The big ICQ meeting was a success!
Everyone voted "yes" to putting the company on the stock market. The man from Microsoft was the only one who said no, but he was outvoted.
"Leave the stock market part to us at Goldman Sachs," a man from the big bank said. "We are the most professional in the world."
Zane and the others nodded. Goldman Sachs was a shareholder, but they were also one of the biggest, most powerful banks on Wall Street. They had all kinds of "wild" methods to get things done. This was the kind of confidence they had!
So, the meeting ended. ICQ going public was now a sure thing.
"Hey, Zane," a voice said. Zane turned and saw Jeff Bezos, the boss of Amazon, smiling at him. "Want to find a place to get a meal together?"
A meal? Zane smiled. He guessed what Bezos was really after. The meal was just an excuse to talk about business. Zane didn't mind at all.
"A meal sounds great, Jeff," Zane said with a friendly, charming smile. "But it's a little early for that. Do you want to come with me to a place nearby first?"
"Sure, no problem," Bezos laughed.
It's funny how people get along. Zane and Steve Jobs, for example, had known each other for two years, but they just didn't click. Jobs thought Zane was too much of a "tradesman" who liked women and had a bit of a temper. And Zane thought Jobs was arrogant. They just weren't friends.
But Bezos was different. Even though they were both very smart and good at business, they had the same kind of personality. They got along great.
"Huh? Zane, aren't you going to call a car?" Bezos asked, looking surprised as they left the building and started walking.
"Of course not!" Zane waved his hand and laughed. "The Wald Building is just a few minutes' walk from here. It's a nice day!"
Soon, they walked into Zane's big office building.
This time, Zane didn't go to his animation studio. He took the elevator straight up to the 7th and 8th floors, where his company LinkedIn was.
"I said, Zane, your business is all over the place!" Bezos laughed, looking around the small office. "When did you start this company? It's tiny!"
Tiny? Zane thought, but he just laughed.
"Haha! I have a lot of companies, Jeff. Do I have to tell you about all of them?"
Zane and Bezos were alike in many ways, but they were very different in one:
Zane liked to spread his money around. If he saw something that could make money, he would jump on it.
Bezos liked to focus on one big thing. He always said, "Do one thing perfectly, make it as big as you can, and then use that to build other things. Amazon is my core business."
As they walked into the office, the boss of LinkedIn, Jeff Weiner, rushed over.
(Yes, they were both named Jeff! One was Jeff Bezos, and one was Jeff Weiner.)
"Boss! You're here at the perfect time!" Jeff Weiner said, trying to hold in his excitement. "I have great news. After we changed our plan, we just made a huge breakthrough. We just signed a deal to work with Johnson & Johnson's laboratory!"
"Huh?" Zane was shocked. "Are you serious? The Johnson & Johnson?"
"Of course!" Jeff Weiner said, his face serious. "I wouldn't joke about this, boss. It's real."
Bezos, who was standing next to him, was even more shocked. "Oh my God! I said, Zane, what is this company? How did you get a deal with a giant like Johnson & Johnson? And their main laboratory?"
Zane was excited, and Bezos was amazed.
Johnson & Johnson was one of the biggest, most important medical companies in the world! In the future, it would be worth almost $400 billion. They owned brands like Band-Aid and Tylenol. Everyone knew them!
Jeff Weiner explained, "Boss, we are going to help Johnson & Johnson find new, smart people for their laboratory. This deal won't make us a ton of money right now, but it will make our company look really good. It will make our brand huge!"
"I agree," Zane said, his mind racing. "This is perfect. We already work with big companies like Microsoft and Citibank, but that's mostly for regular jobs. The Johnson & Johnson laboratory is different."
Of course it was different!
That lab was their core. The people who worked there were all super-smart scientists, the best in the world.
If LinkedIn could help them hire top-level talent, it was a huge step up. It was proof that LinkedIn was the best. Once this news got out, all the other big companies would want to work with them, too.
LinkedIn's future was looking very bright!
"Zane, my friend," Bezos said, suddenly looking very serious. "Please allow me to invest heavily in this great company. I want to be a part of it. Amazon loves to work with great companies like this."
Bezos was very cautious, but even he could see that LinkedIn was going to be a huge hit.
(AN: Lol, If Steve Jobs had been there, he would have acted differently. He would have told Zane the company was worthless, and then offered to "save it" by buying it.)
Zane looked at his friend, a wide, charming smile on his face. "My friend, I'm so happy to hear you praise my little company like this! But of course... LinkedIn isn't that great... yet."
He put a friendly arm on Bezos's shoulder.
"As for you buying shares," Zane said, "let's wait and see. You must not misunderstand! It's not that I don't want you as a partner. It's just that... our company isn't good enough for you... yet!"
Bezos just stared at him. He knew exactly what Zane was doing.
"If you don't want to sell me shares, just say you won't sell!" Bezos thought, almost exploding. "What is all this 'not good enough' stuff? You're just toying with me!"
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