Chapter 77: Microsoft Worth a Hundred Million

“You?”
“Go into business?”
Gates echoed, a hint of amusement in his voice. For years, he’d buried himself in technology, but now he often mingled with businessmen. Sumu was the youngest “businessman” he had ever met, which he found rather intriguing.

He slipped the twenty-dollar bill back into his pocket and replied, “My company is currently valued around a hundred million dollars. Not long ago, someone tried to invest at a valuation of a hundred and thirty million. But I think it's worth at least two hundred million—that’s today’s value. Next year, it could be more.”

“So, if I put up two million dollars, I could buy one percent of your company’s shares?” Sumu asked without hesitation as they made their way to the bicycle, continuing, “I really believe in your company’s prospects. It’s cool, and it’s open—anyone can use your operating system, so the market should be huge. Apple is different. You can only use their operating system if you buy an Apple computer. I tried it once and found it very uncomfortable.”

At this time, Microsoft was still cooperating with both IBM and Apple. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates hadn’t yet fallen out; in Jobs’s eyes, Microsoft was still a small company.

The scandal about Microsoft copying Apple’s operating system hadn’t happened yet. Gates had taken ideas he’d seen at Apple and was applying them to the Windows system they were developing...

No one dislikes praise, especially when it comes from a young man.

As mentioned earlier, Gates was not yet the man who would top the world’s rich list for over a decade. He had only recently become well known; being recognized by Sumu already made him a little proud, and hearing his company’s strengths made him even happier.

Since last year, Microsoft had begun developing Windows. The company’s prospects were indeed bright, but Internet companies burned through cash at an alarming rate. Fail to move forward, and you’d be eliminated—you had to keep investing, keep innovating.

That’s why Gates and his major shareholder, Allen, were planning to take Microsoft public, listing on the NASDAQ in New York to raise funds for growth.

At that time, no one knew what the future of the Internet would be. Many well-known tech companies disappeared overnight. Gates and his co-founder, Paul Allen, decided to go public partly to “cash in” while they could.

In reality, this was exactly what Gates did.

Sumu had assumed that Gates amassed a ninety-billion-dollar fortune solely by holding Microsoft stock. But in fact, after Microsoft’s IPO, Gates kept selling shares, so that later, Microsoft stock made up only a small fraction of his wealth.

He established his own private investment office, Cascade Investments, similar to the Rockefeller family’s office, to manage his assets. By the end of the twentieth century, he was long past being Microsoft’s largest shareholder...

At this moment, Gates couldn’t hide his smile. After mounting the bicycle, he joked with the earnest Sumu, “Hop on. Maybe I could sell you one percent of the shares. I’m the major shareholder at Microsoft, with absolute controlling power. But do you really want to buy in?”

Sumu took him seriously.

Two million dollars—such a sum was staggering to him, so vast he couldn’t begin to imagine how to earn that much in a short time.

Setting aside what he’d invested in the supermarket, all he had on hand was about thirty thousand dollars. As for his family, his parents had little more than ten thousand in savings, most of it sitting in the bank, earning interest while losing value, thinking themselves ahead.

There was simply no way he could scrape together two million dollars. Even a million was out of reach, which left Sumu feeling frustrated.

He slumped onto the back seat of the bicycle and answered in a helpless tone, “I don’t have that kind of money right now. Maybe next year I’ll give it a try, but this year it’s impossible.”

Gates had only been joking and never intended to sell shares to Sumu.

In his view, no normal family would agree to let their underage child invest two million dollars.

Even Gates himself had fallen out badly with his parents when he decided to drop out of Harvard to start his company.

Some believed Gates owed his success to his parents. But there were countless people in the world with even more influential parents, whose children never achieved success. Family played a part, but personal ability was the main factor...

“What’s your name? It seems you know a lot about Microsoft. Do your parents work at some company in Silicon Valley? You’re still in high school, right?”

Gates, a bit unsteady at first since he hadn’t ridden a bike in years, adjusted his grip on the handlebars and rode smoothly forward.

His tone was like that of an older brother making small talk. In those days, he was not yet cloaked in countless halos—just a wealthy entrepreneur, not much different from ordinary people.

He was quite interested in Sumu. Not every teenager had such insight, recognizing at a young age that Microsoft’s open system could surpass Apple’s closed one. The debate between “open” and “closed” systems would rage for decades without resolution.

At present, Apple wasn’t doing particularly well; the main goal of Windows was to adapt to the majority of computers on the market, vastly expanding potential sales.

“I study in Menlo Park. Just started high school last month,” Sumu replied from the back seat, gripping the saddle to keep his balance. “My name is Leon Su. My family runs a restaurant in Chinatown, Los Angeles. I’m here alone for school.”

This piqued Gates’s curiosity. He pressed further, “So, what did you mean by doing business and researching the market?”

Sumu replied frankly, “My own business. I recently invested in a supermarket in Los Angeles. I still have a few tens of thousands of dollars and came to Silicon Valley to see if there are any opportunities for a startup.”

Knowing Gates was wealthy, Sumu didn’t mind being open—there was no reason for Gates to covet his meager funds.

Gates now understood and, half amused, turned slightly to say, “A few tens of thousands—that’s impressive. I didn’t have that much when I started. But have you decided what you want to do? Do you know how to program?”

“I’m learning to program. I’m planning to develop a piece of software, but I can’t tell you the details—it’s a business secret. Your company might need it one day.”

Talking with Gates felt nothing like Sumu had imagined.

He was neither as overbearing as Uncle Joe, nor as arrogant as the Wang family’s sons. Even Li Zhekai, who was so poor he lived on instant noodles, seemed more like a rich man than Gates.

Yet Sumu thought this was exactly how a rich man should be. He wasn’t aware of Gates’s true character, which could be quite stubborn and proud, especially at work. But today, with no conflict between them, Gates seemed gentle.

Hearing Sumu’s words, Gates nodded approvingly and didn’t press for the so-called business secret, nor did he think it would be of much use to him.

Not wanting to dampen the boy’s ambition, he took a business card from his shirt pocket and handed it to Sumu, saying,

“All right. When you’ve finished that software, give me a call. If my company can use it, I’d be happy to buy it…”