Chapter 245 The Internet Myth Begins and Earning $2 Million Overnight
"Our home?" Tang Xinyi asked curiously.
"Idiot, this is a four-bedroom flat that I bought in the name of your eldest brother and sister-in-law half a month ago. The original owner of this flat was a Singaporean couple because they were transferred to work at the US headquarters. ”
"Honey, why did you buy such a big four-room HDB flat?"
"Firstly, it can be invested, and secondly, an optician from mainland China I hired will come to report in a few days. I can give him a room here as a dormitory. The other rooms are also good as temporary warehouses, and I can leave here The street shop I plan to rent is also very close.”
"Haha, you are really thoughtful and thoughtful..."
…
Three days later, Xiao Tianming came to Singapore and moved into Li Xiaofan's four-room HDB flat.
Li Xiaofan had already registered him for a full-time optician training course in advance, and the training started the next day and lasted for one month.
Soon, the hot August arrives.
On August 9, 1995, the Netscape browser, which was less than 16 months old, was successfully listed on the Nasdaq in the United States. The initial issuance price of the stock was $14.
Due to the extremely hot market demand at that time, Netscape's stock trading system unexpectedly encountered a problem. For nearly two hours that morning, trading could not start. When Netscape's stock finally opened, it jumped directly to $28.5 per share, which was twice as high as the issue price.
It soared to US$75 on the day after the market opened. Within two hours, 5 million shares were snapped up by crazy investors, and the closing price actually reached a sky-high US dollar price!
That night, the entire Wall Street was shocked!
On that day, 24-year-old Netscape founder Marc Andreessen became the hottest figure in Silicon Valley and Wall Street overnight.
"The world has never been the same since Netscape went public!" New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote the day after Netscape went public.
At that time, Microsoft was the company with the highest market value in the world, Netscape was compared to "Microsoft in the Internet field", and Andreessen himself was called "the next Bill Gates". Whether it's wealth creation or media attention, Netscape has it all. The Wall Street Journal wrote in a review: "It took General Dynamics 43 years to reach a market value of US$2.7 billion, while Netscape only took 1 minute!"
At that time, a commentator in an economic special journal jokingly wrote: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should require Netscape to pay for a reprint of Charles Mackay's classic book "The Great Scam and the Madness of the Crowd" in its prospectus...
Li Xiaofan didn't sleep that night and watched the entire text live broadcast of Netscape's listing on the securities website.
The successful listing of Netscape on August 9 announced the beginning of a new global Internet economy.
Netscape's listing was the beginning of the Nasdaq Internet technology wealth myth.
Subsequently, listing on the NASDAQ in the United States became the ultimate goal of almost all Internet .COM companies at that time. Countless companies around the world dreamed of one day landing on the NASDAQ.
After Netscape's first day of trading, its market value reached an astonishing $2.1 billion. Netscape founder Jim Clark's shares were worth US$100 million on the day of the IPO; another founder, Marc Andreessen, was also worth US$58 million. He was only 24 years old at the time and had just graduated from college; many others received their shares. Netscape's early employees were worth millions of dollars with their original shares.
The listing of Netscape was not the first time that Nasdaq staged a wealth legend. Microsoft's Bill Gates had already become wealth idols in people's hearts. But at that time, Netscape's Internet story had a profound impact on Wall Street and global investment. It is completely new to the reader:
First, its growth rate is astonishing. It only took 16 months from establishment to listing, while Microsoft took a full 11 years. So even the Wall Street Journal lamented: It took General Dynamics 43 years to become a company with a market value of US$2.7 billion, while Netscape only took about one minute...
Second, the most critical thing is that Netscape had not yet achieved profitability, with a cumulative loss of US$12.78 million since its establishment. According to past successful experience, it is best for a new technology company to make profits for at least four consecutive quarters before considering an IPO. However, Netscape's success subverted Wall Street's imagination.
Entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and around the world suddenly found out that overnight, the rules of the game on Nasdaq had changed: loss-making Internet companies can also be successfully listed, and can also achieve great success and receive funding from the capital market. The popularity!
Therefore, Netscape's listing truly ignited the "Silicon Valley Dream."
The listing of Netscape has led to many things. Scientific researchers have begun to take great interest in new technologies such as the Internet, and businessmen are also excited about the huge profits that these technologies such as the Internet can bring...
The emergence of Netscape, a young upstart, led others to follow suit. They thought: If these young guys can make a lot of money, so can I!
Therefore, in pursuit of the dream of getting rich overnight, a large number of talents and venture capital from around the world poured into Silicon Valley!
Afterwards, Li Xiaofan kept thinking that behind the myth of Netscape's IPO, there must be an invisible promoter and a group of big bosses "operating" behind the scenes...
After Netscape's stock price closed at $1.30 in the evening, Li Xiaofan was very excited.
That night, he invested $2 million to buy Netscape shares through a Singapore broker. This $2 million was the gross profit of all Yifan's business in recent months and almost all of his own savings.
Late that night, after a long wait, Netscape's stock finally opened, and it directly jumped up to $28.5 per share. Li Xiaofan asked his stockbroker to buy all at the market price without any hesitation. At that time, Li Xiaofan's Singapore stockbroker was amazed at the double-jumping Netscape stock price: such a stock with a loss in the financial report actually jumped up, and the opening price actually doubled, which was too confusing.
Fortunately, the stockbroker immediately executed Li Xiaofan's instructions, and finally Li Xiaofan's securities account successfully bought 69,000 shares of Netscape at a price of about $29.
If calculated based on the closing price of the day, the market value of Netscape shares owned by Li Xiaofan has doubled to about $4 million.
After the market closed, Li Xiaofan excitedly called Jerry Yang.
"Jerry, did you see the performance of Netscape's stock after its listing today? The new era of Nasdaq's Internet wealth myth has arrived!"
Jerry Yang was also very excited on the other end of the phone: "Afan, I saw it. Ferro and I are now at the Nasdaq Exchange at 165 Broadway, Times Square, New York! We just witnessed the whole process of the miracle together with Netscape's Mark Anderson!"