"Bill, Paul, we can't wait in silence any longer."

Inside the spacious EO office at Microsoft's headquarters, Ballmer spoke sternly to Bill Gates and Paul Allen.

Bill Gates has gradually stepped aside in the past two years and is no longer specifically involved in Microsoft's tedious affairs, which can be said to be very relaxed.

But if you think that he is no longer interested in Microsoft and his influence is no longer there, you are totally wrong.

Most of Microsoft's current staff are still close confidants of Bill Gates, and as Microsoft's largest shareholder, he is the biggest reliance on ensuring his own strength.

Not to mention that after Paul Allen came back, as a staunch supporter of Bill from the beginning of his business, he would not go against Bill.

Therefore, Ballmer knew that he could only do Paul Allen's job after convincing Bill first.

"Paul, what do you think?" Bill turned to his good friend and asked.

Paul Allen, who returned to the Microsoft board of directors, did not do much specific work. He was more focused on Microsoft's world influence and software monopoly. However, he had invested in businesses outside for so many years and had so many interests.

Experience is also what Bill values.

Just because Paul Allen has been squandering money for so many years, and now his family fortune has not decreased much, we know that he has become a successful investor despite his stumbles.

Bill Gates is not as good as him in this regard, because Bill Gates' greatest concern from beginning to end has only been spent on Microsoft. There are so many investment opportunities, but he is unwilling to do it.

Of course, it is precisely because of Bill Gates' concentration that Microsoft has been able to remain at the forefront of technology companies for so many years, and it will not be surpassed by Google and Apple until a few years later.

Paul Allen pondered and said, "I have dealt with Xiao Qi. This person is very difficult to deal with. He has a strong obsession with his company. From this point of view, he is somewhat similar to Gang Leader Qiao, and because he is

A true genius. So he is even more difficult to deal with than Gang Leader Qiao. From his method of investing in Skype, this is a typical Xiao Qi style, using the best strategies and methods, using the largest investment, to do everything possible

Develop and occupy the market to form the scale of the industry leader.

If we want to acquire Skype, we must first look at the value of Skype. I personally think that Skype still has great potential for development. After all, the network communication market has broad prospects, especially today when Europe is now integrated. Less

The cost, better service quality, better service items, etc., these advantages are all possessed by Skype, and they are also the most important advantages in the network communication market.

What we have to consider now are two points. The first is what price we Microsoft can offer, and can it beat other acquirers? Xiao Qi, if you want to buy his things, if you don’t give him a sufficient price, he will simply

I won’t pay attention to you. Second, after buying Skype, can we withstand the EU’s investigation and suppression? What is the opinion of the US Department of Commerce?”

Listening to his friend's analysis, Bill Gates nodded slightly and said to Ballmer: "Stephen. How about the Ministry of Commerce?"

"There should be no problem." Ballmer said, "I had dinner with Secretary Woodward before, and he also hopes that Skype can be controlled by our American companies. If it is Microsoft, then there is no reason why the U.S. Department of Commerce cannot

Help us!"

"So where is the EU?" Bill Gates asked again.

"Not to mention the European Union. We at Microsoft have a large network of contacts in the EU, and our Indos system has already involved them in all aspects. Since they dare not talk about the Indos system, they will not use Skype to embarrass us.

Microsoft, because this makes no sense at all. We Americans are not so easy to bully!" Ballmer said with confidence.

"Okay. Then here comes the most important question." Bill Gates said, "How much money do you think we can pay? How much money is appropriate? How much money does it make sense to buy?"

Ballmer considered and said: "The highest bid now is from the Saudi National Consortium. It is said that the real bid is US$12 billion. And another prince from Kuwait is said to not bid lower than this price. If we, Microsoft, bid,

I think it should be no less than the 11 billion US dollars that Xiao Qi said, so that we can hope to get Skype."

"Isn't Xiao Qi very greedy for money? Why is he still willing to sell to us when we offer him so much cheaper?" Bill Gates pondered, "He is not using Microsoft to raise the price, but he just wants to take advantage of us, right?

"

"From the perspective of Xiao Qi's previous trading company, there was no such thing. After all, this is not speculation, but a normal business transaction." Paul Allen said, "Can we understand it from another aspect, that is, Skype

It is also the hard work of Xiao Qi. He feels that it is better to fall into the hands of Microsoft than to fall into the hands of those oil tycoons? With Skype in our hands, the development potential must be the greatest!"

"Well, I think so too. Xiao Qi doesn't want someone to hold Skype but not be able to use it." Ballmer also said the same.

"11 billion US dollars..."

Bill Gates began to think about it.

For Microsoft, they are not short of money, nor are they short of liquidity.

As a software company, Microsoft spends more of its costs on product research and development, and saves a lot of manpower and financial resources in the sales and after-sales processes, so their working capital is usually around US$50 billion.

Of course, as their replacement, Google's liquidity has reached 100 billion US dollars.

Then when Apple came to dominate, it didn’t know how to spend more than 200 billion US dollars. How could someone be so wealthy?

The topic has gone too far.

Precisely because it has enough cash on hand, when Microsoft originally wanted to acquire it, more than 40 billion US dollars was nothing.

Moreover, they can also issue additional shares of the company in exchange for other people's shares.

Now Bill Gates has thought of this trick, "You say, we offer 5 billion US dollars in cash and then give 6 billion US dollars worth of Microsoft shares, will Xiao Qi agree?"

"I don't know, but I guess Xiao Qi won't agree." Ballmer said with a wry smile. "If he had this intention, he would have done it long ago when we wanted to acquire the shares of Dreampad and Dreamsta. In fact,

Proves that he has a disdain for Microsoft, or that he is not optimistic about Microsoft’s development.”

Bill Gates frowned, but he couldn't get angry.

Ten years ago, anyone who dared to talk to him like this was simply out of luck.

But now that we have entered the Internet age, we are seeing Google, Apple, Samsung, Fairy and other companies surpassing Microsoft and becoming upstarts one after another, but Microsoft has no better way to catch up with them.

From being an absolute hegemon to falling behind others, one can imagine the gap in Bill Gates' heart. This is even more uncomfortable than losing his throne as the world's richest man.

After clenching his fists, Bill Gates finally nodded, "Let's start with the rise of Skype! Microsoft will one day return to its peak!"

Ballmer breathed a sigh of relief, with a look of joy on his face.

Bill Gates's investment strategy has become more and more conservative in the past two years. Even HT was won by Ballmer with great difficulty. He was afraid that Skype would fail.

It seems that Paul Allen's words are indeed right. It is necessary to use the success of Fairy Company to stimulate Bill, so that he will be aroused to be competitive!

Looking at Paul Allen, Ballmer found that he was just smiling. If he were not one of the parties involved, he would never have imagined that the two of them had already reached a consensus before this meeting. It was just the only

The only obstacle is to convince Bill in front of him.

Paul Allen has never lacked the ambition to make a fortune!

…

"Microsoft's quotation is like this. Currently, 11 billion U.S. dollars is not only the highest quotation, but also the most detailed follow-up plan." Skype's EO Langde said to Xiao Qi respectfully.

yes.

There are many companies and groups that have quoted prices for Skype, but the most expensive among them is the prince of Qatar, who quoted a price of US$10 billion.

Saudi Arabia actually only gave 8 billion US dollars, which was less than the Cowell Group.

The Duke of Saatchi in the UK, the one who sold Victoria Cinema to Qiao Guoer, really wanted to buy Skype. However, all his recent funds have been invested in the great cause of real estate speculation in London.

The quotation is really 10 billion US dollars. But it only gives 3 billion US dollars in cash, and the remaining 7 billion US dollars will be repaid without interest in the next five years. With such conditions, even if Xiao Qi and he are considered acquaintances, there is nothing they can do about it.

promise.

Under such circumstances, Microsoft can offer an offer of 11 billion U.S. dollars, and it is all a cash transaction, which is really full of sincerity.

"Do you think it's better to wait a little longer or agree to Microsoft directly?" Xiao Qi asked him.

"This..." Ronde gritted his teeth and said: "I think the matter cannot be delayed any longer. Before the unfavorable terms for us in Europe come out, we should quickly find Microsoft to take over and let it deal with the EU.

This is the best way to make Skype develop better!"

After saying this, Ronde immediately lowered his head.

It's really embarrassing to encourage him to sell the golden doll in front of the boss, and it feels a bit like cheating.

But if you want to negotiate slowly, the opportunity is not very allowed.

Because there are too many variables on the EU side, if they wait until they sanction Skype, Skype will have to make greater efforts to resume its development in Europe.

He was afraid that Xiao Qi would be angry, but Xiao Qi laughed when he heard it, "Since you agree, let's do it!"

"Well!?"

Ronde thought he heard wrongly.

"I have agreed to the offer of 11 billion U.S. dollars. The next step is for you to discuss the purchase and sale in detail!" Xiao Qi said sternly, "I hope Skype can develop and grow even more in your hands!"

"Yes! Yes!"

Lang De stood up and bowed to Xiao Qi seriously: "It is the honor of my life to be able to work under you! Skype can achieve today's achievements and have future development expectations, all because of you Qi Shao

Yes! Don’t worry, we will definitely do a good job on Skype!”

"That's good."

Xiao Qi smiled and said, "But having said that, I also want to congratulate you. Each of you has made tens of millions of dollars, and you can expect to become a billionaire in the future!"

Of the 11 billion U.S. dollars, they own 4% of the shares and occupy 440 million U.S. dollars. The management and R&D team only have more than 20 people, so they naturally gained a lot.

European and American company executives have always been willing to talk about money. Hearing this, Lande also smiled: "We would like to thank you Qi Shao as well as Microsoft for being so generous!"

Even a year ago, they never imagined that Skype would be what it is today.

The market value of 11 billion US dollars is an extremely high valuation for any Internet company!
Chapter completed!