Facing the acquisition attempt by Wells Fargo, Kyle's first reaction was one of bewilderment.
"Hey, Kyle, first solve my loan problem," Bezos urged from the side.
"Alright, let's deal with your matter first."
Kyle still knew how to prioritize matters.
With the bursting of the dot-com bubble, the entire internet industry in the US was in an extreme slump, and a considerable number of internet companies went bankrupt.
Many internet companies were in a state of tight cash flow!
They all wanted to alleviate their company's financial situation through bank loans and other means, but alas, now, major American banks were wary of internet companies!
This stock market crash not only caused many companies to go out of business, but also left major American banks facing massive amounts of bad debts, rotten debts, and dead debts, with many dollars lent out simply not coming back!
Even if Kyle owned all the shares of California Standard Bank and could make any decision unilaterally, he couldn't ignore the potential impact!
Therefore, Bezos's current loan of $500 million was not from California Standard Bank, but directly from Kyle, with a three-party contract ensuring to the greatest extent that Kyle's lent assets would be returned in the future.
Before long... a simple loan intent letter had already been drafted.
The legal teams of Kyle, California Standard Bank, and Bezos repeatedly confirmed the legality of the terms.
"Boss, Mr. Bezos, if there are no problems with the letter of intent, we can sign the official three-party loan agreement in a week, and the funds will be allocated very quickly," the bank general manager said.
Upon hearing this, Bezos let out a huge sigh of relief.
He was a very ambitious man, and even though he currently owned over 30% of Amazon's shares, he wanted more.
"I'm fed up with the shareholders' restraints. If I don't seize this opportunity to acquire more shares, I'd be letting down the chance God has given me!" Bezos declared with great ambition.
Even though this crisis severely impacted Amazon, he still had full confidence in Amazon's future.
"As long as you're happy, don't forget our agreement; I also want to acquire more shares," Kyle said with a smile.
Buddy, that's Amazon!
Look, Amazon's single share price has already fallen below the $10 mark, and soon it will even drop below $2, almost becoming a "penny stock" that everyone despises.
However, who would have thought that in 2020, Amazon's single share price would exceed $2,000, becoming the company with the highest single share price in the world.
"As long as the opportunity is right, I'm determined to get this 200-fold return," Kyle thought to himself.
Undoubtedly, this cooperation between Kyle and Bezos was a win-win.
After all, Kyle had no intention of becoming Amazon's chairman...
After leaving California Standard Bank, Kyle immediately contacted his think tank.
Ike Moszynski, male, 48 years old, former Head of Investment Department at UBS Poland branch, specialized in banking, venture capital, and capital fundraising;
Ike Moszynski said, "Boss, Wells Fargo wants to acquire your California Standard Bank. This is both unexpected and reasonable."
"Oh, how so?" Kyle asked.
In the following time, Ike demonstrated his value by providing Kyle with sets of data.
Hmm, Wells Fargo's data.
Since 1997, Wells Fargo has become one of the fastest-growing banks in the US, with annual profit growth reaching as high as 110% to 430%;
Wells Fargo's savings growth was also extremely alarming, reaching 230% to 280%;
Wells Fargo's market value was only $690 million in 1997, but in the recently published "American Banking Industry" report this year, it ranked 21st in the American banking list, with an overall market value of $2.27 billion.
"Hiss~ That's quite impressive growth! Hmm, where does my California Standard Bank rank?" Kyle couldn't help but ask.
Upon hearing this, Ike said with a slightly embarrassed expression, "Boss, your bank didn't make it into the top 100."
Well, after learning the result, Kyle was also a bit embarrassed.
Kyle admitted that, apart from injecting $400 million into his California Standard Bank in 1998 after the acquisition, he had paid little attention to it.
"Since that's the case, my bank is so bad, so why are they still planning to acquire it?" Kyle inquired.
He had to ask!
Wells Fargo could not be underestimated now, but in the future, it would be a behemoth bank with a market value of $200 billion.
Ike stated solemnly, "Boss, with the bursting of the dot-com bubble, the entire internet industry is in a deep winter, and with the acceleration of globalization, the depreciation of the US dollar shows an uncontrollable downward trend. To preserve their assets, the public will inevitably choose multiple investments."
"Gold is the first choice for preservation!"
"Buying real estate is also an option; even in the US, while real estate may not appreciate, it will at least make many people live better."
"Similarly, with the continuous depreciation of the US dollar, there are quite a few shrewd individual investors who will choose the path of bank loans."
At this point, Kyle immediately understood.
As time passed, the US dollar became increasingly worthless.
Given this, many American citizens would naturally choose to borrow from banks. Compared to the interest, they valued how much advantage they could gain from the bank more.
Of course, banks were also happy to let the public gain an advantage; they could earn more returns by circulating these funds.
This was a win-win!
Kyle curled his lips and said, "Wells Fargo is quite cunning! By acquiring our bank now, it expands its strength and can ensure they earn more money. Tsk tsk tsk ~"
I could do that too.
At this moment, this idea popped into Kyle's mind, and he also thought of the subprime mortgage crisis a few years later.
Real estate, banks, Wall Street investment banks—weren't those the key points where the crisis erupted!
Kyle couldn't help but chuckle, "It seems that in the near future, my California Standard Bank will also usher in a big wave of growth!"
Kyle naturally didn't want to miss out on such benefits.
"I don't dare to hope that California Standard Bank's market value will break through $200 billion like Wells Fargo in the near future, but tens of billions of dollars should be no problem, right?" Kyle was daydreaming...
A few days later.
April 10th.
Kyle, holding a massive amount of cash, finally made his first major investment project after the dot-com bubble.
He invested $600 million to acquire 6.1% of Mars, Inc. from the Mars family.
Dove, Snickers, Wrigley's... Mars, Inc. would own multiple world-renowned snack brands in the future, and its market value also surpassed $100 billion. Undoubtedly, Kyle's investment was absolutely worth it.
Even if Kyle's shares would be diluted with Mars, Inc.'s continuous mergers and acquisitions in the future, a profit of more than 10 times would still be completely achievable...
April 13th.
Kyle invested $100 million to become a shareholder of X.com, taking a 30% stake.
X.com was an online transaction and payment company. Among the numerous internet payment software available today, X.com was in a mid-tier position.
"Many people say I lost money!"
"But I firmly believe I profited!"
X.com had not yet gone public and was not a particularly impressive internet company, but when its boss was mentioned, there was a lot to talk about!
—Elon Musk!
Elon Musk was the founder and owner of X.com, and in the future, he would also become the owner of SpaceX and Tesla Motors.
A super mogul with a personal net worth exceeding $50 billion.
"X.com is in a mid-tier, inconspicuous position among today's internet payment software. But I, Kyle, am a transmigrator!"
Soon, X.com would merge with another payment software company, Confinity, to form a new payment company;
In 2001, this newly merged payment software company would officially merge into the international trade payment tool—PayPal;
In 2020, PayPal became one of the world's largest payment software companies, and it was also a giant enterprise with a market value exceeding $200 billion.
"PayPal, how could I lose money?" Kyle was quite cunning.