The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 392



Only Krnovel

392. Counterattack (2)

Hess’ stock price rose briefly due to the death of the Saudi king.

Short sellers threw in huge amounts to crush Hess’ stock price again.

“Chairman, we have received most of the quantity from the short sellers. And we have also received all of the quantity that was thrown to attack Company Tae.”

“We certainly prepared a lot of money. Following Hess, we took the liberty of attacking Sergeant Taew as well.”

The amount of money thrown by short sellers to attack Hess and Taewo Trading Company amounted to $15 billion.

We received the entire amount, which was close to 20 trillion won, and the stock prices of Hess and Taewo Trading Co. did not move.

“I can’t find Hess and Taewo’s stocks on the market. Even if I want to buy them, I can’t because there’s no one selling them.”

“The short sellers borrowed all the stock held by financial companies and threw it away, so there is no way there would be any stock left.”

“Even the stock held by individual investors has run out. Taewoo Securities holds all the shares.”

If short sellers invested $15 billion.

Taewoo Securities invested more than $35 billion in this operation.

Since the stake we initially held was significant, when we added the stocks purchased for $35 billion, we owned nearly 90% of Hess and Taewo Trading Co.

So, unless we release the stock, we cannot find stocks in the stock market.

“The short sellers must be very anxious.”

“If we just hold on to stocks like this, the short sellers will dry up and die due to interest.”

“It will burst before it dries up and dies.”

“Do you have any good news prepared separately?”

At that moment, tiriring!

I got a call from Dimon.

If Dimon, who was busy managing his oil consortium, called at this hour, it definitely meant something had happened.

“Did something happen?”

[Oil oil discovered in Guyana! The exact reserves will need to be investigated in detail, but ExxonMobil’s exploration team leader says they are at least 1 billion barrels.]

“When will ExxonMobil announce the oil discovery?”

[The detailed investigation will be completed in about a week, so an announcement will likely be made then.]

“A week is just about right. Please give the exploration team a generous bonus as a token of their hard work.”

Ten years of hard work finally paid off.

I didn’t know how to compensate for 10 years of time, but the only way to do so was with a large bonus.

[We will take care of you so generously that you will not have to worry about retirement.]

“And please keep the news of the discovery of the oil field as secure as possible. Did you know that if the steam is lost beforehand, the refreshing taste is reduced?”

[You don’t have to worry about security. ExxonMobil is also working hard to maintain security. Wouldn’t the media show more interest if it exploded in one blow? And if the results of the detailed investigation are not good, the stock price may fall, so you do not have to worry about security.]

“Please contact me again before the detailed investigation results come out.”

The moment I hang up the phone with Dimon.

A president who was just listening quietly raised his hands.

“Wow! Have you already succeeded in oil exploration? Was the discovery of oil fields the turning card the Chairman mentioned? How did you really plan such a card?”

“I was lucky.”

It wasn’t just something I said.

Before returning, I remembered that oil exploration was successful only in the second half of the year.

However, this time, oil exploration was successful nearly half a year early, and although there may have been a reason for investing Hess and a huge amount of money, it should be said that luck was also a factor.

“When news of large-scale oil exploration success breaks out, Hess’ stock price will rebound!”

“There is only one week left. Can we make the short sellers invest all their money into short selling?”

“It looks like there is no money left, but we will take out a loan and make it possible to invest in short selling. There is not much stock left, but it seems like it will be enough to rip off short selling forces.”

You have to step on it firmly so it can’t climb any further.

If you step on it clumsily, you may end up inflamed with a desire for revenge, so you had to use this opportunity to show a clear difference in power.

* * *

Same time.

The short-sellers gathered at Kanos’ office and were holding an emergency meeting.

“CEO, things are going a little strangely. Taewoo Group is receiving all the supplies we throw at them.”

“Where did the money come from to purchase the quantity? They must have obtained a loan from a bank to purchase the quantity. After just one month, they will be struggling with huge interest costs and will have to throw away the stocks they were holding.”

“We don’t know whether it will be next month or a year from now. If Taewoo Group continues to raise its debt ratio, we will have no choice but to take losses.”

Short selling could also be seen as a type of loan.

Short selling was done by borrowing stocks from the financial sector, and since short selling was done using leverage, the short sellers also had to bear a considerable amount of interest costs.

“Don’t worry. The activist fund is working hard in Korea. A response will come within three days at the latest.”

“Wouldn’t an activist fund alone be enough?”

“So, I have prepared one more operation. I plan to borrow the shares of Hess and Taewo Trading Co. held by a fintech bank and conduct another short sale.”

Hedge fund representatives responded with surprise.

As expected, the fintech bank was Taewo Group’s main bank, so they had a very close relationship with it.

I did not understand that such a fintech bank would lend stocks to short sellers to attack Taewo Group.

“Did the fintech bank really decide to lend you stocks?”

“Banks are ultimately a group that has no choice but to do anything to make money. No matter how close Taew Group is to fintech banks, if it does not pursue the interests of depositors and shareholders, fintech banks will lose trust.”

“Have you done any work in advance?”

“A few activist funds moved in. So, like a colt on fire, he said he would lend it to me. Hehehe.”

Kanos was not called the king of short selling for nothing.

He prepared a lot for victory, and even before he started short selling, he was preparing to use activist funds to pressure fintech banks.

“Wouldn’t Taewoo Group be able to receive even the volume from fintech banks?”

“It would be possible to raise the debt ratio to the limit. But think about it. Who would look favorably on borrowing money using successful automobile, semiconductor, and electronic subsidiaries as collateral to save Hess and Taewo?”

“Well, Taewo Group’s stake in Taewo Trading Company is only 38%. Among them, Chairman Kim Min-jae holds about 25%. How can he run the group as he pleases when shareholders own more than half of the shares? !”

The owners of a company are shareholders.

This is not to say symbolically, but just looking at the shareholding structure, it was because shareholders owned more shares.

In particular, in the case of Korean companies, the shares held by conglomerates were not very large.

Therefore, it was a short-selling force that believed that they would never do anything that goes against the wishes of shareholders.

It was a strategy that came about because they did not know that Chairman Kim Min-jae held more than 70% of the shares through various channels.

“But the fintech bank asked for a slightly excessive interest fee.”

“I guess our final loyalty to Taewoo Group is reflected in the interest cost. Shouldn’t we have to pay that much?”

“If this project is successful, we can rip off not only Hess but also Taewo Company, so no one is dissatisfied with paying that much, right?”

“Representative, do as you wish.”

All hedge fund representatives agreed.

They obediently agreed because they did not know what consequences today’s choice would have.

* * *

two days later.

As I was getting ready to leave work, I got a call from Dimon.

I answered the phone with a CEO.

[The stocks of Hess and Taewo Trading Company held by the fintech bank were handed over to short sellers.]

“Good job. Didn’t the short sellers notice this?”

[It was hard to hold back the laughter that was about to come out. So I was frowning the whole time, and perhaps because he misunderstood me, CEO Kanos even encouraged me to cheer up.]

“Encouragement will be needed from Representative Kanos, not Dimon.”

Even the last plan was successful.

Now, all the short sellers had to do was throw in the stock, and what was so urgent was the immediate response.

“Chairman, the short sellers have started dumping Hess stock.”

“Take it all. You’re not saying you don’t have enough funds, right?”

“There is more than enough funds!”

It was Taewoo Securities, which recovered all the money invested in oil futures.

I was in a situation where I was overflowing with money as I even received my invested money back through a fintech bank.

[The volume held by short sellers is $5 billion. If you don’t have enough, fintech banks will provide support. By using multiple channels, approximately $5 billion can be provided discreetly.]

“The rice is ready and the steam is rising, but we can’t make a mistake here. If a fintech bank steps in, we could be in trouble. And Taewoo Securities’ financial power alone is enough to cover about $5 billion.”

Taewoo Group’s funds were scattered everywhere.

However, about $5 billion could be borrowed at any time, and there was no need to open my personal safe at a fintech bank.

[By the way, thanks to this short selling, fintech banks also made significant profits. Short sellers borrowed stocks, paying high interest costs.]

“What are you going to do if the short sellers default on their debt?”

[All you have to do is confiscate all the assets held by the short sellers. Then, I will be waiting for good news.]

I ended my call with Dimon.

At that moment, the head of planning hurriedly entered the office.

“Chairman, an activist fund is said to be holding a press conference in Yeouido. Wouldn’t it be better to mobilize the line to stop it?”

“Just leave it alone.”

“If the activist fund moves, the entire Taewoo Group could be adversely affected in the long term.”

“It’s not a long-term issue. It will subside within a week, so just leave it alone.”

What is a week?

After just three days, the cause of the activist fund disappears.

News of the success of Guyana’s large-scale oil exploration will be announced that day.

“The honorary chairman is concerned about this incident.”

“Tell them there is no need to worry. Also, let them know that very good news will be released through the media next week.”

Even my grandfather in Vietnam is concerned about this incident.

This meant that the impact was large, and the bigger the impact, the bigger the reversal effect.

“Ah! We have obtained a list of all financial companies that participated in this short selling, right?”

“There was no need to conduct a separate investigation. Since I go to work at Kanos Company every day, it was not difficult to secure the list.”

“Are there any financial companies that belong to the financial tower there?”

“There are two. They are not large, but they were hedge funds that initially moved into the financial tower.”

There were many ways to strengthen solidarity.

Finding and punishing traitors was one of the best methods.

We need to properly show what happens to the financial companies that tried to stab us in the back this time, but this will never happen again.