mobile pay
“It’s about making X Development independent from Google.”
Sergei asked.
“Isn’t that the best way? The two want to prepare the future of mankind through X Development, but the shareholders are not really interested. To satisfy both parties, XDevelopment will have to separate from Google and find a way to finance it separately.”
Larry Page and Sergey Brin each have a valuation of just under $40 billion. But most of the assets are mostly tied up in Google’s stock.
Giving billions of dollars to X Development each year is not an easy task for two of the richest people.
Moreover, there is no guarantee that X Development’s research results will be profitable enough in the next 5 or 10 years.
Neither do they want to do research for immediate profit at X Development.
Their hope is to continue research for the distant future regardless of budget.
In order to do that, it was essential to belong to Google, which has a strong financial line.
“You mean that Eugene will invest in the independence of X Development? With a budget of three billion dollars a year alone, right?”
“If $3 billion isn’t enough, I’m thinking of giving $5 billion or $10 billion.”
No individual or company can afford to pay $10 billion a year for something like a flying car or a space elevator.
In fact, only the United States is the only country that can invest $10 billion annually in research.
And Eugene is the only individual capable of carrying that burden.
“First, we’re going to invest $15 billion to make it a standalone company. Considering the cost Google has invested so far, we will pay 10 billion dollars to Google. So, shareholders will be delighted, as Google will immediately generate an additional $10 billion in revenue next year.”
Stories of enormous sums flow so easily.
“And the extra cost will start at $3 billion in the first year and add $1 billion each year. In seven years, the budget would be $10 billion annually.”
It is a proposal that is difficult for any company, even at the national level, to be made unless it is Eugene.
“… … Would you like something instead?”
“Of course. We will receive 100% of all common shares. And I give them 11%, 10 times the voting right.”
At Eugene’s words, Sergei and Larry looked at each other’s faces.
Considering the cost he will invest, 100% common stock is by no means an overstatement. On the other hand, if the special voting stock is 10 times 11%, there is no problem for two people to dominate X Development.
“But why the hell do you want X Development?”
After Eugene’s proposal was finished, the most important question came up.
“It is because we agree with the fact that X Development is researching various methods to solve the big problems that threaten humanity.”
“Something like a climate issue, right?”
“Yes. Solving things like the climate problem would require a lot of investment. And X Development is full of smart and ambitious people.”
“But you know that Eugene is close with Trump, right? Doesn’t Trump think of the climate problem as a scam?”
As pointed out several times in different situations, Eugene resolutely accepted.
“What Trump thinks about the climate issue has nothing to do with me. The climate problem is arguably the biggest threat that exists. To solve that, we are still investing in very promising businesses.”
“It’s a little hard to understand. If so, shouldn’t we rather support Hillary?”
Most Silicon Valley giants had a very strong dislike for Donald Trump.
It is widely known that Google’s founders are quiet, but Apple is clearly hostile to Trump, the Washington Post acquired by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos did not delay its attack on Trump for a moment, and Zuckerberg is similarly inclined.
So it was only natural to send such suspicions about Eugene, who is known to have a close relationship with Trump.
“I don’t think Hillary will help the climate. Americans are still not convinced of the catastrophic consequences of climate change. Not a few movies can be turned into one radical leader.”
Eugene avoided political issues and pointed out only factual issues.
And there are things he didn’t say. It is a fact that sometimes members realize their mistakes because of the wrong leader.
During the 50 years when the climate problem was raised, most of mankind had some sympathy for the climate problem, but in fact, they did not pay much attention to it.
It is in the four years since Trump was elected that people become more concerned about the climate.
Ironically, Donald Trump’s bullshit policies and ignoring climate issues have made the general public more serious about climate issues.
“I know you are serious about the climate issue.”
It seems that Sergei has no intention of continuing the debate. Business and political orientation must be distinguishable.
“I honestly don’t know yet what Eugene intends to make X Development independent. Perhaps your investment sense is thinking that some of our projects are worthwhile. If you’re interested in climate issues, I think ultimately it’s for economic reasons.”
Eugene knew well that Larry Page was introverted and less sociable than the sociable Sergey Brin.
Perhaps that’s why I spit out what I’m thinking without a filter.
“Of course, for economic reasons.”
And Eugene also tends to be honest if possible.
“Without economic drivers, any attempt would be meaningless. Thank you for your candid answer.”
Larry took Eugene’s answer positively.
“But it’s a question that takes time to answer.”
“good. Please take the time to consider it.”
Eugene didn’t expect an answer right away either.
However, there is no doubt that it is a proposal worthy of consideration.
If the two reject Eugene’s offer, they will be well aware that Eugene, who holds the largest number of common shares in Google, can pressure XDevelopment’s downsizing through the board of directors.
The fact that it was better to accept Eugene’s offer than to fight him must have already been calculated.
“If you add another $10 billion next year and the $3 billion budget for X Development, there’s going to be a lot of free money. As a shareholder of Google, I want them to pay a little more attention to Google Pay.”
Eugene had one more task.
“You seem to have a future for Google Pay.”
Again, the two showed interest.
Global IT companies have always been interested in finance-related fields, and have tried to enter the financial field through various methods.
As with credit cards, it is because the consumer payment-related industry has a large profit, but it is also because the intention is to create a global financial platform that encompasses the huge size of members that they already have and induce members to solve everything within their own platform. to be.
In Korea, large portals also entered the financial sector directly to create a bank, and distributed various rewards to their members to sign up for an accessible and easy-to-use payment system.
Apple already launched its own Pay service in 2014, and Google the following year.
Efforts to create new cash cows and preoccupy the market are natural.
Although Google is pursuing business in a wide variety of fields, its profit structure is surprisingly simple.
It earns about 60% from advertising, the main source of revenue for Google, 10% from YouTube, 10% from Google Play or hardware sales, and 10% from network services.
In practice, this means that most of the advertising services are.
Other than that, the service is called Other Bets by Google, and it can be seen that there is little revenue generated from it.
However, Google spends billions of dollars each year on these Other Bets, and there is a reason why Google has no choice but to make various attempts to discover new sources of income.
Ultimately, that’s what Larry Page and Sergey Brin want from X Development.
Google Pay, launched last year, is also part of such an attempt.
“Sure. It’s a pity that we lost to Apple, but from now on, we will have to use various methods to acquire active users of Google Pay.”
Unfortunately, Google Pay almost failed in the US market.
In the next five years or so, Apple Pay will account for more than 90% of the US market, while Google Pay only accounts for a marginal share of 3%.
Considering that Apple’s and Android’s share of the US smartphone market is only slightly different, it can only be seen as a failure of Google’s sales.
Eugene is a major shareholder of Google and also a major shareholder of Apple.
It’s only good for Eugene if he can take over the market anywhere on either side. However, it goes without saying that it is better for both Google and Apple to succeed in the market.
“The US market is important, but it seems like it would be good to increase its share in the third world market, where Android is also dominant. Just putting in a simple payment right now will be a great help in increasing the market. On the other hand, it is worth considering creating a separate app and making it available on the iPhone as well.”
In places where access to traditional banks is low, such as India or Southeast Asia and South America, demand for mobile payments is high. Of course, it will require a lot of effort and investment to preoccupy the market.
Eugene has no intention of leaving the $10 billion that he plans to invest just as a reserve.
“In our calculations, we could generate more than $2 billion in additional revenue per year in roughly five years.”
“Hmm… … In fact, we also have a lot of trouble with expanding our payment service. However, I did not think of such an investment as it is to expand the Android market.”
“Perhaps the pay side can make more profit than they get from Android.”
It will be a long time before Google realizes that it could dominate the mobile financial market in the Third World if Google’s pay service is built into Android smartphones by default.
And by that time, various mobile banking services with various functions will already occupy the market in each country.
“This is definitely something to consider.”
“If it’s Eugene’s words, of course we should think about it.”
Both Larry and Sergey respond positively.
If the two accept Eugene’s opinion, they will have to think more deeply about the independence of X Development even for the aggressive market expansion of Google Pay.
“Today has been a very informative and enjoyable time.”
We talked with the two of them for a while on various topics and said goodbye.
It was a place where we helped each other in many ways.