"Oh~~~ Sean~~~ Long time no see. I've missed you so much~~~"
"Oh~~~ Steve~~~ I haven't seen you in ages either, and I've missed you too~~~ We haven't seen each other for a few years, so why do I feel like you look healthier now? You used to always look worried, but now—wow~~~ this is true happiness, right?"
"Isn't that because the antitrust case is over? A few years ago, when we talked, Microsoft was still being hounded by the justice departments of various countries. But now—wow~ everything is over."
"So that's why? Tsk, tsk, tsk—I'm so jealous of you."
"What are you jealous of me for?"
"I'm jealous that you have the secret to staying young forever! Power is the best aphrodisiac in the world, isn't it? I still haven't tasted what power feels like! And in the future—I might never get the chance—"
"Oh—what kind of nonsense are you talking about? I'm already 51 this year, and you're only—28, right? When I was 28, I wasn't as successful as you are now! That was 1984. Microsoft had only just begun preparing the development of Windows. Back then, I had no idea where my future would be, while you—you already have a net worth of several hundred million! So, if we really have to compare, I should be the one envying you. You have both a young body and an enviable amount of wealth—"
"My God, Steve, you're flattering me too much. Compared with your enormous net worth, my wealth isn't worth mentioning."
"Hahaha—you're being a bit too modest now. What I hold is all Microsoft stock, but what you have in your hands is real cash. All right, enough about that. You came here today because—you need something from me?"
Steve Ballmer and Sean Parker had known each other for many years.
This was not only because neither of them was ordinary, but also because one of Sean Parker's previous startups had connections with Microsoft.
That startup was Plaxo.
When it first appeared, Plaxo was indeed an independent social networking tool, an online address book. But because it was extremely useful, after Plaxo gained ten million users, Microsoft negotiated a partnership with Sean Parker.
After that, a quick-access entry for Plaxo appeared in Outlook.
Microsoft users could use Plaxo directly through Outlook.
The two sides had worked closely together before, when they met again, their conversation was very relaxed.
Then, after confirming that Sean Parker's main purpose for visiting this time was to seek investment for Facebook, curiosity appeared on Steve Ballmer's face.
"Oh—Sean—if there's nothing wrong with my sources, then—"
"The Facebook you invested in and work for has been developing quite well, hasn't it?"
"It officially became profitable in 2005, right?"
"Uh—yes, our development has been pretty good. But precisely because it's been good, we need funds even more urgently to accelerate our growth, don't we?" Sean Parker smiled at Steve Ballmer.
That response, called "greed," made the big bald man curl his lips upward.
He nodded in strong agreement.
Yes.
Microsoft had actually been paying attention to Facebook for a long time.
Or rather, Microsoft had been monitoring all its peers in the tech industry.
There was no helping it.
Who made this the internet era?
And in the internet era, traffic was king.
But—
Microsoft's traffic pool was terrible.
Microsoft's portal business could not beat Yahoo, its search engine business could not beat Google, and its online social business could not beat YouTube, it had no stable traffic pool. So it had no choice but to keep its eyes glued to its peers.
Keeping its eyes glued to its peers allowed it to obtain the best inspiration at the lowest cost—
Copying.
If it could not copy them, it would acquire them.
Precisely because of this, for a very long time, Yahoo, Google, MySpace, YouTube—these outstanding companies had all been on Microsoft's devouring list.
As for Facebook—
How could Microsoft possibly not want it?
Buy it.
Merge it with MSN.
The new version of "Facebook-MSN" would directly become the world's largest social networking software.
But even though Microsoft felt Facebook was very good, it did not actively bring up an acquisition.
The reason was simple.
It was because they knew Facebook would not accept their acquisition offer.
Moreover, Microsoft had no way to force Facebook to sell itself.
The matter of Microsoft using its monopoly position in the industry to kill its peers had already spread across the world. At the moment, if it used violent means again to swallow other companies, the forces that wanted to kill Microsoft would definitely step in immediately.
On top of that, Facebook also had people behind it.
When Microsoft could not speedrun the game in 2 hours and 28 minutes, they were too lazy to argue with Facebook.
Under the current circumstances, if they wanted to acquire Facebook smoothly, they could only wait. They had to wait until Zuckerberg and the others, like Isabella Haywood when she sold YouTube, developed the idea of cashing out and leaving.
Only then could Microsoft step in.
And now—
"Sean, we all know the internet industry burns money very heavily."
"So, rather than financing again and again, why not just join us at Microsoft directly?"
Steve Ballmer smiled and said, "Don't worry. Microsoft is not the kind of company that eats people. We can promise that after acquiring Facebook, we absolutely will not interfere with Facebook's operations."
"And you, Peter Thiel, and Mark Zuckerberg would all be able to obtain seats on Microsoft's board of directors."
"How about it?"
"Oh—Steve—we currently don't have the idea of joining another company—"
Without hesitation, Sean Parker directly smiled and rejected Steve Ballmer's proposal.
At the same time, however, he did not completely shut the door.
"Of course, if in the future we have the idea of exiting, then—"
"We will come to Microsoft first."
"As long as you invest in us this time."
"Hahahaha—"
The way he kicked the ball down the road made Steve Ballmer laugh.
He waved his hand.
It was as if he were signaling Sean Parker to stop talking nonsense.
But it was also more like he had already moved past the fruitless topic.
The big bald Ballmer coughed lightly and said, "All right, let's stop talking about those boring things. Tell me, how much money does your company lack? How much money do you want to raise from us at Microsoft?"
"Uh—a few hundred million, I suppose—" Sean Parker said.
"A few hundred million?" Steve Ballmer was a little surprised.
"Yes, Steve." Sean Parker nodded and smiled. "You know that last year, Facebook officially opened registration and embraced corporate users. Then, this January, we also launched m.facebook.com."
"Our expansion is extremely rapid, operational funding at the tens-of-millions level—"
"Is already no longer enough for us."
"So, we need help at the hundreds-of-millions level."
Although Sean Parker had come to Microsoft because he wanted to find Facebook a father, he could not directly kneel in front of Microsoft and respectfully say, "I want to take care of you in your old age."
Doing that would be showing his own weakness to Microsoft.
Then Microsoft could lower Facebook's valuation in the name of business.
Once Steve Ballmer became ruthless, Microsoft could swallow Facebook in one bite.
Precisely because of this, even though Sean Parker and the others urgently wanted to find a powerful thigh to cling to, when negotiating with Steve Ballmer, he could only follow the normal business route and slowly communicate with him.
As for this—
"A few hundred million is not much to Microsoft," Steve Ballmer said. "I can negotiate with you based on the number you offer. But before formal discussions begin, I still have one question."
"Steve, what do you want to ask?" Sean Parker said. "If you have any doubts, you can speak directly."
"I want to know whether you've approached Accel Partners, Greylock Partners, and Meritech Capital."
Steve Ballmer stared into Sean Parker's eyes and spoke word by word. "You've already raised two rounds of financing. If you raise money again now, that will be Series C. If Series C is still a joint investment, then—"
"We won't accept it."
"Oh, of course not." Sean Parker shook his head and smiled. "Microsoft is the first stop on our financing trip this time. Only if you say no will we look for someone else."
As soon as these words came out, a satisfied smile appeared on Steve Ballmer's face.
"Okay. Since that's the case—tell me the specific details—"
Steve Ballmer's meaning was very simple.
He wanted to obtain as much equity in Facebook as possible.
Facebook had already gone through its angel round, Series A, and Series B.
Now that Facebook's financing had entered Series C, the shares they could give up were relatively limited. If, at this point, Facebook only accepted joint investment, then Microsoft would lose interest in all negotiations.
If one had to describe it—
What use would spending tens of millions of dollars to get a fraction of a percent of shares be?
Microsoft had never lacked money!
What they wanted was a larger market! Greater influence! Greater power!
Mm.
Accel Partners, Greylock Partners, and Meritech Capital, the names from big bald Ballmer's mouth, were all North American investment firms. Some had participated in Facebook's Series A, some had participated in its Series B, and some had participated in both.
Since Steve Ballmer could name the companies that had invested in Facebook, that proved Microsoft understood Facebook very well. And since Ballmer and Sean Parker were friends, all the negotiations became very direct.
In the following conversation, Sean Parker said that they believed Facebook was worth 15 billion.
Then, they were willing to sell 5% of the shares for 750 million.
Steve Ballmer could not accept this price. He said that YouTube was only worth 20 billion, and YouTube's revenue last year had exceeded one billion dollars. Based on that ratio, Facebook would have to produce a financial report showing total revenue of more than 750 million dollars last year before Microsoft could accept a valuation of 15 billion dollars.
If not—
In Microsoft's internal investigation report, their valuation for Facebook was 6 to 10 billion.
Steve Ballmer felt this price was reasonable.
Last year, when rejecting Yahoo's acquisition, Facebook had valued itself at 8 billion.
Therefore, only if the discussion revolved around 8 billion, fluctuating up or down by 2 billion, would Steve Ballmer be interested in negotiating.
As for why the range of fluctuation was so large?
Very simple. This was actually the art of the deal—if, right now, Facebook urgently needed money, and Microsoft just happened to have money, then wouldn't Microsoft be able to obtain more shares at a lower cost?
If, right now, Facebook only needed some money, but Microsoft especially wanted to own it, then wouldn't Microsoft have to pay a greater price to obtain the desire in its heart?
Right?
As for this—
"Steve, is equity the only thing you want?"
After entering formal negotiations, Sean Parker put away his earlier playfulness and became serious.
"How could that be?"
Steve Ballmer, on the other hand, remained relaxed.
Leaning back on the sofa, he leisurely shrugged and said, "We're all adults here, so I'll say many things plainly. While obtaining equity, Microsoft also needs a seat on Facebook's board."
"You want to understand Facebook's operating condition at all times?"
Sean Parker continued asking.
Steve Ballmer shook his head with a smile. "Of course not."
"Sean, the reason investors take board seats in the companies they invest in is because they want to interfere with those companies' production and operations, isn't it? So I can tell you very clearly: after investing in Facebook and obtaining a seat on Facebook's board, we will definitely interfere with Facebook's operations."
"For example—"
"We would make Microsoft ads appear on Facebook."
"Zune ads."
"And then we would prevent Google and Apple ads from appearing on Facebook."
"For example, iPod ads."
"Since we just talked about YouTube, you should know Isabella Haywood, right?"
"As long as you know Isabella Haywood, you should understand that there are some small conflicts between us."
"Our Zune simply can't beat the iPod from her ally, Apple."
"The Apple TV that Apple is launching next may also directly bankrupt our media plan."
"And now Steve Jobs has also created the iPhone."
"So, once we embrace you, we will not allow our enemies' ads to appear on your pages."
Those naked words fully revealed the ruthlessness of capitalist society.
However, Sean Parker did not think there was anything wrong with Steve Ballmer's idea.
Or rather, the reason America was America was because it had equally built a beautiful dream for everyone: once you succeeded, you could enslave the entire world. As for when that beautiful dream would be your turn?
Being enslaved was also a form of participation.
Right?
"So, in other words, what Microsoft wants is only exposure on Facebook?" Sean Parker said.
"More or less." Big bald Ballmer thought for a moment, then ultimately decided not to quibble over Sean Parker's vague wording.
"Okay, if that's the case, can we keep the investment at the level of cooperation?"
Perhaps feeling that Steve Ballmer's attitude was still fairly good, Sean Parker continued as soon as Ballmer finished speaking. "Microsoft invests a sum of money in Facebook, and then we give you a certain amount of equity as well as ad placement rights?"
"We don't want to give up a board seat, but we can write all of Microsoft's rightful powers into the contract."
As soon as those seemingly firm negotiating words appeared, Steve Ballmer immediately narrowed his eyes.
At that moment, he put away his relaxed attitude and stared seriously at Sean Parker.
That's right!
Although Facebook urgently needed a backer to resist the gaze of the Great Demon King Isabella, they also did not want to gain the peace they wanted by giving up control of the company.
This was not only because all their struggles had been for the sake of maximizing their own benefits.
It was also because the people capable of resisting Isabella's invasion were not good people either.
If they invited in a new tiger just to drive away a wolf—
Wouldn't that mean they were sick in the head?
Not to mention, Bill Gates was far more ruthless than Isabella Haywood!
For the sake of profit, Bill Gates even dared to kill Paul Allen, but Isabella Haywood—
Chad Hurley, who had clung to her thigh, was now easily and happily controlling YouTube!
And because Isabella was not yet an adult, and because she was too lazy to manage detailed work, she had directly nominated YouTube's founder as a director on Google's board.
This kind of proxy control over power—
Was insanely satisfying!
"How did it go? How did it go? How did the talks go?"
The conversation between Sean Parker and Steve Ballmer lasted two hours in total.
After leaving Microsoft's headquarters in Seattle, Sean Parker immediately returned to California and went back to Facebook's headquarters in Palo Alto.
Because the matter truly was urgent, Zuckerberg and Peter Thiel had been waiting at the company for Sean Parker to return. When they saw him, their eager voices instinctively rang out.
As for this—
Sean Parker looked at the two of them, took a deep breath, and said, "Steve Ballmer gave us a valuation of ten billion dollars."
"Then, he wants to obtain 2% of our shares for two hundred million dollars."
"But he has two demands."
"The first demand is that the 2% of shares they receive must all be preferred shares."
"If Facebook suffers setbacks in the future, Microsoft will seek priority repayment."
"The second demand is that they want the ability to place global ads on Facebook."
"Basically, that means we won't be allowed to accept ads from Google or Apple."
"..."
Sean Parker's words were very brief.
As his voice fell, Facebook's headquarters conference room instantly sank into dead silence.
Zuckerberg and Peter Thiel stared at Sean Parker, then at each other, their faces filled with disbelief.
After quite a long while—
As Sean Parker nodded and once again confirmed the entire negotiation, Zuckerberg immediately jumped up!
"Oh! My! God!"
"This is amazing! Amazing!"
"This is really an excellent financing plan! We don't have to lose control of the company! And we can still gain Microsoft's protection! This is really—this is really—hahahahaha—"
Zuckerberg was still a little young.
He had also experienced relatively few things.
So when he encountered something that made him happy, it was normal for him to get a little excited.
But—
Perhaps Peter Thiel was not that much older than Zuckerberg either.
Or perhaps the investment negotiations with Microsoft had gone even better than their best expectations.
In short, while Zuckerberg jumped up, Peter Thiel also raised his fist.
"Yes!"
Facebook urgently needed to acknowledge a protector, and Microsoft urgently needed traffic, Facebook's Series C financing moved extremely quickly.
Less than a week after Sean Parker's informal meeting with Steve Ballmer, the two sides had already signed the formal contracts related to the financing. Then, after Microsoft and Facebook simultaneously released the news, stating that the two sides had reached a strategic partnership—
"What did you say?"
"Microsoft invested in Facebook?"
March 10, 2007, was a Saturday.
That day was a day off for the Order of the Phoenix crew.
Isabella had originally wanted to enjoy a beautiful lazy morning and sleep until she woke up naturally, but her wish was beautiful while reality was harsh. Before noon had even arrived, she was shaken awake by her personal assistant, Margot Robbie.
Then, the bad news that suddenly arrived was like a basin of cold water, drenching her from head to toe and instantly waking her up.
Her question also made Margot open the Apple laptop she carried with her.
As the standby screen disappeared, the front-page headline from the IE browser, appearing on MSNBC's website and personally released by Microsoft, made Isabella laugh. She muttered to herself, "So that's why Facebook dared to openly violate my rights."
"So—"
"Microsoft was behind this."
Yes!
Yes!!
Yes!!!
At that moment, in Isabella's eyes, all the mysteries had been answered!
At this moment, the person secretly attacking her was Bill Gates!
Uh—
She had no evidence.
But did that matter?
Leaving aside the fact that she and Microsoft were already enemies, and Microsoft had a motive to deal with her, just looking at Microsoft's style and capabilities—
Those who understood understood.
So—
"Connect me to Chad Hurley!"
After muttering twice with a smile that did not reach her eyes, Isabella's face immediately turned cold.
"I want to know what Facebook and Microsoft have been doing while I wasn't paying attention to tech!"
Since the enemy had already appeared, and since the enemy had already made a move long ago, Isabella would not continue playing that cat-and-mouse game.
Because—
Microsoft was not a mouse.
But just as Isabella was extremely angry and wanted revenge, after seeing the news that Microsoft had embraced Facebook, there was actually someone in this world even more shocked and even angrier than she was.
And that person was Marvel's chairman, Isaac Perlmutter.
As for the reason—
In Isaac Perlmutter's eyes, Microsoft and Facebook joining hands meant Microsoft had found a new partner. Everyone knew that YouTube's social attributes overlapped with Facebook's.
So, Microsoft had cooperated with Facebook?
Wasn't that clearly opening fire on Isabella?
And if Microsoft had found a new partner to attack Isabella and had therefore abandoned him, then—
He might have to pray to God forever!
Pray that the old man would keep protecting him!
But this—
Was impossible.
So—
"Contact Phil Spencer for me!"
"Tell him I agree to cooperate with Microsoft!"
Isaac Perlmutter called his assistant with a solemn expression.
To be honest—
When Steve Ballmer suddenly learned that, after several months, Marvel's chairman Isaac Perlmutter wanted to cooperate with Microsoft again to deal with Isabella, he found the whole thing a little strange.
He did not understand why Isaac Perlmutter had suddenly changed his mind with a "whoosh."
But after Phil Spencer said "Facebook"—
A smile immediately appeared on Ballmer's face.
"Okay, I understand now."
"This guy hasn't figured things out. He's scared."
"But that doesn't matter."
"Dealing with Isabella Haywood was always our long-term goal, wasn't it?"
Steve Ballmer winked at Phil Spencer, then said, "Send him the cooperation agreement."
"Then have him go cause trouble for Isabella."
"Although this cooperation is a little inappropriate now."
"We have already invested in Facebook."
"As long as Isabella is a normal person, she'll smell something off."
"But—"
"So what?"
"Wouldn't you say?"
Steve Ballmer raised his eyebrows at Phil Spencer.
Phil Spencer, understanding what his boss meant, decisively smiled and nodded.
The initial attack against Isabella had been proposed by Microsoft, and the details had already been drawn up long ago, when Isaac Perlmutter became too afraid to keep causing trouble on his own, all the traps were dug very quickly.
As for how quickly?
On this side, less than twenty-four hours had passed since Isabella finished her call with Chad Hurley.
On the other side, Kevin Feige's figure appeared in front of her.