a boss for a while.

Shortly after, the assistant Fang Wei heard the security guard's voice through the microphone.

This building is full of VCs, and we know that the real boss of Hunter Capital has arrived.

Out of courtesy, representatives from all the top venture capital firms sent people to extend invitations.

Marc Andreessen, a partner of a16z, even came in person.

As a result, news of Ron's arrival in Silicon Valley quickly spread.

That evening, Mark, as the host, threw a welcome party at one of Silicon Valley's most luxurious hotels.

Those who came to the party were all top-tier VCs.

The next day, Ron visited several of his recent investment projects.

That evening, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar also hosted a welcome party, inviting internet technology giants to join him.

Jensen Huang from Nvidia also came, and Elon Musk even rushed over from the factory yesterday afternoon.

At 11 p.m., Ron declined the proposed change of venue.

"I'm a little hungry. Does anyone know where I can eat nearby?"

We spent the night chatting and drinking, and now that we're out here, I'm actually hungry.

Mark shook his head slightly.

Musk laughed and said, "How about I take you to a bar? It's weird to eat at a bar, but at this hour, I don't think there are any restaurants open, unless you want a burrito or pizza."

Huang Renxun hesitated for a moment, then said, "There are some restaurants open in the nearby South Bay Chinese business district, but I don't know if they'll suit your tastes."

At this hour, not only in Silicon Valley, but probably throughout the entire United States, only Chinese restaurants would be open for dining.

Ron's eyes lit up slightly: "My mom cooks Chinese food occasionally, it's been a long time since I've had it, let's go try it."

Others are not necessarily a problem.

And so, the group arrived at a Sichuan and Hunan restaurant in the South Bay of Silicon Valley.

Hwang In-hoon must be a regular customer and quite familiar with the owner of this restaurant.

Ron followed him in.

Looking at the Asian faces around him and the lively scene, he asked in surprise, "Huang, do you Chinese people all like to eat out at this time?"

New York also has a Chinatown, but he rarely goes there.

Not to mention late at night.

Huang Renxun followed the boss to the private room on the second floor. Hearing Ron's question, he was about to speak when the Chinese boss in front of him turned around and smiled, saying, "We Chinese people regard food as the most important thing and are very particular about what we eat. We will never let our stomachs suffer. The pizza and hamburgers that you love are junk food in our eyes."

"Ron, he seems to be mocking you," Musk chuckled as he brought up the rear.

Of the three, he knew Ron the longest and had the most contact with him.

Only he would say such a thing to someone's face.

Ron turned and glared at him. "Thanks! I got it."

There were quite a few people accompanying us, so a table was set up downstairs and two private rooms were opened upstairs.

There were also bodyguards guarding the car and outside the door, taking turns on duty.

The dishes were ordered by Huang Renxun, who specifically requested mild spiciness, taking into account the tastes of Ron and the others.

Even so, Ron and the others couldn't stand the spiciness.

"Fuck! I feel like I swallowed a ball of fire in my stomach."

Musk didn't even dare to dip his spoon into the spicy chicken in front of him.

Ron kept drinking water because the boiled pork slices were so spicy: "Why? My mom is Chinese, and her cooking is sweet. Besides, I've been to Chinese restaurants in New York's Chinatown before, and they're never this spicy."

Seeing the others spitting out their saliva from the spiciness, Hwang In-hoon smiled happily: "Actually, I rarely eat this level of spiciness myself."

"Then why are you ordering?!" Mark said, dissatisfied.

Hwang In-hoon laughed heartily: "Because in my opinion, it's not spicy enough at all!"

"Fuck!!"

The three of them spoke to him in unison.

Fortunately, the waiter brought out several plates of non-spicy vegetarian dishes, which, along with rice, barely filled my stomach.

Let's take this opportunity to talk about Nvidia.

Because Jensen Huang cut some unprofitable projects, and Ron, the king of hedge funds on Wall Street, said he wanted to buy Nvidia stock.

In the past two or three months, Nvidia's stock price has surged, and its market value is about to exceed $140 billion.

In return, Huang Renxun helped connect with many institutions that held Nvidia stock.

In the end, several companies were persuaded, totaling about 8%.

Now we're just waiting to see when Ron will make his offer.

"Late April, I guess."

Ron currently owns only 1% of Nvidia stock.

He just happened to be short of cash, so he planned to wait until the fund dividends came in April and then buy 5% directly from the secondary market.

Including those held by investment banks like JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, the total should be around 7%.

""

Huang Renxun readily agreed.

Seeing how readily he agreed, Ron also gave him some benefits.

"Huang, let's do it in April. Prepare $100 million in cash by the end of April."

The third fund will start at a minimum of $80 billion, and could very well exceed $100 billion, just like Goldman Sachs' subscription to a new fund that year.

It depends on how many shareholders of the second fund choose to reinvest or receive dividends.

Giving $1 million to Hwang In-hoon is also an expression of goodwill and implies a deep partnership.

The future leader of a behemoth with a market capitalization of $5 trillion is someone worth getting to know deeply.

Huang Renxun was slightly taken aback, but instantly realized the meaning of those words.

Joy appeared in his previously indifferent eyes.

He raised his teacup: "Thank you!"

Over the past few months, Huang Renxun had already thoroughly investigated Ron's past.

This is why he was so willing to help acquire Nvidia stock.

This unprecedented speed of rise is astonishing.

In less than a year, it has grown from an initial scale of $5 million to nearly $300 billion.

Such individuals, as long as they don't fall from grace along the way, will undoubtedly become the top predators on Wall Street in the future.

The more Huang Renxun understood, the clearer it became that he could not be an enemy.

Blackstone is the best example.

$50 billion was lost in a single day.

This is equivalent to one-third of Nvidia's market capitalization.

As for subscribing to a third fund, he never even considered it.

That kind of return is beyond his reach.

Now that joy has fallen from the sky, Hwang In-hoon's hand holding the cup was trembling slightly.

Upon hearing this, Musk couldn't sit still any longer. He stared intently at her, his eyes filled with affection: "Ron—"

Ron looked disgusted. "Fuck, don't look at me like that. Don't forget what you promised me last month."

Musk thought for a moment, then remembered something and hurriedly explained, "You're too late. But if you want, I'll throw you one in three days, no, two days."

He's no longer concerned about whether he can invite so many celebrities.

Let's appease this lucky charm first.

"Really? Then I'll wait."

Ron smiled, put down his spoon, wiped his mouth, and slowly sipped his tea.

Energy and technology are his two main directions for the future.

This was also his main purpose for coming to Silicon Valley.

Apple, Microsoft, and Google have become industry giants.

Even if he wanted to get involved with these companies, he would only be a minor shareholder.

Tesla and Nvidia are currently considered small to medium-sized companies among these Silicon Valley companies that easily reach market capitalizations of tens or hundreds of billions of dollars.

Tesla, in particular, is at the bottom of the list.

Until these two make any major mistakes, all Ron has to do is observe and wait quietly.

Manage the relationship well.

Someday in the future, these two will inevitably have to leave.

That was destined, which means that the two companies can operate just as well without them, and even do better.

It will be relatively easy for me to take control then.

Conversely, one can comfortably be a major shareholder.

You can just sit back and win.

Mark looked at the two with some envy, but he was well aware of his own limitations.

The second fund is enough; he can't handle any more.

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