Although Isabella is already extremely wealthy—having earned nine-figure annual cash income over the past few years, outperforming many publicly listed companies, and carrying zero debt, which is almost unimaginable among the rich—she still hasn't stepped through the doors of the capital circle.
This isn't to say she lacks assets, but rather that her assets are not particularly stable.
Take her entertainment industry asset, The Voice, for example.
The Voice cannot exist independently; it must rely on a platform for distribution.
When it has value, it can bring Isabella a continuous stream of income. But once it loses value—or its value declines—even if its operator is Disney, even if Robert Iger is her "ally," he would still regretfully tell Isabella: "Sorry."
When the value of Isabella's assets can collapse over time or due to others' decisions, and the lifeline of those assets is held in someone else's hands, she is not truly a capitalist in the full sense.
To put it more simply:
Simply accumulating wealth cannot enable a class leap. To determine whether someone is a capitalist, you must see whether they can exploit others without being exploited themselves—or at least be exploited less.
Consider how people only ever call Harvey Weinstein an Oscar kingmaker.
He possesses great wealth, but in front of real capitalists, he's nothing more than roadside trash. Whether it's the head of Disney, Time Warner, Universal, or Paramount—any of them could blow him away with a single puff.
And by the standard of not being exploited—or being exploited less—the current entertainment industry no longer has room for upward mobility.
The round table that breaks rules, makes rules, and distributes power is already full; the seats of the MPAA have all been taken. All the key nodes across the industry's upstream and downstream have been carved up; the Big Five have achieved vertically integrated monopolies. The capitalists in the industry have been expanding their moats through diversified operations—entertainment and media used to be separate, but that capital has now merged together.
So—
Now that the top table in Isabella's main field is full, if she wants to rise further, she must find another path.
The logic is simple.
It's like in web novels where the path to godhood has been blocked. When true gods already exist within the protagonist's sequence, to become a god, you either slay one or switch to another sequence.
The former isn't easy right now. And Isabella has already done something like that—Rupert Murdoch has exited the stage. But Isabella cannot claim Murdoch's divinity, because in reality there are no sequences; when one god falls, their power is typically absorbed by the others.
As for the latter—in this era, the only sequence that still offers divinity is the internet. And that sequence happens to be closely tied to entertainment.
And yet, there's no "divinity" left in tech either. Because tech has long been monopolized.
Since what Isabella had been planning has now come into play, accepting the invitation was inevitable. Even so, she expected that sending an invitation, receiving a reply, accepting it, and setting a date would take some time. To her surprise, the moment she nodded, Robert Iger said the first meeting could happen tomorrow.
Isabella didn't even need to travel. She just had to stay in Florida—because Jeff Bezos would fly in from Seattle. Tonight.
The second meeting would have to wait, however. Steve Jobs really is a big shot. He wants to invite Isabella to dinner, but arranged it in San Francisco, meaning she'll have to fly there herself.
On the surface this seems troublesome, but in reality, Robert Iger would handle all the logistics. After finishing with Jeff Bezos, Isabella could take a Disney plane from Florida to California—and this wasn't a one-way ticket. After meeting Steve Jobs, no matter where she wanted to go, Disney would accommodate it. After all, the Mouse doesn't lack money, and it has people everywhere.
When this became reality, Isabella was genuinely surprised. She hadn't expected these people to be so eager to meet her.
But once she learned that Amazon planned to officially launch Amazon Video in September, and that Apple had already scrapped the Motorola Rokr E1 project to develop its own iTunes phone—she understood. Since everyone sees YouTube as the biggest variable, their urgency made perfect sense.
"Bob, isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to leak your allies' information to me like this?"
Isabella looked at Robert Iger with a smile.
Disney's right-hand man turned his head and shrugged. "Well, that's because we're closer."
"Hahahaha."
Isabella laughed. She pretended to believe him.
She didn't actually believe Robert Iger, because his position at Disney wasn't built by Isabella alone. When Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett are also sources of his power—who knows whether he's already shared her real information with Jeff Bezos or Steve Jobs?
Since that kind of thing is impossible to untangle, Isabella didn't dwell on it.
The next day.
Miami in July was scorching. Even with the sea breeze blowing, it couldn't lift the city's heat and restlessness. The heavy moisture in the air made everything feel thick and sticky—standing outdoors felt like your body was coated in a layer of glue.
Isabella didn't like this environment.
Fortunately, Jeff Bezos hadn't invited her to dine outdoors; the meeting was in the restaurant of the InterContinental Hotel where she was staying, sparing her the ordeal of the oppressive weather.
At noon, Isabella met Jeff Bezos in the hotel's luxury restaurant. He had brought his wife. Isabella, still unable to go out alone, brought her mother and sister.
Robert Iger was also present—as the middleman, he had to accompany them.
Perhaps because of his presence, or perhaps because communication is simply a standard skill among successful people—despite it being their first meeting, there was little awkwardness between Isabella and Jeff Bezos.
Handshake. Seated. A bit of small talk. The atmosphere at the table quickly warmed up.
When Jeff Bezos mentioned his strong connection to the entertainment industry—that the first thing he did after Amazon went public was lead it into entertainment—everyone at the table burst into laughter. Because Amazon's "entry" into entertainment was simply acquiring IMDb.
"Oh—Jeff—if buying IMDb counts as entering the entertainment industry, does Disney making an official website count as entering the internet industry?" Robert Iger laughed and shook his head, mercilessly exposing the stretch in Jeff Bezos's claim.
The bald man rolled his eyes. "Of course Disney making an official website doesn't count as entering the internet industry—building a website just gives a company an online presence; it doesn't mean launching an internet business. Our investment in IMDb is different. We genuinely participated in building an online movie database. When we provided countless movie fans with a community to gather and interact, we naturally became part of the entertainment industry—Isabella, don't you think I have a point?"
"Oh, of course." Faced with the sudden question, Isabella smiled and nodded. "Jeff, what you said makes perfect sense. It's just like YouTube—when we provide internet users with a platform to freely express themselves, we naturally become part of the internet space, don't we?"
She raised her eyebrows.
"Hahahaha—" Jeff Bezos clapped in agreement.
The harmonious atmosphere made the meeting feel nothing like business—more like old friends reuniting.
But good things never last. Everyone there had serious matters to discuss, and after gathering himself, Jeff Bezos took a sip of wine, looked at Isabella, and asked, "Isabella, it seems you understand IMDb quite well?"
"Of course. People in the film industry care a great deal about how the public evaluates their work." Knowing the small talk phase was over, Isabella nodded. "As far as I know, before IMDb existed, major studios would hire survey firms to collect audience feedback in theaters at each release. After IMDb appeared, collecting public feedback became much easier. Am I right, Bob?"
"Yeah—" Robert Iger swallowed a bite of steak. "Although online reviews can be manipulated, the general trend of whether the public likes a movie doesn't change, so online evaluations still have reference value. Take Pirates of the Caribbean—the test screenings were mediocre and industry insiders didn't like it, but we released the trailer online and the comments were very positive. I believed the movie had a chance. People who can access the internet generally have some financial means, and when they have purchasing power and like a movie, they might actually go to the theater—"
"So, Isabella, in your eyes, is IMDb a platform that can guide content production?" Jeff Bezos's wife, MacKenzie, asked with a smile.
"Not entirely." Isabella thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Because IMDb has links to Amazon. When movie fans find a film interesting, they can click through directly to Amazon to buy the disc—or rent it. So, in my view, IMDb is more like a traffic entry point for Amazon's disc rental and sales business."
Isabella glanced at MacKenzie.
"Hehe—" MacKenzie chuckled. "Vivian, your daughter has excellent insight."
"Thank you." Vivian nodded with a quiet smile.
Jeff Bezos clapped again. "Yeah, Isabella, you're absolutely right. IMDb is a traffic gateway for us—that's exactly why we acquired it right after going public. Traffic is extremely important to us."
E-commerce is an industry that depends heavily on traffic. Without it, an e-commerce company simply cannot succeed.
Amazon, founded in 1994, burned money for ten years before turning profitable in 2004—not because its businesses couldn't make money, but because every time it did, it immediately reinvested those earnings into acquiring traffic. Its book-selling business was profitable in its very first year, yet Amazon kept reporting losses.
For example, acquiring IMDb gave Amazon—originally just a bookstore—the ability to sell videotapes online overnight. Signing an exclusive online retail agreement with Toys "R" Us instantly added toy pages to the platform. Partnering with FedEx guaranteed two-day delivery nationwide, with custom packaging that let people across the U.S. instantly recognize an Amazon delivery.
After all of that consumed hundreds of millions in profits, Amazon continued to post annual losses.
But those losses were worth it. Amazon is now the largest e-commerce platform in North America, with over 40% market share—more than double that of second-place Walmart.
Yes, Walmart also does e-commerce. Its online business started in 1996. To put it plainly: if Walmart didn't have thousands of physical stores enabling self-delivery across all fifty states, Amazon wouldn't have needed to burn money for ten years buying traffic and expanding its market.
Once the conversation shifted to the internet and traffic, Jeff Bezos stopped beating around the bush. "Isabella, the purpose of today's meeting is actually very simple. Amazon wants to acquire YouTube."
"I believe Bob has already told you we plan to launch Amazon Video this year—a platform where users can watch purchased films and shows online. In our original plan, we intended to launch it directly, using IMDb as a traffic pool. But with YouTube's emergence—IMDb is no longer sufficient."
Isabella smiled. "So your idea is to make YouTube like IMDb, with Amazon links appearing on it?"
"Yes."
"For example, under a Tom and Jerry video, there'd be a purchase link for the full series on Amazon Video?"
"Yeah!"
"Okay—but why not just advertise with us?" Isabella pressed her lips slightly. "YouTube's advertising business is about to launch. Wouldn't collaboration be better?"
"Well—" Jeff Bezos hesitated.
"Is it hard to answer?" Isabella asked with a smile.
"No." Jeff Bezos shook his head. "There are actually three answers to that."
"Three?" Isabella looked surprised.
"Yeah." He raised one finger. "First—when Amazon lacks traffic and YouTube has already become a traffic pool with long-term potential, buying it outright is more cost-effective than cooperating."
Isabella nodded. She could accept that.
Jeff Bezos raised a second finger. "Second—Amazon doesn't just want to do film and television. We also want to do music. Our music platform launches next year."
Everyone wants a share of the music market. While Microsoft was gearing up to challenge Apple, Amazon was also moving into music—with a product even named Amazon Music. Without a first-mover advantage, embracing a major traffic pool was inevitable.
In fact, even before Isabella had uploaded music videos to YouTube, Jeff Bezos had already envisioned this strategy. With YouTube's combined social and video attributes, music companies worldwide might eventually use it for promotion—and with purchase links placed below music videos, wouldn't the first thing people see be Amazon Music?
Isabella's smile widened. She knew about Amazon Music. In Europe and the U.S., its user base ranks just behind Spotify and Apple Music. So when Amazon's music business also needs YouTube, acquiring it outright is a sound decision.
"The third answer," Jeff Bezos continued, "is that as far as we know—you don't intend to operate YouTube long-term."
Perhaps because they had all been introduced through mutual connections, he spoke candidly—or appeared to. "Since you want to cash out, and we need YouTube—it's a perfect match, isn't it?"
"Hahahaha—" This time Isabella genuinely laughed. Shaking her head, she said, "And where did that information come from?"
She glanced at Robert Iger. "It wasn't you, was it?"
Being suddenly called out, Disney's right-hand man looked mildly speechless. "Isabella, be reasonable—I didn't even know you wanted to cash out."
He was telling the truth. Isabella had never mentioned it to him. So—
"Alright, it doesn't matter." Isabella waved her hand. "Honestly, I didn't expect Amazon to need YouTube this much. That's quite surprising."
To be frank, the remark was polite. Not only did her past-life memories tell her that when YouTube exploded, American tech companies rushed to acquire it—her current experience confirmed that whoever acquired YouTube could monetize it immediately.
Before she even finished, however, MacKenzie spoke again.
"Isabella, my husband's three points aren't complete. There's another reason we want to acquire YouTube—Netflix is also planning to launch a video business."
Isabella raised her eyebrows.
MacKenzie continued, "You've heard of Netflix? The online DVD rental company. We've heard they want to move into video as well. Their website is already being designed—expected to launch early next year."