I’m in Hollywood

The two sat down on the reception sofa by the window in the study. Judith Miller took out a notepad and a tape recorder from his satchel while secretly observing the young man opposite.

Compared with Western women who are generally prone to premature aging, most Western men are just the opposite. Many young people often have childish blush and freckles on their faces in their twenties.

However, although the blond hair that is easy to appear young is retained, and there are no traces of stubble on his cheeks, the angular face in front of him does not give anyone any sense of greenness at all. On the contrary, Judith Miller felt a kind of maturity and calmness from Eric that has been polished by the world.

Cindy quickly brought in a pot of coffee, poured it carefully for the two of them, and then quietly exited the study.

Cindy's appearance interrupted Judith Miller's observation of Eric. Noticing the faint smile on the man's face, Judith Miller realized that he just looked at each other for a longer time. Embarrassedly smiled, Judith Miller turned on the recorder, took the notepad in his hand, looked at the other party and said, So, Mr. Williams, according to the latest statistics, with the listing of Yahoo, Your personal wealth has reached 265 billion US dollars, which even exceeds the latest gdp value of the Russian Federation, can you tell me what you think of this wealth?”

Eric's first reaction thought that this was another innocuous topic like how does it feel to be the richest man in the world, but in a blink of an eye he realized that the problem is not so simple.

Judith Miller was obviously asking what Eric thought about the meaning of this huge fortune, not his inner feelings at this time.

After hesitating for a moment, Eric still smiled and shook his head: Sorry, I don't know how to answer your question.

In fact, it's not that I don't know how to answer it, but that the question itself is too sensitive.

As Judith Miller said, $265 billion has exceeded Russia's current gross national product. Although it is absolutely impossible to measure the foundation of a superpower like Russia with a simple gdp figure, the US$265 billion, and the larger social capital affected by this wealth, has also touched the most important part of the United States. fundamental control issues.

At that time, the wealth of the Rockefeller family only accounted for 1.6% of the US gdp, and it was already considered to control the entire United States. Eric has since become wealthy, and his share of the U.S. gdp has far exceeded that of the Rockefeller family in its heyday.

The Rockefeller family almost controlled the lifeline of the US energy industry after the second industrial revolution. Similarly, the industry under Eric's name also involved the most core electronic information field after the third technological revolution.

At this time, Yahoo, Cisco, Amazon, Qualcomm, Nokia and other core companies in the Firefly system have all shown their rise, and Eric is also very confident that several of these companies will not repeat the mistakes of the past. Then, in the next ten years, after these companies have further consolidated their foundations and continued to expand, it is no exaggeration to say that the Firefly system controls the lifeblood of the information industry in the United States.

On the other hand, in order to ensure that the overall interests of the Firefly system will not be affected by the direction of U.S. national policy in the future expansion process, Firefly must also strengthen its influence in the political field, and even try to control the highest power class in the United States as much as possible. replacement.

This is definitely not something that Eric can avoid because he is not interested in politics. If Firefly does not do this, he will only face the merciless and strong suppression of competitors using political means. At the same time, Eric's huge wealth is also enough to support the expansion of the Firefly system in the political field.

Then, finally, add Firefly's strong layout in Hollywood.

then.

Political, economic and cultural.

Complete.

Do these three words stacked together sound familiar? usually,

The capital of most countries is known as the political, economic and cultural center of a country.

If a consortium can show strong control over the political, economic, and cultural aspects of the country where it is located, then, obviously, the consortium controls the entire country.

Although all countries have ruling classes in front and behind the scenes, it is clear that most ordinary people are reluctant to confront this topic directly. Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for Eric to discuss this issue in depth in front of Judith Miller, and he does not want to perfunctory, so he simply refuses.

At the same time, Eric also realized that the next question from the female reporter in front of him would never be too polite, so he secretly cheered up.

Judith Miller did not expect that the first question he carefully prepared would be directly rejected by Eric, without even an ambiguous answer.

After being stunned for a while, she showed a polite understanding smile, looked down at the notepad, and continued: Mr. Williams, according to the stock price at the close yesterday, Yahoo's price-earnings ratio has reached 530 times, what do you think? Serious bubble problem in Yahoo's share price?

It's really not polite at all.

Eric sighed in his heart, and then said: Yahoo's stock price increase on the first day of listing did exceed our expectations, but I don't think there is too serious a bubble component. From the past two consecutive years of high growth in revenue According to the data, Yahoo has gradually developed a very mature business profit model, all we need is time to fully stimulate the commercial potential contained in the Internet media industry.

Judith Miller couldn't pick out any faults from Eric's answer, she thought it was a 'standard answer' prepared by Eric in advance, so she chased after him: Then how long do you think it will take, Will Yahoo generate annual profits to match his current $90 billion valuation?

Eric thought for a moment and said, Five years.

Judith Miller said: Even if calculated at a price-earnings ratio of 30 times, in five years, Yahoo will make an annual profit of 3 billion US dollars. Do you think it is possible?

In 1995, the number of Internet users in the world was only about 40 million. In three years, this number has grown to 160 million. According to various data, this number will increase to 300 million in 2000. In 2005, the global The number of Internet users will reach 1 billion. At the same time, these 1 billion Internet users undoubtedly belong to the middle class and above with strong spending power, Eric stared at Judith Miller and asked: So, What do you think is impossible, Ms. Miller, in a huge market with a billion premium consumer user base?

Judith Miller felt the pressure in Eric's eyes when he questioned him, but he didn't show his timidity.

The interview is being watched closely by the entire New York Times, and if she allows it to become a mediocre conversation, she may face coercion, no matter how deep inside the New York Times and her backstage. The fate of resignation. You must know that the reason why she came to conduct this interview today is also the result of fierce competition among various forces within the New York Times.

Mr. Williams, the population of North America is only 300 million. In this way, the focus of Yahoo's future development will be the global market. But as far as I know, more than 70% of Yahoo's business is currently in North America, and overseas expansion is not smooth. , what do you think about this issue?

Your description of the problem is not accurate. It is a fact that more than 70% of Yahoo's business is concentrated in North America, but this does not mean that Yahoo's overseas expansion has failed. Just because over the years, Yahoo has been working hard to strengthen its own business in North America. The foundation of a major market. If a company cannot achieve an absolute leading position in its own country, its overseas expansion will be impossible. Moreover, under such a corporate development strategy, Yahoo still easily obtains 30% of the market. The overseas market share is enough to prove Yahoo's strong global expansion capabilities. After the IPO, Yahoo's main development goals in the next few years will focus on the development of overseas markets. I believe that Yahoo's business scale in overseas markets will soon catch up or even surpass. Native North America.

Judith Miller nodded slightly, and seemed to agree with Eric's remarks, but when Eric's voice fell, she immediately asked a sharp question again: Mr. Williams, I was in your office just now. I heard the wording of 'absolute leading position' in his speech. In fact, Yahoo has already achieved a dominant position in the field of Internet media. Have you considered the negative impact this situation may have on the entire industry?

I understand your subtext, Judy, once each industry forms an industrial structure in which giants monopolize the market, there will often be a situation in which the leaders enjoy their success and do not make progress, and the innovation of latecomers is hindered and cannot grow. But the Internet industry is different. This is a newly emerging industry that is growing rapidly and explosively, and because of the global nature of the Internet, it is destined that the best new technology companies in the future will be global behemoths. According to this standard, Yahoo is actually just a Toddlers, although we do learn to walk earlier than other babies, if we don't move forward, we are destined to be eliminated in this new wave of technology. At the same time, I don't think the federal government should be in a new technology. Technology companies can't wait to restrict when they show a little bit of market leadership. As I just said, the Internet industry in the future will be global, which is different from any traditional industry. If the federal government cannot play a role in this industry The change shows a sufficiently open and inclusive attitude. The leading position that the Federation has just achieved in the field of new technology is likely to be overtaken by Europe and even Asia. In the future, we will have to meet the siege of the Eurasian Internet giants in North America in the future.

The New York Times did not communicate with Firefly about the specific details involved in this interview in advance. Several of the questions just now were even played on the spot by Judith Miller, but the young man in front of her was in a series of tricks. In his questions, he did not show any confusion, nor did he speak his mind like some other interviewees. Instead, he gave very clear and convincing answers. Judith Miller has interviewed countless social elites, and he is very clear that the series of data and insights that Eric just confided could not be the result of doing his homework in advance. profound thinking.

If Eric's impression of Judith Miller was only superficial maturity and calm temperament, but after a series of conversations just now, Judith Miller had to be impressed by the young man in front of him. Fascinated by his knowledge and foresight.

Judith Miller had learned about Eric's personal background in detail in advance, and she was even more curious at this time, how such a young man who just graduated from high school did all this today.

However, because of the prior agreement, Judith Miller did not ask the doubts in her heart, and she also knew that Eric would not be able to answer such questions.

After digesting what Eric just said, Judith Miller also changed a slightly more moderate question, saying: Mr. Williams, Microsoft is also a new technology company, and everyone knows that Yahoo and Microsoft are There is a very close cooperation relationship, such as the 30% forward equity transfer agreement, and the Yahoo browser pre-installed in the Windows system. Microsoft has been under the antitrust investigation of the Department of Justice all these years, so, according to what you just said , is the federal government's series of investigations on Microsoft too harsh?

A faint smile appeared on the corner of Eric's mouth, and he said, Although I know that Bill's arrogant guy will not appreciate it, my answer is yes. Microsoft is still in the most important stage of global expansion. Microsoft's restrictions are too strict, and the United States is likely to lose a global corporate giant. Although North America is one of the largest markets in the world, it cannot be compared with the larger global market after all. I think, one in the world A corporate giant with industry leadership should be in the fundamental interests of the federation. Of course, I also hope that Microsoft can show a more open corporate attitude. In this regard, I am only confident enough to compare it to Yahoo, which is at its core The technologies such as web browsers, instant messaging software, and e-mails are very open to licensing, and most of the technologies are licensed to our direct competitors, such as America Online or the MSN portal owned by Microsoft. But It did not affect Yahoo's market position, but inspired Yahoo itself to be more active in scientific research.

Judith Miller nodded slightly and said, Speaking of AOL, Mr. Williams, although Firefly Investments has already explained in detail the matter of giving up a large number of shares in AOL, I am still very curious, as far as you are concerned. I would like to know, what are your reasons for giving up your AOL shares?

You know, Firefly has invested in a lot of new technology companies, and most of them are very successful, including AOL. Eric thought and said slowly: My criteria for selecting companies That is, everyone can agree on the concept of enterprise development, so that I can invest in it with confidence, and I can also safely hand over the management of the enterprise to the original management.