Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 205

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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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205. What exactly did Park Seok-won see?

Park Tae-hong couldn’t hide his momentary bewilderment at the unexpected statement.
He quickly composed himself and asked for clarification.

“Did you just say you’d buy Daheung Venture Capital?”

Meeting Park Tae-hong’s gaze directly, I answered calmly.

“Yes.”
“Heh.”

Park Tae-hong let out a hollow laugh, and knowing his younger son had a calculating mind, he straightened his posture and asked.

“Why the sudden interest in venture capital?”
“You told me not to be fixated on securities companies and to pursue what I truly want to do.”
“That’s true.”
“I think there are many opportunities to make money not just abroad but domestically as well, so I’m planning to use Daheung Venture Capital as an investment vehicle.”
“Hmm…”

Park Tae-hong stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment.

“True enough. Even though the Eldorado Fund is yours, others see it as a foreign company. Using Daheung Venture Capital, a domestic company, would certainly make business operations more convenient in many ways.”
“Yes, exactly. Those seeking investment would feel less resistance too.”

It was certainly a reasonable argument.
Besides, Daheung Venture Capital was one of the few financial subsidiaries in the Daeheung Group, and he had already planned to give it to his second son along with Daeheung Securities, so the decision wasn’t difficult.

“Fine. I’ll have it transferred to you.”
“Thank you.”
“However, given that the slush fund scandal is still unfolding, transferring shares could cause unnecessary commotion. Why don’t you take over operations first, and we’ll settle the equity structure gradually as the situation stabilizes.”

Then Seok-won suddenly said something unexpected.

“If I purchase the shares instead of receiving them as a gift, there shouldn’t be any problem, right?”
“You’re saying you’d buy the shares?”

Park Tae-hong blinked and asked in return.

“Yes. Even if I receive the shares Father holds and combine them with my own stock, it only amounts to 30%.”

Park Tae-hong had long since decided to separate the financial subsidiaries from the group and give them to his second son, so he had already gifted half of the Daheung Venture Capital shares he held before the market listing.
Thanks to this, Seok-won, who held 15% of Daheung Venture Capital shares, was listed as the third-largest shareholder after Midopa Department Store, the largest shareholder, and Park Tae-hong.

“Midopa Department Store’s shares are friendly holdings, so there’s no problem exercising management rights with just that, is there?”
“Of course, but for the investments I plan to make in the future, I want Daheung Venture Capital to become a private company that moves entirely according to my will.”
“…!”
“So I plan to acquire not only the shares held by Midopa Department Store but also the stakes of individual shareholders, and ultimately delist the company from the market.”
“You’re saying you’ll delist it from the market?”

Park Tae-hong leaned forward in surprise.

“Yes.”

As I answered in a calm tone, Park Tae-hong seemed at a loss for words, his expression showing incomprehension.

“We’ve only recently listed it on the market, and now you’re talking about voluntary delisting. Is there really a need for that?”
“There are times when bold investments that might seem reckless become necessary, and in the current structure, that’s not easy to execute.”
“Hmm. I suppose that’s true.”

No matter how strong an owner’s authority was, one couldn’t ignore the scrutiny of shareholders.

“But even if the market is poor and stock prices have fallen significantly, acquiring all the shares would require substantial capital, and you could… handle that.”

Park Tae-hong, who had worn a worried expression, recalled just how much wealth his second son possessed and smiled sheepishly.
Indeed, with Seok-won’s financial resources, he could acquire Daheung Venture Capital entirely without it even making a dent.
Watching his second son, who had earned such wealth independently without assistance, filled Park Tae-hong with pride and admiration, yet as a parent, he felt a slight pang knowing there was little he could offer in return.

“If you had the inability, that would be one thing, but since you clearly can, there’s no reason to stop you. If that’s what you prefer, proceed as you see fit.”
“Thank you.”
“However, there is one condition.”
“…?”

Park Tae-hong leaned back and regarded his second son.

“I’ll gift you the 15% stake I hold. You should know that.”
“I could purchase it myself, so there’s no need for you to do this….”
“Then I’d lose face. What kind of father takes money from his son?”

Park Tae-hong cut him off sharply, as if refusing to hear such nonsense.
For Seok-won, the amount was negligible, so there was no real need to accept it as a gift and pay taxes on it.
But considering his father Park Tae-hong’s dignity and prestige, he decided to accept gracefully.

“Very well.”

Park Tae-hong nodded with a satisfied expression.

“I’ll inform the company, so work out the specific details with Manager Gil.”
“Yes.”

Seok-won answered briefly and prepared to stand.

“Then I’ll take my leave. Please rest.”

As Seok-won left, Park Tae-hong remained alone on the sofa, gazing at the closed door and murmuring to himself.

“Daheung Venture Capital… I’m not sure what he plans to do with it, but if it’s my second son, he’ll manage it well.”

Though Daheung Venture Capital had recently reduced its losses significantly, it was still generating almost no profit. Park Tae-hong was already curious to see how Seok-won would transform it.

* * *

New York Wall Street.
Rodney, the CIO of Quantum Fund, sat surrounded by four computer monitors, observing market conditions.
Among graphs and numbers that continuously and chaotically rose and fell, he detected an unusual movement and let out a low hum.

“Hmm.”

Rodney, who had shaved cleanly that morning, stroked his chin with one hand while studying the monitors intently. He then picked up the intercom receiver on his desk.

“Contact Ian and tell him to come to my office right now.”
[Yes, understood.]

Hearing his Female Secretary’s reply, Rodney set down the receiver and carefully examined the stock price charts for GE, Coca-Cola, P&G, and others displayed on the monitors once more.

“Something smells off about this.”

As if on cue, the top ten stocks in the S&P 500 were plummeting in unison, and for good reason.
Concerns about the second federal government shutdown of the year were mounting, but the other stocks showed no signs of being affected by it.
In fact, Cisco was surging today, demonstrating just how fervent the internet boom remained.
Meanwhile, Microsoft—another internet beneficiary that ranked in the top ten of the S&P 500—had remained flat throughout the morning before turning downward just moments ago.
Rodney stared intently at the monitor, tapping his fingernails rhythmically against the desk.

“This pattern couldn’t possibly emerge unless someone is dumping massive quantities of the top ten S&P 500 stocks.”

At that moment, a knock sounded before Ian, the Chief Manager of the Quantum Fund, opened the door and entered.

“You called for me?”
“Sorry to pull you away during trading hours—I know you’re busy.”
“Not at all.”

Ian answered lightly as he approached the desk.

“What did you need?”
“Something seems to be happening with GE and the other top ten S&P 500 stocks. Are you aware of it?”

Ian’s expression hardened slightly.

“I was planning to report after confirming a few more details, but you’ve already noticed.”

True to form, Ian—a seasoned trader hardened by the jungle that was Wall Street—had also detected the anomalous movements.

“It appears someone is executing a short sell.”

Sharing the same conclusion, Rodney nodded slightly and leaned back in his chair.
He then fixed his gaze on Ian standing before him and spoke.

“These aren’t small companies—they’re massive corporations listed at the very front of the S&P 500, and someone is shorting ten of them simultaneously. That would require astronomical capital. Who in their right mind would attempt something so insane?”

Short-selling all ten of the top S&P 500 stocks was essentially equivalent to taking a short position against the entire American stock market.
The sheer absurdity of this fact caused Rodney to utter a harsh expletive.

“I was curious, so I made some calls around to find out. It’s not certain yet, but it seems the Eldorado Fund is placing sell orders.”
“Did you just say the Eldorado Fund?”
“Yes.”

At the mention of the Eldorado Fund—the most talked-about investment fund on Wall Street alongside LTCM and one I personally follow closely—Rodney’s brow furrowed.

“Huh. Of all funds, it had to be the Eldorado Fund.”

Rodney exhaled sharply, crossed his arms, and nodded as if something finally made sense.

“To execute short selling on this scale, you’d need well over ten billion dollars in capital. To mobilize that kind of money, only a fund like the Eldorado Fund could pull it off.”
“It’s the most likely candidate, but nothing’s confirmed yet.”
“No. To pull off something this insane, you’d need the guts of someone like Park Seok-won. I’m certain the Eldorado Fund is behind the short selling.”

Rodney spoke with absolute conviction.
Ian didn’t bother to argue, as he too privately considered the Eldorado Fund the most likely culprit.

“If Park Seok-won is behind this, it’s not reckless gambling. They must believe the market will crash significantly soon and are betting on it.”
“They can only profit if the market collapses, so that makes sense.”
“The market’s been climbing steadily on the internet boom. The only bad news significant enough to trigger a crash would be a federal government shutdown. Are they really shorting based on that?”

Ian frowned and countered.

“As you said, that’s the only bad news worth mentioning. But during the last shutdown, stock prices didn’t fall—they actually kept rising.”

Hearing this, Rodney’s expression darkened slightly.

“That’s right. It brings back painful memories of when we shorted and took losses.”
“Not just us—countless funds on Wall Street misjudged the direction and suffered massive losses.”

Ian spoke with a bitter taste in his mouth.
The more he thought about it, the harder it was to fathom the Eldorado Fund’s intentions, so Rodney tilted his head with a puzzled expression.

“They should know better than to make such a bet. It’s really strange.”
“Even monkeys fall from trees sometimes, don’t they? Maybe the Eldorado Fund is making a miscalculation this time.”

Certainly, looking back at the previous shutdown situation, it did seem the Eldorado Fund was making a reckless move.
Yet Rodney, unable to shake an uneasy feeling, spoke with his arms crossed, as if questioning whether that was really the case.

“This Park Seok-won fellow has achieved remarkable results up until now, and not long ago he demonstrated considerable skill by selling foreign exchange hedging options to Japanese companies and raking in substantial profits. I find it difficult to believe that such a man would engage in such reckless behavior as betting money on a long shot merely out of greed.”
“Are you suggesting that he must have seen something we’re unaware of, sir?”
“Perhaps.”

Rodney lifted his head with a grave expression.
Then he turned his gaze toward Ian standing before him and continued.

“Let’s place a short bet of 100 million dollars ourselves.”

Ian’s eyes widened in surprise at this.

“Are you intending to follow the Eldorado Fund’s lead, sir?”
“Yes.”

Rodney nodded his head.

“I have a feeling that Park Seok-won will pull off this gamble successfully as well. However, since it’s clearly a long shot by any measure, I want to place a bet within limits that won’t cause us significant damage if we lose.”
“I see… understood.”

Ian shook his head reluctantly.

“I’d like to dissuade you, but since you’re the investment director, Rodney, I’ll proceed as instructed.”
“While we’re short selling, carefully examine whether there’s any negative information we might have overlooked.”
“Yes.”

Ian acknowledged and turned to leave the room.
Rodney returned his attention to the monitor, gazing at the stock price chart that showed the short selling taking effect with increasingly larger downward movements, lost in deep contemplation.

“What exactly did that Park Seok-won fellow see?”

No matter how hard I pondered, I couldn’t find the answer.

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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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