Chapter 1402: Force the Emperor to Abdicate

Sergey Brin did not forget this meeting, but on the way to the conference room, he saw that the human resources department was recruiting. In the past, he would not get involved in this matter, but today he decided to participate on a whim.

In fact, it's not just a whim. Today I'm recruiting lawyers to strengthen the company's legal department.

This is actually a temporary measure, and the reason for doing this is also a last resort.

Of course, even if he encounters more and more legal problems as the IPO is officially proposed, this does not actually need to worry him, because Google has already hired a top American law firm as its legal counsel for this listing.

But unfortunately, they were reluctant to do this IPO at the beginning, perhaps because it threatened the established giants such as Microsoft and Yahoo in terms of business, and in terms of operation methods, they were completely opposed to the entire Wall Street, and could encounter They really didn't miss any of the problems that could arise.

The day before yesterday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission once again notified Google, the company's general counsel, that he may face securities fraud charges for his previous actions at another company.

Well, once again faced with such a sudden problem, they have become a little numb, and the direct response is today's recruitment.

Seeing Brin come in, the guy in charge of recruitment was a little surprised. Did I remember it wrong? This should have been something Page liked to do in the past, right?

But seeing Brin's posture, he still gave up his seat very knowingly.

Bryn Dama sat down calmly, glanced at the excited and nervous girl across from him, picked up her resume and glanced at it, "Barrymore, Harvard Law School,"

"Yes, nice to meet you, Mr. Breen," Barrymore, already a lawyer, quickly adjusted himself and stood up to shake hands with Breen.

"Barrymore, I hope to know your professionalism right away. You can draft a contract for me right now." He glanced at the buddy who had occupied his position, "Jack?"

"Yes," Jack nodded.

"Then Barrymore, you immediately draft a contract and give it to Jack so that we can evaluate your work ability,"

"Okay Mr. Breen, what's the content?" Barrymore immediately took out a pen and paper from his bag. He was very good at it. He could pick up everything at his fingertips. You just come here with ease.

However, she found that Jack behind Brin was slowly shaking his head and looking at her with a look of pity. What was he doing? You were in the drama club in college, right?

When he thought that he would be able to meet the legendary Brin during the interview and impress him with his excellent professional standards, Barrymore was too happy to speculate on the meaning of Jack's actions. .

"It's very simple. You help me draft a contract. The content," Brin paused for only a second, "is to sell my soul to the devil. Within 30 minutes, send this contract to Jack's mailbox."

"What?" Miss Barrymore, who was eager to give it a try, with a determined look on her face, saying that it was nothing, was stunned for a moment, and with a "click", the pen in her hand fell to the ground.

I must have been hearing hallucinations, or in other words, I met a fake Mr. Breen.

"Sell my soul to the devil," Brin repeated as he stood up and went out. "Jack, forward her results to me in 30 minutes."

"Okay Brynn,"

Jack picked up the pen from the ground gracefully and said, "Hi, Barrymore."

Barrymore shook his head vigorously, "This must be an absurd show,"

"I think you'd better hurry up and draft it," Jack reminded her, "You only have less than thirty minutes now,"

"Really?"

"Of course," Jack said, "if you ask a Harvard alumnus of our company, you will know that it is really not a good thing to meet those two during the interview,"

Barrymore was holding paper and pen, windless and messy. Maybe, I should go to Iraq? Go there to find the so-called weapons of mass destruction? It seemed like that would be easier.

If she knew something, she might be even more devastated. Brin, who was rushing towards the conference room, had forgotten what happened just now. He sincerely felt that it was really a troubled time now.

He sincerely hopes that no new problems will arise in today's meeting.

…………

Over there, Schmidt naturally noticed the time. He hurriedly squeezed over, said sorry to David, and asked Feng Yiping in a low voice with some expectation, "Has Merrill changed his mind?"

"I've made my point very clear, but Myers said that the senior management of their company has a firm opinion,"

"That's right," Schmidt said without changing his expression, still nodding happily, "David, you continue."

At this time, Brin finally arrived in a hurry, and Schmidt immediately stood in front and said, "Everyone, please take a seat."

"Thank you very much for your hard work in the past few months. As this may be the largest IPO in history, we know that your work is not easy,"

"Frankly speaking, the problems faced by this IPO of unprecedented scale are also unprecedented. Everyone is aware of the specific problems. Of course, I think everyone is also aware that all these will eventually pass and we will definitely succeed. goal achieved,"

"As you all know, because of our insistence on some key terms, our underwriter team has undergone many changes since April, with some increases and some decreases,"

"With the deepening of IPO preparations, we will enter the sprint stage. For the smooth progress of future work, we would like to ask everyone here about the most important partners outside the door,"

Schmidt's use of such words to describe these underwriters is actually not an exaggeration.

Unlike other hired institutions, underwriters are the main group responsible for the IPO, and they are involved in every aspect of the process.

From formally submitting a listing application to the competent authority, to assisting in the relevant legal procedures, promoting stocks to investors around the world, delivering stocks to subscribers and settling payments...

After the IPO is successful, we need to do a good job in publicity, promote the circulation of the stock in the market, and prepare other new financing methods and other follow-up services...

It can be said that what they have to do and worry about is even more than the few of them who feel a little anxious right now.

"So we would like to solemnly ask you, now, do you have any opinions on the next work?"

Schmidt spoke very kindly, but Page, who had his arms crossed, looked less kind.

When he was in Lake Tahoe, he understood the issues that Feng Yiping was worried about, such as possible resistance from Wall Street. However, he really didn't think it would be that serious in the future. Now, he deeply felt the strong malice of Wall Street.

He swore that if there was another way to go according to the law, he would never go to these guys.

After listening to Schmidt’s words, the 38 underwriters started talking about it. Finally, they focused on Andrew from Morgan Stanley and David from Credit Suisse First Boston. The two of them were the lead underwriters this time.

Andrew and David were still whispering, but Feng Yiping felt that they must be showing off to attend such a meeting. How could they not communicate with each other beforehand?

Seeing the two of them, the other underwriters started whispering again. Schmidt, who was still standing in front, felt a little embarrassed. "Hello," he cleared his throat and was about to speak. Morgan Stanley's Andrew smiled and said, "Schmidt, we have no other problems at the moment, except for one,"

That's not a problem? Schmidt nodded, "At this time, we just hope that our partners can communicate with us openly and honestly. So, Andrew, which one is it?"

Andrew looked at the circle of underwriters around him, "We generally feel that as underwriters, we have to ensure the purchase of newly issued stocks that have not been subscribed by investors. This puts a lot of pressure on us,"

Even though Schmidt was prepared, he didn't expect that he would ask this question.

Page's face suddenly turned red. Feng Yiping estimated that his blood pressure must have soared to over 200. "Andrew, isn't it customary for underwriters to subscribe for stocks that have not been sold?"

Andrew would be very comfortable, "Yes, that is a common practice, but Page, our IPO is not only extraordinary in scale, but also extraordinary in method and other related aspects,"

This was a very powerful soft nail that left Page speechless for a moment.

Yes, both the IPO method and the cost are indeed extraordinary.

"Our entire underwriter group is very aware of what kind of company Google is at this time, and we are very optimistic about Google's future development," David from Credit Suisse First Boston added, "However, some of the recent exposures The problem makes the market not very optimistic about the prospects of this IPO,"

Basically, what he said was true.

Although he had expected to face some challenges in advance, even Feng Yiping, who was the most prepared, did not expect that the challenges he faced would be so difficult.

However, what he said is a bit exaggerated. It should be said that there are currently people who are not optimistic about Google, but there are also many people who are optimistic about it.

Of course, at times like this, it is also the right thing to focus on the problem.

"We admit that there were some problems in our past work, but which startup company has not made mistakes? Is it Microsoft or Yahoo?" Page immediately countered.

"From our inception to now, we have also developed an unknown ability. Before making every decision, we already have a plan for how to make up for mistakes, so I can tell you with certainty that by the end of this month, All problems will be solved," he couldn't help but stand up.

It should be said that he was indeed quite restrained today.

Andrew was about to say something, but was stopped by David, "Of course, we believe in Google's ability to deal with the problem, but Page, the current general trend is not optimistic, or it can be said that the Internet sector is currently continuing to weaken,"

"We all know that Yahoo's stock price has recently fallen by more than 15%, and the stock prices of Amazon and eBay have also fallen to varying degrees. As a result, the entire Nasdaq sector has fallen by nearly 5 percentage points."

"When listing under such circumstances, we generally believe that the subscription situation will not be too optimistic. If we have to underwrite the remaining shares, we will be under too much pressure."

An underwriter backed up David's words, "We have done the calculations. If the price of the next IPO can be above $100, then our income from this business will be less than $500,000, which is not enough for underwriting."

"Yes," a large number of underwriters followed suit and complained.

The two people from Sand Hill Road couldn't stand it at this time. They actually regretted that they had been so active in promoting Google's IPO before.

If the brewing time could be more sufficient, the effect might be better, and their withdrawal should bring greater returns.

However, the arrow is already on the string, so there is no need to consider other possibilities. There is only one way, move forward, keep moving forward, and do everything possible to make Google's IPO a success.

"So, what are your conditions?" asked Michael Moritz of Sequoia.

"There are two main points, increase the issuance fee and reduce the proportion of stocks we need to underwrite," Andrew threw out the conditions that he had prepared long ago.

He said it easily, just two points, but even the good-tempered Feng Yiping couldn't help but slam the table. If these two points were adjusted according to their requirements, their income would be higher, the risk would be lower, and it would be more cost-effective than the "normal" IPO.

"What if such conditions cannot be met?" John Doerr of KPCB asked.

"Then I think more underwriters will have to carefully consider whether to continue this work."

They are forcing the palace! Feng Yiping and others immediately saw the intentions of these people.