BXBX NOVEL Chapter 137: Social Media
We were under strict security. The Secret Service had assigned agents to not only protect Charlotte and me but also her family.
There was a single thought driving me now. 'I hadn't gone back in time just to be controlled all over again.'
I scrolled through my brokerage account, my eyes skimming over the numbers.
[Charles Schwab]
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[Total Balance: $524,826,335.06]
[Available Balance: $0.00]
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[Market Value of Holdings: $735,995,144.15]
[Borrowed Margin: $211,168,809.09]
[Buying Power: $0.00]
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Portfolio:
[Single-Stock Futures ($AXON)] [$28.89] {[ 5,491,704 shares ]}
[Single-Stock Futures ($ANIK)] [$11.31] {[ 11,300,645 shares ]}
[Single-Stock Futures ($APA)] [$74.32] {[ 3,389,172 shares ]}
[Single-Stock Futures ($TK)] [$31.29] {[ 6,316,595 ]}
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Last month I'd withdrawn $41 million. I'd reduced my position in Apache Corporation and Teekay to free up the cash.
I used it to purchase the Porsche and the floors in Sheung Wan, China.
But even with that withdrawal, after paying off a chunk of the margin I'd borrowed, my account was worth $524 million.
Axon would be my next target for selling soon enough, but right now, my attention needed to shift elsewhere.
It was time to get back to acting as the headhunter for Immortal Investments.
I looked through the internet for information about a certain student at Harvard. A student who was working on something unique.
Mark Zuckerberg.
I started searching through Harvard's public directories. Universities at this time were notoriously lax about keeping student information private.
After a few minutes of digging, I found what I was looking for: an old Harvard Crimson article mentioning a student tech club. Zuckerberg's name was listed in the article, along with his involvement in certain coding projects.
A link to the club's website led me to a list of members.
The article mentioned that Zuckerberg was working on an online version of the university's face book.
This was exactly what I needed to see.
It confirmed that this was the right time to reach out to him.
I wanted to get involved before anyone else saw the potential.
Harvard's student email addresses had a simple format. I opened my email client and typed in what seemed to be the right address: [email protected]
"Hi Mark,
My name is Jack Somnus from Immortal Investments. We're a private equity firm always hunting for the next big breakthrough in tech and innovation.
I've heard some whispers about the project you're working on, the online version of a face book, and as the owner of a successful software startup, I believe that it's potential is beyond what you might think.
It's revolutionary.
With the right support, it could become a major success, something that people will remember.
If you're open to exploring funding opportunities, I'd be thrilled to set up a meeting. We're always interested in supporting innovative thinkers like yourself.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Jack Somnus
Owner of PlayTube and Investment Manager at Immortal Investments"
'I hope he doesn't think this email is a scam...' I thought.
...
On Wednesday, December 17th, I was on a flight to Boston.
There was security with me on the plane, and after landing, the heightened security at the airport was hard to ignore.
It seemed like the tense mood in the country spread to every corner.
Mark Zuckerberg had been doubtful about my plans.
We were careful in our emails back and forth, with him questioning why a high-profile investor would be interested in a project that was still in development.
But in the end, I managed to convince him that talking with me would be worthwhile.
Before heading to the meeting with Mark Zuckerberg, I decided to swing by the PlayTube headquarters.
The team was scrambling to get the site to work again.
I was lucky enough that Raheem was there; he has been involved less and less with PlayTube going back to working on "Modulus," but he was helping the team with the problem at hand.
Raheem told me that at first they were facing a simple DDoS attack and the initial idea was to ban non-US IP addresses to mitigate the attack. However, the attackers were using VPNs so they started attacking the server from US IPs.
Next, the team attempted to restrict the number of refresh requests to the server.
That's when the attackers breached the database, deleting key data. The team was scrambling to restore from backups, but the attacker's ability to break in so easily pretty much made it impossible for the site to stay up.
Raheem and the team were now working on logging the attack vectors, analyzing the logs for any clues on how their security was compromised and patching the vulnerabilities.
I saw the engineers hunched over screens with energy drinks and cups of coffee in front of them.
But I knew that it wouldn't be simple for the app to come back up.
The hackers they were facing had knowledge from decades into the future.
I could only hope that the person behind it would run out of ideas to break through. He couldn't have remembered every single vulnerability there is...
Around 4 p.m., I headed to a small café near Harvard.
Through the glass windows, I saw a young guy in his early twenties with messy brown hair. He was dressed casually in a hoodie and jeans.
He was sitting at a corner table, already sipping on a cup of coffee. There was something intense about the way he looked, like he was deep in thought.
I entered the café and walked up to him.
He looked up from his coffee. I could see in his eyes that he was both curious and wary.
I extended my hand with a smile. "Mark Zuckerberg?" I said, my voice clear but relaxed. "I'm Jack Somnus. We've been in touch by email. Mind if I join you?"