"Wow, wow, wow, George. Since when did you become a venture capitalist?"
"Oh, Isa. It seems you still don't know me very well. I've always made venture-capital investments."
"What?"
"Don't 'what' me! You heard me correctly! Besides Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic, I own plenty of investment companies. Steve is the same, because we've always worked with the most advanced technology in the world. For example, I defined the EXR format that became the industry standard for visual effects. The Philosopher's Stone was the first film in the world to use the EXR format for processing. Although I never charged patent royalties for it, every visual-effects company in the world has to use my software, including Weta Digital and Sony Pictures Imageworks. And do you know Photoshop? Its developer, John Knoll, is the chief creative officer of Industrial Light & Magic. That investment earned me ten million dollars in its first year, and even now, I still receive annual dividends from Adobe. I'll continue receiving them until Photoshop becomes obsolete."
In many people's eyes, Industrial Light & Magic was merely a visual-effects company, but that perception was incorrect.
Having reached the forefront of its era and benefited from wave after wave of technological advancement, its value could no longer be measured within a single category. It owned the rights to many cutting-edge technologies.
And that was the real reason George Lucas could not be bothered to make films.
When someone could earn money while lying down, why would they get up and struggle?
Right?
As for that—
"Okay, so what kind of project have you brought me today?"
Leaning back in her chair, Isabella asked while picking at her toes.
Her casual tone made George Lucas laugh on the other end of the phone.
"Uh, the project I'm bringing you today is somewhat unusual."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that they aren't short of money, but they need your money. And, even without me, the two of you would eventually have met."
"..."
"What? George, could you be more specific? Don't worry about taking too long. I have plenty of time while I'm on the phone with you."
"Okay. Then should I begin by explaining my relationship with the person who wants your investment?"
"Go ahead."
"Mm. The person seeking an investment from you today is named Noah Glass. He used to be a visual-effects artist at Industrial Light & Magic. Since he preferred playing around with computers, after leaving ILM, he began working on podcasts with Marc Canter, the founder of MacroMind and one of the founders of what is now Adobe."
Noah Glass was a capable man. As early as the late 1990s, he had developed audio podcasting.
Any normal person could understand that once personal computers were combined with the internet, their development would inevitably progress through text, images, audio, and video. Therefore, after creating audio podcasting, Noah Glass wanted to establish a company and commercialize his invention. After discussing the idea with friends in the industry,
Evan Williams, the founder of Blogger, decided to pursue the dream with them.
The company they founded together was called Odeo.
At the beginning, they were filled with confidence because they believed their idea was excellent.
But—
Odeo launched at the end of 2004.
Three months after its launch, YouTube appeared.
Once people could use the internet to distribute videos, who would still bother with audio?
Right?
As a result, Odeo immediately collapsed.
To save the company, Odeo's founders began considering whether it needed to change direction.
And if it did, what direction should Odeo take?
Then, after a brainstorming session, they came up with an idea in February 2006.
It was a social network based on text messaging.
Each user account would be an independent individual;
after each person posted something, their statement would form a small personal page where other users could leave replies beneath it;
the process would continue repeatedly, like an ongoing chain.
Since the inspiration came from text messages, they named the project Twitter.
Yeah.
The project now appearing before Isabella was called Twitter.
The moment she heard that, Isabella, who had been sitting there picking at her toes, went completely blank!
She had never imagined that the Twitter project would suddenly appear before her!
In her previous life, although Twitter had never surpassed Facebook in market capitalization, it had still been one of the world's largest social-networking platforms! Or rather, the difference in market capitalization between Twitter and Facebook had nothing to do with the size of their user bases. It came entirely from the distinction between personal social platforms and public social platforms!
And now that the concept of a "personal social platform" had already been discredited by Isabella,
when personal social networking was no longer viable, the largest public social platform from her previous life had appeared?
This—
Honestly!
At that moment!
Isabella genuinely felt as though someone had handed her a pillow the instant she became sleepy!
One second ago, she had been worrying because she did not know what kind of social-networking software to create!
And the next second, Twitter fell from the sky?
No.
We truly are Heaven's chosen ruler.
Even the heavens believe We are cold and insist on dressing Us in more layers. Suppressing the urge to laugh aloud, well, all right, the moment she heard the name Twitter, the corners of Isabella's mouth nearly reached another planet. She cleared her throat, tightened the imperial robe around herself, and smiled. "Okay. Since it's a project belonging to one of our own people, I'll invest in Twitter.
"However, George, I have another question.
"If I remember correctly, you said earlier that even if these people hadn't contacted you, they still would have been able to reach me?
"What did you mean by that?"
"Oh, the explanation is simple. Twitter's other founders are your people from Google."
George Lucas laughed on the other end of the phone. "How could it be difficult for people from Google to contact you?
"They approached you through me only because they believed you and I had a closer relationship.
"After all, you've been working with Chris for a long time."
That was right!
Apart from Noah Glass, every other founder of Twitter had come from Google!
Take Evan Williams, for example. Before founding Odeo, he had been the principal person responsible for Google's blogging project!
After all, Google had acquired Blogger, the company he founded!
Blogger's parent company was called Pyra Labs.
Another example was Biz Stone, another founder of Twitter. Before founding Odeo, he had already risen to the position of vice president of social products at Google. He had even given up his Google shares to work on Odeo!
And even if those people had not contacted Isabella through Google, Twitter would still have appeared before her!
That was because Marc Canter, who had worked with Noah Glass on audio podcasting, was connected to Apple!
He had written a large portion of the patents owned by Apple for the iPod!
Therefore, after Isabella slapped Facebook to death, Twitter could only have ended up in her hands!
Mm.
At present, these people were approaching Isabella for investment purely because her behavior had been too brutal.
Once she displayed an intention to control global public opinion, any normal person hoping to create social-networking software would understand that their company could survive only by taking Isabella's surname.
"Oh, George, what on earth have all of you been saying?
"Why are you making me sound like a demon who eats three children with every meal?"
The outside world's fear of Isabella made Isabella "very unhappy."
She was clearly just a cute, weak little girl who wanted nothing more than to be beautiful by herself!
Yet everyone insisted on treating her like a devil?
That was—
absolutely outrageous!
"Oh, so you mean you no longer want to invest in Twitter?"
George Lucas seemed to hear the joking tone in Isabella's words.
He deliberately responded with the opposite of what she wanted to hear. "If you don't want to invest, I can apologize to them on your behalf. But if I do that, they'll probably be very disappointed—"
"I'll invest, I'll invest, I'll invest!
"Fine, I'll invest for your sake!"
Isabella took the benefit while pretending she was doing him a favor.
Since the largest text-based platform in the future public-social-networking sector had already appeared, how could Isabella possibly let it escape?
Therefore,
after saying goodbye to George Lucas, she immediately called Valentine O'Connor. She instructed the bald man, who was still in America, to contact Twitter and ask how much funding they needed and how much equity they were willing to surrender.
They were all on the same side, so communication went very smoothly.
A few days later, Isabella learned that Twitter wanted to raise five million dollars in its angel round in exchange for twenty percent of the company. It was also willing to grant Isabella's side priority investment rights in all future Twitter financing rounds.
After a simple calculation,
Twitter's founders had valued their company at twenty-five million dollars.
Was that valuation reasonable?
Isabella did not know.
But she did not care.
Five million dollars was a small amount of money to her.
It was less than what she had spent raising her pets last year.
So—
"You can handle the five-million-dollar investment yourself. There's no need to report back to me.
"But this investment can't go through Robin. I want to use a different shell company.
"Someone else wants to join the deal.
"As for how their share should be calculated,
"once you've finished the Take-Two acquisition, return to London and meet the Duke of Devonshire. His people will discuss it with you."
After Isabella briefly explained the arrangement she had reached with the Duke of Devonshire, Valentine O'Connor immediately felt an enormous weight settle on his shoulders. He accelerated the completion of Take-Two's acquisition, then hurried back to London and used Isabella's business card to submit a request for a meeting at the Duke of Devonshire's public office.
After arranging a time and visiting the duke's office for a brief discussion,
Isabella found herself owning an investment company called Wabby Wabbo.
Wabby Wabbo was registered in the Cayman Islands. Isabella controlled sixty percent of its shares, though the official shareholder was a charitable foundation in New Zealand. The remaining forty percent was held by two charitable foundations, one from Australia and the other from South Africa.
Wabby Wabbo then invested in Twitter.
On the surface, this arrangement meant Isabella had lost eight percent of Twitter's equity.
But in reality,
she had indeed lost eight percent of Twitter's equity!
Hehe.
Since the problem that had troubled Isabella for days had finally been resolved, she could now devote herself peacefully to her main career, except she couldn't! By the time September arrived, all of her scenes in The Order of the Phoenix: Part Two had been completed.
The moment her promised vacation began, Isabella voluntarily flew out of Britain to find her mother, who had been vacationing all this time!
When she finally saw Vivian on the African savanna with a hunting rifle slung over her back—
"Wow! You little ones aren't allowed to see this!"
Catherine immediately raised an arm and covered the heads of the little animals in her embrace.
"Chirp, chirp, chirp—"
The sudden darkness frightened Chestnut the otter and its family, making them cry out.
Isabella turned her head and glanced at the lump of excrement beside her that even the tide could not wash off the beach.
After seeing Vivian, perhaps the little sea lion Eggplant sensed something familiar?
It immediately began slapping its rear with its flippers.
The repeated smacking sounds revealed just how happy it was.
But when it noticed the Nubian goat Vivian was dragging behind her—
"Aaah! Aaah! Aaah! Aaah! Aaah—"
The little creature panicked after smelling blood!
It waddled behind Isabella and began wailing.
The sight made Vivian roll her eyes as she approached them. "Oh, what are you so afraid of, little guy?
"You're acting as though you don't eat meat yourself—"
Vivian's tanned skin made Isabella click her tongue in amazement. "Mom, is this the result of your daily lifestyle?"
"..."
"Of course!"
Vivian glanced at her own arm, then held it out in front of Isabella and smiled. "Skiing, hunting, swimming. Wow, life is wonderful when you don't have to earn your own money. Best of all, I don't have to deal with your father anymore—"
"..."
The corner of Isabella's mouth twitched, and she was left speechless.
Her daughter's expression made Vivian laugh uncontrollably. She wrapped her arms around Isabella and Catherine and pushed them toward the car she had arrived in. "All right, let's return to the hotel first. We can discuss everything once we get back!"
Isabella had not planned to vacation in Africa.
But since her mother was there and had no intention of leaving anytime soon, Isabella decided to stay for a while.
As she enjoyed her life, the world continued moving rapidly:
On September 14, 2007, a major event occurred in Britain. The Bank of England announced that it would provide support to Northern Rock as it faced liquidity problems. The moment the news became public—
Whoosh!
Northern Rock immediately suffered a frantic run by investors and depositors.
Ahem.
The public was always blind.
If even the authorities said that a bank had run out of money,
then anyone who failed to withdraw their savings immediately might lose everything later!
As for why Northern Rock had encountered a liquidity crisis?
The answer was simple. Northern Rock had originally been the Northern Rock Building Society.
Before becoming a bank, its business had consisted of mortgage lending.
After becoming a bank, it had begun using leverage aggressively and cooperating with major American financial institutions.
Therefore, once its American counterparts began collapsing, Northern Rock, whose funding had dried up, also found itself on the verge of bankruptcy.
As for that—
the British government would rescue it.
Whether the rescue would succeed was another matter.
Perhaps good fortune never came twice, while disasters always arrived together? Perhaps catastrophes always appeared like falling dominoes?
After Britain openly acknowledged that Northern Rock was suffering a severe liquidity crisis, the United States Federal Open Market Committee announced on September 18, 2007, that it would immediately cut the federal funds rate to address the crisis that "might" be approaching.
The Federal Reserve "might" have intended to control the situation, but it also "might" have wanted to deliberately puncture the bubble.
After all, once even the Federal Reserve believed there was a problem with the market, every market participant would begin desperately seeking safety.
And once the market descended into panic,
on September 28, 2007, despite the Federal Reserve injecting liquidity, America's NetBank still declared bankruptcy.
It was an online bank that offered retail services but specialized in mortgage lending.
It failed because its exposure to housing-loan risk was too great.
From New Century's bankruptcy in April to NetBank's collapse in September, five financial institutions had openly disappeared from the little blue planet in only half a year. This meant that the disaster had already spread across the world.
However, the public's perception of a crisis always lagged behind reality.
Before a famous bank known to everyone collapsed, most ordinary people would never detect the scent of danger.
Therefore—
the songs continued!
The dancing continued!
On September 25, 2007, Microsoft Game Studios officially released the third entry in the Halo series for the Xbox 360.
Within only twenty-four hours, Halo 3 generated 170 million dollars in revenue for Microsoft!
It became the largest entertainment launch in video-game history!
Then, on October 9, 2007, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached another record high, climbing to 14,164 points!
That figure meant the liquidity released by the Federal Reserve had already entered the stock market!
So—
run!
When every media outlet declared that the American stock market had created another miracle because Heaven blessed America, Isabella immediately dumped all of her Apple shares. Her final selling price was approximately 182 dollars per share.
She had bought them at sixty dollars and sold them at 182. The threefold return earned Isabella a net profit of 1.22 billion dollars!
That made her extremely happy!
That was right.
She did not need to pay any tax on the money she earned from the stock market.
America's capital-gains taxes were also declared through tax forms. The relevant IRS form was called the 1099-B, and the income was not formally settled until the following year. Because there was a gap between the transaction and the tax settlement,
she simply needed to donate the money to charity.
Isabella could donate the 1.22 billion dollars she had earned from selling Apple shares to her own charitable foundation. The foundation could then transfer the money back to her investment company under the pretext of funding a project, and every restriction would disappear.
Was that legal?
As always,
countries under capitalism existed to serve capital.
If this behavior were illegal, then when the Democrats attacked Trump, they would not have asked The New York Times to publish articles about how he had avoided paying taxes for ten consecutive years. They would simply have ordered the IRS to arrest him.
If this behavior were illegal, Bill Gates would not have donated his Microsoft shares to his own foundation.
If this behavior were illegal, the United States would never have achieved a fiscal surplus while Bill Clinton was in office, because the first thing he did after taking power was raise taxes, especially long-term capital-gains taxes.
After dumping Apple and going long on crude oil, Isabella had essentially completed her main work for the year.
At least, that was what she believed.
But in the eyes of others—
"Oh, shit, how long is Isabella planning to wait before coming after me?
"She couldn't have actually forgotten about me, could she?"