Chapter 405 A 21-Fold Return, Should I Sell My Apple Shares?
"This is all thanks to you. In the future, if there are good investment opportunities, I hope Citibank will continue to introduce them to me!" Lin Haoran said with a hearty laugh.
"Of course, Mr. Lin is one of our most important clients. We would be more than happy to share such opportunities with you!" Walter Wriston had already regained his composure, his smile now much more natural.
After chatting with Walter Wriston, Lin Haoran also paid a visit to John Reed.
For Citibank, Lin Haoran intended to maintain a long-term relationship.
Since John Reed was the future chairman of Citibank, strengthening ties with him would be highly beneficial.
Most importantly, Lin Haoran had a long-term plan — he wanted to become a shareholder of Citibank, preferably one of the major shareholders.
Based on future developments, he knew that Citibank would eventually fall under the control of Squid Capital.
But Lin Haoran did not want to see that happen.
The simplest way to prevent Squid Capital from gaining control would be for him to invest in Citibank now and become one of its key shareholders.
Then, even if Citibank attempted to merge with Travelers Group in the future, he could vote against it.
Even if the merger still went through, his early positioning would be enough to prevent Squid Capital from being the greatest beneficiary.
After all, Lin Haoran needed a strong banking partner in the U.S., and Citibank, in terms of both strength and network, was the best choice.
He had no intention of controlling Citibank — that would never be permitted, since he was not an American citizen.
But becoming an important shareholder was entirely feasible.
Maintaining a good relationship with Citibank would greatly support his broader business expansion in America.
And even though he was currently preparing to acquire another bank, it did not conflict with his plan to invest in Citibank.
After leaving Citibank's headquarters and returning to Times Square, the time had already passed four o'clock.
Standing on the street, Lin Haoran heard the closing bell of the NASDAQ Stock Exchange ringing.
It marked the official end of Apple's first trading day.
Curious, Lin Haoran decided to check how Apple's stock had performed.
Bringing Li Weidong and Li Weiguo along, he returned to NASDAQ.
Inside, the simple LED board was displaying the closing prices of various listed companies, including Apple.
The LED technology of the time was still primitive, made up of countless small bulbs forming letters and numbers — not even capable of displaying images.
But it was enough for the stock exchange's purposes.
The board showed Apple's final closing price: $36.25 per share.
Seeing this, Lin Haoran's face revealed a trace of surprise.
He hadn't expected that even though he had not interfered with Apple's internal management, his early investment seemed to have changed the company's destiny.
In his memories from his previous life, Apple's first-day IPO closing price was around $30.31 per share, for a total market cap of about $1.78 billion.
Now, it had reached $36.25 — far higher than he remembered.
Apple's first-day market capitalization was already about $2.13 billion — stronger and more favored than in the other world.
Perhaps, Lin Haoran speculated, it was because in this world, Apple had secured his $10 million investment early on, boosting its momentum and reputation in the U.S.
That was the only reasonable explanation he could think of.
Regardless, it was a good thing.
He had no intention of interfering with Apple's management in the future either.
Lin Haoran headed toward the meeting room they had used in the morning.
He was sure Jobs and the others were still there, having spent the entire day at NASDAQ.
After all, for young entrepreneurs experiencing their company's IPO for the first time, this was an unforgettable moment.
As he neared the room, Lin Haoran heard bursts of cheering from inside.
He knocked lightly, and soon the door opened.
Sure enough, inside were Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Mike Markkula, Rod Holt, and even NASDAQ's chairman Mr. McLean.
Seeing Lin Haoran, Jobs rushed out excitedly, giving him a big hug.
"Mr. Lin, we're all billionaires now!" Jobs shouted.
Who could blame him for being excited?
At just 25 years old, having founded a company and led it to a successful IPO to become a billionaire — all by his own effort — was extraordinary.
"Congratulations to all of you!" Lin Haoran replied calmly, smiling warmly.
The room was filled with joyful faces.
Besides Mr. McLean, the others were all Apple's top executives and major investors.
Not only had four new billionaires been born, but dozens of Apple employees had also become millionaires.
And now, Apple's market value on its first day was even higher than Lin Haoran had remembered.
Thus, the likes of Jobs and his team were even wealthier than they would have been otherwise.
No wonder everyone was ecstatic.
"I always knew Apple would be the most promising company NASDAQ has ever listed.
Breaking NASDAQ's highest market cap record on the first day — it's simply incredible!" McLean said, beaming.
A market cap exceeding $2.1 billion was considered phenomenal even in America at the time.
This gave NASDAQ a major publicity boost and would attract even more companies to list there.
Thus, Apple's success was also a huge win for NASDAQ — no wonder McLean was so thrilled.
"Mr. Lin, you probably didn't know, but Mr. McLean bought 100,000 shares before the IPO.
Now, he hasn't quite doubled his investment yet, but he's very close!" Jobs said with a laugh.
"Oh? No wonder Mr. McLean is as excited as we are!" Lin Haoran chuckled.
Earlier, he had thought McLean's excitement was purely because of NASDAQ's success.
It turned out he had a personal stake too.
100,000 shares — at today's price — were now worth over $3 million.
Lin Haoran himself had not ordered Su Zhixue's team to buy or sell Apple shares on the secondary market.
There were simply too few shares available — only 4.6 million were floated publicly, less than one-tenth of the total.
Even if Universal Investment Company tried to trade them, they wouldn't be able to absorb much.
At best, they could make a few hundred thousand dollars — too little for Lin Haoran to bother with.
Besides, he wanted to see what would happen without any secondary market manipulation.
Now he knew: even without interference, his earlier investment had helped boost Apple's IPO performance.
And that was just fine.
"Mr. Lin, we've reserved a private room at the Plaza Hotel for tonight's celebration party.
As one of Apple's key investors, you must attend!" Jobs said with a broad smile.
"Of course, it would be my honor!" Lin Haoran agreed immediately.
Although he had never been there, he knew the Plaza Hotel well — one of New York's most prestigious hotels, located across from Central Park, synonymous with wealth and prestige.
Given how well Apple's IPO had gone — raising all the planned funds and seeing a strong stock surge — a grand celebration was definitely in order.
"Mr. McLean, we hope you'll join us too.
NASDAQ deserves credit for Apple's success," Jobs added.
"I would be delighted!" McLean replied, smiling.
After a brief celebration at NASDAQ, the group returned to Apple's New York office.
There too, the atmosphere was joyous.
Many employees had bought shares before the IPO, and now they were all sitting on huge paper profits.
Those who weren't smiling quite as brightly were probably regretting not buying more shares when they had the chance.
Sitting in an office chair, Lin Haoran did a quick mental calculation.
The 4.6 million IPO shares were newly issued shares — meaning they didn't dilute existing shareholders.
Thus, even after the IPO, Lin Haoran still held 10% of Apple.
His original $10 million investment was now worth approximately $210 million — or about 1.1 billion Hong Kong dollars at the current exchange rate.
In less than a year, his return had skyrocketed to an astonishing 21-fold.
"Should I sell my Apple shares?" Lin Haoran suddenly thought to himself.
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