[Chapter 784: The Pit He Dug for Himself]
Bill was quite torn about whether or not to invest in the company; it was indeed a tough question. It was almost certain that William White would not take his dollars. As for the shares, Bill Gates was sowhat unwilling.
There was no doubt that Microsoft was no longer the small player it once was. Whether in operating systems or office software, they had beco the dominant force.
Looking around his ho, he noticed that he had accumulated quite a bit already. The White System was deliberately fragnted; anything that could be split into two companies would definitely not be rged. Microsoft, however, was different; everything in its basket was ripe for picking. As long as it could expand, Bill would gladly absorb all other software companies.
The two companies had completely different styles, and this had long been a source of gossip amongst their peers in Silicon Valley. It was hard to say which approach was better at that point in ti. William White seed to have beco cautious due to the Justice Departnt's scrutiny. Otherwise, who would be eager to increase their managent layers?
"What's the deal with this Netscape company? Can we sue them for infringent?"
"Sir, that wouldn't work. Not only would there be no results, but they would also seize the opportunity for publicity. This software called Navigator isn't that great in terms of user experience. However, White System's search engine does provide support."
"So easy? Damn it, I'm still a shareholder in this company."
Bill Gates felt at a loss for words. His voting power was limited to half his shares. William White wouldn't care about his objections. Besides, that company only belonged to his daughter.
...
"Abandon support for Netscape? Did I mishear, or has little Bill gone crazy? If I did that, do you think Netscape would refrain from suing him for unfair competition?"
"Really, sir, this is like walking down a dead-end road."
"Tom, that company won't do very well. As long as Microsoft's upcoming systems excel, there's no need to worry."
"Do you know why ICQ is free?"
"I don't know?! Sir, there are many rumors out there. Cough, anyway, there's not much good being said."
"I don't care about any of that. The only reason it's free is to limit competitors from joining. As long as I keep insisting on being free, my competitors will be buried under my massive funding. By the ti we hit one hundred million users, is it really that hard to make money?"
One hundred million users -- Tom appeared quite stunned. My God, the personal computer market was actually asured in hundreds of millions. It seed he too needed to adjust strategies.
"By the way, Tom, tell Bill to improve the software a little. No more blue screens -- crashing during demonstrations is incredibly embarrassing. Also, it actually needs DOS booting. I am old and cannot rember so many DOS commands. Could he do a favor? And it's been ages since we got the browser, why has there been no noticeable improvent? If it really doesn't work out, it's better to split it off."
"Cough cough, uh, sir, are you sure you want to say that?"
"Of course, good advice is often bitter, and with the amount I've invested, I naturally hope it does well. If he can't even sort this out, then it really loses its aning."
There was really nothing good to say about Bill Gates, and William White was still polite. If you ask Steve Jobs, I am afraid there would be no other words besides liar and thief.
William White wasn't worried about Netscape making a coback. After all, in a previous life, Microsoft made plenty of self-destructive choices, and Netscape ultimately fell apart.
Currently, browsers were rely about browsing so web pages with little additional functionality. If they still managed to ss that up, then he wasn't Bill Gates.
Bill Gates was exceptionally good at limiting his competitors. Netscape fell apart, Lotus collapsed -- his combat effectiveness was nothing short of explosive.
William White even found the current Microsoft tough to deal with; saying anything bad about them was an uphill battle.
...
"Sir, xico has so problems."
"Filson, what problems? Haven't they been doing well with their growth?"
"Sir, their short-term loans have surpassed thirty billion U.S. dollars, and their foreign exchange reserves can only be described as pitiful."
"Ah, I honestly don't know what to say. This North Arican Free Trade Agreent turned out to be quite a pit. So, does the think-tank want to short the peso? Doesn't seem too aningful."
"Sir, well..."
"Fine, fine, let's keep it discreet; their scale is simply too small. Let's just make so pocket money."
Filson forced a smile; while there wouldn't be substantial returns, the numbers still added up in the billions.
He actually didn't know that William White was quite conflicted about xico's current situation. He had never been optimistic about the North Arican Free Trade Agreent. Now, just when things seed to be calming down, trouble arrived.
Things in xico had been quite tumultuous lately. As cheap Arican agricultural products flooded in, nurous farrs fell into dire straits. With half-chanized farming, how could they possibly compete against Arican farrs?
The U.S. heavily subsidized its agriculture, with enormous, well-scaled farms involved. With their fragile foundation, they dared to compete against Arica?
If agricultural products engaged in a price war, no one stood a chance against the U.S., especially in corn and wheat.
When the farrs went bankrupt, they naturally would no longer engage in the industry. To make matters worse, they still dared to impose taxes -- direct conflict ensued.
Why did xico beco so chaotic? This was all brought about by Arican interference. If farming led to bankruptcy, then they'd switch to growing sothing else. Since Aricans liked drugs, they would produce more.
In the end, they succeeded -- cheap prices with good quality. Over ninety percent of the commodities in the U.S. ca from them. The profits they made were exchanged for weapons to use against Arican interests.
It wasn't that William White had so kind of ssianic complex. What they were doing would undoubtedly lead to major issues.
What? Build a wall?
Hahaha, indeed, a very reckless decision. Unfortunately, a wall that cost hundreds of billions fell to a rope ladder costing five dollars.
This person must not be well-read; if he were, he would know that the Berlin Wall was not particularly successful.
The Soviet troops truly had the guts to shoot; that wouldn't deter them. You were rely deporting; what's so great about that? Just co back again next week. At most, you'd waste five dollars.
Sigh, "xico is really in trouble this ti. With no growth in industry and agriculture collapsing, can they really pay back all those short-term loans?"
"Sir, if problems arise in xico, those investnt banks will surely beco very vigilant. Cough, if they withdraw investnts en masse from Asia..."
"Keep an eye on it. The way this is going, it's only a matter of ti until problems arise."
"Alright, I understand. I'll arrange for a dedicated team. xico is just one country and doesn't hold much significance with its neighbors, but Asia is a different story."
William White thought to himself that xico was hardly alone in this. This was what they called the middle-inco trap. After a storm passed, the whole Arican continent would seem lackluster.
If the surrounding neighbors were weaker, that naturally benefited Arica. If they beca too powerful, it would be quite troubleso. The U.S. surely hadn't anticipated that being overly weak wouldn't work either; if they couldn't survive, wouldn't they just run to the U.S.?
*****
spatreon/Sayonara816.
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