"Brother-in-law, Bezos has established a new e-commerce website, Wan Xiange. This venture is funded by a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, though Bezos still holds 10% of the company's Class A and Class B shares!" At the headquarters of Huaxia Jiangnan Group, Leng Zhiruo, who had been reinstated as Boss Huang's personal executive assistant, briefed Huang He on the situation in the United States.
"It seems Goldman Sachs hasn't given up. And this time, they're not even pretending, directly using their own capital to take control!" Huang He said with a slight smile upon seeing the intelligence report.
"That's because it was already exposed, so there's no need to pretend anymore. Otherwise, it would be too foolish!" Leng Zhiruo said, covering her mouth.
"Yes, so the competition is about to get real," Huang He's expression turned serious, losing its previous cheerfulness.
"Brother-in-law, you look worried. Are we afraid of competing with Bezos?" Leng Zhiruo scoffed.
"Yes, I am afraid," Huang He replied. Leng Zhiruo was taken aback, and seeing that her brother-in-law's expression was genuine, she became surprised. Since the rebirth of Jiangnan Group, whether it was creating the novel "Blind Box" product, battling QQ, challenging Taobao, breaking into the US market, or forming alliances, Jiangnan Group had charged forward with an unimaginable speed of development. Leng Zhiruo had never seen her brother-in-law fear anyone. To her surprise, Huang He actually admitted to being afraid.
"Bezos is a formidable opponent in himself. If Amazon were still in his hands, I wouldn't even think I had a chance to defeat him. But even with Amazon in my hands now, he remains the most terrifying opponent! Not to mention he has Goldman Sachs backing him. I estimate my chances of defeating him are actually no more than 60%!" Huang He said calmly. He actually had another sentence he kept to himself: "Although it seems I've defeated many opponents, I've never defeated a truly developed global giant!"
This was not an incorrect statement. Looking back at all the opponents Boss Huang had defeated, they were either too weak to be worth mentioning, or the market was entirely empty with no competitors.
The only ones who could truly be called opponents were the 'Two Ma's', whom Boss Huang had painstakingly defeated. However, when he defeated them, Brother Ma's QQ had not yet found a suitable monetization channel and was operating at a loss.
And Boss Ma's Taobao had been established for less than three months. The core businesses of these two opponents had not truly developed yet, which was why Huang He, with the advantage of being a latecomer, was able to defeat them.
If these two had developed to the level of 2008, even with ten billion yuan, Huang He wouldn't have believed he could defeat them. After all, hadn't so many brilliant individuals from his previous life been defeated by these two?
Just as Huang He and Leng Zhiruo were discussing the relevant situation, a storm was brewing within Amazon's headquarters in the United States.
"Sir, you're here!" Seeing Bezos step out of the car, the security guard at Amazon's headquarters solicitously opened the car door for him. Bezos smiled and nodded at the guard before entering the company building.
"My God, the boss smiled at me!" Seeing Bezos's smile, the security guard exclaimed excitedly. The other guard beside him also had a beaming smile, but after a few seconds, he seemed to recall something terrifying. He grabbed his still-grinning companion and said, "Brother, is he still our boss?"
"Ah!" The first guard was stunned. It was only then that he remembered that their company seemed to have undergone a major change. Bezos had been ousted from the chairman's position and no longer held any shares in Amazon.
"Brother, he's now a stranger with no connection to the company, right?" the guard hesitated before saying, "Shouldn't we, according to security protocols, block him at the entrance and apply to the head office reception?"
"It seems so!" The other guard's expression instantly fell. They had seriously violated the company's security regulations, a mistake that would lead to immediate dismissal. Not to mention that the person they had let in was none other than the company's former chairman.
Of course, they couldn't be entirely blamed. Bezos had only been gone for less than a week, and Amazon, in order to maintain company stability, had not actively dismissed any employees. Therefore, although these people knew Bezos was gone, they subconsciously still felt that Bezos was the company's chairman. As a result, these two guards completely forgot that he no longer had any affiliation with the company and thought they were solicitously opening the door for the chairman!
"This is bad, let's hurry inside!" The two guards quickly rushed into the company and found the entire first floor lobby of Amazon in a state of silence.
It was just the beginning of the workday, and the first-floor lobby was filled with Amazon employees preparing to take the elevators. These employees had naturally seen Bezos striding into the company immediately, so the entire scene was hushed. Everyone, whether nervous, excited, thrilled, or fearful, was watching this suddenly appearing former chairman.
Everyone was at a loss, unsure how to face this former boss who had been driven out of the company.
Thus, the entire scene was silent, and the loudest sound was the faint human voices coming from the neighboring building.
"A cup of coffee, please!" Bezos, with a smile, walked to the reception desk as usual and said to the front desk clerk.
"Yes!" the clerk replied without hesitation, then, with extremely practiced movements, brewed a cup of his favorite strong, sweet Americano coffee. She carefully handed it to Bezos and said, "Mr. Chairman, please!"
"Thank you!" Bezos smiled and nodded. The front desk clerk then realized she might have misspoke, but she had no intention of retracting her words.
She had joined Amazon three years ago, and after joining, Bezos had given her three raises, allowing her, even as a simple front desk clerk, to earn a salary higher than her counterparts in other companies. Furthermore, Amazon's various internal company policies had been very humane and considerate of employees, earning her deep gratitude and respect. Even calling him Chairman again did not make her feel regretful!
In fact, many others felt the same. For example, at that moment, an employee wearing a Deputy General Manager badge walked over and respectfully addressed Bezos as "Boss," maintaining the same deference as if Bezos were still the chairman. He then stood quietly behind Bezos.
The Deputy General Manager's choice acted like a spark, gradually igniting the entire first-floor lobby. Many people began to shout "Boss" or "Chairman." Even some employees who were unwilling to address him that way, under the influence of the atmosphere, had to start calling him "Boss."
"Everyone, please be quiet!" Finally, Bezos spoke, raising his hand to signal for quiet. The entire first-floor lobby instantly fell silent, and only Bezos's voice could be heard: "Dear ladies and gentlemen, and my dearest friends, I am here today simply to tell you one thing."
"I have created a brand-new company called Wan Xiange. But it is also an old company, because, like the former Amazon, nothing will change in this company."
"I have come here to invite all of you to join this enterprise with me! The company headquarters building is located in the Pulijin Building across the street. I have already booked the entire building, which will be our future home. As soon as you arrive, you can start working immediately, just like before!"
"Most importantly, everyone's monthly salary will increase by $200!"
Hearing Bezos's words, everyone present was stunned. While many of them had guessed that Bezos might be poaching employees, no one had expected him to be so decisive, thorough, and direct, coming to the company's headquarters lobby to publicly announce his recruitment efforts and even offer a salary increase!
Bezos then directly asked, "Are you willing to come back?"
"Willing!" the crowd shouted, and then everyone in the lobby echoed loudly. It seemed as if all the employees present in the first-floor lobby had risen to cheer.
The atmosphere in the entire first-floor lobby grew more fervent, resembling a live concert by a major star.
"Alright, I hope to share this news with more of my friends. So, I plan to go to the fourth floor next. It's just that my employee card might not work anymore. Can anyone help me?" Bezos asked with a smile.
Immediately, a dozen employees jumped forward, used their employee cards to open the elevator access for Bezos, and personally escorted him to the fourth floor. During this process, everyone proactively made way for Bezos, as if parting the Red Sea.
What followed could be described with the title of a movie: "The Return of the King."
Bezos went from the first floor to the fourth, then continued to the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth floors, covering a total of five floors. These five floors were where all of Amazon's core programmers worked. On these floors, Bezos faced stunned employees and simply repeated what he had said in the first-floor lobby.
And then, just like the scene in the lobby, everyone cheered.
The remaining floors, from the ninth floor onwards, were mostly occupied by administrative departments and other company departments. Bezos walked up every floor, all the way to the fifteenth floor, where he was intercepted in the lobby by the newly appointed Amazon President, who was the former Vice President.
"John, do you intend to stop me?" Bezos asked, seeing the current head of Amazon with a smile. "But that's normal. Everyone has ambition. As long as I was at Amazon, you would never have been able to become the President of Amazon. I can understand you."
"No, sir, I've only come to tell you that I'm leaving with you!" The current Amazon President surprisingly snatched his employee card from his neck, threw it on the ground, and stood crisply behind Bezos, just as he had in the past.
With even the current Amazon President defecting directly, the situation was understandable. Therefore, by the time Hao Jianguo arrived at the Amazon building after hearing the news, more than half of the Amazon building was already empty. Large departments had vacated their offices, and perhaps only HR remained fully staffed.
This was because they had to process the departure procedures for a large number of employees. However, after completing these procedures, they also threw away their employee badges and marched out of Amazon, heading towards the Wan Xiange building just across the street.