Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 802 Jeet Kune Do Martial Arts Tournament

When a company accepts investment, especially a well-known company or one with a good growth trend, funds are often the least important thing; resources are.
It is unlikely that nouveau riche can participate in the investment of some unicorn companies. Even if they participate in the earliest stage, they will be driven out later. This is an inevitable result of economic development.

For example, Tencent in its previous life could easily invest in various industries by leveraging its massive user base. Often, it didn't even need to put up any money; it could acquire shares in the companies it invested in simply by using its user base.

Internet traffic is a resource, as are political connections and various social relationships.
In this era, before the internet existed, and similarly in other aspects, traffic was controlled by traditional media, while Yang Wendong controlled the monetization channels and after-sales capabilities of the terminals, namely Best Buy.

Otherwise, as a foreign capitalist, if he didn't have enough influence in the United States, his previous investment in Apple might have led to his rejection by various capital groups today.

The United States is a very free country, but that freedom is targeted at its own capitalists.
The investors were also negotiating with each other. They came here not because they had already obtained investment qualifications, but because they would have to negotiate with Jobs and his team one by one later.
Yang Wendong didn't care. He was the major shareholder, and Best Buy's resources were unique. Even supermarket giants like Celtic and Sears, whose stores covered the entire United States, were better than him in this respect, but their after-sales service was not as good as his.

After the general meeting, each investor called their respective backers and began to negotiate with Apple.

Yang Wendong and Woz went to another conference room, where they ate fruit and chatted about technical issues.

However, since both companies have computer businesses, there wasn't much discussion.

Yang Wendong said, "Woz, I'm having some trouble reducing hardware costs in my game console business in Hong Kong. I hope you can help us out."

Wozniak's ability to become one of Apple's founders was definitely not due to luck. He was very technically skilled and his greatest strength was in reducing hardware costs, that is, using fewer chips to achieve the same functionality.
This is somewhat similar to mobile phones in later generations. Even if the chip is of slightly lower quality, it can still achieve the same performance as a high-end chip through various optimizations, but this is extremely difficult.

"Do you want me to go to Hong Kong?" Wozniak shook his head and said, "I don't have time lately, the Apple project is too busy."

“Don’t worry, you don’t need to go to Hong Kong. My people will come to you with some technical problems.” Yang Wendong said, “See if you can help me solve them here in the United States. Regardless of whether it is successful or not, I will pay your Apple income according to the time.”

"No need for a salary. You helped Apple a lot in the early years, so this is nothing and incomparable," Wozniak said, shaking his head.

Yang Wendong laughed and said, "That won't do. You have to take the money no matter what, otherwise there might be legal ownership issues involved. You should understand what I mean."

If Wozniak didn't pay for the design, it would be difficult to explain and would create legal loopholes.

“That’s true, alright then, it’s not much for you anyway,” Woz laughed.
Yang Wendong said, "Isn't it the same for you? Haha."

Apple is valued at $300 million today, and Wozniak's stock holdings are worth tens of millions of dollars. Compared to that, his salary at Apple is not much.

Two years later, Apple's IPO grossed nearly $30 billion on its first day of trading. Even if Wozniak's shares were diluted later, he would easily become a billionaire.

It has to be said that the wealth-creating myth of the electronics industry is too powerful. The market value that Jobs created in a few years may not be equal to Yang Wendong's total assets, but it still accounts for a considerable portion.

"Haha." Woz laughed;

He's a tech geek, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know the importance of money.

After reaching an agreement with Wozniak, Yang Wendong also went to Jobs' office;

"The environment here is really nice." Looking at the vast forest and a small river outside the window, Yang Wendong also thought it was very nice;

His office in Hong Kong is surrounded by a steel city; compared to a forest, the latter might actually be more comfortable.

“You can get an office here, after all, you are one of the founders.” Jobs smiled and handed over a cup of coffee, saying, “Actually, I don’t understand why Apple, which is already number one in the US and you are the major shareholder, would insist on starting your own computer company. Now it’s making our relationship very awkward.”

He was still very grateful to Yang Wendong, after all, the initial orders and investment funds were important factors in Apple's strong performance.
In addition, Yang Wendong has substantial overseas capital, which, although not American, is not a major problem in the short term.

However, the other party has also established a similar company. Although Honor Computer is just starting out in the US market and does not pose much of a threat to Apple, it is still a competitor.

Yang Wendong laughed and said, "The personal computer market will be comparable to, or even stronger than, the home appliance market in the future. There are too many companies involved in such a large market."
Besides, my main focus is actually in Asia, not the United States. It's just that Asian consumer spending power is too weak right now, so I'm testing the US market first.

Despite having powerful channels, Yang Wendong was not sure if he could achieve great success on American computers. His core target was still Asia, especially the mainland in the future.

“I see. But we’re in the same industry, so your name can’t appear on the board. The other directors won’t agree.” Jobs paused, then said, “Or you and I could put together some money to acquire your computer company, and after the merger, everything will be fine.”

Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "Then there's no need. I won't go to the board meeting; I'll just be a pure investor."

Jobs said, "But under U.S. law, with so many shares, you can force yourself to be a director, which worries other directors and investors and could cause huge conflicts."

Yang Wendong's shareholding is not small; even after dilution following the listing, it will still exceed 20%, a proportion large enough to affect the company's normal operation.

"I see." Yang Wendong understood that it was the other investors who were putting pressure on Jobs. He then said, "In that case, I can gradually sell off Apple stock over the three years after the IPO, until it falls below 10%. Now you can rest assured, right?"

Actually, it's more than 10%. Apple's performance declined a few years after its launch, and they were planning to wipe it out early.
However, it also depends on the specific situation. If Apple continues to operate well, unlike in the past, then you can consider holding a few percentage points to observe.
The key figure here is Steve Jobs. If he has a major conflict with the board of directors or leaves the company, then it's a done deal.

Upon hearing this, Jobs nodded and said, "Alright, but in that case, are you still going to co-invest this time?"

"Of course, I have faith in you. This co-investment won't affect my ability to sell after the IPO, right?" Yang Wendong said with a smile. With his shares, he could earn hundreds of millions of dollars after Apple's IPO. That much money would be a huge sum whether he invested in Best Buy or Honor Electronics.
In this way, many of his funding problems in the electronics industry were completely resolved.

It must be said that finance is often more profitable than electronics itself.
Jobs said, "Okay, that's your right too. But in the future, Apple will also need to rely on your Best Buy. We need to discuss that further."

"Okay," Yang Wendong nodded in agreement.

Apple's latest round of financing negotiations will take at least a month, but the deal with Yang Wendong was only verbally agreed upon in a few days.

Yang Wendong will continue to invest in accordance with this overall valuation to ensure that his shares are not diluted, but he will not increase them further.
Best Buy will also add Apple's store to prime locations in each store, and Apple's after-sales service will be given priority.

This is actually a correct business choice. Apple is extremely famous in the United States and is almost the representative of personal computers. If Best Buy wants to sell personal computers, it will naturally choose Apple first.

However, what no one knew was that in a few months, IBM's latest personal computer would be launched. This computer could be said to be epoch-making and gradually encroached on Apple's market share after the 80s.

Apple's decline in the mid-80s and Steve Jobs' departure were actually closely related to the dominance of IBM.
After the Apple incident, Yang Wendong returned to Hollywood once again.
Upon learning that Yang Wendong was coming, all the Hong Kong Chinese actors who were available came to Li Xiaolong's residence.

"Mr. Yang, Mr. Yang." Everyone stood up and greeted Yang Wendong as soon as they saw him arrive.

"Hello everyone." Yang Wendong smiled as he looked at all the familiar faces. "Are you settling in well in America?"

These are all famous actors from Hong Kong movies or TVB, who have now come to Hollywood in the United States in order to open up the foreign and the world's largest market;

Because of his existence, among these people, except for Li Xiaolong, the others are not the Hong Kong stars of his previous life. Things have changed, and he doesn't know if the future "Double Chow and One Jackie" will still be able to appear on the screen.

But that doesn't matter. When Hong Kong has a huge overseas market, it will naturally produce some stars who are no worse than those in the previous life, or even stronger.

Of course, Stephen Chow might be an exception. There may be many other types of comedy stars in this era, but there are still some differences. Other stars, on the other hand, are very easily replaceable.

Li Xiaolong smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, Mr. Yang. We are doing very well in the United States."

"Yes, the company provides accommodation and cars, which makes things much more convenient for us while we're out of town. Brother Long even found us a personal chef."

Several of them then began to speak.

Yang Wendong occasionally chimed in with questions, gaining a basic understanding of the current situation of Hong Kong stars in Hollywood;

After lunch, everyone had lunch at Li Xiaolong's house and then left. Li Xiaolong led Yang Wendong to the top of the three-story villa.

This is a villa in Malibu, near the beach. A refreshing sea breeze is blowing, and downstairs, there are many bikini-clad women sunbathing, playing volleyball, swimming, and engaging in various other sports. It's a scene full of springtime charm.

"The scenery here is quite nice," Yang Wendong said, sitting in a chair and sipping coconut juice. "This is quite enjoyable."

Li Xiaolong said, "Yes, it's nice to be able to rest here after filming. Mr. Yang, you could also buy a house here if you're interested?"

“I don’t need to,” Yang Wendong advised. “The humidity at the beach is high, which may not be good for your health. You should also pay attention and follow the doctor’s advice I arranged for you. Take care of your health.”
Many people know that professional athletes often experience a decline in health after middle age; Li Xiaolong is in a similar situation now. He overexerted his body by practicing martial arts in his early years, and his health has also deteriorated due to his continuous filming in recent years.

Li Xiaolong smiled and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Yang, I will take care of my health for the sake of my child."

"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded;
Even now, Bruce Lee is still the representative of the Hong Kong entertainment industry in the United States. Only he, as one of the top stars in the United States, has the right to negotiate profit sharing with film companies.

The others were just slightly better extras; many people would have a hard time even competing for supporting roles. Li Xiaolong deserves credit for this, otherwise it would have been impossible.

Li Xiaolong continued, "Mr. Yang, I have an idea recently. I want to hold a Jeet Kune Do martial arts tournament."

"A martial arts tournament?" Yang Wendong thought for a moment and asked, "You mean, you're using this to promote Jeet Kune Do?"

Li Xiaolong said, "Yes, I originally wanted to go to Hong Kong to talk to you, but I didn't expect you to come to Los Angeles. Over the years, Jeet Kune Do has opened martial arts schools in many places in the United States and Asia, and we have tens of thousands of students."

However, in terms of global fame, it is still far from enough, and it is far behind Karate, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, etc.
There are historical reasons for this, after all, Jeet Kune Do has only been around for a short time, but another factor is that there are no large-scale martial arts competitions or television broadcasts.

If we were to hold a large-scale competition, and it were broadcast on television, at least tens of millions of people across the United States would know about Jeet Kune Do. This could be more effective than our efforts over the past decade or so.

“That makes sense,” Yang Wendong agreed.

Li Xiaolong continued, "It's also commercially viable. We can collect admission fees, attract advertising sponsorships, obtain broadcasting rights from television stations, and ultimately, promote enrollment at our hundreds of martial arts schools in the United States."

"Haha, Xiaolong, you're being too naive. Where are we going to get tickets and advertising fees for this new competition? I reckon we'll have to pay people to come and watch, and the same goes for TV stations, otherwise it'll look like we've fallen on hard times." Yang Wendong laughed and said, "But the last one is correct. Once it's on TV, it will definitely help martial arts schools in various places recruit students."

PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)