Back To 1995

  Chapter 882 Feasting Guests

  Irene's resignation lifted the veil covering ICQ. At this time, the outside world suddenly discovered that since its listing, ICQ has undergone tremendous changes, and it is no longer the ICQ in the past.

The major shareholder of ICQ has become General Electric, and Song Yang is no longer the largest shareholder, not even the third and fourth shareholders. Some media dug up, from Christmas last year to half a year this year , Song Yang has never been to the ICQ headquarters once, except for the occasional figure of Song Yang in some ICQ expansion films and news, it seems that ICQ has nothing to do with Song Yang.

The founding team of ICQ, from the founder to the president, and then to the chief technology officer, Wesley, who is known as the "father of Internet social networking", Marcus, the chief financial officer, and Greck, the chief legal officer, have already left. , and cashed out all the large amounts of equity in his hand!

   There was a crisp sound of wine glasses clinking, and Irene, who claimed to be studying, sat opposite Song Yang and clinked her wine glasses with Song Yang.

  Seeing that the scale has expanded a lot, and even the scenery of the Bruno Family Club with hills and small forests appeared, Irene and Song Yang touched a glass of wine, and rarely showed relaxed smiles on their faces.

   "Perhaps, I should also build a manor!"

  Irene, who was wearing a tennis dress and a tennis cap, stretched her waist and showed off her figure. That is to say, she has resigned as the president of ICQ, and Irene no longer needs to wear those old-fashioned professional clothes.

  The Bruno Family Club has encircled a large area of ​​land this year, enclosing some hills, small hills, and small forests. Naturally, there are more projects that can be engaged in.

   "Perhaps soon, there will be many estates for sale in Silicon Valley and New York!" Song Yang looked at Irene and said.

  Hearing Song Yang's words, Irene frowned subconsciously. When she thought of ICQ's mid-year performance, she couldn't help feeling a little lingering.

   "I don't know, the revenue of other Internet companies this year, but ICQ..."

  Drinking all the drinks in her hand, Irene said to Song Yang, "Although ICQ's revenue in the second quarter has not yet been fully calculated, losses are inevitable, even losses beyond imagination!"

All Wall Street institutions, various funds, and investors all believe that ICQ's revenue will increase, and it will be that kind of explosive growth. A quarter will increase by 10% or 20% compared to the previous quarter, which is low. It was a loss as expected...

The facts are indeed true. Over the past few years, whether it is ICQ or Internet companies such as Yahoo, although it sounds like they are still losing money, their revenue has always been growing exponentially. The media is indeed more profitable, and the future is a sea of ​​stars, so that people can be fooled.

Thinking of ICQ's performance in the second quarter, Irene couldn't help but say, "Currently, ICQ's overseas advertising revenue has not yet been counted, but the revenue in America's mainland fell by more than 15% in the second quarter. This year ICQ The main business is likely to be a loss!"

If it was possible, Irene would not choose to run away in such a hurry, but she felt that ICQ couldn't go on any longer. How do you fool around? !

In addition, inside ICQ, a group of people headed by Edgar Bronfman Jr. is pressing every step of the way, and Immelt is also constantly on the board of directors, putting pressure on Irene, so she decided to directly Leave the mess and walk away.

Glancing at Irene, Song Yang said, "Double-click the second quarter's revenue, which is not ideal. Internet advertising investors, compared with the previous quarter, continued to drop by more than 20%. It is estimated that other Internet companies will performance..."

Song Yang shook his head and didn't continue. ICQ, as the representative of the Internet giant company, has no one to advertise. Those other small and medium Internet companies are lucky if they don't drink Northwest Wind. .

Not to mention, almost all Internet companies now live on debt. ICQ’s debts are small. After all, Song Yang did not kill him, but after a few years, ICQ is also carrying debts of nearly tens of billions of dollars. AOL There is a debt of more than 30 billion US dollars, that is to open your eyes every day, the first thing to do is to think about paying back the interest of the bank!

Even ICQ and AOL are like this. The rest of Lycos, Excite and other companies can imagine how much debt they have carried. They are completely supported by stock prices. If the stock price does not collapse, they can borrow new debts to repay old debts. , and finally issued new shares and cut leeks to pay off debts. As for relying on revenue to pay off debts, I simply thought too much. The little money I earned was not enough for the board of directors to distribute dividends, and the management bonus was not enough. How could I use it to pay off debts? When did I see it? A wolf that vomits out after eating...

However, the game of drumming and spreading flowers will eventually become unplayable. No matter how slow the leeks react, they will know how to run away. As soon as the results of major Internet companies in the new quarter are announced, the Internet will basically become a game of werewolf killing. , see who runs faster!

Now there are some signs of it. The major Internet companies that have released their results in advance have been quiet now. No company has released their results in advance. They are obviously holding back their big moves, and no one wants to be the first to be the first. bird.

  Looking at Irene, Song Yang said to her, "Perhaps, you can rest for a while..."

"Need not!"

  Irene laughed, but there was a chill in her eyes. Now that she has given up the position of president of ICQ, she will naturally not be afraid of anything. "I will go to Google to be the CEO!"

Song Yang smiled helplessly. Irene had just left ICQ. She was going to study at Rice University because of her lack of ability, but she turned around and went to Google as the president. Now, even a blind person can probably see There is something tricky about it. ICQ will be observed under a magnifying glass. Even if Immelt and Edgar Jr. wanted to do something, they probably wouldn't have a chance.

   "Vote now for ICQ President, Chairman Immelt, propose Mr. Edgar Bronfman for President!"

After Irene leaves, the position of president cannot be vacant. Not surprisingly, Immelt nominated Edgar Bronfman Jr. as the hero who drove away Irene and helped Immelt control ICQ. Edgar Bronfman also got what he wanted.

  As the two major shareholders of ICQ, the Immelt and Bronfman families can decide anything about ICQ. This proposal was passed without any controversy.

   "Congratulations, President Edgar!"

After walking out of the ICQ headquarters meeting room, Edgar Bronfman Jr. immediately received compliments. In the past six months, the executives at ICQ headquarters could not figure out Edgar Bronfman Jr.'s character. I know what this second-generation young master likes to hear.

Edgar Bronfman Jr. nodded reservedly to everyone, showing his elegant self-cultivation. Without Edgar Bronfman Jr. opening his mouth, following Edgar Jr., the cronies he arranged into the headquarters, naturally He started to make a fuss, and held a grand celebration banquet for him in the evening.

  Walking into the CEO's office that originally belonged to Irene, it was different from coming here in the past, this time he came in as a winner, and the feeling was completely different from before.

   "Bang bang!"

He knocked on the desk of the office with his hand, seeing that it was just an ordinary desk, little Edgar frowned slightly, and then shook his head. He didn't know how Irene could bear this small room. Large, the decoration is not much different from the office space of ordinary employees.

Seeing Edgar's expression, the confidants who followed him immediately said with perceptiveness, "President Edgar, we will redecorate this office, replace all office equipment, and buy equipment that suits your identity! "

Little Edgar Bronfman nodded calmly, then walked to the window, looking at the scenery of San Jose outside the window, even though Immelt is actually at the helm of ICQ, but he is now $400 billion The head of a giant with market capitalization, thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion in his heart. He did something that his father didn't do.

   Now ICQ is not surnamed Bronfman, but Edgar Jr. feels that there will be a day, just like Eisner did everything in Disney, and he still has enough time to do it all!

  Looking back at the office behind him, little Edgar felt that it was not unbearable. When ICQ was named Bronfman, he moved the ICQ headquarters to the old lair of the Bronfman family.

  The banquet where Edgar Bronfman Jr. took over as president of ICQ was quite a big one. Even if it was not as good as the one when Immelt took office as the head of General Electric last year, it was still noisy.

   Celebrities in San Jose, San Francisco and other places, as well as many media reporters, have received invitations from Little Edgar. He wants to use this method to announce to the world that he is now the winner of ICQ!

   "ICQ will become bigger and great, there is no doubt about it!"

At the banquet, Edgar Bronfman Jr. held his wine glass high and said loudly to the celebrities present and reporters, "An empire will not collapse because of someone's departure. What can make an empire stronger is always the next one." A consul!

I know that in the past few days, there are countless voices questioning whether ICQ will end here. I don’t know where these voices come from, but a company with a market value of 400 billion dollars will collapse because of someone’s departure. , this might be the best joke of the year! "

Anyone with a discerning eye can tell that little Edgar is belittling Irene Doherty, but things are different now, and Irene is no longer the president of ICQ, and Edgar Bronfman, Jr. In the hands of Melt, no one can object to what he says.

   "General Electric has ushered in a new head. Under the control of Mr. Immelt, the market value of General Electric has reached 500 billion US dollars. General Electric has not collapsed, and neither will ICQ!"

   Edgar Bronfman Jr. spoke eloquently, which finally drew applause from the audience.

Immelt also arranged for his cronies at ICQ to hear Edgar Jr.'s speech. Immelt couldn't help laughing when he heard it. Can demote, who can not touch!

   It is hard to say how capable Edgar Bronfman Jr. is, but with Edgar Jr. taking office, the management of ICQ headquarters has been controlled by Immelt, that is, ICQ has truly entered the Immelt era.

He picked up the glass and took a sip. As Immelt, who is in charge of two giant companies, he felt that the wine tonight was extraordinarily mellow. Perhaps, he wanted to hear the sentence reported by the media that Immelt became the first millionaire in American history. The head of a company with a market value of $100 million...

  (end of this chapter)