Looking at Larry Page's extremely bitter expression, Li Mu did feel a little bit of sympathy for him at some point.
Logically speaking, I shouldn't bully an honest person.
He wanted 10%, and the other party gave him 10% this time. Didn't this hit it off and everyone was happy?
But seeing that Larry Page is honest and cowardly, I'm ready to increase the price. I want 15%. This is indeed a bit cruel.
However, this thought only lasted for a moment before completely disappearing.
In the capital market, there is no reason to be reasonable.
In the real capital market, even the law is not that useful. Otherwise, there would not be so many regulatory authorities and agencies.
But then again, not everyone who was bullied was an honest person, and not every tech geek was an honest person. Those who looked harmless were even less so.
Steve Jobs was bullied by the board of directors in the early years because he had the same shares. Is he an honest person?
Robin and Mr. Ma were the earliest tech geeks. Are they honest people?
Mark Zuckerberg looks like a poor guy who can be bullied by anyone in school. Is he an honest person?
In other words, how can there be honest people in the capital market? Looking for honest people here is the same as looking for wild pandas in the United States. Pandas are not produced here at all!
After a short moment of moral burden, Li Mu looked at Larry Page, who was sad as if his wife was robbed. He smiled and said, "Larry, Makino Technology's investment in Google will immediately bring you three huge pieces of good news:
First, search traffic will surge. Google's core business will immediately usher in exponential growth.
Second, the capital market will have more confidence in Google's future because the industry giant that is most likely to threaten you will become your ally.
Third, Google's industry advantage in the search engine field will be more stable. Whether it is Yahoo or Microsoft, as long as Google has me, they will not threaten Google's development. "
After Li Mu said this, he saw that Larry Page's depressed expression had eased a little. He knew that he had hit the nail on the head. Then, Li Mu sat up straight and leaned toward Larry Page. He said confidently, "Larry, think about it. What do these three points mean for Google? It means that Google will become the Makino Technology of search engines. It means that Google's valuation will increase rapidly. It means that your plan to go public next year will achieve a better valuation in the capital market. You are transferring 15% of your shares to me at a low price. It seems that you are losing some short-term profits. But think about it. With me around, your IPO next year will be at least 50% higher than expected. I will make money, and you will make more money. This is the meaning of win-win cooperation. "
Larry Page kept quiet for a long time and nodded.
Although Larry Page was angry at being blackmailed, he knew what Li Mu said was right. Accepting his conditions will mean a better, faster, and safer future for Google. In the long run, this is a good deal. If Google accepts it, Google's position as the industry leader will not be affected for the next five years. Both Yahoo and Microsoft want to do their own search engine. To Google, these two companies will be a huge threat. But if Li Mu stands behind Google, Yahoo and Microsoft will not be a threat to Google.
Yahoo's traffic is much lower than Makino Technology. Although Microsoft has a large user base, it is too far away from the users' needs. Compared to Makino Technology, Microsoft is nothing. If Google can get the traffic support from Makino Technology, Microsoft and Microsoft will not be a threat in the future.
Larry Page said, "Li Zong, I cannot make the decision on 15% alone. Please give me some time. I need to discuss this with Google's board of directors."
Li Mu nodded and said with a smile, "I'm fine with discussing, but you have to be quick. I don't have much time to waste here waiting for Google's decision, so please give me a clear answer within 24 hours."
"24 hours?" Larry Page is not confident.
To him, he had already admitted defeat. He was willing to accept Li Mu's robbery-like demands in exchange for a better future for Google. However, he was not sure if the other directors and shareholders would agree to it. After all, everyone wanted to dilute 15% of their shares to Li Mu, and it was at a price far lower than the market price. This was equivalent to everyone cutting off their own flesh to feed Li Mu.
To Google's founding team, cutting off their own flesh is not painful. But to the shareholders who had just entered Google, it is painful.
For example, Google's current valuation is around 10 billion USD. If a shareholder bought 10% of Google's shares at 8 billion USD a few months ago, he will have to sell 15% of his shares to Li Mu at 6 billion USD. That means he will have to sell 1.5% of his shares to Li Mu for 90 million USD. But he just spent 120 million USD to buy that 1.5% of his shares.
To these shareholders, losing 30 million USD is not the biggest problem. The biggest problem is Google will be listed soon, and all the shares are precious. Google's market value might exceed 40 billion USD six months after it is listed. At that time, 1.5% of Google's shares will be worth 600 million USD.
On one hand, Google will have a chance to reach 600 million USD after it is listed. On the other hand, Google will be forced to sell 1.5% of its shares to Li Mu at a loss of 30 million USD. Most people will not be convinced to choose the latter option.
Li Mu also knows that it will not be easy for Larry Page to convince all the shareholders of Google. So, he said to Larry Page, "Larry, tell all your shareholders not to think of me as a robber on a rugged mountain road and threaten you to not pass if you don't pay me a fee. Instead, think of me as a boss who owns a private highway. You can only move forward on the rugged mountain road, but now, I am giving you a second choice. This choice is to pay me a fee, and I will let you travel on my highway quickly. The choice is yours. So, the only decision you have to make is to continue moving forward on the mountain road, or to drive on my highway."
Larry Page nodded in agreement. Li Mu's analogy is very appropriate. Google was never forced to cooperate with Li Mu. Li Mu only gave Google an expensive option that Google did not want to miss.
Since this is the case, I can only go back and communicate with Google's board of directors.
However, the window of time is only 24 hours. Larry Page is a little worried. He does not know if the board of directors can accept Li Mu's asking price in such a short period of time.
So, Larry Page hurriedly stood up and said to Li Mu, "Li Zong, time is running out. I have to leave now."
Li Mu nodded. "I will wait for your news."
Larry Page said, "Okay, I will give you a final reply in 24 hours."
…
After Larry Page left, Li Mu immediately started to prepare for both scenarios.
If Google accepts the asking price, everyone will be happy, and I won't have to divert my energy to fight with them.
If Google doesn't accept the asking price, with my temper, I will definitely not settle for another 10%. At most, I will fight with Google. In order to maintain my principle of not going back on my word, and for the huge profits in the future of the search engine market, I have to fight with Google. Even if I can't kill them, I will at least cripple them!
So, Li Mu sorted out three plans for the second scenario.
The first one is to look for Robin directly and explicitly ask him to open up all of Baidu's search engine patents and technologies to Makino Technology. In return, I will divide the territory with him. I can leave the Hua Xia market and even the Chinese search market to Baidu, and I will take the rest. After all, I am also a shareholder of Baidu, and I can't force Baidu into a corner. At the same time, I will also give Robin a certain amount of profits. After he opens up all of his patented technologies, I will set up a subsidiary company called Makino Search to do the search business. All of the funds will be paid by Makino Technology, but I will give Baidu 20% of the shares as compensation. Then, I will let Baidu share part of the operation and development work to relieve the technical pressure on Makino Technology.
In this way, Baidu will become Makino Technology's mercenary. They will follow me to attack Google, and then share the profits of the war.
The second one is to cooperate with Yahoo or Microsoft. Since these two companies are interested in doing search, then Google will be their common enemy. By then, Makino Technology can cooperate with one of these two companies for the search engine business. Makino Technology will provide traffic support, and the other party will provide technical and hardware support.
This model is equivalent to Li Mu looking for a strategic ally with enough weight. Both parties will send troops and fight together to attack Google. The advantage is that it can greatly reduce the pressure on Makino Technology to fight on multiple fronts. The disadvantage is that there is a lot of profit to be given up, at least 40% or even 49%.
The third one is to set up a search engine alliance. I can pull in Baidu, Microsoft, Yahoo, and even other interested internet companies. Everyone will set up a new company, develop a search engine together, and promote this search engine together. The first task of this search engine is to get rid of Google. After Google is taken down, everyone will sit back and enjoy the profits.
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