American History 1988
Chapter 239 - 232 Jealousy_2

Chapter 239: Chapter 232 Jealousy_2

"Do you have plans tonight? Want to come up and sit for a while?" Dean suddenly realized that he had been on his own for quite some time.

Miranda was far away in Washington, and Jenny No.1, also known as Jennifer Connolly, was on location shooting a movie.

Dean needed someone to relieve his recent exhaustion; after all, the harmonious union of yin and yang gives birth to all things.

"I think I can be free for the entire evening," Jennifer Aniston’s little heart thumped wildly.

Oh God, who could resist his invitation? He was just so charming.

...

The next morning, Jennifer Aniston woke up at the Los Angeles Luce Gold Hotel.

Looking at the empty space beside her in bed, her once-happy mood instantly turned to dejection.

She should have known, how could a plain girl like her ever have Cinderella’s good fortune.

She just hoped he had settled the bill before leaving, or else she could face bankruptcy.

While searching for her clothes, Jennifer Aniston’s attention was drawn to a note by the bedside.

She picked it up and glanced at it, then a smile bloomed on her face.

Well, her luck wasn’t too bad. He had arranged everything and even left his private contact number.

So where had the elusive Dean gone? Ahem, at that moment he was catching up on sleep with an eye mask on an airplane.

The destination of this flight was Europe, the final stop on Byte Company’s roadshow.

In fact, according to the data collected by Morgan Stanley, Byte Company’s target fundraising amount had already been exceeded.

Whether they went to Europe or not wouldn’t affect the IPO’s success, but Dean still insisted on making the trip personally.

The roadshow was just a side event; the focus was to advertise Byte Company.

Let’s not forget, they were actively expanding into the European market; it was the perfect time to promote the Teams software and the soon-to-be-released Worktitle.

Once the schedule here was set, Byte Company could publish their prospectus and prepare to go public.

...

While Dean flew to the distant other side of the ocean, Seattle was finally connecting with the East Coast.

"Brian, I think we should consider Microsoft’s terms," said Ryan, a partner at Charles River Ventures, trying to convince the greedy young man.

"Ryan, maybe we could wait a bit longer," said Brian Wiles, a glint of greed in his eyes.

He never expected that in just two months, his life would have transformed completely.

He was originally just a nobody who played video games, and then the person before him had come knocking on his door.

They told him they wanted to invest in his RAS CALL software and then help him make a fortune.

Brian Wiles was skeptical, but then he saw Teams.

It turned out this thing could really make money, so he accepted the first investment of his life.

$120,000, he had never dealt with so much money before.

After the funds from Charles River Ventures arrived, the first thing Brian Wiles did was book a room at the Hilton Hotel in Queen’s Borough.

He stayed there for an entire week until he got tired of the fawning treatment from the receptionist.

He felt a sense of vindictive pleasure—yes, that receptionist Lorraine, she used to be his girlfriend.

But as with many such stories, she had dumped him.

"I’m sick of living with a rat!"

That was Lorraine’s farewell declaration to Brian Wiles.

He had let out harsh words at the time, but only he knew deep inside how deeply Lorraine had wounded him.

Now he had gotten his heart’s desire, and he experienced the thrill of revenge.

And after this incident, Brian Wiles understood a lesson.

Only money could help him achieve all this, only money was a reliable partner.

He absolutely didn’t want to go back to his former days, he wanted more.

"Come on, Brian, 8 million US dollars, we’ve already made a killing!"

Ryan simply couldn’t refuse Microsoft’s offer, which was way beyond his expectations.

Just less than a month ago, he had valued RAS CALL at over 400,000 dollars.

But now it had nearly increased twentyfold, and Ryan was certain that this was the highest return on investment for Charles River Ventures since its inception.

"Believe me, Ryan, RAS CALL can be valued at much more."

Brian Wiles’s eyes sparkled, "This is just Microsoft’s first bid, they definitely want to compete with Teams.

Think about Byte Company’s current valuation, even if we grab just one-tenth of that, it would be enough to make us rich."

Brian Wiles was no fool; he knew what Microsoft had in mind, and he had no intention of going against Byte Company himself.

As long as Microsoft’s price was right, there was nothing he wouldn’t sell.

"One-tenth?" Ryan swallowed hard, astounded by Brian Wiles’s appetite.

But at the same time, he was drooling over the temptation.

The reason he was so eager to sell RAS CALL was that Ryan knew it would be difficult for it to take the public listing route in the future.

Because not long ago, he had offended some of Wall Street’s most famous investment banks.

Although he had East Coast connections behind him, and Morgan Stanley wouldn’t do anything to him,

the path for IPO financing was getting narrower, and selling RAS CALL now was the best choice.

Yes, Charles River Ventures’ initial plan was to sell RAS CALL to some big company.

That’s why they chose to use Byte Company’s first roadshow as a way to advertise their own tricks, knowing that countless software peers were keeping an eye on Byte Company.

And sure enough, Microsoft came knocking almost immediately afterward.

With 8 million dollars for 30% of the shares, Charles River Ventures could take 2.4 million dollars.

How much was Ryan’s initial check again? 120,000 dollars, a twentyfold increase!

A threefold profit was enough to make capital obliterate humanity, let alone twentyfold.

So Ryan couldn’t wait to cash out his investment, but now Brian Wiles said he wanted more.

"Brian, Microsoft won’t make this offer, it doesn’t fit with business norms."

The calmer Ryan had to offer his advice; he had been through too many business negotiations.

"Then let’s get more people involved." Brian Wiles’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Ryan was taken aback, "You mean...?"

"What if we leak news that we’ve received bids from multiple companies?

Like Byte Company? They would definitely want to take us under their wing since we pose the greatest threat to them."

Shit! All of a sudden, Ryan realized that although this kid was greedy, he did have brains.

And most importantly, his methods were dirty enough! Ryan liked it!

"What if Byte Company shows no interest in us?" Ryan raised another question.

"That’s not important, what’s important is to get the word out, and if Byte Company responds, even better."

For the sake of embracing enough wealth, Brian Wiles had racked his brains.