Football Dynasty-Chapter 191 - 2nd Round Investments

At IPO, early investors and insiders are typically subject to lock-up periods—usually 90 to 180 days—during which they are prohibited from selling their shares on the public market.

Only after this lock-up period ends can Richard legally sell his shares on the exchange. Alternatively, he could explore secondary sales to private investors or arrange block trades and direct placements. These routes help prevent flooding the open market and thereby protect the share price from a sharp drop.

Originally, Richard intended to settle the issue with NCSA in court. But after discussing it with Lewis, they realized the legal path would be long—and would likely take more than the 180 days he could afford to wait, especially since the presidential election in France had already concluded.

Richard wasn’t keen on waiting around for a protracted fight that might not even be necessary. He needed to unlock his shares quickly—especially since AOL, a potential buyer of his Netscape stake, had begun hesitating. They were playing a wait-and-see game, monitoring how the NCSA issue would unfold before committing to a deal.

As they exited the building, Lewis turned to him and asked, "But can you also sell shares pre-IPO?"

"You can," Richard replied. "In private secondary transactions. These deals are usually done through brokers who specialize in pre-IPO equity and are targeted at venture capital firms, private equity funds, or accredited investors."

"But the buyer pool’s limited, right?"

"Exactly. And the company—especially the lead investors—usually has the right of first refusal or some control over whether you can sell."

"So, it’s not a free-for-all," Lewis said thoughtfully.

"Far from it," Richard nodded. "It’s all tightly controlled to protect the company’s valuation. Still, pre-IPO sales are on the table. Thanks for the idea. That gives me something to think about."

They slid into the backseat of a waiting car.

Lewis glanced at Richard. "But do you think NCSA will accept our proposal?"

"They will," Richard said with quiet confidence. "Look—Mosaic was a big win for them, no doubt. But now it’s also a massive headache."

Lewis waited for him to elaborate.

"The user base is growing, sure. But so are the complaints—bugs, compatibility issues, crashes. The original programmer left, and the team that stayed behind is struggling to keep up. Basically, the current Mosaic is like a money-burning machine," Richard added. "That’s the real problem."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, because unlike Netscape, which has already figured out how to make money, Mosaic is free. That’s great for users, but not for the people maintaining it. With every new user, the costs go up—servers, updates, support. And NCSA has a limited budget. They can’t keep pouring resources into a product that doesn’t generate revenue."

"So, what’s their endgame?" Lewis asked.

"Their best move is to license the IP to someone else and collect royalties. That way, they free up internal resources and still benefit financially."

"And you’ve already beaten them to it."

Richard smiled. "Timing is everything."

Lewis leaned back, processing. "If that’s the case, wouldn’t it make more sense to hold on to Netscape? Like you said—it’s already generating revenue."

Richard nodded in agreement, but then shook his head. "When I started Maddox Capital, the goal was simple: get in, grow it, get out. I only stay long-term if I really believe in it."

Lewis raised an eyebrow. "So... you don’t believe in Netscape?"

Richard gave a noncommittal smile.

"I want to use the cash to buy Adidas. You already know that," Richard said, then sighed.

"Rover is still bleeding. Maddox Entertainment is the only division pulling its weight—thanks to Oasis and Radiohead. WWE’s profitable too, but just on an annual cycle. Add to that the loans to Barclays and Lloyds, and I still have to be careful with how I use cash. And Maddox Capital—"

Now that he had mentioned Maddox Capital, Richard paused, as if remembering something, then pulled out a folder.

"Oh, Adam—by the way, your job here was just to handle the Netscape case, right?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Then help me invest in this company."

Lewis flipped open the folder.

Richard’s Second-Round Investments—Another Billion-Dollar Bet.

First, AltaVista, the search engine poised to become the third biggest after Google and Yahoo.

Second, LookSmart, an American company focused on search ads, content management, and online media.

"Another internet company? Another browser?" Lewis asked.

Richard grinned. "You could say that."

After reading through the folder carefully, Lewis quietly closed it and couldn’t help but ask, "Are you sure you want to allocate ten million for them? That’s quite a lot of money to gamble."

"I like where it’s going," Richard replied with a shrug. He leaned back, closed his eyes, and let the conversation end there.

Seeing this, Lewis didn’t press further. Investment wasn’t his specialty—law was. He knew his job wasn’t to challenge Richard’s instincts, just to execute them as his legal counsel.

For two days, Richard was fully occupied with Netscape. Then, after receiving news from Marc Andreessen that NCSA had already reached out to them first to begin negotiations, he couldn’t help but pump his fist in triumph.

This meant his threat was working, and Netscape’s IPO would now proceed without any obstacles. This is exactly why early investors prefer to seek advice and support from experienced investors—they know how to handle situations like this.

When word spread about the amicable agreement between Netscape and NCSA, AOL quickly approached Richard, expressing interest in buying his shares in Netscape. However, Richard declined the offer.

AOL wanted to buy his shares at Netscape’s current market value—less than a tenth of what Richard believed they were truly worth. He had no intention of settling for such a lowball offer, so the deal quickly stalled. Unless AOL was ready to put $1 billion on the table, they shouldn’t even bother reaching out.

With Netscape now just waiting for the IPO news, Richard bade farewell to Adam Lewis, who had been assigned the mission for AltaVista and LookSmart from him — for the third time, once again, Italy!

Richard boarded his flight to Parma, and upon landing at the airport, he wasted no time heading toward the taxi queue bound for Il Tardini Stadium. But just before stepping into the cab, something at a nearby newsstand caught his eye.

He paused, walked over, and picked up a copy of the News of the World. A bold headline on the cover had grabbed his attention—enough to make him buy the magazine without a second thought.

In short, the News of the World reported that Keith Gillespie was the subject of an approach from Alex Ferguson for a transfer to fill the gap on the right wing.

This left Richard puzzled. Didn’t they have David Beckham?

No, most importantly—

With no other choice, he decided to call Marina, who was currently handling all of Manchester City’s transfer business.

CLICK~ The call connected.

"Marina, it’s me, Richard."

"Yes, how are you doing?"

"I’m fine, thanks for asking. By the way, Marina, I just read something—"

Richard quickly explained what he’d seen in the article.

Marina confirmed the report was true.

"What’s wrong? Is something wrong?" she asked, clearly puzzled.

Richard sighed deeply. The real issue wasn’t that Manchester United had shifted their attention from Solskjær to Gillespie. The problem was—how on earth had News of the World gotten wind of this?

"When exactly did United approach Gillespie?"

"...Two days ago... the day after I met with Ole’s agent, I think."

Hearing this, Richard slumped back in his chair, letting out a heavy breath.

’The Sun, News of the World...Rupert Murdoch...’

In the future, a major scandal would erupt, shaking the world to its core. Rupert Murdoch, along with his company News of the World, would be implicated as the masterminds behind the infamous phone-hacking scandal.

The newspaper had been illegally accessing the voicemails of celebrities, politicians, and even victims of tragic events. Later, Murdoch and his media empire would face accusations of right-wing bias and misleading coverage—claims suggesting that their outlets influenced political events across the UK, the US, and Australia.

The scandal sparked widespread investigations, high-profile resignations, and ultimately led to the closure of News of the World.

Now the question was: how the heck did News of the World find out about Alex Ferguson’s interest in Gillespie?

This puzzled Richard deeply.

’Wait... maybe the ones being hacked weren’t City... but United?’

As this thought hit him, Richard was taken aback. Indeed, if he remembered correctly, Murdoch had later shown interest in Manchester United but failed to buy the club. So there was a higher chance that it wasn’t City, but United, who had been hacked instead.

"But we also have an offer for Gillespie from Newcastle, and their offer is higher than United’s. I think it’s better to let him go to Newcastle instead of United."

Marina’s words snapped Richard out of his thoughts.

In the current Premier League season, the defending champions, Blackburn Rovers, had already fallen out of the title race due to their inconsistency. Meanwhile, Newcastle had surprisingly built a twelve-point lead over Manchester United at one stage! freewebnσvel.cѳm

But Richard knew how the story would end.

Alex Ferguson’s relatively young and inexperienced side would eventually overhaul Newcastle in the second half of the season to clinch the title.

To sum it up: while Newcastle tried to disrupt United’s bid for Gillespie, they failed to realize that Ferguson’s real target wasn’t Gillespie at all—it was Solskjær!

After a moment of consideration, he decided to test the waters.

"Let’s accept whoever offers the highest bid for them."

"Do you think United will still want Ole?"

"They have no choice," Richard replied tersely, leaving the question hanging.

It wasn’t United who wanted Ole—it was Alex Ferguson.

From Richard’s perspective, Ferguson was deliberately shifting his focus to Gillespie mainly to provoke Solskjær. By showing interest in Gillespie, Ferguson hoped to unsettle Solskjær, pushing him to rebel against City.

"Understood, I will do as you said."

"Thank you, Marina."

When Richard hung up the phone, he had finally arrived at Il Tardini Stadium. And his first target in Italy this time was...

Gianluigi Buffon!