American History 1988
Chapter 369 - 358: Di the Good Man

Chapter 369: Chapter 358: Di the Good Man

"Dean, what if Roy cries later?" Miranda placed the little guy on her lap, then asked uncertainly.

"Relax, this is just a normal private gathering, not as serious as you imagine."

Dean casually teased his son, who immediately started chanting "Daddy~Daddy~" non-stop.

Roy was already three years old and was even about to enroll in a top private kindergarten in Washington this fall.

In America, this is called Daycare or Preschool.

So little Roy can now jump around and talk, mischievously tight.

"I heard there will be many people, those often mentioned big shots?"

Miranda had hardly returned to work at the Democratic office since giving birth to Roy.

She now felt somewhat out of touch with the political circle, thus unconsciously a bit uneasy.

"You are a big shot, Miranda," Dean said, fixing his son’s Lego toys before he looked up.

"A significant portion of your foundation’s funds goes towards sponsoring these so-called ’big shots.’

In fact, you are their sponsor, you need to change your own position, Miranda."

"I’m just still not used to it~" Miranda shrugged helplessly.

Virtually everyone knew about her and Dean’s relationship.

Especially since they had a child, Dean was even less likely to let her continue working at the Democratic office.

Kidding, his current status didn’t allow his girlfriend to engage in ordinary jobs.

But to be honest, Miranda’s previous work experience barely qualified her as a semi-insider in the political circle, and that too in the Democratic party.

So, not to waste this resource, Dean simply established a personal foundation in her name.

This foundation was non-profit in nature, its main purpose still to provide politicians with various campaign funds.

The focus was on the Democratic party, as for the Republican party, Dean had another foundation running.

The couple divided the work clearly, each responsible for one side.

As for being seen as a fair-weather friend? In the benefit-focused America, that’s basic, okay?

Of course, externally, Miranda supported the Democratic party, her work history explained this point.

Dean was a supporter of the Republican party, something most people knew, no need to explain.

At least nominally, the two of them stood on opposite sides, which was an explanation for the media.

If anyone delved deeper into whether they discussed party matters privately, that was a different matter. No one knew, nor could they manage.

Now with such a foundation, Miranda’s daily task was maintaining its operations.

So Dean had said, Miranda was already a big shot, and one with substantive influence at that.

"Don’t overthink it, you just need to treat them like you would friends," he said.

Saying this, Dean handed little Roy over to her, then straightened his clothes, and opened the car door to get out.

They had arrived at the place, the Clinton couple was already waiting at the Oval Lawn of the White House.

"Hey~, Dean, we’ve been waiting for you," Clinton laughed heartily and gave him a hug.

"Roy and the others have been looking forward to this moment," Dean greeted them and their couple one by one along with Miranda.

Their daughter Chelsea was there too, including the previously adopted child, little Ian.

"Father~" Ian gave him a kiss.

"I’m glad you still remember me." Dean smiled as he took out the gift he had prepared from the car.

He was Ian’s godfather, so they had seen each other many times.

"Well, let’s go inside and talk, Kennedy and the others are there," Clinton led them towards the White House.

Today, although it was purported to be a private gathering of the President, each of the attendees had a significant title.

From former Senate Majority Leaders to Supreme Court Justices, although not many in number, they were definitely the top tier in Washington.

Although Dean had comforted her earlier, Miranda was still a bit nervous when she met them for the first time.

Fortunately, these politicians did not come alone; their spouses eased Miranda’s anxiety, quickly engaging in lively conversation.

As for Dean and the rest, after enjoying a delicious lunch, they entered the President’s office to discuss economic issues.

"Netscape goes public next week, right?" Clinton finally broached the main topic at a glance from Hillary.

"Exactly, on August 9, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley are jointly underwriting our shares," Dean continued the conversation cooperatively.

"I’ve used Netscape’s browser; it’s unbelievably magical.

So I guess it’ll be popular on Wall Street?" Kennedy asked enthusiastically.

"The financiers say..." Dean looked around, all ears were perked up, "they say Netscape is worth at least 1.8 billion US dollars!"

Whew~ these politicians’ mouths agape, chests rapidly heaving.

They were all terribly surprised but had to try very hard to restrain themselves, to appear more natural.

"Oh~ Netscape has done a great thing!" Hillary couldn’t hold back, as this was a fortune she had never imagined.

"Dean has the title of Nasdaq bell ringer~" Kennedy joked in high spirits, making everyone burst into laughter.

"I’ve just been to the trading floor a few more times than the average person," Dean shrugged innocently.

His demeanor, which had everyone unable to hold back, brought affectionate chuckles and tight embraces around his shoulders.

You would think they were brothers, but no harm in saying so.

Dean led them to a fortune, so he was their brother from another mother.

Needless to say about the Clintons, everyone here had a share.

Although they didn’t own as many shares as the host in the White House, arranging half a point to one point of stock options for them was no problem for Dean.

Take the Clintons for example; they now own 8% of Netscape.

Even after diluting 15% during the IPO, they still have about 6.8% left.

It seems like that’s not yet enough to get them overly excited.

But the IPO valuation of Netscape was 1.8 billion US dollars, which translates to 120 million US dollars.

God! It took Hillary two minutes to calculate her wealth, and then she was nearly faint with excitement.

Even though Dean had taken her through numerous financial maneuvers over the past two years, those only added up to tens of millions of dollars.

She had thought that was quite a lot already, having been a lawyer her whole life without ever making that much money.

Only today did she understand why Dean had previously referred to those investments as small fry?

In front of hundreds of millions of dollars in return, they indeed couldn’t be considered big deals now.

How much did she initially invest again? Less than 500,000 US dollars!

What was the multiple of that return? Hillary couldn’t even calculate it at the moment.

"That’s the IPO valuation, which means later on..." Hillary licked her lips, feeling somewhat dry mouthed.

Her statement once again drew everyone’s attention to Dean.

"Yes, IPO valuation," Dean spread his hands, "As you know, the stock price may fluctuate after going public.

Usually, to ensure the success of the IPO, this valuation is purposefully kept low, so..."

Dean didn’t finish his sentence, but everyone already understood what he meant.

Damn! Any one of them here now owns Netscape stocks worth twenty to thirty million US dollars.

If the price goes up after listing, even by just 10%, it means their wealth would increase by millions of dollars within a single day.

As for the Clintons, well, they were already giddy as if drunk.

"Is there anything we can help with?" Clinton blurted out subconsciously.

Feeling that he might have been too straightforward, he quickly rephrased.

"I mean, I strongly support the advancement of tech companies, and the federal government will provide policy favors."

"Fair competition is the biggest favor for Netscape," Dean said with great magnanimity.

"America advocates for democracy, freedom, and also fair competition, where everyone has the chance to achieve the American Dream!"

"Right, the fair competition of the market economy is what makes us the beacon of the world!"

And damn, these politicians really did sound the part when shouting slogans.

"Then let’s wish Netscape smooth sailing~" Dean smiled enigmatically.

"Cheers!" A few sipped on the fine red wine stored in the White House, their conversation filled with a comfortable ease.

Alright, Dean had said everything that needed to be said. When the time came, they had to pull out all stops to support Netscape.

Not for any other reason, but because they were shareholders of Netscape.

As for considering cashing out early after the IPO and taking off? Wishful thinking!

Dean involved them in playing, and it was all done in the name of funds.

And who controls those funds? Dean the philanthropist indicated it was all voluntary~

...

"What about Microsoft?"

"No official news yet, but judging from the talk of some executives, Microsoft appears to be testing the market’s feedback."

"Whether they announce it or not is no longer important because with the promotional force of Windows 95.

As long as they bundle such software packages, naturally, someone will promote it for them."

At this moment, Dean and Clark were in Times Square, New York, as today was the day Netscape went public.

The scene was bustling, and he had just been stopped by reporters who asked many questions.

However, once inside the trading floor, Dean’s mind still lingered on Microsoft all the way in Seattle.

Strangely, even though Windows 95 was about to be launched, Microsoft still showed no intention of supporting their own browser.

"Forget it, the pre-market trading is about to start, let’s go inside."

Dean couldn’t be bothered to think about Microsoft anymore, as today belonged to Netscape, with all eyes in the tech world focused here.

It couldn’t be helped, Netscape was the first to go public on the Nasdaq as an internet company.

Before it, there were plenty of computer companies, or software companies, but not internet companies.

In a sense, its performance today would determine whether the internet wave would arrive as expected.

"Guys, how are things looking now?" Dean entered the room and spread his arms, diving right into the topic.

"It’s already at 20 US dollars! The rise exceeded 40%!" Marc Andreessen was jumping with excitement.

He owned about 1.3% of Netscape’s shares, and in just a short while, his net worth had increased by nearly half!

"God! I knew it! I knew it!" Clark’s face flushed with an unusual red tide.

He valued today’s Netscape IPO very highly, having staked his entire fortune on it.

The issue price of Netscape was set at 14 US dollars, but now it had reached 20 US dollars.

Clearly, it was a successful trading day, and remember, the market hadn’t even opened yet.

Dean was also very pleased and was just about to squeeze through to take a closer look, but the phone in his pocket rang.

"Gates?" When he heard the caller introduce himself, Dean was instantly stunned and even forgot he was at the scene of the Netscape IPO.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.