Chapter 24 - Large Purchase
Vince and Price flew back to Austin immediately after touring around SpaceX.
[Many things have changed over the weekend. First, the deal with Elon is enormous, and I\'ll need to check on the accounts for Future Tech\'s expansion soon.] Vince thought.
Vince took out a black laptop sporting a sleek design from his briefcase.
Jessica and the software team had been working on a Future Tech operating system planned for use within the business.
This laptop is a prototype, and Vince only uses it to review financial reports and access his Bitcoin bank account.
Rick and Sarah designed the interface after focusing on UX design instead of cash shop products since the release of War Online.
[Let\'s see if Ralph was able to follow through with my suggestions.] Vince thought.
Dollar had sold 5 million BTC in the past month for $5 billion.
The market price fluctuated around $1,000. Approximately 14 million BTC remained at the core layer of the Bitcoin bank.
Even though BitCash had mined all BTC through billions of transactions, mining Bitcoin was still profitable for small-time miners through compensation from the blockchain.
The blockchain distributes a portion of all the Bitcoin processed on one block to miners who assist the blockchain.
Dollar had purchased many large mining operations and converted them to Future Tech standards, adding to the existing geo Bitcash network.
BitCash had bought an aging satellite to store the core layer backup. It would be the first of many Future Tech satellites eventually.
[Advanced satellites will require custom processors and components to be designed from scratch.] Vince thought
[Good thing Ralph went ahead and splurged a bit of the newfound cash we had buying ARM for $2 billion.]
ARM is a UK-based semiconductor firm specializing in designing \'reduced instruction set computing\' or RISC processors.
ARM\'s processors are mainly used in hardware applications like onboard computers for satellites.
[This is perfect. Ralph and David will get a raise for damn sure!] Vince exclaimed in thought.
[Kemp-Jacobs has outdone themselves pulling off that procurement. I bet the law firm made like $500 million from that deal alone.] Vince thought.
There were other smaller acquisitions like stocks in Amazon and Google.
The business was left with $2 billion liquidity until this month\'s revenue cleared.
The Tesla and SpaceX shares padded Future Tech Holdings even more after the negotiations with Elon.
Some research projects funded by Future Tech were interesting.
Ms. Miller\'s research project at UT focused on data models and algorithms to interpret information from neurons in the brain.
She focused her time on algorithmic research while her biochem colleagues worked on brain testing.
Future Tech provided funds and artificial intelligence support for the project.
Elon had been interested in this subject for years and started funding the project after learning about it from Vince.
[I remember Elon going crazy explaining the potential uses of neuron input for disabled individuals and other stuff. I replied, saying it would be insane to play video games in deep-dive.] Vince thought.
Elon was unimpressed but still found interest in Ms. Miller\'s project.
Though it would take a while, Vince imagined a virtual world built by a high-intelligence AI where players could live out their own fantasy life.
As soon as the private jet landed, Vince went directly home to see his mother before returning to Future Tech headquarters.
Vince met Patel to discuss the new semiconductor engineers and designers from ARM.
The bulk of their staff remained in the UK, but Future Tech needed some here at Austin.
"Vince, good to see you again. I want to introduce Morgan, the technical lead from ARM." Patel said.
Vince shook Morgan\'s hand and welcomed him and his team to Future Tech.
"I\'m not an expert in semiconductors or artificial intelligence applications, but Future Tech has a simple strategy in developing the Hive Mind."
"We will upgrade the artificial intelligence with better processors until we reach intelligence levels enough for the AI to design new processors to upgrade itself again."
"This may be a slow process, but we will eventually reach stage 6 intelligence. I am confident in you guys.", Vince declared.
Patel and Morgan agreed and stated the first scheduled upgrade would be within the month.
It was summer vacation in 2012. Aside from work, Vince continued training at Tom\'s gym with Price and the other security personnel.
"Vince, The Pro League finals were insane. There were thousands of people watching live, and it was crazy!
I\'ve always dreamed of fighting in front of an enormous crowd like that." Tom said.
"You\'re a great fighter, Tom. I\'m confident you\'ll be able to reach your goals.", Vince replied reassuringly.
"Thanks, but it takes more than talent to succeed in the fight game. Promotions are picky with fighters and drive a hard bargain.", Tom replied.
"Those are barely any issues to me. You practically saved my life, Tom. I\'ll gladly promote and sponsor you." Vince offered.
"You won\'t regret this, Vince. I\'ll be the UFC champ one day!" Tom exclaimed.
Vince tasked the Future Studios marketing department to find Tom his first professional fight.
Tom had to win many fights to gain the recognition of international fighting organizations.
Future Studios decided to book a local MMA fight in Las Vegas.
It was a minor organization with a so-so total viewership count, but Vince was willing to splash some cash to promote the fight.
The fight was scheduled to be a light-heavyweight bout imposing unified rules.
It was the international standard ruleset for MMA and used by top organizations.
Future Studios would help broadcast the event using the same process as the Pro League qualifiers.
The fight will take place in two months at the end of summer vacation.
Tom Fury versus Adrik Kulikov, the current light-heavyweight champion of the minor organization.
Future Studios booked a medium-sized entertainment hall at the MGM Hotel, with an option to upgrade if necessary.
[This fight will be interesting considering it\'s Tom\'s first fight. I\'ve come to appreciate combat arms after my close brush with death. I hope Tom doesn\'t get too fazed from the promotions.] Vince thought.
Stats last time checked:
15 million BTC (currently trades at $1,000)
$2 Billion in Future Tech
$4 million personally
300+ employees
Five company contractors
Dozens of investments under Future Tech Holdings
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EDITED