Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 862 Investing in Microsoft
“Yes, no matter what, we are now competitors. If I continue to hold Apple stock like this, I’m afraid the U.S. Department of Commerce and other shareholders will have something to say.” Yang Wendong said with a smile, “Honor’s computers have also gained some scale in the U.S. market recently, so I think it’s time for me to leave Apple as well.”

He had already thought of a reason. Although there is no need for a reason to sell a company's stock, he still hoped to maintain a good relationship with Jobs and others.

Wozniak's computer skills were exceptional, which helped his business solve some problems. Jobs, on the other hand, was exceptionally capable. After leaving Apple, he founded Next, which he developed into the world's most successful animation company. It was later acquired by Disney, making Jobs Disney's largest individual shareholder.

With the launch of its modular computer, coupled with its own games and Best Buy's full-fledged promotion, Honor gained a few percentage points of market share in the United States. Although it was still far from Apple and IBM today, it was already considered one of the well-known brands.
According to US law, a person cannot serve as an executive or director in two competing companies. Although Yang Wendong has never worked at Apple and his voting rights on the board were given to Steve Jobs, he is still the largest individual shareholder, which will always arouse a lot of suspicion.
Furthermore, given that Apple is currently a top IT company in the United States, and the US government is preparing to make computers a core national industry, if Apple doesn't withdraw soon, it might be investigated by the US Department of Commerce, which would be troublesome.
Anyway, Apple in the 80s was already at its peak upon listing, and its stock price basically didn't rise much afterward, so it was better to cash out as early as possible.

"Well, that reason is indeed impeccable," Jobs said with a hint of regret.

It wasn't that he was reluctant to part with Yang Wendong as a friend, but rather that Yang Wendong had given him all of Yang Wendong's voting rights. This allowed him to suppress the board of directors and others who disagreed with him within the company. Once Yang Wendong's shares were sold, the new holders might not necessarily support him.

Wozniak asked, "So, who are you planning to sell it to?"

Yang Wendong said nonchalantly, "I'll sell to whoever offers the highest price. I'm already preparing to release the news, and I think wealthy people in Los Angeles or some large foundations in the United States will be interested."
Furthermore, this matter should ideally be known only to a select few. If it becomes known to other shareholders, it could affect the stock price, which is something we want to avoid.

“Okay, don’t worry, we’ll keep it a secret. It’s good for us too,” Woz replied.

Jobs added, "Eric, if you withdraw from your position as an Apple shareholder, I still hope that the partnership with Best Buy can maintain the previous model."

"Don't worry, Best Buy isn't my sole business anymore. It will operate according to maximizing commercial profits," Yang Wendong said. "Apple computers are so popular in the United States, so I will naturally give them a prime location."

Best Buy's product placement is essentially equivalent to internet traffic in the modern era; whoever gets the traffic benefits from it.

"Okay, I hope we can maintain a long-term cooperative relationship, as well as a personal relationship, in the future," Jobs nodded and said.
In his heart, he was complaining: Everyone knows that Best Buy is frantically launching Honor products. It's just that Honor's products are indeed decent, and its current market share is relatively small. Yang Wendong is still the largest shareholder of Best Buy, so the other minority shareholders turn a blind eye.
Once they control the distribution channels, they often have the power to do whatever they want.

Traditional supermarkets and department stores in the past were often like this, but there was nothing that could be done. They controlled the market, and how they operated was their business. Even the US government's antitrust laws did not restrict traditional retail unless there were obvious acts of exclusion, suppression, price monopoly, etc.
Yang Wendong laughed and said, "No problem, we are still friends."

Given Yang Wendong's current status, he really doesn't have many friends. Jobs and Wozniak could be considered as friends, as they were both very capable and could be said to have the right to be.
Of course, these are purely business friends, not the kind of close confidants. In this world, only Zhao Liming and Lin Haoyu, who have shared joys and sorrows with him, can be truly trusted.
In the early days, in order to avoid the deterioration of the brotherhood due to commercial interests, and because the two of them were not capable enough, they were removed from the highest power level of Changxing Group early on and instead devoted to doing charitable work for him.
Human nature cannot withstand tests, so it's better not to test it at all. In addition, with the fluctuations in Hong Kong's real estate and stock markets over the past two decades, and thanks to Yang Wendong's advice, the two of them are now both billionaires. They are not rich, but they are not poor either, and they live a very carefree life. Being able to maintain a normal relationship with Yang Wendong is what Yang Wendong needs, and it is also the best choice for the two of them.

As for other people, so-called business friends, they are all people who come for profit, but it's good to have more of these kinds of friends.

After leaving Apple, Yang Wendong glanced back at Apple's newest headquarters and sighed inwardly. This top-tier star company was almost on the verge of bankruptcy in the next few years.

He doesn't intend to interfere, as it has nothing to do with him. Moreover, after Jobs left Apple, he had to spend more than a decade in the workforce before he could truly mature and return to Apple to lead it back to its peak. Even if he himself might develop the smartphone first, with Jobs' abilities, he should be able to come up with something new.

Furthermore, Jobs' next startup, Next, is skilled in animation production, which is exactly what he needs. With the help of the Hong Kong film market, it would be beneficial in the face of the impact from Hollywood.

As for other things, I can't think of that much. I'll just take it one step at a time. Even if my butterfly effect causes the future to change, I won't lose anything.
In the early days, he used his prophetic abilities to invest in companies, and now he chooses to invest in entrepreneurs who have succeeded in the past. Capable people are more likely to succeed regardless of the environment.
Back at the hotel, Yang Wendong asked Huang Baitao, "Has the news about selling Apple stock been released yet?"

"It's been released, and quite a few investors in Los Angeles are interested in it. I'm planning to meet with them in a few days for a detailed discussion," Huang Baitao said with a smile.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Okay, the price should be similar to that of the stock market. Since we're preparing to leave, let's cash out our funds as soon as possible and sever our relationship with Apple. That will make many business operations easier for Honor and Best Buy."

“Okay, Mr. Yang,” Huang Baitao replied.
Yang Wendong then asked, "How's your research on Microsoft coming along?"

The purpose of this trip to Los Angeles, besides cashing out Apple stock, is to prepare to buy Microsoft shares;
In the history of the US IT industry, the 1970s were the era of Apple, while the 1980s and 1990s were the era of Microsoft.

Huang Baitao said, "We have already investigated. It is not a large company, but they recently obtained an outsourcing license for computer systems from IBM. It seems that they are either very strong or have a deep relationship with IBM."
We also found that Bill Gates' mother knew members of IBM's board of directors, but it's uncertain whether this is the underlying relationship that facilitated their collaboration.

“Perhaps, but a large company like IBM cannot be decided by a single board member,” Yang Wendong said. “Microsoft may have that connection, but if they didn’t have the strength, they wouldn’t have been able to secure this order.”

In this era, many in the IT industry still believe that hardware is the key to making money. Companies like IBM and Apple don't care about software, considering it merely a complement to hardware.

But no one could have imagined that Microsoft would one day unify the global operating system market, and that there would be many other excellent software companies besides Microsoft, such as Oracle.

Microsoft's foray into software control began with outsourcing its systems business to IBM. To avoid complications, IBM allowed Microsoft to retain ownership of the system, essentially purchasing only services – a decision that was arguably IBM's biggest mistake in history. This explains why Yang Wendong, even knowing about Microsoft in his early years, didn't contact Bill Gates – to avoid prematurely interfering with the partnership between Microsoft and IBM.
Unlike Steve Jobs, who built his empire from scratch and had more capital in his early years which made development easier, Bill Gates, while certainly capable, would have found it difficult to secure a partnership with such a small company without his mother's connections. This would be akin to having Hong Kong's Cheung Hing Group outsource a major business to a few small workshops, which is practically impossible.

Huang Baitao laughed and said, "That's true, that's something that can't be found out clearly; only the parties involved know."

"We don't need to know that," Yang Wendong said nonchalantly. "Have you contacted them? We're planning to go check it out."

Huang Baitao said, "We have already contacted them, and Bill Gates said he would very much like to hear from you."

“Okay, then we’ll go there tomorrow,” Yang Wendong nodded and said.
Today, Yang Wendong is very well-known in Silicon Valley. On the one hand, he has made continuous investments in companies such as Intel, Apple, and Sequoia Capital. On the other hand, he controls Best Buy, a nationwide distribution channel, and controls the lifeline of many Silicon Valley companies.
Even if Yang Wendong were to visit IBM, IBM's top management would have to give him some face, at least sending a vice president to deal with him. And for small companies, they would feel even more flattered.

The next day, Yang Wendong, Huang Baitao, and others traveled to Bellevue, Washington, the headquarters of Microsoft.

What's quite amazing is that Microsoft, the future American IT giant, wasn't actually born in Los Angeles. Bill Gates didn't graduate from a Los Angeles school either. As people know, he dropped out of Harvard to found Microsoft, and he studied law, not computer science.

Fortunately, he had a private plane. The distance of more than 1000 kilometers only took a little over an hour by plane. With the time spent in the cars before and after, Yang Wendong arrived at Microsoft's headquarters by noon.

Bill Gates and several others were already waiting at the door. Yang Wendong recognized him at first glance. After all, this face was very familiar to those born in the 80s and 90s in his previous life. He was the world's richest man for more than a decade until the Internet era exploded, when he stepped down. But he was still one of the top super-rich people.

"Hello, Mr. Yang." Bill Gates was clearly prepared and recognized him directly in the crowd;
Yang Wendong shook hands and smiled, saying, "Hello, Mr. Gates."

Bill Gates then introduced, "This is Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft."

"Hello, Mr. Allen," Yang Wendong said, shaking hands in return.

It's a pity that Paul Allen could have become as famous as Bill Gates, but he was diagnosed with cancer a few years later.

It's truly tragic to be diagnosed with cancer in your twenties after achieving entrepreneurial success, even more so than Steve Jobs decades later.

Fortunately, he had lymphoma, not pancreatic cancer, which is considered the most dangerous type of cancer. Thanks to his substantial wealth, he lived until 2018, outliving Steve Jobs.

Paul Allen smiled and said, "Hello, Mr. Yang."

"Hello." Yang Wendong smiled.
Bill Gates said, "Mr. Yang, shall we give you a tour of my company first?"

"OK." Yang Wendong nodded. Regardless of his purpose, now that he was here, the first thing to do was to tour the company.

So, led by Bill Gates, the group took a tour of the company premises.
Yang Wendong was already aware of the situation at Microsoft and had no further questions. Soon, the group arrived at the conference room upstairs.
Yang Wendong asked directly, "Mr. Gates, Mr. Allen, the purpose of my visit is to invest in your company. What do you two think?"

Although Microsoft is now IBM's exclusive software supplier, its software prices are very low, and Microsoft's scale is not very large, so he just said it directly without beating around the bush.

Bill Gates and Paul Allen were not surprised after hearing this, and asked, "How much does Mr. Yang need to invest? How many shares will he acquire?"

"Do you know why I'm here?" Yang Wendong asked.

Bill Gates said calmly, "I can't say I know, but I have a rough idea. After all, Mr. Yang is the most successful investor in the United States right now."

"Haha, that's good, much more convenient." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "I want to invest in 20% of Microsoft's shares. As for the specific value, we need to evaluate your company to decide."

Having enough fame, like Buffett and Soros in the previous life, makes investing much easier.
"We'll talk about that later. What I'm more interested in is what your investment can bring to Microsoft?" Bill Gates followed up.

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