Rebirth of the Tech Madman

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

That's right, this one of the few power centers in the world is currently in this state.

The reason for this is not difficult to understand. After all, the previous U.S. elections were too intense in intrigue. No one can be a true "iron man". When the dust is finally settled, no matter if you taste victory or simply rest, your nerves cannot continue. Tightened down.

After a deliberate delay, the richest man went in to meet Bill Clinton, who was successfully re-elected after a series of hard fights and is now in a relaxed state.

It seemed that the American president was in just right shape. After shaking his hand to give up his seat, he smiled and said, "Tang, 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 Ministry of Justice on the issue of anti-monopoly; but a few months ago, Netscape reiterated the issue of the software company and opposed the Federal Ministry of Justice. The Monopoly Division filed an anti-monopoly complaint. Originally, both parties would go through legal procedures normally; but how did I hear that the Senate intends to start 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 answered, he was very serious. "In fact, it is normal for an industry-leading company like Philosophy Software to encounter such disputes. , And have enough capital to watch the situation change."

"Zheru Software Company may not be as lucky as ibm more than ten years ago, and finally escaped the antitrust sword of Damocles." Tang Huan smiled bitterly.

He can see that there is a lot of resistance to governance, especially the violent pursuit of the "White Water Case", which made this American president who is still able to take care of himself still a bit nervous.

Bill Clinton laughed, "Tang, you seem to be in a hurry, and you seem to acknowledge the monopoly of Philosopher Software."

"Monopoly or not is inherently a difficult criterion to judge." Tang Huan shrugged, "but I can be proud to emphasize that the current dominant position of Zheru Software in this industry is no matter whether it obtains or maintains it. Expansion methods are very different from those in similar situations, including ibm, and are far more open."

"It's not important." As if thinking of the entangled "White Water Case", Bill Clinton felt it and said: "People are only concerned with the immediate results."

"Zheru Software Co., Ltd. always respects the market and can withstand scrutiny." Tang Huan pointed out directly: "If the Senate of Congress sends out an unfriendly signal for political and governance purposes, it will definitely affect the entire The industry is causing shocks."

"Tang, let's put it this way, I don't want to trouble you." Bill Clinton also officially stated, "But how Congress reacts, I really can't exert influence."

"This is enough." Tang Huan, who received clear feedback, nodded.

Bill Clinton is undoubtedly an extremely clever man. He pointed to the core of the problem and said: "Tang, I can understand that your faint uneasiness mainly comes from the identity of the minority ethnic group of Chinese descent; but in fact, with you It's hard for others to shake your current status and achievements. If it's a big deal, you can compromise and make concessions."

"I have worked hard to take into account the interests of all parties in a series of things including the listing of Zheru Software." Tang Huan said leisurely: "If you compromise too much, the bottom line may collapse.

"I understand what you mean." Bill Clinton groaned: "I will be on the federal government ~ government side and try to play down this matter as much as possible."

Having said that, 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 and me Similarly, it is not a specific person, but a consortium with common judgment standards."

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

...

Compared with the anti-monopoly cloud over the Zheru Software Company, thanks to the 1996 version of the new "Telecom Law", the control of various communication companies has been significantly relaxed, and then they plan to reshuffle their cards.

Take Pacific Telecom’s acquisition of Datang Mobile Communications. The review process went smoothly. The Federal Communications Commission released it directly. The two companies that had been well prepared for a long time almost only changed their signs before they officially joined forces. One place, one family will be hit.

The current capital really favors the telecommunications industry and has enough ammunition. According to outside estimates, the Tang family earned billions of dollars in cash from this transaction.

And this is just a small beginning. Only in 1984, the seven "Little Bells", which were split from the original AT&T company, specializing in local local telephone services, were eagerly preparing for the integration of resources.

For example, Atlantic Bell is negotiating to acquire New York New England Telephone Company; Pacific Telecom, which is the first to develop and grow, naturally sets its sights on Southwest Bell in Texas.

Compared with the "gathering" of the "Bell Seven Brothers", AT&T continues to "divide"-Lucent, which operates communication equipment, has completed the division and went public. Its market value quickly soared to $18 billion, and it did not disappoint Wall Street's expectations.

In addition, this successful separation, Wall Street also picked up a female star in the executive circle-Carrie Fiorina, Lucent's spin-off from AT&T was led by her.

In Tang Huan’s view, AT&T’s good cards were abruptly smashed by Wall Street, which only cared about immediate interests. It was separated from Lucent’s original technology research and development department, and it also lost the Bell experiment. Room is the soul of the symbol, and it is not much different from the Bell local operating companies that only have communication services such as Pacific Telecom.

Of course, Tang Huan has no position to worry about the final life and death of AT&T and Lucent. He only needs to take care of his own affairs-to promote Pacific Telecom to take advantage of the good opportunity of deregulation of the government and the government to include more resources. Up.

Pacific Telecom was concerned about Southwest Bell, and it was the next step. The acquisition of Datang Mobile Communications Company by Pacific Telecom was carried out almost simultaneously with Pacific Telecom's acquisition of mci, but it did not go smoothly.

The reason does not come from the obstruction of government regulatory agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission, but lies in the fact that there are many other forces that favor mci, such as the monopoly of American communications by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company before 1984. The largest independent telephone company in the market era, gte, etc.

In the final analysis, due to chance, the fierceness of the Internet has stirred up the telecommunications sector, and capital has naturally focused on opportunities and swarmed upwards-as of mid-October this year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gone from the iconic 5000 points last year , Stepped up to 6000 points. Especially after the dust settled in the U.S. election, the U.S. stock market began to skyrocket, and it has been almost 10 days now.

To some extent, this phenomenon reflects that 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 the actions of waving junk bonds in the past few years. The scale of tens of billions of dollars can be regarded as commonplace. It is estimated that there will be more competition for mci. New forces enter the arena-what should we do, to directly give out conditions that are difficult to refuse, and quickly repel all competitors?"

"That's not worth it!" Tang Huan rubbed his eyebrows. "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 irrational cannot last forever. If you pay too much, you will definitely not be able to balance it in three or four years. Isn’t that right? Dig a hole by yourself and jump in?

After thinking about it for a while, Tang Huan finally made a final decision: "Let’s do it—mci is doing this for the first time, but Southwest Bell has to accelerate. You know, the sooner you get it done, the more you can enjoy the good market in front of you. Bonus."

Tang Wenmao nodded clearly and walked away.

The richest man temporarily put aside his worries and went to Manila, the capital of the Philippines, to attend this year's apec summit.

As for the comdex Las Vegas autumn exhibition during the same period, he couldn't take care of it.

In particular, nc has been wiped out so that there is almost only one breath left, and the "noise" alliance is especially psychologically vulnerable. It is still better not to stimulate them, and the CEO of Philosophy Software Corporation Brad Svolberg and others will go down. Cope well.

...

After Tang Huan returned to Silicon Valley, he couldn't really relax in the face of the festive atmosphere of Christmas and the bright figures on various financial statements during the peak sales season.

Gein, the U.S. Senate’s hearing on the suspected monopoly of Philosopher Software has been confirmed and has attracted overwhelming media reports.

The most talked about by the outside world is the identity and scale of the witnesses required to attend the hearing-it almost includes the CEOs of all well-known hardware companies and software companies in the IT field. It is absolutely starry.

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

With such a high standard, how can the media, which has never been too troublesome, not as crazy as it is?

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

There is no doubt that Zheru Software Company will certainly not admit that it is suspected of being monopolistic, but how to refute it at the hearing to be justified and well-founded requires careful scrutiny.

And this is only superficial--it would be naive to think that a monopoly can be determined with just a few words, and at least it will be mixed with countless public relations lobbying.

Brad Svolberg, CEO of Zheru Software, said with a sullen face: "I only need one year, no, half a year is enough. Let Netscape, the wicked guy at the forefront, completely die."

"No matter how happy Netscape is, it's just a little **** in front of the stage." Tang Huan said in a deep voice, "If you really want to fight hard, Oracle will not be blamed."

"We will soon launch a new version of ebase with richer features and more powerful functions against the Internet. In the field of large-scale relational databases, the foundation of this oracle, we will launch a fatal attack on Larry Ellison." Brad · Svolberg thought about it for a moment, and then affirmed that: "In the first half of 1997, the Oracle company, which was fighting on the two lines of hardware nc and software database, would rush into confusion.

The richest man nodded slightly-Brad Swaelberg's powerful subordinate's murderous aura is enough, but it is not only to fight and kill to have destructive power.

Tang Huan groaned and said, "You find an opportunity to contact Scott McCliny, President and CEO of Sun Microsystems, to see if you can buy the Java license."

Brad Svolberg wondered: "Java is a direct competitor of our c#, why should we support the development and growth of java instead~www.wuxiaspot.com~ It’s not always necessary to buy the authorization of java. It is tantamount to helping java develop and grow." Tang Huan explained meaningfully: "As far as I know, Sun Microsystems has developed a browser in java language. The project has never been interrupted, which will definitely make Netscape feel suspicious. ; If Sun Microsystems licenses Java to us again, what would you think of the inside of the'noise' alliance?"

"But..." Brad Svolberg asked hesitantly: "With our current hostile state, will Sun Microsystems agree to the authorization of java?"

"This so-called hostile state is actually as thin as a piece of paper!" Tang Huan smiled confidently, "I believe that Sun Microsystems can't reject this java based on the market share in the hands of Zheru Software. Authorized proposal."

Suddenly Brad Svolberg, with a playful look on his face, "Okay, then I'll find a chance to talk to Scott McCliny."

...

On Monday, December 23, 1996, the US Senate opened a hearing on the alleged monopoly of Zheru Software.

Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale took the lead in firing as a victim.

I saw him looking around the crowded crowd, and said in a heavy tone: "Everyone in this room who has never used the products of Zheru Software, please raise your hands!"

None of the people present raised their hands.

Jim Barksdale emphasized again: "Please do as I say!"

None of the people present still 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."