[Chapter 824: The Red Eye Plague Has No Cure]
William White really had no idea that there existed a kind of hate fueled by envy and jealousy in this world.
"Why does this guy's business always turn a profit? Ours is doing well but could never compare to his," he thought to himself.
He didn't even need to ntion it. The Big Blue, a company that investors usually avoided, had sohow managed to turn a profit this year.
"Sir, sothing big happened at today's board eting," his colleague said.
"What is it? Did Lou Gerstner raise the axe again? If that keeps up, the employees are going to lose it."
"People will be laid off, but this ti it won't have a big impact. For Microsoft, it's excellent news."
"What do you an? They gave up their operating system?"
Filson was taken aback; he never expected William White to react that way.
"Yes, OS/2 will no longer receive updates, and that departnt is being disbanded."
"No way, no way. Lou must have so understanding with Bill. Such a significant decision isn't a joke. Sure, it's positive in the short term, but Bill Gates will be losing any constraints. This will solidify their monopoly on the operating system market. This lucky guy is seriously winning at life."
Filson was sowhat dazed. Even if it didn't seem that great, he had all those Microsoft stocks in his hands. Speaking of life winners, those guys on Wall Street were going crazy.
"Andy, are you saying the Big Blue is finally seeing profits?"
"Yes, boss, and these profits are likely to continue. Just now, they introduced a topic at the board eting, stating that OS/2 will not have future versions."
"What do you an, Andy? I don't quite understand." The big boss at Morgan Stanley was increasingly confused; he knew very little about computers beyond a surface-level understanding.
"Sir, due to antitrust issues, OS/2 doesn't have many users, but the Big Blue has invested heavily in it. However, it's the only software that could compete with Windows. This decision will significantly reduce their losses. Plus, Bill Gates will be the biggest beneficiary."
After hearing the report, the old man felt sowhat speechless. "What do you an by the biggest beneficiary? Sure, Bill Gates owns the most shares. But is William White not still holding shares in IBM?"
"Andy, did you just say IBM will be profitable this year? After all these years, they're back to making a profit?"
"Yeah, boss. They lost close to a billion last year."
"Really? That much? Last I checked, it was around nine billion."
"According to Q3 reports, profits this year could exceed three billion."
"Wow, that much? Damn it, how much did White Fund buy last year?"
"Uh, less than 5%."
The old man's eyes widened--last year, IBM's valuation was less than $30 billion. If they made three billion, that's a 15 tis PE ratio, giving them a market cap of $45 billion.
In just one year, making a 50% profit wasn't normal; it was practically a heist.
What? Morgan Stanley with over a trillion in assets was unconcerned about that?
What a joke! Making over half a billion on a single investnt was extrely rare on Wall Street. During the '92 pound crisis, George Soros' actions shook the entire currency system, and even his profits were less than a billion pounds.
Did he earn more than William White?
"Ha! You're mistaken to think like that. Investing in securities and hedge funds are two different beasts; the risks are much lower, and if held long-term, there are hardly any taxes to deal with."
Most importantly, these were easily liquidated assets. If William White needed cash, he could quickly use those stocks to secure $2 billion.
No worries, plenty of banks would be eager to lend him even more. As for interest rates? They would definitely surprise him.
If that were all there was to it, the old man would just be envious; it wouldn't lead to anything worse. The Big Blue halting the OS/2 project ant the biggest beneficiary was Microsoft.
And William White, after all, was still a major shareholder.
Okay, this wasn't just a matter of simple math. Clearly, the Big Blue and Microsoft had been in talks. This would likely create a long-term win-win situation.
What did stocks buy? Future cash value.
Once this news broke, it was a no-brainer that the stocks of both companies would take off.
In fact, the old man had no real basis for jealousy toward William White. When White Fund was building its position, weren't they all just following the trend?
If they couldn't hold onto the stock, they had no one to bla but themselves.
"Alright then, Andy, I'm feeling a bit unwell."
"Sir, let call Dr. Smith for you."
"Sure, just pass that bottle of pills, please. Thanks."
Andy didn't genuinely worry about his boss's health.
In fact, he himself was feeling a bit troubled. He thought to himself that if he had only delayed a bit longer before cashing out, he might not have had to sell at all.
So-called value investing was just that--once profits t expectations, it was common practice to exit the field temporarily.
As an excellent fund manager, achieving a 10% annual return was very respectable. Investing was akin to gambling; once projected profits were achieved, it was necessary to get out.
"Well, you ntioned Warren Buffett."
Buffett didn't hold many long-term stocks, either. Moreover, Berkshire Hathaway wasn't an investnt bank; their managent philosophies were completely different.
William White had no idea the old man was feeling poorly. If he had known, he wouldn't need any personal doctor; just a couple of detox pills would suffice.
"By the way, Bill, when will your new version be ready?"
"Co on, William, did you not read the briefing? There'll be a testing version by the end of the year. If all goes well, we'll launch it around the sumr."
"Dude, my computer crashes three tis a day! The craziest part is that it doesn't even auto-save. I'm writing a novel, not playing gas. Can we get so reliability here?"
William White was really fired up; over an hour of work had gone to waste. The worst part was that his train of thought had been interrupted, and it was hard to get back to his previous fra of mind.
So, since he couldn't get back into the groove, he decided to call up and tease Bill instead. "You get to annoy , but I can't give you a hard ti? That's not fair!"
"Damn it, I told you before that your firewall conflicts with this system."
"Firewalls? Co on, I have a writing computer; how could it possibly go online? I'm telling you, I can't stop those jerks."
"Hey, tell about it! I have my fair share of those jerks around here too. By the way, are you intentionally trying to ss with ?"
"Ha! I was just grossed out by that terrible plot, so I thought I'd ss with you a little. Seriously, what benefits are you giving IBM?"
"Nothing at all? c'mon, what do you an?"
"Ha! Just offhand comnts, don't take it to heart. Please, no more patches; I'm too old for constant system upgrades."
After hanging up on William White, Bill Gates could only smile wryly; that was all he felt at the mont. Clearly, he had been caught off guard again.
Even though he was trying to operate discreetly, he still couldn't hide it from those who were observant. The Big Blue's operating system was no slouch; there was no reason for them to just step aside.
*****
spatreon/Sayonara816.
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