Reborn as a tycoon in Hong Kong

"Jobs! Bill!"

Lin Baicheng walked towards Jobs and Bill Gates.

"Alan!"

Seeing him coming, Jobs and Bill Gates stopped to chat.

"Why didn't you see Paul?"

Lin Baicheng asked Bill Gates. He had just looked around the hall and did not see Paul Allen.

Bill Gates said: "Paul is busy today and can't come over. He asked me to say sorry to you on his behalf."

"It's okay, just come over and say something if you can't."

Lin Baicheng waved his hand. He might have something to do at home, so he couldn't just ask him to come over.

Jobs next to him said to Lin Baicheng: "Alan, can you spare some time later? I have something to talk to you about alone."

"no problem."

Lin Baicheng nodded in agreement, then told the two of them that he was going to greet others, and left first.

Because this party was held at short notice, most of them were old acquaintances, except for the Republican congressmen who did not have time to come. But there are also newcomers, Sun Yiyang from Golden Fleece Company, and a man named Genus Wilson.

Genus Wilson is well-known in the semiconductor industry in the United States, so Isabella recruited him to Galaxy Semiconductor Company as the head of the R\u0026D department.

Galaxy Semiconductor, just registered not long ago, is actually a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xiangjiang Galaxy Semiconductor.

Lin Baicheng greeted everyone and chatted with Sun Yiyang and Genus Wilson for a while. After all, this was his first time meeting them.

By the time Lin Baicheng went to find Jobs and took Jobs to the study upstairs, nearly an hour had passed. With Haruko Maori, Isabella and the others helping to greet the guests, it would be okay for Lin Baicheng to leave for a while.

"Jobs, you can now tell me if you have anything to talk to me about alone."

After the two sat down, Lin Baicheng said aloud.

"Alan."

Jobs did not say what the matter was first, but said: "Apple can develop so fast, thank you for your support. I hope you can continue to support the board of directors and myself in the future."

"That's what I should do, after all, I am also the majority shareholder of Apple."

Lin Baicheng nodded casually and said, "Why did you suddenly talk about this?"

"Is such that."

Jobs' face straightened and he said in a deep voice: "IBM has the idea of ​​acquiring the company and has recently started to contact shareholders. I only found out about this matter the day before yesterday."

"IBM wants to buy Apple?"

Lin Baicheng was very surprised when he heard this. It seems that he had never heard of IBM's acquisition of Apple before his rebirth. However, it may be that he was ignorant. After all, he didn't know much about Apple before his rebirth.

"What do you think?"

Lin Baicheng asked aloud. He was not sure whether Apple would accept IBM's acquisition because of his participation. If this is the case, then he can only sell the stock, because the Apple company acquired by IBM is no longer the Apple company he remembers.

"Refuse to be acquired, of course."

Jobs immediately said: "Apple was founded by us. If the company does not develop well, forget it. But the company is doing very well. How could we agree to sell the company?"

Lin Baicheng asked: "Is this your personal idea or everyone's decision?"

Jobs replied: "Mike was a little hesitant, but Steve and I had the same idea."

The Mike that Jobs referred to was actually Mike Markkula, the angel investor who originally invested $250,000 in Apple. He is a businessman, and it is normal for him to want to sell his shares in the company as long as IBM's offer exceeds his expectations.

When Lin Baicheng bought shares in Apple, the company's valuation exceeded Mike Markkula's expectations, so he directly sold 15% of his shares.

"As long as you don't want to be acquired."

Lin Baicheng nodded and said: "I personally don't want Apple to be acquired. I also want to be able to go with Apple when it rings the bell to go public. So, you don't have to worry about me, I won't sell my shares Sold to IBM unless IBM can value Apple at more than $1 billion."

"Alan, if IBM's valuation of Apple is so high, I'm afraid we won't be able to resist it."

Jobs couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly after hearing this. It is absolutely impossible for IBM to value Apple so high. If he really offered such a high price, no matter what he said just now, he knew very well that he couldn't stand the temptation of such a high price, and the other two people were the same.

Lin Baicheng asked curiously: "You just said that Mr. Makkula was hesitant. It seems that IBM made the bid. What is IBM's valuation of Apple?"

Jobs said: "$80 million!"

"Why is it so low?"

Lin Baicheng was a little surprised when he heard this: "Bella just told me today that as of last week, Apple's revenue was US$30 million and its profit reached US$10 million. This year is not over yet, and there are still sales around Christmas. The annual profit is only 12 million U.S. dollars. The most important thing is that the company's monthly revenue and profits are growing rapidly. 80 million U.S. dollars is too low. I would think even 100 million U.S. dollars is too low, let alone 8,000 U.S. dollars. Ten thousand dollars, how could Mr. Makkula be tempted?”

"This valuation is a bit low."

Jobs nodded in agreement, and then said: "The reason why IBM only gives these valuations is because IBM threatened that if the company does not agree to be acquired, the other party will enter the personal computer market and compete with the company. With IBM's It is difficult for the company to compete with its reputation and technology. Once the company cannot compete with IBM, then it will not be worth even $10 million, not to mention its $80 million valuation."

"So that's it!"

Lin Baicheng suddenly realized that IBM's entry would indeed affect Apple's prospects, so it was normal not to give too high a valuation.

Before its rebirth, Apple's development was very smooth, otherwise it would not have gone public at the end of the 1980s. Now they are encountering difficulties. IBM, a giant, will soon compete with Apple. Lin Baicheng speculates that it is related to his participation.

With Lin Baicheng's participation, Apple has developed more smoothly and faster than before its rebirth. However, it may be for this reason that IBM saw the potential of the personal computer market and entered the market early.

With IBM as a giant competitor, Lin Baicheng is really not sure whether Apple can develop as smoothly as it did before its rebirth, or whether it will die midway. However, no matter what the future holds, he will not sell his shares in Apple now. After all, they can't sell them for much money now. He still has the $24 million and is willing to continue to support Apple and take a gamble.

After all, Lin Baicheng only invested more than two million US dollars in Apple. No matter how bad the situation was, his losses were limited.