American History 1988
Chapter 166 - 160 The Top Ten Thematic Rankings

Chapter 166: Chapter 160 The Top Ten Thematic Rankings

"OK~" As the audience’s laughter died down, David Letterman continued, "So can Byte Company handle all this?"

"I think we can," Dean assured confidently.

Whoosh~! Applause erupted from below the stage again, and Dean also smiled and waved his fist, giving a cheering gesture.

"It’s so good!" David said with a clap, joining the cheering, "You’re only 20 years old, and you’re doing great."

"Thank you~"

"You know, it just occurred to me now, I was busy chasing girls at that age," David joked amidst the audience’s laughter.

"How did that turn out?" Dean turned the tables, gossiping, "Did she accept you?"

"She..." David began to reply then suddenly stopped, "Come on, I’m the host here, it’s me interviewing you."

"Yeah," Dean nodded with a laugh, "but everyone’s curious."

"Yes!" The audience erupted again.

"No way!" David stubbornly shook his head, "I’m not going to tell you anything about getting rejected!"

Ha ha ha~ Joyful laughter filled the studio once more.

"Okay, let’s talk about the current situation of your company, I hear your software is very popular?"

"Yes, in fact just yesterday I received a call from San Francisco, Teams has sold 200,000 sets," Dean nodded proudly, "and we’ve been established for less than a year."

"Wow~ that is indeed an incredible achievement," David leaned in and gossiped, "I hear you’ve already become a multimillionaire, a multimillionaire at 20?"

David’s news instantly sent the audience into a frenzy. Money always had the power to excite people’s nerves.

In the studio’s backstage, Irin and her agent Brian both opened their mouths in shock.

WTF? That guy who just sat across from them, whom they treated like a bad boy, was a multimillionaire?

Alright, Jennifer was equally shocked by the news, she even just taught him how to relieve his nervousness.

"How?" David looked at Dean curiously, "How did you do it?"

"Actually, there’s been a bit of a misunderstanding," Dean explained very honestly, "that’s just an estimate, it’s a different thing from cash."

"But I heard your company is planning to go public next year?" David threw another bombshell.

Valuation might not be understood by the audience in front of the TV sets, but going public, everyone knows because in America everyone trades stocks!

The reason Americans don’t have the habit of saving is that their wealth is all in the stock market.

Every time a company goes public, without exception, it creates a whole bunch of millionaires, multimillionaires, and even billionaires!

Amid the audience’s excited cheers, Dean waited several seconds for everyone to quiet down.

"It’s just a plan, we won’t know until next year," he said.

"Dean, facing the audience," David made gestures towards the audience and the camera, "if Byte Company goes public, will you become a billionaire?"

The studio, which had just quieted down, was in an uproar again, and Dean spread his hands, not knowing how to answer, "If things go smoothly..."

"OK!" David stood up excitedly, cutting him off as he announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, America’s youngest billionaire has been born!"

This time not only did the audience voice their excitement, but even the bald Canadian band began to play live music.

"Come on~" Dean shook his head with a wry smile, "Letterman, we are on a live show, not dreaming."

"Oh~ thank you for reminding me." David recovered in an instant, straightened his sleeves, "Where were we just now?"

"Go public," Dean helpfully reminded.

"Yes! Becoming a billionaire!" David snapped his fingers, "I read you come from Ohio?"

"Mm-hm~" Dean adjusted his suit jacket.

"Does your suit not fit properly today?" David asked curiously, "Since you came on stage, you’ve made that small gesture many times." As he spoke, he mimicked it.

Dean, having been teased again, could only explain with a smile, "I don’t often wear this kind of negotiation suit."

"Negotiation suit?" David pointed and confirmed, "Did you just call it a negotiation suit?"

"Yeah~" Dean gestured over his body with both hands, "The last time I wore it, it was in Northern California’s District Court."

"Guys, from today onward, suits have a brand new name: negotiation suits!

In Washington, there are negotiation experts all over the place, and seated on Capitol Hill are the negotiation specialists!" David announced seriously to the camera.

"Only the West Coast still has a bunch of hippies left!" Okay, on a talk show, everyone can get hyped up at any time.

Once the scene settled down, David returned to the original topic, "Dean, did you know? Every episode of the late-night show has a top ten list announced."

Dean nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, I’ve seen the show." In fact, he hadn’t at all, and the backstage teleprompter hadn’t informed him of this part.

"Today’s theme list is, ’If Dean becomes a billionaire, what will he do?’"

David pulled out a folded paper and handed it to Dean, "This is the speculation collected from the West Coast, it comes from friends around you, people who have seen your news, or even your competitors, anything’s possible."

Dean took the envelope, "So I need to..."

"Open it, and read it out loud. Everyone’s curious about what someone from Ohio will do after becoming a billionaire,

I apologize I don’t mean to be discriminatory, but you know the current environment, everyone’s curious..."

"OK, I understand~" Dean opened the paper in front of the camera and prepared to read aloud.

"Remember to read from back to front; don’t mix it up," David reminded, hugging his arms.

In the laughter of the audience, Dean earnestly began to announce the so-called ten things he would do after becoming a billionaire.

"No.10: Move out of Stanford, then spend my own money to build an apartment across from the school exactly like my old dorm, with only me living in the entire building!"

Dean shook his head; the idea was too silly.

"No.9: Buy an island on the West Coast, then move the whole family over. The sunshine in California is much more generous than in Ohio!"

Among the laughter, Dean seriously nodded his head; that was a good idea.

"No.8: Buy ’Penthouse’ magazine, so I can work with live models when doing manual activities!"

"Hahaha~" David Letterman laughed like crazy on the side.

"The person who wrote this suggestion is a genius!" Dean didn’t even know how to comment for a moment.

"Yeah~, you totally have more direct options, like not needing to do the manual activities yourself," David added fuel to the fire.

Dean could only ignore the audience’s laughter and continue with the next item, trying to hold back his own laughter.

"No.7: Donate a batch of rust remover to Ohio, so it can scrub off its own ’Rust Belt’."

"Look, problem solved~" David seemed to discover a new continent, full of agreement on his face.

"Yes, I hope I could be that rust remover," Dean nodded and took note. His novel interpretation also won a round of applause from everyone.

"No.6: Spend money to buy enough octopuses until their value equals Bell’s patent fees, then send these octopuses to Bell Company to offset their compensation claims."

Okay, Dean didn’t know if this was mocking himself or Bell Company.

"No.5: Change sports cars every month until the car dealers have no new models to offer."

"Is this suggestion the most normal one so far?" Dean was somewhat surprised.

"Yeah~, but it does look cool, doesn’t it?" David is a car collector enthusiast, and this suggestion suited him even better.

"No.4: Fund an invitation for Madonna to do a photo shoot, and it’s best if I’m the photographer."

Dean helplessly shrugged at the camera, "Miss Madonna, this is not of my own volition."

"Haha~" On the side, David continued to laugh, "Dean, are you sure you don’t have such thoughts?"

"No~" Dean laughed and denied, "Although Madonna is beautiful, I’m not a pervert."

"OK, let’s continue!" David couldn’t wait to hear the rest.

"No.3: Donate money so David Letterman has enough medical funds to fill in his gap-toothed smile!"

"No! This is my style!" David shook his head excitedly refusing, "It’s my trademark!"

He bared those shiny gap teeth, letting the camera capture them clearly.

"If you need it, I can help," Dean joked before continuing to uncover the secrets.

"No.2: Advertise during the Super Bowl to tell everyone I’ve become a billionaire!"

"No, I wouldn’t do that. I think Letterman is more likely to."

David Letterman, who was drinking coffee, immediately had a look of confusion: Are you talking about me?

"No.1: Change my name to Dean.Price.Hundred Million so that Price would have an exact price, one hundred million US dollars!"

"Hahaha~" David and the audience below laughed together; it was a pun.

Dean’s surname is Price, which also means ’price’ in English. Hundred Million signifies a billion.

Adding these two words behind his name is like setting a precise price tag for Dean.

Literally one hundred million dollars and also refers to his fortune.

Alright, even Dean was amused by this suggestion. Among the vast crowd of onlookers, there are always a couple of nuggets.

"OK~" Dean laughed for a while before trying to calm down, "The people who wrote these suggestions are all bad guys~!"

"I think some of them are quite good," David raised a different opinion, "like buying ’Penthouse’ magazine, inviting Madonna for a photo shoot...

Dean, do you know? Madonna has been on my show. If you ever have such desires in the future, I can help put you in touch with her~"

Amidst the cheers, Dean smiled and shook his head, "No, it wouldn’t be appropriate."

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen~" Getting a cue from the edge of the stage, David began to wind up the interview.

"It’s time to say goodbye to Dean Price. Let’s wish his Byte Company overcomes its difficulties."

"Thank you~ Thank you so much," Dean stood up to bow to the audience below.

"If you want to see Dean buying ’Penthouse’ or inviting Madonna, then wish him well!"

David didn’t forget to interact with the audience one last time, and there was a burst of enthusiastic cheering.

"But even going bankrupt is no problem; Hollywood will like him."

Dean waved goodbye in the laughter, ready to leave the stage. Everyone is the butt of the joke on a talk show.

"Dean, seriously consider the first suggestion! It’s fabulous!" David specially advised as Dean’s figure was about to disappear.

Hahaha~ Amidst the joyful atmosphere of the studio, Dean left the stage.