It was October, and eBay's stock price had pulled back, with various negative reports emerging. He had attended several meetings at eBay to discuss countermeasures, and had come to understand a bit about the responsibilities of a public company.
Omidyar was an Iranian-American, without that arrogant streak, not a strong-willed person. So, he found it difficult to handle various public opinions.
"I don't think you need to overthink it. Do your best, then be honest with the media. eBay isn't perfect right now, but we are always striving for perfection," He Zhengcheng said.
"But won't that make them think eBay has a lot of problems?" Omidyar asked.
"Perhaps you could hire a public relations team to serve you personally and maintain your public image," He Zhengcheng suggested.
"That doesn't seem appropriate. It's like no one has ever done that," Omidyar replied.
"Small companies naturally haven't done it, but large companies might. It's not urgent yet. When eBay's market value exceeds ten billion dollars, your personal image and the company's image will be intertwined. At that point, it will be very necessary. Perhaps you could be promoted as a symbol of the American Dream..." He Zhengcheng mused.
Later, eBay actually used a professional manager as the company's image, saying that the legend of eBay was Meg Whitman, leaving the founder aside. If there was no discrimination in this, then it would truly be a wonder.
And to say that Omidyar had no sense of rights or didn't care about these things would also be nonsense. He controlled eBay's board of directors for over twenty years; was it just for fun?
"If that day truly comes, I'll give it a try," Omidyar said.
"I hope the internet develops faster so that public opinion won't be controlled by traditional media, and we might have our own channels for expression," He Zhengcheng commented.
"Start an internet media company? For now, I'll focus on making eBay bigger before thinking about anything else," Omidyar replied.
"Of course! It would be the greatest foolishness to confuse priorities!" He Zhengcheng exclaimed.
eBay's public opinion was handled by Meg Whitman and slowly subsided. However, the stock price entered a downward channel and was still slowly declining.
However, Yahoo's stock price soared, exceeding $100 in just a few days. It continued to rise that week, surpassing $130 per share. His profit on Yahoo finally doubled.
So, shorting was not as profitable as going long during the internet bubble, and this was making money without any psychological pressure.
"It would be great if I had someone dedicated to helping me with stock trading. I'd set a goal and let a professional help me..." He Zhengcheng complained to Ji Jiasheng. Chao Yang had already returned to Hong Kong.
"If you don't mind the trouble, hire someone yourself. If you do mind the trouble, find a private bank. Their services are extensive: investment, wealth management, asset management—they basically do everything," Ji Jiasheng advised.
"What about venture capital? If I'm interested in a company, can they help me invest in it? Can they do that too?" He Zhengcheng asked.
"Of course!" Ji Jiasheng replied.
"Then if we pick a target, why don't we just give them the money to invest? Wouldn't the probability of success be much higher?" He Zhengcheng pondered.
"But the cost would become much higher, and things would become uncontrollable! What if they also take a liking to that target..." Ji Jiasheng warned.
"Don't Goldman Sachs's private banking department and venture capital department have a conflict of interest?" He Zhengcheng was not so easily fooled.
"It doesn't have to be Goldman Sachs's own venture capital department. It could also be a friend of the person serving you. And to achieve their goal, they might not care about the price, so your costs would increase significantly. To put it bluntly, it's still a matter of money. If we didn't mind spending more, would we still need them?" Ji Jiasheng explained.
"Oh, you're right! What's the standard for their private banking department?" He Zhengcheng asked.
"The standard isn't the issue, but different amounts of capital receive different services. If you want them to help you with venture capital, you'd need at least ten million dollars," Ji Jiasheng informed him.
"It seems I'm still poor!" He Zhengcheng exclaimed. Ten million dollars—he didn't even have half of that now, but he would definitely meet the target within a year.
"You're not poor anymore. Your eBay shares and this dividend—by the way, I took advantage of you on eBay this time, so my share is yours," Ji Jiasheng said.
"Really? Don't regret it. I believe eBay's market value could exceed ten billion dollars in the next year or two.
With our 5.5% stake, if you do the math, we could get two hundred million or even more. Your share alone would be tens of millions of dollars," He Zhengcheng explained. His project with investors had a low management fee, high profit sharing, and high excess return.
His family's investment had a high management fee, low profit sharing, and low excess return sharing. Based on eBay's market value increasing more than tenfold, Shanhai Capital would likely receive half of all the profits.
"Some things can't be bought with money. Having this status is like having a stepping stone. What I gain is long-term benefit. Even if Shanhai Capital fails, my personal future won't be affected.
However, tens of millions of dollars, I would still feel a pang of regret. To ensure I don't regret it, I will sign the documents and let everyone know," Ji Jiasheng stated.
"Sheng Ge doesn't trust himself at all!" He Zhengcheng remarked.
"Who can be immune to the allure of wealth? Only by putting shackles on oneself can one ensure they don't make mistakes," Ji Jiasheng replied.
"By the way, Sheng Ge, I have an idea. Why don't we find people ourselves to set up an internet company and then invest in it? If it succeeds, the returns won't be small," He Zhengcheng said. Besides the recently established Google, he really couldn't find any good opportunities in the market.
"No, that's a matter of principle. Whether it succeeds or fails, investors could sue us for insider trading. And if we get used to taking shortcuts, will we still follow the right path later?" Ji Jiasheng questioned.
...He Zhengcheng. He had no intention of defrauding investors' funds, not because his moral standards were so high, but simply because he didn't care about such small sums of money.
Since he could become the richest person in the world through his own abilities, why would he resort to trickery for a few flatbreads' worth of money?
"But a friend of mine wants to start a business, and I want to invest in him," He Zhengcheng said.
"What project does he have?" Ji Jiasheng asked.
"Not yet, he wants me to come up with ideas for him!" He Zhengcheng replied.
"Ahem, ahem! Then you should invest in him yourself. Don't involve the company," Ji Jiasheng had initially considered helping within the rules, but now he had no such thoughts.
"Sheng Ge, why don't you reconsider?" He Zhengcheng pressed.
"I've already made up my mind!" Ji Jiasheng waved his hand, dismissing He Zhengcheng.
"Then Sheng Ge, please give me some advice. I have an idea now. I was going to tell eBay, but it seems this project is more suitable for a startup," He Zhengcheng offered.
"What idea?" Ji Jiasheng asked.
"Third-party escrow payment. eBay's current trust between trading parties is built on a high-quality trading community. However, with the popularization of the internet, a large number of ordinary people are participating, and this trust foundation is likely to be broken. In Western societies, the credit system is relatively complete, so this is not the most important function.
Across the globe, with various currencies, how can we enable people to conduct transactions with different currencies? How can we provide everyone with a convenient payment method?
So, I want to establish a third-party payment system. Both buyers and sellers would set up a transaction account, through which they can transfer funds, and we would collect a transaction fee," He Zhengcheng explained.
"Third-party transactions, is that necessary? Credit cards are very convenient; online transactions can be done directly with credit cards, right?" Ji Jiasheng asked.
"Using credit cards means that users' privacy might be leaked to many people, doesn't it?" He Zhengcheng didn't know that third-party payments would also be popular in America. Anyway, he knew that PayPal had many global users, and its market value would exceed one hundred billion dollars twenty years later.
"Although the market prospect might not be huge, I think we can try it!" Ji Jiasheng said.
"I think so too!" He Zhengcheng agreed.
"If it really doesn't work out, eBay can still back us up..." Ji Jiasheng added.
"I didn't think that way..." He Zhengcheng said innocently.