Chapter 12

After arriving in New York, Kōshū Kagawa immediately rushed to Boston. He formally discussed the website acquisition with Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. Mark, born in 1984, was the same age as Kōshū. However, Mark was a genius. Mark started learning programming in middle school. His father had high hopes for his son and hired a well-known programmer at a high salary to teach Mark. However, due to Mark's slow reaction, the programming teacher lost confidence in him. Nevertheless, Mark did not give up. By high school, he could write his own music programs. His outstanding abilities caught the attention of Microsoft and America Online, both of which extended offers to Mark. However, Mark firmly rejected them and chose to study at Harvard. At Harvard, Mark's talents were unleashed. It was there that he began his entrepreneurial journey. Zuckerberg launched Facebook from his Harvard dorm room on February 24, 2004. However, the idea for Facebook was inspired earlier, in 2002, when he graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy. At the time, there was a website called "The PhotoAddressBook," which students referred to as "TheFacebook." This photo-centric website greatly expanded the social interactions of many private school students, allowing them to list basic information such as class, year, friendship preferences, and phone numbers. During his time at Harvard, Zuckerberg decided to launch Facebook and received support from his roommate, Dustin Moskovitz. Their first collaboration was with Stanford University, Dartmouth College, Columbia University, New York University, Cornell University, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, and Yale University. Later, Zuckerberg, Moskovitz, and some friends moved to Palo Alto, California, where they converted a small house into an office. They later met Sean Parker, a co-founder of Napster, and invited him to live with them. After a summer, Zuckerberg, through Sean Parker, secured an investment from Peter Thiel for his company, around mid-2004. According to Zuckerberg's recollection, although the team planned to return to Harvard, they ultimately stayed in California and rejected offers to sell Facebook. After meeting Mark in Boston, Kōshū knew that his trip to the United States might not yield significant results. Mark was his kind of person—extremely confident and ambitious. As expected, when Kōshū proposed acquiring Facebook, Mark firmly rejected it. In the end, Kōshū had to settle for a lesser option, acquiring a 15% stake in Facebook and the rights to operate it in Asia for five years. Although the acquisition was unsuccessful, this outcome was still quite good. After successfully acquiring a stake in Facebook, Kōshū's first action was to invite O'Neal to open a Facebook account. O'Neal, being a good friend, immediately opened his Facebook account and posted some photos of his games. In just three days, O'Neal's fan base exceeded one million, and Facebook received significant attention from the industry, especially from competitors. In an ordinary office in Boston, no one would have thought that this was the headquarters of the now popular Facebook. "Kōshū, I didn't expect you to know O'Neal..." A slightly overweight, curly-haired young man with glasses smiled. This young man was Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and largest shareholder of Facebook. "It's all about fate..." "What are your plans next?" "I'll go back to Japan first... promote Facebook there, and then focus on developing my own business." Kōshū sighed. As a manager, he never imagined he would be doing these things. "Wish you a safe journey." "I'm counting on you here... I don't want to return to find that Facebook has gone bankrupt while I was promoting it." Mark smiled slightly, saying nothing. This was the confidence of a successful person! Time would tell. ... Akihabara, the internal atmosphere of AKB48 had improved significantly. The members were no longer divided and fighting among themselves. One important reason was that they had adjusted their mindset, realizing that they joined AKB48 to pursue their dreams, not just for a central position. Another important reason was that they were about to face new competitors, the second generation of AKB48 members. After two rounds of auditions, five girls from all over the country had made it to the final selection, with five more days left before the second generation of AKB48 members would be chosen. "Does anyone have any information to share?" Sato Yukari, looking a bit tired, lay on the floor of the dressing room. "I heard from Mr. Haga that some of these girls are very outstanding," Sashihara Rino said, wiping her sweat. "Oh, tell us more." Ōshima Mai became interested, and even Aki Maeda, who had been lying down, sat up. "I heard that two of them are former child stars, and a few others have participated in auditions for Morning Musume. They all have excellent dance skills." "I've heard that one of them is named Ōshima Yūko," Sashihara Rino added, and Takahashi Minami couldn't help but interject. "Another Ōshima... Maimai, your rival is here." Ueno Ayumi looked at Ōshima Mai with a hint of schadenfreude. "So what if she's here... AKB48 can only have one Ōshima, and that's me, Ōshima Mai." Ōshima Mai glanced confidently at everyone, causing many of the girls to roll their eyes. "Just don't trip up in the end," Orimoto Ayumi kindly reminded her. Ōshima Mai knew Orimoto Ayumi meant well and responded softly. Ding... Someone's phone rang. "That ringtone is so outdated," Komatsu Sunao whispered.