[Chapter 615: Firefly Empire]
AOL was founded by Steve Case and several partners, but Steve Case did not hold absolute control of the company. Two years prior, Firefly Investment became the largest shareholder of AOL with a 30% stake, which was why Steve originally insisted that Eric not participate in AOL's management for a period of time.
At this moment, there was less than a year left until the three-year agreement of Firefly withdrawing from AOL's operation would be up. However, Steve felt that Eric never really cared about the management rights of AOL. This young man's vision had always been aimed at a much broader industry chain.
After a moment's consideration, Steve tentatively suggested, "Eric, I personally hope to join this alliance plan. However, I don't think AOL needs to strip away all of its online business, do you?"
In the original timeline, AOL's operations had been skewed by the bubble-like nature of online business during the late internet boom. This caused it to stray from its foundational development, placing more energy in areas like portal websites. As a result, when the internet bubble burst, they suddenly realized they lacked the technical expansion in broadband that even traditional internet service providers had, leading to a rapid loss of AOL users. After its glory faded, the once-mighty colossus with a market value exceeding $170 billion was sold off by Time Warner for just over $40 billion, leaving behind only a hollow shell.
When Eric initially chose to invest in AOL, he planned to continue wreaking havoc on Time Warner. However, after deeper contemplation, he gradually abandoned this somewhat mischievous intention. Instead of witnessing an expensive 'fireworks show' worth hundreds of billions during the crash of the internet bubble, he preferred to act now to adjust AOL's trajectory and make this company a part of his wealth empire.
"Steve, although Yahoo entered the game a bit later than AOL, with its current vast user advantages, it's not difficult for Yahoo to step into the ISP market and surpass AOL. But unless absolutely necessary, I won't choose to do so. I want Yahoo to focus wholeheartedly on its existing business and excel at it. Similarly, I hope AOL can excel at being an ISP. I believe that with our close cooperation in this alliance, taking advantage of the rise of the internet industry, AOL could surpass traditional providers like AT&T and Comcast in just a few years. At that point, AOL could expand into cable TV services through acquisitions, and Firefly Group could also provide cable TV content support."
Here, Eric paused slightly to give Steve Case a moment to think. He then earnestly continued, "So, now, between becoming an industry giant and sticking to a diversification strategy that ultimately leads to mediocrity, which would you choose?"
Steve Case gave a faint smile of resignation. He heard clearly that Eric was not giving him a second option; if they couldn't become allies, they would likely become enemies. He found himself intrigued by Eric's statements; if they could align themselves with industry giants like AT&T and Comcast, then letting go of the online business didn't seem like such a difficult choice after all.
"Eric, this issue concerns the future of AOL, and I need to discuss it with Bill and the others. Also..." Steve Case raised the alliance plan in his hand and said, "AOL has become profitable, but our current capital is insufficient to support this plan. I'd like AOL to initiate the IPO plan early."
Usually, in mature financial markets, once a company went public, the more investors joined, the more diluted the equity would become, reducing the shareholders' voice and granting the management greater power. Even though Steve was already leaning toward Eric's plan, he did not want AOL to become just a pawn in Eric's business empire; he sought to retain more control.
"To obtain more funding after the IPO, I hope AOL continues to maintain its original pace for listing," Eric shook his head, denying Steve's suggestion. He understood that Steve wanted more control, but with AOL's market value under $2 billion, even a public offering of 10% of shares wouldn't raise more than $200 million. However, if they delayed this by a year, the same offering ratio could potentially double the funds raised. Quickly extinguishing Steve's thoughts, Eric added, "As long as AOL agrees to this alliance plan, Firefly can provide $200 million in low-interest debt financing without any additional terms. As an ally, Yahoo will promote AOL through our portal and might even become AOL's ISP distributor."
Upon hearing the promise of $200 million in low-interest financing, Steve Case felt his resistance fading. But he wondered, "Eric, what does it mean for Yahoo to become AOL's distributor?"
Eric explained, "Yahoo is about to release an application, and I believe its popularity will rival that of online email services and browser software. If AOL is willing, Yahoo can embed AOL's network login module into this application, which I believe could greatly enhance the promotion of AOL's internet access services. Moreover, since the core of the business isn't in that area, Yahoo's revenue share request would only need to be slightly above maintenance costs."
Currently, most operating systems did not have dedicated internet connection features. To access the internet, aside from necessary hardware, users needed to load the login software from their ISP. This login method was appealing because it provided an advertising platform for the service provider, yielding considerable extra profit, which is why it remained relevant even 20 years later.
If the application Eric mentioned became as popular as browser software, Steve Case certainly wouldn't refuse this collaboration. When he pressed for more details, Eric did not disclose more information.
At this point, the participation of AOL in the alliance was essentially settled. The specifics would be discussed further after Steve Case provided a definitive response the following day. Eric eagerly shifted the conversation to another pressing plan that focused on building ADSL broadband networks. This was the most urgent matter at hand. His demands weren't too high; given the current internet limitations of providing only text, images, and some audio, they just needed to raise average internet speeds to a stable 512Kbps rapidly and adjust the pricing model to offer affordable monthly packages. Then, Yahoo's growth in the coming years would not face constraints from the network environment.
After years of operations, AOL had accumulated enough experience in network deployment and service operations. Cisco's cutting-edge technology could quickly address the hardware needs for the new broadband network construction, even offering a complete network solution for AOL. Firefly and Yahoo's advertising resources in film and media would solve the promotional issues for the new network services. Thus, the excited group chatted and spent the entire night together. Even if they weren't workaholics, working all night was not uncommon for them. When they noticed the sky gradually lightening outside, none of them felt tired. They simply returned to their respective rooms to freshen up before heading downstairs together for breakfast.
Throughout the night, perhaps due to their increasingly engrossing discussion, Eric inadvertently revealed many internet concepts that hadn't yet emerged -- big data, cloud computing, e-commerce, antivirus software, and so on. He spoke freely until he noticed the changing expressions of the others, prompting him to quickly draw back. Even so, Eric knew that he must have started to look like an alien in their eyes.
Steve Case even found himself inspired by Eric's hints about opening direct chain internet cafes across major American cities. In 1994, the concept of internet cafes didn't even exist.
Eric wholeheartedly supported Steve Case's emerging idea. Early internet cafes could serve much like the free Wi-Fi provided by tech giants like Google a decade later, giving more ordinary people access to the internet. If AOL's chain internet cafes grew sufficiently large, it would indeed assist in spreading internet usage. However, all of this hinged on AOL successfully upgrading to ADSL broadband technology. Moreover, once the more user-friendly Windows 95 operating system launched alongside ADSL high-speed broadband, the feasibility of this plan would definitely be very high.
...
The morning after, Steve Case originally planned to delay further discussions with his other partners under the pretense of a discussion. However, after being captivated -- or brainwashed -- by Eric's vision of the expansive internet industry, he transformed into a fervent supporter of Eric's information industry alliance plan. He made a few quick calls to the other AOL partners and executives, and the matter was settled. John Chambers faced no obstacles either. Compared to AOL, Cisco's ownership had become more scattered over the years. Aside from Eric's significant 21% stake, there were no other shareholders with over 10%, allowing CEO John Chambers to make the decision without issues.
Given the situation, while Eric was still in Boston, they began discussing the next phase of their collaborative plan.
...
On the other hand, Bill Gates who returned to Boston after many years, was quite the spectacle. Speeches, interviews, and receptions from several universities and local media came in droves. The appointment he once had with Eric to visit Yahoo's headquarters seemed to be long forgotten.
Meanwhile, Eric, busy discussing the details of the information industry alliance with John Chambers and Steve Case, was more than happy for the Gates to enjoy a few more "spectacular" days. By the time Bill Gates got wind of Eric's meeting with John Chambers and Steve Case, the alliance plan between Yahoo, AOL, and Cisco was largely drafted.
Eric knew Bill Gates's way of operating all too well, so he never intended to draw him into the discussions. Bill was the sort to want to meddle in any business he encountered. Despite a solid partnership with IBM in the '80s, cracks had begun to form due to Microsoft's recent attempts to penetrate the hardware business that overlapped with IBM's interests. If it weren't for the complexities of developing processor chips, Eric believed Microsoft wouldn't hesitate to try to step into Intel's territory. In the original timeline, across all sectors involving the internet industry, Microsoft had held an 'I'll shoot whatever I see flying by today' mentality -- they never missed opportunities in portal sites, instant messaging, online email, and so on.
Regarding the impending collaboration with Microsoft, Eric did not hide anything from John Chambers and Steve Case. He shared some of the reasoning behind his actions. This did not hinder the tripartite alliance agreement at all. After a few revisions to the details, Ian Gurney, John Chambers, and Steve Case each signed the agreement on behalf of Yahoo, Cisco, and AOL. Following that, John Chambers and Steve Case hurried back to their respective companies to begin preparations to implement the alliance plan.
At this stage, there was no longer a need to conceal projects like instant messaging software and browser scripting languages from Steve Case and John Chambers. To facilitate communication among the dispersed individuals across the U.S. regarding the execution of the alliance plan, Eric specifically utilized YCR, which was still in beta testing, to establish the first official chat group in instant messaging history, bringing all of the primary figures from these companies into the fold. He even gave this YCR group an incredibly flashy name: Firefly Empire.
Years later, a legend persistently circulated within the vast YCR social network. In this sprawling communication environment, there existed a mysterious group that did not even have a number. Ordinary people couldn't find it and could not gain membership whatsoever. Even if users aimed to create a counterfeit group using the same name, the system would prohibit them outright. Every member of this group wielded substantial influence within their respective fields. Any news that emerged from this group had the potential to cause global economic fluctuations. Many who were fortunate enough to catch glimpses of information from this group claimed that the true forces controlling the world were not the ridiculous Rothschilds, nor the Jews, nor any so-called Masons, but rather the individuals within the Firefly Empire electronic group -- those who truly held the lifeblood of the global economy.
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