Reborn in 2010, the AI ​​in my mind is too powerful.

Icahn replied to the email quickly and arranged to meet at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Woodside, Silicon Valley, three days later.

Chen Yiran had eaten at this place before. Although he preferred the nearby mangrove forest, it was more private and had many private rooms. The Michelin rating for this restaurant was somewhat inflated, but it was still very popular, mainly because of its privacy.

It is said that many venture capitalists in Silicon Valley like to call up young, inexperienced entrepreneurs to discuss business, and this old-money approach can be a source of pressure for some disadvantaged entrepreneurs.

Chen Yiran felt that Icahn seemed to be holding back something.

After returning home, Chen Yiran began to study Icahn carefully, while Jasmine read directly the disclosure documents of Icahn's thirteen major investments over the years, as well as various management books and materials.

While entering data, Chen Yiran became quite engrossed in reading "Barbarians at the Gate".

This book chronicles one of the most extravagant acquisitions on Wall Street, where a few bigwigs burned through $30 billion in one office just to buy a biscuit and tobacco company. KKR's Clavis, Coca-Cola's Jansen, and even Icahn before he was at the forefront of the bidding all left their chips in.

The greed, betrayal, and deceit on Wall Street are incredibly dramatic and high-risk, or rather, reality is far more shocking than any drama.

Of course, business was more important, so Chen Yiran first had Jasmine input the basic business books into the system, so that she wouldn't look insecure when speaking.

I don't think we need to make such a big fuss. Based on some fragmented information we've gathered since then, Icahn didn't always win. He often stumbled, so I don't believe he brought Ming along this time with many outlandish tricks; it's probably the same old routine.

"I know, I think he just wants to push for our merger with Mingdao, but I feel like we'd be losing out big time. Although everyone recognizes DeepFlow's future and thinks we really have the potential to dethrone the Big Three EDA firms, we're still a startup with only 64 employees. Merging now doesn't seem like we'd gain anything; the valuation would be a huge loss."

[The video I saw before my rebirth introduced his recent investment in Mingdao. Without our involvement, he likely wouldn't have succeeded. He threw a tantrum at management but failed, ultimately cutting his losses and leaving. So, at worst, we could simply ignore him.]

"I know, can you give me some advice? Do we need to change our negotiation strategy? I remember in that Netflix video, they said this guy is a bit stubborn. He caused a lot of trouble for the management of that DVD company, and in the end, he even lost money and left."

My current thinking is that Mingdao is just a shell company for capital operations. We can use it for cooperation, and then kick it out in a few years to see if we can squeeze some money out of it. So we should try our best not to break up with Icahn.

I don't mind changing my previous persona strategy. First, this won't be the only business negotiation we have; we'll have countless more in the future. We should take advantage of our current technological advantage to create a habitual pattern of concessions. Second, based on my observations of previous cases, he only acts unreasonably towards management.

In reality, if his ultimate goal is to cash out and leave, our goals are highly aligned. I believe he will tolerate some of our slightly excessive actions.

"Alright, I'll listen to you. At worst, we won't cooperate with him anymore. We'll take it slow. It'll just take a few more years."

Chen Yiran is actually a bit conservative, after all, he is a big shot on Wall Street and he is very afraid of being scammed.

Three days later, in the afternoon, the town of Woodside was very quiet. Chen Yiran and Icahn arrived at the restaurant one after the other and went to the private room they had reserved.

When Chen Yiran first saw Icahn, her impression was that the old man was really short.

He was only a little over 1.7 meters tall, with somewhat thinning hair. He didn't look like a wealthy person at all, and had a rather dull appearance.

After meeting, Icahn barely exchanged pleasantries. He sat back slightly in his chair and began to bewitch Chen Yiran in a very loud voice.

"FlowEDA has been around for less than six months, and your Placement tool Grey has already signed several annual contracts. Your OPC tool Tiya has signed contracts with Samsung and several smaller companies. I admit you've achieved some success. But after all, you have too few people, less than seventy. When will you be able to fully roll out your system?"

"No way, I always thought you had some better excuse. In the end, you still proposed an acquisition? Do you think I would buy it?"

Chen Yiran was speechless. He felt that this big shot really didn't have much skill. Who could he possibly sway with just a few words? He wasn't even as persuasive as Dong Jianlong, who was exhibiting at the event.

Icahn ignored Chen Yiran's complaints and mechanically finished speaking.

"I want to acquire you through Mingdao. Mingdao's market value is less than one billion, which was affected by the financial crisis. Now, because of your Tiya, the stock price is even lower, but in reality, your various assets are still quite good. I propose a plan: Mingdao will acquire FlowEDA at a valuation of 300 million, and all payments will be made with Mingdao stock."

You take 30% of Mindray's shares and join the board of directors. Combined with my shares, that's enough to support you as CEO. Your Tiya will become the core engine of Mindray, and your technology will gain access to channels with 40 wafer fabs worldwide. This will save you a lot of time; I know your technology is excellent.

However, building a technical team of over a thousand people, especially those with extensive technical expertise and connections with various wafer fabs, would take at least three to five years. Moreover, the other two companies won't just watch you grow; they'll definitely try to sabotage you. Now, you have the opportunity to directly secure one of them. And this is definitely a case of a new company swallowing an elephant.

Chen Yiran cursed inwardly, "This guy is trying to fool an idiot! Could it be that he's doing this on purpose, some kind of provocation from a Wall Street tycoon?"

[Fight him! Fight him! He thinks we're idiots!]

Chen Yiran thought it over. No matter what schemes Icahn had up his sleeve or how he wanted to dominate the negotiations, he lacked experience. However, he had a fearless, unyielding persona. It would be better to just lay his cards on the table and let the novice defeat the master.

"Mr. Icahn, do you think I'm stupid? Did you leave your brain in New York? How could you come up with such an outrageous plan?"

This was probably the first time Icahn had encountered such a blatant personal attack at the negotiating table. He took two deep breaths and then pretended not to care.

"Okay, I understand. This plan does look a bit rough. Here's my second option: I'll set up an acquisition entity. I have cash and my current position in Mindray. You don't need to bring in the whole company; you just need to contribute Tiya and some cash. Then, we'll use this acquisition entity to privatize Mindray."

As I've mentioned before, Mingdao's assets aren't actually bad, but they lack strong interrelationships. Both the PCB and embedded systems businesses could be spun off. These assets are valuable, but they incur significant management costs, making it a losing proposition.

Then, after two years of operation, we'll relist via IPO. What do you think of that?

Chen Yiran thought about it for a moment. The plan wasn't unacceptable, but it had a very serious problem.

"I'm only offering a license to use Tiya; I won't include Tiya entirely in this deal."

Icahn felt a bit like a Muggle; this Silicon Valley tech whiz somehow had a Wall Street-like shamelessness about him.

"Sigh, that's a bit much. How about this: exclusive rights to use Tiya, and you pay extra in cash?"

"How much cash?"

"How about I give you 100 million for the exclusive right to use Tiya for three years, and then you make up the difference of 400 million US dollars?"

"Too much, Mingdao isn't worth the price."

Icahn took several large documents from his bag and said with a smile, "Here, take a look. But if this deal falls through, I hope you won't tell anyone. I'm telling you, the leader's assets are substantial; this isn't just empty talk. I've actually investigated and even identified potential buyers."

We can sell the PCBs to Zuken in Japan; four to five hundred million US dollars shouldn't be a problem. For embedded systems, I've already inquired with Siemens; with some negotiation, it should be around three hundred million. So, actually using two hundred million to buy the Mingdao EDA team you need is really not expensive.”

Chen Yiran nodded and said, "It does look good from this perspective."

"So you agree?"

Chen Yiran shook her head and said, "I have no money."

Icahn stared at Chen Yiran, remained silent for half a minute, and then said with determination, "I'll lend it to you, is that okay? If you don't pay it back, you can just use Mingdao's shares as collateral. You won't have to pay a single penny, and we can discuss the interest rate."

Chen Yiran started discussing it with Jasmine. He actually felt that this was fine. Although it seemed too smooth, as long as the lawyer's review of the contract went smoothly, and Jasmine also had to review it, there shouldn't be any problems.

But Jasmine had a different opinion; he was even more ruthless than Chen Yiran.

No, no, not a single penny. We need to consider the worst-case scenario, a black swan event; we need to be aware of potential crises. We can't spend a single penny; just grant Tiya authorization, and give him a few more years' worth.

Tiya would make a fortune by giving the money to Mingdao. We're far superior to the old-fashioned OPC, doubling the price wouldn't be difficult at all, and Mingdao's revenue would increase significantly. The data would look fantastic, and the IPO would be incredibly profitable. I think he thinks so too, which is why he even agreed to lend us money.

Chen Yiran thought it made sense and began to refuse.

"I won't lend it; I'm too timid. The thought of being burdened with hundreds of millions in debt keeps me up at night. I want Tiya's exclusive license for nine years, and I want 5% of the shares."

This time, Icahn didn't remain silent; he smiled.

He looked at Chen Yiran with the eyes of someone who was like-minded, thought for a moment, and said, "Sure, it's more comfortable to communicate with like-minded people. You've only been giving exclusive licenses, it seems you don't want to manage Mingdao carefully. So, after the IPO, you'll be like me, withdrawing quickly?"

Chen Yiran thought for a moment and said, "Let's see how things go. How about we offer extremely high dividends for a few years, and then sell once the stock price goes up?"

Icahn nodded and said, "Okay, let's do it that way. We have a unique business and a technological advantage. Our extremely high dividends are a matter of course, and the regulators can't touch us. However, if you only grant us authorization, it will make going public very difficult."

Underwriters won't IPO a company with a technological time bomb; they'll treat renewal rights as a valuation black hole. Even if we manage to go public, the ceiling for our share price will be significantly affected.

"What's your plan?"

Icahn put down his glass, thought for a moment, and said...

"The renewal option allows Mingdao to request renewal 18 months before the nine-year term expires. The price will be the average of the values ​​determined by independent valuation agencies hired by both parties. If the price difference exceeds 30%, arbitration will be initiated, and the renewal period will be negotiated separately."

"Is this... a safe bet?"

Icahn laughed and said, "You can play it safe if you want, or you can not. Go back and ask your lawyer; there's a lot to learn about the specific details. From today's perspective, our interests are aligned. I can tell you very clearly that I don't care what the prospectus will be like nine years from now, as long as it doesn't affect the IPO price."

Chen Yiran suddenly had a feeling that this old guy hadn't intended for him to pay in the first place. He tried asking, "How about you take another step back? Like, if I don't pay, you'll give me something extra? As a token of appreciation for Tiya?"

"Son, being too greedy isn't good either. Things are already pretty good as they are. What you need to do now is to quickly destroy the other two companies. Don't think that I can only rely on you now. Silicon Valley is still too stingy. It's been months, and you haven't even received a single real lawsuit."

According to Wall Street practice, this is already a cutthroat competition. Each of the three firms should be prepared with hundreds of millions of dollars in legal fees to wear you down. They can't even do that; their management is just incompetent. They're simply afraid of going too far and making it difficult to switch jobs later.

Chen Yiran felt that this was still a bit childish and did not exceed his understanding.

Icahn saw through Chen Yiran's thoughts and revealed his alternative plan: "For me, it would be best if we could make a big profit in two years and then go public."

If you are completely unable to negotiate, then I will release the news that today's talks have fallen apart, causing Mingdao's stock price to plummet, acquiring more shares, and then using this opportunity to replace the entire management team.

As I've said before, Mingdao's assets are very good. We can divest EDA and keep the other two businesses. Regarding Mingdao, as long as I bypass management and sell the company, I'll definitely make a profit.

Chen Yiran felt that it didn't sound very complicated, but it seemed to make a lot of sense. The two briefly explained the details and exchanged phone numbers before parting ways.

Chen Yiran couldn't wait any longer after leaving the restaurant and getting into the car, so she quickly called Ted.

He hadn't expected that as soon as he answered the phone and briefly mentioned the acquisition, Ted would excitedly shout, "Is there a big contract coming to me? Finally, our law firm can finally make big money off you! Let me tell you, I've been keeping an eye on your company's competitors' activities every day, just waiting for them to take you down. Then the other day, Icahn got involved with Mingdao, and I knew something was wrong. Tell me, what are they planning?"

Chen Yiran felt like he was about to be stabbed again, and angrily said, "Get to my house right now and help me come up with the general terms. There's another major issue, regarding Tiya's authorization. Icahn doesn't care much about it. But I roughly understand, you unscrupulous lawyers should have a way, you have to help me think of some tricks, some methods."