"Now, let's welcome Mr. Kyle Page with our warmest applause to give a speech!" LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner announced loudly.
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone present immediately applauded.
Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Jim Sinegal, and other prominent guests were also all smiles.
"That guy Kyle is really pleased with himself today!" Bezos, said with a laugh while clapping.
Bill Gates nodded and smiled, "He should be pleased today. The industrial park, centered around LinkedIn, covering information engineering, software development, and electronic equipment, cost 1 billion US dollars for just the first phase. This is definitely a grand undertaking."
"That's right!"
Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, chairman of Charter Communications, and owner of the NBA team Portland Trail Blazers, chimed in, "Looking at the large number of internet companies that emerged in the 90s, apart from a few giants, how many of them actually have their own self-built industrial parks?!"
Jeff Bezos felt a pang of envy.
Indeed!
Up until now, the Bezos had wanted to build an independent industrial park more than once, but it had always been shelved for various reasons.
The surrounding invited guests were already very emotional, and upon hearing the bigwigs speak, they felt even more that Kyle was young and promising.
The happiest, however, was the local government of Seattle.
Without going into too much detail, the first phase of the Page Industrial Park alone solved the employment problem for at least 3,000 people, which was definitely good news for politicians with higher aspirations.
Of course, Seattle's local government also paid a considerable price for LinkedIn's relocation to Seattle and the construction of the Page Industrial Park.
Kyle received extremely favorable treatment in terms of taxes and financial subsidies.
Just think about it, folks~
In the future, Bezos's Amazon, as one of only three companies globally with a market value exceeding 1 trillion US dollars, will still be able to receive small and medium-sized enterprise subsidies and relief funds every year, precisely because it has the strong support of the local government.
Undoubtedly, LinkedIn will also be able to enjoy this treatment now!
...Kyle walked onto the stage.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am Kyle Page!"
"The first phase of the Page Industrial Park, which took half a year for site selection and investigation, one year for construction, cost 1 billion US dollars, and involved as many as 4,500 people, has finally completed its first phase of construction today."
"In addition to LinkedIn, companies such as Supra Real Estate Transaction Network and Adela Technology, totaling 39 companies, will successively move into the park within the next week. By then, the total number of employees in the entire park will exceed 20,000 people."
"The number of beneficiaries in Seattle will exceed 50,000!"
"In the future, we will provide more than 6,000 job opportunities!"
...Eloquent and passionate!
However... it was basically all empty talk following a fixed routine!
The so-called completion ceremony speech was nothing more than painting a blueprint, drawing a big picture, and going through the motions. How could anyone speak from the heart and tell the absolute truth?
Generally speaking, in any large gathering of over a hundred people, 99% of speeches are nonsense.
Kyle, putting aside other things for now, was definitely good at talking nonsense. You could chat with him for days without him repeating himself.
The speech ended ~
Ms. Osis, the park manager, then led everyone to a grand reception held at the park's largest activity center.
"Hi, Paul."
"Kyle, this should be our first time meeting."
Kyle, holding a wine glass, started chatting with Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, chairman of Charter Communications, and owner of the NBA team Portland Trail Blazers, who was invited to attend.
Paul Allen held a considerable amount of Microsoft shares, valued at over 4 billion US dollars.
At the same time, he was currently the chairman of Charter Communications, a US cable and wireless TV operator with a market value exceeding 100 billion US dollars, and the value of his shares was nearly 10 billion US dollars.
He was a bona fide super-rich man!
After some pleasantries, Kyle got to the point: "Paul, around 1988, you spent 70 million US dollars to buy the NBA basketball team Trail Blazers and 200 million US dollars to buy the NFL football team Seahawks. How are they doing now?"
Paul Allen was an avid basketball and football fan, arguably the richest owner in both the NBA and NFL sports leagues.
"Kyle, I retired from Microsoft due to health reasons and wanted to enjoy my retirement, so I bought a basketball team and a football team. And during this time, I thought about selling them more than once. But... who knew... the two teams I originally bought for 270 million US dollars are now worth over 1 billion US dollars. Isn't that annoying!" Paul sighed.
Kyle's mouth twitched.
Damn it, I came to learn from you, not to watch you show off.
Spending 270 million US dollars and turning it into over 1 billion US dollars in 12 years was indeed a successful investment.
However, Paul bought the two teams not for investment, but purely out of hobby!
Many investors in the sports industry were envious and jealous.
Before Paul Allen's death in 2018, the value of these two teams had already exceeded 3.7 billion US dollars.
A hobby inadvertently turned into a successful investment!
Tsk tsk tsk ~ Quite impressive!
Kyle looked at the boastful Paul and said with a smile, "Paul, you know I have a football team in the Premier League."
"Really? I didn't know that." Paul looked at Kyle in surprise.
Pfft ~
Kyle almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
I'm internally injured, you bastard ~
In 1998, Kyle spent 52 million pounds to buy Manchester City Football Club, which had already fallen into League Two. In just a few years, Manchester City climbed from League Two to the Premier League, becoming a strong Premier League team. Today, the value of Manchester City Football Club, although not comparable to that of their city rivals Manchester United, is estimated to be over 160 million pounds.
In a few years, this investment earned over 100 million pounds.
Kyle originally wanted to show off and counterattack Paul, but the result... was hard to describe!
"Paul, I also plan to buy an NBA team soon. Before long, we'll be opponents on the basketball court." Kyle said with a smile.
Hearing this, Paul laughed loudly, "It's okay, don't worry. When the time comes, I'll let the Trail Blazers go easy on your team, hmm, show some mercy."
Damn it!
Kyle's face darkened.
This guy is a show-off king!
Paul continued, "Kyle, I fully welcome you buying an NBA team. However, you need to be prepared that your team's performance might be at the bottom for several years. Hmm, if you have any difficulties, just find me, I'll help you."
After speaking, Paul left and started chatting with others.
Kyle was internally injured.
"Mr. Page, it's great to see you again. I'm Luca from Adidas!" Felix Luca, who was eager to finalize the contract, quietly approached Kyle, his face full of smiles.
Even if you don't care for me, I will always treat you like my first love!
However... Kyle had just been shown up by someone, and he was in a bad mood now ~
"Hello, it's good to see you again, Mr. Luca." Kyle said indifferently and then turned to leave.
Luca stood there, bewildered.
Damn it!