Rebirth in 1985

Chapter 817 Return to America

The next day, Lu Shaohua's private plane landed at the airport in Sunnyvale, California, USA. As soon as he got off the plane, a car representing Yahoo was already waiting at the airport. The people who came to greet Lu Shaohua were also not ordinary people, they were Jerry Yang and David Filo.

In the United States, some people may suggest that Jerry Yang would know that he was the founder of Yahoo, but don’t forget that Yahoo has two founders. The founder’s name is David Filo, who is also Jerry Yang’s classmate.

The two founders of Yahoo came to the airport to greet Lu Shaohua, and we can imagine how much they valued Lu Shaohua's visit. Of course, Lu Shaohua deserves their attention regardless of his status or anything else, after all, Yahoo cannot be compared with Phoenix Group.

Furthermore, Lu Shaohua came to discuss the acquisition of Yahoo with sincerity. A billionaire with a value of 100 billion dollars came from afar to visit, so Yahoo couldn't just say something. More importantly, Lu Shaohua had promised that if the acquisition was completed, Jerry Yang would remain as CEO of Yahoo, and David Filo would be the company's vice president.

It can be said that even if Yahoo is acquired by Phoenix Group, the status of Jerry Yang and David Filo in Yahoo will not change, and they will still be the company's top decision makers and directors of the board of directors.

Lu Shaohua's self-study and hiring someone to teach him English were not useless. They came into play at this time. Lu Shaohua could have a cordial conversation with Jerry Yang and David Filo in English.

Yes, Lu Shaohua used English instead of Chinese to talk to Jerry Yang. Even if Jerry Yang could speak Chinese, Lu Shaohua would still talk to him in English because David Filo was also there. Lu Shaohua could not use English as that would be disrespectful to David Filo.

"Glad that you came to California." Jerry Yang smiled, shook hands with Lu Shaohua, and said in English.

David Ferro did the same. He shook hands with Lu Shaohua and said, "Welcome to Sunnyvale."

"It's my honor." Lu Shaohua also smiled politely, and then continued, "I'm glad you came to pick me up at the airport."

To Lu Shaohua, there is no distinction between noble and humble people, at least not from a human perspective. Only from other perspectives can there be distinctions in status. Now Lu Shaohua was talking to Jerry Yang and David Filo as a human being, and not in his business capacity - the chairman of Phoenix Group. So Lu Shaohua did not act superior.

In fact, Lu Shaohua has nothing to brag about. In his opinion, he just has a little more money and more power than others. Everything else is the same. He just has a pair of hands, a pair of feet, a pair of eyes and a mouth.

It is undeniable that Lu Shaohua's kindness won the favor of both Jerry Yang and David Filo. They chatted for a while, then Jerry Yang invited Lu Shaohua into the car, and then the group of vehicles drove away from the airport.

In the Lincoln extended-length car, in addition to Lu Shaohua, Jerry Yang and David Filo were sitting opposite each other. Since the airport is a long distance away from Yahoo's headquarters, this also created a good opportunity for the three of them to have a conversation.

I don't know if it's because Lu Shaohua is Chinese, but Yang Zhiyuan felt that Lu Shaohua was very friendly and didn't act like he was just talking business. It could also be because Yang Zhiyuan himself is impatient, so when the motorcade set off, Yang Zhiyuan couldn't wait to get to the point.

"I'm curious why you are interested in Yahoo?" Jerry Yang asked with a frown.

Jerry Yang still used "you" instead of "you" and used honorifics. In addition to showing respect for Lu Shaohua, it was also a matter of etiquette. After all, Lu Shaohua came to the United States. Jerry Yang was the host and Lu Shaohua was the guest, and a host with a not ordinary status.

Jerry Yang is now worth tens of billions of dollars, but he is very clear that he is not comparable to Lu Shaohua. Putting aside other things, just talking about the pomp, he cannot compare with Lu Shaohua.

Look, Lu Shaohua has 39 bodyguards around him, and that's because Li Shangkui didn't come. If Li Shangkui had come, then Lu Shaohua would have 40 bodyguards around him. Also, Lu Shaohua didn't come here on an ordinary flight, but on a special plane.

Jerry Yang could also hire dozens of bodyguards and buy a private jet like Lu Shaohua, but that would not be worthy of his status. Even if he wanted to do that, he would have to consider what the outside world would think.

Lu Shaohua didn't rush to say anything, but just stopped and said, "You can call me Xiaohua or Mr. Lu, it doesn't matter. As for why you are interested in Yahoo, there are many reasons, but one thing is certain, that is, I am optimistic about the prospects of Yahoo."

It is a very objective and official statement, but it cannot be said that it is not true. On the contrary, it is the truth. Lu Shaohua is optimistic about Yahoo's prospects and future potential, otherwise he would not have considered acquiring Yahoo.

Perhaps if someone else spoke Lu Shaohua's words, they would sound like the official answer. However, when Lu Shaohua said this with his serious expression, neither Jerry Yang nor David Filo doubted that Lu Shaohua was using the official form to fool them.

The two looked at each other and nodded imperceptibly. Obviously, what Lu Shaohua did satisfied them. At this moment, they had already made a decision in their hearts, a tacit decision, but they were not in a hurry to express it. Instead, they changed the subject and talked about some lighter topics.

Lu Shaohua has been in the business world for so many years, how could he not understand the rules? It is impossible for the two parties to talk about acquisition right away when they meet, and the question Yang Zhiyuan just asked has obviously cut to the point, which is considered to be against the rules. Now changing the subject is obviously planning to postpone the discussion.

Understanding their intention, Lu Shaohua didn't say much and chatted leisurely with Jerry Yang and David Filo until they talked about Yahoo's headquarters. Only then did Jerry Yang invite Lu Shaohua to visit Yahoo's headquarters.

While inviting him, Jerry Yang also politely asked Lu Shaohua if he wanted to take a break. After Lu Shaohua refused to take a break, Jerry Yang and David Filo led the way and visited the headquarters of Yahoo together.

It has to be said that Yahoo’s headquarters is a beautiful office building, and it’s brand new. It looks like it has only been moved in for a short time, giving people a very vibrant feeling. Lu Shaohua was quite interested.

In this way, Lu Shaohua wandered around Yahoo's headquarters for an entire afternoon. It was not until five o'clock in the afternoon that Lu Shaohua said goodbye to Jerry Yang and David Filo, and then took Li Wusheng and his party to stay in a hotel that had been arranged in advance. From beginning to end, they did not talk about the acquisition of Yahoo shares.

However, not talking does not mean that everything will pass uneventfully. When bidding farewell to the two, Lu Shaohua proposed to go into negotiations the next day, and obtained the consent of both Jerry Yang and David Filo, thus confirming the time.

Don't forget that Lu Shaohua's mind is full of plans. He can't stay in the United States for too long for Yahoo. If he hadn't just arrived, Lu Shaohua would almost want to enter into negotiations immediately and then leave the United States quickly.

There was no other way. Lu Shaohua had been on a flight for more than ten hours. Even if he had some rest along the way, it was obviously not suitable for negotiations. In addition, it was not a good idea to start the negotiation process right after arriving. So Lu Shaohua chose to postpone it.

Now, the date of the negotiations has been set, it is set at nine o'clock in the morning of the next day. Lu Shaohua can also sleep well in the hotel with peace of mind. As for whether tomorrow's negotiations will be successful, Lu Shaohua doesn't think too much about it.

It's not that Lu Shaohua didn't think about it, but that Lu Shaohua didn't want to think about it. Because in Lu Shaohua's opinion, since Jerry Yang and David Filo asked to meet him, it meant that they were already interested in selling their shares. The reason they wanted to enter into negotiations was nothing more than to gain some benefits for themselves.

Yahoo's market value has just exceeded 390 billion US dollars, far from the 51 billion US dollars at the end of this year, and Lu Shaohua needs to control more than 100% of the shares. Assuming that Yahoo's current market value is 51 billion US dollars, 51% of the shares is billion US dollars.

51 billion US dollars may seem like a large sum of money to others, but to Lu Shaohua it is just a drop in the bucket. Lu Shaohua can even pay 100 billion US dollars to buy 51% of the shares, so Lu Shaohua is not worried at all that the negotiations will fail.

Furthermore, Lu Shaohua had already thought of the plan in his mind, and the promise he made was definitely very tempting, so he was not afraid that Jerry Yang and David Filo would not agree to sell their shares.

But then again, Jerry Yang and David Filo hold more than 51% of Yahoo's shares, but there are still some shares in the hands of other shareholders. Even if Lu Shaohua wants to acquire Yahoo now, it is impossible for Jerry Yang and David Filo to sell all of their shares. They will definitely keep some.

How much shares will Jerry Yang and David Filo keep?

What Lu Shaohua couldn't guess here was also the only headache for Lu Shaohua in this negotiation, because Lu Shaohua didn't know Yang Zhiyuan's bottom line, nor did he know how many shares each of them held. This led to Lu Shaohua not having a complete plan for the time being.

Well, let's make an assumption. If Jerry Yang and David Filo each hold 30% of the shares, the two together hold 60%. If each of them wants to keep 20% of the shares, Lu Shaohua can only acquire 20%, which is quite a distance from Lu Shaohua's goal of 51%. Lu Shaohua has to think of other ways to achieve his goal.

"Hey……"

Lu Shaohua sighed and muttered to himself, "When we negotiate tomorrow, all the mysteries will be revealed."

Yes, won’t the mystery be solved when we enter the negotiation process?