"In the deal of the century, Time Warner acquired 90% of Newman's Quora shares for $74 billion.

In the breaking news of Silicon Valley, Time Warner Chairman Gerard Levine and Quora founder Newman Zhou held a press conference in Palo Alto, California, at which they signed an agreement for Time Warner to acquire a 90% stake in Quora for $74 billion.

Upon completion of the transaction, Quora will be merged into Time Warner in its entirety.

Gerard Levine said the deal would make Time Warner a media empire that spans the old and new eras.

He said: Time Warner is the world's largest media conglomerate, and the best media conglomerate in the whole of Ameriken and the world, and Quora is the best Internet content provider in the world. Time Warner has the best quality channels, Quora has the best quality content, and the combination of the two will create an empire.

Newman said he's excited to see the deal happen, and he's confident Time Warner will take Quora from one peak to the next.

At the same time, Newman said: I have brought everything I can to Quora, my inspiration, my creativity, all my passion to Quora. When I realized that I didn't have a better idea when it came to the quiz community, I knew it was time for me to hand it over to a better team. Yes, Time Warner is the better team, and they have more experience than I can lead Quora's future growth.

After the deal is completed, Newman will leapfrog Warren Buffett to become the world's second-richest man, Time Warner will suspend trading for one day from tomorrow, and the Nasdaq committee will consider the acquisition. ”

Almost everyone who saw the deal had only one thought in their minds, and that was that Time Warner was crazy.

Other Internet giants or traditional media giants in Silicon Valley are willing to value Quora at between $25 billion and $40 billion, which is a relatively recognized valuation.

Time Warner's surprise attack is equivalent to a direct premium of 100%, valuing Quora at more than $80 billion, while Zhou Xin can get about $74 billion.

How much Time Warner's valuation will soar after the deal is announced is a question that has been raised in almost every corner of the media, both old and new.

And what is the power of the Internet to make Time Warner so crazy.

In fact, the logic behind it is very simple, due to the arrival of Zhou Xin, the Nasdaq bubble is blowing faster than the original.

To sustain the bubble or even make it bigger, there needs to be landmark events to stimulate all investors and make them realize that their stocks are valuable.

AOL, which was far less famous than Time Warner, acquired Time Warner for $147 billion, which was the landmark event of this snake swallowing elephants.

For an investment bank like Goldman Sachs, he needs to have a landmark event to attract everyone's attention and continue to blow up the whole bubble.

He can gradually clear out some of the companies that are blown too high in his hands during the bubble process.

What's more important is that Quora itself has good cash flow, high-quality users, and its own unique business model that other companies can't replicate.

As a result, Quora is the most high-quality Internet company in Silicon Valley, and even from the perspective of traditional investment, Quora will be considered to have investment value.

Therefore, even after the bubble bursts, Quora will definitely be the first to recover.

Under the accumulation of various factors, Goldman Sachs led the snake swallowing elephant that can be called lightning speed this time.

This is also Zhou Xin's reluctance to accept the equity exchange, as long as cash, if Zhou Xin accepts the equity exchange, the price of Goldman Sachs can be higher.

The other 74 billion is not a one-time arrival, Time Warner now has 2.4 billion liquidity on the books, they will give 2 billion first, and the remaining 72 billion will be given one after the fundraising is completed.

In other words, the entire transaction will not be fully completed until the end of 1999.

If there is no Quora, AOL acquires Time Warner, including CNN, HBO, Warner, Time Warner Online and other media, and it is also capital behind all this.

Time Warner later bought AOL for $164 billion, spun off AOL in 2009, and then sold it to Verizon for $4.4 billion in 2015.

It's crazy times, and this deal is the madness of the times.

After the news was transmitted back to China, the official media of China first questioned it and then believed it.

In a sense, the whole thing is beyond the imagination of Huaguo, a Chinese man has risen from a poor student to the second richest person in the world in one year by his own efforts.

At that time, China had not yet joined the WTO, and the total annual trade and export volume was 206.8 billion US dollars, and the balance of foreign exchange reserves at that time was 202.67 billion US dollars, 74 billion US dollars, which was one-third of these two figures.

"I am from China, this will not change, you can rest assured, I will return to China at the end of this year.

Recently, because I suddenly have so much cash, I may have higher requirements for my personal safety. The valuation of cash and corporate equity is still not the same.

This needs to be troubled by the state, and the state has given me some advice on which security company can provide better security means. ”

The first thing Zhou Xin did after reaching the agreement was to go to Huaguo's consulate in San Francisco for help.

To be honest, let him go to the security company himself, and he can't judge which security company in Ameriken was reliable in 1999.

It's better to let Huaguo recommend it.

As for the second generation of Huaguo who may be jealous of this money, they will not have the opportunity to touch it at all.

Zhou Xin has never changed his nationality, but he just got a green card, which made the Chinese side very satisfied.

And nowadays, many people who take national scholarships and go abroad are the first thing they do after they go abroad to think about defaulting and then staying abroad.

Zhou Xin took Berkeley's scholarship to go abroad, and Ameriken persuaded him to emigrate, but he did not move.

The contrast between them, including Zhou Xin's commitment at the San Francisco consulate, made the Chinese side very satisfied with his statement.

At least at this time, domestic public opinion, the so-called genius we have, why let the genius be lost, and when Zhou Xin returns to China, public opinion will be reversed.

For Zhou Xin's request, Huaguo naturally agreed quickly.

Zhou Xin is Huaguo's best business card in Silicon Valley and Ameriken, as well as the best sample of Huaguo's internal propaganda of national pride:

The Chinese people are no worse than the people of any other country, and we are only backward in the process of modernization due to various historical problems, which is caused by the times, not that the Chinese people are not good.

After the news reached China, Mr. Wu slapped himself twice and then called his colleagues in San Francisco to confirm the incident.

"It's true, it's been spread all over Silicon Valley, from the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal, to Red Herring Magazine, and all the traditional media are talking about the deal of the century between Time Warner and Quora.

Yes, this deal is called the deal of the century by their media. ”

Halfway through 1999 and about to reach the 21st century, this deal is not only because of the huge amount of money, but also because of the ingenuity of the timing, which is considered by more and more media and people to be the deal of the century.

"That's right, Time Warner is crazy, and Time Warner's stock price is crazy, after announcing the acquisition of Quora, it has skyrocketed by 70% today.

And it looks like Time Warner's valuation will rise. ”

Hu Zhengming was in contact with the association, and the three big bulls he originally contacted still had doubts, and this doubt was not about Hu Zhengming and Zhou Xin, but about whether it was necessary for them to establish an association as science and engineering scientists.

After the transaction of the century, such doubts disappeared without a trace, and with Zhou Xin's backing, it was still necessary to establish an association.

At the same time, Hu Zhengming also explained to them that because Zhou Xin has been busy negotiating with Goldman Sachs recently, responding to audits, and accepting inquiries from the NASDAQ, he has no time at all.

It is necessary to wait until the contract is signed and the deal is over, and Yau Chengtong and others all expressed their understanding.

The first thing Zhou Xin did was to ask the Chinese consulate for security personnel, which was an external force.

And the first thing he can do is to take care of his lower body, there are too many cases in Ameriken that are similar to having a relationship and then getting pregnant, and forcing living expenses.

This kind of case is common in the NBA, but it doesn't mean that there are no other fields.

With such a high net worth, still so young, and not married, it is simply the most perfect prey. Not to mention marrying Zhou Xin, even if it is stained, it is a long-term meal ticket.

If you are pregnant, ask for child support, and if you are not pregnant, you will frame the other party as ** and force the other party to pay the settlement fee in court.

Zhou Xin has seen similar Chinese people tortured by this method in Silicon Valley before, you must know that the Chinese are also starting a small business.

After the transaction was completed, after Zhou Xineng finished doing it, he had a sense of emptiness, and the money came too easily.

He knew that around the turn of the millennium, the Nasdaq bubble was at its worst, but only those who witnessed it knew how exaggerated it really was.

Any Internet company can be listed, and the listing is a valuation of hundreds of millions, billions, or even tens of billions.

Enterprises with annual revenue of less than 100 million, this is revenue not profit, and the market value can exceed 10 billion.

China.com, which was founded in May and listed on the NASDAQ in September, took only four months and raised nearly $200 million.

There are countless similar things, but when it happens to Zhou Xin himself, he has a magical feeling.

74 billion, even if you have to pay taxes, the tax payment is more than 40 billion US dollars, which is directly double Zhou Xin's expectations.

He originally thought that it would be good to have 20 billion, but with 20 billion, and then there was about 15 billion left after tax deduction, which was Zhou Xin's expectation.

Zhou Xin now wants to withdraw from the listing of Riot Games, and it doesn't matter anymore.

However, the importance of Riot Games in his mind is limited, and if it is listed, it will be listed, and maybe there will be a big boss who is willing to take over.

After getting far more money than expected, Zhou Xin knew that he was going to overturn all the original plan.

A lot of things can be done in advance.

At the same time, the 10% NewPay shares sold to Goldman Sachs and Morgan were sold at the same time, and Zhou Xin bought back the 10% shares without startling the snake.

I will send a chapter first, not necessarily in the evening, I will go to the field in the evening, I can only say that I will try to add another chapter.

The diligent crow has changed at least 6,000 words every day since it was put on the shelves!

(End of chapter)