American History 1988
Chapter 322 - 312: The Temptation of Wealth

Chapter 322: Chapter 312: The Temptation of Wealth

Jim Clark and Anderson’s breakfast meeting went very smoothly, even though they left the restaurant after just over half an hour.

But Anderson’s face was filled with joy, and Clark’s demeanor was relaxed too.

Outside, Clark took out his keys and pressed them gently. The deep green Lotus supercar parked out front immediately blinked its lights.

"Wow~!" Anderson was dazzled by the deep green silhouette.

"It’s the Green Goblin!" he said, his face filled with infatuation as he moved closer.

However, possibly realizing his dirty clothes, Anderson stopped just shy of touching it.

"It’s cool, isn’t it?" Clark said with a smile, his arms folded as he stood beside him.

"Of course!" Anderson’s gaze was full of admiration, "It has a more noble lineage than a Ferrari."

"Yeah~, you got that right," Clark nodded, then suddenly turned his gaze, "Want to try it?"

"What?!" Anderson thought he had heard wrong.

"Come on, let’s take it for a spin~" Without waiting for a response, Clark tossed the keys to him.

"Oh~ Jim!" Anderson caught the keys in a fluster; he couldn’t let the keys to the Lotus fall onto the dirty ground.

"Along Highway 101, we can drive straight to the Inner Bay!" Clark gestured and got into the passenger seat first.

"Shit!" Anderson cursed under his breath and then opened the driver’s door with immense excitement.

The moment he sat in the driver’s seat, the soft touch and the luxury interior in front of his eyes

made every cell in Anderson’s body cheer; yes, this was the feeling.

"Go! I want to see where the limit of this car is!" Clark patted the dashboard in front of him.

Whir~! As soon as he finished speaking, the supercar shot forward.

"Woo-hoo~!" Anderson’s excited scream echoed far from the car window.

Pedestrians on the roadside were used to such sights; this was Silicon Valley, home to many young entrepreneurs with million-dollar fortunes.

Half an hour later, the green phantom slowed to a stop by the roadside.

"Is it over?" the over-fifty-year-old Clark swallowed quietly, then asked softly.

He didn’t dare to open his mouth too wide; he might dirty the car.

"I’m here," Anderson turned his gaze to the window.

Clark followed his line of sight - low-rise apartments, worn exterior walls, few pedestrians on the road.

The rusted mailbox at the door, due to lack of maintenance, was swinging wide open in the wind.

The creaking friction added to the desolation of the street.

This was the "slum" of Silicon Valley—Sunnyvale’s blue-collar district.

Decades ago, before Silicon Valley became well-known, this area was a plum orchard.

Then, with the war underway, many factories moved in.

The plum orchards gradually vanished, and the fruit growers switched to blue overalls.

Later on, the military factories were replaced by electronics companies.

But the blue overalls did not disappear; the workers just moved from one factory to another.

Silicon Valley’s rise had little to do with them; they still couldn’t afford houses in affluent communities.

Only this area, once a workers’ hub, remained, home to Silicon Valley’s lowest rung.

Anderson had no savings to speak of; he could only afford to rent a house here.

"Hey~" Clark caught his attention.

"Mark, you’ve made the right choice.

You’ve joined a company with unlimited potential and become its partner.

Once it goes public, you’ll leave this place and own your own apartment in a community close to the company."

Clark paused, then glanced at the supercar.

"Of course, and this car too. Trust me, this is not a fantasy!

I can prove it all because I once started SGI."

Anderson’s eyes showed renewed longing; he felt he needed to do something.

"Jim, I’m planning to go back to Illinois next week."

"An absolutely right decision!" Clark agreed wholeheartedly.

"Tomorrow I’ll take you to browse Netscape, your office is ready."

"I can’t wait to get started on the new job," Anderson was full of eagerness at this moment.

...

After dropping off Anderson, Clark drove the Green Goblin straight to Menlo Park.

Dean had a villa there, but upon arrival, Clark found out that the former was not in Silicon Valley at the moment.

No choice, Clark had to take out his phone and dial.

"Dean, I’m standing at the door of your house?"

"Which house door?" Dean, lying on a sun-lounger, struggled to sit up.

Clark paused; oh right, too many houses—that’s just being capricious.

"Silicon Valley, the one closest to Byte Company."

"Sorry, I’m not in California right now," Dean removed the sunglasses from his face, "I’m vacationing in Florida."

"Alright, congratulations, that place is cool," Clark felt a bit nostalgic for vacation time too.

"So, is everything settled?" Dean turned to look as Miranda played with their child on the beach.

"Everything went smoothly, Anderson signed the contract, and by the way, he’s planning to return to Illinois next week."

"Good!" This was the first piece of good news Dean had heard in the new year.

He perked up and sat up from his lounge chair, "About the source code, I need to trouble you a bit more on that front."

"I’m getting it done, and there has been nice progress.

By the way, speaking of the source code, when are you coming back?

Don’t forget about our deal with Sun Microsystems, the end of January is almost upon us."

Clark had officially submitted his resignation to the SGI board of directors; he was about to leave the company he had founded.

Now that he had bet it all on Netscape and the source code, Clark was extremely concerned about their progress.

"I’ll probably be back next week, you know, I haven’t taken a vacation for a whole year.

I want to spend some time with the kids, I have a feeling this year will be even busier than the last."

After spending Christmas in California, Dean then took Miranda and the kids to the southernmost point of America, Florida.

It was to make up for her having traveled from Washington to San Francisco and for having the two kids pose together for a family photo.

In keeping his promise, Dean also bought a well-located estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

However, since this was a traditional and well-known ultra-wealthy area, the land had long been fully developed.

The estate that Dean bought, though not as spacious as the one in San Francisco, came at a considerable cost.

This transaction had cost him fifty million US dollars, making it his most expensive real estate investment to date.

Miranda was very satisfied, now she could come here for vacations anytime she wanted.

"OK, enjoy yourselves, I’ll keep an eye on things with Netscape," Anderson reassured.

After greeting Clark, he hung up the phone.

"Jessica, help me wash this car, especially the interior."

Clark handed the car keys to Dean’s butler; he had fully enjoyed the Lotus for nearly half a month.

...

In 1994, browsers and the internet started appearing more frequently in newspapers.

They were genuinely changing people’s impression of the web, particularly browsers, which were even indirectly driving the popularization of the internet.

"Such a distinct and useful application could potentially create a new industry from scratch."

That was the appraisal of Explorer and Mosaic browsers in a December issue of The New York Times the previous year, yet most people were skeptical.

Because everyone knew that regardless of how popular Explorer or Mosaic became, they were free.

Even if they held commercial value, they were just an application software after all.

So even though the initial version of Explorer was downloaded nearly 1.5 million times, Netscape still had no presence in Silicon Valley.

If a company has no profitable future, then its value can be considered negligible.

However, Jim Clark’s official departure from SGI was a topic that had Silicon Valley insiders buzzing for a while.

He had completely lost his influence over SGI and had gotten only fifteen million US dollars as a severance, which Clark deemed humiliating.

Usually, the higher-ups of a listed company receive a significant severance upon leaving.

For example, when John Chambers left Byte Company, he received a compensation of thirty million US dollars.

This amount, given John Chambers’s level, was certainly not low.

It was a reflection of their good cooperation, hence a smooth separation.

Jim Clark, on the other hand, was the complete opposite; being a founder and executive chairman, he got only fifteen million dollars.

That was half the amount received by the third-ranking executive at Byte Company, how could he not be angry?

However, considering a second venture like the browsers, Clark once again braced himself.

The day after he received the money, he couldn’t wait to visit Dean again.

In the San Francisco estate, Dean, who had returned from vacation in Florida, was holding a meeting with his financial advisors.

But due to Clark’s arrival, he excused himself to chat with his visitor.

"I think you already know, I no longer have any ties with SGI.

The five million US dollars for the source code, I can give it to you today."

"Take it easy, buddy, our venture is only just starting," Dean reassured, patting his shoulder.

"You’re right, it’s all just beginning," Clark said, reviving his spirits, "I plan to go to Illinois with Mark tomorrow."

Dean gave him a surprised look, "In person?"

"Mosaic must die!" Clark’s determination at this moment was even greater than Dean’s when he had first suggested the idea.

"OK, that way we’re perfectly safe," Dean said, surprised but pleased with Clark’s initiative.

"By the way, fly there on my private jet, I’ll arrange everything."

"Oh~" Now it was Clark’s turn to be surprised, "Honestly, I’m suddenly really looking forward to the flight tomorrow."

"Haha," Dean laughed heartily, "Come on, give those kids a shock.

Tell them they’ll never have a chance to ride on a private jet as long as they stay at NCSA.

But if they come to Netscape, they just might own one in the future."

"There’s no stronger persuasion than that, I guarantee it!" Clark said, pumping his fist, before turning to prepare for the task at hand.

Watching his back, Dean smiled. Good, now everyone was full of enthusiasm.

Oh yes, he still had to continue discussing the establishment of a charity foundation with the financial team.

Ever since speaking with his lawyers, Dean had suddenly realized that charity was indeed good business.

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