Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 190

190. 53rd. Alliance for the End of the Century (3)

“To be precise, it means that our Rockefeller family will be pushed out of the company created by the merger of Chase Manhattan and JP Morgan. In terms of financial power, Chase Manhattan is ahead of JP Morgan, but internal approval for the merger within Chase Manhattan is approaching 60 percent.”

Only after hearing that precise estimate from Isaac could I understand why the merger between Chase Manhattan and JP Morgan happened in my previous life.

‘A butterfly effect caused by me.’

If they had suffered significant investment losses, the Rockefeller family, as the owner of Chase Manhattan, would have seen their position collapse. They would have been dragged into a merger with JP Morgan by those who favored it.

However, thanks to my advice through Henry, Chase Manhattan cleanly avoided the Russian government bond investment losses. The Rockefeller family’s position is secure, so they wouldn’t want to relinquish control of the company through a merger with JP Morgan.

“But Exxon, Mobil, and Chevron are your family’s companies, and you have many other assets, right? Exxon and Mobil are merging, so mobilizing funds immediately is difficult, but if you secure funds by mortgaging the remaining assets and buying up shares…”

I offered an alternative, but Isaac cut me off.

“If that were possible, I would have already done it, Johnny. That’s why I arranged this meeting with you through my uncle.”

“Is there a reason why it’s not possible?”

Still disbelieving, I asked. Isaac responded with an unexpected question.

“Do you know Nelson Rockefeller?”

‘Nelson Rockefeller… They’re being cautious.’

Only after hearing the question did I realize why the Rockefeller family couldn’t engage in an all-out war. I gave a bitter smile.

“Isn’t he the Vice President under President Gerald Ford?”

“That’s right. He’s like a grandfather to me, a foolish person who exposed the family’s secrets to run for president.”

Nelson Rockefeller.

A prominent politician who served as the governor of New York for four terms and the 41st Vice President of the United States. He’s like a senior to those among Chairman Myung Jin-ho’s sons who have entered politics.

Nelson Rockefeller exposed some of the family’s secrets to break the image of a ‘gold-spoon chaebol politician’ [a politician born into extreme wealth] during his presidential campaigns.

It was something that would make Isaac, the head of the Rockefeller family, wear a self-deprecating expression. Seeing that expression, my guess turned into conviction.

“You don’t want to attract public attention. If a war starts, a huge amount of money hidden beneath the surface will be mobilized, and it will be instantly noticed by Wall Street and the media.”

Although the scale is different, our family has also been cautious enough to hide and protect its secrets, and I have been trying to hide my true self. The Rockefeller family, including Isaac, would be the same.

Isaac answered with a bitter smile.

“You’re right. Since that incident, our family has been hiding wealth in deeper places and not revealing our daily lives. Because of that, we spend about $100 million a year just bribing the media and political circles, haha.”

“Ahahahaha…”

I could only laugh at the American scale Isaac described. I calmed my expression and took a sip of cognac.

‘It seems better this way.’

Looking only at the fact that the Rockefeller family’s situation isn’t easy, it might seem like a difficult fight.

However.

Because it is a difficult fight, my plan will shine even brighter.

If the Rockefeller family could engage in an all-out war, my plan, which would only solidify the victory, would now become a hidden card to achieve a come-from-behind victory.

I lowered the cognac glass and said to Isaac.

“I’ll make you the winner in the merger war with the Morgan family.”

“Winner?”

“Yes. First, I will buy 10 percent of Chase Manhattan’s shares.”

The United States prohibits specific shareholders from controlling commercial banks, so you can only buy up to 10 percent of the shares. Isaac narrowed his eyes, looking unsatisfied.

“That’s not all, is it, Johnny? If that’s all, I’ll be very disappointed.”

“If that’s all, how can I make you the winner? I’m the kind of person who fights back rather than running away if it’s an unavoidable fight. Isn’t that right, Henry?”

Henry smiled gently.

“You used to say that if you cower in fear of ruin, even your name will disappear, but if you fight back, you can leave your name even if you die, and if you’re very lucky, you can win and survive, haha.”

Henry laughed heartily, recalling old memories from four years ago. He continued, “Thanks to the confidence I felt in your voice at that time, I’ve come this far.”

“Thank you for remembering something that happened four years ago, haha.”

I looked at Isaac intently while laughing with Henry and said.

“Chase Manhattan may be a part of the Rockefeller family, but I think it can also be everything. It’s a part in terms of assets, but it’s a legacy containing the family’s history along with Exxon, Mobil, and Chevron.”

I looked at Isaac, who was nodding slightly, and gave him the answer he wanted.

“I’ll help you protect that legacy, Isaac. As someone who revived a family that was about to go bankrupt.”

“But it won’t be easy with the purchase of Chase Manhattan shares alone. Is there a way, Johnny?”

In response to Isaac’s suspicious gaze, I countered calmly.

“How about JP Morgan’s bankruptcy?”

At my calm proposal, Isaac, Henry, and the other three people widened their eyes.

***

“You’re going to bankrupt JP Morgan with stock-backed loans?”

I replied indifferently to Isaac, who was still wide-eyed.

“Isn’t the current IT scene all about attracting money through listing just by attaching Dog or Cow or .com signs? JP Morgan will also try to get IT stocks, so getting stock-backed loans will be a piece of cake.”

“You mean… you’re going to get a loan and dump the stocks you put up as collateral?”

“Yes. We’ll get additional loans as the stock price rises and give up the collateral at the right time.”

“Hmm…”

Unlike my confidence, Isaac groaned. Henry also looked suspicious.

“But IT stocks are the hottest stocks on the US stock market, Johnny. With JP Morgan’s financial power, they can raise the stock price of the stocks you’re going to throw instead of cash and pass them on to retail investors, right?”

“As I said, we’ll get additional loans as the stock price rises, to the maximum extent possible. Claire, how much IT stock do we have?”

Claire unfolded her brow and said.

“I’d have to look at the data to see the amount by stock, but it’s almost $20 billion in total. Considering the collateral recognition rate and the existing loan of $6.5 billion, additional loans of up to $5.5 billion are possible.”

Even with Claire’s estimate, Henry’s expression remained hardened.

“But how much will the stock price rise? At most two or three times…”

“It will increase at least five times, Henry.”

Henry’s eyes widened.

“At least five times?”

“Yes. Yahoo alone will increase 10 times its current stock price, and it won’t be a problem for other stocks to increase more than 5 times. As the stock price rises, the money that Standard can borrow also increases, haha.”

Even if it only increases five times, the value of our IT stocks will increase to $100 billion. If the loan is successful, we can extract up to $60 billion in cash from JP Morgan, considering the collateral recognition rate.

Isaac said with a hardened expression, “That doesn’t make sense, Johnny. In that case, the PBR [Price-to-Book Ratio] or PER [Price-to-Earnings Ratio] will be…”

“You know that stock prices live on expectations, right?”

At my question, Isaac narrowed his brow.

“How could I not know? Isn’t the stock price a leading indicator of expected performance?”

“That’s right. What supports the current stock price is the expectation that the IT market will change everything. And…”

I paused and looked around.

“Y2K bug, do you know it?”

While Henry and Isaac were blinking, Claire smirked.

“It doesn’t make sense to invest in IT without knowing that. Isn’t it about the computer network being messed up when the new millennium comes? There was even a movie made about it.”

Y2K bug.

Simply put, it’s a program error where the current computer date recognition system, based on ’19XX’, won’t recognize ’20XX’ when the new millennium arrives.

Because of Y2K, IT experts worldwide said that all kinds of computer programs, from the world’s financial network and medical information systems to power systems and nuclear power plant computers, would malfunction, causing a global disaster.

“That Y2K is the logical factor driving the expectation that IT technology stocks attract investment and push up stock prices.”

Henry’s eyes narrowed as he listened to Claire and my Q&A.

“You don’t mean… there isn’t a single IT company that can solve that Y2K?”

“It’s the opposite, Henry. Without relying on IT companies, each country’s government and companies will put in programmers to solve it.”

The heroes who prevented the Y2K error were not IT companies but countless nameless programmers.

Thanks to the programmers dedicated to program modification, enduring vision loss, neck discs, finger arthritis, herniated discs, and even hemorrhoids, Y2K was glossed over without major problems.

Naturally, investors’ expectations for IT technology stocks, whether institutional or individual, will fall like beer foam.

That was the collapse of the IT bubble in the early 2000s.

Henry’s lips turned up when my explanation was over.

“I’ll have to lend a hand if your scheme is to work. Triumph also has the IT stocks you’re going to throw as collateral.”

The fact that I had been handing over Yahoo shares to Henry and recommending other IT stocks was a plan to link the collapse of the IT bubble to the merger of Chase Manhattan and JP Morgan. I smiled.

“Yes. As soon as Standard gives up the stocks to be given to JP Morgan as collateral, Henry must throw away all the stocks he has to turn those stocks into waste paper.”

If I give up the stocks I will provide as collateral, JP Morgan must sell those stocks to cover the money they lent me.

However, if Henry throws away the stocks, the stock price is guaranteed to plummet. JP Morgan will miss the timing to turn the stocks into cash, so they will go bankrupt with stocks that are worse than waste paper.

“Sun, what do you think?”

“It’s not impossible, Henry. Everyone, whether institutional or individual, is buying IT stocks like moths to a flame, so how can JP Morgan be any different? It’s also a company run by people, haha.”

As Sun Hae-cheol’s cynical answer said, everyone, whether Wall Street geniuses or villagers investing in stocks in some rural area, is now crazy with desire. I said to Henry and Isaac, who nodded at Sun Hae-cheol’s answer.

“I’ll start working tomorrow, haha.”

I smiled and declared that I would start a money-spending spree that would be remembered in human history.

***

The next morning.

After revealing to the Standard Capital board of directors the policy of receiving loans to the maximum extent possible using IT stocks as collateral, I entered the lobby of JP Morgan headquarters with Claire, Sun Hae-cheol, and Park Tae-jin.

“It’s fluffy, isn’t it?”

Claire smiled at my words while sitting on the sofa worth thousands of dollars that decorated the lobby.

“I know, right? When this is over, we should bring in a few and decorate the lobby and reception room, hehe.”

Along with Claire, we took our seats on the sofa in the most fiercely arrogant posture in the world.

Not long after we enjoyed JP Morgan’s money-spending spree, white men in suits approached us. After a brief greeting, we entered the reception room with JP Morgan executives in front of us.

“I didn’t expect Standard Capital to come to our JP Morgan, haha.”

A middle-aged man with a mustache who looked like Pinocchio laughed.

‘I guess that man came as a representative.’

While I was familiarizing myself with that man’s face, Claire smiled.

“JP Morgan only deals with large customers, so we have to come with the right size. We’ve finally reached that size.”

JP Morgan is an arrogant investment bank that has never done external sales, but its name alone is an object of awe to those involved in Wall Street. The JP Morgan executives showed a confident smile that seemed to come from pride rather than a smile for reception.

“There’s no place you can trust and trade with as much as our JP Morgan, haha. By the way, according to the contact we received, you applied for a stock-backed loan. How much collateral stock will you entrust?”

“We will borrow 12 billion dollars, including loans to replace loans from other banks and new loans.”

The executives’ eyes widened at Claire’s answer.

“T, twelve billion dollars?”

“Why are you so surprised? Isn’t that money that JP Morgan can easily raise? Surely… it’s not impossible, is it?”

When I intervened and teased them, the eyes of the JP Morgan executives, including the Pinocchio man, changed sharply.

‘Does it bother you that a yellow little monkey is acting up? You smelly white bastards.’

While swearing in my heart, I put on a smile and handed them the documents I took out of my bag.

“As you can see, the stocks we will provide as collateral are the hottest stocks on the US stock market. Yahoo stock is 2 billion dollars, Amazon.com 3 billion dollars, America Online 3 billion dollars…”

Whether I spoke or not, the eyes of the JP Morgan executives who were checking the loan request were glistening with desire. Aren’t they IT stocks that will soar in the future? I smiled.

“It seems like you like the collateral we’re putting out, haha.”

The JP Morgan executives cleared their throats and straightened their expressions as if my laughter sounded like a sneer.

“It’s not bad. A 12 billion dollar loan is definitely possible.”

“Then please take a look at the loan conditions listed after that.”

I held out my hand, and the JP Morgan executives quickly turned over the documents and checked the loan conditions section.

“5-year term loan with additional loan provision, 5 years of interest deducted in advance, but instead, loan liquidation through collateral abandonment…?”

At the last item, the JP Morgan executives looked at us suspiciously, but I looked at them calmly.

“I know you’re worried about using collateral to repay the loan, but the stocks we’re putting out are stocks that will be sold like hotcakes. They’re stocks that are no different from cash. Isn’t that right?”

“That’s true, but…”

Seeing the executives hesitate, Claire said firmly.

“Contact us in a week. If we don’t hear from you after that, we’ll go to Chase Manhattan or Goldman Sachs, or other banks.”

Since we’ve confirmed those guys’ desires, if the conversation gets longer, it will only raise suspicion. Cutting it off here and pushing back was the best policy.