Chapter 199: Chapter 199

"Advertising for your company? This fly-by-night operation, right?" Kenneth Osborne couldn’t help but mock, "If you really are the CEO of SSA, why would you need advertisements?"

Francis Johnson snapped his fingers confidently, "Smart! Our SSA Private Equity Fund certainly doesn’t need any advertising. It’s always others chasing us to do business."

Kenneth Osborne smiled, "But now you’re here looking for me..."

Francis Johnson opened the computer on his desk, avoiding the rebuttal, and smiled, "Alright, now it’s your turn to answer my question."

"Spencer Group offered such generous terms, why didn’t you accept?"

Kenneth Osborne looked at him with a slightly stern expression, "First prove you’re actually the CEO of SSA, or I’m leaving."

Francis Johnson raised an eyebrow, "You’re really serious?"

"Of course, otherwise anyone could make me speak my mind. Do I look that foolish?"

Francis Johnson scratched his head, "Okay, I’ll show you our bank account balance, will that be enough?"

Kenneth Osborne: "..."

He realized that even if Francis Johnson provided evidence, he wouldn’t be able to verify its authenticity!

Because the whole SSA Private Equity Fund was simply too mysterious.

And as for who the CEO of this fund actually was, he had heard at least four versions.

Some said it was a young woman, others said a sixty-something white man, some said a thirty-something young elite, and still others said a nearly fifty middle-aged woman.

In short, there was never a matching story.

And precisely because of this, the SSA Private Equity Fund was even more mysterious.

Kenneth Osborne found it somewhat unbelievable and couldn’t believe such a great opportunity landed on him.

Francis Johnson laughed, "Actually, it doesn’t matter if you believe me; do you believe in real money?"

Kenneth Osborne: "..."

"If our negotiation goes well, I decide to invest in your company, and once you see a big sum of money in your company’s bank account, will you still doubt me?"

"When you see on social media that SSA Private Equity Fund announces their new investment in ’AI Vision Promise’ by Kenneth Osborne, a master’s student from Yan University, will you still doubt me?"

Francis Johnson said, opening the official SSA Private Equity Fund Weibo backend, tagged his Weibo, and said, "Look, can this be considered verification?"

Kenneth Osborne opened his Weibo and found that indeed SSA Private Equity Fund’s official blog had tagged him with the words "Happy Cooperation."

Kenneth Osborne asked in confusion, "...Can you decide this alone? Is there only you at SSA Private Equity Fund?"

"Of course, it’s not just me." Francis Johnson said with amusement, putting down his phone, "But why do you care so much? What’s most important to you is convincing me to invest, isn’t it?"

Kenneth Osborne said, "Yes, but on the condition that you truly are the CEO of SSA."

Soon after saying that, he noticed his Weibo’s comments and tags began to surge, and even his private messages increased a lot.

He randomly opened a private message and found it was from an official blog editor of a major investment bank asking if SSA Private Equity Fund had made another move?

Kenneth Osborne: "..."

It really was someone from SSA Private Equity Fund.

He finally believed about eight-tenths.

Putting away his phone, Kenneth Osborne began answering Francis Johnson’s question.

He said, "I didn’t accept Spencer Group’s offer purely because they seemed too eager."

"The more eager they are, the more uncomfortable I feel."

"What virtues and abilities do I have to deserve Spencer Group spending so much to win me over?"

"In business, if the other party invests so much in me, they must be expecting a greater return."

"Spencer Group isn’t a charity; they can’t just give without expecting anything in return, can they?"

"And research and breakthroughs in technology are an unpredictable process. If they’re too eager, I’m worried that even if I accept their terms, my research will be limited by them."

"More seriously, they might be motivated to ’recreate’ my research and technology."

Francis Johnson laughed heartily, slapping the table, "This is the first time I’ve heard someone describe ’faking’ so elegantly and tastefully!—Kenneth Osborne, you have potential!"

He gave him a thumbs up.

Kenneth Osborne smiled faintly, "This is something I have to consider, and I must tell you about it."

"I don’t know why you fancy my small company, but I hope that even if you invest, you won’t interfere with my research freedom."

"Whether results come or not should depend on our research progress, no rushing and no misidentifying or faking things."

Francis Johnson nodded appreciatively, "We’d all agree to that. Our fund has very comprehensive legal terms to protect your research freedom and will absolutely not interfere with your timeline and progress."

"To be frank, I used to be in tech, and I’m still doing tech now. Running this private equity fund is just my side hobby."

"After making some money, I wanted to help others achieve their dreams too."

Kenneth Osborne outwardly smiled but inwardly cursed.

That SSA Private Equity Fund business is just ’earning a little money’ for his hobby?!—What a load of nonsense...

Even if they don’t want him to know who’s really behind it, they could come up with a better excuse, couldn’t they?

Kenneth Osborne didn’t believe a word of what Francis just said, but he did trust cold hard cash, and he did believe Francis was indeed closely tied to SSA Private Equity Fund.

And influenced by Lawrence Winters, Kenneth’s trust in cold hard cash was even higher. For origınal chapters go to 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦·𝘯𝘦𝘵

Everything else could deceive, only the movement of funds couldn’t lie.

Francis Johnson saw that Kenneth Osborne’s face was written with disbelief.

He hadn’t expected him to believe anyway.

In fact, if Kenneth really believed that flawed explanation, he’d consider whether it was worth the investment.

Now that Kenneth’s reasonable doubt assured him of his choice, he continued, "Of course, after we agree on terms and officially sign, we’ll also have you sign a confidentiality agreement covering all discussions and contracts between us."

Kenneth Osborne nodded, "That’s reasonable. My research and technology will involve new patents, so I need you to keep it confidential as well."

"Of course." Francis Johnson said happily, opening a computer program and started discussing some technical issues with Kenneth Osborne, evaluating his capability level as well.

While they were having a "Brain Storm" at the high-tech industry park, Spencer Group received another significant blow.

Because Spencer Group’s investment department discovered that the long-absent SSA Private Equity Fund had resurfaced and set their sights on Kenneth Osborne, who had just rejected their company’s offer!

This is the third update.

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