Chapter 1904 Is the Software More Expensive than the System?

Bill Gates is actually a very interesting person in life.

If you look at the fact that he keeps sharks in his home, you will know that he is still very unusual.

In addition, Bill Gates' home is always the place where various new technologies are applied the fastest.

Basically, fingerprint unlocking, face scanning function, infrared protection...etc., these can all be seen in his home.

This is also the sensitivity to trends that the world's richest man, who is at the forefront of technology, must have.

If you don’t pay attention to new technologies yourself, how can you ensure that your investment in these technology companies is correct?

It's just that it's still 1985, 9 years before he gets married, and his home is not decorated luxuriously because of this.

By the way, Yin Jun and Bill Gates have something in common.

Bill Gates has a confidante who has been with him for decades and has always been known to his wife, which is equivalent to having two wives.

Yin Jun only has more women than Bill Gates. Thinking of this, Yin Jun feels that Bill Gates and he are of the same mind.

In order to welcome guests from afar, Bill Gates and his girlfriend Catherine hosted Yin Jun and his party at home.

Yin Jun didn't know whether this Catherine would be Bill Gates' confidante in the future, but looking at the romantic life of Bill Gates' good friend Paul Allen, it was obvious that he was not as honest a man as he appeared.

Paul Allen was undergoing serious treatment at this time.

This guy actually has a good life. After this treatment, he can live until 2018 before meeting God. He also lives a life of luxury and luxury. He can be regarded as an absolute winner in life.

Yin Jun did not bring a female companion on this trip, so assistant Ye Linqinwa took the place of the female companion, and worked with Yin Jun opposite Bill Gates and Catherine.

Colauti sat on the side sadly.

one person.

But people who work in finance have always been eloquent and thick-skinned. Some interesting insights and jokes made Colauti win a lot of praise and laughter.

Americans' breakfast is very simple. It's either coffee, omelette and sandwich, or cereal with milk.

Americans' lunches are also very simple. Coffee and a sandwich are basically enough.

But their dinners are usually very rich. If they eat out, they can last two or three hours.

Bill Gates hired a good chef at his house, and the Western food he cooked was very authentic.

Well, the Western food here refers to French food or Italian food.

American dish……

Is there any American food in the world?

After eating until about ten o'clock, the servants cleared the dining table, Catherine took Yelinqinwa to another room to chat, and Yin Jun walked into the study with Bill Gates and Colauti.

Colauti didn't care too much about being able to participate in the negotiations between Yin Jun and Bill Gates.

But if he knew that he was participating in a negotiation between two of the world's richest men from different time and space, he would definitely be very excited.

Bill Gates himself didn't pay much attention.

What he wanted to talk about more was matters related to company operations.

"Jun, Microsoft wants to buy the copyright of Office." After the servant brought the coffee, closed the door and left, Bill Gates bluntly stated his biggest wish at the moment.

"Is the sales of office very good?" Yin Jun said with a smile.

Bill Gates also ignored Yin Jun's change of topic. He nodded, "500,000 copies were sold in January, 700,000 copies in February, and 800,000 copies were sold in March. At this rate, not only all computers with Microsoft installed Computers with Windows systems will use office software, and even computers with other operating systems will also use it.

At present, the copyright of this software is not in the hands of Microsoft. We are just a sales agent, so we have no initiative! Only by making it completely belong to Microsoft, so that it can be bundled with Microsoft's Windows system, can we better promote the Windows system! Can the Windows system defeat other operating systems and become people's only choice? Office software is very important! "

"If everyone uses the Windows system, wouldn't it mean that Microsoft has formed a monopoly?" Colauti asked, "The monopoly needs to be broken up, which is not good for investment."

As the person brought here by Yin Jun, he is equivalent to a staff member, so he can naturally participate in this negotiation.

Microsoft could have sent out a few more people to negotiate, but Bill Gates has always been very strong, so he just negotiated it himself.

"Apple has its own operating system, and the Linus system is also used in many places. Even if our Microsoft Windows system occupies more market share in the future, it will not reach the standard of monopoly." Bill Gates is full of confidence The way.

Yin Jun believed this.

In the future, when Microsoft was almost judged to be a monopoly, it was because of their Windows system, not Office.

"Now that Microsoft wants to buy all the copyrights of Office, it must be very optimistic about this work software, so what can I get?" Yin Jun did not let Colauti speak anymore. Bill Gates and Yin Jun are equal. If Colauti is allowed to Lawty talking to Bill Gates is disrespectful to him.

“There are two options to choose from,” Bill Gates said. “The first one is that we use cash to buy it out. I plan to use 50 million US dollars per year, with a total payment time of 6 years, to completely buy out this software. "

Relying on the super sales of the Windows system, Microsoft has a lot of cash flow, and there is no problem at all in paying the US$50 million in the first year.

Next year, Microsoft will already be on the market, so why worry about not having money?

A total of 300 million US dollars was spent to purchase Office, which is definitely sincerity - if Yin Jun didn't know Office's role in Microsoft and its dominance of office systems around the world!

It is no exaggeration to say that although Microsoft's Windows system occupies more than 80% of the computer operating system share, it cannot compare with Office's market share.

Office’s market share is almost 100%!

Moreover, office is different from IE. The IE browser is embedded in Microsoft's Windows system, but Office has to be purchased separately. The price is very high, and sometimes it is even more expensive than the price of the Windows system! !

During the first Internet bubble around 2000, Microsoft's market value exceeded 600 billion U.S. dollars. Office's contribution is definitely not small!

Bill Gates obviously now sees the huge potential of Office, so he does not hesitate to use this huge amount of cash to acquire Office.

No piece of software has ever had such a high value!

Colauti was a little stunned when he heard this, and felt that Bill Gates was a bit too exaggerated.

Yin Jun nodded, "What's the next plan?"

"The second option is shares." Bill Gates said, "According to our appraiser's calculations, the value of the office is around 300 million US dollars. Then based on the share dilution before we go public, etc., and after the listing. For the expected increase, 8% of the shares is normal! But because you are Microsoft’s largest shareholder, you must also provide 4% of the shares.”

Sounds a little funny.

First of all, Yin Jun is the largest shareholder of Microsoft, but he has no involvement in this management right. After Bill Gates decides, he can just notify Yin Jun.

Then Yin Jun sold the software to Microsoft, but actually had to pay for it himself.

But in fact, these two points are not a problem at all.

Originally, the shares in Yin Jun's hands were shares with low voting rights. The combined shares of Bill Gates and Paul Allen had more voting rights than him, so as the president, Bill Gates basically had the final say.

The second point is also easy to understand. Since the entire Microsoft shares are used to pay for the office, how could Yin Jun, as the largest shareholder, not pay?

Even if you are changing from left hand to right hand, this process must be followed.

Yin Jun thought for a while and said: "8% of the shares is too small, I think 10% is enough."

"Without Microsoft's Windows system, Office's booming sales would have been impossible." Bill Gates shook his head and said, "8% is already the best price. Otherwise, Microsoft would not allow Office to be launched. No matter how good the software is, What's the use? I'm giving you preferential treatment because you are the largest shareholder!"

"Since we all have our own opinions, let's make a bet." Yin Jun said, "If the total sales of Office do not exceed 20 million copies by the end of 1986, I will return 2% of the shares to the three of us. If it reaches 20 million copies, then I can win the bet."

"The 20 million copies include the basic version, right?" Bill Gates immediately said, "If all sold are the basic version, then we will suffer a big loss!"

Many Chinese people don’t know that Office has always been sold in several versions. Anyway, we all use pirated versions and don’t care about them.

Take the personal basic version of Office currently on sale. The price is generally US$99, but when it comes to the standard version, it will be upgraded to US$399, and the professional version will reach US$599!

Don't doubt it, it's just that expensive.

Office is more expensive than Windows systems, that's why.

But this standard version and professional version must be used by very professional people, or purchased and used by companies, because they need more functions.

The number of sales of this kind will definitely not be too large, but considering that there are so many companies in Europe and the United States, there are hundreds of thousands of them. In fact, the market for this professional version and standard version is also quite large.

For ordinary people to use it for typing, simple drawing and charting, the $99 personal basic version is enough, and this will also be the main sales force.

Bill Gates' concerns are justified.

If Yin Jun only guarantees to sell a certain number of units, and if most of the sales are for 99 US dollars, then Microsoft will only earn about 1 billion US dollars, and the 2% more shares they give will not be worth it.

Because of the sales of the office, there are also various software costs, including sales costs and after-sales costs, etc., all of which have to be calculated.

Microsoft's shares will be very valuable in the future, Bill Gates is convinced of this.

Therefore, he must protect his own interests and cannot give too many shares to the office.

Even if the difference is only 2%, he will try his best to win.