Back To 1995

Colin McMillan watched ICQ's stock price helplessly. In one morning, from a market value of 320 billion US dollars, he took the death elevator all the way, dropped 40 billion US dollars, and fell to 280 billion US dollars. beautiful knife.

  Colin McMillan still doesn't know what the market value of 40 billion dollars means, but one thing is that the entire management and executives of ICQ are distraught and gloomy today.

The "old staff" who brought Colin McMillan and the others to dinner that day, and held a party for them at night, stared at the ICQ stock price on the computer screen, like a gambler who bet on everything, and kept talking Say a bad word.

Colin McMillan heard that this old employee never had time to cash out his ICQ shares. He also bought a lot of ICQ stocks. People like him put all their wealth and lives on ICQ stocks. There are countless ICQ staff.

After all, in the past few years, investing in any product was more profitable than buying ICQ stocks. When ICQ was listed, it was only more than 10 billion U.S. dollars. Now the market value has exceeded 400 billion U.S. dollars. Over the past few years, the stock price has been soaring, which can be called stable The representative of no compensation, who would have thought that it would have a day of collapse!

Whether it's inside ICQ today or on the Nasdaq trading floor, just like this "old employee", the countless investors who bought ICQ stocks are all staring at the screen and selling ICQ stocks. Not reconciled, after all, these stocks were worth tens of millions a few days ago, and now they have suddenly fallen by 30 to 40%. If you don’t get it, you will lose it. It is really painful.

   But if they don’t sell it now, whether ICQ’s stock price will fall again is really worrying. Even if they sell it now, they will still make some money!

  Countless investors are hesitant, and many people still hold the hope of whether it will rise again, and the result is to watch the stock price of ICQ plummet all the way!

   Not only ICQ, but representatives of technology stocks such as AOL Time Warner, Yahoo, Cisco, Microsoft, SUN, General Electric, IBM, Intel, etc., performed basically the same today, and countless people criticized WorldCom.

Originally, the Internet began to avalanche these days, and finally stabilized its position. As a result, there was another thunderstorm in the telecommunications industry. The Internet and the telecommunications industry were the ones that set off the Nasdaq frenzy, and they were the two engines that drove up the stock price. Crash, the entire Nasdaq was brought down directly!

   "Cynthia Cooper, Vice President of Finance of WorldCom, report WorldCom's financial fraud!"

  Colin McMillan opened any news website at random, and he could see explosive news. Today’s NASDAQ collapse was all attributed to WorldCom’s thunderstorm.

If it was last year, when such news came out, the reaction from the outside world would not be so great, and the authenticity of the news might be questioned, but now the Nasdaq collapsed, which used to be regarded as a "high-tech" Internet, and the underwear was exposed .

At this time, the outside world suddenly discovered that what used to be regarded as a high-tech and unattainable industry turned out to be such a bunch of ugly things that burned so many dollars, and ended up cashing out one by one, buying luxury cars, villas, Private jets hook up with Hollywood actresses.

As for the bragging in the past, none of them are reliable. The revenue, user scale, and how powerful the technology are. Gone!

   Even industries related to the Internet, such as telecommunications and mobile networks, are now being suspected of being the same as the Internet. The so-called love is as deep as it is, and you want to kill each other when you hate it.

  Investors who were obsessed with Internet concept stocks before are now all skeptical. As soon as Worldcom's financial problems appeared, it immediately became the attention of the entire technology industry.

  Colin McMillan saw the news that Cynthia Cooper, WorldCom's vice president in charge of financial audit, stabbed WorldCom's chrysanthemum.

The media speculated that WorldCom played too much. Last year alone, in order to make the performance look good and to issue additional stocks to cut leeks, WorldCom at least fooled the accounts of more than 9 billion dollars. Cynthia Cooper, who was in charge of auditing the financial , I feel that I can't help it anymore, and I don't want to take the blame for WorldCom, so I jumped out and directly detonated WorldCom's financial fraud, directly reported it to the Federal Securities Commission, and then exposed it to the media.

It is said that in order to obtain these evidences, Cynthia Cooper also invited hackers to directly invade WorldCom's computer system. Reality…

With this operation, Cynthia Cooper pushed all the blame on WorldCom President Bernard Ebbes and WorldCom Chief Financial Officer Scott. , In order to let the public know the truth, and expose the "shady" hero!

  Dead friends don’t die poor people. When faced with going to the federal prison or sending Ebes and his gang to prison, Cynthia Cooper chose the latter without hesitation.

As for what the media broke out, Cynthia Cooper found out about WorldCom's accounts and argued with Scott, but she couldn't get a response, so she asked hackers to hack into WorldCom's financial system and got evidence. Listen. That's it.

According to what Cynthia Cooper revealed, WorldCom's finances were fooled, not tens of millions of dollars, but tens of billions of dollars, which can't be done in a short period of time, at least in a few years It's been a long time, and she is in charge of financial audit, so how can she not know anything in advance and have no problems at all? !

   Moreover, Cynthia Cooper directly disclosed the matter to the Federal Securities Commission, notified the media, and finally disclosed the matter to the WorldCom board of directors. Obviously, it took thought.

But in any case, this stab has made Cynthia Cooper whitewashed. As a "hero" who dares to expose the shady scene and dare to fight the dragon with a market value of 200 to 300 billion dollars, she has occupied the moral high ground. Federal Securities The Commission, the Federal Department of Justice, the Federal Tax Investigation Bureau, etc. also have to admit this point. No matter what Cynthia Cooper does, she must be saved. Even the media must do it for Cynthia Cooper. It's good to sing praises...

In the face of the big thunder from Cynthia Cooper, the Federal Securities Commission, the Federal Taxation Service, etc., could no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb. At noon, several major federal departments held press conferences and announced the establishment of an investigation team. WorldCom conducted an investigation and banned WorldCom President Ebes, WorldCom Chief Financial Officer Scott and others from temporarily leaving America!

As soon as the news came out, it once again caused an uproar. People who were still thinking of luck in the morning and betting that WorldCom would not have any problems saw these reports, and their hearts were cold. Obviously, the evidence presented by Cynthia Cooper may be true. Hammer WorldCom, otherwise Ebes, who is still a big shot, will not be taken these measures.

   "As early as a few years ago, Bruno Song questioned WorldCom's financial problems..."

At this time, a piece of media suddenly found out the news about the fight between Song Yang and Bernard Ebes a few years ago. At that time, Song Yang questioned that Worldcom's financial revenue and dividends were several times higher than those of its peers. It’s just that Shitong at that time was in full swing, no one believed Song Yang’s words, looking back now, Shitong, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, was blinded by it...

What really makes the entire Nasdaq, even Wall Street, and global investors panic is that if WorldCom is hammered, then... Arthur Andersen, one of the world's top five accounting firms that has been cooperating with WorldCom for several years Accounting firm, is there a problem? !

For such a big Lei of WorldCom, to say that Arthur Andersen, who is in charge of reviewing WorldCom, doesn’t know anything about it, that’s ridiculous. This is one of the top five accounting firms in the world, and dozens of Fortune 500 giant companies in the world , including Merck Group, Ebert Corporation, American Home Furnishing Group, WorldCom, and... Enron Group, all of which are audited by Andersen!

   Now that WorldCom has been hit by a thunderstorm, people can't help but think carefully, will there be problems with these giant companies?

A group of companies audited by Andersen jumped out and declared that they were fine. Andersen also vowed to claim that they were deceived by WorldCom, did not have any financial transactions with WorldCom, and did not receive more money from WorldCom. Reviewing fees, helping WorldCom to whitewash performance and so on, claiming to "re-review" WorldCom's finances...

WorldCom, who was stabbed, also bit the bullet and complained. Bernard Ebes declared at the media conference, "There is nothing wrong with WorldCom. I don't know where the "evidence" that is nothing Come on, I still have WorldCom, and I never thought of deceiving anyone.

  All of this is a conspiracy, a conspiracy of those opponents who are afraid of Shitong and want to defeat Shitong with despicable means!

   They will not succeed, not before, not now, and not in the future! "

  Leave a sentence, and Bernard Ebes will leave the field directly, regardless of the various questions thrown by the media.

It was only when he returned to the lounge that he had just been promoted to the vice president of WorldCom. It was originally thought by the outside world that he might become Bernard Ebbes' protégé and heir. The hand holding the water glass was shaking!

   "Damn it, Scott, what the **** is going on with Cynthia Cooper, aren't you telling me, having secured her, how did she get those..."

  Bernard Ebbes paled, and sprayed at Scott with a sharp voice. Afterwards, Bernard Ebbes saw that Sitch Moore was still in the room.

   Changing his expression, Bernard Ebes said to Sitch Moore, "Moore, those are just rumors, WorldCom will not fall, and WorldCom will still need you in the future!"

Sitch Moore, who was "asked out" of the room by Ebes, looked at the closed door with a complicated expression. Although he couldn't hear what was being talked inside, he understood that Shitong's world had changed, and even one day, He wouldn't be surprised that Ebes went into the federal prison, but Sitch Moore still couldn't help sighing about WorldCom.

  In the office of the president of ICQ, the red-eyed little Edgar Bronfman looked at the computer screen with a dull expression. For a moment, he even wondered if the computer screen was reversed...

He had already unplugged the telephone line on the table, and the mobile phone had fallen to the ground. Little Edgar knew that as long as he turned on the mobile phone, thanks to the "missed call display function" recently launched by America Telecom, he would Can see a bunch of calls from Canada.

But those phone calls were like a reminder to little Edgar. In the morning, he hesitated for a moment about whether to sell the ICQ shares held by the Bronfman family, and he still pinned his hopes on the rumors from last night. , are all rumors.

But in just a few minutes, if you want to sell it again, there is no chance. Today, various Wall Street institutions, foundations, overseas consortiums that hold ICQ shares, as well as Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Telephone and Telegraph Group, Comcast Group, etc. , They all promised Immelt not to smash the market before, but today they sold ICQ shares like crazy.

He moved his dry throat and made an unconscious sound. Little Edgar Bronfman closed his eyes in pain. Now, for him, it is not a question of whether to sell ICQ shares, but whether to run or not. problem.

  At this moment, the door of the office was pushed open, and Edgar Bronfman Jr. saw his father, and the old Bronfman unexpectedly appeared at the door of the office, followed by a group of burly bodyguards.

   "Immediately liquidate ICQ shares, no matter what method is used!"

  Old Bronfman said directly to Edgar Bronfman Jr., without waiting for his response at all, and motioned for a moment, and a few people behind him went straight up to "help" Edgar Jr. deal with it.

   "Why..." Edgar Bronfman Jr. was still a little unwilling.

  Old Bronfman looked at little Edgar, even though he was already full of disappointment, he still shook his head, "Someone told me that there is something wrong with Enron!"

Old Bronfman, as a powerful figure of Jewish origin, is extremely well-connected. This time, he hurried over and forced little Edgar to clear his warehouse and leave the field. It was also because of the news that Enron was thundered. The Internet, telecommunications The industry is basically over, and Nasdaq has completely collapsed. If it doesn't run away, it is estimated that the Bronfman family will also be finished.

When little Edgar heard the news, even though he thought that his psychological endurance was strong enough, he couldn't help but scold his mother after hearing the news. He thought he had seen through the big men in America, but he finally found out , I still underestimated the bottom line of these people...

   "Enron Vice President Sharon Watkins, officially exposes the inside story of Enron's financial fraud!"

  The media and investors who were still talking about WorldCom suddenly received a news that shocked the world. The energy giant company Enron was suddenly hit by thunder.

The news was so sudden that Wall Street was caught off guard. After Enron, a large number of American giants were successively exposed to financial scandals, such as Adelphia, American International Group, Tyco Group, Quest Communications and more.

It’s hard to say whether these news are true or not, but Nasdaq couldn’t bear it anymore. The Nasdaq index, which was believed by Wall Street analysts to be impossible to fall again, directly performed a split and took advantage of the trend. The index Directly fell below 3,000 points...

Colin McMillan, who has just joined ICQ for a month and has not yet finished his internship, is holding a cardboard box containing his personal belongings and walking on the San Jose Avenue in a daze. The scene of heavy traffic before is now deserted. Those high-end restaurants that were full of seats before and couldn't get a seat at all are now empty, and even directly closed their doors and transferred the store's brand...

Colin McMillan thought that there would be such a day. After all, a large wave of Internet companies such as the pet product e-commerce platform Pest website, the food platform WebVan website, the flower website Flowers, and the shoe and clothing website Zappos have been wiped out and closed. , Bankruptcy closed down, and half-dead layoffs are even more numerous.

ICQ is quite particular. Although the president of the company who has not been in office for three months has already cashed out and ran away, and the whole ICQ is a mess, he still pays Colin McMillan and other resigned people full salary, including The compensation, Colin McMillan heard, was paid out at Song Yang's strong request.

  Just walking on the street, seeing many people holding cardboard boxes like him, Colin McMillan suddenly felt a chill. He didn't expect this day to come so soon!