After the Divorce, I Found a Thousand Bitcoins - Chapter 49

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I Got Divorced and Found a Thousand Bitcoins Episode 049

 

Samuel Rosenthal.

 

He was born into a Jewish family and raised in a wealthy environment.

 

Since his father was a famous investor, he also studied with Wall Street as his goal.

 

With full support, he quickly entered Wall Street and grew using his connections.

 

And currently, he was serving as a middle manager at a massive fund called Whiterock.

 

Having built his career this way, Rosenthal saw Choi Kang-hyeon in front of him as a greenhorn.

 

‘A Korean family office, he said? They seem to have quite a bit of money, but to put such a greenhorn as CEO.’

 

A family office was structured to manage the money of certain wealthy individuals.

 

Naturally, it was standard to place a well-known and experienced investor as the representative.

 

However, the name Choi Kang-hyeon was one he had never heard of, at least within Wall Street.

 

That’s why he was thinking of wrapping up this deal quickly.

 

“Let’s get straight to the point. As you know, Nereid’s technology is outstanding even among companies researching liquid immersion cooling technology. If you purchase our bonds, you can monopolize Nereid’s technology.”

 

The more naive the opponent, the more they would waver when appealed to with the company’s advantages.

 

Rosenthal hit exactly that point.

 

“Moreover, Nereid’s company value is 2 billion dollars, while the bonds worth 40 percent are only 300 million.”

 

The bonds that Whiterock held were convertible bonds.

 

Specifically, treasury stock delivery-type convertible bonds that Nereid had issued in its early days.

 

This meant payment with stocks that management already held, rather than issuing new shares.

 

And that was based on the stock price at the time of issuance.

 

This meant one thing.

 

‘The moment those bonds reach maturity, Nereid will either lose management control or go bankrupt – one of the two.’

 

Originally, bonds with such conditions didn’t come to market often.

 

This was because when maturity approached, the bondholders would usually demand settlement to seize management control.

 

Originally, Whiterock had planned to do the same.

 

However, due to the Arkon incident, the market changed rapidly and Whiterock decided to recover most of the bonds they held.

 

One of those was Nereid’s bonds.

 

‘To think bonds with such conditions were issued. This Nathan person really gets a failing grade as CEO.’

 

Anyone who knew even a little about business wouldn’t have issued bonds with such conditions.

 

It was only possible because Nathan only knew research.

 

‘Though it’s actually a common occurrence.’

 

Bonds with such conditions were commonly seen in venture company investments.

 

‘Venture companies get backstabbed because they don’t know the investment industry yet.’

 

Nothing changed even after they found out later.

 

That’s what contracts were like.

 

Once you stamped it, it couldn’t be nullified under normal circumstances.

 

That’s why you had to be careful, but when you had no money to conduct research immediately, you’d stamp even such conditions.

 

That was reality.

 

‘This man’s investment failed. Yet he’s trying to sell it to me without taking a single penny of loss.’

 

He had grasped the opponent’s intention.

 

“It’s an opportunity to invest 300 million and earn 800 million.”

 

“That’s a good opportunity. But why are you trying to pass such an opportunity to us?”

 

“Ahem, well, there are company circumstances.”

 

“I see. However, Nereid’s current market cap is 1.7 billion dollars. 300 million dollars evaporated in just a few months.”

 

Now it was time for counterattack.

 

“It’s not 800 million dollars, but precisely 680 million dollars.”

 

“That’s true, but considering the current market situation, it will recover soon. Actually, Nereid dropped 50 percent during the Arkon incident and then recovered.”

 

“Shouldn’t we add the premise that it recovers normally?”

 

Rosenthal’s eyebrows twitched.

 

From Kang Hyeon’s attitude of not backing down with a single word, he didn’t seem like a greenhorn.

 

But Kang Hyeon’s counterattack wasn’t over yet.

 

“Above all, if Nereid goes bankrupt, it becomes third priority, so recovering the 300 million dollars would actually be impossible.”

 

This was the reason Whiterock wanted to sell the bonds.

 

‘How did that guy know that?’

 

Rosenthal’s gaze turned to Richard Blake.

 

The most suspicious thing was when JP Morgan provided internal data.

 

“In case Nereid goes bankrupt, the amount recoverable with these bonds is between 100 million and 150 million dollars.”

 

‘It wasn’t Richard?’

 

That calculation was identical to Whiterock’s internal calculation.

 

That amount couldn’t be calculated even with JP Morgan’s internal data.

 

In other words, it wasn’t data provided by Richard Blake.

 

“Isn’t it unreasonable to try to transfer such bonds at face value?”

 

Choi Kang-hyeon smiled.

 

It was the moment his image changed from greenhorn to equal investor.

 

* * *

 

The first negotiation didn’t yield much results.

 

No, there were results.

 

“I thought he was a greenhorn. But he wasn’t.”

 

In the car returning to the office.

 

Rosenthal sincerely acknowledged his opponent, Kang Hyeon.

 

“Look into that guy. Find out where he’s from and what he’s been doing.”

 

“Understood.”

 

“Kang Hyeon Choi, he’s not an easy opponent.”

 

* * *

 

Returning to the hotel, Kang Hyeon organized the day’s negotiation content.

 

“One thing that’s certain is that Whiterock is serious about selling the bonds.”

 

“I felt the same way. They were quite aggressive.”

 

“They didn’t seem to want to take losses.”

 

They reviewed the negotiation while sharing their respective opinions.

 

“But in the end, they’ll have no choice but to take losses. Nereid’s internal data was that much of a mess.”

 

“That’s right. I don’t know how it was being operated.”

 

“Was it that bad?”

 

“While Ha-ryul was having research-related conversations with CEO Nathan, Attorney Choi and I checked the internal data, and it was literally a complete mess.”

 

“If they don’t cut research expenses, it’ll be quite difficult going forward.”

 

Both were so fed up that the company’s internal operations were running in complete chaos.

 

Listening to such conversation, Ha-ryul spoke.

 

“Something’s strange.”

 

“What part?”

 

“When you two were checking documents, I was talking with Nathan, right? But he said he had cut research expenses as much as possible.”

 

“What?”

 

“Especially in the recent year, he said research expenses were kept to the absolute minimum, to the point where it was interfering with research.”

 

Kang Hyeon’s gaze naturally turned to Choi Byeon.

 

“In the data we checked, weren’t research expenses paid normally for the recent year?”

 

“Rather, research expenses were increased compared to last year. This is…”

 

One assumption came to mind for all three people.

 

“There’s a high possibility of embezzlement.”

 

Numbers don’t lie.

 

The books showed research expenses were paid normally, but the field didn’t receive them.

 

“Nathan wasn’t the type to embezzle. He was someone who only had research in his head.”

 

“I agree. That man wasn’t interested in company operations in the first place, so he’s not the type to commit such embezzlement.”

 

Ironically, Nathan’s obsession with research made him seem less likely to be an embezzlement suspect.

 

“CEO, I’ve encountered many cases like this in South Korea.”

 

Choi Byeon carefully brought up the topic.

 

“In most cases where the CEO isn’t very interested in management, those handling the actual work commit embezzlement. In this case, since the research funds going to the CEO are being embezzled to this extent, it’s highly likely that a high-ranking executive is involved.”

 

“A high-ranking executive…?”

 

“Tom Heedle, who handled the actual work in Nathan’s place, is suspicious.”

 

CFO Tom Heedle.

 

He was essentially the person who had taken over the CEO role and had been Nathan’s longtime friend.

 

“But they’re friends. I heard they’ve been best friends since high school, so surely he wouldn’t take the company’s money…”

 

“That’s exactly why. Betrayal is usually committed by those closest to you.”

 

“Hmm…”

 

“We should be able to figure this out by reviewing the actual money flow again.”

 

“Rosenthal’s side doesn’t seem to know about this, right?”

 

“Probably not. If they knew, they would have likely tried to catch the embezzlement and normalize the company.”

 

If they didn’t know about the embezzlement, it would give them an information advantage over Whiterock.

 

“We can target that weakness.”

 

They had found a weak point.

 

* * *

 

In the second negotiation, Rosenthal backed down.

 

“We’ll give you a 10 percent discount. 270 million dollars – this would be an excellent deal at these terms.”

 

A discount on bonds with a face value of 300 million dollars.

 

But it wasn’t enough to satisfy Kang Hyeon.

 

“Since we first met, Nereid’s stock price has fallen even further today. As of today, Nereid’s market cap is 1.5 billion dollars.”

 

“Ahem! Even so, 40 percent would be…!”

 

“It doesn’t matter. In two months when it matures, Nereid might practically enter bankruptcy proceedings, right?”

 

It was true.

 

That’s why Rosenthal was trying to sell the bonds.

 

“So how much do you want? We’ve only been hearing our side’s prices so far, haven’t we?”

 

That was true.

 

Kang Hyeon stated the price he had been thinking of.

 

“50 percent. What I want is 150 million dollars.”

 

Originally, for bad debt, a 30 percent discount was typical.

 

Rosenthal had been thinking of accepting around a 20 percent discount to see at least some profit.

 

But the 50 percent that Kang Hyeon proposed was something he had never considered.

 

“That’s an unreasonable price. It would be better to wait for bankruptcy and then recover the money.”

 

“Do you really think so?”

 

Kang Hyeon looked at Choi Byeon beside him.

 

For the first time, the man who had never spoken during the meetings stepped forward.

 

“Nereid has annual sales of around 500 million dollars on paper, but their net profit is negative 50 million dollars – a structure where the more they earn, the more losses accumulate. The reason for this structure is excessive R&D spending.”

 

“Ahem! That may be true, but if the research succeeds…!”

 

“Currently, Nereid’s cash reserves are around 20 million dollars. After paying next month’s service fees and material costs, it will drop to less than half. Add the interest and other expenses in Q1 next year, and they won’t be able to survive.”

 

They had grasped everything as well.

 

Rosenthal’s face crumpled as he realized the other side had prepared more thoroughly than expected.

 

“Most importantly, the bonds held by Whiterock Credit are third priority – Nereid’s current equipment and core technology are set to be taken by first and second priority bondholders.”

 

“Do you think you can recover 150 million dollars worth of cash from Nereid after all the valuable assets are stripped away?”

 

Kang Hyeon delivered the final blow.

 

We know all the information you have.

 

So give us a proper discount.

 

It was essentially a threat without drawing a knife.

 

Then the employee beside him spoke to Rosenthal in a low voice.

 

“Something’s strange. It doesn’t make sense that they’d want to buy our bonds while knowing the internal situation this well.”

 

It was certainly odd.

 

But Rosenthal didn’t think deeply about it.

 

“Since they’re close to China, they probably plan to sell it to some blind rich person there for a bit more money.”

 

There were many hidden wealthy people in mainland China.

 

The problem was that they had no way to connect with them.

 

In other words, it wouldn’t be strange to understand that KH had someone to sell to at a higher price after buying cheap from them.

 

‘Anyway, for us, whether we discount Nereid by 50 percent or 30 percent isn’t a big problem.’

 

Whether it was 150 million dollars or 210 million dollars.

 

From Whiterock’s perspective, it wasn’t a big issue.

 

Disposing of risky bonds and securing cash was more of a plus in this situation.

 

Rosenthal made his decision.

 

“Full cash payment. And settlement within this week. On those conditions, I’ll accept.”

 

“We can settle immediately right here.”

 

Kang Hyeon looked at Richard Blake.

 

“We can transfer directly from KH Capital’s account to Whiterock.”

 

“Phew! Good.”

 

Rosenthal extended his hand.

 

Yes, these conditions were acceptable.

 

About 60 million dollars.

 

It wasn’t a big problem.

 

But.

 

“You made a wise decision.”

 

Grip!

 

He couldn’t understand why he felt so disgusted the more he looked at the smile of this Asian man grasping his hand.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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