Chapter 330 Under the Spotlight

  After the deal was concluded, Microsoft quickly formed a due diligence team, and it took a month to conduct a full range of due diligence on Facebook and YouTube.

  At the beginning of June, the two parties formally signed an investment agreement and began to settle the equity investment.

  After receiving the news, the news media, like a shark smelling blood, surrounded the Facebook company directly. There were three floors inside and three floors outside, and the water would not leak.

  The entire company building downstairs, corridors, and parking lots are full of reporters.

  Xia Jingxing has always kept a low profile, rarely accepting interviews with reporters, in order to minimize his identity as a Chinese founder.

  But at this moment, he could hardly keep a low profile. The entire Silicon Valley, the entire United States, and even the world turned their attention to this small company with just over 300 employees.

  In the evening, Facebook employees packed up their work and started leaving get off work on time.

  After more than a month of hard overtime work, it finally came to an end as Facebook continued to recruit employees.

  They can also enjoy their normal vacation now!

  The employees walked through the wall of reporters in the corridor, complaining that the reporters were crazy, but they couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride.

  In the entire Silicon Valley, their Facebook is the most well-deserved star company.

  Before, this title belonged to Google, but now, it is clear that Facebook is the coolest company in Silicon Valley.

  On Facebook, YouTube, and major online forums, there are so many posts, videos, and blogs discussing their company that they are almost becoming a mountain.

  Among them, the most popular one is "Facebook employees work overtime for one and a half months."

  Some netizens said that this does not talk about human rights, does not respect the labor law, and violates human nature.

  But was beaten in the face soon.

  In order to dispel the rumors of the company, countless Facebook employees recorded videos and published blogs about their happy life for more than a month.

  Employees said that Facebook gave them the same feeling as a family, not to mention working overtime for more than a month, even working overtime for more than a year, and they are willing to fight for it!

  Some netizens feel that these Facebook employees have been brainwashed and began to fall into a kind of religious fanaticism, and Xia Jingxing is the leader of the cult.

  There are many sects of this kind in the United States, so this seemingly absurd view has won the support of many people.

  At the same time, as the boss, Xia Jingxing also took the lead in moving the work station to the open office area, working with employees and commuting together.

  Even tubing has released several videos to show the Xia Jing line code on the spot.

  The speed of the hand is so fast that countless netizens are stunned by taking pictures.

  Voluntary overtime, humane management, employee cohesion, religious fanaticism, etc., have all become topics of hot discussion on Facebook by netizens.

  Furthermore, as Facebook was revealed to have received huge financing, with a valuation of tens of billions of dollars, it has pushed the discussion on Facebook to the climax.

  Netizens are discussing hotly on the Internet, and reporters have picked up long guns and short cannons to block the door, all wanting to obtain first-hand information.

  In the corridor, I saw the constant flooding of Facebook employees. The reporters did not embarrass these ordinary employees and spontaneously gave way.

  But with the appearance of Xia Jingxing and foreign girls, this passage was quickly closed again.

  Countless reporters rushed up, eager to put the microphone in Xia Jingxing’s mouth.

   "Darren, there are rumors that Facebook has received a $500 million investment from Microsoft. Is this true?"

  "Dalun, I heard that Facebook is valued at 20 billion U.S. dollars!"

  "Dalun, the outside world also said that you have become the richest man in China!"

   "Daren..."

  ……

  The babbled reporter kept rushing up and was stopped by Zhang Chenguang again and again.

  The scene is extremely noisy and extremely chaotic.

  Xia Jingxing saw it and felt a headache. He didn't choose to hold a press conference at the first time. This was his mistake.

   "Everyone, listen to me!"

  Xia Jingxing clapped her hands and waited for the scene to calm down before continuing: "First of all, please don't disturb our employees' normal commuting.

  Secondly, everyone has a lot of questions, and I can’t answer them one by one for a while.

  Finally, please participate in the press conference three days later, we will respond to all questions.

  Now, please let a way out. "

  Xia Jingxing turned her head and pointed to the rows of employees behind her, "Everyone is still waiting to get off work!"

  After finishing, Xia Jingxing ignored the reporter's retention and asked Zhang Chenguang to step forward and clear the way. He and the foreign girl followed closely behind them, sprinting off quickly.

  The reporters chased all the way, from the corridor to the downstairs, and then to the parking lot. They sighed on the side of the road when they saw Xia Jingxing, Yang Niu, and Zhang Chenguang getting in a BMW 5 Series, and the car disappeared in the traffic.

  "The company is valued at several tens of billions of dollars, and it drives a second-hand BMW 5 series. It's an excessive savings."

  "How do you know it is a second-hand BMW?"

  "I just looked at this car. It was made in 2000. At that time, Darren hadn't even studied in the United States!"

   "Man, you know enough!"

  ……

  A group of reporters were talking about it. Since Xia Jingxing was not interviewed, the second-hand BMW made the headlines the next day.

  Although it is not as close to the people as the Honda Fit, in the eyes of many people, it is still too low-key, and the car is seriously inconsistent with its worth.

  …………

  …………

  Three days later, Facebook held a press conference as agreed.

  Hundreds of reporters came to the scene, set up various long guns and short cannons, and aimed at Xia Jingxing and the old man Gates sitting on the stage.

After the press conference started, Xia Jingxing, as the founder of Facebook, took the lead in accepting questions from reporters.

  "Dalun, can you tell us what is the size of Facebook's Series B financing? And what is the post-investment valuation?"

  Xia Jingxing replied: “The financing scale is 250 million US dollars, all invested by Microsoft, and Facebook’s post-investment valuation is 10.25 billion US dollars.”

  The audience immediately exploded. Although it is not as exaggerated as the tens of billions of dollars rumored by the outside world, it is also very much.

  In particular, Facebook is just a company that has been founded less than three years.

  The reporter continued to ask: “So, the valuation of Facebook is not as exaggerated as the tens of billions of dollars is said by the outside world? Isn’t the scale of financing not the up-and-coming 500 million dollars?”

  Xia Jingxing replied: "Yes, I am holding a press conference this time, isn't it just to tell everyone the truth?

  Please don’t speculate, don’t listen to some rumors. "

  Changed a reporter to ask: “Darren, it’s said that a Russian investment institution called DST participated in Facebook’s Series B financing? And it invested hundreds of millions of dollars. Is this true?”

   There are rumors that Facebook has received US$500 million in investment. In fact, it is not groundless, but some people have included the US$200 million in DST.

  If it is purely for propaganda, Facebook can also promote nearly 500 million US dollars in investment.

  But the DST identity is sensitive. Although there are some US-owned assets, most of them are Russian-owned.

  So, in order to prevent a commotion, Xia Jingxing had made up his mind a long time ago and excluded DST.

  He smiled faintly, “DST did not inject capital into Facebook. Our A-round investor Axel transferred two points of equity to them.

  So although DST is a shareholder of Facebook, it is not a Series B investor of Facebook. "

  The reporters under the stage heard this and finally figured it out.

  The diligent reporter, with his fingers flying on the laptop keyboard, delivered the news at the fastest speed.

  Other reporters continued to ask a few more questions, and Xia Jingxing answered one by one, basically removing all the fog that was hiding on Facebook.

  Here at Xia Jingxing, the reporters were satisfied, and began to question Old Gates again.

   "Mr. Gates, do you think Facebook is worth 10 billion dollars? Many people outside say that Microsoft has been taken advantage of."

  The reporter continued to pick things up every day.

  The old man Gates didn’t count, and smiled and said, “It’s worth and not worth it. They say it’s not worth it. You and I don’t count it. Time says it’s worth it.”

  The reporters learned that Lao Yin force was not easy to deal with, and finally became honest and began to ask questions normally.

   "Mr. Gates, after you become a director of Facebook, will you pass on your successful experience to Darren?"

  The old man Gates smiled and said: “Darren is the best young man I have ever seen, so I can’t use the word "teach". It should be to learn from each other, communicate with each other, and work hard for the development of Facebook together!"

  The old man Gates has witty words, and a good news conference is about to lift Xia Jingxing to the sky.

  (End of this chapter)