Huayu: I'm reborn, but you still force me to be a scumbag?

Chapter 509 Chen Dominated Silicon Valley That Day (8700)

then,

After finishing his champagne, Chen Nuo, avoiding the eyes and ears of the reporters present, took out his phone and made a video call.

It was past 11 p.m. in China, but Fan Bingbing was clearly not sleepy at all. As soon as he called, the other end answered.

"Are you OK?"

As soon as Chen Nuo saw the woman on the screen, he immediately smiled. Fan Binbing's eyes were red and swollen, clearly indicating that she had just been crying.

"I, I'm fine, I just..." Fan Bingbing said a little embarrassedly, wiping the corner of her eyes with a tissue.

Chen Nuo smiled and asked, "Is Ruoruo asleep?"

"Yeah, I'm asleep."

"Are you the only one getting excited about this? You knew about it before."

Fan Bingbing didn't deny it. She let out a long breath and said, "I know... but knowing is one thing, but the feeling right now is... different. Watching the US stock market open, seeing it start trading with my own eyes, and then seeing your name in the shareholder information and the list of its top ten shareholders... at that moment, I felt like I was dreaming, and I couldn't help but burst out laughing."

Seeing Fan Binbing's red eyes and hesitant speech, Chen Nuo sensed that she was overwhelmed with emotion and understood.

How much did Fan Bingbing earn from all that work in Canada? Her total net worth, including fixed assets and liquid assets, is still less than nine figures. This move has at least multiplied her nominal wealth several times over. It would be abnormal if she wasn't excited.

Fan Bingbing clearly realized she had been a bit out of line, and as is typical for Chinese people, openly displaying a desire for money usually makes them feel a little embarrassed, so she immediately changed the subject and asked, "Did Yifei call you?"

"No, she's filming."

"Tsk tsk, she's really made up her mind this time. What about Aunt Liu?"

“I called her. She contacted me more than an hour ago.”

Fan Bingbing immediately laughed and said, "How about it, Aunt Liu, are you happy? If we had really returned that 2% of the shares to Zuckerberg back then, we would probably be kicking ourselves now."

Recalling Liu Xiaoli's demeanor on the previous phone call, Chen Nuo couldn't help but laugh and asked in return, "What do you think?"

"Haha." Fan Bingbing said with great interest, "How did she thank you? What did she say to you?"

Chen Nuo said, "They told me to go to Japan to inspect our work when I have time."

"You've become well-behaved?"

"What are you saying? They're your elders, show them some respect," Chen Nuo scolded. "Come on, let me show you the Nasdaq bell-ringing ceremony." He then held up his phone, looked around, and laughed, "How about it? Isn't the atmosphere great?"

Fan Bingbing exclaimed excitedly, "Wow, this is so exciting! How much do you think our stock will rise today?"

Chen Nuo knew that Fan Binbing was a complete novice when it came to stocks, so he couldn't help but chuckle and say, "How can you say for sure? Stocks are unpredictable; even Buffett can't explain them all. But..."

As he spoke, Chen Nuo tried to recall the events in his mind, but he really couldn't remember how Facebook performed in the early stages of its IPO.

At this point in his previous life, he was badly scammed by Netflix, which made him completely disillusioned with stocks. It wasn't until about ten years later, when he had achieved some success as an internet celebrity and had a lot of spare money, that he started paying attention to stocks again.

By then, Facebook had been renamed Meta, with a market value of trillions, and Zuckerberg had become a world-renowned hermaphrodite...

So how to say it.

Although he couldn't recall it, given Xiaozha's future achievements, the stock's performance couldn't be too bad. Besides, judging from its current soaring flight and rocket-like momentum, there was definitely no problem.

He pointed the camera at the large screen above and said, "...I've been watching stock analysts in the US these past two days, and many of them are saying that the stock will rise by at least 10%-20% on its first day of trading, and some are even optimistic, saying it could rise by 50%."

"Holy crap!" Fan Bingbing exclaimed excitedly, "Really?"

"Haha." Chen Nuo laughed. "Don't you think about how much hype Zuckerberg and his team made before Facebook went public? I bet the whole world knows about it, right? If you ask me, less than 20% is a recipe for failure!"

"I...I...I..." Fan Bingbing probably did some mental calculations and realized that even a 20% increase would add another 100 million yuan to her net worth. She then fell into a state of incoherence.

Seeing this, Chen Nuo smiled smugly and said, "Look, it's only been less than an hour since the market opened, and it's already risen to $41, which is 10% higher than the opening price. Oh, by the way, you know, our stock was actually delayed by half an hour because too many retail investors flooded in, causing the exchange's servers to crash... Hahahaha."

"Oh, it's dropped a little bit now... That's normal, you know, that's how stocks are, even the best stocks go up and down..."

"It's dropped a little more, 8%, but don't worry, it'll go back up soon. This is just profit-taking from those who bought at the opening..."

"5%, these people are selling a bit too fast, haha, selling high and buying low, they'll be buying at the bottom soon..."

"4%, you know, a spring, right? The deeper you compress it, the higher it bounces back. Look, it's gone up again..."

After a while.

Fan Binbing stopped stammering, and her voice sounded very calm: "So now... what about 1%? Can it go up later?"

"...I'll hang up now."

Chen Nuo hung up the phone and asked, "Where are Zuckerberg and the others?"

Gulnazar stood by for a long time, witnessing alongside Chen Nuo a bloody and tragic high dive, where billions of dollars vanished in just a few minutes. Her previously cheerful expression disappeared, and she said with a solemn face, "They went to the VIP lounge over there."

Chen Nuo asked with a stern face, "Do you know the place?"

Gulnazar nodded: "I know."

"Take me there."

"Good job, Mr. Chen."

I have to say, this girl is really a little reluctant to part with him.

Chen Nuo followed behind Gulnazar, his gaze unconsciously falling on the girl's round and perky buttocks under her straight skirt. The tight blue skirt hugged two firm and taut buttocks, and with each step, the details of the muscles rising and falling under the skirt could be clearly seen.

Thanks to this, Chen Nuo was able to temporarily set aside his anger and worry about his net worth shrinking by 10 billion yuan and fall into thinking about other things.

Gulnazar has been with him for almost two years now, and he's gotten used to it. He feels that having Gulnazar with him is no different from when Qi Yuntian was with him; in fact, Gulnazar is even more attentive, almost always able to meet all his needs and answer all his questions. The only regret is that Gulnazar hasn't yet stood guard for him in the bathroom.

But if he had actually been a goalkeeper, he probably wouldn't have wanted to send the girl to become a star.

But what if "The Eagle Catches the Chickens" makes her famous?
What should I do?
Thinking of this, Chen Nuo became even more annoyed.

Before I could come up with a solution, we arrived at the lounge.

And clearly, he wasn't the only one experiencing this double whammy.

He had plenty of people with him.

"WTF? You mean, all of this is from that article of mine?"

The Jewish young man, who was to become a groom the next day and is now the richest post-80s generation on Earth, was furious like a skinny bull, with pimples on his face that looked like they were about to burst with oil. Before Chen Nuo even entered the rest area, he heard Mark Zuckerberg's voice, and as soon as he entered, he saw the innocent young man raging at a group of institutional investors.

"Yes, Mark, that's the reason."

"Impossible, David. There could be thousands of reasons for the stock to fall. Don't drag me into it."

“Mark, you are the company's chairman, and your every move affects the stock price. We warned you about this yesterday, and now it seems that your article has had a greater impact on our stock than we imagined…”

“Bullshit!” Markberg interrupted. “David, don’t even think about using that to attack me.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Nuo understood.

Sure enough, it was this hypocritical Jew who caused all that mess before.

He read that article about values ​​and thought it was utterly ridiculous. If investors or the public are unclear about Facebook's current profit model or have questions about the effectiveness of its advertising, you should just honestly respond to those questions. Would it kill you to say, "There are shortcomings now, but we will work hard to improve as soon as possible"?
No way.

They insist on putting on an arrogant act, like "It's not that I don't understand business tactics, it's just that I have ideals and aspirations, and I don't want to make money." Who the hell are you trying to fool?
You think you're like Jack Ma, not after money, but your Facebook is full of plagiarized ideas. You even pulled a dirty trick to oust your partner from the board. Who in Silicon Valley doesn't know that? Even if they didn't know before, "The Social Network" has been made into a movie, and everyone in the world who needs to know knows now. What the hell are you pretending for?

Besides, you're a fucking Jew!

Jews!
Jews don't love money? Who are you insulting?
To tell such a colossal lie in an open letter.

Haha, I guess investors don't think Facebook is just another dot-com bubble anymore.

Instead, I think you're such an idiot, a moron!

The advertorials they bought touted that a 20% increase on the first day was a failure, and only a 50% increase was acceptable. Now look at this, it's almost fallen below the issue price!
When the largest tech IPO in history falls below its issue price on its first day of trading, tomorrow's headlines will definitely be quite interesting!
But there's no need to worry about him stealing the spotlight, because what kind of spotlight can a shareholder of a worthless, poorly performing stock have?

Thinking about this, Chen Nuo was really bursting with complaints and couldn't help but want to interrupt, wanting to say something like, "Are you even capable of being the chairman? If not, leave it to me!"

But the Vanguard Group people weren't to be trifled with. After being interrupted by Mark Zuckerberg, the investment manager named David immediately retorted, "This isn't an attack, it's a fact, Mark. Look at the current stock price!"

The man pointed to the television screen on the wall, which clearly displayed: 38.7!

It's only $0.7 away from breaking the IPO price!

What's even more alarming is that the daily candlestick chart is now trending downwards, with each rebound high being lower than the last.

Anyone who has ever traded stocks knows what this means.

Chen Nuo immediately recognized that this trend meant that any high point was seen by investors as a selling opportunity.

In other words, if the daily candlestick chart looks like this, then without any sudden positive news, this stock will have no chance on that day and will only keep hitting new lows.

He vowed to swear on his life that this would be the result.

“Mark, I’m not blaming you. Everyone makes mistakes.”

David, a representative from Vanguard Group, stated, "As your staunch supporters, we deeply respect your rights on the board. I simply want to say that your letter did not achieve its intended purpose; it only made investors believe that you lack confidence in Facebook's future, which severely impacted their trading strategies. My suggestion is not that you apologize or clarify; I simply want you to issue another open letter expressing your confidence in the company's future plans and profitability. Otherwise, I anticipate the situation will become very unfavorable."

Well said! That's exactly how it should be.

Chen Nuo immediately wanted to express his agreement.

But a bald man with a big belly cut in front of him.

Chen Nuo had no choice but to shut his mouth again, feeling rather embarrassed.

Because this person is from BlackRock, which ranks third among the top ten shareholders, he, a minor shareholder ranked eighth, had no choice but to keep quiet.

“We agree, Mark. While we at BlackRock don’t prioritize short-term stock price fluctuations, we dislike unnecessary distractions that can unsettle our investors. Sending another open letter, Mark, won’t damage your credibility; on the contrary, it will make investors feel respected.”

"We agree." "We do too."

“Mark, you really should consider this seriously.”

Next, they proceeded in order, expressing their views one after another, and the group of capital tycoons all nodded in agreement.

Mark Zuckerberg's complexion was visibly worsening; his thin face was not just red, but turned red then white, then white then red again.

Chen Nuo felt extremely relieved upon seeing this.

After being tricked by a pretentious person once, he felt extremely annoyed whenever he saw such a person, and this experience truly vented his anger.

Although he definitely won't sell his stocks, and the stock price doesn't matter much to him, first of all, money on paper is still money, and it would be painful to see it shrink significantly, right?
Secondly, in his view, Mark Zuckerberg's approach is completely unreasonable. He's simply taking advantage of his absolute majority voting power to treat the interests of others like dirt, recklessly trampling on them at will…

This trend of the strong bullying the weak must not be ignored!

Perfect timing! There's a big brother in front who controls trillions of assets; he can just follow along and beat up Zack.

So he patiently waited.
Finally, after Geode, who was ranked seventh, spoke, he glanced at the JPMorgan Chase representative behind him, smiled slightly, and was about to say, "I agree."

Unexpectedly, David from the Vanguard Group spoke up before he could say anything, saying, "Alright, Mark, I think you should know everyone's opinion. This isn't a formal shareholders' meeting, and I don't want you to think we're pressuring you. We're just offering a reasonable suggestion; the final decision is yours. Think it over carefully. Excuse me."

After saying that, he led his men out.

As Chen Nuo stood at the door and brushed past him, David gave him a cryptic smile and nodded.

What's going on here?
Do minority shareholders have no say?

He was a little confused.

Then BlackRock's people passed by... In a short while, the room was completely empty of people, leaving only him, Gulnazar, Zuckerberg, Sydney Sandberg, and their two assistants.

There was a moment of silence in the room.

He was wondering whether or not to express his opinion.

If I say something, the big shots have all left, and I feel a little awkward. If I don't say anything, I feel uneasy.

Although he doesn't own many shares, he is still a shareholder!

If he doesn't express his stance, how can he face Fan Binbing? How can he pick up the face he's lost?
Just as he was about to speak, Mark Zuckerberg looked over, nodded at him, and said, "THANK YOU, Chen."

what?
Thanks?
What did he do?

Before Chen Nuo could react, he heard Sydney Sandberg say, "Thank you, Chen, thank you for standing by our side."

After saying that, he turned to Zuckerberg and said, "Mark, didn't I tell you before that Chen would definitely stand with us?"

Mark Zuckerberg said, "Yes, Sydney, you're right."

Sandberg smiled and said, "I have another suggestion for you, which I think you should consider now."

Chen Nuo couldn't help but say, "Actually..."

But Mark Zuckerberg didn't hear him. He nodded gravely and said, "Indeed, there should be one more chair on the board. We should have more of our own people, otherwise, things might turn out like today. These money-grubbing opportunists only see short-term effects, only see the rise and fall of stock prices, only see whether their paper wealth is shrinking. They completely fail to understand our philosophy. In their eyes, our slogans are just empty promises to deceive investors. It's ridiculous. How narrow-minded and ignorant some people are. They have no idea about our ideals. I will absolutely not issue a second open letter. If the stock price is going to fall, let it fall."

After saying that, Zuckerberg turned to him and asked, "Chen, if I invited you to join Facebook's board of directors, would you be willing?"

Chen Nuo hesitated for about 0.01 seconds, then said, "I... am willing."

Zuckerberg didn't seem to expect him to refuse.

Seeing him nod, I couldn't help but smile and say, "Actually, from the very beginning, I knew that you and I were like-minded people. Remember when I came to New York to ask you to shoot an advertisement? I thought that you were not only very talented, but your personality and charm were exactly what we at Facebook had been looking for. Sure enough, you developed very well with us, and... it also fostered a friendship between us."

What the hell are you talking about? Chen Nuo said, "Yeah, I'm also very fortunate."

Zuckerberg said, "I will nominate you soon, Chen."

Chen Nuo said seriously, "Don't worry, Mark, I understand what you mean. As long as I'm on the board, I will always support you."

Mark Zuckerberg nodded, then shook his head and sighed, "Fortunately, the wedding was postponed to three days later, otherwise, I might not have been in the mood to face Priscilla."

"These damn institutions, what makes them think it's my problem? And what makes them say the stock price won't recover... Hah. I really hope that by the close of trading, our stock price will give them a good thrashing. Chen, do you think it's possible?"

Chen Nuo paused for a second, then nodded naturally and said, "Of course, I think it's very possible."

……

……

Very likely...

Weird.

38.76, that was Facebook's closing price on the first day.

If this price barely saved Facebook's face, then the next day, Facebook's stock opened at $36.5, then lost support, falling as low as $33 during the day, and finally closing down $4.20 at $34.03, a drop of 10.99%. The closing price was far below the offering price of $38, which was indeed a double slap in the face to Mark Zuckerberg.

Of course, Chen Nuo feels that attributing all the blame to that open letter is not fair to Zuckerberg.

The larger-than-expected issuance size, the large-scale cashing out by original shareholders, and the excessively high valuation are all contributing factors. The open letter was merely a trigger, providing a plausible explanation for everything.

Especially the second one.

DST, the investment fund under Russian investor Milner—yes, the same institution that spent $2 million to buy a 2% stake—was the reason Chen Nuo was able to sign the same contract with Facebook. On the opening day, DST reduced its holdings by as much as 40%, and the following day it continued its massive sell-off.

In addition, shareholders such as Goldman Sachs and Tiger Global Management also sold 50% of their holdings, far exceeding the previously planned reduction.

The fact that these institutions are leading the way in running away fully demonstrates that Zuckerberg is not joking; this guy really has no intention of making money.

Given this, will retail investors still have the confidence to buy in?
If Zuckerberg were like some A-share companies, he could write a little something to stabilize the stock price, but he doesn't!
Based on Facebook's share price of $34 on its second day of trading, its projected P/E ratio for the next 12 months is 57. In contrast, Google's P/E ratio for the same period is only 14. This is already a difficult price to buy at, so it's not surprising that those who stubbornly hold on to their positions reap dismal results.

As for why Chen Nuo would lie through his teeth.

That position on the Facebook board is naturally very tempting.

For Facebook, shareholders are shareholders, and directors are directors. Directors are not necessarily major shareholders, and major shareholders are not necessarily able to become directors. This is because to enter the board of directors, what matters is not the number of shares, but the recognition and approval of the company's management, especially CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

So, what are the benefits of being a Facebook board member?

Substantial benefits, such as dividends and salaries, are almost nonexistent; Facebook board members are paid far less than those at other companies.

But from another perspective, its benefits are priceless.

The title of "Facebook board member" brings prestige and networking resources, which can provide a huge implicit boost to one's status in Silicon Valley and even the global capital circle. Moreover, as Facebook grows stronger in the future, the influence of this identity and title will also increase.

To put it simply:
Before he had this identity, no matter how rich Chen Nuo was, even if he had tens of millions of US dollars to invest in projects, many top startups in Silicon Valley would still ignore him.

Because—Silicon Valley has never lacked money.

Thousands of investment institutions and trillions of dollars flow here every day, searching for the next Facebook, while every startup tech company dreams of being the next Facebook.

In this context, every aspiring entrepreneur, beyond money, values ​​the "network of connections" and "endorsement" behind the capital. They want resource synergy and strategic investors who can open up greater opportunities for the company's future development, not just a Hollywood tycoon who throws money around!
In this environment, a stack of US dollars is definitely not as valuable as a matching business card.

Now, with the title of "Facebook Director" added to Chen Nuo's business card, he is no longer just a "foolish Hollywood rich kid," but a Silicon Valley peer, a figure in the same capital chain, social ecosystem, and resource network as Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, and others, and a visionary and capable rising star in the tech world!
This identity will become a huge stepping stone for him in the world of fame and fortune in Silicon Valley. From then on, 99% of the companies here will no longer be wary of him.

Among them were the names of companies that he clearly remembered in his mind—companies that would shine and change the world in the future!

This is practically a cheat code tailor-made for him, a reborn individual!
In this situation, what harm is there in him telling a few lies with his eyes open?
Even if Zuckerberg said the sun revolves around the earth, he would nod and say that Copernicus really should have been burned at the stake!
However, his grand vision was destined to remain misunderstood by the outside world.

The next day, when Chen Nuo saw online that the shallow media and public opinion were still focused on the fact that his name appeared on Facebook's shareholder list, he couldn't help but scoff and shake his head inwardly. How many short-sighted people there are in the world!

Look at those news reports.

CNN's financial channel seemed to have seen a ghost, saying things like, "A Chinese actor's name is prominently listed among the top ten shareholders of Facebook, which went public yesterday! This isn't a scene from Inception; it's a dreamlike story happening in the real world!"

Bloomberg's response, however, carried a sense of calm tinged with irony:
"A Chinese face in Hollywood appeared at the Silicon Valley wealth feast. It's reasonable to assume that this was due to the equity clause attached to his endorsement contract with Facebook in 2009. In that darkest hour when the world was abandoning Facebook, he chose to go against the tide, and this contrarian move brought him billions of dollars in returns. This deal is enough to place him among the most visionary investors in history, putting 99.99% of professional investors to shame. From today onwards, he can even declare: acting in movies is just a side job for him."

CNBC's tone was more like that of someone reporting a breaking public event.
"It's safe to say that when investors around the world saw the name 'chennuo' appear as the eighth person on Facebook's list of top ten shareholders, their first reaction was: 'Am I seeing things?' Then, after learning that this chennuo was Chen Nuo, everyone just wanted to shout at the ceiling: 'OH MY GOD!' This is a double bombshell news story in both the financial and entertainment circles! If I could, I would rather rush up to Chen right now, shove a microphone in his mouth and ask: WHY!? Aren't you the spokesperson? How did you become a shareholder? What's wrong with you?'"

Other entertainment media outlets went even further.

TMZ, maintaining its usual paparazzi style, reported on something as terrifying as the end of the world:
"It's even more shocking than him winning 100 Best Actor awards! His $1.8 million salary is outdated. Just the publicly disclosed 2% stake in Facebook is worth over $20 billion, instantly propelling him into the ranks of Hollywood's richest stars and making him one of the wealthiest figures in the American entertainment industry. And how much more hidden wealth does he actually have? Nobody knows."

For The Hollywood Reporter, this might be the biggest news besides an asteroid impact, otherwise they wouldn't have featured it on the cover in 120pt font.

"Chen dominated Silicon Valley that day!"

The inside pages exaggeratedly stated: "Before this, who could have imagined that yesterday would see the largest IPO in the US tech industry? But among the many wealth stories, what drove financial and entertainment journalists worldwide wild was not Zuckerberg becoming the youngest and richest billionaire, nor Facebook's dramatic stock price fluctuations that day, but a name: Chen Nuo. The name of a Chinese actor ignited everyone's awareness in the heart of Silicon Valley's wealth center. For Chen's fans, this will surely be a day of celebration, as their idol has once again surprised everyone. If the Shanghai International Film Festival demonstrated his magnanimity, then his achievement of becoming the eighth largest shareholder of Facebook demonstrates his vision!"

Amidst this frenzied media coverage, Variety columnist Patrick Frater remained relatively calm. In his article, "A Wealth Miracle More Legendary Than a Movie! How Did Chen Do It?", he began to meticulously analyze the ins and outs of the matter.

"How did Chen think, and how did he manage to get Mark Zuckerberg, this cold-blooded, control-obsessed man, to agree to give him such a large stake in such a star company as Facebook? The answer may lie in that bizarre, baffling incident two years ago… Remember how many crazy things Chen did when he was about to renew his contract with Facebook? He even went back to China to invest in a university and start a tech company… At the time, everyone laughed at him for being crazy, but now, I'm 80% sure that these tactics were just strategies to force Mark Zuckerberg to concede… Now, it's clear that those who mocked him should publicly apologize. It's also clear that Chen not only has superb acting skills in movies, but his performance in the real world also deserves an Best Actor award."

Aside from these American media outlets that have the advantage of proximity, what is the reaction from China?

The next day, Chen Nuo spent the whole day with Zuckerberg, witnessing firsthand the historic moment when Facebook's stock price broke its initial offering price. He also personally saw Zuckerberg off as he shook his head and sighed as he returned to Silicon Valley to prepare for his wedding two days later. He didn't have time to check Weibo.

However, among the countless calls of greetings he received, besides his American friends like Leon Ledo, Charlize Theron, and Emma Stone who were making a big fuss about it, there were also many calls and text messages from friends in China.

Even someone like Gao Yuanyuan, a seemingly indifferent, artsy young woman, sent a text message asking, "Is what the news is saying true? Do you really have that much money right now?"

This is enough to show that the level of media coverage in Chinese-language media is in no way inferior to that of their American counterparts.

However, just as Chen Nuo was about to go on Weibo to see what they were saying about how much money he had, so that he could give Gao Yuanyuan a truthful reply, the doorbell of his suite on the top floor of the Hilton Hotel suddenly rang.

Gulnazar went to the door to check the situation, and when she came back and said the name, he couldn't help but smile. He stood up, straightened his clothes, and then said, "Please invite them in."

When he saw that fluffy, sparse golden hair, he was about to say a few words of magnanimous welcome to show a bit of the demeanor of a victor,

Unexpectedly, the other party preemptively struck, speaking rapidly and angrily: "Chen! I listened to you—I was terribly wrong! I bought that damn Facebook stock the day before yesterday at the opening bell, at $39.40 a share—a position worth tens of millions, and now I've lost millions. A complete disaster! Terrible advice, really, extremely bad. What do you suggest we do now?"

(End of this chapter)