Chapter 86

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Securities companies never have their lights off for 24 hours.

Because domestic markets burn from dawn to afternoon, then foreign markets burn after that.

Not only that.

The foreign exchange market operates 24 hours requiring shift work.

Because of this, securities companies never had a day with lights off.

But the Prime-level department was a bit different.

Unless there are important transactions or market volatility occurring significantly, Prime-level department employees don’t come to work.

“Really so envious. They say Prime department people also get tremendous incentives.”

“What exactly are the conditions to enter there?”

“Even HR doesn’t know. They say whenever recruiting employees, the president looks at profiles and picks one person.”

“What. So they don’t even do interviews, just pick based solely on profiles?”

“Yeah. That’s how everyone’s been picked so far.”

It was curious.

How can you know someone’s abilities just looking at profiles without interviews?

But the amazing thing is until now, not a single person who entered Prime-level caused problems.

“But don’t Prime side people rarely even come to work?”

“Right.”

“But why did they all gather today?”

“Ah. Didn’t you hear?”

“What?”

“The rumor already spread throughout our securities company. That the president is having a refreshing bout with short-selling forces attached to Tisla.”

“What?”

Even people who don’t do foreign stocks well, if they work at securities companies, knew well that Tisla is Wall Street’s toy.

It wasn’t for nothing that Tisla CEO Tusk whined about it.

“Wait. Isn’t there bankruptcy rumors circulating recently because of performance and production disruptions?”

“Yeah. So Wall Street shorters are very excited.”

“But our president went long?”

“Yeah. Now you know why Prime side employees aren’t going home and are stuck at the company? They’re on 24-hour emergency duty now. Keke.”

“No. But isn’t Tisla long wrong in the current situation? No matter how much longs and shorts wage war there every time, now one side is too dominant.”

Rationally speaking, yes.

But isn’t there a saying?

That anything can happen in financial markets.

“Still, this is a bit..”

However, everything has limits.

Isn’t boarding the sinking Titanic like now a suicidal act?

“How much money did he put in?”

“Don’t know. But talk is roughly trillion-won units went in.”

“Trillion, trillion-won units!?”

Just hearing it was a wailing situation.

Though President Jeong Jin-ho’s earnings weren’t a penny or two, putting in and losing several trillion won was painful.

“..Huh?”

While foreign trading team employees chatted like that.

“Wh-what? What’s this?”

“Why? What is it?”

“Tisla’s stock price is suddenly soaring?”

“Huh? Really?”

Then a thought suddenly occurred.

“C-could it be the president?”

“Isn’t the stock price rising rapidly because he’s releasing massive buy orders?”

Stocks are simpler than expected.

When many people want to sell, prices fall, and when there’s much buying volume, prices rise.

And the price suddenly rising now meant buy orders increased that much.

In other words, meaning President Jeong Jin-ho dumped trillions of won worth of buy orders at once causing this phenomenon.

“Wouldn’t the SEC drag them away for market disruption? It’s clear stock price manipulation.”

“That’s true. But fortunately it doesn’t seem to be because of us?”

They also quickly grasped why stock prices were rising like this, the cause of this situation.

It was none other than because of the SNS post Mylon Tusk uploaded.

Tusk’s bombshell declaration planning to buy controlling stakes at 20% premium of current stock price and convert to a private company.

Because of that, stock prices were pumping madly now.

“No. Isn’t this guy really crazy?”

***

From when we paid 4 trillion won to funds to bring 6% Tisla stakes, our Prime-level department employees without missing a day entered 24-hour emergency duty with rotating shifts.

To immediately respond since we didn’t know when something would burst.

“It, it burst.”

That was Manager Seo’s first words I heard.

“President. It, it really burst.”

“How can such an absurd thing..”

Like the research department warned us, our department people also reacted negatively to this Tisla investment.

Because there wasn’t a single thing that could work as positive news.

But positive news doesn’t seem to be created externally.

Seeing Tisla CEO Tusk is creating it himself.

“B-but is this real? Really buying stakes at 20% premium and turning the company private?”

“How much would that require to be possible?”

“Tens of trillions of won would be needed. But does Tusk have that level of cash holdings?”

Tusk’s wealth is because of Tisla stakes he holds.

Currently he holds 20% stakes in Tisla.

To make it a private company, he needs an additional 31% stakes to control the company, and to secure that requires at least 20 trillion won.

Also, having 31% doesn’t mean you can go private.

Shareholder agreement is needed.

In other words, without having over 90% stakes, you can’t immediately go private.

Then astronomical amounts of money become necessary.

“But we can’t take it lightly, didn’t he clearly state on his SNS account? That money to sufficiently pay that level of premium is already prepared.”

If it were just floating as rumors, stock prices wouldn’t have risen this much.

The sudden pumping is because Tusk himself directly announced on his SNS account that he’d buy stakes.

“What if this is bluffing?”

“Then big trouble. Even if not the company’s official position, since the CEO himself revealed it on SNS, he must take responsibility. But the moment he says it was actually a joke, it becomes stock price manipulation.”

This matter absolutely wasn’t something to pass over lightly.

Because you can’t just see it as one person’s deviance.

This is a problem with trillions of won at stake.

Especially with this bombshell statement, aren’t many Wall Street securities firms that were hitting massive shorts taking big damage?

There was also stock price rising as positions got forcibly liquidated after loading up leverage.

The shorters Tusk so detested were annihilated all at once.

Then the remaining question is this.

Does Tusk really have that much money?

“Tusk’s side also seems they didn’t know the reaction would be this heated. They hurriedly uploaded an additional SNS post. Saying they already reached agreement points with Saudi sovereign wealth fund.”

If it’s Saudi, it’s an understandable part.

With their funding power, they could sufficiently secure controlling stakes and turn the company private.

“If Saudi side funds really come in, won’t it rise much more than now?”

Stock prices keep rising.

At this trend, 30% seemed sufficiently achievable.

“Then for a few days, should you just hold for now..”

I brought my hand to Tisla’s stock price.

Even I thought holding stocks without selling for now would be much more profitable, but..

“..!”

The moment my finger touched the stock price.

A sound like a speaker bursting passed hitting my eardrums.

“If we organize positions, how long would it take?”

“We can’t sell everything within one day. We didn’t give the market big shock because we traded with various funds through over-the-counter trading, but if you’re organizing positions right now, it’ll take days.”

“Then like over-the-counter trading, if we directly sell stakes to other funds at market price?”

“Like when we bought, we can organize cleanly while minimizing shock to the market.”

So-called block deal.

Meaning trading separately from the market.

Usually the method we use when selling large amounts of stocks we hold.

Because thoughtlessly dumping everything could shock the market tremendously, and selling at our desired price is also difficult.

And funds and institutions also prefer block deals.

Because if they also pour out buy orders indiscriminately, prices skyrocket.

“Are there institutions that want to buy stocks in large quantities now?”

“Probably not that many. Usually institutions or funds buying stakes of this scale have long-term investment perspectives. But there are also aggressive funds targeting short-term profits.”

“Then please look into that side.”

Then employees showed surprised expressions.

“A-already organizing positions?”

“You should still watch a bit more..”

“Sigh. Because there are some people newly entering the department, why is everyone trying to have egos? Should I tell you again what our company motto is?”

But with Manager Seo’s one rebuke, everyone quieted.

“President. Then I’ll look into it right away.”

“Yes. Please. As fast as possible.”

“Yes. Any other instructions..”

Just when trying to end warmly(?).

My intuition shook me once more.

A feeling like someone strongly pulling as I try to stand up.

It doesn’t seem to just end at selling.

‘What should I do?’

Not knowing what this intuition was pointing to, I wrote several things on a notepad.

Then my hand stopped at one option I wrote.

“..?”

I doubted my eyes momentarily.

Just in case, I checked several times, but each time my intuition tapped me as if asking to stop asking.

“Manager.”

“Yes.”

“After organizing positions, can you establish a new position?”

“What? Wh-what kind..”

“Short. The amount.. Same 4 trillion won please.”

“!?”

Manager who was fine until just now, his two pupils started shaking severely.

***

Slurp.

“Mm. Coffee here really tastes best. The view is nice too.”

“The view doesn’t seem that nice. Only construction vehicles pass by.”

“That.. Can’t be helped. Who knew this area would become the semiconductor center? But the building itself is nice, right? The interior is also really well done.”

“Yes. Only guild members can use this, right?”

Vice President Kang Ji-hwan finished touring the so-called Guild Landmark that President Jeong Jin-ho directly planned and created.

“Since you’re also our guild member now, come use it often.”

“The guild seems quite large. When I entered last time, everyone welcomed me so intensely.”

“Pretty large side. When games age, it’s also hard for guilds to maintain long. But because Jin-ho manages well, guild members stay long too.”

Plus building even such a landmark.

Guild members’ loyalty naturally had to be high.

“That doesn’t mean guild members can gather often though. As you know, everyone has ages, and there are people like me operating businesses.”

“Managing securities companies and exchanges must be hard enough, yet you even play games diligently. Though President Jeong is younger than me, sometimes you seem to have much more depth than me.”

“It’s that the caliber is different. He didn’t climb to that position at that age for nothing. Ah. But what did you want to report? Coming to find someone on vacation enjoying well.”

Vice President Kang Ji-hwan didn’t want to disturb the chairman on vacation either.

But since the matter was the matter, he had no choice but to rush over.

“So.. This time Jin-ho invested 4 trillion won into Tisla and gained profit?”

“Yes. Because Tisla Chairman Mylon Tusk suddenly made a bombshell declaration at dawn, he gained close to about 25-30%.”

“30% means.. 1.2 trillion won!?”

“Yes. A tremendous amount.”

Making that in just one day.

1 trillion won isn’t some neighborhood store’s name.

But Jin-ho makes such large amounts really easily.

“The problem is before Mylon Tusk made that statement. He had a meeting with President Jeong Jin-ho.”

“Wh-what? Why exactly?”

“It’s because of Close AI stake acquisition.. But after that, the president bought Tisla stocks in large quantities.”

“And that Mylon Tusk guy dropped such a bomb?”

“Yes.”

The last Volmageddon incident made people’s hearts flutter.

Now immediately starting such a game again.

“Seems like it’s not time for vacation now. Tell all executives to gather.”

Chairman Hwang quickly stood up.

The group’s top priority.

Because it was time to protect Jeong Jin-ho.

***

Because of Tusk’s statement, the securities market flipped over.

Actually Tusk also knows.

That going private is actually an unrealizable thing.

But he did it.

Knowing it’s impulsive.

So does he regret it?

No. Not at all.

He felt exhilaration watching Wall Street shorters who constantly tormented him and his company perish.

Of course.. He regrets slightly. Because he didn’t think it’d really get dragged this far.

“You know well why Mr. Tusk came here. Do you know how much the market shook after writing such a post on SNS? Plus doing nothing after causing trouble. This is clear market disruption and stock price manipulation.”

A few days after that post went up on SNS, the SEC started full-scale investigation.

And they quickly figured out.

That Tusk has no will to turn the company private.

So they summoned him and sat him in the investigation room.

“You must’ve also seen the SNS post I additionally uploaded. I already finished talking with Saudi sovereign wealth fund.”

“Then where’s that contract?”

“That.. Because it was a verbal contract.”

“But the sovereign wealth fund side you mentioned has a different position? What happened?”

“…”

The investigating officer also sighed.

“I honestly understand Mr. Tusk’s heart. We also know well how much Wall Street people tormented Mr. Tusk’s company. So you wanted to annihilate short-selling forces. It was actually quite effective. But this crossed the line too hard.”

“It’s just a post uploaded on SNS. Just that there was communication error because of a mistake with the fund side.”

Since it’s not an official company announcement but an individual’s opinion through SNS, they couldn’t punish heavily with this. Of course, that doesn’t mean the penalty is light at all.

The SEC was already planning to impose at least tens of millions of dollars in fines.

“But what we want to know most is this. What connection do you have with Gwangwoon Securities President Jeong Jin-ho?”

“..What? Why does that name suddenly come up?”

“Are you really not knowing, or pretending not to know? There’s talk the two of you met before this happened?”

“I’m really asking because I don’t know. And that meeting was because of stake trading.”

“Then you also didn’t know President Jeong Jin-ho was holding long positions worth billions of dollars?”

“What?!”

He really didn’t know.

No. Why suddenly Jeong Jin-ho?

It was incomprehensible.

Ah. Could it be that?

After meeting Tusk that day, he saw him and his company favorably so bought stocks in large quantities in advance.

As they say, genius recognizes genius.

Jeong Jin-ho with excellent investment sense knew early on that Tisla would ultimately be a successful company.

“I didn’t give any hints or anything. He just saw our company’s future brightly.”

Though Jeong Jin-ho didn’t directly give money and just bought stocks in large quantities, he felt moved for nothing.

I saw one person very well.

“Then you wouldn’t know this either?”

“What else now?”

“That Gwangwoon organized long positions and this time hit massive shorts.”

“What..?”

But such tsunami of emotion was brief.

He thought he bought stocks in large quantities believing in Tisla and Mylon Tusk’s future, but that wasn’t it.

He just bought because it’d make money.

And this time too, it seems it’ll make money, so he just established large short positions.

Capitalism is cold.