It's almost 2001, and Feng Yu arrived in Seattle. Jeff Bezos had asked Feng Yu to attend this meeting, telling him he has a piece of good news for Feng Yu.
"Everyone, I have a piece of good news for all of you. With the increase in profits in the fourth quarter, Amazon is making profits for the first time since it was set up!"
All the directors and senior executives were clapping. Amazon is finally making profits after so many years.
Amazon could have been listed a long time ago, but the major shareholders objected to it and stopped the company. That was the springtime for internet companies, and their share prices soared after they got listed.
The shareholders had grumbled about Feng Yu more than once. If Amazon had been listed in 1997, they could have cashed out their shares in 1999. Their profits are at least ten times higher than before!
Look at eBay. Their market value had increased by more than a hundred times after they got listed. Even if Amazon is not as good as eBay, it should not be too far off. To the shareholders, Amazon might be more popular than eBay. After all, Amazon's major shareholder is Feng Yu. Feng Yu is a golden brand that will make the shareholders believe the company will give them high returns!
Feng Yu is the youngest billionaire in the world, and he is the person who defeated Soros. He is famous in the investment world.
But Feng Yu did not want to get listed. He claimed that the company lacks funds, and Jeff Bezos continued to inject funds into the company. But Jeff Bezos still supports Feng Yu, and the shareholders are helpless.
Feng Yu's assistant, Ralph, had said that if any of you object, it's fine. We will buy your shares based on the market price with a 10% premium.
They will not sell their shares!
At first, they were thinking of cashing out their shares after the company got listed. But after that, they saw Amazon's potential.
An online shopping mall has an advantage over physical stores. It can provide customers with a wide selection of products, and it's very simple.
In the US, many middle-class people live in the suburbs, where the environment is good, and their lives are more comfortable.
They usually go to the supermarket once a week to buy their daily necessities. It's tiring every time, and sometimes, they have to look for a long time to buy one product.
But Amazon's online shopping mall is different. They only need to type a few times and click on the search button to find the products they want. Then, he placed the order and waited for the goods to be delivered to his door.
In the beginning, Amazon will pay on delivery. But some consumers feel it is troublesome and need to prepare change.
But later, Amazon can use online banking to pay in advance, and this problem is solved. Some users believe in Amazon's reputation, and more and more users believe in Amazon.
Amazon's products are getting more and more diverse. As long as it was a legal product, they could sell it. Everything from toothpicks to refrigerators and washing machines could be purchased through Amazon and delivered to their doorstep.
When the shareholders saw that the number of registered users was increasing, the sales were increasing, and the losses were decreasing, they no longer said anything.
Although the shares in their hands were very small, they firmly believed that these shares would bring them rich returns in the future. And that day would not be too far away.
Amazon is planning to enter South America, and the market will be bigger. Their profits will be higher.
Two years ago, Amazon set up a music store, and it sells all kinds of music products like cassette tapes, CDs, MDs, DVDs, music players, headphones, etc. At that time, Amazon started charging for MP3 players.
At that time, many people objected to this, including some of the directors. This charging for MP3 players is creative, but who will buy it?
But very soon, the shareholders knew which product this charging for MP3 players is targeting. Aiwa was sued by the Recording Industry Association of America. After that, MP3 players become popular in the US, then across North America, Asia, and Europe. Their MP3 players' downloads keep increasing.
As Amazon has more users and is one of the distributors of Aiwa's products, many people choose to download MP3 players from their music store. In the end, Amazon's downloads exceeded Aiwa's.
Now, Amazon's downloads are more than 1 million every month, and after Aiwa introduced their latest MP3 player, their downloads increased again. This music store and Bookstore are the main source of Amazon's profits.
Just last month, AIWA's music store had merged with AIWA's music website, and the number of downloads increased again.
The directors and top management were impressed with Jeff Bezos and praised him for his foresight. On the other hand, Bezos knew very well that he had rejected the idea of getting an MP3 player for download.
But Ralph, on behalf of Feng Yu, had forced Jeff Bezos to do this. Feng Yu is the major shareholder and had never interfered with Amazon's management. He had only asked Jeff Bezos not to enter the Hua Xia and Eastern Europe markets.
Now, Feng Yu had asked Jeff Bezos to do this, which means Jeff Bezos is very concerned about MP3 players. Jeff Bezos dares not to reject him.
So, Jeff Bezos got credit for his decision and foresight.
Amazon is no longer the biggest online bookstore. It is also the biggest bookstore, the biggest music store, and the biggest comprehensive online retailer.
Now, Amazon's marketing slogan is "The World's Largest Online Retailer."
But no one can do anything about it. Amazon is the biggest online retailer in terms of product types, registered users, and sales.
Of course, Amazon's market value is slightly lower because Amazon is not listed.
Now, Amazon is going to add another line to their marketing slogan. "The most customer-centric company." Many companies' marketing slogan is customer-centric. But Amazon had added the word "most" in front of their slogan, and many companies started to criticize Amazon.
But these criticisms did not affect Amazon's development. Instead, Amazon's reputation increased, and Amazon's sales increased.
If Jeff Bezos had not used 30% of his income to attract customers, Amazon might have made profits a few months ago.
But it's not too late for Amazon to make profits now. Feng Yu is satisfied with this.
When other internet companies are losing money, Amazon is making profits! This is a success!
Feng Yu took the report, crossed his legs, and opened it. He is also looking at this report to see what surprises Amazon can bring him.
But when Feng Yu saw the profits, he rolled his eyes.
The profits are more than 30,000 USD.
Damn! The World's Largest Online Retailer's annual profits are only about 30,000 USD, and you are telling me this?!
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