Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 174

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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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174. Let’s not hesitate and draw up the contract before we end up having to buy it at an even higher price.

Two days later.
New York Plaza Hotel Penthouse.
Seok-won sat at an outdoor table on the balcony, sipping a refreshing iced Americano while holding the Wall Street Journal in one hand and reading.

[Secretary Milburn’s Historic Visit to Hanoi
Secretary Milburn, currently on a Southeast Asian tour, made an official visit to Vietnam following Cambodia—the first time in 25 years that an American Secretary of State had done so.
The last such visit had been in the 1970s during the height of the Vietnam War, when Secretary William Rogers visited Saigon, now renamed Ho Chi Minh City.
During this visit, which took place just 25 days after last month’s announcement of full diplomatic normalization between the two nations, the United States and Vietnam will sign formal diplomatic documents and attend the opening ceremony of the American Embassy in Hanoi.
This marks the end of the historical wound America suffered from its withdrawal from the Vietnam War, allowing both nations to advance into a substantive cooperative relationship.
Meanwhile, Secretary Milburn announced that he would discuss with Vietnamese leadership the entry of American enterprises and the granting of Most Favored Nation (MFN) status to Vietnam in trade, thereby strengthening economic cooperation.
With a population exceeding 90 million….]

“Vietnam’s doors have finally opened.”

As Soviet-style communism ended in complete failure and China implemented its reform and opening-up policies, achieving rapid economic growth, Vietnam too began opening its doors to the international community.
It was truly a historic event that two nations which, merely 20 years ago, had waged fierce war against each other for years, were now establishing diplomatic relations.

“Moreover, the Vietnam War was dressed up as a withdrawal, but it was essentially a humiliating defeat. And now America is shaking hands with Vietnam—the world has truly changed.”

With America’s overwhelming military superiority demonstrated through the Gulf War victory and the collapse of the Soviet Union ending the Cold War, America had emerged as the sole superpower. This symbolic event showed that America was now completely erasing the shame of the Vietnam War and recovering its pride.

“While the Chinese market with its 1.4 billion population may seem more attractive now, thinking long-term, investing in Vietnam would be cheaper.”

Vietnam too suffered from all the unreasonable interference and restrictions inherent to communist states.
But compared to China, which welcomed investment with open arms as if willing to do anything, only to change its attitude once it had extracted all the technology and know-how, leaving investors stripped bare, Vietnam was better.

“Seeing all that, Sasung Electronics really is remarkable for systematically closing its Chinese factories and relocating everything to Vietnam before China fully revealed its true colors.”

There had been rumors circulating in the Securities District that the Saseong Group’s Future Strategy Office had superior intelligence capabilities compared to the National Intelligence Service, and it seemed that rumor was indeed true.

“Still, running factories in China for another decade or so wouldn’t be bad. I should tell my brother to squeeze out as much as possible and find the right moment to pull out, just like Sasung Electronics did.”

I couldn’t just stand by and watch the factory I’d worked so hard to build be seized at a pittance.
As I was organizing my thoughts, a familiar voice suddenly reached my ears.

“Good morning, Boss.”

Landon Shore, dressed in a black-striped suit, greeted me as he stepped onto the balcony.

“Welcome.”

I folded the newspaper I’d been holding in half and set it on the table, then asked as I watched Landon naturally take the empty seat across from me.

“Microsoft officially announced their web browser development yesterday. What’s the market sentiment like?”

Landon shrugged and answered.

“Contrary to our concerns, it doesn’t appear to be having any significant impact on Netscape’s stock price.”

At my surprised expression, Landon explained the reason.

“Netscape already has such a dominant market share that the name has become synonymous with web browsers. The consensus seems to be that even Microsoft will have difficulty breaking that stronghold.”
“That makes sense—Netscape controls nearly 90% of the market share.”
“I don’t think the impact will be entirely negligible, but it seems unlikely that Microsoft will be able to defeat Netscape in the web browser market.”

With NASDAQ hitting record highs day after day and showing unstoppable upward momentum, such thinking was perhaps inevitable.
Had I not known the future, I would never have anticipated that Netscape, riding this wave of success, would suffer a crushing defeat in the browser wars within just a few years.

“Netscape appears to have the advantage, but Microsoft is no pushover either. We’ll need to watch and see who emerges as the ultimate victor.”

I took a sip of my iced Americano from the glass and continued.

“The Netscape stock split is scheduled for August 9th, correct?”
“Yes, sir. It’s a 1-for-2 split, so at today’s price, it would break down to approximately $75.50 per share.”

The stock split news had investors who previously couldn’t afford the steep price clamoring to buy in, and the stock continued its upward trajectory with a strong likelihood of exceeding expectations.

“Once the stock price exceeds $100 again after the split, begin selling our Netscape holdings sequentially.”

At this unexpected instruction, Landon Shore’s eyes widened in surprise as he stared at me.

“Are you planning to sell your Netscape shares?”
“Yes.”
“But didn’t you say last time that you’d hold them until the end of the year?”
“I’ve changed my mind.”

Landon Shore paused thoughtfully, then lowered his voice as he asked.

“Is this because of Microsoft?”
“That’s had an influence, yes.”

Seok-won, meeting his gaze, gave a small nod.

“You don’t think Netscape will lose the browser war, do you?”
“Microsoft is a formidable competitor, but Netscape has the advantage of having captured the market first, so it’s difficult to predict the outcome with certainty.”
“Then why…?”
“Regardless of who wins, the mere fact that competition has begun is an uncertainty factor, isn’t it? Besides, the stock price has already risen far beyond expectations, so I’m looking to realize my gains and exit.”

Netscape’s IPO price had been twenty-eight dollars per share, and it had already climbed nearly sixfold.
Considering that I had instructed them to sell after the stock split two-for-one and the price subsequently exceeded one hundred dollars, the return rate exceeded seven hundred percent.

‘When I think about securing a thirty percent stake in Netscape with just six million dollars, the return rate becomes even more substantial.’

Even a rough calculation showed returns well exceeding one hundred times the initial investment.
Landon nodded in understanding, though his expression carried a hint of regret.

“Considering that the upward momentum shows no signs of slowing—if anything, investment fervor is intensifying with the internet boom—you could achieve even greater returns if you held as you mentioned before, through next year.”

But Seok-won shook his head.

“Of course, the stock price could rise further. But as the price climbs higher, doesn’t the risk of a sudden crash also increase proportionally?”

Though obscured by the internet frenzy, Landon was well aware that Netscape was overvalued relative to its actual earnings—so much so that the word “bubble” was being whispered about.
Thus, he couldn’t counter Seok-won’s argument and could only listen attentively.

“Greed always brings trouble. I’ve already made more than enough profit, so it’s the right move to cash out now.”

Seok-won leaned back against the chair cushion as he spoke.

“As a major shareholder holding thirty percent of the shares, now is the opportune moment to sell while investment enthusiasm is high and the stock price is rising.”

Landon Shore nodded in agreement at those words.

“With such a large volume of shares being sold, it would certainly be more advantageous to sell the stock when there are enough buyers to absorb all the selling pressure.”
“Exactly my point.”

Seok-won smiled, lifting the corners of his mouth slightly.

“Understood. I’ll instruct Andrew to proceed with selling your Netscape holdings.”
“Tell him to be careful—dumping everything at once could do more than break the upward momentum; it might trigger a crash. We can wait past year-end, so have him execute the sale in tranches over several months.”
“Don’t worry. Andrew will handle it properly.”

Selling over ten million shares without shocking the market was an extraordinarily delicate operation.
But with senior chief Andrew and numerous specialists in this field positioned throughout the Eldorado Fund, I wasn’t particularly concerned.

‘If they can’t handle this much while pulling in hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in salary and bonuses, they should step down immediately.’

Of course, given Andrew’s meticulous nature, that was unlikely to happen.
Seok-won shifted the conversation and posed another question.

“By the way, how is the Gucci acquisition progressing?”
“Negotiations with the Bahraini investment firm holding management rights are ongoing, but progress has been slow because the other side is asking for an excessively high price.”
“How much higher are they asking for?”
“They’re demanding 800 million dollars.”

Seok-won then spoke, his interlaced fingers resting on his knee.

“You mentioned that Investcorp spent a total of 460 million dollars acquiring Gucci’s stake.”
“That’s correct. The recently held fashion show did receive favorable reviews and sparked a brief rebound, but Gucci was on the brink of bankruptcy just last year. Asking for double the acquisition price seems like pure greed.”

Landon Shore frowned, clearly irritated by the stalled negotiations.
But Seok-won stroked his chin with one hand, thought for a moment, then spoke again.

“Give them what they want and acquire Gucci.”

Landon Shore blinked in surprise, having expected me to negotiate for a lower price instead.
He even asked again, wondering if he’d misheard.

“Are you saying to finalize the contract at 800 million dollars?”
“That’s right.”

Seok-won nodded without the slightest hesitation.

“It’s 800 million dollars now, but as time passes, the asking price will only climb higher. So before we find ourselves in a situation where we’re forced to pay more than we would today, let’s finalize the contract and be done with it.”

Landon Shore opened his mouth in disbelief and asked.

“You believe Gucci will reclaim its brand prestige?”
“Of course. If I weren’t certain of Gucci’s revival, why would I spend 800 million dollars to acquire it in the first place?”

At his matter-of-fact tone, Landon found himself beginning to accept it before catching himself.
With the founder’s family engaging in scandalous behavior and a barrage of criticism calling the brand tedious, it seemed questionable whether Gucci could ever resurrect itself, no matter how much he pondered it.
But this was Seok-won speaking—a man with such exceptional vision that he had never failed a single investment.
Landon retraced his thoughts to see if he had overlooked something, but nothing came to mind.

‘The newly appointed Creative Director designer is receiving decent responses, but he’s far too young and lacks proper formal fashion design education, so skepticism abounds. What exactly does he see?’

No matter how hard he racked his brain, nothing clicked into place, yet one thing was certain: Seok-won was firmly committed to acquiring Gucci.

“Understood. I’ll proceed with the contract at 800 million dollars as you’ve instructed.”
“And to revive the Gucci brand, Jacob Thompson, the Creative Director, and Alexander Bindman, the CEO, are absolutely critical. You must ensure they remain in their positions and never leave the company.”
“Yes, I’ll see to it.”
“Good.”

Seok-won smiled faintly as he thought of Gucci soon coming into his possession, then took a long sip of his cold Americano.

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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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