Football Dynasty-Chapter 200: Netscape IPO

As the five of them continued their conversation in a warm and friendly atmosphere, Marina checked the time on her wristwatch and spoke."In one hour, the stock will be listed. We should start heading inside."

"Is it already that time?"

Richard glanced at Clark and Andreessen, who were sitting in front of him, then raised his head toward them.

"Shall we? We can’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime moment, right?"

"Y-yeah." Clark, looking tense once again, nodded and stood up to follow him.

The five of them left Richard’s office and walked straight toward the spacious makeshift trading center prepared especially for today’s occasion.

Beyond the large glass windows, the deep blue Guadalupe River stretched out below. Inside the trading center, employees sat in front of multiple monitors, busily conducting trades as usual. Most of them were from Netscape’s finance division.

At first, the trading room had seemed spacious, but as the number of employees steadily increased—now exceeding forty—it had started to feel crowded.

Richard turned his gaze toward the large ticker board in front of him.

Covering an entire wall, the massive board displayed an overwhelming number of stock codes, including the Dow and NASDAQ indices.

The numbers flickered and changed at a relentless pace, as if they were part of a living, breathing organism. Looking at Clark, who stood beside him with a rigid expression, Richard spoke.

"Once the stock is listed, a four-letter trading code approved by the NASDAQ committee will appear on that board." ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

"Phew." Clark exhaled deeply, trying to calm his nerves. Clenching and unclenching his fists, he muttered, "This is nerve-wracking."

CEO Marc Andreessen, standing nearby, also stared at the massive ticker board with a mixture of anxiety and anticipation.

Although the IPO had been completed despite intense competition, there was still a lingering worry—if the stock price plummeted after listing, their success would only be partial.

But Richard, already knowing the outcome, stayed composed. He turned to Marina and Karren beside him.

"Did either of you think the price would hit $100?"

"..."

Both stared at Richard like he’d lost his mind.

"How about a little wager?" Richard grinned after thinking for a moment. "100 pounds?"

Karren glanced at Marina, who looked right back at her. They both gave a small nod and pulled out £100 each.

"Of course. Crisp, new bills—no need to worry," they said in unison.

Hearing this, Richard gave a satisfied smile.

Clark tilted his head in confusion at the sudden exchange between the three people behind him.

He was about to ask what they meant, but before he could, his chief of finance spoke up first.

"One minute left."

As the designated time approached, the finance staff put down their phones and stopped typing on their keyboards. Instead, they all turned their attention to the massive ticker board.

This was clear evidence of the high anticipation and interest surrounding Netscape’s stock listing. Holding their breath, everyone waited.

Then, precisely at 1:00 PM, Netscape’s stock was officially listed, and the ticker board displayed the trading code: NSCP.

"It’s up!"

Even though Richard had known the outcome in advance, he couldn’t help but swallow dryly as the moment finally arrived. A few minutes passed, and a sense of unease gradually spread across the faces of those watching the ticker board.

"..."

"What?" he couldn’t help but utter in confusion.

Although the stock code had appeared, the price remained frozen, refusing to budge.

[NSCP 28 – 0.00]

Richard furrowed his brows at the stagnant stock price, while the others—especially Clark—anxiously shifted their weight from foot to foot.

"Why is this happening?"

"I have no idea... What on earth...?"

Even Marina and Karren, equally tense, stared at him with rigid expressions.

Since the stock had officially been listed, there should have been some movement—whether up or down. But seeing it completely frozen was a first for Richard as well. Still, though inwardly perplexed, he remained composed and calmly turned to the chief finance.

"Contact the NASDAQ committee and find out what’s going on."

"Understood," he said, just as bewildered, and immediately walked over to a nearby desk to make the call.

However, just as he reached for the phone, a sudden outburst cut through the tension.

"Wait—what? Are you serious?" shouted the senior engineer, who had been standing near them.

The entire room froze. Everyone turned, startled by the unexpected outcry.

"Got it. Thanks," he said, then set down his phone and turned toward the top dogs in front. "Boss, NASDAQ just called. There’s been a system issue—Netscape’s stock trading has been temporarily halted."

"Issue? What issue? How could they let something like this happen on such an important day?"

Frustration rippled through the room. Jim Clark and Marc Andreessen, in particular, wore scowls of disbelief.

A technical failure at the very start of their first day of public trading was nothing short of a nightmare. But oddly enough, Richard’s face wasn’t clouded with concern. Instead, he wore a broad, knowing grin.

"The system failure was caused by an overwhelming surge in traffic."

"Huh?"

"What...?"

Clark and Andreessen blinked in confusion, unable to immediately grasp the meaning. But Marina—who was used to handling situations like this from her experience with Roman Abramovich—understood instantly.

"Hold on. Are you saying that so many people rushed to buy our stock that the servers went down?" she couldn’t help but ask.

"That’s right," Richard replied with a grin.

Still dazed, Andreessen’s eyes suddenly lit up with realization. He let out a breathless chuckle. "Hah... Haha."

Beside him, Clark’s face turned red with excitement as he clenched his fists tightly.

"It seems the demand for Netscape stock is even greater than I anticipated."

Just as Clark finished speaking, one of the traders suddenly shouted, "The stock price is moving!"

Everyone quickly turned to look at the large ticker board in front of them.

Just moments ago, Netscape’s stock had been frozen in place, but now it was soaring like a rocket.

[NSCP 41.35 ▲ +13.35](Price jumps from $28.00 to $41.35)

.

.

[NSCP 54.50 ▲ +13.15](Climbs steadily by about $13 more)

"It more than doubled in an instant—this is insane!"

"Buy orders are flooding in like crazy!"

"Unbelievable... Is this even real?"

"No wonder Nasdaq’s servers crashed."

"At this rate, it’ll break $80 in no time."

All the staff and employees couldn’t contain their excitement as they watched the stock price skyrocket.

There had been plenty of stocks that hit the jackpot upon going public, but none had surged more than double the IPO price within minutes like Netscape.

What made this even more shocking was the widespread skepticism about the company’s valuation.

Historically, Netscape had zero profits and was actually losing millions of dollars each month. Yet, despite that, the company managed to achieve a historic milestone, reaching a valuation of approximately $2.9 billion during its first IPO.

Now that Netscape is finally capable of generating revenue, there’s a strong possibility it could surpass even that legendary valuation Richard knows.

Many people in the media—from analysts and financial advisors to trader enthusiasts—had argued that the initial offering price of $28 per share was already too high, which makes this result all the more astounding.

Now, let alone $28—the value of Netscape has far surpassed what everyone predicted!

[NSCP 68.75 ▲ +14.25](Momentum picks up with a slightly bigger jump)

.

.

[NSCP 82.30 ▲ +13.55](Still strong gains as investors pile in)

$80!

Even more astonishing was that, despite surpassing $80, the buying frenzy showed no signs of slowing down. Orders were still pouring in at a relentless pace.

Within less than ten minutes of trading, Netscape’s stock had smashed through the $80 mark.

[NSCP 96.80 ▲ +14.50](Price approaches triple the IPO value)

In the blink of an eye, Netscape’s market capitalization had tripled, exceeding $4.8 billion.

Jim Clark stood frozen, staring at the ticker board in disbelief as his net worth skyrocketed past $1.5 billion in real time.

Richard, who owned 40% of Netscape, saw his fortune surge dramatically. He checked his stock price repeatedly, barely able to believe the numbers. Every time the ticker rose, his heart skipped a beat.

[NSCP 104.05 ▲ +7.25](The pace slows a bit as profit-taking starts)

After a deep breath, Richard steadied himself and gently placed his hand on Clark’s and Andreessen’s shoulders.

"How does it feel to be a billionaire?"

Clark was speechless, his head spinning as he watched the numbers climb higher with each blink."This isn’t a dream, right?"

"If you don’t believe it, I can slap you to make sure," Andreessen offered immediately.

"Would you really?"

Seeing Clark actually offer up his cheek, Andreessen already had his hand cocked, ready to slap—only for Clark to quickly back away with wide eyes.

"Hahaha" Richard laughed heartily as he watched the scene unfold.

This was just the beginning. Never underestimate human greed. The stock market thrives on hope—and greed. Everyone already wanted this stock badly. Now, after seeing it double and triple in an instant, that hunger only grew fiercer.

Sure enough, even an hour later, the momentum showed no signs of slowing down. If anything, the excitement only intensified with each passing minute.

Netscape’s market cap had already surpassed one billion during the IPO, and now—even as the stock market was about to close—the stock price had quadrupled since listing.

There was a brief moment when the upward momentum faltered, but by the end of its first trading day, Netscape’s stock had soared to $104.05 before finally settling at $95.31 per share.

It was a historic record—the highest first-day gain in Nasdaq history.

Unsurprisingly, as soon as the market closed, Bloomberg and every major media outlet ran headline stories about this unprecedented event.

As a result, investors, who were already buzzing with excitement over Netscape as the most promising company of the internet era, became even more ecstatic. Interest in the stock exploded overnight.

The frenzy continued into the next day. By the second day of trading, Netscape easily surpassed the $100 mark per share.

It was a mad surge, yet instead of fearing a crash, investors became even more aggressive in their buying.

This was the starting gun—the moment that launched the dot-com bubble, a frenzied market craze that would grip the late 1990s, not just in the United States but across the entire world.