New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 54

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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 54. Missing Puzzle Pieces (4)

The market moved just as the Branch Manager had said.

After the major crash, a technical rebound arrived.

But could this really be called a technical rebound? Over three days, NASDAQ had rebounded nearly 7%.

Fortunately, the weekend interrupted the upward trend, but this week also seemed likely to continue the bull market.

“The index that fell after the MS ruling has almost fully recovered.”

“Consider it a final struggle. Individual investors rushed in during this rebound. Institutions and Market Forces set traps to devour them.”

“Do you think the bear market will resume starting today?”

“It absolutely has to happen that way.”

The Branch Manager was filled with confidence.

Despite the three-day rally cutting short selling profits in half, he didn’t lose his composure.

I couldn’t be as confident as the Branch Manager.

Of course, I was certain that IT Technology Stocks would plummet in the long term, but in the short term, there seemed to be no particular issues.

The Gear Structure of technology stocks hadn’t changed significantly either, so there didn’t seem to be any technical or accounting problems.

It meant that some other problem would emerge, not issues with IT Companies.

What could it be?

That question could be answered the moment the market opened.

“The market started crashing as soon as it opened!”

“It rose about 4% on Friday, right? It’ll probably fall more than 5% today.”

“Will it really crash that severely?”

“Do you know which is the strongest institution in the United States?”

“The Department of Defense or… maybe the Central Bank?”

At my answer, the Branch Manager gave his familiar smile.

It was the same smile he often wore when correcting wrong answers during English Lessons.

“The Federal Reserve, which is the Central Bank, isn’t a government institution. And there’s an institution more frightening than the Department of Defense.”

“Where is it? Did that institution create this bear market?”

“The IRS. No institution in the United States is stronger than the IRS. And April 15th is tax payment day.”

It was an unexpected interpretation.

To think the cause of the crash was because of taxes.

“You mean they’re selling stocks to secure cash for tax payments?”

“That’s right. The IRS doesn’t directly control the market, but they move immediately when taxes aren’t paid.”

“Is it possible for NASDAQ to crash because of taxes?”

“If it were just regular taxes, maybe not, but this year a ‘tax bomb’ exploded.”

The term ‘tax bomb’ wasn’t unfamiliar.

Due to the enormous bonuses received last year, Nexpin employees including myself were expecting a comprehensive income tax bomb, and we were securing cash in preparation for it.

“Many investors made high profits last year, causing tax problems.”

“That’s right. Last year, just investing in the NASDAQ index could yield nearly 90% returns. If it was technology stock-focused, 100% was possible, and with luck, even up to 1,000%.”

“You maintained short selling positions anticipating the tax bomb?”

Now I understood the Branch Manager’s confidence.

Last year’s high profits were ultimately coming back as selling pressure for tax payments.

“Actually, I thought the tax bomb would be the starting point of the bubble collapse. But the MS ruling exploded first, allowing it to collapse even more strongly.”

“Will the current bear market continue?”

“It will fall all week. And by Friday, we’ll see the maximum decline.”

The Branch Manager was playing with the stock market.

Are all Wall Street people really like this?

Then why didn’t others take short selling positions?

“Others also knew they had to pay taxes in April, didn’t they? So why did so many investors bet on stock rises?”

“Two types. People who knew but ignored it, or people who genuinely didn’t know.”

“I understand that only the top elites in America can enter Wall Street. Why did such people make those decisions?”

I couldn’t understand it at all.

The IT bubble might have been difficult to predict.

But the tax bomb was an event that anyone with common sense could have anticipated.

“Because they fell into madness. Once you fall in, not just investors but the entire market becomes blind.”

“You mean they lose their reason due to madness?”

“When the market moves irrationally, you can’t even trust the theories you’ve learned. Only those who stick to their own principles until the end will survive.”

We didn’t fall into madness.

We calculated various variables while not losing sight of the big picture of the IT bubble collapse.

Thanks to my intuition and the Branch Manager’s insight, we were able to devour the market forces that moved irrationally.

***

From Monday to Friday, the market collapsed as predicted.

NASDAQ’s weekly decline rate was a whopping 25%.

But looking at technology stocks alone, it was a crash of over 50%.

“There’s not much time left until market close.”

“You really worked hard! The return rate is 250%!”

“That’s the simple calculation. But after deducting leverage interest, fees, and other costs, the actual return rate will be around 235%.”

The 15% difference was an enormous gap.

250% and 235% might not seem like a big difference.

But since the profits earned were close to 50 billion dollars, over 200 million dollars would be lost just to interest and fees.

“Prime Brokers really seem like places that make money while sitting around. They’re earning hundreds of millions of dollars in fees just by staying put.”

“They’re definitely guys who make money without risk. But there’s nothing we can do about it. They’re also the ones who designed the current structure.”

“It seems like a system where you can make money sitting down just by creating the structure.”

“It’s like a casino. Whether customers win or lose, the casino always makes money.”

Thinking of it as a casino made it easy to understand.

Just by creating the framework called a casino, the casino could make money regardless of who became the winner or loser inside it.

Couldn’t such a structure be created online?

If the platform called Rollbook could be expanded, if space could be opened up for other developers…

In an instant, dozens and hundreds of cogwheels meshed together, creating a beautiful ensemble sound.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

“I was contemplating how to become someone who sets up the game.”

“That’s the right answer. The person who holds the board, not the dice, is ultimately the winner. But for now, let’s close our positions first.”

With less than 30 minutes left until market close.

The Branch Manager called the Prime Broker.

[Branch Manager! You’re truly amazing! You’ve succeeded again this time.]

“I was lucky. I’m thinking of closing positions now – would it be possible like before?”

[Of course it’s possible.]

“The side that took the previous short selling volume must have suffered heavy losses, so they’ll probably be more passive this time.”

[That’s their own fault. If they had held onto the previous short selling volume until now, astronomical profits would have been possible. It’s the fault of those who took too much volume and got liquidated, or those who cut losses early without patience – it’s not the Branch Manager’s fault at all.]

The Broker’s words were accurate.

Just holding onto that volume until now would have made at least 200% return rate possible.

“Then, please handle the closing.”

[A premium might be difficult this time, but I’ll do my best.]

“I’ll be satisfied as long as the volume is processed within today. I’ll treat you to a meal later.”

[Oh my, how could I receive such treatment from the Branch Manager? I should be the one throwing a big party instead!]

I had learned that in the short selling market, prime brokers held all the power.

But the broker had approached the Branch Manager with a humble attitude, which meant we had brought them substantial profits.

“At this rate, we’ll be getting free meals from the broker.”

“It seems like the power dynamic has completely reversed.”

“Power dynamics are relative. On Wall Street, whoever brings in the money is always in control. Even prime brokers become completely subservient in front of VIP clients.”

Power dynamics could change at any moment.

The moment we started showing losses, the prime broker would surely return to being the dominant ‘power holder’ and come at us aggressively.

“The positions are being cleared remarkably fast. In the United States, only prime brokers can move at this speed.”

“With money on the line, things definitely move faster.”

The short selling positions were being sold off at tremendous speed.

Just one hour after the market closed, all positions were completely cleared, and 6.7 billion dollars was deposited into the Korea Branch account.

“Excluding the principal of 2 billion, we made 4.7 billion dollars from this trade.”

“Just a month ago we had 600 million dollars, and now we have 6.7 billion dollars.”

“Now it’s time to report the game results to the referee. Shall we go to headquarters together?”

“Is it okay to just go without an appointment?”

“What office worker makes appointments to go to work? Besides, there was an executive meeting scheduled after market close. The meeting is probably in full swing right now.”

So there was already a meeting scheduled.

Despite being late for the meeting, the Branch Manager showed no signs of urgency.

In fact, he walked leisurely and slowly.

“We seem to be quite late.”

“It’s fine. The protagonist always makes their entrance at the end. If we’re coming from closing out short positions, the Chairman won’t say anything.”

We finally arrived at Tiger Fund Headquarters.

But the atmosphere was completely different. Could a funeral home be like this?

From the entrance to the conference room, and even inside the conference room, not even the sound of breathing could be heard.

All the executives were in their seats, but no one was opening their mouth to speak.

“Has Branch Manager Mike arrived?”

“I apologize. I was delayed finishing position closing.”

“Work can make you late sometimes. You were late because you were making money – does anyone have a problem with that?”

Chairman Robertson looked around at the executives.

Those who had been pressuring the Branch Manager just days ago now kept their mouths firmly shut.

“At least you have some conscience. Keep staying quiet like that.”

“Chairman, may I give you the performance report?”

“Of course. Let’s hear how much Branch Manager Mike has earned.”

There was no strength at all in Chairman Robertson’s voice.

Like someone who had given up, there was no emotion mixed in his voice whatsoever.

The Branch Manager didn’t care at all about the Chairman’s appearance and began his report.

“This investment proceeded with a short selling strategy, and we built positions with 2 billion dollars in principal and 5x leverage. We just finished profit realization and earned a total of 4.7 billion dollars.”

“Did you hear that? He turned 600 million dollars into 6 billion dollars in just one month. If you have mouths, say something!”

Chairman Robertson shouted at the executives.

But the more he did so, the more everyone just hung their heads and remained silent.

“Fine, I’ll say it for you. While Branch Manager Mike earned 6 billion dollars, those bastards turned the headquarters’ 22 billion dollars into 6 billion dollars. The Korea Branch and headquarters now have the same operating funds.”

“Are you saying you lost 16 billion dollars from this investment?”

“Even the Branch Manager finds it ridiculous, right? How do you think I feel? I’m the crazy one for trusting and entrusting it to those bastards.”

It was an absolutely unbelievable result.

I had heard that many financial companies and funds went bankrupt, but I never thought Tiger Fund would be in such a situation.

I expected they would have suffered major losses, but Tiger Fund Headquarters had lost 72% of their operating funds.

“I heard other funds also suffered big losses, but around 30%.”

“Ours exceeded 70%. Why do you think that happened? Thanks to them rushing to devour you. They should have thought about fighting the market, but they caused this result by scheming to somehow bring down someone from the same company.”

“Every time we proceeded with short selling, we faced strong resistance. I never knew it was our own executives.”

The Branch Manager pretending not to know while knowing.

His act of playing innocent was so natural.

“Who can I blame? It’s all my fault. My eyes have rotted.”

“Please don’t say such things. You’re still in good health, Chairman.”

“If I had made investment decisions directly on the front lines like before, this wouldn’t have happened. I ended up in this situation trying to take it easy because of my age.”

Chairman Robertson stood up leaning on his walking cane.

He seemed to have weakened considerably in just a few days, appearing to have difficulty even standing properly.

“I warned you. I said I would reorganize everything at Tiger Fund based on the results of this investment.”

“…”

“We will follow the Chairman’s will.”

The executives still remained silent.

Only the Branch Manager raised his head straight and answered.

“I should step down now. It would be problematic for someone who doesn’t have the strength to fight on the front lines to continue sitting in the chairman’s position.”

“No, no! Chairman, we were wrong!”

“You can’t retire yet!”

Chairman Robertson declared his voluntary resignation.

When the founder and symbol of Tiger Fund said he would step down voluntarily, even the executives who had been silent began to speak up.

“Quiet down, everyone. People who trusted me and entrusted their money to me for decades called to complain for the first time. So how can I continue to sit in this position? There are only two choices. One, dissolve Tiger Fund. Two, let a new person lead it.”

Chairman Robertson’s will was resolute.

The voluntary resignation of the legend who created one of Wall Street’s Big 3 Funds.

Now we could only wait for his final choice.

Annual Salary 1 Trillion New Employee Chapter 54

E-book Publication Date | 2025.11.27

Author | Seo Oh

Publishers | Heo Heung-beom, Park Geon-won

Published by | Poten

Address | [04783] 10th Floor, 8 Yeonmujang 11-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul

Phone | 02-6320-8500

Fax | 02-6320-8585

ISBN | 9791175305892

Price | 100 won

ⓒ Seo Oh 2025

This e-book is a copyrighted work protected by copyright law.

This e-book is published under the author’s contract, so unauthorized reproduction, copying, distribution, and sharing are prohibited without written consent from both parties.

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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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