Chapter 821 – New investment’s direction

“Boss, the company has many bad rumors about you now. Don’t you think you should do something?” Ralph said. If Feng Yu’s position in Microsoft was removed, it would affect him much.

“What do I need to do? What can the rumors do to me? I am still the one controlling the Chinese market and still the director and shareholder of Microsoft.” Feng Yu replied calmly.

Feng Yu also want to do something about those rumors. But what can he do? Give those gossipmongers a warning and fire them? If it is only one or two staff spreading rumors, he could still do that as a director. Bill Gates will also support him. But now, it is the media and all the engineers discussing him. Can Feng Yu fire all of them?

Feng Yu’s influence on Microsoft was still too small. Microsoft is still Bill Gates’s and he is the only one who has the final say.

“Boss, did you really acquire the Empire State Building?” Ralph asked curiously.

“I bought it with a partner. I am only the main shareholder of it.” Feng Yu casually said. When he was not in the US, Ralph’s job was to send emails about the latest happenings in the company to him. His emails are very detailed, and Feng Yu was satisfied with his work.

“Boss, will I have the chance to work in the Empire State Building?” Ralph asked. He was looking forward to it.

“I had kept an office for you. I will send you the renovation plans later. If you are not happy about it, you can ask them to change it.” Feng Yu patted Ralph on his shoulders.

Ralph was overjoyed. “Thank you, boss. I finally get the chance to work in the Empire State Building!”

Ralph’s father was a successful businessman in the past and had rented an office in the Empire State Building. But in the late 1980s, his investments failed and committed suicide. This was Ralph’s biggest regret in his life.

Ralph swore that he must return back to the Empire State Building in his life. This was his greatest wish and did not expect his dream to come true so fast!

“How is Amazon’s progress? How many shareholders are willing to sell their shares to us?” Feng Yu asked while he read a Microsoft document.

“Jeff sold his house and his bonds to raise a sum of money. He increased his shares in Amazon to 21% and I had contacted all the shareholders. All of them wanted a premium price for their shares. If not, they will not sell it. Only 2 minor shareholders rejected us directly. They are the earliest investors of the company. Maybe Jeff had told them something.”

“Ok.” Feng Yu nodded. “How much more do those shareholders want?”

Premium prices are a must. After all, when Feng Yu decided to invest in Amazon, he was already paying a premium for his shares. Even if the shareholders wanted double the amount of the market price, it was not a lot to Feng Yu. What matters most was the shares and this E-commerce operating model.

“The shareholders seem to have discussed and all of them wanted 30% more. I think we can speak to each of them, and a 15% increase should be sufficient to reach a settlement. But I think it is impossible to get their shares at the market rate.” Ralph replied embarrassedly. He felt he had not done an excellent job.

“What about the settling up of a team?” The other bosses have teams of secretaries and assistants to assist them. But Feng Yu only hired Ralph, and Ralph was not able to handle the workload.

“I had reached out to two of my buddies and hired two helpers from other companies. Our team has 4 people now.”

Feng Yu had told Ralph to set up his team, and Feng Yu will pay for their salaries. Why would Ralph reject this? Although having more people will share his credit, but it will be more efficient.

If Ralph insisted that he can handle the workload by himself and he will have to bear the full responsibility when there are any screwups.

“Your workload will be increased in the future. The team is too small. Continue to hire more people and tell Amazon’s shareholders that premium pricing for their shares is not a problem. But limit it to less than 15%. You will get 30% of whatever you save for me.”

Ralph’s eyes brighten up. Boss is too generous to give me a big bonus.

“Boss, don’t worry. I will try my best to lower the prices and will not disappoint you.” Ralph said.

“Are there any rules in Microsoft restricting the directors from using their shares as collaterals for loans?” Feng Yu asked.

“There are no such rules in Microsoft. Even if this rule exists in other companies, it is only limited to the voting shares. Boss, most of your shares are non-voting shares.”

Ralph was curious. Why was Feng Yu asking about getting loans? He does not have enough to acquire Amazon?

But this should not be a problem. Microsoft had forecasted its shares to rise by more than 60% this year. That means Feng Yu’s assets will increase by at least 60%, excluding dividends. In another 2 years, Feng Yu’s assets might be more than 10 billion USD!

If Feng Yu made some successful investments, he would surely give Ralph some rewards.

Feng Yu had to get a loan now. Not only he had made a significant donation, but he had also bought the Empire State Building. He still wanted to buy a mansion in New York. He does not have much cash on hand.

Furthermore, getting loans is worthwhile now. Feng Yu can invest his money in some popular shares, and his returns will definitely be more than the banks’ interest. Using the banks’ capital to make money is the best investment.

Feng Yu knew that now and the next few years will be bullish in the US stock market. Most of the shares will be rising, and if Feng Yu could pick one or two performing shares, he might double his investments within a month!

Although in his previous life, Feng Yu had not noticed the performing shares in this era, he saw a report in the papers a few days ago. It was an interview with a Chinese programmer, Yang Zhiyuan. He is one of the co-founders of Yahoo!

Early this month, Yahoo got listed, and Feng Yu regretted not remembering about this company. He should have invested in this top internet company earlier.

If Feng Yu had remembered about this company earlier, he would have made a substantial amount and might even become one of the directors.

But Feng Yu still have time. Yahoo’s shares are still less than 40 USD now and the company is suffering losses. Although this is a technology share and sought after by many people, the share prices did not shoot up as rapidly as other tech shares.

Even if Feng Yu could not enter the board of directors, he will still acquire as many Yahoo circulating shares as possible. He will sit on the shares to wait for the prices to reach its peak in 1997.

Feng Yu can still use these shares to get loans then. He needs a large sum of money to fight against those speculators at that time!

“Hi, Myers. I’m Feng. I want to use my Microsoft shares to get a loan.” Feng Yu called Vice President of Citibank. He had worked with Citibank on the listing of the Sixth Sense Company in the past.