[Chapter 475: Network Crash]
The six-against-one party went on until 9 a.m. the next day before finally wrapping up. Linton packed up his gear and bid a reluctant farewell to the six Victoria's Secret Angels.
He took the elevator down to the underground parking garage, where his assistant's car was waiting to take him back to the estate's vacation villa.
As soon as he walked in, he saw Winnie and Catherine sitting on the living room couch, excitedly reading through newspapers. A thick stack of today's papers was spread out on the coffee table.
"What's the good news? You both look so happy," Linton asked as he naturally walked over and sat between them, wrapping an arm around each and planting a kiss on each one's cheek.
"Darling, you're back! Let's have breakfast together," Winnie replied, blowing him a kiss.
"Darling, yesterday's Victoria's Secret Angels runway show was a huge hit," Catherine exclaimed, eagerly sharing the news articles with him. "Nearly all the entertainment headlines in the papers covered the event, and they all mentioned our Mission: Impossible film as well. It's getting massive media attention."
After breakfast, Linton casually flipped through the papers, browsing the entertainment section. As expected, the news of yesterday's Victoria's Secret fashion show dominated the headlines everywhere. Among the many pictures of the Angels were stills of Linton himself and screenshots from the Mission: Impossible trailer.
"Darling, there's another interesting update on the internet," Winnie said, shifting the conversation.
"The internet?"
"Yes. At 6 p.m. yesterday, right after the Victoria's Secret show wrapped, over one million people flooded into the Yahoo forums to talk about the event. It far exceeded Yahoo's capacity, and as a result, the site was down for almost an hour."
"One million users at the same time?" Linton mused. "What's going on with Yahoo? One million people chatting and their servers couldn't handle it?"
"Yes, it was way beyond expectations. It's a huge boost for both the internet and Yahoo. Even though their servers crashed, the company's stock prospects were actually boosted. Investors became even more optimistic, and the IPO valuation increased significantly."
Linton suddenly remembered it was still 1996, the early days of the internet boom -- this wasn't the internet explosion of the future. So, one million simultaneous users on a website truly was a remarkable milestone.
"Hey, can we get online here? Let's check it out," he said.
"There's internet access in the study. I've already logged on."
...
Linton opened Yahoo's homepage, and sure enough, a big red banner congratulated Yahoo forums for surpassing one million concurrent users.
He browsed the forums. Among the top 10 trending posts, eight were about the Victoria's Secret Angels or the lingerie show. The other two were ranked third: the Dallas Cowboys winning the Super Bowl, and ninth: Linton and Mission: Impossible.
The hottest post was a photo collage of the six Angels from yesterday's stage. Each wore seductive lingerie, smiling sweetly. Some blew kisses to the audience, some waved, others struck alluring poses.
The caption subsections like: "A Dream Lingerie Show", "Mysterious and Sexy Victoria's Secret Lingerie", "My Favorite Victoria's Secret Angel."
Not long ago, this post's comment count had already blown past 12 million -- clearly showing just how viral it was.
Linton and Mission: Impossible were also doing well. Both the newspapers and online buzz confirmed the massive success of the Victoria's Secret show. It truly stole the spotlight away from the game itself and the halftime acts.
Of course, Mission: Impossible benefited greatly as well, but Linton felt most of the attention wasn't directly because of the trailer. It was mainly because it was linked to the Victoria's Secret show.
...
"Darling, looks like Victoria's Secret is about to take off like a rocket. Congratulations on the big win with your investment," Winnie said, her eyes burning with intensity as she looked at Linton.
"Darling, the buzz around Mission: Impossible totally outshines every blockbuster out there. I have a feeling the box office will be huge," Catherine added, beaming with excitement.
"Cheers to that! We should celebrate," Linton said happily, holding their hands as they headed toward the master bedroom.
"Aren't you supposed to fly back to Los Angeles this morning?" Winnie asked.
"I'm in such a good mood today; I'm pushing the trip to the afternoon..."
---
"Yahoo will go public next month. According to the preliminary underwriter plan, the IPO price was $20 per share with 4 million shares to be offered, raising $80 million. At that price, Yahoo's market capitalization would be $400 million. But after yesterday's server overload and crash, the valuation may be significantly higher."
On the flight back to Los Angeles later that afternoon, Winnie took the opportunity to discuss work with Linton privately.
"Very good, Yahoo has a bright future."
"Yeah, but after the IPO, our stake will fall to just 18%. Should we buy more to maintain a 20% share?"
"Yes. But to avoid tipping off Yahoo's management, don't use Mangrove Capital's name. Contact Richard and have him buy the shares under Skycrest Capital. Buy as many as possible -- no less than 2%."
"Alright. By the way, Netscape's lockup period expires this month. Their stock has already soared above $90 due to solid growth over the past six months. Their market cap is over $9.5 billion now, and our holdings are worth over $2 billion, plus still increasing. Do we really want to sell?"
"Does Netscape have any other products besides their browser?"
"Nope. They specialize only in the browser. But their browser's performance is top-notch and gets upgraded every month with new minor versions. Plus, they have patent protection, so no competitors come close."
"I heard Microsoft is developing a browser too," Linton said.
"Microsoft, huh?"
"Yeah, you can't tell me a company like Microsoft can't build a good browser."
"Netscape has over 95% market share right now. Even if Microsoft comes out with one, it won't threaten them."
"Normally, that would be true. But don't forget Windows 95's huge dominance. What if Microsoft bundles their browser with the operating system?"
"Bundle?"
"Yeah, just like what happened with office software before. That move pretty much crushed all the other office software companies -- even the mighty Lotus."
"Sounds like we should sell then."
"Don't rush. I expect Microsoft's browser won't hit the market until later this year. We have over three months. Slowly sell off your shares over this period. Just make sure it's all gone in three months without causing major price swings."
"Alright. What should we do with the cash from selling? Invest more in computer and communication stocks?"
"That's a good plan. These sectors still have lots of growth potential. Also, keep an eye on promising or already-growing internet companies."
*****
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