March 28th. The Nasdaq Stock Exchange.
Today was a big day. Three new companies were joining the stock market. But the one everyone was watching, the one all the reporters were crowded around, was ICQ.
Back when ICQ first announced its plan to go public, it made news all across America. It had hundreds of millions of users all over the world. Everyone was excited, hoping to see the next big "internet myth" be born.
Getting on the NASDAQ stock market isn't easy. You have to meet a lot of rules. For example, you need to have at least 300 shareholders (people who own a piece of the company).
ICQ didn't have that many at first.
But, that wasn't a big problem. The company had over 2,000 employees. The bosses, like Yair Goldfinger and Zane, just let all the employees buy a small piece of the company. Easy!
Zane's part of the company had been shrunk a little bit again. He now owned 11.2%. But that was still a huge piece, and it made him a very important shareholder.
Today, all the big bosses of ICQ—Zane, Jeff Bezos, and men from the big banks—were at the stock exchange. At 9:30, they would all ring the opening bell together.
"Zane," Jeff Bezos said, walking over to chat. "I heard you're directing a movie again. Are you starting a new film?"
Zane was stunned. "Huh? How did you know about that?"
Bezos just rolled his eyes. "Please, buddy. Haven't you been watching the news? Every newspaper on the West Coast is talking about it."
"Oh, so that's it," Zane said, finally understanding. He had forgotten how famous he was now.
Who was Zane?
He was only 21 years old.
In just three years, he had built a giant media company from nothing.
He was a super-rich billionaire.
His company, Wald Pictures, had made a bunch of hit movies.
His TV network, UPN, had hit shows like "SpongeBob" and "America's Got Talent."
And his new WWE wrestling show was a big hit, too.
Young... rich... and he'd done it all himself.
To put it bluntly, Zane was now a top-tier "celebrity" among all the rich people. All the young people with dreams looked up to him.
So, of course, the reporters, who love a good story, were watching every single thing he did.
"Yes, I am!" Zane said with a friendly, charming smile. "I'm different from other rich people. Some of them like to be surrounded by beautiful women, some like to show off their money, and some like to buy islands and fancy cars. Those are their hobbies."
"Oh?" Bezos teased. "So your hobby is just making movies? Then how do you explain all the different, beautiful women I always see you with?"
Darn it!
"Mind your own business, man!" Zane shot back, but he was laughing. "When you get divorced one day, I'm going to open a really good bottle of wine to celebrate for you."
Bezos just laughed. He didn't take it seriously. (But he never guessed that, many years in the future, when he did get divorced, Zane would actually do that!)
"Hi, Zane! Today is a huge day!"
Yair Goldfinger, the founder and boss of ICQ, walked up and gave Zane a big, friendly bear hug.
"Yes, today is very important," Zane said, just being polite.
What a fake! he thought.
To everyone else, Zane and Goldfinger looked like best friends. They looked like the two partners who had worked together to make ICQ a giant success.
But... everyone who actually worked at ICQ knew the truth. Zane and Goldfinger couldn't stand each other. They had argued many, many times about the company's future.
But in front of all the reporters, they both pretended to be the best of brothers.
"Congratulations! I believe ICQ will create a miracle!" said one of the bosses from the Nasdaq exchange.
"Mr. Blackwood! Mr. Goldfinger! You have both created a new wealth myth!"
"You said it!"
"Who cares about Microsoft or Amazon? ICQ is the future!"
"Yes! ICQ has hundreds of millions of users! How many internet companies can say that?"
Everyone was cheering and saying nice things.
"BOOM!"
At 9:30 a.m., Goldfinger, as the company's founder, rang the big bell. The market was open.
The stock price, which was set at $39, immediately soared to $52!
It was amazing!
Throughout the day, the stock price went up and down, but it stayed very high. At one point, it even hit $109. When the market closed at the end of the day, the price was $92 a share.
In just one day, ICQ was now worth $6 billion!
...
The next day, Zane showed up on the set of his new short film, The Tuner. Everyone was clapping.
"Mr. Blackwood, congratulations!" his new actor, Paul Walker, said. "Your investment really paid off!"
The news was everywhere. Reporters had found out that Zane had invested only $8 million into ICQ when it was just a tiny, new idea.
The Global Times newspaper put Zane's picture on the front page. The headline said: "Zane Blackwood: The New Leader of American Value Investors!"
It caused an uproar.
Everyone did the math. Zane's 11.2% of ICQ was now worth $672 million!
That was more money than many old, famous families had. And everyone knew the price would probably go up even more.
For a time, Zane was once again the most famous, most talked-about person in America. Countless young men and women looked up to him as their idol.
Zane was, of course, very, very happy.
And he immediately decided to hire more bodyguards.
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