Microsoft headquarters doesn't feel like a company, but rather a college campus. The www.biquge.info park is very quiet, surrounded by trees, lawns and flowers. The woods are dense, and there are many large pine trees that hug each other. The birds love the grass and fresh air in the park, and the trees are full of chirping birds.

The buildings on the Microsoft campus are low, usually three or four stories long, and the buildings are generally white with white walls and wide dark green glass windows, which are very harmonious with the green environment. There are 35 such buildings with a total floor area of more than 4 million square meters.

At this time, in the office of Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Building 34, Ballmer was beckoning Hastings, who had just entered the room, to sit down.

Hastings didn't talk much nonsense, and directly stated the purpose of the trip: "Steve, you also know the trouble we are in Netflix right now, now Century Summit has a 14.5% stake in Netflix and has become the largest shareholder of Netflix, and they have issued a $35 takeover offer, but we don't want to sell the company to him, so we need a white knight." ”

In recent days, Zhang Ran's acquisition of Netflix has been hyped, and Ballmer is naturally clear about Netflix's situation: "Zhang Ran attacked Netflix this time, and he made a very decisive move, with a floating profit of nearly 100 million US dollars in the secondary market, and the situation is very good, and the popularity and market reputation of the brand of Century Peak have been greatly improved, and I have to say that I have taken a very high step forward." ”

Hastings shook his head and said, "No, as long as Zhang Ran is not allowed to get control of Netflix, even if he makes a profit of one billion, he will lose!"

Ballmer was stunned for a moment, and felt that this was a bit incredible, even if he made a profit of one billion, he would lose? This is too exaggerated, right?

Hastings smiled and said, "At first, I thought that Zhang Ran just wanted to do streaming, but recently I have figured out what he wants, what he wants is the output port of the movie. How many output ports are there in the film industry?cinema, TV, computer, mobile phone, plus DVD. Which of these ports are the most important? Hollywood studios may not have movie theaters in their hands, but they must have television stations and DVD distribution companies. Zhang Ran is Chinese, and it is impossible for him to own a TV station in the United States, and with streaming media, he can not only watch it on the computer, but also watch it on TV, which is equivalent to owning a cable TV station. As long as he has Netflix, Zhang Ran has obtained TV, computer, mobile phone, and DVD output. For Zhang Ran, as long as he can't complete the acquisition of Netflix, he will lose strategically!"

Ballmer was very surprised to hear Hastings's description: "It seems that this Mr. Zhang is really far-sighted, but it is really his misfortune that he met your opponent, you have seen him through!"

Hastings gritted his teeth and said, "It's my misfortune to meet such a shameless opponent as Zhang Ran!"

In recent days, rumors about Netflix discriminating against women and about Hastings discriminating against women are flying all over the Internet, especially on Fly, all kinds of rumors about Hastings are overwhelming, and after Hastings read it, he almost died of anger. He knew that this was definitely Zhang Ran's ghost, and if Zhang Ran was in front of him, he might have two old punches in Zhang Ran's face.

Seeing Ballmer's surprised face, Hastings took a breath, calmed the anger in his heart, and said: "Whether it is an acquisition or a counter-acquisition, the most fundamental thing is capital, now Netflix has just completed the acquisition of Blockbuster, the funds in his hands are almost exhausted, and he is burdened with huge debts, now is the most difficult time for Netflix, Zhang Ran is taking advantage of the opportunity of our funds to break the file to make a time difference." Even though we have activated the poison pill program, the shark repellent clause, and the golden parachute, as long as he continues to raise the offer, we can't stop it at all, so, we need Microsoft to be our white knight!"

Ballmer nodded noncommittally.

Hastings knows that there are almost no companies that are willing to stick a knife in the side of their friends without pursuing their own interests, and that the white knight is not an angel, and for Microsoft to be the white knight, the other party must benefit from it. He adjusted his sitting position: "Netflix and Microsoft are complementary, Netflix is now transforming to streaming media, it is very strong in film and television, and in cooperation with inverts, Microsoft can integrate film and television resources into the Xbox service, and more importantly, Netflix now has 11 million paying subscribers, with these user resources, Microsoft can better compete with Apple." ”

Ballmer asked, "What about your specific plan?"

Hastings said: "Netflix will issue 40 million shares to Microsoft at a price of $50, and after the additional issuance, Microsoft will hold 28.5% of the shares, becoming the largest shareholder, and Zhang Ran's shares will be diluted to 10%, so it will be difficult to threaten Netflix." ”

Ballmer frowned and said: "Now Netflix's stock price is only $27, and it is due to the recent acquisition war, in fact, it is a little more than 20 at most, and the $50 acquisition premium is too high." ”

Hastings immediately said: "Zhang Ran is now quoting $35, and I estimate that $45 is his limit." Microsoft's offer of $50 could easily knock him out. $50 may sound like a lot, but I have absolute confidence in the future of Netflix. Within a year, Netflix's stock price will exceed $50. Netflix is in the midst of a full transformation into streaming, and in the next few years, it will completely transform into an internet company. Netflix and Blockbuster now have a combined 11 million online users, and they are increasing at a rate of hundreds of thousands every month, and I believe that by this time next year, the number of online users will be close to 20 million. An Internet company with 20 million paying subscribers, what a terrifying statistic!"

Ballmer pondered for a few seconds and said, "I think it's okay, but this matter needs to be resolved by the board of directors, so what do you think about our board meeting next Thursday?"

Hastings breathed a sigh of relief and said, "No problem!"

At the same time, Zhang Ran's flight landed steadily at Washington National Airport.

The hatch opened, and Zhang Ran was the first to step down, with the October sun on his head. In the bright sun, the beauty of Washington is unobstructed. Zhang Ran took a breath and secretly prayed in his heart that everything would go well on this trip to the United States.

The one who came to pick up the plane was Li Yunming, the contact person of Century Peak's acquisition in North America, and the two got into Li Yunming's car, and the two drove towards downtown Washington.

"Mr. Zhang, the hotel has already booked it for you. Upon arrival at the hotel, you have two hours to rest. At 7pm you will have dinner at ThePrimeRib Steakhouse with Mr. Alan Larsen, who is our lobbying and PR consultant for this time, and he needs to exchange views with you. Li Yunming introduced the situation to Zhang Ran while driving.

Zhang Ran nodded: "Okay, I do have a lot of things to exchange views with Mr. Alan Larsen. ”

Li Yunming was very talkative, and on the way to the hotel, he introduced Zhang Ran to the recent public relations battle vividly.

The car drove for a while, and Li Yunming suddenly said: "Mr. Zhang, this is the famous K Street!"

Zhang Ran glanced up, the legendary K Street is different from what he imagined, both sides of the street are wide imitation European buildings, the number of floors is not high, and the ordinary American street is not much different, the only difference is that the door of the high-end office building is engraved with the words "so-and-so consulting or public relations company" The words "so-and-so consulting or public relations company" are particularly numerous, all of which are professional lobbying companies.

Yes, K Street is a lobbying street, and many well-known lobbying offices are located on this street. If Wall Street is the financial center of the United States, then K Street represents the political center of the United States. When it comes to K Street, the American media likes to say that if you don't know K Street, you don't know Washington, and you don't know American politics.

According to statistics, there are about 17,500 lobbyists in Washington, D.C., and most of these lobbyists are concentrated on K Street, and they profoundly influence the legislation and decision-making of the U.S. government and Congress.

Seven years ago, there was a thrilling lobbying war here, in which hundreds of multinational companies, including Boeing, banded together to form an ultra-luxury lobby group of several hundred people in order to get China to join the WTO. From Congress to state legislatures, hundreds of lobbyists traveled back and forth, and the entire lobby spent nearly a year on public relations and spent $112 million to finally get China to join the WTO.

The great thing about these lobbying firms is that their lobbyists are extraordinary, many of whom are politicians who have been in Washington for many years, including former lawmakers, former government officials, and their former aides. With their familiar government networks and connections, they can easily hit the ground running. For example, Bob Dole and George Michel, who are under the name of the McPherson-Hand lobbying firm, were both former Senate majority leaders, and Dole even competed with Clinton for the presidency in 1996.

Zhang Ran's lobbying firm, Ai Jin Gangpo Law Firm, also has deep connections in Congress, and their political donations in '06 covered more than 30 members of Congress, and the Alan Larsen who Zhang Ran wants to have dinner with is the former US Deputy Secretary of State, and after leaving office in 05, he became a senior partner of Ai Jin Gangbo Law Firm.

It didn't take long for the car to drive up to the Marriott Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. As he got out of the car, Zhang Ran saw the iconic dome of the Capitol at the end of the street. Pennsylvania Avenue is a thoroughfare in downtown Washington, D.C., and because the White House and Congress are located on this avenue, the avenue is considered a political avenue, similar to Chang'an Avenue in Peking.

Because Zhang Ran may need to go to the Diet to meet with the people of the Foreign Investment Committee to clarify his position, and living here can save a lot of time.

After settling down in the hotel, Zhang Ran washed up, changed into clean clothes, turned on the TV, and watched the news.

At half past six, Li Yunming came and knocked on the door and informed Zhang Ran that it was time to go to the restaurant to have dinner with Alan Larsen.

Coming downstairs, Mr. Li drove to a steakhouse on K Street called ThePrimeRib, where he told Mr. Zhang that the steaks were the most popular in the entire Washington area.

Zhang Ran and the others had just parked their car outside the restaurant, and the waiter waiting there immediately greeted them and stepped forward, opened the car door, waited for Zhang Ran and them to get out of the car, and then parked the car for them.

Entering the main hall of the restaurant, a waiter came over to greet Zhang Ran and them, and after asking about the situation, he immediately led Zhang Ran and them to their seats, and enthusiastically unfolded the napkins for them, carefully filled them with ice water, and respectfully handed over the menu. Alan Larsen hadn't arrived yet, and Zhang Ran and they weren't in a hurry to order, so they asked the waiter to wait.

Zhang Ran took a look at the environment of the restaurant, and the decoration was luxurious and classical. The cutlery is silver, the seats are leather, and the decorative paintings on the walls around are mostly precious and genuine. And Li Yunming whispered to Zhang Ran that there are many government officials in the restaurant now, even including the deputy finance minister.

About five minutes later, a man in his fifties with white hair walked in. Li Yunming immediately told Zhang Ran that Alan Larsen was here.