Chapter 32: How Much Do You Want?

The classroom buzzed with noise — students shuffling papers, the professor droning on about stress analysis, the squeak of chalk against a faded blackboard. Timothy barely heard any of it. His phone had just lit up with the subject line that made his chest seize.[From: NVIDIA Research Ops

Subject: Final Proposal – Strictly Confidential

His hand shook as he tapped it open under the desk, pretending to jot notes in his pad.

Dear Mr. Guerrero,

After internal deliberation and executive review, NVIDIA is prepared to raise its offer for your prototype GPU, along with the schematics and complete blueprints.

Our revised offer is $1.2 billion USD (One Billion, Two Hundred Million United States Dollars).

This offer represents the full weight of our commitment. It is, however, also our final and absolute limit. The risks associated with production, the uncertainty of scaling, and the unprecedented nature of the design prevent us from going further.

The terms remain as before:

– Immediate transfer of funds upon execution of the agreement.

– Royalty structure subject to negotiation.

– Comprehensive legal protections, both U.S. and international.

We urge you to consider this as our last and best proposal.

Sincerely,

Dr. Ethan Kwan

Senior Scientist, NVIDIA Research Division]

Timothy’s eyes blurred. He blinked twice, rereading the number. $1.2 billion.

He whispered under his breath, "Holy shit..." His classmate beside him, Tiffany, gave a quick glance, then looked away, thinking Timothy had just overreacted on something he had read.

He slouched deeper in his chair, his head spinning. Twenty-eight billion pesos had already been insane. This was... sixty-eight billion. His mother couldn’t even imagine that amount. He himself couldn’t. That wasn’t just family money, or "buy a house in Antipolo" money. That was "reshape the country" money. That was "never worry about the future again" money.

But the wording stuck to him. Final offer. Absolute limit.

He snorted softly. "Yeah, right."

If they had doubled from half a billion to this, it meant they could still go higher. They were just scared. Scared of what would happen if he walked away.

And that thought gave him an idea.

If NVIDIA wouldn’t budge further, maybe their rivals would.

AMD. Intel. Even Google or Microsoft. These companies had the hunger and the wallets to go to war for something like this.

He pocketed his phone, waiting for the bell to ring, every second dragging like wet cement.

Finally, dismissal. Students shuffled out, chatting, laughing. Timothy stayed back, pretending to fix his bag, then stepped out with his phone pressed tight to his chest.

It buzzed again. A follow-up.

Incoming Zoom invite — NVIDIA Research Ops.

His throat tightened. They wanted to talk immediately.

He glanced around the hallway. Too many students, too much noise. He couldn’t risk being overheard. He ducked quickly toward the restroom, pushing open the heavy door. The smell of disinfectant hit him.

The bathroom was mostly empty except for one guy washing his hands. Timothy waited until he left, then locked himself into the farthest stall. He set his backpack on the toilet tank and pulled out his laptop, fingers trembling as he accepted the call.

The screen lit up. Three faces appeared: Dr. Ethan Kwan, stern and watchful; Zoe, the thermal engineer, brows knit; and a suited man Timothy hadn’t seen before, his expression corporate and unreadable. Probably legal, maybe executive.


"Timothy," Ethan said, nodding once. "Thank you for joining on short notice."

Timothy kept his voice even. "I read your email."

"Yes." Ethan folded his hands. "As we stated, the $1.2 billion figure reflects the absolute maximum we can justify internally. It comes with royalties, protections, and the chance to be part of something that will outlast all of us. This is not a decision we reached lightly."

Zoe leaned in. "It’s more than just money, Timothy. We’re offering resources. The labs, the engineers, the supply chains that make this real. No one else on Earth can give you that."

Timothy tilted his head, playing calm even as his heart jackhammered. "And if I say no?"

The suited man spoke, voice clipped. "Then you walk away from the only realistic path to scale this technology. Others will make promises, but they don’t have the infrastructure. We do. And if you walk... you may find those others far less forgiving."

There it was — the polite warning wrapped in business speak.

Timothy let the silence stretch, watching them shift slightly on screen. Then he leaned closer. "You say it’s your final offer. I hear you. But let me be blunt. If that’s really your ceiling, then maybe I should forward the same blueprints to AMD. Or Intel. Or even Microsoft. Let them have a look. See how much they value it."

The air in the Zoom call thickened. Ethan’s eyes widened slightly before narrowing again. Zoe muttered something under her breath, and the suited man’s jaw tightened.

Ethan finally said, "Timothy, be careful. Playing companies against each other in this arena isn’t like selling cars. These are trillion-dollar corporations. Once multiple players are aware, the situation escalates. Rapidly."

"That’s the point," Timothy said evenly. "I don’t need rapid escalation. I just need the truth. If you’re telling me this tech is worth only $1.2 billion... fine. I’ll test that by asking your competitors."

Silence again.

Zoe spoke softly, almost pleading. "Timothy, do you even understand what you’re holding? This isn’t just a product. It’s national security. If you start shopping it around, governments will notice. And when they do, you’ll lose control of it entirely."

Timothy leaned back, forcing himself to look calm. Inside, his palms sweated. "Then maybe you should think about what it takes to make me not do that."

The suited man cut in, voice tight. "Timothy, we’ll need a direct answer within seventy-two hours. If you intend to explore other options, understand that once word leaks, the situation will no longer be private."

He met the man’s stare through the screen. "Noted."

Ethan sighed. "Timothy, please. Think carefully. Don’t throw away the stability of a lifetime for the chaos of greed. This deal is fair. More than fair. And it’s safe."

"I’m going to drop the call now..."

"How much more do you want?" another figure chimed in, and it was the CEO of the NVIDIA.

"Sir..."

Timothy sighed. "You are lowballing me, you are only offering a billion dollars for a technology that could make billions. How about you give me 20 billion dollars?"

Timothy tested if they would bite at his ridiculous offer. The technology he has can make them billions and kick out any competition if they manage to reverse engineer the technology. Which would take them about five years once they have the machinery and equipment to produce it.

"Done! You have your twenty billion dollars," Jensen replied.

"Eh?"