Chapter 955： Explosive growth

The starting date of "Iron Man" was finally determined on March 2, and according to the usual practice, the film crew had already begun to assemble.

However, as a leading actor, Eric is destined to not fully focus on the film.

With Yahoo’s 1997 full-year earnings report, Eric will have to leave Los Angeles again and fly to Boston to participate in Yahoo’s annual meeting. This meeting will not only discuss the issue of Firefly’s investment in Yahoo, but also initially with Morgan. Stanley negotiated the issue of Yahoo's listing.

In order to lay the groundwork for Yahoo's IPO at the beginning of next year, Yahoo's annual financial report was released, and it was announced on the front page of the Yahoo portal.

This annual financial report full of highlights has caused the media to frantically reprint, but also let the capital circle boil again.

Throughout 1997, Yahoo's global registered users reached 70.9 million, accounting for 70% of the global Internet users, including 51.7 million in North America. This figure is more than twice the total number of users of all other portals of the same type in the United States.

In addition, the number of Yahoopay activation users of Yahoo's online payment tool, which was promoted in 1997, also exceeded 10 million, reaching 11.35 million.

Since the Yahoo Music Store was launched in April, the number of song copyrights has increased from the initial 200,000 to the current 700,000, and 55.3 million songs have been sold throughout the year. Although this data is not worth mentioning relative to the global record industry's total output value, the rise of online music sales has made the traditional record industry feel a strong threat.

Of course, the most dazzling data in this annual financial report is undoubtedly the explosive growth of Yahoo's annual revenue in 1997.

Compared with the 1996 annual income of $194 million, Yahoo’s total annual revenue soared 327% to $636 million.

The annual revenue of 636 million US dollars, although far from the next few Internet giants. However, in 1998, this data made the entire Internet industry stand out.

Because, although Yahoo's annual financial data is still a loss of up to 359 million US dollars, but the annual income of 636 million US dollars means that from 1992, after a long period of six years of investment, Yahoo finally showed A clear profit prospect.

Prior to this, due to the gradual tendency of Internet services to be freely shared, countless industry analysts and the media were questioning whether Internet sites such as Yahoo Portal could achieve stable revenues and profits like traditional media.

In any industry, if it is only unable to produce, then it will not be able to grow and develop.

Now, with more than $600 million in revenue for the whole year, Yahoo has finally proved the broad development prospects of pure Internet companies.

Eric knows very well that compared to another Yahoo in the same period of memory, the new Yahoo is definitely far more than the other side, and the two sides are completely different.

However, in Eric's view, this is actually taken for granted.

The new Yahoo! has not only set up two years earlier than the original time and space, but also took the lead in the rise of the new technology wave. Moreover, graphical interface browsers, e-mail, portals, instant messaging, search engines, online payment tools, etc., this series was not originally a popular Internet product and service created by a company, and was concentrated by Eric. This brand new company.

It can be said that compared with Yahoo, which has never found an accurate development direction from the rise to the decline, the new Yahoo has been on a completely correct high-speed fast lane since its establishment. Yahoo's products have almost occupied the original. The essence of the entire Internet era in time and space.

The strong synergy created by various Internet product services has also allowed Yahoo to gain the advantage of almost monopolizing the Internet industry in advance.

In the context of the explosive growth of Internet users, Yahoo's large user base of multiple popular Internet products has prompted Yahoo's advertising business based on the long tail theory to gradually show more and more obvious ability to absorb gold. In Yahoo's 1997 revenue of 636 million US dollars, advertising revenue reached 527 million US dollars, accounting for 82.7% of the total revenue.

From February 3 to February 6, Yahoo's annual meeting was held for four days.

It is finally determined that, according to the market value of 15 billion US dollars, Firefly Investment will once again inject $1 billion into Yahoo to obtain 145,000 shares of Yahoo.

In the original Yahoo equity incentive plan, Yahoo spent a total of 17.3 million shares, which was equivalent to 17.3% of Yahoo's total share capital, as Jeff Locke and others abandoned the equity incentive to leave early. Subsequently, after several consecutive injections of Yahoo through the firefly investment, the shareholding ratio of Yahoo's management and employees began to decline.

After re-acquiring a 6.7% stake in Yahoo for $1 billion, Yahoo’s total share capital rose to 216.5 million shares. The shareholding ratio of Firefly Investment to Yahoo has further increased to 91.7%.

At the same time, Yahoo's single stock price is close to 70 US dollars according to the current valuation and equity. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the IPO at the beginning of next year, after discussions with Morgan Stanley, Yahoo will also conduct a stock split at the end of this year. Divide the original stock into three, making the total share capital reach 649.5 million.

In this way, after the IPO has issued 30% of the shares, Yahoo's total share capital will be close to 1 billion shares, and the unit price of the stock can be guaranteed at around US$15. This is a price that is very easy to attract investors and the total share capital of 1 billion shares. It also looks just right.

At the beginning of next year, with the Nasdaq index hitting a new high, Eric knows that Yahoo's valuation will skyrocket again. Therefore, according to this plan, it is absolutely impossible to keep the stock at around $15. However, he did not express any objection to the plan discussed by Yahoo management and Morgan Stanley. The plan can't keep up with the changes, and then it will be modified.

After the four-day meeting, Internet corporate partners who came to Yahoo’s annual meeting left, and Morgan Stanley’s team returned to New York with satisfaction.

Eric did not rush back to Los Angeles.

On February 7, although it was Saturday, Eric and Chris, Yahoo's Ian Gernier, Steve Mitnick and Tina Brown, and Firefly Electronics' Victor McNee Lee, Bill Olson and Jeff Kleber, vice president of fireflies electronics from Nokia, came to a lab with strict confidentiality at Yahoo!

A few days ago, Eric had just arrived in Boston, and Steve Mitnick told Eric that he had successfully produced a tablet prototype through the current research and development results of Yahoo and Firefly Electronics. Personally, I solemnly came here today to watch Steve Mitnick’s demonstration of the prototype.

In the lab, Steve Mitnick sits in front of a console with a 10-inch tablet prototype measuring nearly two centimeters in thickness and explaining to the other seven people around him. "The kernel of the operating system is completely based on ARM's latest 32-bit chip architecture. We have already completed the hardware drivers for micro hard disks, processors, displays, etc. Now we are writing a network connection module, which is probably based on the end of this year. Yahoo's several Internet products have developed specialized applications."

Eric watched Steve Mitnick directly with his fingers on the color touch screen to demonstrate simple text input, picture browsing and audio playback, patiently listening to a few professional exchanges, and finally history The prototype of Tiff Mitnick took it. Although the screen pixels are very low, it looks full of graininess. However, with the current technology accumulation of the two companies, Eric is very satisfied with the effect of this prototype.

I personally entered a paragraph of text and played it for a while. Eric remembered turning the prototype over and looking at a flat shell. Some disappointedly asked: "Steve, didn't you have a camera?"

Steve Mitnick said: "Eric, the laboratory at Firefly Electronics does not give me the camera module that can be installed in this machine. I have also read the information of Nokia related labs, their research and development. The progress is also very slow."

Eric thought for a moment and said: "On the other side of Japan, should their accumulation in digital camera technology be much stronger than ours?"

"This, I don't know," said Steve Mitnick, who looked at the firefly electronics, Victor McNealy.

Victor McNealy explained: "Eric, we lack the technology and patents of digital cameras. The team in the company can only carry out research and development based on the technology of other companies. It is difficult to come up with our own. Micro camera module. As for Japan, Toshiba, Sony, Sharp, the electronics giants should be doing research and development in related areas, but only want to get detailed information, unless I personally go to Japan."

Eric did not hesitate: "Victor, then you should go to Japan as soon as possible. If you can buy patents on related technologies, then it is best. If you can't, then take the mode when you commission Seagate to develop micro hard drives. In short, I hope that our tablet will have a camera function when it is released."

Victor McNealy said: "Eric, according to your original idea, I think that even without the camera function, this tablet is attractive enough. The size of the tablet screen we plan is 7 inches, according to In this size, only a 100,000-pixel miniature digital camera can't make a good photo at all."

"Now it is 100,000 pixels. After two or three years, there will definitely be 300,000 pixels. The 500,000-pixel camera is developed. What we have to do is to lay out in advance," Eric said, watching Victor McNee. Lee's expression is still hesitant, saying: "If it's just a touch screen, and basic reading, listening to music or surfing the Internet, in fact, the traditional PDA can be developed for several years.

What we have to do is to enhance the entertainment interactive function of this tablet, so that this product can be made more civilian. People have a strong desire to express, increase the camera function, just to meet the needs of users.

I have talked with Ian a few times ago, and now it is not suitable for the development of Internet social networks, but if this tablet with camera function is on the market, in my opinion, the timing will be mature. If you think about it, if anyone can use a tablet to take pictures of their work and life anytime, anywhere, and then instantly share it with friends and family via the Internet, do you think they will not be more excited about this product? ”

Steve Mitnick said: "Eric, I am still very curious, how do you achieve instant sharing without using a mobile communication network?"

Eric shook his head in a mysterious way and said: "Using the mobile communication network is the goal of our further smartphone. As for the networking problem of the tablet, I will solve it as soon as possible. What you have to do now is Make the product I want."

In the face of Eric's insistence, although the second generation of Fireflyer was released soon, Victor McNealy decided to go to Japan personally during his busy schedule.

After watching the demonstration of the mobile operating system's research and development results, Eric also visited Yahoo's other important laboratories together until the afternoon, everyone had dinner together, and Eric left the Yahoo headquarters.

Tomorrow, Eric will leave Boston directly and say goodbye to everyone in the parking lot. When Victor McNealy and others leave, Chris is not in a hurry to return to the hotel, leaning on Eric’s black luxury car. On Eric Road: "So, do you really want to personally play Tony Stark?"

This incident, so far, the Firefly Group is still not open to the public, because the "Iron Man" actor has no news, some media even thought that this project was aborted by Warner's "Batman and Robin" last year. .

Chris also heard about Eric's work schedule for the next few months before he heard it for the first time. Eric did not deliberately conceal the meaning of this matter to Chris, but Chris never asked, and he did not take the initiative to say it.

Eric nodded and said: "The contract has been signed, and the pay is $3 million. The film is about to start shooting, and now the contract is for compensation."

Chris has seen Eric’s "Return to Seventeen", imagined Eric as the role of Tony Stark, shaking his head and smiling: "You are quite suitable." , the original performance."

"Everyone is interested in this," Eric said with a smile: "If it is not, I have not appeared in front of the camera for so many years, and no one will let me play."

"Or else, I am also a guest, to give you a driver or something?"

Mentioning this, Eric’s smile on his face is more prosperous, saying: “This can’t be your turn, and someone has already grabbed the job.”

Chris thought about it. Without any clue, he asked: "Who is so boring?"

"Larry Ellison."

Chris was surprised again: "How could he be such a cocky guy."

Eric reminded: "Last time, he wanted to open up our secret acquisition of Apple."

"Oh, I understand, he wants to make up for it with this, but it is too understatement."

"Of course," Eric shook his head and smiled. "Oracle decided to sponsor the "Iron Man" crew for $5 million. The guest driver is just a ride."

Chris probably straightened out the whole thing, haha ​​laughed, obviously, Larry Ellison was pitted by Eric.

The two talked and laughed for a while, Eric said: "I will go back tomorrow. "Iron Man" has a lot of locations to come out. It will be very busy in the first half of the year. You should pay more attention to Yahoo's side, right, still There is AOL. If Steve starts to insist that AOL develops into an Internet media company, we have to consider taking control."

Chris nodded solemnly: "Of course, I will arrange it, you can rest assured."