Reborn Tech Maniac

Chapter 916 Everyone Please Raise Your Hands

In the current White House, the atmosphere is a bit "slack".

Yes, this is the current state of one of the few power centers in the world.

The reason for this is not difficult to understand. After all, the previous US general election was too fierce intrigue. No one can be a real "iron man". It tensed up.

Deliberately delaying the time, the richest man went in to meet Bill Clinton, who was re-elected after a series of hard battles and is now in a relaxed state.

It seemed that the President of the United States was in good condition. After waving his hand to give up his seat, he said with a smile, "Don, you seem to have something on your mind?"

Tang Huan nodded, and said straight to the point: "Zheru once reached an agreement with the Federal Department of Justice on the issue of anti-monopoly; but a few months ago, Netscape revisited the old matter of Zheru Software Company and complained to the Federal Department of Justice. The Department of Monopoly submitted an anti-monopoly complaint. Originally, the two parties just went through the normal legal procedures; but how did I hear that the Senate of Congress plans to hold a hearing on this—I don’t know, what is the attitude of the White House?"

"I haven't had time to consider the issue of attitude." When Bill Clinton replied, he was very serious, "Actually, for an industry-leading enterprise like Zheru Software, it is normal to encounter such disputes. , and have enough capital to wait and see how the situation changes.”

"Zheru Software may not be as lucky as IBM was more than ten years ago, and finally escaped the anti-monopoly sword of Damocles." Tang Huan smiled wryly.

He can see that there are many obstacles to governance, especially the fierce pursuit caused by the "White Water Case", which makes this American president who is still able to stand alone so far, a little nervous.

Bill Clinton laughed loudly, "Don, you seem to be acknowledging Zheru Software's monopoly status by your worried and hasty look."

"Monopoly or not is a difficult standard to judge." Tang Huan shrugged. The way to expand is very different from those in similar situations, including IBM, and it is far more aboveboard."

"It's not important." As if thinking of the endlessly entangled "Whitewater Case", Bill Clinton said with emotion: "People now only pay attention to the immediate results."

"Zheru Software has always respected the freedom of the market and can withstand scrutiny." Tang Huan pointed out directly: "If the Senate of the Congress sends out an unfriendly signal for political purposes, it will definitely have a negative impact on the entire The industry has had an impact."

"Don, let's put it this way, I don't want to trouble you." Bill Clinton also made a formal statement, "But I really have no way to influence how Congress will react."

"That's enough." Tang Huan nodded after receiving clear feedback.

Bill Clinton is undoubtedly an extremely intelligent person. He pointed to the core of the problem and said: "Don, I can understand your uneasiness mainly because of your identity as a minority group of Chinese Americans; but in fact, with your It is very difficult for others to shake your current status and achievements, so at worst, you should compromise and make concessions."

"I have tried my best to take into account the interests of all parties in a series of matters including the listing of Zhiru Software Company." Tang Huan said leisurely: "If you compromise too much, the bottom line may collapse."

"I understand what you mean." Bill Clinton pondered: "I will try my best to downplay this matter on the side of the federal government."

Speaking of this, Bill Clinton looked into Tang Huan's eyes and solemnly reminded: "Tang, if this matter really develops in a direction you don't want, then you have to understand that what you are facing is not the same as ours. Similar, not a specific person, but a consortium with a common standard of judgment."

Tang Huan looked out the window and said slowly, "Then try to find and achieve a new balance."

……

Compared with Zheru Software Company, which is shrouded in anti-monopoly clouds, thanks to the 1996 version of the new "Telecommunications Law", the controls on various communication companies have been significantly relaxed, and they are sharpening their knives and planning to reshuffle their cards.

Take Pacific Telecom's acquisition of Datang Mobile Communications Company as an example. The review process went very smoothly, and the Federal Communications Commission directly released it. The two companies, which had been fully prepared for a long time, almost just went through the process of changing a signboard and formally merged. In one place, the family will be beaten.

The current capital is indeed favoring the telecommunications industry and has provided enough ammunition - outside estimates, the Tang family has received billions of dollars in cash from this transaction.

And this is just a small beginning. In 1984, the seven "Little Bells" that split from the original AT&T to specialize in local local telephone services have all exchanged eyeballs and prepared to integrate their resources together.

For example, Atlantic Bell was negotiating to acquire the New England Telephone Company in New York; Pacific Telecom, which took the lead in developing and growing, naturally set its sights on Southwestern Bell in Texas.

Compared with the "gathering" of the "Seven Bell Brothers", AT&T continued to "divide"-Lucent, which operates communication equipment, has completed the division and went public.Its market value quickly soared to $180 billion, and it did not live up to Wall Street's expectations.

In addition, for this successful separation, Wall Street also picked up a female star in the executive circle - Carrie Fiorina, who led the spin-off of Lucent from AT&T.

In Tang Huan's view, AT&T's good cards were forcibly picked up by Wall Street, which only cared about immediate interests--Lucent, the original technology research and development department, was separated out, and it also lost the Bell Experiment. The room is the soul of the marking symbol, and it is not much different from Bell's local operating companies such as Pacific Telecom that only have communication services.

Of course, Tang Huan has no position to worry about the final life and death of AT&T and Lucent. He just needs to take care of his own affairs—to push Pacific Telecom to take advantage of the good opportunity of the relaxation of government regulation and incorporate more resources. up.

Pacific Telecom's concern about Southwestern Bell is still the next step, and Pacific Telecom's acquisition of Datang Mobile Communications was carried out almost at the same time, and the acquisition of MCI was also carried out, but it did not go smoothly.

The reason is not because of the obstruction of government regulatory agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission, but because there are many forces that have taken a fancy to MCI. The largest independent telephone company GTE in the market era, etc.

In the final analysis, due to chance, the hotness of the Internet has stirred up restlessness in the telecommunications sector, and capital naturally sees the opportunity and flocks to it. Just in mid-October this year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen from last year's iconic 10 points. , stepped up to the 5000-point level.Especially after the dust settled in the U.S. election, the U.S. stock market began to soar jaw-droppingly, and it has lasted for almost 6000 days now.

To some extent, this phenomenon reflects that the global capital that is optimistic about the US stock market has rushed over.

When Tang Wenmao reported, he said: "The current actions of capital are much more powerful than those wielded by junk bonds in previous years. The scale of tens of billions of dollars is commonplace. It is estimated that there will be more competition for MCI. New forces have entered the arena—what should we do, should we directly offer conditions that are difficult to refuse, and repel all competitors quickly?"

"That's not worth it!" Tang Huan rubbed his brows. "After all, we have been dealing with MCI for many years. Whether it is the shares we already own or the mutual trust we have established, we have a first-mover advantage over others."

In fact, Tang Huan still has something to say in his heart, that is, the hot market that almost makes people lose their minds in front of him cannot last forever. If he pays too much, he will definitely not be able to balance it in three or four years. Dig a hole and jump in?

After thinking for a while, Tang Huan finally made a decision: "Let's do it——MCI will just gossip like this for now, but Southwestern Bell will speed up its progress. You know, the sooner it is done, the more you can enjoy the good market in front of you." bonus."

Tang Wenmao nodded in understanding, and took the order to leave.

The richest man temporarily put aside his troubles and went to Manila, the capital of the Philippines in Asia, to attend this year's APEC summit.

As for the concurrent COMDEX Las Vegas Autumn Exhibition, he couldn't attend to it—anyway, he was there to start various quarrels around the topic of monopoly.

In particular, NC has been wiped out to the point where there is almost only one breath left, and the "NOISE" alliance is particularly psychologically fragile. It is better not to stimulate them, and the CEO of Zheru Software Company Brad Swahlberg and other subordinates will go down. Cope with it.

……

After Tang Huan returned to Silicon Valley, facing the festive atmosphere of Christmas and the bright figures on various financial reports during the peak sales season, he couldn't really let go of his heart.

Gein, the U.S. Senate's hearing on Zheru Software's alleged monopoly has been confirmed, and it has attracted overwhelming media reports.

What the outside world likes to talk about the most is the identity and scale of the witnesses required to attend the hearing - they almost include the CEOs of all well-known hardware companies and software companies in the IT field, and they are absolutely star-studded.

And the Senate of Congress gathered all the bigwigs together just to discuss whether Zheru Software has a monopoly.

With such a high standard, how can the media, which has never been too big a deal, be less crazy?

Therefore, Tang Huan couldn't stay at home with peace of mind and enjoy the festive atmosphere, so he could only hold repeated meetings in the office to study specific countermeasures.

Undoubtedly, Zheru Software Company will certainly not admit that it is involved in monopoly, but how to refute it at the hearing to be well-founded requires careful deliberation.

And this is only a superficial effort - it would be naive to think that the result of monopoly can be obtained only by a few words of lip service, and at least there will be countless public relations lobbying mixed in it.

Brad Swahlberg, CEO of Zheru Software, said with a gloomy face: "I only need a year, no, half a year is enough, let Netscape, the hateful guy who rushed to the forefront, completely die."

"No matter how happy Netscape is, it is just a pawn in front of the stage." Tang Huan said in a deep voice: "If you really want to hit hard, Oracle will inevitably be blamed."

"We will soon officially launch a new version of EBase with richer features and more powerful functions for the Internet. In the field of large-scale relational databases, where Oracle's foundation lies, we will launch a fatal attack on Larry Ellison." Brad Swahlberg thought for a while, and then emphasized with certainty: "In the first half of 1997, Oracle, which was fighting on two fronts of hardware NC and software database, would be in a hurry."

The richest man nodded slightly——Brad Swahlberg, the murderous spirit of his capable subordinate, was enough, but it wasn't only through fighting and killing that he had destructive power.

Tang Huan pondered and said, "Take a chance and contact Scott McCrenny, President and CEO of Sun Microsystems, to see if you can buy the Java license."

Brad Swahlberg was puzzled: "Java is our direct competitor of C#, why should we support Java's development and growth?"

"Buying a Java license does not necessarily mean helping Java grow stronger." Tang Huan explained meaningfully: "As far as I know, Sun Microsystems has developed a browser in the Java language, and the project has never stopped. However, that would certainly make Netscape resentful; if Sun Microsystems licenses Java to us again, what do you think the 'NOISE' alliance will think?"

"But..." Brad Swahlberg asked with some hesitation: "Based on our current state of hostility, will Sun Microsystems agree to authorize Java?"

"This so-called hostile state is actually as thin as a piece of paper!" Tang Huan smiled resolutely, "I believe that Sun Microsystems can't refuse this Java software based on the market share held by Zheru Software alone." authorized proposal."

Suddenly, Brad Swahlberg had a joking look on his face, "Okay, then I'll find a chance to talk to Scott McCrenny."

……

On Monday, December 1996, 12, the U.S. Senate held a hearing on Zheru Software's suspected monopoly.

Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale took the lead as the victim.

He looked around the dark crowd, and said in a heavy tone: "Everyone here who has never used Zheru Software's products, please raise your hands!"

None of the people present raised their hands.

Jim Barksdale reiterated: "Please do as I say!"

None of the people present raised their hands.

"Ladies and gentlemen, have you seen it?" Jim Barksdale said impassionedly: "One hundred percent, this is a monopoly, which is enough to explain everything."

(End of this chapter)