Chapter 2698: Just What He Wanted

Not 1 billion, not 2 billion, but 3 billion. This is not to say that Masayoshi Son does not care about money, but that he and Feng Yiping have the same idea.

He hopes that he can take the lead in raising the acquisition price to more than 50 billion US dollars, so that the opponent will give up and simply lock in the victory.

SoftBank's move quickly aroused strong reactions from all walks of life. No one could have imagined that in 2008, there would be such a grand acquisition war.

Not to mention that among the three parties involved, Yahoo, Microsoft and NEXTDOOR are all well-known high-tech companies in the United States.

In such a bad financial environment, such a large-scale acquisition also gave some people confidence. At least, we are not bad in all aspects.

Ballmer least expected that SoftBank would be so generous at the last moment. The moment he learned the news, he knew that this acquisition, which he had high hopes for and invested a lot of effort in, had come to an end.

Although he was mentally prepared for this after talking with Gates and Feng Yiping, the moment he saw SoftBank's offer, disappointment still came like a tide.

But at this time, he needed to deal with many other things.

First, he had to inform the M&A team of his decision, and then he had to appease the company's employees...

This was a heavy day.

But he didn't know that he had to deal with other things at this time.

The secretary looked at Ballmer in an office that was the same size as an ordinary employee and only as wide as a desk. His back was not as straight as before. He supported his forehead with both hands and sat with his back to the door. He really couldn't bear to disturb him, but Ballmer couldn't help but know about this.

She knocked on the door twice gently, "Steve, Mr. Allen called. He said, if you have time today..."

Ballmer quickly raised his head, "Put me through to him now,"

This Allen, of course, is Paul Allen, another founder and major shareholder of Microsoft.

"Steve," Paul Allen's mood also sounded low, "I want to say that we did a great job this time, but now, maybe it's time to give up, what do you think?"

"Thank you for your advice Paul, this is what I was about to tell you, we are ready to give up,"

"This is a wise decision Steve, we will definitely have more and better options," Paul Allen comforted.

After him, shareholders called one after another, and the content was similar. They could not continue to raise the price with such an irrational opponent as SoftBank. The $48 billion should be the final bid, and no more steel coins should be added.

At the end of the call, they would add a sentence without exception, "Steve, no matter what, it's time to give up now,"

Ballmer almost mechanically dealt with these calls. He was not Gates, and he still had to respect these people.

At the same time, relevant media and well-known technology blogs were also constantly calling his office, hoping to know their next arrangements.

At this time, Ballmer certainly would not pay attention to them. He was drafting a letter to employees.

Maybe they were too busy, so when Tokyo went from night to day and then to night again, they never responded to SoftBank's latest offer.

For SoftBank and Masayoshi Son, these were undoubtedly very difficult hours.

During this period, he could not work at ease.

Frankly speaking, if Microsoft raised the price again on the basis of $51 billion, even if it was $100 million, he didn't know what to do next.

Like the company's executives, the Middle Eastern financiers did not fully support his generous price increase. Like Microsoft's shareholders, they also felt that this should be the final offer anyway.

Masayoshi Son did not go home that night, he stayed in the company.

He hoped that after a working day, Microsoft and NEXTDOOR would make a clear response.

However, after the early morning, when the time for them to respond was getting closer and closer, he couldn't help getting irritated again.

If they continue to raise the price, what should I do?

Should they just let Feng Yiping take over Yahoo Japan legitimately from then on?

This was something he could never accept.

But should I continue bidding at all costs? Investors should not support it anymore.

Just after 2 a.m., which was shortly after 10 a.m. in the Pacific, a knock on the door startled Masayoshi Son. He looked away from the window and glanced at his watch, "Come in,"

This time, he looked at the door very attentively. When he saw the assistant's face, his heart, which had been hanging high, finally fell heavily.

"President," the female assistant smiled, "It's Mr. Robert's call,"

Robert was the person in charge of Softbank's acquisition of Yahoo.

"Thank you, come in," Masayoshi Son saw the answer from her face. Sure enough, Robert told him very happily, "Sun, we received a notice from Yahoo that Microsoft and NEXTDOOR have officially given up the acquisition. Yahoo will soon be our Yahoo!"

Although he had guessed the result, Masayoshi Son couldn't help but stand up excitedly, "Robert, you did a great job, thank you,"

"Sun, this is mainly because of your smart decision-making," Robert, who was directly responsible for this acquisition, was the happiest person at this time.

In such mergers and acquisitions worth more than 50 billion US dollars, it is difficult for most people to even have the opportunity to participate, let alone take the lead.

"I heard Ballmer sent a letter to their team and employees, I will send it to you as soon as possible,"

"Okay Robert," at this moment, Son was hoping to use Ballmer's resignation to reflect his victory.

But what he wanted to know most at this time was actually Feng Yiping's reaction.

Feng Yiping, who has always had smooth sailing and has never failed in mergers and acquisitions, what are you thinking about at this time?

What's the expression on your face at this time?

This is a pity, because it is impossible for his subordinates to find out this information, but in fact, this is really a blessing for him, because at this time, Feng Yiping is not dejected, but more... He still wants to be happy.

Seeing him walking into the office with a smile, the M&A team, which was originally a little depressed, couldn't react for a while. How could it be such a reaction?

But soon, they remembered some unconfirmed rumors. Could it be that those rumors were true?

"Everyone," Feng Yiping said with a smile, "I hope you don't blame yourself for the failure of this acquisition, and you don't have to be unhappy for this unsuccessful acquisition."

"In fact, Gates and I both feel that giving up the acquisition under such circumstances will definitely be a wise decision,"

"When we look back one year from now, or at most two years from now, all of us will definitely be grateful for today's decision!"

If it were another team, under such circumstances, they would probably be a little suspicious when they hear their boss say something like this, because it is too much like making excuses for failure, saying sour grapes because they can't eat them.

But no one thought so at this time, because it was Feng Yiping who said this.

A few secretly exchanged knowing glances. Sure enough, the rumors seemed to be true. In this acquisition, what the boss needed to ensure was not his own success, but the success of SoftBank.

That being said, it would certainly be wise to decide to give up today.

They couldn't help but feel sorry for the guys at SoftBank. I think those guys must be overjoyed at this time, but you may not know that this is exactly what our boss wants.

Do you think what you have harvested is a heavy fruit? Now it seems that it will probably be a powerful bomb.

Even if Yahoo doesn't explode into pieces in the future, it will never have the big development you imagine.

Feng Yiping was really happy at this time. To be honest, he didn't know how to deal with SoftBank because the Japanese market was too closed.

But I didn't expect that there would be such an excellent opportunity this year, and whether it was Chief Yang, Microsoft, and especially SoftBank's Masayoshi Son, they would be so cooperative.

He really feels that, based on the current results, the Best Director award at next year's Oscars, no, the Best Director award at all film awards in the world next year should be awarded to him, Feng Yiping.

I would like to ask, which director can direct a drama with an investment of up to 51 billion US dollars?

Which director can hire big-name actors like Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Chief Yang, Son Masayoshi...?

Yahoo, Yahoo still failed to invest in Alibaba, 51 billion US dollars, haha!

At this moment, he really wanted to ask Sun Zhengyi, do you also like to listen to "Courage" by the Malaysian female singer who came to our country to develop?

He is very sure that from now on, he will no longer have to worry about SoftBank, because SoftBank will only continue to be soft in the future...