Being a shareholder of a company like Yahoo doesn't mean you're a manager.

Equity is firmly in the hands of the founding members. As long as they don't make major mistakes, even the shareholders' meeting has no right to interfere with the company's operations.

Yahoo held its shareholders' meeting last month. Not only did Su Yehao not attend in person, he didn't even find a proxy.

A group of shareholders hold a meeting, which is more like a one-way transmission of information. Shareholders can only sit and listen.

Of course, companies won't go too far. They will seriously evaluate good suggestions. After all, investors can unite to influence the stock price, which will also affect the financing market.

The internet industry has been developing in the United States for some years, and the rules and regulations are relatively mature. The founders generally maintain a tight grip on their say through company charters and different rights for different shares.

In other words, although Su Yehao is the eighth largest shareholder of Yahoo, he doesn't actually have any real power.

Even if he comes to Yahoo, he can only be a distinguished guest.

Compared with a company he created himself, the status is completely different. After all, he only owns about one-thirtieth of Yahoo's shares, and his say is even lower.

It's currently the holiday season.

Most of Yahoo's employees are on vacation. It's said that the CEO has gone to the Panama Islands, so there's no chance to meet this time.

The idea of poaching people from Yahoo has never stopped, so as soon as he left with a small gift, Su Yehao told John Zhou, "Contact a headhunter for me. While Yahoo employees are on vacation, ask if any programmers want to jump ship. Their development experience will be useful to me. You can arrange the specific positions."

John Zhou thought to himself that he changes his tune so quickly, and said,

"It might be a little difficult. A few years ago, American internet companies were frantically poaching each other, so they formed an alliance. After employees join, they also sign non-compete agreements, stipulating how long they cannot work for competing companies."

Su Yehao didn't expect this, but he had heard about it.

After pondering for a moment, he continued to tell John Zhou, "If they are truly top talents, I am willing to pay the penalty for them. In addition, I can also let some people come over as planners. It's a pity to have them do the actual work themselves. Management may be more suitable. I value the tot project very much. In the future, it can support tAt and seize users in the mainland. Even if it costs more money, it doesn't matter."

John Zhou laughed and said, "If you say so, then I'll help you find a way. The money you earned from investing in Yahoo stocks is being used to poach people from Yahoo. How interesting."

Pinching his brow, Su Yehao sighed and said,

"I'm just a small shareholder with a 3% stake. It's clear which is more important. Of course, my own business must be given priority."

…

After spending half a day, he briefly finished his inspection.

Su Yehao had a deeper understanding of the current state of industrial development in Silicon Valley.

Looking at the garages on the street, many have been rented to startup teams, with various company signs hung up. And the office buildings near Stanford are often divided into small suites and rented to people starting businesses.

On one street, there were also various venture capital financial companies, to the point that Su Yehao also wanted to bring KOKO Ventures over to join in the fun.

In his memory.

The future Yahoo, which would decline, had rejected the famous Google and Facebook, but had also successfully financed Ma's Alibaba.

Another Ma's predicament of seeking to sell Penguin, but ultimately no one buying it, was also talked about with relish.

Su Yehao, like others, had seen it as a joke. However, when he became an investor, he realized that it was not easy to find gold in the sand. This was mainly because there were too many startup teams, so many that it was dazzling and difficult to carefully screen them one by one to see if they were reliable.

For example, ever since Silver Sea was financed, entrepreneurs who took the initiative to find KOKO Ventures in Hong Kong had never stopped.

Not only were there mainland entrepreneurs, but also projects from Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and other regions. Some people came with just their mouths and the ideas in their heads, without even a business plan, and dared to ask for millions in investment. Others regarded projects with no future as treasures. For example, the popular blogs and forums, which had relatively low barriers to entry. There were many people who thought they could succeed as long as they found a certain direction.

Wanting to have a discerning eye, in addition to one's own ability, depended more on luck and opportunity.

Some things can't be forced.

Su Yehao searched and searched, but many familiar companies had not yet been born. He didn't even know if they would reappear in the future due to his own accident.

Having no other choice, and not wanting to miss out on huge treasures, he had to roll up his sleeves and get involved himself.

So far, he already had Silver Sea's WPS, the tAt instant messaging program, and tAt Mail. With the smooth completion of the acquisition, the search engine and portal website project temporarily named "tot" was also expected to be launched on the market in the next month or two.

Don't look down on him for his inconsistent efforts. Relying on his wealth and keen eye, Su Yehao had indeed done a lot of things. It was just that he hadn't seen any returns in the short term, and other investments were still more profitable.

At the end of December in 1997, according to the local time on the west coast of the United States, there were only three days left until the New Year.

Su Yehao spent a few minutes reviewing the past year, and then put his business out of his mind...

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Taking Yin Liuli, he drove south along California State Route 1.

First, he visited the coastline in the central part, strolled around Pebble Beach Golf Links, and then went to Hearst Castle, a seaside castle near San Simeon.

The destination was Disneyland in Los Angeles. He planned to go back to Hong Kong from Los Angeles after a day of fun. He had booked first-class tickets in advance, still on United Airlines, a Boeing 747.

Originally, Nong Qingying wanted to go to Tokyo Disneyland, but Su Yehao's first time to Disneyland in his life was with Yin Liuli.

Due to the time difference.

When they arrived at Disneyland in Los Angeles, it was already 1998 in Hong Kong. Nangong Tian was the first to call at the New Year, and Su Yehao immediately called Nong Qingying.

Yin Liuli probably heard it, but she didn't ask much. She already knew in advance, and she was just turning a blind eye.

After more than half a year of getting along, they already had this kind of tacit understanding.

After all, what good would it do to bring it up? Since they didn't plan to break up, talking about this topic would only make both of them uncomfortable.

Having missed the New Year's Eve in Casino, 1997, Su Yehao spent the New Year with Yin Liuli in Los Angeles.

On the first day of 1998.

After boarding the plane, Yin Liuli saw Su Yehao sighing and asked curiously, "What's wrong? Did you leave something at the hotel?"

Su Yehao shook his head:

"No, I suddenly thought that the manufacturing company of the Gulfstream business jet is in the United States. I should take the time to go and see it. Forget it, next time, let them find the latest model of the plane and send it to me for a look. I want to take out a loan to buy one. The accounting firm told me that I'll have a lot of taxes this year, and there's still a chance to recover some losses before the filing deadline. It's a pity to give it to the old Portuguese..."