*Chapter 373: NVIDIA Corporation*

Besides Tesla, Link also holds a 16.5% stake in Twitter and 450,000 shares of Amazon stock.

Currently, Twitter has not gone public yet. After three rounds of financing, its market value has reached $1.8 billion, making the 16.5% stake worth about $280 million.

This year, Amazon has recovered from the effects of the financial crisis, with its stock price rising from $336 at the beginning of the year to $396 now, increasing its market value to $68.8 billion.

The 450,000 Amazon shares are worth approximately $182 million.

Adding everything up, Link's net worth is about $1.2 billion, neither the $1 billion reported by The Wall Street Journal nor the $1.5 billion estimated by the New York Post.

As for the money he earned from touring, selling records, and boxing matches, part of it hasn't been credited yet, and the portion that has been credited was successively invested in Tesla and Twitter stocks, so it can't be double-counted.

He then asked Kathy if there were any good investment projects currently available.

Kathy handed him a tablet, which contained information from the research department of Vanguard Asset Management on potential investment projects. These were rated from five stars to one star, with more stars indicating greater investment potential.

Due to Facebook's success, many similar social media platforms have become highly desirable to Wall Street investment banks, and this was also reflected in the list, where most of the top-ranked companies were in the internet technology sector, including WhatsApp, Instagram, and Foursquare.

Link skimmed through the list and suddenly noticed a familiar company name—NVIDIA. It was noted as a company focused on designing display chips and motherboard chipsets for artificial intelligence computing.

Founded in 1993, this company was started by a Chinese-American named Jensen Huang. It went public in 1999 and currently has a market value of $13.8 billion.

Vanguard Asset Management's research department recommended NVIDIA for the following reasons:

This company is a global leader in 3D graphics technology and digital media processors. The company's founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, is also an outstanding entrepreneur.

Although the company has not grown significantly since its IPO, with its market value increasing by less than $10 billion over more than ten years, it has made steady progress and is considered a promising internet company.

The reasons against the investment: In recent years, with the rise of smartphones, the industry has flourished, and last year, NVIDIA also announced its entry into the smartphone research field, aiming to manufacture mobile computing chips. However, this field is highly competitive.

NVIDIA, as a manufacturer of computer chip software, has many technological products that cannot be efficiently utilized on computers. For example, NVIDIA's GPU chips can handle 3D graphics and data processing, but the chip's load is too heavy to operate properly in a phone, and the price is relatively high.

This led to NVIDIA's failure in transitioning, forcing it to abandon this market, which resulted in significant losses, with the company's market value dropping from around $16 billion to the current $13.8 billion.

Vanguard Asset Management's research department gave NVIDIA a three-star rating—not particularly good, but not bad either.

Link stroked his chin, recalling that NVIDIA was also a company with a market value exceeding a trillion dollars and a future leader in the AI semiconductor field. It had also achieved great success in the research areas of automated and driverless driving.

Twenty years ago, this company was relatively unremarkable, but twenty years later, it often appeared in the news.

What he hadn't expected was that this company's current market value was only $13.8 billion, less than one-fifth of Amazon's, but with greater potential than his investments in Twitter or Amazon.

After some thought, Link reviewed the list again, marked three of the most promising projects, including NVIDIA, and handed them to Kathy, asking her to arrange for a thorough investigation of these projects and produce a detailed investment report.

If the findings were positive, he would consider investing.

Ms. Kathy Wood looked over the list and said she would provide him with a report next week.

Kathy then suggested that managing the various company shares and his Golden Shell Investments was becoming complicated. She recommended establishing an investment company or asset management company to improve efficiency.

When necessary, this company could also be used for financing. If managed well, it could even go public in the future.

Link thought about it and agreed it was a good idea.

His work was already piling up, and each week he had to review the investment reports Kathy sent, filled with numbers and tables that often left him feeling dizzy.

On top of that, he had to deal with Link Music, Dynasty Promotions, world tours, boxing matches, Palm Beach Pictures, Wanda Pictures, Palm Bay Agency, and Dolphin Bay Agency.

He was also involved in seven or eight movies and had to call several girlfriends every week.

There were too many things to handle, so he needed to find a way to lighten his load.

Establishing an asset management company seemed like a good idea.

While chatting with Kathy, he noticed a familiar face entering from outside.

The man was in his forties or fifties, slightly balding, with a bit of a beer belly, dressed casually, and accompanied by a woman in her thirties. The two were chatting intimately as they walked.

Sipping his coffee, Link stared at the man for a few moments and realized it was indeed someone he knew—Mr. Tom Swift.

It had been a while since he had seen his future father-in-law and the grandfather of his child. The man looked well, much better than when he was in a wheelchair.

He had heard from Taylor that Tom had been transferred to work at the headquarters of Morgan Investment Bank, and it seemed that was true.

He watched Tom place his hand on the woman's thigh, gently stroking it, and then pull out a Cartier-branded box from his pocket, placing it on the coffee table. The woman opened the box and then hugged his neck, planting a kiss on his oily old face.

Tom laughed heartily and was about to embrace the woman when he suddenly made eye contact with Link. His expression froze for a moment, the muscles around his eyes twitching, and he displayed an awkward smile.

Link smiled faintly, stood up, and walked toward Tom. In such a situation, it would be awkward not to say hello, so he decided to embrace the awkwardness.

Tom also stood up and walked over, extending his hand for a shake. He glanced at Kathy Wood.

"Link, on a date?"

"Tom, this is Ms. Kathy Wood, my investment manager," Link introduced.

Tom laughed, greeted Kathy, and the two, both from the financial industry, acknowledged each other. Though there were many people in Wall Street, Tom had a famous daughter, and Kathy was a rising star in investment banking, so they had heard of each other.

"Link, your investment in Tesla was impressive this time. Many Wall Street conglomerates were hesitant to get involved back then, but you had the courage to do it—remarkable," Tom praised.

"That was all thanks to Kathy," Link responded.

"In Wall Street, while managers are important, it's rare for a client to trust their manager enough to entrust them with their money," Tom said, adjusting his glasses.

Link smiled and mentioned the possibility of collaborating in the future, then prepared to leave.

Tom nodded in agreement and, before leaving, informed him that Taylor was pregnant and emotionally unstable. He suggested that Link visit her when possible and avoid saying anything that might upset her.

Link understood what he meant and gave a small smile before parting ways with Tom and continuing his conversation with Kathy.

Tom sat in the opposite booth for about three or four minutes, finishing his coffee properly before leaving with the woman.

As Link watched him walk away, he couldn’t help but feel sympathy for Mrs. Andrea. She was always busy with Taylor's matters and had little time to take care of things at home. Now, her husband was seeing a younger woman behind her back. He wondered what she would think if she found out.

However, Link had no intention of snitching. This was Taylor’s family business, and it wasn’t his place to intervene.

Thinking of Taylor, he picked up his phone and tried sending a message, surprised to find that he was no longer blocked.

"I just ran into your dad," he wrote in his first message, which, to his surprise, went through.

"I’m on Wall Street for some work and saw Tom by chance. Nothing important, just wondering how you’re feeling. Can I come to see you? Could we set up a time?" he sent in his second message, which also went through successfully.

"The fact that I got you pregnant was my fault. On the night of April 13th, we went at it for three hours straight until you couldn’t even move a finger. I asked if you could forgive me just once and not leave, but you still insisted on leaving.

At that moment, I was furious and acted impulsively, secretly removing the condom. I wanted to use this to make you stay. I’ve reflected on it many times since, realizing that I did something unforgivable and stupid.

Two months passed, and I didn’t hear any news of you being pregnant. I thought it hadn’t worked, feeling both disappointed and relieved that I hadn’t hurt you again.

Then, a while ago, after returning from Korea, I suddenly heard you were pregnant. It was the best news I could’ve received. Our child will undoubtedly be as smart and beautiful as you, and as strong as me. I’m looking forward to seeing the baby born. Even though I wasn’t a good boyfriend, I’ll do my best to be a good father. Please give me a chance."

This was the third message he sent.

"I’d like to play the piano for the baby during your pregnancy. How about raising him to be a singer?"

"Are you attending the MTV Awards the day after tomorrow?"

He sent a series of seven or eight messages, but received no response. Checking the time, he texted Taylor that he needed to go.

Ding!

As he and Kathy reached the door, his phone received a message.

"I can play the piano better than you. The baby is mine, and I’ll take good care of him. You don’t need to worry. Ivanka is a good woman, better suited for you than I am."

Taylor’s reply surprised Link. Someone as sharp-tongued as Taylor was actually complimenting Ivanka?

"What did you two talk about last time?"

"None of your business."

"I’d like to come and see you and the baby when I have time. They say kids who grow up with their father around are more masculine. You know Fat James, right? He grew up in a single-parent home with just his mom, and he turned out timid and weak. I want to be there for our child."

"No need. Seeing you just makes me angry. It’s better for both me and the baby if you stay away."

"The baby needs me," he texted back, only to be notified that he was no longer on her friend list.

(End of Chapter)