Because of the skyrocketing stock price caused by the leak, Li Mu stopped today's plan to get Apple's management to sign, and then left Tim Cook aside. Lin Ching-ah told Tim Cook that Li Mu had to clean up Apple's mess first before moving on to the next step. Otherwise, the acquisition would be terminated forever.
Tim Cook did not doubt Li Mu's words at all. No one in Apple knew Li Mu's real intention of acquiring Apple, nor did they know how much Li Mu valued Apple. So in their view, Li Mu might give up the acquisition of Apple at any time. At that time, Apple would not be far from bankruptcy.
Tim Cook did not dare to refute Li Mu's claim that he would clean up Apple's mess, because he knew very well that the leak must have come from within Apple, because the news had spread widely within Apple. Not only all the senior executives, but even all the middle managers knew about it. Only the core members of Makino Technology knew about the company's plan to acquire Apple. These core members were extremely close to the company's interests, and they were all Hua Xia's people. The possibility of them leaking the news to Wall Street was almost zero.
Li Mu, who had left everyone in Apple alone, immediately called all the members of the acquisition team to continue the meeting. However, the direction of the meeting had completely changed. From discussing how to complete the privatization of Apple as soon as possible, it became how to deal with the huge fluctuations in Apple's stock price.
In the meeting room, Li Mu first clarified his two requirements. He said, "Regarding Apple's stock price, first of all, we have to beat the stock price back to below $4. Second, we have to sharpen our knives and make sure that these stock manipulators who want to make a fortune on their own heads bleed."
Louis Martin said, "Li Zong, it's too easy to bring the stock price back below 4 USD. We just need to announce to the public that we have no intention of acquiring Apple, and the stock price will definitely crash."
Li Mu nodded and said, "This is indeed the best way to push down the share price. But there is one thing that is very important. We will not give up on acquiring Apple! If we announce to the public that we are giving up on the acquisition, and then suddenly announce the acquisition after the stock price crashes, it will definitely have a significant impact on our corporate image. "
Louis Martin said seriously, "Li Zong, in America, going back on one's word is very common. Every entrepreneur likes to put up smoke bombs in front of the public, and the people are used to it."
Li Mu agreed and said, "That's right. In America, where capitalism is extremely developed, it is very common for entrepreneurs to lie and go back on their word. Of course, Hua Xia is not much better than you. Many of our entrepreneurs are also old foxes who are full of lies. One day, they say that they will not do anything, but the next moment, they immediately go back on their words."
As he spoke, Li Mu's tone became serious. He said seriously, "However, Makino Technology is different from any American company, and it is also different from any Hua Xia company. It is a benchmark, a flag. It represents the global integration of the Internet, and it represents the people-oriented and user-oriented Internet spirit. Therefore, it must not lie in front of the public, and it must not lie to achieve its own capital goals."
Louis Martin was slightly stunned for a moment. In his heart, he thought that Li Mu's requirements for himself and Makino Technology were a little too harsh, but he soon felt relieved. Li Mu was a person with principles. Sometimes, this kind of person seemed a little stubborn and stupid, but looking at Li Mu's achievements, he realized that this kind of stubbornness and stupidity was not a matter of losing something big for a small gain, but rather, it was a matter of gaining something big.
At this time, Lin Ching-ah said, "Li Zong, the intensity of the comments in the market seems to be increasing. I want to confirm whether you are adding fuel to the fire behind the scenes."
Lin Ching-ah was one of the earliest core members of Li Mu's early stage of entrepreneurship. She had an extraordinary understanding of Li Mu's style of doing things. Although when the stock price started to fluctuate today, there were comments constantly saying that the possibility of Makino Technology acquiring Apple was very low, and they were inducing retail investors to sell their shares, the intensity of that was at most 50%. However, not long after Li Mu went out to make a phone call, the online comments began to increase. Many people appeared to be pessimistic about the possibility of Apple being acquired, and they were even creating huge panic among retail investors to accelerate their selling. There was a huge difference between the methods used before and after. Lin Ching-ah could guess that the first half should be the main force of Nasdaq, and the second half should be Li Mu's army running into the market.
Facing Lin Ching-ah's question, Li Mu smiled mysteriously. After a moment of silence, he gently nodded and said, "That's right. I arranged people behind the main force to add fuel to the fire and assist them."
Lin Ching-ah blinked and smiled. She said, "With your help, more than 70% of the retail investors' shares were absorbed by the main force today. If we wait a little longer, it will probably exceed 80% …"
The retail investors were the most vulnerable group to deception and intimidation. If panic was really created, thousands of retail investors would choose to run for their lives at the same time. On the contrary, if an opportunity was portrayed, thousands of retail investors would desperately pour in with their money.
The main force often made use of this characteristic of the retail investors to fool the retail investors like monkeys. If they were optimistic about a stock, they would first make the retail investors lose confidence in the stock and use all kinds of methods to downplay the stock. Then, the retail investors would be intimidated and sell their shares. The main force would then take over the stock with a smile and pull up the stock price. At this time, the retail investors would have a feeling: Why would the stock I sell rise?
If the main force was not optimistic about the future of a certain stock, they would first let the retail investors be full of confidence in the stock. The whole world would be filled with good news about the stock, making people feel that they could not wait to soar to the sky. Then, the retail investors would think that they had a unique vision and buy a large number of shares to wait for the stock to appreciate. As a result, the main force would sell the stock in their hands and sell it. Then, the stock price would fall, and the retail investors would be deeply trapped. At this time, the retail investors would think: Why would the stock I buy fall?
Apple's stock had been low for a long time, and the retail investors were already exhausted. Today, when they suddenly heard that Makino Technology was going to buy it, everyone was extremely excited. However, this excitement did not last long. A lot of negative comments about Apple appeared in the market, making most of the retail investors feel that the possibility of Makino Technology buying Apple was basically zero. So, they, who were already exhausted, went on another roller coaster ride. Their last trace of faith was also exhausted. So, everyone cut their losses. Everyone was afraid that when Makino Technology officially refuted the rumors, the stock price would fall to a new low.
At this moment, those main forces were about to faint from happiness. In their eyes, Apple's stock was like gold. However, they never thought that they wanted to take the opportunity to make money from Li Mu. Little did they know that Li Mu had already sharpened the knife and placed it on their necks.
In the conference room, Li Mu snorted a few times and said, "If most of the retail investors have cleared their stocks, then we can be at ease and brandish the knife boldly."
After saying that, Li Mu said to Lin Ching-ah, "Qing Ya, prepare for the information release. The content is: Makino Technology will only consider buying Apple's stock price if it is lower than 3.5 US dollars. If it is higher than this price, even if it is one cent higher, Makino Technology will not buy even one ten-thousandth of Apple's shares."
"3.5 US dollars?" Everyone was stunned.
Louis Martin looked at Li Mu and said dumbfoundedly, "Li Zong, this move of yours is really …"
Seeing that he did not finish, Li Mu smiled and asked, "Is it sinister?"
"No …" Louis Martin shook his head, gave a thumbs up, and said, "It's perfect!"
According to Li Mu's requirements for Makino Technology and himself, he could not announce to the outside world that he was not planning to buy Apple to suppress Apple's stock price at the current stage. However, Louis Martin did not expect that Li Mu would use a strange way to achieve this goal.
If Makino Technology released this statement and made it clear that Apple's stock price would not be considered even if it was one cent higher than 3.5 US dollars, then there was no doubt that Apple's stock price would quickly fall below this price. Otherwise, as long as the price exceeded 3.5 US dollars, it would be impossible for Apple to be acquired by Makino Technology. Apple would have to absorb all the negative effects at the current stage by itself, and then the stock price would definitely continue to fall. Therefore, without a doubt, as long as Li Mu released this statement, no one would have the ability to make Apple's stock price stand above 3.5 US dollars.
If Apple's stock price fell below 3.5 US dollars, then Apple's stock price could immediately stabilize. Because at that price, the prerequisite for Li Mu to acquire Apple would be established. Everyone just had to wait for Li Mu to formally submit the application to NASDAQ for privatization.
Right now, the only company that was willing to acquire Apple and could immediately pay for it was probably Makino Technology. No one else would think that acquiring Apple was a good deal. The iPod business was dead and facing huge losses, and the Mac business had been suppressed by Microsoft for so many years. It was basically impossible for Apple to make a comeback.
Therefore, even if Li Mu pushed the current stock price below 3.5 US dollars, there would not be any competitors.
At this time, Louis Martin asked Li Mu, "Li Zong, if this is the case, should we renegotiate the price for Apple?"
Li Mu waved his hand and said, "We will adopt a two-track system. The non-tradable shares of Apple's shareholders will still be 90% at 4.15 US dollars. As for the tradable shares, we will buy them at a price of less than 3.5 US dollars. There will be no premium."
Everyone was shocked when they heard this.
Originally, in order to not leave a bad impression on NASDAQ, Li Mu purposely prepared a 1: 1.5 privatization price for the tradable shares, and it was based on the base of 4.15 US dollars. In other words, Li Mu was willing to pay 6.22 US dollars per share for the tradable shares.
But now, Li Mu changed his mind. He wanted to push the price down to 3.5 US dollars. This way …
Ding Jian said worriedly, "Li Zong, if we are so aggressive in the privatization price, will the investors be disgusted?"
Li Mu said with a smile, "If I released such news before today, I would definitely be scolded to death by the investors on Wall Street and NASDAQ. But today, with the help of these major institutions, it is equivalent to giving us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Speaking up to this point, Li Mu said, "I will immediately arrange a new round of public opinion war. I will accuse the securities investment institutions of deliberately spreading negative comments and tricking ordinary investors to sell their shares of Apple. First, I will arouse the public's anger. This way, the investors who were tricked will definitely hate these securities investment institutions to the core, and it will also cause the public to hate and hate these securities investment institutions. As long as this is done to the extreme, the scene that the public will be most happy to see is these securities investment institutions being punished and paying the price."
Everyone present nodded in agreement. If this public opinion was guided to the extreme, securities investment institutions would become the most hated target of public investors. They would view securities investment institutions as bandits, robbers, thieves, and shameless people full of lies. What they looked forward to the most was to see these bandits and robbers walk to the guillotine.
Li Mu continued, "If this step is done well, we will announce the purchase price below 3.5 US dollars. At that time, the share prices will crash, but the public will not hate us. This is because before the share prices crash, their shares will have been cheated by these securities investment institutions. We will be cutting the leeks of these securities investment institutions, and this is equivalent to helping the public to vent their anger. Will they still hate us? No, they will only applaud and praise us as heroes! Superheroes who are cutting the leeks of bandits and avenging them! "
If one's money was robbed by someone, one would definitely hate the other party. At this time, if someone came and robbed the person who robbed him and beat him up, one would definitely feel a lot more relieved. Although the money that the person who robbed him was originally his property, he would definitely feel a lot better.
If it were not for the public, Li Mu would not have given the individual investors 150% of the privatization conditions. Now, since the public had lost their Apple shares, he no longer had to worry about waving his knife.
Everyone in the meeting room was excited because they realized that Makino Technology was about to profit from this disaster!
…
When the individual investors had almost sold all of their Apple shares, a terrible statement suddenly appeared in the market and on the Internet.
This statement firmly claimed that Apple's investors had been deceived by securities investment institutions. They created all kinds of panic to induce individual investors to sell their shares, and then they used various methods to crazily attract funds. Now, the individual investors' shares were all in the pockets of these investment institutions, and they were ready to hitch a ride to make a fortune.
Although there had been such comments before, they had never been able to push their views out due to the fact that their words carried little weight in the face of panic and panic. But now, such comments had suddenly become overwhelming, and the speed at which their influence spread was simply unimaginable.
However, this kind of statement listed a lot of detailed evidence, and it further proved its point of view. For a time, it caused a great impact in the ordinary investor group!
These investors who realized that they had been tricked were furious. They used all sorts of methods to attack, condemn, and protest against the practices of the investment institutions. However, they could only use their words to their advantage. After all, although the practices of the investment institutions were immoral, they were not illegal. No one could do anything to them.
The stock market was like this all over the world. It was normal for individual investors to be played by the main investors. Justice? No way.
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