New York 2006

Chapter 215 Invitation from the Internet Society

Luo Ji, Fiona and Robin wore evening gowns and took a car to the high-end residential area of ​​Bel Air, California.

Located near Sunset Boulevard, it has two grand gates that open onto winding streets lined with large properties with luxurious mansions and lush vegetation.

Bel Air's privacy is very good, and it is favored by the rich and famous, as well as celebrities in the entertainment industry.Bel Air, Beverly Hills and Holmby Hills form Los Angeles' famous "Platinum Triangle".

Fiona looked at the pleasant environment outside the window: "Feili, do you want to buy a luxury house here? The environment here is much better than that in Burbank, but it is a bit far away from the company."

Luo Ji nodded: "It can be taken into consideration. You can ask someone for consultation."

"Okay." Fiona took out her itinerary and started recording it.

Robin asked in confusion: "Why do you want to buy a house again?"

"Just take a look and ask for advice first," Luo Ji said casually.

During the current financial crisis, every company is not doing well, but Luo Ji has a large amount of income.

Future Records includes Lady Gaga's album "Super Popular", the soundtrack of "The Twilight Zone", his album "16", and albums by other small singers on electronic music records.Mobile phone ringtones and music video playback have successively brought Luo Ji a lot of income in the past few months.

The movie company's share of the box office of "Twilight", the sale of movie DVDs, and the sale of broadcast rights brought Luo Ji a large amount of income.

Luo Ji originally planned to implement his Internet stock strategy and spend money. However, with the advent of the financial crisis, stocks began to plummet, and Luo Ji had no choice but to stop this strategy.

This also made him realize the importance of diversifying assets and began to invest in reality. Real estate and real estate are very good investment channels.

Despite the current financial crisis, the decline in the national housing price and real estate index has begun to slow down.

Luo Ji felt that the peak of house bankruptcy and non-payment of mortgage loans had actually passed, but it was only now being transmitted to the financial field.

"We're here," Fiona said.

The three of them came to the Bel Air Country Club. This club is just like in a movie and TV show. It has a huge hotel, a tennis court on the left, a huge swimming pool on the right, and a huge golf course behind it.

As soon as Luo Ji walked in, he was recognized and met an unexpected person, Paris Hilton.

The parties held by Silicon Valley tycoons seemed a bit incompatible with her style.

Paris walked up to him excitedly and hugged him: "Hi, Logic, why are you here?"

“The founder of YouTube, Steven Chen, invited me here.”

"Oh."

Paris glanced sideways at Robin next to him, then looked at Luo Ji, and said with a hint of regret, "I didn't expect you to get married so soon."

When Robin heard this, he puffed up his chest and stepped forward to take Luo Ji's arm in a demonstrative manner.

Luo Ji hurriedly spoke: "Let's not talk about this anymore, Paris, do you know where Steven is?"

"I just saw him at the tennis court. Come on, I'll take you there."

After Paris finished speaking, he rolled his eyes at Robin, and then walked closely beside Luo Ji to lead the way.

Along the way he saw many celebrities in the entertainment industry, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Quincy Jones, Rashida Jones, U2 lead singer Bono, Brad Pitt’s ex-wife Jennifer Aniston, etc. .

"Why are there so many entertainment celebrities today? Isn't this a party hosted by Google founder Larry Page?" Luo Ji looked at Paris and asked.

"They all live nearby," Paris said.

Luo Ji then realized that Paris in front of him had another identity, one of the descendants of the Hilton family. Her family seemed to have real estate here.

Paris was so famous as a troublemaker in the United States that Luo Ji even forgot about her old Qian family background.

The group of people came to the left side of the hotel. Everyone stood in the corridor and looked at the tennis court. It was already occupied by the party crowd, and dozens of people were socializing there with wine glasses.

Luo Ji found Chen Shijun at a glance. His afro hair style was very stylish and he stood out in the crowd. He was chatting with a few people.

"Hi, Steven." Luo Ji waved hello.

The eyes of everyone in the stadium were instantly focused on him. When Steven saw him, he hurriedly walked over with a smile, followed by several people.

"Hi, Logic. Let me introduce you. This is my wife, Jamie Chen."

Luo Ji looked at this East Asian woman. He had seen her on the news. She seemed to be Korean and her surname was Park.

This is the surname of the husband. The Chinese do not have this tradition, but Omi has this tradition. It seems that they follow the local customs.

Chen Shijun continued to introduce: "This is Jensen Huang, the founder of Nvidia, Jerry Yang, the founder of Yahoo, and Richard Li of IDG Capital. This is Huang Xinxiang, the richest Chinese man in California."

"Hello."

Luo Ji shook hands with them one by one. Luo Ji had basically heard the names of these people. They were considered leaders of Chinese Internet technology and investment in Silicon Valley.

Luo Ji introduced Robin, Fiona and Paris to them.After a few people exchanged pleasantries.

Li Zekai smiled and said: "Logic, why didn't you call me when your Holi game company was raising funds? You must inform me the next time you raise funds."

"Okay." Luo Ji agreed with a smile.

Li Zekai is the son of Li Ka-shing. In the early 2000s, his venture capital companies were basically operating in the Chinese-speaking circle. The most famous investment was Tencent.

In the past two years, it has begun to enter the European and American markets and invested in dozens of companies, the most famous of which is Facebook.

The group chatted for more than ten minutes and became basically familiar with each other, so they gathered together in twos and threes to chat.

Luo Ji looked at Jerry Yang, the founder of Yahoo, in front of him with curiosity. He was the first Chinese to stand at the top of the American Internet industry, but now his situation was not very good.

After the Internet bubble in 2000, Jerry Yang, as the founder, was squeezed out of the company by capital.As a result, Yahoo's management was poor. In June 2007, he was appointed as the CEO of Yahoo.

The results were very good, and the company's performance tripled.

At the beginning of this year, Microsoft prepared to acquire Yahoo for US$446 billion. However, due to the price negotiation, the acquisition completely failed after a long tug-of-war.

For a time, Yahoo's stock price plummeted, and as CEO, he became the target of media attacks.Coupled with the current financial crisis, his situation can be said to be even worse.

Luo Ji looked at Yang Zhiyuan and said, "I would like to ask, investors are actually very optimistic about the strong alliance between Microsoft and Yahoo to fight Gugou. Why did you reject Microsoft's acquisition at that time?"

Jerry Yang said seriously: "At that time, the board of directors felt that the price was too low, and I felt the same way. You know, Yahoo's market value at its peak was $1000 billion. No one was willing to sell it at a low price."

Luo Ji thought for a moment and said, "In Silicon Valley, I often hear the story of the founder of Victoria's Secret jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. Is this a difficult decision that all company founders encounter? When Microsoft acquired Yahoo, did you have Don’t you have such an idea?”

"Of course, this mentality has also affected me. You should have experienced it when you acquired Tesla. Musk has this kind of mentality."

Jerry Yang continued: "People like us are not short of money, so we all want to realize the value of our lives and develop the company into an enterprise that can affect the world. You should have heard of Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, right? Money is actually not that important to us.”

"Yes, I've heard of it." Luo Ji nodded.

Jerry Yang said seriously: "Actually, I don't regret it, it's just that I have encountered setbacks now."

"But now the media is all criticizing you? You have become the one taking the blame."

Luo Ji looked at him seriously: "Can you continue to execute your will? You are a pioneer of the Internet, but your company has been kidnapped by capital. Unlike today's Internet entrepreneurs, who have learned their lessons and followed various rules. By design, he has absolute control over the company.”

Yang Zhiyuan smiled easily: "Don't worry, I will fight them to the end."

"Come on!" Luo Ji patted his shoulder to encourage him.

Luo Ji actually wasn't very optimistic about his victory.Yahoo has now become a colosseum for capital, and even Wall Street werewolves like Carl Icahn have entered the arena.

Moreover, Gugou is now in a trend, and Yahoo is getting weaker and weaker under the Matthew effect.

Yahoo is no longer like a traditional Internet company.He has taken the blame. He is the CEO of the company but has no control over the company! "Logic, I'll take you to meet someone." Chen Shijun suddenly walked over and said.

"Who?"

"My boss, Google founder Larry Page."

Luo Ji asked Fiona, Robin and Paris to socialize freely. Under the leadership of Chen Shijun, the founder of YouTube, he met Larry Page, the founder of Gugou.

After exchanging pleasantries, the three of them strolled on the golf course behind the club.The greenery here makes people feel happy.

Larry Page looked at Luo Ji seriously: "Logic, I see you bought Apple, Amazon, Netflix and other Internet companies. Why didn't you buy my Gugou company? Don't you think you are optimistic about my company?"

"I bought Gugou shares some time ago, but I just didn't mention it in the media," Luo Ji said.

"What made you change your mind?"

Luo Ji said seriously: "It's Android. I'm very optimistic about your actions on the mobile operating system."

"is it?"

"Of course, as you know, I have always been optimistic about the mobile Internet industry. My game company also cooperates with your Android system. Did you know?" Luo Ji said seriously.

"of course I know."

Larry Page smiled and said: "Thank you Logic, your game is indeed very good, I have played it too."

"What's your favorite game to play?"

"Chess battle and Rubik's Cube decryption."

The three of them exchanged some insights on mobile operating systems. Larry Page and Chen Shijun were software engineers after all, and they talked about many technical issues.

Luo Ji had just started learning computer programming during this time, and could barely keep up with his ideas.

"Logic, I didn't expect that as a singer, you could understand what I said. It seems that you are studying very seriously at New York University."

Luo Ji pointed to his head: "I'm very smart."

"Hahaha." The three people present laughed.

Chen Shijun said: "Logic, what are you mainly studying?"

"The operating system also has programming languages. I usually study knowledge related to mobile phone software."

"It's very good. This is cutting-edge and popular right now."

Larry and Steven both had backgrounds in science and engineering. They didn't have any preconceptions and were straightforward in everything they said. Luo Ji chatted with them easily.

It’s not like talking to Philip Dorman, which feels tiring.

The three chatted happily and then moved on to the next topic.

Larry Page smiled and said: "Thank you Logic, you have helped YouTube a lot and attracted a large number of users for us. You deserve to be the king of YouTube. The views of all your videos have exceeded 5 million. Times. It’s incredible.”

"Haha, I also became famous through YouTube, so we have achieved mutual success."

After Luo Ji finished speaking, he continued: "I hope that the special sharing agreement between YouTube and me can be used for my singers."

After hearing this, Larry Page looked at Chen Shijun: "What is the specific situation? I don't know very well."

Chen Shijun explained: "In order to attract exclusive high-quality users, YouTube gave some outstanding creative staff better advertising shares and better advertising space recommendations, and Logic was one of them."

Larry Page looked at Luo Ji: "You will design music videos for your singers, right?"

"of course."

Luo Ji smiled and said, "You should be able to see soon that Lady Gaga's MV was designed by me."

Larry Page thought for a moment and said, "Yes, I am willing to sign a contract with your record company, but I want an exclusive online broadcast contract."

"Yes, but in addition to VEVO, the MV video website established by the record industry, you must have heard about it. Major record companies have already taken action, and it was initiated by Universal."

"heard."

Luo Ji continued: "I want to act in concert with the record industry. After all, I am also a member of the record industry and I cannot betray them. What are your plans?"

"Of course we will continue to cooperate with them."

"That's good. Our cooperation?"

Larry Page smiled and said: "I agree to your conditions."

"It's a pleasure to cooperate." Luo Ji extended his hand to shake.

"Pleasant to work with."

Luo Ji saw Jerry Yang not far away, who was walking on the golf course with Li Zekai, so he pointed at him and asked curiously: "Isn't Yahoo a competitor of Google? Why is he here today?"

Larry Page said seriously: "Although we are competitors, it is now a financial crisis. Everyone has the same purpose and wants to solve this matter quickly. This is also the purpose why I asked Steven Chen to call you here. .”

Luo Ji asked tentatively: "So the purpose of coming here today is the "Wall Street bailout bill"?"

"Yes."

"But what does this have to do with me?" Luo Ji asked in confusion.

Larry Page said: "Of course it does matter. Isn't your Holi game company also an Internet company? Its current valuation has reached 5.5 million dollars, and it is qualified to participate in this meeting."

"My company is just a small company," Luo Ji said.

"But your company is currently a leading company in social games. After the meeting, someone will invite you to join the organization."

"What organization?"

"Internet Society of America."

Luo Ji knew that this association was the top industry association in the United States, and they had had contact with each other.

Just like his film company joined AMPTP, the film and television producers alliance, the purpose is to maintain the interests of film and television companies.

The Internet Association is also formed for the benefit of Internet companies.

On the one hand, the association provides legal assistance and tries its best to maintain legal precedents that are beneficial to the Internet industry.On the one hand, a lobbying group is formed to lobby the government and increase the neutrality principle of the Internet.

Luo Ji said, "But how do you plan to solve this problem?"

"Of course, let the government pass the "Wall Street Rescue Act" as soon as possible. What the idiots on Wall Street have done has now affected the global economy. As you can see, the Internet industry is also one of the victims."

"But those guys on Wall Street are already taking action, do they need us?"

Luo Ji continued: "I see people from Goldman Sachs and Citibank are taking action in Washington. Even Buffett, who has always been relatively low-key, has spoken out in the media, hoping that members of Congress can pass the "Wall Street Rescue Act."

Larry Page said: "The power is still not enough, and now the public is very opposed to this bill. The Wall Street group hopes that the Internet Association can help."

"Okay, I will follow you. I can provide you with any help you need."

Larry Page looked at Luo Ji with a smile: "That's good."

However, Luo Ji always felt that Larry Page's smile had an ulterior motive.

(End of this chapter)