booktalesy Chapter 252 Call of Duty
Chapter 252 Call of Duty
Chapter 252 Call of Duty
The moment Ernst's voice rang out in the conference room, the previously noisy atmosphere seemed to be paused, instantly falling into an almost frozen silence.
Everyone present subconsciously restrained their previous casualness and turned their attention to the young tycoon in the main seat.
After a brief silence, the Goldman Sachs representative broke the silence, asking, "At what valuation do you plan to transfer your shares?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he deliberately turned his head and glanced at Michael Moritz of the Silicon Valley investment fund.
The meaning in his eyes was all too clear: Michael Moritz was the first one to be excluded from this deal.
Thomas Wilson's expression seemed to be a silent mockery, implying that no matter how loudly you shouted before, you still have to step aside in the face of real capital strength. In the end, it's all about real money.
Everyone present knew perfectly well that among the institutions involved in this transaction, Silicon Valley Investment Fund was the weakest.
While they could theoretically attract more investment from Silicon Valley, would they have the time? The answer is clearly no.
Michael Moritz naturally understood the meaning in Thomas Wilson's eyes. His face instantly darkened, and he snorted coldly, but he did not choose to lash out on the spot. He simply turned his head to the side silently, pretending not to see it.
Ernst had no interest in the power struggles between these institutions; all he could think about was how to successfully complete the share transfer and get the funds he wanted.
He cleared his throat and announced a price in a crisp and decisive tone: "I'll take a loss and go with the financing offer: $5.5 million for 10% of the shares."
Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned, their faces filled with disbelief.
Citigroup representative Mark Davis was the first to react. His eyes widened, and he asked with a mixture of urgency and confusion, "Wasn't the company valued at $39.5 billion during the financing round? According to that valuation, 10% of the shares shouldn't be priced like this."
Upon hearing Mark Davis's question, Ernst immediately objected, frowning and retorting, "Of course it should be calculated based on the post-investment valuation! You're all professional investors, how can you not even understand this basic common sense?"
Thomas Wilson quickly chimed in, "Even based on post-investment valuation, it should be $49.5 billion, 10%."
"The shares, converted to cash, should be worth $4.95 million, right? Your offer of $550 million is a full $5.5 million more."
Upon hearing this, Ernst slowly shifted his posture, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms in front of his chest. His tone was as roguish as could be: "Everyone here represents top-tier financial institutions, controlling billions of dollars. Why bother arguing over such a small amount?"
"I've already made concessions, agreeing to the financing offer. The extra fifty-five million dollars is just compensation; it's not unreasonable, is it?"
The conference room fell into a deathly silence once again, and the expressions on people's faces froze as if they had been frozen in place.
Even Ryan Ruiz and George Green, who had been practically invisible throughout the meeting and had barely spoken, couldn't help but lower their heads, secretly purse their lips, and exchange a helpless glance.
What a shame!
Today's meeting has made them realize the true colors of their boss, who is indeed, as rumored in the business world, a complete business rogue.
Fifty-five million US dollars is certainly not an astronomical figure for institutions that hold huge sums of money, but whose money comes from thin air?
Fifty-five million US dollars, you really lost a lot of money.
With $55 million, if invested in early-stage internet companies, at least a dozen promising companies could be invested in, and perhaps the next industry unicorn will emerge from among them.
But now, they're giving Ernst this extra sum of money for no reason, under the guise of compensation.
This isn't compensation; it's blatant robbery.
Before the company goes public and the cash is realized, the shares held are still only intangible; whether they can be truly realized and how much can be realized are still uncertain.
But Ernst wanted real money, so this deal didn't seem like a good deal at all.
Ernst glanced around the conference room, his gaze sweeping over each person's face. His tone was casual, yet carried an undeniable air of authority. "Does anyone have any objections? No problem. We can remain friendly even if the deal falls through. If all else fails, I can always find other organizations to cooperate with. I imagine there are quite a few that would be willing to take on the project."
The investors exchanged glances, but no one spoke.
Do you have any objections?
Of course there are.
Ernst's almost shameless behavior made even those who had spent years in investment banking and were used to all kinds of deceit and treachery feel as uncomfortable as if they had swallowed fly droppings, leaving them feeling suffocated.
But when it comes to actually expressing their dissent, they don't dare.
Because everyone knows that YueDong Games has a bright future and unlimited potential.
Although the company has not yet officially gone public, if Wall Street analysts were to select ten companies that are certain to go public and whose stock prices are likely to rise after listing, YueDong Games would definitely be among them, and might even be ranked high.
Buying a 10% stake for $550 million is equivalent to increasing the company's valuation by more than $500 million, which significantly increases the risk and leverage.
However, the positive development trend and huge market potential shown by Leap Games have made everyone willing to take the risk and stick their necks out to let Ernst take the plunge.
They have now acquired shares in YueDong Games and become shareholders, giving them a significant advantage.
If they give up this opportunity because of this $55 million difference, they will probably regret it to the core when YueDong Games successfully goes public, its stock price soars, and it creates an astronomical market value.
At this moment, Michael Moritz, who had been ridiculed before, became the most relaxed one.
Everyone knows that even if Silicon Valley investment funds choose to participate in this round of share transfer, they will probably only be able to obtain about 1% of the shares.
For a Silicon Valley investment fund that is already weak, spending such a large sum of money is really too much to bear and could very likely affect the company's subsequent investment plans.
So Michael Moritz simply adopted an indifferent attitude, quietly watching the representatives of the other organizations struggle and agonize.
Representatives from the other three Wall Street firms exchanged glances, their eyes meeting in mid-air, as if they could communicate with each other without saying a word.
Their eyes were filled with conflict, hesitation, and a hint of resentment.
After a while, Morgan's representative made the first decision, his tone somewhat tentative: "Ernst, how about this? $5 million, and we'll take 10% of your shares. As long as you agree, the funds can be in your account today."
Ernst narrowed his eyes slightly upon hearing the suggestion, a half-smile playing on his lips. He looked at the other man with a hint of mockery and slowly asked, "You mean, 'Call of Duty' is only worth fifty million dollars?"
"Uh~" Morgan's representative was instantly choked, as if something was stuck in his throat. He opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know how to refute it.
Although YueDong Games had already completed its financing in advance, Call of Duty was still officially launched on the YueDong Games platform on August 1st as originally planned.
Thanks to the good reputation built up by Counter-Strike, Call of Duty experienced a huge surge in popularity upon its release, quickly attracting the attention of a large number of gamers.
In just two and a half months since its release, Call of Duty's sales have skyrocketed, surpassing 127 million copies, and this number continues to grow at an astonishing rate.
According to professional organizations, based on the current sales momentum, Call of Duty will definitely sell more than 500 million copies.
What does this mean? It means that simply by selling games, Leap Games can easily rake in a staggering $100 million in revenue.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The various character skins, costumes, and props released in the game have attracted players to flock to them and spend money to buy them.
Call of Duty also innovatively developed DLC, a business model that made everyone exclaim: So this is how games can make money!
According to assessments by Wall Street professional data agencies, Call of Duty alone should easily bring in 400 million yuan in revenue for YueDong Games.
More importantly, through this game, YueDong Games has further consolidated and enhanced its reputation and status in the gaming industry.
Counter-Strike was a benchmark in the online gaming industry, and now Call of Duty has sparked a craze in the single-player game market. With one online game and one single-player game, the dual-engine approach has made YueDong Games the undisputed leader in the shooting game field.
All players are praising the company, Leap Games, for redefining the shooting game genre.
Players' recognition of YueDong Games has also translated into real market competitiveness.
Two weeks ago, YueDong Games conducted a survey specifically for Call of Duty players, asking whether they would still buy Call of Duty 2 if it were released.
Among the more than 10,000 players who had already purchased Call of Duty 1, 83% of them clearly stated that they would not hesitate to jump into Call of Duty 2 even if they closed their eyes.
Once the survey results came out, everyone understood that Call of Duty was definitely not a flash in the pan, but a huge IP series with great potential, a super cash cow that continuously generates wealth.
This is one of the reasons why the investors present, even though they had reservations about Ernst's offer, were willing to accept this cash-out.
Normally, if a major shareholder cashes out on such a large scale before a company goes public, it is very likely to erode investor trust and could trigger market concerns about the company's future development, thereby affecting the company's subsequent financing and listing process.
But YueDong Games was developing so well that these shrewd investors didn't even have the mind to consider the issue of over-leveraging trust.
The meeting room fell silent again. Everyone lowered their heads, knowing perfectly well what was going on: This isn't a loss at all! The price was clearly based on the new valuation after the game's huge success, yet they insisted on pretending to have made a huge concession.
Why bring up Call of Duty? Just say that the company's valuation has increased because of the game's success.
Why do they have to put on such a noble and righteous act?
After a long pause, Citigroup's Mark Davis finally spoke slowly, "How about we give you an answer tomorrow? After all, we also need to discuss the share allocation issue and report to the company. We can't just make a decision on the spot, can we?"
Ernst's eyes darted around for a moment before returning to normal, and he nodded calmly. "Alright, but I can give you a little more time. I hope to hear good news from you all by the morning after tomorrow."
"Giving us an extra night," several capital representatives couldn't help but mutter to themselves: "You're really generous."