American History 1988
Chapter 246 - 239: The Billion US Dollar Club

Chapter 246: Chapter 239: The Billion US Dollar Club

Since the pre-market bidding commenced this morning, Dean hardly paid any attention to his phone.

All his focus was on the stock price of Byte Company, and just look at the trading hall now; it’s still in a state of euphoria.

However, there was still some time before the midday close, so Dean prepared to adjust his overexcited mood.

Just as he was saying that, the phone in Anna’s hand rang again, and Dean, grinning from ear to ear, happily took the call.

"Darling, who’s your boyfriend? ah? Haha~"

But before he could delight in his triumph for too long, he hurriedly apologized.

"Uh, sorry Hillary, I thought you were my girlfriend...

Oh~, you saw the news, did you?... Haha, no need to thank me, let’s get rich together..."

After a couple of phrases, Dean hung up the phone, still laughing.

Hillary had called to congratulate him not only on Byte Company’s successful IPO but also to tell him that the recent RAS CALL wouldn’t affect Byte Company’s stock in the near term.

Dean found it strange how she managed to do that, but now was not the time to delve into it.

Ding, ding, ding... The phone in his hand rang again.

"Hello?... Miranda, oh darling, you saw the news, right?

Yes, made a bit... really just a bit, merely over ten billion US dollars... Haha~"

Dean’s mouth was almost grinning sideways—this was too damn thrilling. The whole event happened in just half an hour.

And it wasn’t over yet. There were many calls because this morning’s IPO of Byte Company was live-streamed throughout.

"Jenny? Which Jenny?... Oh, sorry Jenny, there was another Jenny on the scene just now..."

Chattering away, Dean almost mixed up Connolly and Aniston.

"No problem, darling, let’s celebrate properly when I get back."

The overjoyed Dean also called his old man, but the slurred voice on the other end quickly dashed his mood to share the joy.

Well, his dad, Peter, had no idea that his son had become a billionaire; he was still hungover.

"Dean, come over here! It’s a miracle from God!" Valentine’s hoarse voice jolted Dean out of his attempt to return calls.

"What the f*ck?" Dean sprinted to the electronic big screen.

"53 US dollars! God, I love you!" Valentine trembled his lips, murmuring non-stop.

He prided himself on having weathered great storms, but today’s events made him doubt the reality of what he was seeing.

Sequoia Capital owned 12.4% of Byte Company, and Valentine roughly calculated that this stake was already worth about 600 million US dollars!

Crap! Sequoia Capital had never earned more than 100 million US dollars from a single investment before.

But now, it had not just crossed that line—it multiplied over five times! This was insane!

Valentine knew that after today, Sequoia Capital’s name would echo around the world! People would only trust him more blindly!

"Valentine! You bandit!" Durell, with bloodshot eyes, grabbed Valentine’s collar and shook it fiercely, "You snatched the lead investment right for Byte Company from me!"

"Durell, I’m going to be rich! Haha!" After being shaken awake, Valentine suddenly burst into roaring laughter.

According to the venture capitalist’s standard 20% take-home, this meant out of Sequoia Capital’s valuation over 600 million US dollars, a hundred million was his!

Which venture capitalist in America has ever made a profit of over one hundred million US dollars from a single investment?

None! He, Valentine, was the only one!

"Bastard!" Durell couldn’t help but want to punch him out of jealousy!

This wasn’t just about wealth; it was also about their standing in the venture capital circle.

Durell knew that after today, his reputation would trail behind Valentine’s, who could even surpass the legendary Arthur Locke.

And until today, they had been equals.

"Hey! Hey! Gentlemen, let’s keep it classy, there are a lot of TV stations broadcasting live here."

Seeing the two men deeply agitated, Dean quickly separated them.

If they started fighting, that would be today’s second big piece of news.

"NO! NO! NO!..." Valentine suddenly cradled his head, looking at the giant screen in agony.

Byte Company’s stock had started to fall. About thirty minutes after opening, massive volume turnovers occurred.

Many investment institutions were cashing out, taking advantage of the first wave of profit from the debut stock.

"It’s no good, it probably can’t hold on to the 50 US dollars price..." Durell had no time to quarrel with Valentine about the investment share anymore.

The curve of Byte Company’s stock price on the screen, even the slightest fluctuations, was tugging at their sensitive and fragile hearts.

Under their tense and anxious gaze, the stock price stabilized near 46 US dollars.

"Phew~" Valentine took a deep breath, his forehead and shirt already soaked with sweat.

Thank goodness, his hundred-million-dollar wealth threshold was preserved.

Dean looked at the time. It was almost noon.

"Guys, what do you say? Should we go for lunch first, or stay here and wait?"

Although Dean was the largest shareholder of Byte Company, he was much calmer than Valentine and the others.

Because he had anticipated today’s events from the beginning, so after the initial excitement, he quickly settled his emotions.

"I’ve got no time for lunch; I’m going to keep an eye on things here." Valentine couldn’t even spare a glance away from the board, feeling no hunger at all.

"OK, remember to notify me before the market closes this afternoon. I’m off to fill my belly and then take a good rest."

The naive Dean thought it was all over, but he hadn’t taken two steps before he was surrounded by hordes of reporters.

"Mr. Price, how does it feel to be a billionaire? Based on the current stock price of Byte, your net worth has already exceeded ten billion US dollars!"

"First of all, Byte Company has won the market and numerous investors over with reliable product quality and unparalleled creativity.

I think this is the most direct and greatest affirmation for all the teams at Byte Company.

As for personal wealth, it doesn’t really make any difference.

It’s just a string of numbers after all, we’re more used to calling it ’paper wealth’."

"You once listed ten things you would do after becoming a billionaire on a talk show; are you going to do them all?"

"That was just a talk show, reality is always a bit different from TV."

Finally getting away from the throng of reporters, Dean’s phone rang again.

"Hello?... Dad? Are you sober yet?"

"Mother F*cker! Rachel told me you made a fortune?!"

"Haha, just a little, over ten billion dollars." Dean grinned and laughed heartily.

"Bullshit! That’s enough to buy the whole of Youngstown, right?"

"Err, actually not, and I can’t touch that money right now."

"Why? Can’t you just sell your shares?"

"I’m a major shareholder of the company, and it’s in the lock-up period right now, I can only cash out a bit... maybe next year."

"Lock-up? Your account is frozen?"

"No, it’s a restriction... Look, Dad, you don’t need to understand all this, I’m really busy now, we’ll talk later."

As if anticipating that he had now recovered from his busy state, his phone kept ringing incessantly.

"Jim?... You saw it too, huh? To be honest, I didn’t expect the opening price to reach 36 US dollars, the stock traders and investors went crazy.

You don’t need to thank me, we had a deal, didn’t we?... The World Wide Web? OK, let’s talk later."

"Mr. Kennedy, yes, I didn’t expect it either, I’m completely out of the loop right now.

The market is surprisingly good, I feel like Silicon Valley will receive a special welcome here in the future.

When to sell?... I’m not a stock analyst, but I think if it hits 50 dollars again, that would be a good time to sell.

Of course, if you have confidence in Byte Company’s new product release next month, you might want to wait a bit longer."

When to go to Washington? Having a party?... Haha, no problem, I will."

Dean looked at the market board again, the stock price began to rise slowly, hovering around 49 dollars.

For individual investors like Anthony Kennedy, Dean didn’t mind them cashing out in time.

Their share of the stock wasn’t much, and selling it all wouldn’t affect Byte Company’s stock price much.

But regardless, these people owed him a favor, because he made them rich.

The countless calls from acquaintances and strangers alike kept Dean busy until the afternoon when things finally quieted down a bit.

These people were not only congratulating him on becoming a billionaire, but they were also subtly indicating that they had surplus funds available.

If there were similar investment opportunities in the future, they indicated he should feel free to speak up.

See, this is the charm of Byte Company going public.

They didn’t even care what Dean’s future projects were, they just cared about getting on board.

A market cap of nearly forty billion dollars, it exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Even those who joined in the third round of financing made more than ten times their profit today.

This was all in a total time frame of about half a year, they couldn’t think of any business more profitable than this.

And most importantly, it was clean, hassle-free, and even something to brag about.

Approaching four o’clock in the afternoon, Dean returned to the trading floor.

As per the tradition for a first day on the market, he needed to ring the closing bell one more time.

But before he could check the stock price of Byte Company, NYSE Chairman Madoff approached him.

"Dean, interested in investing in funds? I’ve got one here with a very decent return."

"Funds?" Dean blinked, truth be told he wasn’t familiar with this stuff.

His money was all thrown into the stock market, and specifically into tech stocks he was familiar with.

Like Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, and so on, Dean might not know much about stocks, but he knew which ones to buy.

As for financial products like funds, Dean hardly touched them, because he didn’t understand them.

"Dean, at our level, we should learn to manage our assets.

Let wealth bring more wealth, that’s the role of a fund.

It is managed by professionals, and all we have to do is enjoy vacations on Palm Beach, savor fine wine, and comfortably enjoy the substantial returns it brings."

"OK, I’ll keep that in mind." Dean accepted his business card. "But Mr. Madoff, it’s time for the market to close now."

"Yeah~ congratulations, Dean, welcome to the billion-dollar club."

With just one minute left to market close, Byte’s final market cap depended on the price now.

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