The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 172

172. Shock Wave (5)

July 12th.

Starting with the New York daily newspapers, various media outlets simultaneously covered the strike at Victoria Corporation’s AS (After-Sales) division.

In response, Victoria Corporation’s stock price on the New York Stock Exchange plummeted from $18.2 to $15.1 in an instant.

“The stock price has fallen by 17% in just one day. We need to take some measures!”

It was Henri Arnault of JP Morgan who raised his voice. The fact that he, not John Pier, had called directly meant that JP Morgan was also taking this matter seriously.

“We are already taking measures.”

“Really?”

“Robert, the COO [Chief Operating Officer], is stepping down to CTO [Chief Technology Officer], and Ms. Hilton will become the new COO to handle this matter.”

Henri Arnault frowned at Jung Hyun-woo’s explanation.

“Will Ms. Hilton be able to handle this situation?”

He couldn’t trust the Hilton family’s daughter.

“She will do well.”

“We will send an advisor from our company.”

He would send an expert with a lot of experience in negotiating with labor unions.

Jung Hyun-woo shook his head at the words.

“Mr. Arnault, we will resolve this matter ourselves.”

“Mr. Jung, if you fail to resolve it and it leads to a full-scale strike, the stock price will plummet beyond repair.”

Jung Hyun-woo said in a firm voice.

“If Victoria Corporation’s stock price plummets, I will suffer the greatest loss.”

He meant that he would deal with it with all his might as he would suffer the greatest loss.

Henri Arnault said with force in his voice.

“Mr. Jung, don’t take this matter lightly.”

“I know.”

Jung Hyun-woo answered in a firm voice and hung up the phone.

Click.

“Hoo…….”

Sera frowned at his long sigh.

“JP Morgan can’t stop the media either, huh?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded in response.

“It seems they are not only unable to stop the media but also doubting our ability to respond.”

Sera had heard Jung Hyun-woo mention her promotion to COO.

“They must distrust me the most.”

“Sera will do well.”

“What if I don’t?”

“That won’t happen.”

Sera said as she got up from her seat.

“I’ll have to work hard to live up to Charlie’s expectations.”

She was scheduled to fly to New York today with Mac Coyle, the head of the AS division.

As Sera got up from her seat, Jung Hyun-woo pressed the intercom.

“Ann… no, Luna. Please call Robert.”

Ann had been promoted to CFO [Chief Financial Officer], so his secretary was Luna, a new employee.

“Are you talking about Mr. Bernard?”

“That’s right.”

Luna, being a new employee, had a habit of double-checking his instructions every time.

Sera said as she opened the door to the president’s office.

“Don’t raise your voice at Robert.”

“I know.”

“Then I’ll be going.”

“Please.”

After Sera left, a man came in.

“Robert?”

The man who came in was not Robert. It was Clay Walker from Development Team 1.

“Charlie, we have a big problem.”

Jung Hyun-woo couldn’t help but frown.

‘What other big problem is there?’

He sighed deeply and raised his voice.

“Clay, what is it this time?”

“It’s a hacking.”

In an instant, Jung Hyun-woo’s eyes widened as big as 50-cent coins.

“A hacking?”

If Victoria Corporation’s data center was hacked, it was a major problem that could not be reversed.

‘Surely not that.’

He asked in a hurried voice.

“Where was hacked?”

“City Service.”

“City Service?”

City Service was Victoria Corporation’s latest service product.

“Currently, not only the Eastern region but also the Western region is not being serviced at all.”

“John…….”

Jung Hyun-woo wanted to call John River from the New York branch, but he had moved to the game division a long time ago.

‘This is a mess.’

It was when he bit his lower lip.

“Charlie?”

Robert opened the door and came in. He checked that the atmosphere inside the president’s office was unusual and asked Clay Walker, who was standing in front of Jung Hyun-woo.

“Clay, what’s going on?”

Clay Walker replied that City Service had been suspended due to hacking, as he had reported to Jung Hyun-woo.

Robert could immediately tell that this was serious.

“What about the recovery team?”

“They haven’t been able to figure out which part is the problem.”

“What about the server connection?”

“We cut it off. But the securities firms are still connected.”

Robert’s voice rose in an instant.

“They could hack into the bank through us. Cut it off immediately.”

“Understood!”

Clay Walker nodded and ran out of the president’s office.

Now, only Jung Hyun-woo and Robert were left in the president’s office.

“What happened?”

At Robert’s question, Jung Hyun-woo shrugged.

“As you can see, we’ve been hacked.”

“No, how could our service…….”

“We couldn’t set up a firewall because we were short on time.”

Robert’s eyebrows shot up.

“What did you say?”

Lack of time.

Jung Hyun-woo couldn’t escape this problem either, just like Robert. He had created City Service without security programs, including a firewall, to meet the deadline.

“I was careless.”

“Charlie, this is not a problem that can be glossed over by saying you were careless.”

“I was going to add it in the next version update.”

“No, seriously…….”

The problem was trying to do too many things at once.

‘I can’t blame Robert anymore.’

The problem had erupted due to rapid growth and expansion.

Some might call it growing pains, but if they couldn’t solve the current problem, Victoria Corporation could collapse as it was.

“Robert, please take over the company.”

“What do you mean? Take over the company?”

Jung Hyun-woo got up from his seat and replied.

“I’m going to New York.”

“New York?”

“The main server for City Service is in New York.”

As of 1985, City Service could not be operated remotely.

“Isn’t Sera there?”

“Sera has to meet with Mac and the AS technicians.”

He was telling Robert to take over Victoria Corporation’s headquarters since both he and Sera would be away.

Robert nodded.

“I understand. Then I will take over the headquarters. But are you really going to be okay?”

Jung Hyun-woo sighed deeply and replied.

“All we can do now is our best.”

If it were 2020, it wouldn’t be too difficult to prevent hacking.

‘Because there would be several countermeasures.’

But 1985 was not like that. Especially for programs like City Service that had no security measures in place.

* * *

The City Service hacking caused the service to be suspended for 5 hours and was not resolved until Jung Hyun-woo and Victoria Corporation’s headquarters staff arrived.

And this fact was reported to the New York Stock Exchange, further dragging down Victoria Corporation’s stock price.

“Charlie, what are you going to do?”

The person who came to see Jung Hyun-woo at City Bank was John Pier.

“Isn’t that why you came all the way to New York—to solve it yourself?”

He sighed inwardly at the fact that he had to meet John Pier at this urgent time.

‘It’s like blocking a doctor who has to treat a patient and asking how he’s going to save him.’

John Pier didn’t just back down.

“We must resume service by tomorrow, no, by this evening.”

“We will.”

John Pier frowned at Jung Hyun-woo’s curt voice.

“Charlie, this is an emergency.”

Jung Hyun-woo sighed at his urgent voice.

“Hoo……. There’s no one here who doesn’t know that.”

John Pier’s face turned pale because Victoria Corporation’s stock price had plummeted from $15.1 to $8.2.

$8.2 was 18% lower than the subscription price of $10.

Victoria Corporation was facing its biggest crisis since its listing on NASDAQ [National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations].

“Charlie, please. Please save City Service.”

John Pier’s voice was even trembling.

“Has the stock price fallen a lot?”

When Jung Hyun-woo asked as if to confirm, John Pier nodded greatly.

“It’s on the verge of collapsing below $8.”

Based on $8, Victoria’s market capitalization was $16 billion, less than 50% of its peak.

“If $8 collapses, use the money in my account to buy Victoria Corporation’s stock.”

John Pier blinked and asked.

“Are you sure it’s okay to do that?”

“Isn’t it legal for a major shareholder to defend the stock price?”

At Jung Hyun-woo’s words, John Pier’s face lit up.

“Of course, it’s legal. But wouldn’t Mr. Jung suffer a loss if that happens?”

Jung Hyun-woo tilted his head.

“Wouldn’t I suffer a bigger loss if I don’t defend the company’s stock price?”

“W, well, that’s true. But what’s the limit…….”

“It’s okay to use all the cash in the account.”

Jung Hyun-woo had not only made a profit from the Japanese investment.

Japanese export companies and real estate companies had made huge profits and then paid them out as dividends.

The dividends accumulated in his account exceeded $300 million.

John Pier knew that Jung Hyun-woo had a considerable amount of cash in his account, so he asked again.

“Are you really sure it’s okay to use it all?”

“If it’s not enough, you can sell some of the Japanese funds.”

He meant that he would use all his funds to defend the stock with all his might.

“Mr. Jung, aren’t you overdoing it?”

“It’s all money that came from the company. Isn’t it natural to use it for the company?”

Jung Hyun-woo coolly retorted and disappeared into City Bank past John Pier.

John Pier thought as he looked at his back.

‘Is he reckless because he’s young? Or is he that pure because he’s young?’

With hundreds of millions of dollars in defense funds, they could hold out for a few days. But if Victoria Corporation’s abnormal situation continued, the stock price would collapse like a dam breaking.

John Pier wanted to avoid that situation at all costs.

* * *

“Andrei, take charge of the protocol.”

Andrei bowed his head at Jung Hyun-woo’s instruction.

“Understood.”

Andrei was a developer nicknamed the God of Basic, and no one could match his stability. Moreover, he was researching security programs with the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency].

Jung Hyun-woo was confident that his skills could track and eliminate the hacker.

‘There’s no one more suitable for signal tracking and error detection.’

He turned his head to the other side.

“Adam.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Adam, who called Jung Hyun-woo Captain, was famous as an oddball within Victoria Corporation. But his skills were top-notch.

“Please restore the system.”

“Yes, sir!”

Jung Hyun-woo took charge of the main server between Andrei and Adam.

‘Hoo……. I don’t know if I can do it well.’

He was in charge of finding and blocking the parts taken over by the hacker and expelling his signal.

“Let’s start.”

At his instruction, Adam smiled brightly.

“Captain, I’m already doing it.”

Andrei only silently tapped on the keyboard without answering.

Jung Hyun-woo thought that they were the Avengers of Victoria Corporation.

While Victoria Corporation’s Avengers were fighting against the hacker.

John Pier was desperately trying to defend Victoria Corporation’s stock price.

“Set the 7.89 dollar as the Maginot Line [a line of defensive fortifications built before World War II to protect the eastern border of France].”

The reason he set the defense line at 7.89 dollars instead of 7.99 dollars was to avoid being dragged around by the short-selling forces.

“Is there any manager who hasn’t shorted at least once in his youth?”

John Pier was also a man who had a knack for short selling. He wanted to take advantage of the short-selling forces by giving himself a margin of 0.1 dollars. But the margin of 0.1 dollars he set disappeared in an instant.

“Sell orders are pouring in.”

John Pier raised his voice.

“Where is it? Who’s selling!”

“It’s Bank of America. Sell orders are pouring in from that account.”

“What?”

Bank of America, like JP Morgan, owned 10% of the shares.

‘Did Bank of America lend its shares to the short-selling forces?’

John Pier couldn’t help but click his tongue inwardly.

‘The loss from the stock price crash will be greater than the lending fee, so how could they make this decision?’

The side that made the short-selling decision at Bank of America was those on the opposite side of Lyra Marine.

They acknowledged the greatness of the Giannini family but argued that they should now step down from corporate management.

America Securities owned by Bank of America.

A man with green eyes smiled coldly.

“Lyra is finished too.”

The general manager sitting in front of him tilted his head and asked.

“Is it really okay to lend this many shares?”

“About 10% is okay. Lending shares to customers for short selling is also one of our jobs.”

“But this is…….”

It was a stock related to the Giannini family. He wanted to say that.

The man lowered his voice and said.

“That’s why we’re selling it—because it’s a stock related to the Giannini family.”

The general manager could only swallow hard at his words.

‘To hold a knife to the Giannini family, aren’t you afraid of the aftermath?’

He thought that the person the man was aiming at was not just Lyra Marine.

The man was aiming at the Giannini family itself.

At the same time.

JP Morgan Investment Bank Situation Room.

John Pier and JP Morgan fund managers were panicking at the flood of short selling.

“Mr. Pier, what should we do?”

John Pier raised his voice.

“Lower the defense line!”

“I’ll lower it to 7.85.”

“No, block it at 7.79!”

John Pier wanted to counter the short selling by building a buy wall at 7.79.

But the short-selling forces instantly broke through the 7.79 dollar wall, as well as the 7.70 wall.

“Massive sell-off. This is…….”

John Pier bit his lower lip hard.

“That means Bank of America has lent more than 10% of its holdings.”

The shares held by Bank of America were 1.54 billion dollars based on 7.7 dollars.

‘10% of 1.54 billion dollars is 154 million dollars.’

Up to this point, it was an amount that Jung Hyun-woo could sufficiently defend with the ammunition he had given him.

‘But anything more than that is dangerous.’

The funds that John Pier had scraped together were approximately 400 million dollars. If this 400 million dollars of ammunition ran out, Victoria Corporation’s stock price could plummet.

“John! It’s 7.69 dollars!”

John Pier clenched his fist tightly.

“Wait until 7.5 dollars.”

“Yes?”

“We’re going to go up in one fell swoop.”

If the stock price that had plummeted soared, program trading would react.

‘We can’t expect short covering, but we have no choice but to try it.’

The trading quotes were changing rapidly even in this situation.

‘There are 29 minutes left until the market closes.’

John Pier wanted to defend the stock price until the end of today’s trading session.

“7.63 dollars!”

John Pier held his breath.

‘7.6 dollars is breaking.’

As the investors who had invested in Victoria Corporation left like a receding tide, Big Head Kyle Montana, chairman of Morgan Stanley, smiled with satisfaction.

“Hehehe, JP Morgan is finished too.”

He had not participated in short selling like Bank of America, but he was one of those who wanted JP Morgan and Victoria Corporation to fall.

“It’s almost 7.5 dollars.”

Chairman Kyle Montana had come down directly to the securities firm’s trading desk to watch the situation.

“If 7.5 dollars collapses, we will also engage in short selling.”

He set the psychological defense line at 7.5 dollars.

Right then.

Victoria Corporation’s stock price began to rise.

“The stock price is rising!”

7.6 dollars. 7.66 dollars. 7.72 dollars…….

In just one minute, Victoria Corporation’s stock price soared from 7.52 dollars to 7.8 dollars.

“Who is it?”

Chairman Kyle Montana raised his voice, and the fund manager replied.

“It’s JP Morgan.”

“JP Morgan?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“They’re doing something foolish.”

Victoria Corporation’s stock price continued to rise.

10 minutes before the market closed.

Victoria Corporation’s stock price broke through 8 dollars and rose to 8.22 dollars.

“The program is running.”

“Stop it!”

Chairman Kyle Montana thought that nothing should be done to help Victoria Corporation’s rise.

‘Tsk, there are only 5 minutes left.’

He expected today’s trading session to end like this.

“We failed to cut off JP Morgan’s breath.”

The situation was similar on the American Securities side of Bank of America.

“Tsk, is this it for today?”

It was expected to finish in the early 8 dollar range. But right after that, Victoria Corporation’s stock price began to skyrocket.

“It’s over 8.5 dollars!”

“What? What’s the reason? Who’s buying it?”

He thought that JP Morgan had used a large amount of funds. But that wasn’t it.

“Everyone is jumping in.”

“Everyone?”

The man with green eyes couldn’t believe the general manager’s answer.

‘What’s going on right now?’

2 minutes before the market closed.

Victoria Corporation’s stock was still rising.