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On this day, Mike Macura, chairman of the board of directors of Apple Computer, came to the office of the chairman of the board of directors of Zheru and met with Tang Huan. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

In fact, the relationship between the two sides is not as distant as that of Apple and Fangyuan personal computers, which may be more appropriate to describe in a word.

In April 1979, Tang Huan launched the world's first spreadsheet software, making Apple-II the first personal computer with a wide range of practical uses in the commercial field, and then Apple-II sales skyrocketed, and Apple's IPO prospects were bright.

Because of this, Tang Huan, a fledgling Chinese college student, quickly formed a win-win strategic relationship with Apple Computer.

Next, on the basis of the Apple-II hardware platform, Tang Huan has continuously developed hardware products such as display function enhancement expansion cards and printing function enhancement expansion cards, improving the characteristics of Apple-II's hardware platform, making the new version of spreadsheet software, as well as the subsequent word processing software and microcomputer database management system, provide richer functions for commercial applications.

Tang Huan built this ecosystem with Apple-II as the center, and the price of a complete set of products even exceeded the price of Apple-II at that time - 1200 US dollars, which made Apple Computer both jealous and jealous, so it further promoted the relationship between the two sides - Apple Computer Company, which began to plump its wings, and Zheru Company, which had just begun to take shape, held shares in each other's shares, and Tang Huan entered the board of directors of Apple Computer Company and enjoyed the Founder-level treatment, that is, with Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Mike Macura have become billionaires through Apple's IPO.

There is no doubt that there is a honeymoon period between Tang Huan and Apple Computer, and the rift in their relationship begins with the difference in their views on the development of personal computers.

After successfully verifying his 8-bit personal computer, the first-generation Fangyuan personal computer, Tang Huan launched a new generation model in the American market, the 16-bit second-generation Fangyuan personal computer.

Apple suffered a fiasco in Apple-II's successor, Apple-III, so in order to extend Apple-II's product life cycle, Steve Jobs and Mike Macura worked together to facilitate the use of Apple's shares in the hands of Apple Computer to eat the Apple-II ecosystem in Tang Huan's hands.

The move drew short-sighted criticism within Apple Computer, but Steve Jobs and Mike Marcoura made the deal happen.

After Tang Huan sold all the shares of Apple Computer Company in his hand on the grounds of avoiding conflicts of interest, there was no relationship between him and Apple Computer Company.

However, the three founders of Apple Computer - Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Mike Macura - still have shares in Zheru and maintain a close personal relationship with Tang Huan.

After that, Tang Huan rose step by step, becoming the richest man in Tang and Tang IT, and Apple Computer Company has come up and down to this day.

This is the deep relationship between Mr. the richest man and Apple Computer that the media talks about, although there is inevitably intrigue, but it is good to get together and disperse without tearing his face, and then it has become a rare Silicon Valley story.

In many unofficial biographies of Tang Huan over the years, there is a general consensus that Tang Huan's early entrepreneurial success and rocket-like becoming a billionaire have benefited greatly from Apple Computer.

On the other hand, Apple Computer, which once had a lot of trouble with Microsoft and Gates because of the graphical user interface, did not have an embarrassing affair with Tang Huan, even during the moody and elusive period when Jobs was in power.

Now that Apple Computer is really in trouble, it seems that it does have the capital to eat its old capital and get help from the richest man.

What is even less known to the outside world is that there are similar voices within Apple's top management, as evidenced by Apple's board of directors' use of the long-standing personal friendship between its chairman, Mike Macura, and Tang Huan.

The chairman of the board of directors of a commercial company, depending on the actual situation of each enterprise, is divided into two kinds -- a virtual head of state, or a person who holds real power.

The former is an honorary office, like royalty or "spiritual leader" in a constitutional monarchy, with an incomparably honorable position, but it is not important and never says anything weighty. It is mainly to maintain the situation by virtue of his own high moral standing in the face of the particularly dispersed shareholding and the very complicated relationship between the major shareholders and the executive - specifically, he has no substantive power other than to convene a board of directors at the request of a meeting.

The latter is a monopoly of power, or through the majority of the shares, or relying on the network resources of the operation, or by virtue of the accumulated entrepreneurial prestige, has the real power of life and death of the company, the board of directors is just its puppet, and the CEO, president, and general manager must be really, not just nominally, responsible to him.

There is no doubt that Tang Huan is one of the world's most powerful board chairmen, and Mike Macura, a good old man who cares about the quality of life at a leisurely family, is a nominal representative of Apple Computer's shareholders.

Mike Macoola and Tang Huan did not have a relationship, so after chatting a few gossip, he turned to the topic: "I was entrusted by the board of directors of Apple Computer to formally ask, does Tang still have feelings for Apple Computer and is willing to lend a helping hand?" ”

"As soon as you come up, you will play the emotional card!" After this thought flashed in his heart, the richest man smiled gently: "You don't know, I'm a very nostalgic person - but at what level is this help, in terms of specific content?" ”

Mike Macura, who was secretly relieved, said frankly: "Apple Computer is willing to accept Don's acquisition. ”

Tang Huan picked up the teacup and took a sip, speechless for a while, as if weighing the benefits and disadvantages.

Seeing this scene, Mike Macura tentatively lobbied: "Of course I know that after Tang has his own Fangyuan personal computer, which has become the mainstream standard in the industry, he can't look down on other personal computers. But Apple still has a very good value, for example, as a friendly supplement to Fangyuan personal computers in the market - as long as this situation can be maintained, then Fangyuan personal computers will not be attacked by peers like Zheru software. ”

Tang Huan smiled and said, "Since you said so, how could I possibly buy Apple Computer." ”

Mike Macoola laughed awkwardly, "But you won't deny the value and significance of Apple Computer. ”

Tang Huan groaned and asked rhetorically: "I think, Apple Computer must have never given up saving itself, right?" ”

"That's true." Mike Macura nodded, "Launching a new product that is attractive enough for users has almost become the only alternative means of self-help, but it is too late." Such a vital life-saving project has stalled at the end of the operating system - the Copland operating system, which is constantly introducing new features during the development process, has resulted in extremely unstable internal test versions to the point where it is impossible to give up. ”

Seeing Tang Huan holding a teacup and waiting for him to speak, Mike Macura had no choice but to continue to expose his family scandal and explain in detail: "In order to catch up with the progress of the project, CEO Jill Amelio tried to introduce an ideal operating system from outside Apple Computer. ”

"For example, Jean-Louis Garcy, the former head of product development at Apple Computer, led a group of Apple employees who followed him to develop a new operating system called BeOS in 1991 at Be, which he founded."

Mike Makula had a look of smuggling on his face, "But the problem is that this guy Garcy is very familiar with the situation of Apple Computer, and then thinks that this is the golden time to take advantage of Apple Computer, and the lion asks for $400 million, and Apple's assessment of Be's total value will not exceed $80 million, so the counteroffer is $120 million - but Garcy still refuses to budge, and everyone is still deadlocked." ”

"Apple isn't really going to hang itself from the BeOS tree, is it?" Tang Huan quipped, "Just like Michael Spindler, the former CEO of Apple Computer, didn't he try to promote Apple's mergers and acquisitions with IBM, SUN, and Philips?" ”

Mike Macura hesitated imperceptibly, then replied, "You're right -- there's another contact point, NeXTSTEP, the operating system of NeXT that Steve created. ”

Tang Huan playfully asked, "And then?" ”

Mike Macura sighed, "I'll admit, when Steve left Apple, we had a lot of unpleasant encounters - after all these years, he and I, who used to be like father and son, were both in Silicon Valley, but we never met head-on. ”

"At Apple Computer Inc., John Scully, who had a direct conflict, and Jean-Louis Garcy, who secretly informed, have all left, and only I was left who refused to support him at the beginning."

"But to be honest, I don't have any resistance to a possible partnership between Apple and Steve's NeXT."

"The real problem is that the board members of Apple Computer are skeptical of Steve. After all, he was too immature at the beginning - he may be much better now, but NeXT has not done much since its inception. ”

Tang Huan was noncommittal about these entanglements, but pointed to the core of the problem and said: "What about the quality of NeXTSTEP's operating system, NeXTSTEP, and the conditions prescribed by Steve?" ”

"Steve's condition is indeed more reasonable than Garcy's, and the quality of NeXTSTEP is also good." Mike Macura replied matter-of-factly, "But the board of directors thinks that NeXTSTEP, NeXT's operating system, uses a lot of Zheru's technology - so why don't we go one step further and get a better operating system solution directly from Zheru?" ”

"By extension, why doesn't Apple Computer go over Steve Jobs, who still has a knot, and seek cooperation with Don, who has a deeper relationship?"

"The reason why the previous CEO Michael Spindler was removed and replaced by Jill Amelio was not only unsatisfactory in the company's operating performance, but also related to the fact that he strongly advocated the merger of Apple Computer with IBM, SUN, and Philips, which really disappointed the board of directors."

Tang Huan personally refilled Mike Macoola's teacup, and reminded him earnestly: "Old friend, have you ever thought that when Apple Computer asks me for help, there will inevitably be a change in the power structure, and your position as chairman of the board of directors may also be lost. ”

Mike Macura said with confidence: "Don, I have always agreed with you, and I believe you must know me - what about me, I really don't have any ambitions now." In my life, I have made the most correct investments three times due to chance, and I have successively obtained shares of Intel, Apple, and Zheru, and I have earned enough wealth to enjoy life, and I am content! As for the chairman of the board of directors of Apple Computer, it's just that everyone thinks it's appropriate for me to take on this idle position. ”

Tang Huan nodded, waved his hand and said, "Although everyone is in Cupertino, it can be said that it is close at hand, but I really don't know the specific situation inside Apple Computer - if the conditions allow, can you arrange for me to visit?" ”

Mike Macura, whose face could not hide his joy, lifted his spirits and said, "I am glad to do it!" It's a pleasure! ”

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Just when people were happily enjoying the benefits brought by the large-scale price reduction promotion of PCs, the media broke an extraordinary bombshell news -- Apple Computer, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, had just ushered in a visit from the richest man in Tang.

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Could it be that the rumors of Tang IT's acquisition of Apple Computer are not empty?

It seems that in the field of personal computers, there is another brand, marked with the seal of Tang.

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In the midst of the discussions, the spokesman of Tang Huan's office officially announced the news that Tang had purchased $200 million in non-voting shares of Apple Computer in his personal name.

Seeing this scene, industry observers suddenly lost their minds -- let alone the acquisition of Apple Computer, it seems that he does not even control Apple, could it be that Tang Shoufuman really threw out 200 million yuan to save Apple Computer?

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No one knew what Tang Huan was thinking.

Actually, it's easy to say - in Mr. the richest man, what kind of Google and Apple have sprung up a few years after the original time and space...... Wait, there's really no need to appear again, but the current Apple computer company is a good spare tire to diversify risks, and these actions on the bright side are just to hide people's eyes.