Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 152

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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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152. I’ve definitely won this bet, haven’t I?

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As the four of them continued their conversation in that warm atmosphere, Landon Shore checked the time on the Rolex watch adorning his wrist and spoke.

“The listing should happen in about ten minutes. Shall we head outside?”
“It’s already come to that.”

Seok-won looked at Tom and Bill, who sat beside him.

“We can’t miss a moment like this—the opportunity of a lifetime. Let’s go take a look.”
“Y-yes.”

Tom, his face tense once more, nodded and rose to his feet, following Seok-won’s lead.
The four of them left the Executive Office and made their way directly to the expansive Trading Center.
Beyond the massive floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the brilliant blue East River, the Trading Center bustled with activity as traders worked diligently at their stations, multiple monitors glowing before each one.
What had initially seemed spacious now felt cramped as the staff had grown steadily, the headcount swelling well beyond forty.

‘As the Investment Fund grows and we hire more people, this space will become even tighter. I should order an expansion before that becomes a real problem.’

Seok-won turned his gaze toward the massive ticker board directly ahead.
The enormous board, which covered an entire wall, displayed countless stock codes including the Dow and NASDAQ composite indices, with numbers flowing ceaselessly like a living organism, shifting rapidly before our eyes.
Seok-won spoke, observing Tom standing rigidly beside him.

“Once the stock listing goes through in just a moment, a four-digit trading code approved by the NASDAQ Committee will appear on that ticker board.”
“Phew.”

Tom exhaled a long breath, his tension evident, then clenched and unclenched his fists as he spoke.

“I’m incredibly nervous about this.”

Bill, standing beside him, wore the same expression of mingled anxiety and anticipation as he gazed at the massive ticker board.
Though the public offering had closed amid fierce competition, if the stock price plummeted immediately upon listing, it would amount to only half a success—understandably so.
But Seok-won, who already knew the outcome, turned his head toward Landon Shore with a relaxed demeanor.

“You’ve prepared the hundred dollars, haven’t you?”
“I brought crisp new bills, so rest assured.”

Tom tilted his head at the seemingly random remark, about to ask what Landon meant, but fell silent as Landon continued speaking.

“One minute remaining.”

As the scheduled moment approached, the traders set down their handsets and ceased their frantic keyboard tapping, lifting their gazes toward the massive ticker board.
It was a testament to how much the Netscape IPO had captured the market’s anticipation and attention.
In the hushed silence of collective anticipation, precisely at 1:00 PM, Netscape stock listed on the exchange, and the ticker code NSCP materialized on the massive board.

“It’s live!”

Though I already knew the outcome, the moment the listing actually occurred, even I—who had remained composed until now—swallowed hard.
A few minutes passed, and puzzlement gradually etched itself across the faces of those watching the ticker board.
Despite the ticker code being generated, the stock price inexplicably remained frozen, refusing to move.

[NSCP 28 – 0.00]

Seeing this, I furrowed my brow, and Tom beside me began shifting his feet anxiously.

“Why is it doing this?”
“Indeed. What on earth could be the reason….”

Bill, the executive vice president, stared at him with a rigid expression.
The stock had listed—it should have moved either up or down—yet it remained frozen. This was my first experience with such an occurrence.
Though inwardly unsettled, I remained composed and calmly directed my attention to Landon.

“Contact the NASDAQ Committee and find out what’s happening.”
“Understood.”

Landon, equally bewildered, immediately moved to a nearby desk to make the call.
At that moment, Andrew, the senior investment chief stationed with the traders at the front, suddenly raised his voice.

“What? Is that really true?”

Then, his rigid expression softened, and relief washed over his face.

“Yes, I understand.”

Andrew set down the handset and hurried over to me, speaking urgently.

“Boss. The NASDAQ Committee just called—there’s been a system malfunction, and Netscape stock trading has been temporarily halted.”
“How on earth are they managing things that such an incident could occur!”

Seok-won’s brow furrowed as he vented his frustration.
It was only natural to be irritated—a system failure had struck right at the moment trading commenced on this crucial first day of listing.
Yet strangely, despite the gravity of the situation, Andrew’s face bore a subtle, knowing smile.

“Apparently, the system failure occurred because an excessive surge of traffic flooded in all at once.”
“Hmm?”
“What do you mean….”

While the three others blinked, struggling to grasp the implication, Seok-won’s eyes lit up immediately.

“You’re saying the system crashed because there were far too many buy orders coming in?”
“Precisely. They’re rapidly expanding the lines to handle it, so trading should resume normally very soon.”

Andrew nodded, his voice trembling with barely contained excitement.
Tom, listening from beside him, turned to survey the room with a bewildered expression.

“What does all this mean? So the server crashed because people were swarming to buy our company’s stock?”
“Exactly.”

I grinned, flashing my teeth.
Tom’s dazed expression crumbled, and he let out an involuntary laugh.

“Ha… haha.”

Bill, the executive vice president standing beside us, clenched his fists as his face flushed crimson with exhilaration.

“It seems the appetite for Netscape stock among investors is far greater than I anticipated.”

The moment I finished speaking, one of the traders shouted loudly.

“The stock price is moving!”

Everyone turned their heads toward the massive ticker board mounted on the wall ahead.
And there it was—the Netscape stock price, which had remained frozen moments before, now rocketing skyward like a missile.

[NSCP 41.35 ▲ + 13.35]
.
.
[NSCP 72.15
+ 44.15]

“More than doubling in one shot—this is absolutely insane!”
“Buy orders are still pouring in like crazy.”
“Insane… this doesn’t make sense.”
“No wonder the NASDAQ servers are crashing.”
“At this rate, it’ll easily break eighty dollars.”

The traders couldn’t hide their excitement as the stock price climbed madly.
While many stocks had hit the jackpot after listing on the market, none had ever doubled immediately upon trading like Netscape, so their fervor was understandable.
What made the result even more shocking was that the company had zero earnings and was actually bleeding hundreds of millions of dollars monthly, yet the initial offering price of twenty-eight dollars per share had seemed exorbitant—and now this.
What was truly astounding was that it had surpassed seventy dollars in a single leap, and the upward momentum showed no signs of slowing as buy orders flooded in relentlessly.
Within less than ten minutes of trading opening, Netscape’s stock price had broken through eighty dollars.

[NSCP 84.73
+ 56.73]

In the blink of an eye, Netscape’s market capitalization had tripled, surpassing 4.8 billion dollars.
Tom Harper stared at the massive ticker board in stunned silence, his own net worth inflating in real time—now well over 1.5 billion dollars.
Seok-won, holding a thirty percent stake in Netscape, was experiencing an equally dramatic expansion of his wealth.
With both hands in his pants pockets, Seok-won gave Tom a light shoulder bump as if to say, “Look at this.”

“How does it feel to be a billionaire?”
“This isn’t all a dream, is it?”

Tom couldn’t regain his composure as the numbers climbed higher with each blink of his eyes.

“Why? If you don’t believe it, I could slap you across the face.”
“Would you do that?”

As Tom eagerly offered one cheek, Seok-won laughed and said he was only joking.

“Ha. It’s all real, so enjoy this moment.”
“I’m truly grateful. Without your help, I never would have made it this far.”

Watching Tom with tears glistening in his eyes, Seok-won smiled faintly.

“I’m the one who should be grateful. Thanks to you, I’ve made a fortune myself.”

At those words, Tom broke into a wide grin, as if suddenly realizing he had become a multimillionaire overnight.

“Is that so? Anyway, today is the best day of my life.”
“We’re only just beginning. It’s far too early to be satisfied with this.”
“What?”

Tom’s eyes widened as he asked.

“You’re saying the stock price will rise even more from here?”

Bill and Landon Shore, who had been listening to the two men’s conversation, also looked at him with expressions of disbelief.
Then, with unwavering confidence, Seok-won spoke with certainty.

“Of course. These are stocks everyone wanted to own anyway, and now that they’ve seen prices double and triple right before their eyes, they’ll be desperate to buy more.”
“But even so, the price has already risen this much. Would anyone really pay a premium to buy stocks now?”
“They’ve seen how much it’s risen, so they want to buy before it goes up even further.”
“Does that even make sense?”

Seok-won spoke to Tom as if to say, just wait and see.

“Don’t underestimate human greed. Stocks are fundamentally nourished by hope and desire.”

As he spoke, Seok-won murmured to himself.

‘And when greed reaches the point of madness, that’s when bubbles form.’

Unaware of such thoughts, Tom muttered with a half-dazed expression.

“The stock price will rise even more from here…”
“You’ll know soon enough whether my words are true or not.”

Since everything Seok-won had said so far had never been wrong, the three men turned their heads with lingering doubt and gazed at the stock prices that continued to climb.
The momentum that seemed ready to pierce the heavens showed no sign of faltering, and if anything, it grew more intense with each passing moment.
As everyone fell silent, Seok-won suddenly spoke as if remembering something.

“At this point, I’ve definitely won the bet, haven’t I?”
“Yes.”

Landon Shore answered without hesitation, his expression devoid of regret.
The company’s market capitalization had already exceeded one billion dollars during the pre-IPO phase, and the stock price had tripled the moment it went public—there was no way to deny losing the wager.
Landon Shore withdrew a crisp new hundred-dollar bill from his wallet and handed it to Seok-won.

“Here you go.”
“I’ll put it to good use.”

Seok-won, flashing a satisfied smile, pocketed the winnings in his trousers.
Then he gave Tom and Bill a light tap on the back as they remained glued to the massive ticker display, and threw them a subtle wink.

“The market’s still open, but there’s no need to watch any longer. Let’s head to my office. I’ve prepared a 1985 Romanée-Conti for today.”

Landon Shore, a wine connoisseur, was already savoring the prospect.

“We can’t let a day like this pass without raising a toast.”
“Absolutely.”

Even Bill, known for his exacting temperament, wore a relaxed, exhilarated expression today.

“I need a drink today too.”

Tom nodded, unable to conceal his elation, and Seok-won led the way forward.

“Then let’s go.”

Though there was a brief moment of hesitation mid-session, Netscape’s stock price closed at $89.31 per share on its first day of trading.
It was a new record for the largest first-day gain in NASDAQ history.
Naturally, after the market closed, all media outlets including Bloomberg reported the news prominently.
As Netscape, already garnering attention as the most promising company in the internet era, struck this incredible jackpot, investors grew even more fervent, and interest exploded.
The fervor continued into the next day, and within just two days of trading, the stock price easily surpassed $100 per share.
It was nothing short of a manic surge, yet investors showed no fear of a crash—instead, buying pressure intensified with each passing moment.
The opening salvo of the dot-com bubble, which would plunge the United States and the entire world into a frenzy in the late 1990s, had been fired.

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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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