Larry frowned slightly.
"And why is that?"
Bruce smiled faintly and answered calmly,
"First, this business model cannot be patented. The moment we make it public, other search engine companies will copy it without hesitation. At that point, we'll be helping our competitors with our own hands."
"Second, after the eighty million dollar investment, what Google lacks most is not funding, but market share. The internet is a winner-takes-most industry. The company in first place can easily take seventy percent of the market. So before we reveal paid ranking ads and sidebar ads, the better move is to turn Google into the number one search engine in the world first. Only then will launching those models have real meaning. Otherwise, we'll just be sewing a wedding dress for someone else."
Larry slowly nodded.
"But with Google's current market share, becoming number one won't be easy."
Bruce replied with confidence,
"I trust your technical ability, Sergey's, and the engineers at Google. As long as those two monetization models remain hidden, technical superiority alone can push us to the front of the search industry. And on top of that, I've thought of an even better way to speed up Google's growth."
A light flashed in Larry's eyes.
"What is it?"
Bruce smiled and said one word:
"Yahoo."
Larry froze for a moment.
"Yahoo?"
Bruce continued,
"Yes. Right now, Yahoo is the largest internet company in the world, and the one with the highest market value. It operates in twenty-four countries and regions, and serves more than five hundred million unique users. In simple terms, it is currently the biggest and most successful internet platform in existence."
Before Larry could interrupt, Bruce went on,
"The idea is very simple. We go to Yahoo and offer them this: let us place our search bar on their homepage, so users can search directly from there. And on top of that, we pay them a promotional fee of two million dollars per year. Do you think they'll refuse?"
In the future, Google's rise through Yahoo's platform would become one of the classic business stories in internet history. True, the exact arrangement here was a little different — Google would be paying Yahoo for the placement instead of Yahoo paying Google for search services — but the final result would be the same, and that was what mattered. After one or two years, once Google grew strong enough through Yahoo's traffic, even four million dollars would be nothing compared to what it gained.
As for whether Yahoo would agree, Bruce was not worried at all. Under the Nasdaq crash, every internet company was desperately searching for more revenue just to survive. There was no way they would refuse an extra two million dollars a year. Especially since, at that time, the dollar still had much stronger purchasing power than it would later.
Larry thought for a long moment, then nodded.
"So in order to use this opportunity and expand Google's share of the search market, we shouldn't release any major profit model for at least one or two years. Otherwise, even if Yahoo is slow, they won't cooperate with a company that could become their direct rival in online advertising."
Bruce nodded.
"Exactly."
Larry exhaled.
"I understand now. Fortunately, with your eighty million dollar investment, we have enough money to keep developing for the next two years."
Bruce said,
"Let's have dinner together tonight. We'll explain the whole plan to Sergey too."
Larry smiled.
"Fine. Dinner's on me."
After that discussion, the two of them left the office together, gathered the staff, and formally announced that Bruce would take over as Chairman and CEO, while Larry Page would step down from those two roles and become Vice President and Head of Product, working alongside Technical Director Sergey Brin to continue improving Google's search engine.
Negotiating with Yahoo turned out to be easier than Bruce had expected.
At that point, Yahoo's two key figures, Jerry Yang and David Filo, were more concerned with technical development and surviving the Nasdaq crisis than anything else. On top of that, an extra two million dollars in revenue was not a small thing during such a chaotic period.
Also, Yahoo's CEO at the time was Tim Koogle — an easygoing man who liked music — not Terry Semel, who would later understand just how important search was to Yahoo. That made cooperation much easier.
By the end of June, Google's search bar had successfully been integrated into Yahoo's page.
At that point, Google's affairs could be considered temporarily stable. From there on, all that remained was steady growth. And if things went roughly the way Bruce remembered, Google would one day become the giant that dominated the global search market.
But even after finishing this matter, Bruce still had no chance to relax.
One day, Wendy entered his office carrying a file.
"Boss, this is the information you asked for."
Bruce raised his head quickly and took the file.
"You found him?"
He flipped through the pages fast, then nodded in satisfaction.
"Good."
Wendy continued,
"And we also received a reply from Korn Ferry. The target has accepted the invitation, and he'll arrive in San Francisco the day after tomorrow to meet you."
Bruce thought for a moment, then shook his head immediately.
"Tell him not to come to San Francisco. Have him go directly to Los Angeles instead. And book me a flight there this afternoon."
Wendy nodded, then added,
"By the way, registration for Matrix Games is complete."
Bruce took the documents and seal, looked at them briefly, and said,
"Since the M&A team still isn't fully formed, you'll handle this acquisition for me. I want you to acquire Valve Software. And remember, leave ten percent of the shares for the development team."
Wendy raised her brows and said in a slightly teasing tone,
"I'm doing two jobs now, Boss. You should raise my salary."
Bruce looked at her and smiled.
"No problem. If the acquisition succeeds, you'll get one percent of the total deal value as compensation."
Then he added, looking straight at her,
"But if you overpay, I won't approve it."
Her eyes lit up immediately.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
She lifted her chin confidently.
"Don't worry. I'll acquire Valve before you come back."
Bruce nodded.
"Good. And after the deal is done, move the company to Silicon Valley."
Wendy hesitated.
"And if they refuse to relocate?"
Bruce thought for a moment, then said,
"If they refuse, leave it for now. I'll handle it when I return."
Then he looked at her and asked,
"Anything else?"
"No."
"Then go."
After she left, Bruce stood up and organized his desk. He gathered the papers he wanted to take with him, then walked out of the office.
Since deciding to set up an office directly under the Chairman, he no longer worked inside LinkedIn's own workspace. Instead, he had moved to the top floor of the Hills Building, where he rented an independent five-hundred-square-meter office.
And although his focus lately had shifted more toward Google — which meant he was spending much less time at LinkedIn — he was still the company's founder and chairman, and his voice remained the strongest there.
The trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles was short by plane. About ninety minutes later, Bruce walked out of the airport surrounded by the usual tide of travelers.
And one thought immediately crossed his mind:
"It would be nice to have a private jet."
But he quickly sighed and shook his head.
A private jet was nice, yes — but not a priority for the next two years. Not because he couldn't afford one, but because he preferred to put money where it would generate more money. The millions that would go into a jet could instead be turned into tens or hundreds of times more through smart investments. So he wasn't willing to waste capital unless absolutely necessary.
He left the airport, took a taxi, and headed to the Beverly Hills West Hollywood Hotel, where he had already booked a room.
It was one of the best hotels in Los Angeles, and the price was not cheap at all, especially since he had chosen one of the finest luxury suites. But he was not willing to cut costs on accommodation. A good environment meant good sleep, and good sleep meant a clear mind — especially for someone who wrote constantly and planned even more.
As soon as he dropped off his luggage and checked the time, he saw he still had several hours before evening. Not wanting to waste a minute, he took the information he had specially bought from an investigative firm and headed straight for his next destination.
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