Abel always felt that Ikana and Paris had a feeling of not being out of focus in recent months.

The two often work together, and Paris Hilton has been hired by YKM as a design director.

Even this time, the YKM San Francisco flagship store was accidentally involved in the homicide zero yuan purchase incident.

It was also Paris who accompanied Ikana to solve it.

Speaking of this homicide zero yuan purchase incident, YKM is a little innocent.

It started when a black woman was shopping for clothes at a YKM store.

was directly destroyed by a black gunman who came in.

The gunman ran away after he broke down.

& Although the people at the flagship store were frightened, they immediately chose to call the police.

The police in the San Francisco Bay Area at this time were not bad, and the location of the flagship store was in a busy area, so the police came quickly.

The police came and began an identity investigation. Soon after, it was confirmed that the black woman who was shot was a member of the gang.

The murder incident was also characterized as a gangster vendetta with a high probability.

The police in the Bay Area have defined this incident as having no responsibility for the YKM flagship store.

But after the police left, the gang that the black woman belonged to went up to the door.

As soon as it came up, it destroyed the decoration of the YKM flagship store and a batch of goods here.

Things are urgent.

Ikana had to rush here from New York to deal with it.

After she found out that it was a gangster incident, Ikana contacted the local police and parliamentarians to contact the official forces.

At the same time, Abel turned to Abel.

Abel consulted Lincoln, one of his four King Kongs, who was very good at this area.

He simply asked Lincoln to contact the gangsters involved.

The other party only promised to pay $5,000 in compensation, and was not responsible for anything else.

Ikana chose to settle the incident and accepted the other party's compensation and apology.

In fact, according to Abel's meaning, he wanted to chase and fight.

His soul was born in Huaxia, and what he hates most is black and medicine.

But Ikana politely refused. She believes that if that happens, YKM may not be able to gain a foothold in the Bay Area in the future.

Even on the West Coast, it could be affected.

Unless Able can wipe out all these elements and eradicate this gang directly.

But it's obviously difficult, not to mention just a trifle.

Abel saw her resolute attitude, and he also felt that it was just a trivial matter, so he stopped his thoughts.

Afterwards, Ikana began to clean up the aftermath in the Bay Area, while continuing to inspect the market, and has not left until now.

Paris Hilton stayed with her until Abel came.

"Have you had breakfast?" Paris Hilton asked Abel with concern.

"I've got the kitchen to prepare your amount of food for you."

Abel laughed.

In New York, the two of them had breakfast together many times, and many times later.

Paris Hilton already knows Abel's food preferences, as well as Abel's appetite.

"Yes. I'll eat it later. What are these for you? Oh, it looks like a blueprint for a costume. Got up so early to work?"

Paris Hilton replied, "I need to hurry." I'm going to finalize these blueprints. After the final draft, it will be sent to the foundry in Huaxia, and after the sample is produced, it will be decided whether to produce it or not."

"I remember YKM going the fast fashion route, right? If you do it like this, can you keep up with the rhythm of new products?" Abel asked curiously.

ZARA, the founder of the concept of fast fashion, pays attention to the fast way they produce products.

The clothing giant's strategy is not to lead the fashion trends, but to keep up with them.

To put it bluntly, it is plagiarism.

It draws inspiration from the streets, movies, and other fashion shows

(that is, copy directly) and update your own products.

In Spain, 200 ZARA buyers are in charge of the company's men's, women's and children's clothing lines.

&A's shipping center handles 2.6 million pieces of clothing per week, while each ZARA store is stocked twice a week.

It is said that a set of ZARA's new clothing, from the design to the store shelf, often only takes half a month.

Hearing Abel say this, Paris smiled softly, "That's true. But our speed is not the same as ZARA's. Ikana and I both felt that YKM couldn't exactly imitate A and had already brought their model to the end."

"YKM's route will be somewhat similar to ZARA, but we have to price it a little bit higher. This requires our clothing to have more of its own design and fashion elements."

Seeing that Abel wasn't listening very carefully, Paris also knew that YKM's business was just a small business for him to make Ikana happy.

Thinking of this, Paris was jealous of Ikana's good luck in her heart.

She said, "Simply put, we can't go the way of ZARA. If you walk in its way, you will only be blocked. So we go a little bit higher than it, and our new products won't come out so quickly."

Abel nodded, probably understanding what Paris meant.

Fast fashion, which lives by plagiarism, has basically been monopolized by ZARA and several other brands.

Other up-and-comers want to follow the exact same route as ZARA.

That will only be beaten to death by ZARA with first-mover advantage and cost and price wars.

In this case, you can study the philosophy and way of learning ZARA.

But it must not be exactly the same as it.

Like YKM, it takes a similar route to ZARA, but is a little more high-end.

Stagger the direct competition with it, and gain its own place in the fast fashion micro-luxury segment above fast fashion.

This is a good choice for YKM.

So far, it's doing a good job.

With the support of Abel's capital injection, YKM has been much better than last year.

This year, the number of branches has grown to more than 60.

It is already possible to start maintaining a positive cycle of development, and it is no longer necessary to survive on a large amount of external financing.

Of course, this way of opening a branch store and slowly developing it is based on its own profits.

This means that its scale and fame are no longer as big as before.

Ikana, who was previously known in the media as "someone else's child".

Gradually, under the cover of the brilliance of the new super traffic king "Smith", it became dim.

After talking to Paris again, Abel stopped bothering her with work.

He went to the restaurant to have a full meal, and after a full meal, he relaxed for a while, and soon left 349 Walsh Road.

He plans to return to New York on the 20th, and he won't be on the West Coast for long.

So the work here, of course, is better done earlier.

Two hours later.

He appeared in San Jose, California.

San Jose, also known as San Jose, is a city in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area and the 3rd largest city in California.

It is located in the Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley) south of San Francisco Bay, the capital of Santa Clara County, adjacent to the Kaiaut River, 65 kilometers northwest of San Francisco, and is the 10th largest city in the United States, known as the "Heart of Silicon Valley".

Because of his arrival, PayPal, an online payment service provider in San Jose, was a little excited.

PayPal founders Peter Thiel and Max Lovechen, both of whom were fidgeting in the office early on.

Another co-founder who joined PayPal only last year, bringing with him the business and technology of Company X., Elon Musk, looked at the two like this.

The pony, who is still young, said with a smile:

"Peter, Max,

Be calm, be calm. It's just one of our investors, one of our shareholders, who is coming."

"That's it?"

Peter Thiel, one of the founders of Finiy and the inventor of the name "PayPal", couldn't help but say:

"Elon, how can you be so calm? This is Abel Smith. If only he really liked us and was willing to support us strongly. Then our PayPal will have a smooth road ahead."

Another high-level Max Loven, also said a little excitedly:

"I think this will be a good opportunity for us to dominate the online payment and transfer system industry!"

"Abel Smith owns 33% of Google, as well as a number of Internet companies. It is said that he has even bought a stake in Microsoft."

"As long as we can get his strong support. Let him help us sell PayPal. Elon, we're going to be able to break out of the quagmire and become the giants of the industry."

These words of the two partners, in fact, Elon Musk also understands.

Since Abel became the majority shareholder of Google.

His influence in Silicon Valley has increased as Google has grown.

Now there are rumors in Silicon Valley that this is a Wall Street tycoon, a media mogul, and a banker's supertycoon.

His U.S. Pacific Commercial Bank is said to be seeking to buy Silicon Valley Bank, which was on the verge of bankruptcy in the Nasdaq bubble.

If Abel really buys Silicon Valley Bank.

Then this tycoon is really going to become one of the most influential people in Silicon Valley.

If only I could get the support of this character.

After the merger of finiy and X., PayPal is really hopeful of becoming bigger in the industry.

Elon Musk sighed, "Okay. Actually, I'm very excited."

"But." Pony Says:

"Who's to say Smith is going to support us? It is said that his investment in Silicon Valley has long been as much as more than a billion dollars. Maybe we're just one of his careless investments."

"You have to fight for it." Max Lovengen Says:

"Isn't it? If you fight for it, you may have it, but if you don't, you will have nothing."

Peter Thiel also said, "And that's what you're best at. Elon, it's up to you in a minute. We hope you can coax this gentleman into a happy and happy investment. In that case, you're the biggest contributor to PayPal."

Elon Musk had to say, "I'll try my best."

At this time, the company's administrative secretary walked in and notified the company's shareholder, Abel Smith, of the arrival.

The three co-founders quickly stood up and ran outside to greet them.

Abel also met Elon Musk, who was still very young but had begun to go bald.

This surprised Abel.

Elon Musk in Abel's memory, although he is also the image of a greasy middle-aged man.

But the hair is still quite thick.

Abel didn't know that it was after Elon Musk made a fortune.

In order to establish a personality and image for himself, and give investors and leeks a good impression, Elon Musk has been carrying out hair transplant operations for a long time.

If you look at Elon Musk's early photos, it will ruin the image.

Elon Musk, who is just 31 years old, is a semi-Mediterranean at this time, without a little bit of the temperament of "Silicon Valley Iron Man".

Abel's arrival was warmly welcomed by hundreds of employees of PayPal.

With a smile on his face, he walked around the company with the three co-founders.

Finally, with the three co-founders, I came to a small conference room.

When there were only three co-founders left in the conference room, Abel said directly, "I want to buy PayPal."

Abel's speech,

The three co-founders who originally just wanted to solicit sponsorship, or just wanted him to help promote PayPal payment, were stunned.

Max Ravchen swallowed and looked at his two companions.

Peter Thiel is similar, both of them are technocrats, and they are not good at this kind of thing.

The marketing and management of the company is generally in charge of Elon Musk.

Both of them looked at Elon Musk, and Pony looked at Abel, who was calm and calm, and had the temperament of a tycoon, and said stubbornly:

"Mr. Smith, what do you mean?"

"Literally." Abel said directly:

"I'm going to buy PayPal as a wholly owned company. The price is $300 million. Say yes, you'll be American billionaires in no time."

$300 million?

Hearing this price, the eyes of all three and the founder widened.

Before the Nasdaq bubble burst, PayPal was valued at $1 billion.

But after that, at the end of last year, it was the worst.

PayPal doesn't even have a $100 million valuation.

Half a year has passed, and the shadow of the bursting of the Internet bubble has gradually faded away.

The market's confidence in the Internet, although it has collapsed, is slowly being re-established.

PayPal's valuation has also stabilized a bit, with a current market value of about $200 million.

It was also at this time that Abel spent $20 million to get a 10% stake in PayPal.

Now he is paying $300 million to buy PayPal as a wholly owned company.

This price, in the current situation of PayPal, can be said to be a premium acquisition.

The three co-founders were a little moved at this time, including Elon Musk.

But at the same time, the pony is still a little unwilling.

You know, last year, PayPal was valued at a billion dollars.

All of a sudden, there are only 300 million left, who will be willing to replace it?

Elon Musk wanted more, and he opened his mouth to bargain.

It's just that the words haven't been said yet.

It's already blocked.

"I'm only going to give $300 million. If you refuse." Abel said with a blank face:

"Then I will choose to withdraw my shares. Give me back my money, and I'll give you back your stocks."

Elon Musk, who wants to bargain, shut up immediately.

PayPal has just raised $20 million on Abel's side.

With $20 million, PayPal can survive until the end of the year.

If Abel quits his shares at this time and loses $20 million.

PayPal is about to find itself in a tight situation.

At this time, if it is rumored in the market that investors are not optimistic about PayPal and start to withdraw their shares.

After that, it is estimated that it will be difficult to raise funds for PayPal.

All of a sudden, the situation will turn bad.

Looking at Abel's ambition, the three co-founders have realized.

The Wall Street giant in front of him is definitely prepared.

Elon Musk is even in his head, making up for Abel's approach to PayPal.

Abel first used his fame and influence to easily buy shares in PayPal when it needed it most.

When PayPal used part of these funds, it suddenly threatened PayPal with the withdrawal of shares.

Either it is acquired, or it is in a dangerous position.

At this special time of difficulty.

Abel did this, which put the three co-founders in a dilemma.

Elon Musk looked at Abel's handsome face, and the pony wanted to withdraw his shares at the moment.

The reality is that the pony doesn't dare to say it at all, because now PayPal can't come up with the money at all.

Some people say that PayPal is not engaged in online payment

Yes?

It should still have the client's money on its account.

That's Huaxia's branch x treasure and VX payment.

Most of the online fast payment companies in the United States are just a channel in the early stage.

It's just the passage between the bank and the merchant.

In the case that the scale has not been done, there is no way to bully customers.

A channel for the flow of funds, and there is a fart of customer capital accumulation.

Even in order to attract customers, this channel cannot be charged at all in the early stage, and some preferential policies must be given to attract customers.

At this time, the independent PayPal company is not like the later generation of Xbao and VX Pay, which have giants to rely on from the beginning.

It was the loneliest and most helpless time at this time, especially when Abel wanted to withdraw his capital maliciously.

The faces of the three co-founders are all ugly at this moment.

Abel's next words made the faces of the three of them even more ugly.

"You can choose to say no." Abel said:

"Then let's withdraw our shares. After the exit, I will try to buy companies, MoneyGram, etc. After that, PayPal is waiting to go out of business."

The three companies in Abel's mouth are the same online fast payment developers as PayPal.

These three companies, together with PayPal, account for half of the current online fast payment in the United States.

In fact, before being acquired by EBAY, PayPal was only one of the princes in the industry, not a hegemon.

AFTER BEING ACQUIRED BY EBAY, WITH THE SUPPORT OF EBAY.

PayPal has gradually become the absolute hegemon of global online payment.

IN A PARALLEL TIME AND SPACE, IF EBAY HAD ACQUIRED ANOTHER COMPANY AT THAT TIME.

PayPal could never have reached that status in later generations.

The three co-founders in front of me don't know that a year and a half later.

THE VALUATION OF PAYPAL COULD FLOAT TO $1.5 BILLION, AND THEN EBAY MADE A PURCHASE, ALLOWING THE THREE TO ACHIEVE FINANCIAL FREEDOM.

was targeted by Abel in advance of PayPal, and it was already destined that its route could not be the same as that of parallel time and space.

What Iron Man Elon Musk.

Musk, who has no way to be free of wealth, Abel wants to see how he creates a character.