Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 203 Copy
That night, in the office of the chairman of Destiny Game.

Ethan Jones was standing in front of a whiteboard, writing and drawing on it with a marker.

"The current situation is that the patent for the MOS 6502 chip belongs to MOS Corporation, the North American production line of MOS 6502 is at Chuck Pete Chip Company, the notebook production line of MOS 6502 is at Nintendo Kyoto Chip Production Company, and the parent company of MOS, or the major shareholder holding the majority of the shares, is a company called Allen Bradley..."

Ethan wrote MOS in the center of the whiteboard, then drew a line to the lower left and right, marking Chuck Pete and Nintendo respectively. At the same time, he wrote his own name below the two companies and marked the 20% shareholding mark.

Then he drew another vertical line above MOS, wrote Allen Bradley, and then wrote their shareholding in MOS after their names, 56.4 percent.

This is the data listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

After doing all this, he drew two bars behind Allen Bradley and MOS, wrote Rockwell and Commodore respectively, and marked 5% shareholding and acquisition invitation above the horizontal bars.

When all this appeared in front of Evelin, the girl sitting in the boss chair immediately said, “So the problem we are facing now is that no matter which of the two companies succeeds in the acquisition, they can directly obtain the patent for the MOS 6502 chip...right?”

"When this fact came out, even if we owned shares of Chuck Pete, we had no way to retaliate, because Chuck Pete only obtained the production license for the 6502 chip, but did not own the actual patent for this chip?"

Ethan nodded at his sister's words, "Yeah~"

At the same time, he added: "Of course, even if these two companies were not acquired, we would not be able to fight back because we only own 20% of Chuck Pete's shares."

When the private line in Ethan's office was about to be blown up by calls from the outside world, how could Evelin, who was only separated from him by a wall, not know that the company was in crisis? When the girl asked, Ethan, who had already sorted out the matter clearly, told the story in a clear and orderly manner.

As the current situation unfolded, Evelyn also asked: "So, what is the market value of MOS? What is the market value of Komodor, which wants to acquire them? And Allen Bradley, have you checked their market values?"

This question made Ethan raise his right hand and mark on the whiteboard while saying: "MOS's market value today is 23 million US dollars, Komodor's market value today is 72 million US dollars, and Allen Bradley's market value today is 1.37 billion US dollars."

"?"

Evelin was stunned by her brother’s annotation.

Then, doubt flashed in those bright eyes——

"So what trouble are we in now?"

"MOS's market value is only 23 million?"

"The Komodor that wants to buy it only wants 72 million?"

"The market value of these companies is not as much as the cash we have!"

“Why would you worry about a deal whose total market value is less than our cash flow?”

Evelyn felt that Ethan’s previous anxiety was unreasonable.

Or perhaps she felt that the outside world's reaction was a bit extreme.

When the fair value of competitors in the open market is not as much as their cash, all of these guys can be killed by just using the simplest money-spending method in business!
In this case, the only problem was with the defense supplier, Allen Bradley.

But to be honest, Evelyn didn't think that a manufacturing company worth more than one billion could have more funds than them, not to mention that they had just received 70 million from Nintendo.

When they have 100 million in cash in their hands...

"Ethan, if you think MOS 6502 is very important to us, then why don't we just acquire MOS?" Evelyn leaned over slightly, holding her chin with her left hand, and said, "If you think Rockwell is difficult to deal with, then provide them with low-priced chips. Anyway, the chip industry cannot be monopolized. Instead of fighting against them, it is better to supply them directly."

"Oh—my dear sister—"

Evelyn's words made Ethan laugh, "I actually thought the same as you at first."

"I also think there is no problem with a direct acquisition, even if the premium is 10%, 20%, or even 30%! As long as we can hold the chips in our hands, we will be invincible."

“But… when I asked Steve Ballmer to look up the information of these companies, I realized that my idea was a bit too simple, because Komodor is not a simple company.”

While speaking, he picked up the document placed aside and handed it to his sister.

As Evelin flipped through the pages, the contents made the girl frown.

Although Steve Ballmer and Steve Jobs both stated that the company that proposed to acquire MOS was called Commodore International, the company that actually held MOS stock and wanted to acquire MOS was actually their subsidiary Commodore Business Machines, or CBM for short.

The market value of 72 million US dollars that Ethan just mentioned is actually CBM's. The value of this guy is not as much as the cash in Destiny Game's hands, but their parent company's current market value is more than 400 million.

Of course, on the surface, this number still cannot pose a threat to Ethan and others, because if the market value is really taken into account, the crazy game of fate to make money would have taken off long ago, but many times, the market value cannot reflect the true situation of a company at all, right?

For example, which is more valuable, a company with more than $300 billion in debt or a company with $250 billion in cash reserves? This kind of thing needs no further explanation, right?
The same is true for Komodor, a company with a strong background.

Their founder, Jack Tramiel, was Jewish, as was Ralph Baer.

The only difference is that Ralph Baer was of German descent, while he was of Polish descent.

So, after the blitzkrieg, he became a prisoner and had a very miserable childhood. He was not rescued until four or five years later by the American Army.

This reason made him immigrate to America. Since the guy who saved him from the dire situation was the U.S. Army, the first thing he did after immigrating was to join the army.

This choice made his later life smooth, because his startup capital was the retirement allowance, and the company's development funds came from the startup loans issued by the U.S. Army to veterans. Even if he later did business with WP member countries, no one in America would investigate him.

There is no way, because his company has funds from the US Army.

Of course, if this was all the background of Komodor, Ethan would not have taken them seriously at all. But besides himself, the other four major shareholders of Komodor are the Ford Foundation, Morgan Guarantee Company, Citibank, and Carnegie Pension Fund.

“Evelyn, you’re not trying to compete with these people for money, are you?”

When Evelyn looked up in shock, Ethan had already laughed out loud, "The Ford family, the Morgan family, the Carnegie family, how far behind are they compared to Rockefeller?"

"Even if it's the worst Ford family here! We can't beat them, right?"

“…” Evelin fell silent.

Ethan sighed, returned to the whiteboard, and said, "So, in this acquisition, the weakest party is actually Rockwell. But no matter how weak they are..."

"They also sell arms."

"No...are these people crazy? Why are they all working on computers?" Evelyn was puzzled. "Compared to their main business, the profit from computers is too small, isn't it?"

"But the purpose of capitalists' existence is to grab all the profits." Ethan could understand these people's actions. "Wherever there is money to be made, they will appear there."

This fact made Evelyn fall silent.

And Ethan also sat down helplessly.

To be honest, after reading the information of those people, Ethan's first reaction was to call these guys and ask them to give him a price. He would sell the company to whoever offered the highest price.

What? Someone asked why?
Very simple!

He doesn't play anymore!
Ethan felt that he was the most unlucky time traveler! Ever since he made his first fortune, countless giants have been eyeing him! At first it was Walt Disney and Philips! Then it was Warner! Then it was Nintendo! Then it was Rockefeller! Rockwell! Morgan! Ford! Balabala!
If he had known that starting a business would be so tiring, he would have sold Snake long ago!
Then put all the money into Berkshire Hathaway and wait for retirement!

Although President Fred Terman had reminded him before that the people on Wall Street were watching him, he had never expected that the old president would mean this!

I don't accept your investment, I don't want to go public, and then you will take action yourself?
Fuck you!
Please don’t bully others like this!

"Ugh--"

Ethan sighed heavily and covered his cheeks with his hands.

While he was getting annoyed, Evelyn, who was sitting behind the desk, asked again, "Then why did Robert Galvin, the CEO of Motorola, call me before?"

"They're down, too?"

This question instantly made Ethan get rid of the helplessness in his heart.

The flame called anger burns directly!

"Damn it!" Ethan stood up and cursed, "He called to take advantage of the situation!"

"He said Motorola could provide us with cheap chips, but he wanted our global agency!"

"But the price he offered was only 15 percent of the selling price!"

"And that's 15 percent of the actual sales price!"

"We need to share the losses from discount sales with them!"

Evelyn couldn't accept this price either.

But what she was more puzzled about was, "How come Motorola has such cheap chips?"

When this question came up, Ethan sighed heavily again, "Because--"

"MOS originally gave the 6501 chip to Motorola—"

MOS 6502 was made based on MOS 6501, which was actually an infringing product of Motorola 6501. Ethan had told Evelyn all these things.

At the same time, Evelyn also knew that after the MOS 6501 came out, Chuck Paddo and his people, not knowing how to solve the legal problem, sent the chip directly to Motorola, hoping to obtain Motorola's sales permission. Then, Motorola sued them.

Then, MOS killed 6501 itself and gave Motorola a certain amount of compensation.

When these facts appeared in Evelin's mind, the girl who was admitted to Stanford by her own ability immediately discovered the key. "In other words, after MOS admitted its infringement and compensated Motorola, the patent rights of 6501 fell into Motorola's hands?"

"Yes, that's what it is."

Ethan spread his hands and said, "Because the 6501 is an infringing product, in order to resolve the infringement lawsuit, MOS can only open this product to Motorola for free. In this case, Motorola has the right to produce the 6501 chip, and the biggest difference between the 6501 and 6502 is not just a modification, right? If they conduct further research and development based on the 6501 patent, it will not be considered infringement."

"So, if we want a chip, Motorola will fix the modification within a month and supply it to us. They didn't do this before because they really didn't make money from selling chips."

"When MOS sold 6502 at a super low price, Motorola, which couldn't make any money, would not modify it at all. But if we could use this modification to get the global agency of our game..."

“That’s what they’re willing to do.”

“But we are not fools,” Evelyn said unhappily.

At this moment, she really felt that there were wolves in front of her and tigers behind her.

As the two of them fell silent, the office also fell into silence.

Evelin leaned back in the boss chair with her head held high, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Ethan held his forehead with both hands and hunched over, seeming to be thinking about something.

but……

Both of them knew it.

There are many problems in this world that cannot be solved by simple thinking.

After an unknown amount of time, Evelin came to her senses and asked, "So it's a dead end now? We can't find a way out of it?"

“Not really.” His sister’s words made Ethan stand up again and said, “All problems can be solved, but all solutions are based on complete information.”

"The biggest problem we are facing right now is that no one knows what Allen Bradley and MOS are thinking. If Allen Bradley wants to be acquired by Rockwell, and MOS is willing to accept Komodor's offer, then we have to withdraw."

"As a normal person, there is no way I would get involved in this kind of situation where giants are fighting each other."

"And once that happens, we have to look for new chips."

"Or Motorola?" Evelyn asked.

“No——” Ethan shook his head and said, “Intel.”

“It’s our best option.”

"Although I embarrassed the people at Wenlock before, Lawrence Rockefeller has become a shareholder of Apple Computer after all. With tens of millions of funds already injected and education procurement being negotiated, it is impossible for him to accept the situation where his company is short of chips."

"And if Apple can get the chips, we can get the chips too."

"But then we'd have to modify the machine," Evelyn said. "And when we choose Intel, our costs would skyrocket. Do you understand what I mean?"

Ethan understood that Evelyn was talking about the cost of the host computer. But what could be done?

"Let's go for bulk purchases." Ethan thought for a moment and said, "We can reduce costs by purchasing in bulk. Fortunately, we have money..."

Such words made Evelin hold her forehead and sigh.

At this moment, she really felt how tired Ethan was.

The kind of helplessness that comes naturally is really not something that ordinary people can accept.

The coldness of falling from the clouds to the bottom of the valley can make people feel suffocated.

She even felt that if she were asked to handle daily administrative affairs, the company would probably not have survived until now. When the giants appeared again and again, she really had no confidence to fight against them.

“Okay, go back first.” Just as Evelin was thinking about it, Ethan spoke, “It’s getting late, you should go back and rest.”

“What about you?” Evelin, who had come to her senses, asked curiously, “Aren’t you going back?”

"No." Ethan shook his head and said, "I asked Steve Ballmer to charter a plane for me. It will leave at 10 pm and go to the headquarters of MOS. I want to find out what they think."

The busy schedule made Evelin open her mouth.

She wanted to comfort Ethan that tomorrow would be better, but...

That's deceiving.

Looking at the figure who stood up and wiped the whiteboard, she sighed, "Be safe."

"I will."

After a brief conversation, the only sound in the office was rustling.

When Ethan finished wiping the whiteboard and was about to leave with the information, Evelin suddenly remembered something.

"Ethan, wait a minute," she called.

After Ethan turned around, she asked, "Why didn't you call Chuck?"

"He should have learned the news, right?"

"Let him ask MOS what they think?"

When Ethan caught the name Chuck Petrus, endless dissatisfaction suddenly emerged on Ben's calm face, "Oh! My! God!——"

"Don't mention him!"

"He seems to be missing!"

"What?" This situation surprised Evelin. "Missing?"

"Yes, it seems like he is playing missing..."

Ethan recounted his experience.

The fact that there were two different results from two phone calls that day made Evelyn as confused as Ballmer. "Is there a problem with Chuck?" she asked.

But the next second she immediately said, "If Chuck is avoiding you, then there is no point in going to MOS, because you can't get the answers you want there!"

Ethan is of course aware of this situation, but——

"But if I don't go, I won't know!"

He spread his hands.

A wry smile on his face.

Evelin felt a little distressed at the state of being like a headless fly.

"Then why don't you ask other people?"

"Who should I ask?"

Ethan had already tried this path, and it didn't work. "When the people from MOS can tell the general manager of their own production company that the R&D staff is on a business trip, who else can I ask?"

"Ask Chuck's friends?" Evelyn suggested.

"I don't know them!" This matter made Ethan more and more annoyed. "I don't know any of Chuck's friends! I don't know his family either!"

"The only person I know is the one who worked with him on 6502!"

"But the problem is, we can't find any of them who are still in MOS!"

"And what if they found someone who left MOS?"

Ethan stomped his feet in venting anger.

"What kind of shit have I encountered?"

"Pooh!"

"What a rotten person!"

Curse.

Turn around and leave.

Just as Ethan stepped out of the office, Evelin suddenly shouted, “Ethan! Wait a minute! Are we overlooking a problem?”

The excited words caused Ethan to turn around again, and when he frowned and looked at his sister, Evelyn continued without covering up, "Ethan, do you remember why Chuck Padre, or MOS Company, gave you 20% of the shares?"

Even if this matter turns to ashes, Ethan will still remember it!

"Because we help them solve legal infringement issues!" Ethan said.

Although this incident happened almost three years ago, Ethan still remembers it vividly, because it was his first real confrontation with a giant. Even though Motorola gave up the lawsuit directly after figuring out the California law, minimizing its losses and not confronting Ethan, this victory still made Ethan excited. Of course... this excitement only lasted until today.

"Yes, we helped them solve the legal problems of 6502."

Seeing that her brother hadn’t remembered the key point of the matter, Evelin said directly: “And now, we also need to solve the legal problems of 6502.”

"If California does not have a non-compete agreement, which allows MOS to produce chips under Motorola, then it should not be illegal to let the people who made the 6502 make the 6502?"

"Just change the name." Evelyn shrugged lightly.

At the same time, the girl stared at Ethan with burning eyes, "6502 was originally a plagiarized product. Now, the plagiarized product has been plagiarized. I think this should be a common sense thing, right?"

"If the 6502 team is still in MOS, then this matter may be a little troublesome, but——"

"Some of them left!"

"If Chuck Petrus is overwhelmed by the sudden acquisition, we may still have psychological burden to do this, but——"

"He's hiding from us!"

"If we can continue to use the 6502 chip, we will definitely not do such boring things, but the problem is——"

"Those giants have already taken action themselves!"

“Why should we give them face when they are no longer human beings?”

Evelin rested her hands on the table, her head slightly tilted.

That serious look made Ethan stunned on the spot.

"MFxxk!"

"Find the original crew to copy it again?"

"Oh! Sxxt! What the hell is this idea?"

he murmured.

However, although Ethan was cursing, he had a smile on his face!

Because he found that this seemed to be feasible!

Since there is no non-compete agreement in California, they can feel free to recruit people to make chips!

Now that the giants have left, it’s up to the rest of us to figure it out on our own!
You want to seize my CPU through a hostile takeover?

Then don’t blame me for making the CPU you bought at such a high price into worthless pieces!

How dare you sneak attack me?

I'll give you a big fucking bag!
Thinking of this, Ethan immediately shouted towards the dark corridor -

"Ballmer!"

"Ballmer!"

"Ballmer!"

As he roared, the corridor equipped with sensor lights instantly lit up.

A few breaths later, Ballmer, who had been guarding Ethan's office, suddenly popped up and asked, "Boss?"

He leaned against the door frame, looking confused, "What's going on?"

"No more going to MOS! Change my schedule! I want to go to Phoenix!"

Ballmer blinked at the sudden order.

Then he nodded immediately, jumped out of Ethan's office and made a phone call.

As he left, Ethan turned around and wanted to thank his sister, but before he could say anything, he found the girl coming over with a handbag.

This situation made Ethan instinctively say, "Shall I take you back first?"

"Do not--"

"what?"

"I'll go to Phoenix with you."

"Why?" Ethan was a little puzzled and said, "I can handle this."

“I know.” Evelyn looked at the boy in front of her.

Ben's bright eyes were now filled with bloodshot.

This fact made the girl take a deep breath and then smile.

"But you're tired alone."

"Let's go~"

[Correction]: The total sales of 6502 written in the previous chapter is million, which is wrong. I also included the sales of the book in my calculation. Regardless of the demand in the article or the actual sales situation, the most sales were over million in or .

Note: ① I couldn't find the number of Alan Bradley's shares in MOS. I calculated it based on the shares of Alan Bradley in the new company after Komodor acquired MOS. ② The computer war back then was so outrageous. Rockefeller was behind Apple, and the shareholders of Komodor included the Morgan and Carnegie families. Of course, compared with the active investment of the former, the latter was a passive investment, which was caused by a financial scandal in the 1960s. At that time, there was a financial company called AAC in the University of California. It committed financial fraud, made random loans, and issued bad checks. After these things were exposed, the investors of this financial company demanded their property back. But because the company had no money, the companies invested by AAC were divided up by giants such as Morgan, Carnegie, Ford and others who had invested in them. Since AAC owned a large number of shares in Komodor and held three seats on the board of directors, their stocks were taken away by those giants. Then, those giants passively participated in the computer wars of the 1960s, and then intervened in the computer wars. It was a blessing in disguise and they made a lot of money.

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(End of this chapter)