Elon Musk was dumbfounded by Li Mu's words.
Before he came, Elon Musk thought about how Li Mu would respond if he proposed to sell Paypal to Li Mu.
In his opinion, for someone like Li Mu who was able to amass such a fortune at the age of twenty, there was a 90% chance that he would consider acquiring PayPal. Given his current situation, PayPal was of little significance to him. Moreover, YY had much more room for growth than PayPal. Therefore, using YY's shares to acquire PayPal would be a huge loss. Li Mu would never agree to it no matter what.
Therefore, in Elon Musk's opinion, Li Mu would most likely reject him in various ways.
For example, he might ask himself, "How important do you think Paypal is to YY or Makino Technology?"
Or Li Mu might say, "I don't think YY needs a product like Paypal right now."
In short, Elon Musk concluded that Li Mu would most likely reject him.
However, he did not really want to sell PayPal to Li Mu. He just wanted to use Li Mu to put some pressure on eBay. He wanted to break the stalemate between the two parties.
However, he did not expect Li Mu to not play his cards according to his expectations. Li Mu said, "That's exactly what I was thinking!"
Elon Musk was dumbfounded. He thought about countless possibilities, but he did not expect Li Mu to say something like that.
Even if Li Mu was really interested in Paypal, according to the logic of the business world, Li Mu would have the upper hand since he took the initiative to promote Paypal. Therefore, Li Mu should not have said that he wanted to acquire Paypal. Once his intention was exposed, he would lose the upper hand.
Normally, even if Li Mu really wanted to acquire Paypal, he would pretend that he was not interested and wait for Elon Musk to promote Paypal before asking for the price reluctantly.
Therefore, Li Mu had ten thousand possible answers, but he chose the most unlikely one. It was also the one that Elon Musk never expected.
Elon Musk was a little flustered. Fortunately, he quickly adjusted himself and said to Li Mu, "It's great that Mr. Li is interested! We can have an in-depth discussion about this topic. "
Li Mu nodded and said, "Then just give me an offer. I know you are probably negotiating with eBay. Give me a price first, and I'll think about it."
Elon Musk thought that eBay was now willing to offer 1.5 billion USD, and he was here to raise the price. If Hua Xia really wanted to buy Paypal, it would not matter. As long as the price was in line with expectations, no matter who bought it, he, his partners, and the investors behind the scenes would agree to buy it.
Therefore, Elon Musk said to Li Mu, "Mr. Li, our current offer is 2 billion USD."
"2 billion?" Li Mu smiled and said, "I'll just say two points. First, it's too expensive. Second, I can't afford it. Makino Technology does not have that much cash. Even if it is a Series C financing, it will not be able to come up with that much cash. Therefore, even if I am interested in acquiring it, I can only use cash plus shares. I will accept Paypal, and you will become a shareholder of Makino Technology. "
Elon Musk immediately said, "There is room for adjustment. As for the cash plus shares, I don't have any objections. It depends on how much cash and shares you are willing to give."
When he said this, Elon Musk's mood was a lot more relaxed. Although he did not expect Li Mu to answer like that, he thought about it carefully. Li Mu's interest in Paypal was a good thing for him.
If Li Mu was interested in Paypal, even if the deal did not go through, his attitude would put a lot of pressure on eBay. In the end, eBay would be forced to raise its offer.
If Li Mu's offer was better than eBay's, then he would just sell Paypal to him. Everyone would take a portion of the cash, and the rest would be the shares of Makino Technology. In this case, in the near future, just the shares alone would be a huge sum.
Li Mu smiled and said, "Mr. Musk, I want to ask you a personal question."
Elon Musk hurriedly said, "Mr. Lee, please go ahead."
Li Mu looked at him and asked with a smile, "Do you want to get rid of PayPal completely and go into other fields, or do you want to continue working at PayPal for a while and fight for a bigger future?"
Elon Musk was taken aback. He didn't expect Li Mu to ask him such a question. Of course, he was more inclined to let go of the project completely. Since the beginning of the project, he had taken the wrong path several times due to his immaturity. It was just like an artist's first work. Although it was enough to amaze the world, the artist himself knew that there were many areas in the painting that could have been handled in a better way. However, what was done was done, and there was no turning back.
Therefore, in this case, Elon Musk wanted to completely sell Paypal. Then, he would take the report from his first work and put it into his new work. The new work would have to start from scratch. With his previous experience, he would be able to achieve his goals in a better way.
However, Elon Musk was wondering why Li Mu asked this question. Does he want me to continue working at Paypal? Or does he want me to be the CEO after the acquisition of PayPal?
Therefore, Elon Musk asked Li Mu, "Mr. Lee, what do you mean?"
Li Mu smiled and avoided answering his question. Instead, he said, "Mr. Musk, if possible, please answer my question first."
Elon Musk nodded and thought for a moment before saying, "For me, I really want to sell Paypal and use the cash to invest in other areas."
Li Mu asked him, "Is it because you don't have confidence in Paypal's future?"
Elon Musk thought to himself, Li Mu's question is quite sharp. How should I answer it? If I say that I don't have confidence in Paypal's future, then I would be slapping myself in the face. If I say that I have confidence in Paypal, then what I just said is a bit contradictory. Because if I have confidence in Paypal, then why would I consider selling it?
Elon Musk quickly thought of a few excuses in his mind before he said without confidence, "It's not that I don't have confidence, but I think that Paypal is the blood vessel of e-commerce. Companies that are interested in Paypal will definitely be more inclined to acquire it. Because only by acquiring it will they feel more assured. If we, as the original team, still keep a certain amount of shares, it will be a huge unstable factor for the buyers."
Li Mu spread his hands and said with a serious face, "I don't think so. If the original team keeps a certain amount of shares, I can totally accept it. I think it's better this way."
Elon Musk asked him in surprise, "Mr. Li, do you want to invest in Paypal or acquire it?"
Li Mu smiled and said, "Let's put it this way. I'm more inclined to invest in Paypal, but not the controlling stake. Also, I'm more inclined to invest in Paypal with eBay."
Elon Musk was stunned. "You want to invest in Paypal with eBay?"
Li Mu nodded and said, "That's right. My idea is to let eBay control Paypal, and Makino Technology will invest a part of it. First, let the investors behind Paypal withdraw their money, and then you can sell off a part of your original team's shares. Then, you can continue to hold the rest of the shares. The three of us can work together to make Paypal bigger. At the same time, you will be the CEO of Paypal."
Elon Musk said awkwardly, "Mr. Li, eBay has been very adamant about acquiring Paypal. They have been insisting on a full acquisition, and we have already accepted their proposal. The biggest problem now is that we haven't reached an agreement on the price. So, I'm afraid that eBay will not be willing to invest in Paypal with you."
Li Mu smiled and said, "After all, you and I are meeting here. No matter how adamant eBay was before, they should be worried now. As long as they are worried, they will definitely give in."
Elon Musk looked a little awkward. From what he saw, Li Mu said this casually, but he had already pointed out his real intention. This time, he wanted to meet with Li Mu to let eBay's attitude change. Could it be that Li Mu had already seen through his motive?
Thinking up to this point, Elon Musk asked tentatively, "Mr. Li, are you trying to pressure eBay to give up on the full acquisition?"
Li Mu nodded and smiled. "There's an old saying in Hua Xia, a straightforward person doesn't beat around the bush. To tell you the truth, to me, Paypal won't be of much use in the future, but I personally feel that Paypal is a very promising payment product. So, I hope to be able to participate in it to a certain extent. So, I need eBay to give up on the full acquisition of Paypal, and consider sharing the shares with Makino Technology and your original team. This way, Paypal can continue to develop as an independent company, and not directly become a payment channel for eBay."
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Mu looked at Elon Musk with a playful smile on his face. He said, "Actually, Mr. Musk, didn't you come to Hua Xia to use Makino Technology to pressure eBay? Since that's the case, why don't we do each other a favor? You want to earn more money, and I want to invest in Paypal. Let's work together to set up a trap for eBay, and let it jump in with a higher valuation. This way, we can achieve our respective goals. As long as Makino Technology successfully invests in Paypal, when the time comes, if your original team can't wait to get rid of Paypal and not have anything to do with Paypal in the future, then I won't force you. "
Elon Musk was dumbfounded! He didn't expect that this time, he wanted to use Li Mu to pressure eBay. In the end, Li Mu suddenly threw out a well-thought-out plan to invest in Paypal. It seemed like Li Mu had already seen through his motive for coming to Hua Xia to see him …
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