Chapter 97 Bargaining

"Hello, who is this?"

Seeing that it was another phone number from the capital, Zhou Xuan figured it must be Sohu calling again, and wondered inwardly if they had finally agreed to his asking price.

"Hello, this is Charles Zhang."

The voice coming through the receiver startled Zhou Xuan. Holy crap, he hadn't expected Charles Zhang to call him personally.

Even though he had already met the number three official of the provincial party committee, hearing the voice of Charles Zhang, the head of Sohu—one of the top three web portals—made Zhou Xuan even more excited.

Back in his past life, Zhou Xuan could only look up to such legendary figures from afar, catching glimpses of their stories solely through the internet and news reports.

Never did he imagine that after his rebirth, his first dealings with such heavyweights would come so soon. And what was more, they were going to trade, or rather, negotiate.

"Hello? Are you the owner of the domain name?" Charles Zhang asked, noticing that Zhou Xuan had remained silent for several seconds.

Hearing this, Zhou Xuan mentally scolded himself for being overly excited and almost blowing his cover. He quickly composed himself and chuckled, "Ha, hello, Mr. Zhang! I am indeed the owner."

Upon hearing Zhou Xuan's voice, Charles Zhang instantly felt that the speaker sounded ridiculously young, and a strong sense of doubt arose—did he dial the wrong number?

In his mind, since the other party had managed to preemptively register the Sohu domain name right after he renamed the company from Sohu's predecessor, they should at least be an overseas returnee or a university graduate. Why did the tone sound so childish?

However, he had no time to dwell on this, believing it was best to secure the complete set of the Sohu domain names as quickly as possible. He didn't hold a very high opinion of this person who opened his mouth with such exorbitant demands, but his tone remained polite all the same. "Hello. I just heard my staff report your asking price. I'm sorry, but your price is truly too high. Haha, to be frank, $500,000 is an amount no company—not just in China, but anywhere in the world—would pay to buy a domain name."

Hearing this, Zhou Xuan had to admit that a titan was indeed a titan; the moment he opened his mouth, he started trying to suppress his opponent.

Zhou Xuan, however, wasn't going to buy into that trick. He smiled and said, "Mr. Zhang, you're quite wrong about that. To other companies, it might indeed be worthless. But to Sohu, this domain name is unique. You must know how much a good domain name can elevate a website's value. A domain name that aligns so perfectly with a company is something you can only hope for, not demand. Since I registered this domain name, naturally, I want to maximize its value."

"Haha, I know the Sohu domain name fits the company very well, but it's not irreplaceable. We can also abandon the Sohu domain name and continue using something else. At a time like this, spending $500,000 to buy a domain name is simply a joke." Charles Zhang took a step back to advance, attempting to shatter Zhou Xuan's illusions.

Unfazed, Zhou Xuan continued, "Is that so? Too bad I don't believe Mr. Zhang has the resolve to give up Sohu. The era of web portals is coming, and Netease is already on its way. I refuse to believe Mr. Zhang has no intentions of building a portal. Changing Sohu's name couldn't have been a pointless whim, could it?"

Upon hearing this, Charles Zhang felt a wave of suspicion. Who was this person, and how did he know so much information?

"He understands Sohu's next steps this thoroughly. How could he possibly know that I just decided at the meeting to keep focusing on content and web portals?"

"Besides, Sohu's name has been changed for over half a year now. To change it back now..." Zhou Xuan paused for a moment before continuing, "Ha, I suppose no sane person would do that, would they?"

"And Mr. Zhang, to be honest, $500,000 really isn't high. You should know that back in 1996, Mark Ostrofsky spent $150,000 just to purchase that domain name. Even if this domain name were priced at $1 million right now, many companies would fight to buy it. Also, let me share a piece of news with you: I've heard that another company is currently trying to acquire this domain name. Haha, I don't mind telling you that the current offer has already reached $3 million, while the holder is asking for $3.5 million. Compared to that, do you still think my $500,000 is high?"

Everything Zhou Xuan said was the truth, though domain name transactions prior to 1998 were rarely documented in later eras. Otherwise, he could have found even more examples to refute Charles Zhang and make him realize just how precious a good domain name was.

Hearing this, Charles Zhang felt a wave of frustration. How could one compare? Right now, he genuinely felt as though he was talking to a Chinese person living in the United States; otherwise, how could he be so well-informed about domain names? Furthermore, he had Sohu's development completely figured out, hitting Charles Zhang right where it hurt.

"$500,000 is absolute nonsense. I can raise the acquisition price to $100,000, and not a penny more." After a long silence, Charles Zhang finally uttered those words.

From his perspective, he had already raised the price fivefold from his initial psychological baseline of $20,000. If Zhou Xuan still refused to agree, it would only prove that he was simply far too greedy.

"Considering we are both Chinese, $300,000 or an equivalent stake in shares," Zhou Xuan said calmly.

Charles Zhang flatly refused, "Shares are completely out of the question!"

Zhou Xuan didn't budge either: "$300,000, not a penny less."

"Then there's nothing more to discuss..." Seeing that Zhou Xuan wouldn't loosen his grip, Charles Zhang sighed helplessly.

"Haha, Mr. Zhang. I have another proposal. What if I invest 1 million RMB, along with the full set of domain names, in exchange for a 10% stake?" Zhou Xuan tossed out another plan he had been pondering for a long time.

Charles Zhang sneered inwardly. I knew this fellow was after equity; now he's finally showing his true colors.

After two rounds of financing, Sohu's current valuation—despite having raised less than $2.5 million in total—was at least $5 million. For Zhou Xuan to demand a 10% equity stake with just 1 million RMB and a domain name was simply impossible.

Charles Zhang rejected the offer outright: "Impossible. Your assets are worth at most a 2% stake."

Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "Mr. Zhang, my shares will only be for dividends; I can hand over all voting rights entirely to you. Moreover, I can raise the cash portion to 2 million RMB, which is equivalent to about $250,000. I happen to know that your two rounds of financing totaled less than $2.5 million, meaning Sohu's valuation right now is at most $3 million."

"Still no. I have no intention of selling any equity." Charles Zhang attached immense importance to shares, as this concerned his future voting power and control within the company. Moreover, there would be a third and fourth round of financing down the line, and Charles Zhang wanted to keep as many shares in his own hands as possible. If he gave away 10% now, how much would he have left when future financing came around?

Zhou Xuan laughed heartily, completely unhurried. "Mr. Zhang, what a pity."

"Ah... wait a minute." Charles Zhang hadn't expected Zhou Xuan to back out so decisively, and suddenly wondered if he had been too extreme in his refusal.

"How about this? There is one more condition: I want Sohu placed in the most prominent position on the Hao123 website navigation directory. What do you think?"

"Deal!" After a brief moment of hesitation, Charles Zhang agreed to Zhou Xuan's condition. It seemed even Charles Zhang was well aware of Hao123's massive influence.

...

Zhou Xuan hung up the phone with a satisfied smile, then placed a call to book a flight to the capital for the day after tomorrow.