The $5 million and $5 million that Li Mu gave Louis Martin quickly worked.

Although Louis Martin was in Yanjing, he used his personal relationship and obtained the first-hand information from Apple at this moment in a way that was not in line with professional ethics.

Since Tim Cook was ordered to take over Apple's position as CEO, several fierce debates have occurred within Apple about the following directions. At this time, Apple executives are mainly divided into two camps, one is the stop loss faction and the other is the counter-offensive faction.

The stop loss player's attitude is very simple, and immediately split Apple and sell it to prevent Apple's stock price from falling below its net assets in the future. This player is mainly investors and the capital behind it. They are watching the money invested in Apple lose at the speed of light. The instinct of capital drives them to just end this failed investment as soon as possible, and then quickly find profits from other projects to make up for this hole.

For many private equity funds, the money invested at the same time may exceed several billion US dollars. Losing tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars in a single project is not the end of the world. As long as other projects can make up for this part of the funds, they can submit their money normally. Therefore, timely stop loss is very important for them, because they don’t know how big the black hole will spread next. If you want to fill a hole, you must first stop the expansion of the hole, and then try your best to find a way to make up for it based on the actual size of the hole.

As for the counter-offensive factions, they are mostly founders and executive teams that Apple has been working side by side for so many years. Like Tim Cook, who joined the company five years ago with great trust in Apple's future. Although they didn't make much money, they put their enthusiasm and beliefs on the company. Now they have to surrender immediately, which is something they cannot accept.

The view of the counter-offensive faction is that Apple is different from most Internet companies. Apple is a company with hardware as the core and patented technology and software technology as the support. A pure Internet company may shrink its market value by 95% when encountering a bubble. That's because they are like a huge rubber balloon, and after blowing, they basically have a piece of rubber skin left;

But Apple is a polar bear with a weight of more than 1,000 kilograms. Even if the food is cut off in the cold winter, it can rely on its own fat for a long time. Even the polar bear who is so hungry that it still has strong combat power, and the same is true for Apple. At this critical moment, Apple should calm down and think about countermeasures and find a breakthrough to counterattack opponents.

These two factions have their own advantages and disadvantages. For example, although the stop loss faction is not large enough, the proportion of shares it controls is high; although the counterattack faction is large, it is mostly company employees and professional managers, and their actual control over the company is somewhat insufficient.

From a legal perspective, the stop loss faction has absolute power to make a decision and implement it, but they are also afraid that the number of counter-offensive factions accounts for the majority. Once they completely lose confidence in the company, they are very likely to leave at any time. If Apple sells it to the outside world and most of the core team loses, the company's market value will inevitably suffer a greater blow, which is the result that the stop loss faction is unwilling to see in any case.

When Apple's stock price fell below the $4 mark on the next third trading day, the stop-loss factions and the counter-offensive factions still did not reach a consensus.

According to Louis Martin, the stop loss faction is constantly persuading the counter-offensive faction to accept the company's capital plan, which at least ensures that everyone's work has the opportunity to retain. Even if it cannot be retained, at least they can get the compensation they deserve;

The counter-offensive factions are also persuading the stop loss party companies to be more confident. They feel that with Apple's existing technology accumulation, Apple's team will definitely find an opportunity to turn the world around.

Li Mu is very concerned about the counter-offensive faction led by Tim Cook within Apple. Is there any clear counter-offensive strategy at present? The ipod business has been ravaged by the unlisted mango-me2. If Apple still wants to make a comeback from mango-me2, it may really trigger the nerves of these guys and force them to decide to increase the ipod for half a generation, or even one generation.

However, judging from the news that Louis Martin found, the counterattack has not yet found a very clear entry point.

Louis Martin also contributed another very valuable message to Li Mu. Microsoft is sending an offer to Apple through an offshore company that has been indirectly controlled by its fund. However, Microsoft is not going to take the entire Apple into its hands. They only hope to acquire Apple's operating system and ma-machine business line. As for the ipods and itunes that have become junk assets in the eyes of investors, Microsoft is not interested.

After receiving the news, Li Mu was excitedly applauded one after another.

Others don’t quite understand why Li Mu is excited about Microsoft’s motivation to acquire Apple. After all, Microsoft is a behemoth in the IT field. Even Muye Technology seems a little weak in front of them. The market value, cash flow, technical reserves and profitability are much worse than Microsoft. If Microsoft wants Apple, Muye Technology will obviously find it difficult to ensure competitiveness.

However, Li Mu had his point of view. He told everyone: "The US government will not allow Microsoft to acquire Apple, so Microsoft can only achieve its goal by using this edge ball. So they use companies to control funds, and then control offshore companies, and have turned several turns to acquire them. The purpose is very simple, which is to get Apple's Os operating system and then make it a human in the operating system, so that Os can have a breath and live like shit. In this way, Os will not only not pose any subsequent threat to Microsoft, but also prevent Microsoft from receiving antitrust laws sanctions."

Speaking of this, Li Mu said: "First of all, I have no discrimination against the homosexual community. I just use some scum in this group to give an example. Microsoft's mind is actually a gay man who is eager to find a woman to get married. He doesn't want to have a relationship with a woman. He just wants to marry this woman so that no one will doubt his sexual orientation anymore, and his parents will no longer put pressure on him."

Everyone nodded in agreement, it really sounded like this.

Li Mu also said: "For Apple, Microsoft should be the company they are least willing to be acquired. Now, this company they are least willing to be acquired takes the initiative to come to them. I believe the Apple team must be extremely unhappy. In this case, even if we are the initiators of Apple to death, Apple will feel much more intimate than Microsoft when we see it."

"Really?" Louis Martin laughed. "If I were Apple, then you must be the one I hate the most."

Li Mu smiled and said, "You people who are purely playing capital only look at money, but you should know that geeks who play technology value not only money, but also dignity. You can defeat them and even kill them on the battlefield, but you can't buy them at home as slaves and then throw their children into the cesspool."

Louis Martin said: "The stop loss players inside Apple are just like me. They are people who are purely capital-based. They only care about who gives more money. If Microsoft gives them a higher price, they will definitely sell Apple without hesitation. Those who have a sense of honor, without voting rights, cannot decide the future fate of the company."

Li Mu said: "Louis, look at the details, why is Microsoft only willing to buy Apple's operating system and computer business? To put it bluntly, they are not willing to spend a penny more for Apple. They only hope to achieve their goals with the minimum amount of money, so they don't care about the ipod and itunes business at all, let alone the life and death of Apple's employees in these two businesses;

Even if Apple's stop loss player is full of capital thinking, they have to consider one issue. The only opportunity for cash out of the ipod and itunes business is to sell it together with the entire Apple. Otherwise, no one will be interested in it. At that time, this part of the assets will become bad debts, and the stop loss player still has to pay severance fees for all employees of the two business units of the ipod and itunes. Compared with Microsoft, I, the buyer who is willing to take over the whole market, is the savior Apple is most looking forward to."

Louis Martin shrugged and smiled, "It makes sense to say that."

Lei Jun said: "I think Mr. Li's analysis is correct. Even the stop loss player does not want to leave useless bad assets in the end. At the same time, he has to take out part of the limited money to compensate employees. Microsoft must now feel that no one in the capital market is willing to take over Apple. They may be Apple's only buyers, so they are unwilling to give Apple any extra offers. If Microsoft maintains this attitude, it will be a huge help to us acquire Apple."

Ding Jian, who is in charge of capital operations, asked Li Mu: "Mr. Li, since Microsoft has contacted Apple, is it necessary for us to contact Apple in the near future?"

Li Mu said: "Not for the time being, otherwise if Microsoft knows that we are also staring at Apple, it is very likely that we will increase our quotations and conditions to avoid long nights and dreams."

After saying that, Li Mu said to Louis Martin: "Louis, let your eyeliner stare at the movements of Apple and Microsoft. I want to know what price Microsoft has quoted for Apple and how Apple responds to Microsoft's quotes."

Louis Martin nodded: "Please rest assured, I will pay close attention and report any movement to you as soon as possible."

Li Mu said: "Tell Sequoia's senior management to keep them silent, and don't reveal the news that Makino Technology is preparing to acquire Apple."

Louis Martin hurriedly said, "I understand, I can communicate."

Li Mu smiled with satisfaction and said, "The rest, I will chat with them myself after I arrive in the United States."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Ziwei knocked in quickly and said to Li Mu with excitement: "Mr. Li, the World Health Organization has just released the news that the entire Chinese community has lifted the epidemic warning!"
Chapter completed!