The girlfriend beside Bob was completely confused, not understanding what was going on.
Her boyfriend had never acted this way before.
He was usually calm and composed, never showing any emotional turbulence no matter what happened.
Whether facing major capital moguls, mysterious family heads, or even the U.S. President, he could always remain calm and unruffled.
In the upper echelons, many people held Bob in high regard, believing that he had a remarkable vision and always managed to get ahead of others, securing success before anyone else.
In their eyes, Bob was highly desirable—every decision he made brought them countless benefits.
However, what they didn't know was that 95% of those decisions were actually provided by Takayuki.
Takayuki held a firm 30% stake in Facebook, making him the largest shareholder aside from Bob himself.
...
...
But Takayuki had no interest in expanding his involvement beyond the game industry, nor was he keen on offering unsolicited advice about the operations of a social networking company.
So, he had given all the voting rights for his shares to Bob, allowing him to have absolute control at shareholder meetings, making his voice unchallengeable.
It was precisely because of this absolute authority that Bob had been able to steadily implement the strategies suggested by Takayuki, from early improvements to social networking, to ventures into video platforms, live streaming, and e-commerce.
Now, Facebook had grown into a massive entity in the U.S.
Had Takayuki not handed over all the voting rights from the start, it was likely the U.S. government would have stepped in by now, forcibly seizing the shares Takayuki held.
A foreign entity holding a 30% stake in a domestic giant internet social enterprise was a major threat.
But Takayuki was very wise—he only took the profits without intervening in any operations. This caused some tension with the U.S. government, but nothing had been done yet, as they didn't want to risk damaging investor confidence globally. This had created a subtle unspoken agreement between the two sides.
Even now, only Bob truly understood the significance of Takayuki's role.
Without Takayuki, Bob wouldn't have reached his current position.
He truly felt like a worker in this scenario.
He was also smart enough not to look down on Takayuki just because he had achieved so much.
Bob always felt that Takayuki was not like someone from this era—his ideas were always ahead of the world.
If Bob missed out on such a guide, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
So, while he wouldn't hesitate to hang up on a call from the President of the United States in the middle of the night, a call from Takayuki was different.
"Hello? Mr. Takayuki? What can I do for you?"
"Mm? Mobile business? We haven't ventured into that yet, but our department is developing mobile-related products and applications. The MK1 phone has indeed become quite popular recently."
"Mr. Takayuki, do you mean...?"
"Alright, I understand. I'll prepare now."
"Okay, Mr. Takayuki. Goodbye."
After hanging up, Bob turned to look at his new girlfriend.
"Bob... Bob... who is this person, Takayuki?"
"He's my major shareholder. It's a business matter, and a big one." After hanging up, Bob regained his composure.
However, this time, he looked at his girlfriend with deep dissatisfaction.
"Just now, you hung up the phone, didn't you?"
"I... I didn't mean to. I didn't know anyone would be calling you in the middle of the night for business..."
Bob's new girlfriend was flustered.
"We're breaking up. You clearly don't understand me. Put on your clothes and get out, now."
Bob said emotionlessly, as if he had no feelings for his new girlfriend at all.
"Bob... don't do this. I know I was wrong..."
"Don't make me call security."
Just like that, his girlfriend of two days became his ex-girlfriend.
But for Bob, it didn't matter.
He never cared about women. There were countless opportunities to have a girlfriend, but business and future prospects only come once. He had to seize every opportunity to keep moving up.
His ex-girlfriend left dejectedly, and Bob immediately got up, pulling on his pants before sitting down at his computer. He began to carefully look through all the information related to the MK1 and Mikuf.
With his current strength and position, obtaining some unknown information was quite easy for him.
He quickly got his hands on first-hand data related to Mikuf.
Myron Keys had once founded Redfruit, which was hugely successful in the personal computer industry.
But after some poor decisions by senior shareholders, they had forced him out of the company.
Myron Keys then started over, founding a stronger high-end electronics company, Mikuf.
Over the next few years, Mikuf released portable music players, personal portable computers, and other stylish electronics.
Thanks to its unique design and technical prowess, Mikuf quickly became the new favorite among young people.
"Not that strong, though." Bob, in the dark room, stared at the screen, sneering.
Every company's development had its ups and downs.
Mikuf was no exception. They had faced numerous setbacks.
Their portable music player was popular but had never achieved a large market scale.
Bob quickly realized that the influence of Gamestar Electronic Entertainment and several other gaming companies must have played a role here.
He was one of the people who understood the development of video games best.
The emergence of video games had impacted many industries and companies.
Some industries were completely unrelated to gaming, but because of the success of video games, their product sales were subtly influenced.
How could a product that only played music compete with a handheld that could both play games and music?
But Mikuf's music player was indeed compact, which might be its only advantage.
However, everything changed after the release of the MK1 phone.
Once the MK1 was launched, users who needed a phone began to flock to buy the new, stylish device.
People's need for communication is inherent—it's not decided by the market but by human nature.
Just like humans need salt and water, modern society cannot function without communication.
A multifunctional smartphone would undoubtedly be the first choice.
With its rich features and sleek design, why would anyone need to consider anything else?