In my memory, online headlines often used a clichéd title: "XX May Be the Biggest Winner." It always felt oddly malicious. Yet, as the Atlanta Olympics concluded on August 4, many began reflecting on the event and suddenly realized that Egret might indeed be the biggest winner.
The proof lay in the markets. The day after the closing ceremony, August 5, the stock market opened with Egret's share price surging 3.3%, leaping from $439.1 billion to a peak of $453.6 billion in market cap.
This was no coincidence.
On Monday, August 5, the Westeros system's newspapers, TV channels, and online platforms launched a large-scale campaign highlighting the data generated by Egret's platforms during the Atlanta Olympics.
According to Egret's statistics, over the 17 days of the Olympics, 320 million internet users worldwide engaged with Olympic-related content on Egret's platforms, including its portals, forums, social networks, and video sites. This accounted for 70% of the global internet user base of 460 million.
This global event led to a 27% spike in Egret's overall platform traffic in just over two weeks.
Facebook and YouTube were particularly noteworthy, with significant growth in users and content during the Olympics.
While the report didn't mention it directly, the July 27 bombing incident undeniably showcased the advantages of online platforms over traditional TV and print media, thanks to their immediacy and depth.
In the 24 hours following the bombing, Facebook saw over 80 million posts related to the incident, while YouTube added 270,000 videos directly from Atlanta.
Heat drove traffic, traffic drove revenue, and revenue boosted market value, which in turn propelled stock prices.
With a single-day gain of 3.3%, Egret's shareholders collectively saw their wealth increase by $14.5 billion in just one day.
And Egret wasn't the only one to benefit.
As the leader of the NASDAQ, Egret's rise lifted the entire tech sector. By the close of trading, the NASDAQ index had climbed to 4,765 points. While it didn't break the 5,000-point barrier as some had hoped, it was tantalizingly close.
The total market cap of NASDAQ stocks reached $5.6 trillion—greater than Japan's GDP at the time. Despite widespread recognition that the NASDAQ was in a severe bubble, the sheer magnitude of this figure drove capital markets into a frenzy.
Simon, however, couldn't help but worry.
The higher the climb, the harder the fall.
On Monday, Simon flew to San Francisco, spending three days in Silicon Valley making adjustments to prepare for the inevitable crash of the NASDAQ bubble.
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The irrationality of human behavior often leads to catastrophic outcomes. Just as the World Wars seemed inevitable yet were fundamentally avoidable, the bursting of the NASDAQ bubble was driven by a mix of greed and momentum that no one, not even Simon, dared to stop outright.
Instead, he focused on what he could control.
Much of his efforts centered on ensuring that the Westeros system's tech companies could survive the coming winter. Beyond that, Simon aimed to help valuable tech firms endure the downturn, safeguarding the foundation of the tech industry from systemic collapse.
The root solution boiled down to one thing: money.
In a famine, survival depends on food.
During a capital winter, companies need lifeline funding to stay afloat.
Simon spent three days in frank discussions with Egret's leadership, finalizing a few key measures:
1. Tightening Egret's Budget: Post-IPO, Egret would hold over $20 billion in cash reserves. Despite Simon's warnings, the company had become prone to extravagant spending. This needed to change immediately.
2. Building New Data Centers: Even as Egret's cloud computing services matured, many companies still preferred to operate their own servers, wary of relying on external providers. However, when the financial winter struck, many of these firms would find maintaining expensive "owned properties" unsustainable and would turn to Egret's "rental housing." The new data centers would cater to this demand, offering a lifeline during the downturn.
3. Establishing a Corporate Evaluation Team: Egret would begin assessing the operational health of current tech companies. Not all could be saved after the bubble burst. Simon was not in the business of charity; only companies with long-term value would receive support.
Furthermore, Simon wasn't planning to offer this aid for free.
While the Westeros system had heavily invested in tech startups over the past few years, the expected post-bubble consolidation would only deepen its dominance in the industry.
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August 8, Thursday
After spending Monday to Wednesday in San Francisco, Simon flew to New York early Thursday morning, arriving just as the workday began.
As they approached Danelys Entertainment's East Coast headquarters on 66th Street in Manhattan's Upper West Side, Simon reviewed documents provided by his assistant. The final report was from Claire, detailing a proposal to integrate mini-internet café functionality into Starbucks locations.
The inspiration came from the Olympics.
Without mobile internet, consumers using products from Claire's Tinkobile company, like iCam and iRec, naturally wanted to upload their photos and videos online as quickly as possible to share with friends.
During the Atlanta Olympics, internet cafés became the most popular spots in the city. Tourists from around the world flocked to these venues to upload and share their photos and videos, leading to packed facilities operating around the clock.
Simon had previously promoted internet cafés in North America back in 1991. The goal then was to introduce potential users to the internet and encourage widespread adoption of network services. Unlike countries like China, where internet cafés remained popular for years, Simon hadn't been optimistic about their long-term viability in North America due to higher consumer purchasing power. He had quickly sold off related projects after proving their concept.
Claire's proposal reimagined the function of internet cafés, shifting their core purpose from general internet access to being an ecosystem for Tinkobile's products.
Historically, tech giants like Google and Facebook had relentlessly pursued initiatives to connect more people to the internet—launching network service companies, deploying satellites, creating public Wi-Fi zones, and even using planes to provide wireless internet.
Claire's plan shared a similar vision.
Opening standalone internet café chains was too costly, so partnering with Starbucks—an established global brand—was a brilliant alternative. Adding a few computers to each Starbucks location would create a mini-internet café setup, allowing users to upload content instantly.
This was a win-win strategy.
Offering internet access, like later free Wi-Fi, would attract more customers to Starbucks. Simultaneously, making uploads easier would drive sales of Tinkobile products like iCam.
Both sides were enthusiastic about the collaboration.
Now, it was a matter of hammering out the specifics of the partnership.
As always, it came down to money.
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