(It's too late, I'll update it for a while and then fix the typo!)

October 1994

"Boss, didn't you say that you would take me back to country M to engage in financial investment? But why didn't we fly back to Seattle instead of going back to New York and Wall Street?" Pete stood in the airport and complained to Jia Lei. m.

"I'm here to engage in financial investment, do you have any opinions?" Jia Lei patted his clothes and said lightly, his tone was so normal that it was like saying what he had today.

"Boss, you don't have a fever, do you? The best place to engage in finance and investment in the United States is Wall Street, do you think there can be a financial project suitable for you to invest in in this small city of Seattle?" asked Pete in disbelief.

You must know that Seattle is a famous cultural and leisure city in country M, which is very suitable for art and leisure vacations, although Seattle also has high achievements in aerospace and education, but it has nothing to do with Wall Street's financial investment in any way.

"Maybe Seattle doesn't have any good financial projects, but there are people and ......companies here that are very suitable for investment," Jia Lei said meaningfully with squinted eyes.

"Are there any suitable people and companies for investment here? Could it be that you have a goal to invest in before you come to country M?" asked Pete immediately after listening to Jia Lei's words.

"Bingo, you got it right!" Jia Lei said with a smile.

"Ohgod!Why didn't I know about this before, who do you want to invest in, boss?, is there anyone here who is worth your visit?" asked Pete, confused.

"Pete, you don't follow me every day, of course there are many things you don't know! Besides, your boss and I are not big names, so why can't we run around in person? Are you in too much control?" Jia Lei replied.

"Okay, I can't tell you!You're the boss, you can do whatever you want!" said Pete with a hippie smile on his face, as an ordinary employee, he had indeed overstepped just now.

"Don't complain over there, I know that you have wronged you by letting an investment manager of a bank be my assistant every day, but you can bear with it for the sake of money!" Jia Lei said.

"Don't say that, boss, I'm not aggrieved at all!

Jia Lei paid him a double salary plus dividends from the company's shares, and Pete can now earn at least two million dollars a year, so of course he will not complain.

"Since you have no opinion, then let's go!" Jia Lei said.

"Where are you going, boss?" asked Pete.

"Let's visit an old friend in the small town of Medina on the shores of Lake Washington!" Mr. Jia said.

"Do you have any old friends in this place?" asked Pete.

"You shouldn't have forgotten who lives in Medina, and you helped me buy a stock of Microsoft!" Jia Lei finally couldn't help but roll his eyes and said, he is now a minority shareholder who owns 2% of Microsoft's shares.

"Yes, yes, yes, I forgot such an important thing, Mr. Bill Gates is now the richest man in the United States, and we should indeed visit him. Pete said quickly.

As one of the shareholders of Microsoft, I have to congratulate Mr. Bill Gates on becoming the richest man in the United States. Jia Lei said.

After Jia Lei finished speaking, he got in the car that came to greet him and drove towards Bill Gates' home next to Lake Washington, and he had already greeted Bill Gates before coming.

The town of Medina, Seattle

"The environment here is good, the air is fresh and fresh, it is indeed a good place to live!" Jia Lei couldn't help but take a deep breath after getting out of the car and said.

"Seattle is a place with four seasons of climate, both forests and oceans, so the climate here is exceptionally good. Bill Gates came over and said that he came out to greet Jia Lei.

"Seeing that you say this place so well, I also want to buy a house to live here!" Jia Lei said with a smile.

"That's a good idea, I'm always welcome to come and be my neighbor!" said Bill Gates.

I'll ask Pete to help me find a house in the neighborhood, so we'll be neighbors from now on. Jia Lei said with a smile.

"Oh, that's great, I'm glad you'll be my neighbor. Bill Gates said with a smile.

"It's windy outside, so let's invite guests to sit inside!" said Melinda, Bill Gates' wife.

"You're right, it's too windy outside, and we should really invite guests to our homes to do it. Mr Jia, let's go to the house and talk?" Bill Gates stretched out his hand and made a gesture of invitation, and Jia Lei followed him in

"It's an honor to be a guest at your home! Jia Lei said with a smile, and Pete immediately sent the gifts prepared at home.

"There are Chinese tea, silk and Jingdezhen porcelain, which are not antiques but are from the hands of the best masters in China, and I hope you both will like them. Jia Lei said with a smile that since Bill Gates is already the richest man in the United States, the meaning of giving gifts is not expensive, but fine.

"I like it very much! You're so kind," Melinda said in surprise as she looked at the gift from Jia Lei, and then he couldn't put it down and picked up an embroidered screen given by Jia Lei and touched it.

Jia Lei sent these things with great care, especially the screen of the kitten fluttering butterflies he sent, even the hair on the cat's body can be seen clearly, which is a real work of art in the eyes of foreigners.

"It's good if you like it! Because this is the first time we have met, I don't know what gift to give you, I can only give some of our Chinese specialties. Jia Lei said with a smile.

Since you have prepared Chinese specialties for me, I have prepared for you our Seattle specialties, and our main course today is trout and oysters, which are specialties from Washington. Bill Gates said with a smile.

"Seattle's rainbow trout is world-famous and looks like I'm in for a treat. Jia Lei said with a smile when he heard this, and then he had lunch with Bill Gates and his wife at their invitation.

"Now that we've eaten, let's get down to business, you don't know I was taken aback when you called me earlier!

After all, we are shareholders of the same company, but you have never been out of our shareholders' meeting at Microsoft, and I was really surprised that you suddenly came to me. Bill Gates said to Jia Lei while drinking after-dinner tea that when he received the call from the secretary general, he thought about it for a long time before he remembered that Microsoft had such a shareholder as Jia Lei.

"Huh...... I only have a little more than 2% of Microsoft's shares, and I am still eligible to participate in your company's shareholders' meeting. Jia Lei said with a self-deprecating smile.

"Don't be presumptuous! While a 2% stake may not seem like much, Microsoft is on the verge of $20 billion this year, and you're a young billionaire now. I would like to invite you to attend the year-end shareholders' meeting of Microsoft Corporation. Bill Gates said with a smile.

"I'm a small shareholder like me who doesn't even have the qualifications to vote on the board of directors, so why should I be embarrassed to go to the shareholders' meeting unless I'm willing to sell me some Microsoft shares so that I can vote on the board of directors." Jia Lei said with a smile that this is the real purpose of his visit to the United States.

"So you came to buy Microsoft stock from me?" asked Bill Gates.

"You're right, that's what I meant!" Jia Lei immediately nodded and said.

"I'm just a little weird, where did you hear that I was going to sell Microsoft stock?" asked Bill Gates, frowning.

Where did Jia Lei get this news?

From the memories of my previous life, of course!

Jia Lei still clearly remembers that the reason why Bill Gates missed out on the world's richest man in 1994 and gave up the position of the world's richest man to the island nation is because he hired investment expert Larson to help him manage his assets in this year.

At that time, Bill Gates owned 45% of Microsoft, and these shares were worth $5 billion!

After Larson became Bill Gates' investment adviser, he persuaded him to sell some of Microsoft's shares and use the money to diversify his investments, and Bill Gates did follow his advice. Sold his stake in Microsoft one after another.

In the end, Bill Gates's shareholding in Microsoft has changed from 45% to 3% through years of reduction, and 94 years is the first time that Bill Gates has reduced his shareholding in Microsoft on a large scale.

But of course, Jia Lei won't tell his real source to Bill Gates, so Jia Lei lied very skillfully.

"It's no secret that Mr. Larson has been selling Microsoft stock on Wall Street recently, and when he heard about it, he wanted to come to you and buy some Microsoft stock directly.

There are so many stocks you want to sell this time, how troublesome would it be if they were all impaired through the secondary market?

Why don't we just make a large share transfer transaction, so that it will save you a lot of trouble for you and me. Jia Lei said with a smile, and then he began to lower his head and stir up the coffee.

Bill Gates fell into deep thought after listening to Jia Lei's words, if he really insisted on reducing his stake in Microsoft by more than 40% in the secondary market, it would definitely have a huge impact on Microsoft's stock price.

Because in 1994, Apple sued Microsoft for infringement of browser patents, which triggered the famous "look and feel" lawsuit, which caused Microsoft's stock price to plummet.

If Bill Gates, as the president of Microsoft, suddenly sells Microsoft's shares on a large scale at this time, investors will definitely be shaken by Microsoft's development prospects, and the direct transfer method proposed by Jia Lei can minimize the impact of Bill Gates' stock sale on Microsoft's stock price.

"Your words are very reasonable, I agree to sell you some of the shares in my hand! I wonder how many shares you want to buy?" Bill Gates finally raised his head and said after thinking for a while.

Bill Gates and Larson originally planned to reduce their holdings of 8 million to 20 million shares of Microsoft every quarter so that they could slowly cash out while stabilizing the stock price, but if Jia Leiken bought the shares directly from him, it would not affect the price of the stock in the secondary market.

"Ding!" Jia Lei couldn't help but shake after hearing Bill Gates's answer, and the coffee spoon gently hit the cup.

"I have limited funds in my hands, so let's buy 10% of the shares first!" Jia Lei said quietly, these shares are worth about $1.2 billion.

It's not true that Jia Lei doesn't have enough money to buy all the shares, but Microsoft's position in the United States is too important. If Jia Lei moves too much now, it will definitely arouse the suspicion of Bill Gates or the U.S. government, and Jia Lei only buys 10% of the shares.

Microsoft is now in a lawsuit with the American giant Apple, and most people on Wall Street are not optimistic about Microsoft's stock, and Jia Lei's purchase of the stock will not cause much suspicion.

"Do you want to buy 10% of the shares? I am afraid that so many share transfers can only be sold after the announcement of the listed company, will this cause panic in the secondary market?" asked Bill Gates with a frown.

"I have several companies under my control, and if you're afraid of causing panic, I can let them buy them separately, and I can even set up several special funds to buy these shares.

Rest assured, I promise it won't affect Microsoft's stock and reputation!

After all, I will be the majority shareholder of Microsoft in the future, and if Microsoft's stock price really falls, I will be the one who will suffer. Jia Lei said with a smile.

"That's the case, that's good, but before I sell the stock, I have one more request that I want you to accept?" said Bill Gates.

"What requirements?" Jia Lei asked with a frown.

"I hope you will support my decision as much as possible in future board votes, so that I can firmly hold control of Microsoft!" said Bill Gates.

Anyway, I bought Microsoft stock just to make money, and voting rights and control are not important to me at all. Jia Lei nodded and said.

"Then we're sold!" said Bill Gates with a laugh.

"Deal!" Jia Lei also said happily.

****

"Boss, do you really want to buy a house in this town?" asked Pete after he came out of Bill Gates' house.

"Of course it's true!, why do you ask that?" Jia Lei asked puzzled.

"You can't stay in the U.S. for a month, so why spend so much money on a house in Seattle?

"Well...... the reason why I want to buy here is because this is a treasure of feng shui, and the house here can make people the richest man in the world. Jia Lei said with a smile.

"Boss, you're making fun of me again, I've never heard of buying a house and becoming the richest man in the world. Pete couldn't help but roll his eyes when he heard this.

"Pete, I really didn't lie to you this time! believe it or not!" Jia Lei shrugged his shoulders and said, he really told the truth this time.

This small town of Medina in Seattle is indeed a magical place, where Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, the two richest men in the world, have made their homes in the town. And they still live in the same neighborhood, and the two families are no more than 1 mile away from each other.

Jia Lei estimated that he could become the richest man in the world after buying a house here!