After Zane traveled through, he got a power, just like in the fanfictions. He had a "system."
Now, to be honest, his system was a little lazy. It would "play dead" a lot and wasn't super fancy.
But Zane couldn't complain. The system was the one that told him about the Netscape company. That tip helped him earn his very first big pot of gold. Without it, he'd never have become a billionaire so fast.
"Thinking about it that way," Zane thought, "the system is still pretty awesome."
The "future tips" the system gave him were mostly about America and Europe. These were things he, as a regular person, would have never known about. He was so busy just trying to survive in his old life, he never had time to study big companies.
[Host, do you want to check the new information?] the system's voice popped into his head.
"Check!" Zane said.
The new message appeared in his mind:
Random House: One of the biggest book companies in the world. In May 1998, a company from Germany will buy it for $5.9 billion.
Under Armour: A sports clothing company started by a football player. It's not doing well right now and really needs money.
"Oh, darn!"
Even though he was a billionaire, he was still a young guy. It was only natural to get worked up.
But Zane really felt like groaning!
"Random House is so famous," he thought, "but I can't afford it! It's worth almost ten billion dollars!"
Zane really, really wanted that company. It was a legendary book company. It was stable. It wasn't like a crazy internet company; it was the kind of company you could pass down to your family, like a castle. It would always make money.
The system's note even showed him that Random House made $250 million in profit in one year.
"Well... I can't afford it now," Zane complained to himself. "But that doesn't mean I can't afford it in the future. I'll just have to wait."
He looked at the second name.
Under Armour?
Zane, who used to watch a lot of basketball, knew that name! They were the company that sponsored the famous basketball player Stephen Curry!
The system's note told him a little more. It wasn't as big as Nike or Adidas, but it was still a great company. In the future, it would be worth over $4 billion. That was a very delicious cake!
"My entertainment company has movies, TV, and music," Zane thought. "But sports and books are also part of entertainment. If I can buy Under Armour now, while it's small, I can build up that part of my company."
He got really excited. "This is a perfect fit!"
The best part? The company was struggling now. It wasn't famous yet, which meant it was cheap!
"If I buy it," Zane's mind raced, "I can use my future knowledge! I can sign all the new sports stars before they get famous. I could sign LeBron James!"
He was so excited by the idea, he was almost shaking.
"I have to do this!"
Zane knew he couldn't just sit and dream. He had to work hard. He grabbed his phone and called his lawyer, Mark.
"Mark, my friend! I have a new project for you," Zane said with a charming smile in his voice. "I need you to find out everything you can about a company called Under Armour. And... the sooner the better, of course. After this is all over, I'll pay for your next trip to Hawaii!"
He hung up the phone, feeling great.
...
But after he hung up, Zane was alone in his big villa. He was too excited to just sit there.
"At a time like this," he thought, "shouldn't I go celebrate with someone?"
He quickly cleaned up and drove over to see his friend, Jessica Chastain.
That night was a very good night.
...
The next day, Zane slept in until noon. He had a nice lunch with Jessica and then headed to Silicon Valley.
Today was a big board meeting for his company, ICQ.
There was one big question to talk about: Should ICQ sell its stock on the stock market now, or wait a year or two?
The meeting got heated.
"I do not agree to go public now!" the man from Microsoft (who was a shareholder) said.
ICQ's CEO just sneered. "Of course you don't want us to go public. You're just afraid of us. Look at what you did to Netscape!"
"What do you mean?" the Microsoft man said, getting angry. "Microsoft is a shareholder too! Why would we want to hurt ourselves? ICQ isn't making a profit yet. If we go public now, the price will be too low!"
All the other investors in the room started whispering.
Yair stood up. "Lauth, let me be blunt. Isn't Microsoft already building its own instant messaging software? You used your power to crush Netscape's browser. Are you planning to do the same thing to ICQ?!"
The room exploded! All the other investors from Goldman Sachs and Sequoia Capital suddenly looked very angry. They were smart. They knew exactly what Microsoft was up to.
"You're trying to play alone without us!"
"ICQ must be listed now!" the man from Goldman Sachs yelled.
"I agree!" said the man from Sequoia Capital. "We need to get this company the money it needs to grow and fight back!"
And what about Zane?
He just sat at the head of the table, a small, satisfied smile on his face.
Hehe~ Of course he agreed!
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