Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 999 - 899: Time to Pick Up the Pace_2

Chapter 999: Chapter 899: Time to Pick Up the Pace_2

Facebook Inc, the company, was a casual investment by Wang Ye, whose founder was his tech-savvy roommate back at Moscow University.

However, without Wang Ye’s initial investment, and the continuous financial support thereafter, the development speed of Facebook definitely couldn’t have been this fast.

According to the latest round of financing for Facebook, the company’s valuation has reached a whopping 1.2 billion US dollars!

Honestly, this valuation is almost catching up to the initial market value of old internet companies like MAIL.RU and YANDEX.

Of course, these two companies have been acquired and merged, now being the undisputed behemoths of the Russian internet!

Such valuation is something Facebook, an emerging company, cannot discuss as an equal.

Moreover, the global Internet winter has passed, showing signs of warming up.

Wang Ye plans to prepare his two companies (M&Y, Facebook) for a public listing on Nasdaq.

After all, in these times, the world’s capital is essentially concentrated in the US stock market. If you want to raise funds, then the best market is, of course, the US Stock Market, without a doubt!

With M&Y and Facebook’s near-monopoly status in the Russian Internet, their vast user base, and a bright future, they should be able to raise a good sum of money through the listing!

These funds could then be used to expand the company’s scale or even make other investments, which would be excellent...

Hearing Wang Ye ask about the business, rather than continuing to focus on her Facebook feed, Nova secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

She would have been rather embarrassed if the boss saw the content she posted...

Because the things she boasted about were truly nothing to Wang Ye.

After giving it some serious thought and organizing her words in her head, Nova finally spoke up, "Facebook is really popular among the youth, especially on the Russian Internet. Now, for young people like me, when we go online and turn on the computer, we basically do two things first, open ICQ, open Facebook, and then we go on to check the news, emails, search for information, and so on."

Wang Ye, intrigued, asked further, "So, what do you think is the difference between ICQ and Facebook?"

Nova said earnestly:

"The difference is huge. On ICQ, it’s all people you know, friends, classmates, coworkers, and it’s one-on-one communication.

But on Facebook, most are strangers, and the things you post aren’t particularly targeted towards any one person or group of people. It could just be your thoughts, comments on some thing, some person, some news, or even social hot topics.

The biggest difference I see from ICQ is that when you post something on Facebook, it might immediately be seen by hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of people.

But on ICQ, when you send a message to someone, only that person can see it."

Wang Ye continued to inquire, "Which one do you like better? If you had to give up one, which would it be?"

Nova frowned in thought, hesitantly said, "Comparatively, ICQ is more like a pure communication tool, similar to a mobile phone; it’s not about liking it or not, but it’s indispensable.

Facebook is much more interesting though, and I spend more time on Facebook than on ICQ.

But if I really had to give up one, I might end up giving up ICQ.

Because without ICQ I could still use MSN, or I could make direct phone calls.

But if I gave up Facebook, then all those photos and everything I’ve accumulated there would be gone, and I wouldn’t be able to find many of the interesting new friends I follow..."

This answer surprised Wang Ye.

He had thought Nova would give up Facebook since ICQ was a communication tool, which is considered a necessity.

Facebook is more... considered entertainment and has a self-media aspect to it, so it’s not really a necessity.

But on second thought, Nova’s choice made sense.

Ultimately, the "give-up" question boils down to which one has a higher cost of abandonment.

Although ICQ has swept the world, it has many competitors, and most netizens had just started using the internet, not yet dependent on communication software like ICQ.

As Nova mentioned, without ICQ, there’s still MSN, or one could simply make phone calls or send text messages!

So, the cost of giving up ICQ isn’t high and is something Nova could afford.

But Facebook was different; although the platform leaned more towards entertainment, Nova had poured a lot of effort into it.

Taking pictures and writing "mini essays," the fans she had accumulated over time were too precious for her to give up easily.

So, the thought of abandoning Facebook felt like a price too steep to pay...

...

After his interaction with Nova, Wang Ye felt he needed to re-evaluate his investment strategy in the internet industry.

Just looking at the internet industry, he was now invested in, even held controlling stakes in Tencent, JD.com, Y&M, and Facebook Inc—these four companies.

The first two companies were pretty much confined to the Chinese market and found it difficult to expand beyond it.

The latter two, initially, Wang Ye had taken a chance on without expecting them to bring significant returns, as the Russian Internet market was indeed not that large.

Even if he could monopolize this market, it was still difficult to compare with the internet giants of the United States.

But now, he felt he should pay more attention to these two companies, especially Facebook Inc.

In his "previous life," Facebook Inc had a very smooth start from its inception, quickly securing financing, swiftly spreading across North America, setting new records in its public listing, with its market value soaring to over one trillion US dollars!

That market value had put it on par with the likes of Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google...

And that was achieved "without" the vast Chinese market.

In this life, because he had become a major shareholder of Facebook Inc, he could influence its strategic direction.

As long as he abided by the domestic rules of the game, there were no impediments to entering the Chinese market. The relevant departments would more or less give him face and not make things too difficult for Facebook Inc.

So in this life, if Facebook Inc could truly conquer the global market, what could its market value reach?

Wang Ye felt that it was something to look forward to!

More importantly, a social media platform with "media" properties like Facebook Inc was not just about making money. What was more critical was that it would affect his influence worldwide in the future!

It looked like after his return from Crimea, he’d need to visit the headquarters of Facebook Inc and chat with his "roommate."

The stride of Facebook Inc into Asia, Europe, and the United States has to be accelerated...

...

At Simferopol Airport, Angelina and Natalia had already arrived early and were waiting there.

There weren’t many people coming over for the pickup today, apart from Angelina and Natalia, just a few security personnel from Wagner.

Leaning by the car, the two women looked up at the sky while chatting idly.

"Misha is somewhat conscientious, making a special trip to spend New Year’s with you," Natalia said with a smile.

Angelina blushed and smiled shyly without saying anything, but her heart was certainly sweet.

Ever since she started working in Crimea, she and Wang Ye had rarely had a chance to meet.

Especially as both of them became busier, with Angelina taking on the role of Vice Speaker and managing the Crimea Investment Company, one big project after another kept her incredibly busy.

As for Wang Ye, it went without saying that managing so many large group companies left him with barely any time to intervene; just handling his governmental duties was worrisome enough.

On top of that, there were matters abroad. Even though he was a master of time management, he was still extremely busy.

"Are you going back to Yalta, or are you staying here to celebrate the New Year with us?" Angelina asked.

Natalia exhaled deeply and said helplessly, "I only have a day off, so what’s the point in going back to Yalta? Naturally, I’ll stay here to celebrate the New Year, as long as you two don’t mind me disturbing you."

As they were speaking, a silver airplane descended from the sky, smoothly landing on the runway at the airport and slowing down after speeding for a while.

Angelina and Natalia stood up straight because they had recognized that it was Wang Ye’s private plane arriving!