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Chapter 86 The Art of Diplomacy

The silver ballot box gleamed with a pale light under the crystal chandelier.

When Ernst took out another slip of paper, unfolded it, and read out the organization's name and numbers in a steady, almost cold tone, each syllable was like a red-hot rivet, slamming into John Reed's eardrums.

The expensive Persian carpet in the conference room could absorb all the noise, but it couldn't absorb the invisible pressure that made the Citigroup CEO's Adam's apple bob involuntarily.

"Lehman Brothers, $11 billion."

As soon as he finished speaking, John Reed's gaze, like a poisoned icicle, shifted from Bear Stearns and fixed itself on the face of Goodwin, senior vice president of Lehman Brothers.

When he saw the dark blue velvet tie on the other person's chest, he was even more furious.

Just recently at Citibank headquarters, Goodwin was still clinging to it, patting his chest and promising to stand firmly on the same side. Now, the other party's betrayal is more disgusting to John Reed than a snake's tongue.

He could even clearly hear the sound of his own teeth grinding. If looks could kill, police sirens would probably have pierced the night sky over Wall Street.

Blackstone Capital, $10.5 billion.

Ernst flipped through the notes with a mechanical calmness, while John Reed's knuckles turned white from gripping them so tightly.

He couldn't understand why these people would suddenly turn against him; it was blatant betrayal.

"This is impossible!" John Reed slammed his fist on the table, the mahogany conference table making a dull thud. "Are you crazy? Google is not worth that price at all."

No one paid any attention to John Reed's roar. Ernst glanced at him, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt.

"Wow, a big guy has arrived." Ernst's tone showed a hint of surprise for the first time.

"I never expected that Mr. Robert Rubin of Goldman Sachs would give such a high valuation of $13 billion."

This time, not only John Reed, but everyone else present looked surprised.

It's worth noting that when Google was raising funds, Wenger initially valued the company at only $12 billion, a figure that many already considered outrageous. Goldman Sachs then came up with an even more outrageous price.

Robert Rubin, however, sat there calmly, a faint smile playing on his lips, as if his decision was perfectly normal.

Ernst remained calm, his initial slight surprise quickly fading as he continued reading the prices one by one in a steady tone until only the last one remained.

"Which companies haven't been called out yet?"

John Reed was on the verge of exploding. The veins on his neck bulged like earthworms, and his eyes were bloodshot. He stared intently at the note in Ernst's hand that hadn't been read aloud yet. He felt that today's meeting was a humiliation, a complete and utter humiliation of Citibank. Not just his colleagues, but also this arrogant brat opposite him.

It was intentional. He was the one who put the note on top, but the other person left it at the end.

Ernst didn't want to offend the US; they didn't have that much of a grudge, and they might cross paths again in the future.

"I won't read the last one." Ernst gently placed the slip of paper back into the ballot box, a troubled expression on his face.

"So now the question is, besides Goldman Sachs' valuation of $13 billion, there are five other firms offering up to $11 billion. How should I choose?"

The financial institutions that offered $11 billion remained silent, exchanged glances, and then simultaneously turned their attention to Ernst.

Clearly, they had been tricked by Ernst; this kind of job, which offended people, was definitely left to this guy to decide.

"Does no one have any ideas?" Ernst had already taken the initiative. "Then I'll come up with a plan. Let's disregard the previous offers. Google's pre-investment valuation is $18 billion. First come, first served."

"Are you trying to take advantage of our misfortune?" Dick Felman, senior vice president of Morgan Stanley, jumped to his feet. "A valuation of $18 billion? Why don't you just rob a bank?"

Robbing a bank? Isn't that exactly what's happening right now?

Ernst shrugged indifferently. "I didn't force you. It was all voluntary."

The curve of his lips held a cunning rarely seen in a young man, sending a chill down the spines of the seasoned Wall Street veterans present. That smile gave them the illusion that he was a little devil who had crawled up from hell.

"Here's some good news for Google's future shareholders: Gmail is basically complete and will be officially launched by March at the latest."

A glint of light flashed in Robert Rubin's eyes as he broke the silence first: "Goldman Sachs has agreed to the valuation of $18 billion as you suggested, but Goldman Sachs will lead the investment with at least 8% of the shares."

"Okay," Ernst agreed without hesitation. To him, it didn't matter who had more or less shares, because they were all wolves and tigers.

What he needed was for someone to stand up and endorse Google's high valuation, and Goldman Sachs was the first to do so, so naturally he had to offer some incentives.

The others, however, cursed the old fox inwardly, thinking he had acted too quickly.

The launch of Gmail represents the formation of another growth point for Google's business, and its valuation will naturally increase.

Most importantly, Ernst himself has a very clear vision for Google's development, and today's incident demonstrates his considerable skill.

Sometimes, investments are made not just in companies, but also in individuals.

Ernst showed them that Google's future development would definitely not be bad, and with its current market advantages, it should have no problem breaking the $10 billion mark in market value in the future.

"I agree," Goodwin of Lehman Brothers quickly chimed in, not wanting Google to be the first source of gold they discovered, only to end up with Lehman Brothers getting nothing in return.

Here, Wall Street giants are vying for control of Google's shares.

Meanwhile, in Redmond, hundreds of kilometers away, the conference room at Microsoft headquarters was brightly lit.

"I bet that little guy is feeling pretty smug right now," Bill Gates said, gazing out the window at the night sky while holding a cup of hot cocoa.

From the moment Wenger sent Ernst an invitation, warning him to be wary of pressure from Wall Street, Ernst was already taking precautions.

This is where Craig's shady connections proved valuable. Although the gangs he knew were all from Los Angeles, it didn't mean they had no dealings with New York.

Just like sister cities, there are also friendly factions between different cities.

Who can guarantee they'll only operate in their own city? If they go to other cities without the help of local gangs, not only will they find it difficult to move an inch, but they might not even be able to get back.

Craig used his connections in Los Angeles to get to New York gangs, and with $100,000, Ernst was able to monitor the every move of the Wall Street tycoons.

There had been no movement for a while, and Ernst thought Wenger was overthinking things.

Before attending this charity dinner, Ernst received news that major Wall Street figures would be gathering at Citigroup that day.

After thinking for a long time, Ernst found Bill Gates's phone number and called him.

Shortly after Ernst arrived at the scene, Microsoft announced that its Internet Explorer browser and Google had reached an agreement for comprehensive cooperation, with Google providing IE's search engine technology.

Clearly, as the protagonist of today's story, the busy John Reed didn't have time to update his own information, while other Wall Street giants learned about this collaboration that would propel Google to new heights immediately.

With both Netscape and Internet Explorer becoming Google's clients, Google is guaranteed to hold at least 70% of the search engine market share.

Calling it a market monopoly wouldn't be an exaggeration, and it would also make Google's position in the United States more stable, allowing it to focus on conquering the global market.

With a monopoly and Google's technological advantage, how could Wall Street not understand the enormous profits involved?

So after Ernst proposed the vote, everyone tacitly chose to break the agreement without telling John Reed.

"I really want to see which group of people on Wall Street are looking at right now; it'll be quite an interesting sight."

Ballmer's curiosity made everyone in the office burst into laughter, except for Jonari, the head of the IE department, who frowned and looked worried.

Jeff Rex, a friend, observed this situation and asked, "Are you still worried that Google will enter the browser market in the future? Or develop independently?"

Jonari glanced at him, and when he saw that everyone was looking at him, he nodded. "Google can't be satisfied with just providing services to enterprises and focusing on B2B business. This can be seen from the independent website that Google has launched."

"In fact, they have already ventured into consumer-facing (C-end) business. In the future, Google will definitely fully transform into a toC model, targeting individuals rather than businesses."

"I know that guy's appetite is huge, as you can see from this Google funding round."

Bill Gates agreed, saying, "But as you said, that's a matter for the future. Compared to Google, unifying the browser is our top priority, and this is the best opportunity."

Ernst won the IE search engine business by promising to help Microsoft defeat Netscape.

Netscape's search engine is now maintained by Google, making it incredibly easy for them to pull off some underhanded tactics.

Even without resorting to underhanded tactics, Netscape will be exposed for what it truly is simply by using Google in Internet Explorer, especially since it's free.

Furthermore, Ernst's promise to significantly increase Netscape's usage fees blinded Bill with the dream of dominating the browser market.

In America, interests are everything; if they are in your interest, you are your friend.

Now that both sides share common interests, they can become friends and stand on a united front.

As for whether they will become enemies in the future? That's a question for later consideration.

At least for now, they can all get what they want from this collaboration.

Microsoft can crush Netscape, and Google can expand its market share through IE channels. Why not?