Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 115

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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115. Even at twenty-eight dollars, it feels like I’m practically giving away the stock.

While everyone else stared at Seok-won with wide eyes, only Landon Shore, who had discussed this beforehand, sat with composed indifference.
Deman struggled to mask his bewilderment as he repeated the question, as if verifying he’d heard correctly.

“Did you just say twenty-four dollars per share?”

Seok-won calmly picked up his teacup, took a sip, and set it down before answering.

“That’s correct.”
“But….”

Deman let out a hollow laugh, as if utterly flabbergasted, and asked again.

“You’re doubling the offering price—not by one or two dollars, but doubling it entirely? Do you honestly think that makes sense?”
“There’s no reason it shouldn’t work.”

Seok-won sat with interlaced fingers resting on his knees, his expression grave and utterly devoid of humor. Deman realized this was no jest—he was deadly serious—and his astonishment only deepened.
Then Russell, who had been observing the negotiation from a step back until now, interjected in a measured tone.

“I understand the initial offering price wasn’t satisfactory, but even so, the figure you’ve just mentioned seems rather excessive to me.”

Tom Harper and Bill Nelson both privately thought Seok-won had overreached, but they betrayed nothing, their eyes merely darting about nervously.
As the two men watched the situation unfold with tense anticipation, Russell maintained his gaze fixed on Seok-won.
His eyes carried the commanding presence befitting a senior executive of a major Wall Street investment bank, yet Seok-won remained entirely unintimidated, meeting his stare with bold confidence.

“I entrusted this to you precisely because you’re considered among the finest in IPO work, but it seems my expectations were simply too high.”

As Seok-won laid bare his disappointment, the faces of Deman and Barnes across from him hardened like stone.
Russell, meanwhile, merely narrowed his brow as if probing the depths of Seok-won’s intentions, studying him intently.

“If you don’t understand why the offering price we proposed was so low, allow me to enlighten you.”

Seok-won spoke with deliberate provocation, his tone deliberately needling, and Russell responded with arms crossed, his voice firm.

“I would appreciate that.”

Walking on thin ice, Tom Harper grew increasingly anxious beneath the surface.

‘What on earth is he thinking?’

He worried the IPO might unravel before it even began, but Seok-won showed no concern whatsoever, calmly opening his mouth to speak.

“First, there’s Netscape’s technological superiority.”

Seok-won raised one hand, gesturing toward Tom Harper seated beside him.

“As you know, since Goldman Sachs uses it themselves, the web browser Tom created here boasts speed, stability, and features that are incomparable to competitors’ products.”

Caught off guard by the unexpected praise, Tom Harper felt embarrassed yet couldn’t hide the upward curve of his lips.

“The fact that it achieved over 2 million downloads in less than three months since launch is sufficient proof of its technical excellence.”

Deman immediately countered.

“We’re well aware that Netscape’s web browser is excellent. That’s precisely why we’re proceeding with this IPO together.”

In truth, the mere fact that Goldman Sachs—one of Wall Street’s top five investment banks—had taken on the role of IPO underwriter was tantamount to acknowledging that Netscape was no ordinary IT company but one with tremendous growth potential.

‘If it were an unremarkable company, Goldman Sachs wouldn’t have given it a second glance, let alone considered an IPO in the first place.’

Dismissing the fleeting thought, Seok-won listened to Deman’s words.

“However, what investors in the market care about are numbers. No matter how much growth potential a company has, if it’s operating at a loss, we cannot assign it a high valuation.”
“Your argument seems contradictory.”
“What do you mean by that?”

Thinking I was merely nitpicking, Deman’s expression hardened slightly.

“If I recall correctly, you just said that NASDAQ is the place where startups with losses can still command high valuations if they show growth potential.”

Momentarily flustered, but a veteran who had survived Wall Street’s jungle this long, Deman quickly regained his composure.

“It’s precisely because it’s NASDAQ that we can set the offering price as high as $14 per share.”

Faced with a formidable response, Seok-won’s eyes narrowed slightly.

‘As expected, this won’t be easy.’

But I had anticipated this much.
If he had accepted my argument so readily, I would have been disappointed instead.

“You can’t evaluate traditional industries and IT companies using the same metrics. Especially with a rapidly growing internet company like Netscape—it requires an entirely different perspective even among IT firms.”

The Goldman Sachs representatives wore expressions of skepticism, but Seok-won pressed on undeterred.

“Moreover, Netscape serves as a guide—a company that opens the door for people to access the boundless possibilities of the internet.”
“….”
“And if you look at market share, you’ll see that Netscape is rapidly displacing Mosaic and dominating the market.”

Seok-won shrugged his shoulders with a confident expression.

“While competitors exist, they’re still far behind in catching up to Netscape—I’m certain of that. And while they’re chasing us, we won’t just sit idle either. The gap will only widen.”

Tom Harper added to Seok-won’s remarks with a proud expression.

“An upgraded version is already in development and will be released by year’s end.”
“Hmm.”
“Still, that alone….”

Seok-won cut off his counterpart mid-sentence with a light gesture.

“Netscape is the company that, backed by such superior technology, is dominating the explosively growing internet market. This means there’s an extremely high possibility it will become the monopoly that investors love most.”

Seok-won deliberately paused, then slowly swept his gaze across the faces of the Goldman Sachs representatives seated across from him.

“Even so, do you still think the offering price is too high?”

Then Russell, seated in the center, exchanged a few quiet words with Deman, their hands covering their mouths.
Seok-won, sitting with his arms crossed, observed their exchange with a relaxed demeanor.
After waiting a moment, their conversation seemed to conclude as Russell cleared his throat softly and spoke.

“As you say, we also acknowledge that Netscape has significant growth potential. However, it’s an undeniable fact that the company has a short operating history and is currently operating at a loss.”

Landon Shore was about to counter, but when Seok-won raised one arm as if to say he wanted to hear them out first, he closed his mouth again.
Seeing this, Russell presented a new compromise proposal.

“It appears we overlooked certain factors in our valuation process. Let’s raise the IPO price to $17 per share.”
“At $17, that would value the company at over $700 million.”

Deman added this as though he were bestowing some grand favor.
Tom Harper swallowed hard at the staggering figure, and Bill Nelson couldn’t hide his trembling expression either.
But Seok-won didn’t budge an inch, shaking his head firmly.

“$28 per share. I cannot accept anything lower.”

Russell furrowed his brow at this resolute stance and spoke in a hardened tone.

“In that case, the IPO itself could fall through.”

The pressure was unmistakable, but Seok-won didn’t flinch.

‘Others might crumble under this, but not me.’

I knew this IPO would become a massive success and ignite the dot-com bubble—there was no reason to be intimidated.

“What Goldman Sachs is truly concerned about is investors finding the price too steep and failing to subscribe, resulting in undersubscription, isn’t it?”

Russell nodded at being addressed directly.

“You understand the situation well.”

A higher IPO price meant higher underwriting fees for Goldman Sachs as the lead underwriter—a clear advantage.
However, if they set the price too aggressively and the offering underperformed, they would face the risk of having to absorb a portion of the unsold shares themselves.
This was why they sought to establish the IPO price at a level that minimized risk.
Understanding my counterpart’s position perfectly, I presented a proposal they couldn’t refuse.

“What if we do this instead?”
“…?”
“We set the IPO price at $28 per share, and if there’s any undersubscription, we’ll absorb the entire shortfall ourselves.”

Russell and the other Goldman Sachs executives were visibly taken aback by this unexpected proposal.

“You’re saying you’ll take all the undersubscribed shares?”

As Russell sought confirmation, Seok-won gave a small nod.

“To be precise, it’s the Eldorado Fund that I operate.”

Seok-won leaned back against his chair with a confident expression, tilting his chin upward.

“Then Goldman Sachs bears no risk whatsoever, does it?”
“Well, that’s true, but….”

If Seok-won truly absorbed the shortfall in shares on Goldman Sachs’ behalf, then even raising the offering price would pose no burden to them.
Russell, who hadn’t anticipated such a proposal, studied him intently for a moment before asking in a serious tone.

“Are you so confident the IPO will succeed that you’re willing to shoulder such risk?”
“If I had no conviction, I wouldn’t have made the bet in the first place.”

Seok-won answered without averting his gaze, meeting his eyes directly.
Whether it stemmed from youthful arrogance or genuine confidence remained unclear, but I couldn’t deny the audacity with which he played his hand—there was something remarkable about it.

‘Indeed… it wasn’t merely luck. There had to be a reason behind such extraordinary achievements at such a young age.’

Then Seok-won spoke to Russell.

“Since we’re bearing the risk on our end, Goldman Sachs should make a concession as well—it’s only fair that both sides give a little.”
“What do you want?”

Russell asked with keen interest.

“Cut the 6% IPO fee in half—just take 3% instead.”

In exchange for participating in the IPO and handling the related work, the underwriter received a percentage of the newly listed company’s stock value as a fee.
Goldman Sachs had agreed to receive 6% for underwriting the Netscape IPO, and Seok-won was proposing to reduce it to 3%.

“No, that’s….”

Maintaining eye contact with Russell, Seok-won cut off Deman’s objection and continued.

“If we raise the offering price to $28, even with a lower fee rate, the absolute amount Goldman Sachs receives won’t change, so it’s hardly an unreasonable request.”

Russell, arms crossed and chin resting thoughtfully on one hand, deliberated for a moment before delivering his response.

“Reducing the fee is quite unprecedented, but since the Eldorado Fund is taking responsibility for the shortfall, we should make a concession too. Very well. Let’s proceed that way.”

Getting the answer he wanted, Seok-won finally allowed a faint smile to grace his lips.

“A wise decision.”

Russell also relaxed his expression as he spoke.

“However, even if we’ve reached an agreement, we cannot yet be certain whether NASDAQ will accept the offering price we desire.”
“Goldman Sachs carries considerable weight—enough to persuade the exchange. And isn’t that precisely why you command such substantial fees for handling these matters?”

The subtle jab at his pride drew a hearty laugh from Russell.

“Haha! Well, when you put it that way, I suppose I must secure the offering price you want—for the sake of our reputation.”
“Of course. I’m confident you’ll deliver excellent results.”

The conversation continued at length regarding how to proceed with the IPO.
As we had arrived, Barnes saw us off, and our party departed Goldman Sachs Headquarters in the waiting limousine.
Inside the slowly moving car, Tom Harper hesitated briefly before turning to Seok-won with a worried expression.

“Aren’t you pushing too hard?”

Seok-won, buried in the plush leather seat, turned his head and replied.

“You mean raising the offering price?”
“That too, but I’m talking about agreeing to take all the unsubscribed shares.”

Bill Nelson, seated across from Landon Shore, also bore a concerned expression, as this fact continued to weigh on his mind.
Yet Seok-won merely smiled, responding as if to reassure them.

“There won’t be any unsubscribed shares, so don’t worry. And even if there were leftover stock, I have more than enough capital to absorb it, so don’t be concerned.”
“Really?”
“Yes. In fact, I think twenty-eight dollars is far too low a price to offer the stock. It’s almost a shame.”

Hearing this, Tom Harper stared at Seok-won with an expression of utter astonishment.
But soon he interpreted it as a testament to his faith in the web browser he and Netscape had developed, and was deeply moved.

“Alright then. Since you believe in us that much, I’ll make sure our web browser becomes the best—something no one else can match. Just wait and see!”

Watching him burn with such fervor, Seok-won thought to himself.

‘Why is he like this again?’

In any case, there was no harm in working hard, so Seok-won nodded and bolstered his resolve.

“That’s right. You can do this.”

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