Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 36

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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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36. I can’t exactly call this a home run.

As the tedious winter gave way to the warmth of spring, Harvard University’s campus came alive once more with returning students as the semester began, brimming with vitality and energy.
With temperatures rising, I shed my heavy coat for a light windbreaker, dismounted from my bicycle, and leaned it against one side of the Dormitory.
After securing the front wheel with a sturdy lock to prevent theft, I shouldered my backpack and entered the Dormitory building.

“Hey, Park!”

At the sound of someone calling, I turned to see the Dormitory Manager gesturing toward me as I crossed the common area.

“Did you call for me?”

The Manager approached and handed me a note folded in half.

“You had a phone call earlier.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”

The Manager offered a brief smile and returned to his work.
I unfolded the note right there on the spot.

[XXX-XXX-XXXX Amar Cuff]

At the name written alongside the phone number, my eyes widened with interest.

“So he confirmed the donation.”

There was only one reason he would leave a message and seek me out like this.
I folded the note again, slipped it into my pocket, and headed upstairs to my room.
The door was locked—Roy hadn’t returned yet—so I pushed it open to find the room empty.
Thinking this worked out perfectly, I removed my backpack and set it on the desk, then rolled up my sleeves to check the watch on my wrist.
I pulled out my phone from my backpack and dialed the number written on the note.
As I listened to the dial tone, I sat on the edge of the bed, and a young woman answered almost immediately.

[Yes. This is Banhill & Gafield Law Firm.]
“Could you put Amar Cuff on the line?”
[May I ask who’s calling?]
“Park Seok-won. He’ll know the name.”
[Of course. Please hold for a moment.]

After waiting for what felt like an eternity, Amar Cuff’s voice crackled through the receiver pressed against my ear.

[Seok-won, sorry to keep you waiting.]
“Not at all.”

His voice carried an unmistakable vibrancy and warmth that seemed to radiate through the telephone line.
I responded with a gentle smile in my voice, then asked my question.

“You left a message at the Dormitory, so I’m calling you back.”
[I considered calling the number you gave me last time, but it occurred to me you might be in class. So I contacted the Dormitory and left a message instead.]
“I see. I actually just got a pager recently. If something like this comes up again, could you leave the number there?”
[Ah, perfect! Be sure to give me that number.]

Cuff’s voice brightened with evident satisfaction.
As a student, I had to keep my phone off during classes, which meant I often missed calls.
That’s why I’d purchased a separate pager—the wireless messaging device everyone called a “beeper”—to stay reachable.

‘I never thought I’d end up using one of these again.’

The pager was slightly larger than a business card, equipped with a single-line LCD screen that could display roughly twenty characters of text.
When you received a message, you’d call back the person who sent it using a nearby payphone or mobile phone.
In this era, before smartphones and instant messengers became commonplace—before mobile phones themselves were even widely adopted—the pager was an invaluable communication tool.

‘Between the phone and the pager, my backpack is getting heavier by the day.’

Carrying multiple devices around was becoming increasingly cumbersome.

‘I can’t wait for smartphones to come out. This is unbearably inconvenient.’

They say that once a person experiences convenience, they can never go back—and Park Seok-won was the perfect example of that.
Seeing him like this, I realized anew just how remarkable a smartphone truly was: capable of calls and texts, video conversations, and even internet access while walking around outside.
The saying that human history is divided into before and after the smartphone wasn’t entirely nonsense.
Park Seok-won sighed without realizing it at the inconvenience of having to carry around all manner of devices just to stay in contact with others, then shook his head to clear away the distracting thoughts.
I had a rough idea why Amar Cuff had called.
But I deliberately played dumb and asked anyway.

“So what’s this call about?”
[Have you ever made a donation to the Chicago Forest Foundation?]

Amar Cuff asked in a cautious tone.
It was exactly what I’d expected.
I smiled faintly and answered casually.

“I have.”
[So it really was you who donated a hundred thousand dollars?]
“Yes, that’s right.”

When Amar Cuff pressed for confirmation and I answered matter-of-factly, he couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

[But how could you donate such a large sum? Do you have some connection to the Chicago Forest Foundation that I don’t know about? Even if you did, it would be difficult for anyone but a major corporation to spend that much money all at once.]

I had anticipated this question from the moment I decided to make the donation, so I answered calmly.

“An investment I made recently performed well, so I decided to donate a portion of the returns. It occurred to me that you were involved with a public interest foundation, so I reached out to them.”
[An investment?]

His tone suggested he was questioning how a student who hadn’t even graduated could be talking about investments.

“Now that I think about it, I haven’t mentioned this to you yet. I’ve established and been operating a private fund management company called Eldorado Fund.”
[…?!]

Caught completely off guard by this unexpected answer, Amar Cuff fell silent for a moment.
Then he spoke again, his voice uncertain.

[Did you just say a private fund management company?]
“That’s right.”

I adjusted the smartphone in my hand and continued speaking as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“I’m not quite at the level of Wall Street titans, but I’m managing hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Amar Cuff was left speechless by the revelation that I possessed a personal fund management operation with capital reaching hundreds of millions of dollars—an astonishing fact in itself.

[This is… truly astounding. Don’t tell me you’re the offspring of some magnate like Rockefeller or Morgan?]

His shock was so profound that he posed the question with a mixture of jest and earnestness, despite knowing full well that we came from entirely different ethnic backgrounds.

“Well, it’s somewhat similar, but I didn’t receive help from my parents—I built the fund management company with my own efforts.”

I infused my voice with conviction on that particular point, wanting to make it absolutely clear.

“I experienced extraordinary good fortune not long ago.”
[Good fortune?]
“You remember the Powerball jackpot that hit for two hundred million dollars last year, don’t you?”

It had been national news, so there was no way Amar Cuff could have missed it.

[Surely you’re not saying you were the one who won it?]
“That’s right.”

I answered with a smile playing at the corners of my lips.
The reason I was elaborating on both the personal fund and the Powerball winnings was to cement my presence firmly in Amar Cuff’s mind.
Additionally, by clarifying the source of my capital, I intended to preemptively reassure him so that any lingering hesitation would dissolve.

‘If I’m to reap the benefits later, I need to cultivate this relationship carefully from now on.’

In just over a decade from now, Amar Cuff would achieve the remarkable feat of ascending from state representative to federal senator and ultimately to the presidency of the United States.
As the saying goes, a promising tree reveals itself even in its seedling stage—once Amar Cuff entered politics in a couple of years, many people would flock to him, making it difficult to find an opening to approach him.
Therefore, now, when he was merely a promising attorney, was the golden opportunity to deepen our connection.

‘A friend who helped you in difficult times always holds the deepest place in one’s heart.’

I murmured inwardly while listening intently to Amar Cuff’s response.

[Now that you mention it, I recall reading an article about the Powerball winner being an Asian exchange student—was that you? Good heavens, I never realized I had someone who possessed such miraculous fortune right before my eyes.]
“Yes. I used the winnings to establish the fund management company.”

Only then did Amar Cuff, having grasped the full context, speak.

[Remarkable. The fact that the protagonist hit such a massive jackpot is surprising enough, but to have invested it and reaped substantial profits—truly impressive.]

Most people would squander such windfalls on luxury cars, yachts, or mansions, yet Amar Cuff found himself repeatedly marveling at Park Seok-won’s choice to invest instead, multiplying his wealth several times over.
I’d thought he was merely blessed with a handsome face, but this junior was far sharper than I’d given him credit for.
In that moment, Park Seok-won’s favorability in Amar Cuff’s mind surged dramatically.

“I was fortunate, sir.”

At Park Seok-won’s modest reply, Amar Cuff burst into laughter.

[If that’s the case, the goddess of fortune seems to show you rather excessive favoritism. Then again, even goddesses appreciate a handsome face.]

Amar Cuff, still chuckling warmly, spoke in a considerably softer tone.

[As it happens, we’ve been facing some difficulties, and the foundation was in need of funds. Your donation will prove invaluable.]
“I’m glad to have been of help, sir.”
[I’ll be heading to Cambridge soon. Shall we share a meal then? My treat, of course.]
“I wouldn’t dream of declining if you’re offering, sir.”

Park Seok-won smiled as he spoke, and Amar Cuff seemed equally pleased.

[Then I’ll see you then.]

After ending the call, Park Seok-won set down his phone and murmured to himself.

“Hmm. I’d say I’ve gotten the first button in the right hole.”

One hundred thousand dollars wasn’t insignificant, but as the cost of building a relationship with a man destined to become President of the United States, it was a bargain.

“When you consider that a single lunch with Gavin Phillips, the Oracle of Omaha, costs millions, this is pocket change.”

As I contemplated the future benefits of cultivating this relationship with Amar Cuff, a smile naturally spread across my face.
Just then, my phone rang loudly in my hand.
I pressed the answer button and brought the phone to my ear.

“Hello.”
[Boss, it’s Landon Shore. Is this a good time to talk?]

I straightened up from my relaxed posture.

“Is something wrong with the company?”
[Actually, I called because I have good news.]

I tilted my head for a moment before hope flickered across my face as a thought occurred to me.

“Did the Federal Trade Commission release the merger review results?”
[Haha. I was trying to surprise you, but as expected, you caught on immediately. The merger approval news just broke on Bloomberg.]

I had known this would happen, but seeing the desired outcome still brought genuine joy.

“That’s excellent!”
[The moment the breaking news hit, NCR’s stock price shot straight up to the acquisition price of 105 dollars.]
“Of course it did—we’re guaranteed arbitrage profits at any price below the acquisition price.”

By now, traders on Wall Street were undoubtedly scrambling with activity.

“So when do you think the merger will be completed?”

Landon Shore answered immediately to my question.

[Now that the Federal Trade Commission approval—the biggest hurdle—has been cleared, AT&T will move straight into the merger process. I’d estimate all procedures will be finalized within a month at the latest.]
“There’s no benefit in dragging it out anyway. AT&T will want to wrap this up quickly too.”
[Undoubtedly.]

Despite the merger approval, lingering concerns remained, so it was advantageous for AT&T to expedite the merger and make it a fait accompli before any other variables emerged.

[We’ll need to wait a bit longer, but the merger approval has locked in a 54.41% return on this transaction.]
“That should come to around 500 million dollars then.”
[After deducting the fees we owe Salomon Brothers and various other expenses, it should come to approximately 535 million dollars.]
“Not a bad result.”

Landon Shore then poured out words as if to say what was I talking about.

[Not just a bad result—an absolutely phenomenal return. Back-to-back home runs after the pound short. Andrew, who’s been on Wall Street for years, couldn’t hide his admiration, saying he’s never seen returns like this even once.]

I pulled the corners of my mouth upward at Landon Shore’s effusive praise, breaking into a grin.

“I’ll set aside one hundred million dollars from the profits for my own purposes, and put the rest into European government bonds.”
[Understood, sir.]
“And distribute ten million dollars as bonuses to the staff.”

Landon Shore’s expression shifted to one of genuine surprise.

[Ten million dollars? That’s an extraordinarily generous amount!]
“It’s only natural to reward people proportionally to the results they achieve.”
[To be honest, sir, you did virtually all of the work yourself. Accepting such a substantial bonus feels rather presumptuous.]
“Really? If it makes you uncomfortable, you don’t have to accept it.”

Park Seok-won teased him with a mischievous grin, and Landon Shore responded immediately.

[Don’t say such discouraging things! I’ll gratefully accept it.]

At his lightning-quick reversal, Park Seok-won chuckled and spoke.

“We’re all family here, so make sure every single back office employee receives their bonus without exception.”
[Yes, sir. Don’t worry.]

Back office referred to the work and departments that supported and assisted the front-line trading staff from behind the scenes.
After exchanging a few more words, Park Seok-won ended the call with Landon Shore and stretched his arms out languidly.
He then opened the mini refrigerator in the corner and pulled out a can of beer.
As he popped the tab, it hissed with a satisfying sound and foam bubbled up.

“Ahh.”

Park Seok-won took a refreshing sip of the cold beer as if making a solitary toast, then leaned against the window wall and gazed out at the city below.
Spring had arrived, and delicate flower buds were beginning to emerge on the previously bare branches.

“I shouldn’t call this a home run when the real game hasn’t even started yet.”

Maybe more like a double, at best.
Park Seok-won smiled deeply and took another long gulp of beer.

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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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