New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 132

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 132. Spoils of War (1)

Chairman Warren Buffett’s speech was broadcast live.

Various media outlets had gathered at Berkshire Hathaway in Omaha, broadcasting simultaneously across all channels.

Chairman Warren Buffett stepped onto the podium with a composed expression.

He wore a somber look as he read through his speech in a quiet but powerful voice.

[Berkshire Hathaway wishes to clarify its position regarding the crisis facing the United States.

First, we express our deepest condolences to all those who sacrificed their lives in this incident and their families.

America is a strong nation, and we will surely overcome this crisis as well!]

The announcement didn’t contain much substance yet.

However, the following content included everything we had promised.

[To overcome this crisis, Berkshire Hathaway will immediately implement a $10 billion capital increase.

Additionally, we will execute $5 billion worth of investments and equity purchases to enhance trust in the reinsurance market.]

The content was slightly different.

The $10 billion capital increase remained unchanged.

But the investment and equity purchase amount had more than doubled from $2 billion to $5 billion.

[This measure is not simply an investment.

It is also our responsibility to protect America’s economic trust and key industries.

I am confident!

America will never collapse from mere terrorism like this. Berkshire Hathaway will stand together.]

It was a brief but powerful announcement.

Though it ended without a Q&A session, leaving some disappointment, that disappointment was resolved through media companies.

“They must have distributed separate press releases to media companies. Various outlets are continuing with additional coverage.”

“The reaction is extremely explosive.”

Chairman Warren Buffett’s influence was truly remarkable.

Though I feel sorry for Chairman Robertson, several times more articles poured out.

[Declaration of War Against Short Selling Forces! Warren Buffett, Market Guardian Steps Up]

[Tiger Fund and Berkshire Form Historic Alliance]

[“America Will Not Fall” – Buffett’s Words Signal Market Recovery]

[Retail Investors Follow Buffett and Tiger Fund in Buying Spree]

[V-Shaped Recovery Signal? Berkshire Announces $10 Billion Investment]

The most eye-catching part among the articles was the alliance formation.

Chairman Warren Buffett never said he was forming an alliance with Tiger Fund, but the media was already interpreting it that way.

“As the media reacts, the market is responding too. Stock prices have started rising, albeit slightly.”

“Now we need to push through completely.”

“Let’s deploy all remaining funds.”

To completely break the will of the short selling forces, we needed a volume offensive.

We poured out all remaining funds at once, simultaneously deploying all funds held by Tiger Fund Headquarters and the Korea Branch.

“Buy orders are starting to pour in.”

“Several short selling forces have begun liquidation procedures.”

Prices shot up instantly.

Though it was like a small spark, it was the signal marking the beginning of a short squeeze.

Now it was a race against time. If they didn’t liquidate immediately, the flames would spread in an instant and losses would snowball.

The moment they moved too late.

A nightmarish situation would unfold where they’d have to buy back stocks at a loss to repay them.

“The market has already closed. If we’d had just a little more time, prices would have exploded – what a shame.”

“Time is on our side. Having succeeded in recovery, the short selling forces have no choice but to hesitate. Moreover, with the US government continuing to roll out support measures, they must enter liquidation within this week.”

“The Dow jumped 4% in less than two hours, so the forces must be feeling chilled to the bone.”

The Dow rose 4%.

But aviation, travel, and insurance stocks that had crashed the most rose over 8%.

Of course, such price increases were possible because we poured in over $60 billion in funds.

“We’ve now done everything we can. We must wait for the market to revive on its own.”

“Originally, lighting the spark is the hardest task. Now that the spark is lit, it will spread and even explode on its own. We just need to watch leisurely and that’s it.”

“In my view, the war’s outcome has already been decided.”

The forces probably thought they could have fun for at least a few more weeks.

But thanks to Tiger Fund, the White House, the Federal Reserve, and major banks.

Moving organically and simultaneously, we calmed the situation much faster than the forces expected.

“Having won the war, now only collecting spoils of war remains.”

“If the current trend continues, over 25% returns are possible within a month.”

“If we invested $100 billion, that would mean $25 billion in profits. This investment will nearly double our managed funds.”

There was something I really wanted to confirm now.

Because the fundamental reason for starting this investment lay here.

“So we can start investing in the semiconductor business?”

“Of course. Thanks to the Branch Manager’s plan, we made this much money, so investing where you want is natural. You mentioned $4 billion for the first investment, right? Even if you spent $10 billion, no one could object.”

“Understood. I’ll proceed with the semiconductor business after this investment is completely finished.”

Right now, we needed to focus more on the war against short selling.

Of course, we had no more funds to deploy, but we needed to devise strategies for the next situation.

Precisely, we needed strategies to obtain more spoils of war.

And we needed strategies that could take care of not only Tiger Fund but also the allies who participated in this war.

Personally, I’d prefer Tiger Fund to monopolize everything.

But if we were that greedy, when another situation like this arose, no one would want to join us.

***

Just 2 weeks.

The stock market that had repeatedly crashed due to terrorism was completely transformed.

It was literally a V-shaped recovery, and some short selling forces that got caught eventually went bankrupt.

“Returns exceeded 25% in just 2 weeks, not even a month.”

Market confidence seems completely restored. Moreover, with many people jumping into stocks due to this opportunity, there’s a high possibility of continued upward trends long-term.”

“Now we’re even feeling self-conscious.”

We couldn’t help but feel self-conscious.

We raised the enormous sum of $100 billion under the pretext of a great cause.

But the great cause was already achieved, and we were recording profits well over $25 billion, so we couldn’t feel comfortable.

“If we hold longer, it’ll tarnish the image we’ve carefully built.”

“I think so too. So we need to move up our plan a bit.”

“We need to meet with the lead underwriter banks as soon as possible for discussions.”

“They’ve been subtly contacting us anyway. And there’s a Federal Reserve meeting scheduled for tomorrow, so let’s execute the plan right away.”

This Federal Reserve meeting was very large in scale.

Under the pretext of a Financial Stability Meeting, it included major banks, various pension funds, and major insurance companies, with Tiger Fund being the only fund invited.

“Would it be okay to unveil the real estate products at tomorrow’s meeting too?”

“The design is already complete, so unveiling is fine. And tomorrow’s meeting gives us the initiative, making it optimal timing.”

The real estate-related products we’d designed before the terrorism occurred.

Due to terrorism, we focused on the war against short selling forces, but if terrorism hadn’t occurred, we would have been concentrating on real estate products from the start.

Though I designed it, it was a profitable product.

It was structured to provide stable returns for Tiger Fund as well as major banks and insurance companies.

“I’m curious what reaction people will show when the Branch Manager’s new-style real estate products are unveiled tomorrow.”

“They’ll have no choice but to rush in. There’s no better investment product than this.”

This wasn’t arrogance.

Though American finance had developed considerably.

The real estate products I created had completely different, innovative structures from previous real estate products.

Products with both stability and profitability.

That’s why I planned to unveil them at tomorrow’s meeting.

Because I could use them as the decisive card against major banks.

***

The large-scale meeting hosted by the Federal Reserve began.

Representatives from major banks, pension funds, and insurance companies were all gathered in attendance.

The insurance companies that had narrowly survived showed relief on their faces, while the major bank representatives couldn’t hide their complex expressions.

Though they had won the short selling war,

all they had gained was a mere 4% interest profit as compensation for lending funds to Tiger Fund.

Meanwhile, Tiger Fund had achieved a return rate of over 25% in one fell swoop, so the banks couldn’t be entirely pleased.

“We will now begin the Financial Stability Meeting. Thanks to your dedication, the market has regained stability faster than expected. We sincerely thank you.”

The Federal Reserve Chair stood up from his seat to express his gratitude.

At the words of the Federal Reserve Chair, who represented global finance, the atmosphere in the meeting hall instantly heated up.

“Through this crisis, we have proven that the American economy will never collapse. We have also sent a firm warning to the short selling forces that attacked the market. We especially extend our deep gratitude to Tiger Fund, which invested massive funds to defend the market and restored investor confidence.”

My heart beat hotly for a moment at the praise directed toward Tiger Fund.

However, the real meeting hadn’t even begun yet.

I immediately suppressed my emotions and regained my composure with cold breathing.

The General Manager was the same.

The General Manager, who had come as Tiger Fund’s representative in place of Chairman Robertson, maintained a poker face.

“General Manager Mike, please say a few words as well.”

After the Federal Reserve Chair, the speaking opportunity passed to the General Manager.

This meant Tiger Fund’s status had risen, and it also meant our contributions were being recognized.

“Tiger Fund merely opened the path at the forefront. The true credit belongs to the banks that provided massive funding and took on the risks. We deeply thank the banks and financial companies that supported us as lead managers.”

The General Manager politely expressed his gratitude to the major banks that had served as syndicate lead managers.

Though they might have smiled after receiving thanks at a public venue, the faces of the major bank representatives were somewhat stiff.

But since they couldn’t express it in words, they only showed their dissatisfaction through their expressions.

The General Manager scanned their expressions and continued with his next words.

“Thanks to everyone’s efforts, the index has recovered significantly, and though it’s embarrassing, Tiger Fund has also been able to achieve high returns.”

“I hear you’ve already achieved a 25% return rate. With a $100 billion investment and 25% returns, that would be $25 billion in profit. Very nice indeed.”

One bank representative who couldn’t contain himself spoke sarcastically.

The Federal Reserve Chair frowned and scolded the bank representative, but this was actually a good situation for us.

“That’s exactly why I said it was embarrassing. Since this was a public investment rather than a general investment, it’s utterly shameful to take higher profits from here. In fact, if we just hold onto it for a few months, 50% returns would be possible.”

“So what exactly are you planning to do?”

“How could Tiger Fund monopolize all the profits? So we’re thinking of transferring the stocks our fund holds.”

The bank representatives’ expressions changed instantly.

Now that they could buy stocks that would rise another 25%, they finally began to smile.

“Are you saying you’ll sell all the stocks?”

“That’s right. To avoid affecting the market, we want to sell $125 billion worth of stocks to interested banks through block deals.”

“I didn’t know Tiger Fund was giving this such deep consideration.”

“If the Federal Reserve and banks agree, we’d like to proceed this way. Would that be acceptable?”

The General Manager asked the Federal Reserve Chair.

Actually, there would be no problem with us making deals among ourselves, but having the Federal Reserve Chair’s permission would prevent any noise, so we deliberately sought agreement at this public venue.

“It seems like Tiger Fund is taking too much of a loss. Still, if you’re selling at a reasonable price, that should be fine.”

“Since Tiger Fund made concessions, naturally we should make concessions too. Isn’t that right?”

“Of course. $130 billion seems reasonable.”

With one sentence, our profit increased by $5 billion.

Of course, if we held onto it long-term, we could earn over $30 billion more, not just $5 billion, so it wasn’t that large an amount.

“We’ll repay all loans simultaneously with the stock sale. So you just need to pay Tiger Fund the additional profit portion.”

“Are you satisfied with $130 billion?”

“This profit was only possible thanks to the banks’ support, so how could we hope for more? However, may I shamelessly make one proposal?”

The atmosphere in the meeting hall had already reached its peak.

From the major banks’ perspective, this was an opportunity to gain at least $20 billion or more in additional profits, so they were ready to accept any demand right now.

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