Horrible! Actually playing this kind of game!

The Internet Crisis of 2000.

The year 2000 was a relatively special year in the history of China's Internet. Previously, Penguin, Alibaba, and Baidu, the three major Internet giants in China, were established. Later, China's three major portals, Sohu, New Wolf, and Yi.com, were listed in the United States. These companies constituted The basic structure of China's Internet has lasted for nearly 20 years, and China's Internet has entered the 1.0 era.

In the history of the Internet in the United States, the year 2000 was also a very special moment, but it was not the highlight moment of the development of the Internet, but the darkest moment when the Internet bubble completely burst.

To sum up simply, there are actually two points:

The first is the bubble. The reason for the bubble is very simple. After entering the 1990s, the Internet became a hot industry. Everyone knew that this was the future development direction, that is, the outlet. So if you have money, you basically invest it in Internet companies.

In the 1990s, as long as an Internet company went public, it could take off.

One thing is like the houses in China from 2010 to 2020. Everyone knows that houses will definitely rise, so they invest in them if they have money.

So the Internet bubble was blown up.

The second is to puncture the bubble. The reason for the puncture is also very simple:

In February 2000, Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan sensed that the situation was not right and felt that the bubble was a bit big. Which central bank could tolerate a price-to-earnings ratio of 200? So he began to crack down on investment enthusiasm and announced a substantial increase in interest rates, to the level before 1995. level, increase the cost of capital flow, and prompt people to be more cautious when investing.

One month after the interest rate hike was announced, the Nasdaq reached its highest point of 5,048 on March 10. On March 13, the news that the neon economy had entered a recession again caused a sell-off in technology stocks in the international market, and investors began to worry. heat up.

On March 20, the famous financial magazine "Barron's" published a cover article called "Burn Out", revealing the current poor status of these Internet companies:

Among the 207 Internet companies surveyed, 71% had negative profits, 51 companies would run out of cash within 12 months, and even the Internet idol unit Amazon's cash flow could only last 10 months.

Many founders and early investors of Internet companies are trying their best to cash out. The funds flowing from the old economic system to the new economic system are about to be exhausted. Internet companies with no money to burn and no money to make are about to fall from the altar.

What followed was a tragic scene of Internet companies and stock investors falling freely. Investors began to sell in panic. Less than a month later, the Nasdaq index fell by more than 25%. On April 14 alone, it fell by 9%. %.

The decline in the stock index lasted for two years. In the middle, the impact of the 911 incident caused the entire Nasdaq market value to fall by US$5 trillion.

The index was less than a quarter of its peak. It was one of the largest financial bubbles in American history. It took Nasdaq 15 years to return to the level before 2000.

Those Internet companies were not immune. 52% of companies went bankrupt during this crisis. The market value of most Internet companies fell by 75%. Even Amazon and Ebay, which were operating well, lost half of their market value.

Such a feast that spanned the millennium came to an end, leaving a lot of chicken feathers on the ground, and the Internet also ushered in a long recovery period.

…

The time now is March 30th.

Panic selling has already occurred in the U.S. stock market, but as we all know, the more times this happens, the harder it is to sell. Now it has entered a spiral of collapse, and there is simply no way to recover.

But Qing Zhiyuan was still eating barbecue with Son Zhengyi calmly and calmly.

"I didn't expect the stock market crash to be so violent this time. You said Greenspan is really good. Why do you want to raise interest rates? Could it be that the Internet will not be a hot spot in the future?"

Sun Zhengyi has a lot of suffering and hatred. At 1.5 meters tall and with that pinched little face, he looks more and more like a horse.

At a glance, you can tell that this person must have lost a lot in the stock market.

Masayoshi Son is a very gambling person, and he has basically suppressed the Internet with all his strength for so many years. Now that the Internet has exploded, I am afraid that he wants to die.

"The matter has reached this point. It has already exceeded our capabilities. No matter what, come on, Sun Sang, have a piece of Arctic clam."

Qing Zhiyuan is right. The total circulating funds of Pokeni and SoftBank are less than 1 billion US dollars. Compared with ordinary companies, this amount of money is a huge sum of money, and for ordinary people, it is an astronomical figure.

But putting it in the stock market is a drop in the bucket.

The fire is raging now, and it is simply not something that can be changed at the company level.

No one can save it.

And according to Qing Zhiyuan’s understanding,

After the Internet bubble burst, the U.S. Nasdaq index would fall from its historical high of 5,048 in 2000 to 1,114 in 2002, and two-thirds of the entire stock market value would evaporate.

The market value of many star companies dropped off a cliff or even closed down. A large number of programmers lost their jobs and changed careers. Only less than half of the Internet companies survived until 2004.

But any Internet company that can survive will basically grow into a behemoth in the future.

For example, Amazon, eBay, Nvidia, Apple...

Qing Zhiyuan put a piece of Arctic clam into Son Zhengyi's plate. The latter thanked him silently, and suddenly felt something was wrong. He raised his head and looked at the handsome man in front of him in confusion, "How can you still be so calm? Woolen cloth?"

"I?"

Qing Zhiyuan was stunned for a moment, "I have nothing to lose."

"Nvidia and Microsoft, aren't they?" Son asked doubtfully.

The corners of Qing Zhiyuan's mouth twitched slightly.

I can't say it hurts my body, but it definitely hurts a little bit.

Microsoft has just replaced 20% of Pokeni's shares with 3%. At this time, Microsoft's market value has dropped from 600 billion US dollars to more than 580 billion US dollars. The drop is not huge, and it is still within the tolerance range of Qing Zhiyuan.

If it weren't for the time limit of the exchange contract, which required pokeni not to sell Microsoft stock in the next 10 years, Qing Zhiyuan would have run away by now.

NVIDIA's stock price has dropped from $2 last year to $0.5 now, a drop of almost 75%.

What a miserable word.

This time when I went to the United States to participate in the Olympics, Lao Huang complained to him, saying that if this continued, Nvidia would go bankrupt.

Scared, Qing Zhiyuan quickly promised to acquire more Nvidia shares.

Thinking of this, the corners of Qing Zhiyuan's mouth raised involuntarily.

As Buffett said, others are greedy and I am fearful; others are fearful and I am greedy.

At this time, Qing Zhiyuan did not fall into a desperate and pessimistic situation like others. Instead, he smiled and saw a lot of opportunities.

If you want to buy shares in some big companies, then the next few years will be a good opportunity.

Those technical talents who are forced to lose their jobs in Internet companies are actually a valuable asset. The key lies in how you use them.

This micro-expression happened to be caught by an old man like Son Zhengyi with a sharp eye, and he couldn't help but be a little surprised. Is Qing Zhiyuan crazy?

Can you still laugh?

"I have long said that P-NET should be listed as soon as possible. Look, it is good now. The Nasdaq has plummeted. I don't know how long this stock market crash will last."

Sun Zhengyi is really full of bitterness, and it can flow from here to the Atlantic Ocean.

I was originally optimistic about P-NET, thinking that it could make billions of dollars as soon as it went public, right?

As a result, Qing Zhiyuan has been holding off on the grounds that he has not yet made any money and his business is still expanding.

Okay, now that the darkest moment has been dragged out, I can’t even think of going public.

Even if it can really pass the review and be listed on Nasdaq, Son probably won't be worth much money.

"If you had gone public last year, you would have been worth at least 5 billion U.S. dollars. U.S. dollars." Sun Zhengyi burped loudly and gestured with his hands.

$5 billion?

You underestimate P-NET too much.

Qing Zhiyuan said disdainfully in his heart:

At the very least, it must be worth more than US$20 billion.

In the past few years, the overall valuation given to pokeni by others was US$60 billion, one-third of which was based on P-NET's business.

P-NET has already shown its status as a king and has become the largest Internet portal and network platform. At this level, it will be worth trillions in the future.

Of course Qing Zhiyuan would feel that the time was not ripe enough.

At the very least, the world should be shocked and feel the storm brought by the Internet.

"It's definitely not going to be marketed like this now. Let's hold on to it for a few more years."

Qing Zhiyuan is not in a hurry at all. According to his inner estimation, it will not be listed on the market until at least 2004.

When the time comes, we will join Google. Pokeni will also be a shareholder of Google anyway.

When he thought of this, Qing Zhiyuan was looking forward to 2004.

…

At night, Son Zhengyi was very drunk, and it was Qing Zhiyuan who helped him get into the car.

Despite his small stature, this man is actually more capable than Qing Zhiyuan imagined.

…

A few days later, Tokyo.

pokeni co., ltd.

"Expansion of enrollment?!"

Everyone in the conference room exclaimed in unison.

Especially Ken Akanishi and Satoru Iwata, both of them stared at Qing Zhiyuan like a monster.

Is the president crazy?

Just an hour ago, Qing Zhiyuan hosted such a strategic meeting. At the meeting, Qing Zhiyuan not only proposed that half of the company's future cash flow be invested in the US stock market to purchase shares of some companies.

For example, Nvidia, which had promised Lao Huang before, and Apple, which Qing Zhiyuan was very optimistic about...

In addition, Qing Zhiyuan also requested to double the total number of pokeni personnel, whether in Tokyo or North America.

In particular, we should recruit as many technical talents as possible in the Internet field.

At this time, even Satoru Iwata himself had a cautious and pessimistic attitude, and it was impossible to guess what the president was thinking.

Ken Akanishi and Satoru Iwata looked at each other, feeling extremely uneasy in each other.

"Now that Nasdaq has collapsed and the entire Internet bubble has burst, I don't know when it will get better," Satoru Iwata hesitated. "If I still invest at this time, I'm afraid I will lose everything."

"Yes, President, many companies are laying off employees, or their employees have lost their jobs after going bankrupt. It's good for us, but we still have to recruit people. I think the risk is too high, right?"

"Isn't it the right time to recruit people now?" Qing Zhiyuan laughed, "Just like neon in the 1990s, it is easier to recruit high-quality talents at low prices."

"Moreover, we originally wanted to expand our business. Akanishi-san, I told you a few days ago about the online film and television platform. In addition to technical personnel, the jobs that will be created in the future will also require a lot of customer service, maintenance personnel, operations, etc. wait……

Coupled with the expansion of other industries, personnel will definitely be needed. It is not a bad thing to reserve more at this time. "

"Well……"

Akanishi Ken crossed his hands, as if there was nothing wrong with him.

It's just that the recent Internet crisis has caused turmoil and panic. He is somewhat inexplicably worried about the future prospects of the Internet.

The president looked very confident, which made Ken Akanishi a little confused.

Should I trust the market?

Or should I trust the president?

“As for the stock price issue, we can take a longer-term view.

Don’t just see the present moment. " Qing Zhiyuan concluded, "Even if the price fluctuates, it will eventually return to its due value. Quality assets can fall now and rise in the future.

This is value orientation. "

"Hmm... It seems that there is no problem if you say so." Satoru Iwata followed suit, folding his hands with the same expression as Ken Akanishi next door.

It's painful and deep, like constipation.

This time Iwata Satoru can somewhat understand Akanishi Ken's hardship when facing the president.

The main discomfort is that he is now the director of pokeni's strategic research department, and he might take the blame in the future.

The president's behavior was a huge gamble.

The president is too courageous.

…

After more than three hours of debate (Qing Zhiyuan's unilateral PUA), everyone accepted the president's future strategic plan.

Iwata also memorized the contents of half a notebook.

Since passing the college entrance examination, he has never written such a long composition.

Walking out of the conference room, Iwata Satoru and Akanishi Ken felt their heads were buzzing.

"Should I continue to argue with the president?" Akanishi Ken asked.

"I'm not prepared enough today. I'll definitely ask the president after I'm fully prepared." Iwata accepted Qing Zhiyuan's statement mentally, but he still felt that the risk was very high emotionally.

"But," Satoru Iwata thought for a while and added, "Maybe the president's vision is indeed longer-term than ours. Looking at it from a longer time perspective, maybe this stock market crash is only temporary. .

The Internet of the future will still be a golden industry. "

"Hmm... it's also possible." Akanishi Ken crossed his hands and asked while walking back to the work station with him, "Then how long is this time dimension?"

"Two or three years," Iwata said.

Just at this time, Qing Zhiyuan had just left the conference room and followed them.

Hearing the conversation between the two people, Qing Zhiyuan couldn't help but laugh.

Where are two or three years?

The time I saw was 20 years.

…

…

————————————————————————

No updates tonight

thank you all

See you tomorrow (end of chapter)