Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 197

197. 56th. Endgame at the End of the Century (2)

A few days after Lee Sung-min arrived in New York.

Harry Clarkson of JP Morgan received a call from Standard Capital.

“You’re giving up the stock?”

[Yes. Is there a problem?]

Harry frowned at the arrogance dripping from the Yongin accent, the kind that British aristocrats or royalty would use, something you’d never hear from Wall Street guys. Nevertheless, a soft voice came from Harry’s mouth.

“No, not at all. A deal is a deal. But are you really going to give up the stock when the price is going to go even higher?”

[Unfortunately, the investment committee and the board of directors are really pushing me. I have no choice but to comply. I’ll pay the remaining interest in full.]

Investment firms are nothing more than stewards for the money lenders. He himself was the same kind of steward, but Harry twisted his lips and sneered.

“What a pity… you’re missing out on a great opportunity because of your investors. I understand. We’ll do as you say.”

Harry Clarkson hung up and immediately made another call.

“Harry here, Morgan. Those Standard Capital thugs are giving up their stock, so I’ve agreed to accept it.”

[Good job, Harry. Start circulating the stock now. Start with the Yahoo stock we received through Morgan Stanley at the beginning of the year.]

The Morgan family, using nominee investment companies, had taken all the shares that Jerry Yang, David Filo, and Masayoshi Son had put out through Morgan Stanley. Now that the guys holding the stock had let it go, it was time to circulate the stock and inflate the price even more.

Harry smiled at the instruction from Jackson Pierpont Morgan.

“Understood, Mr. Morgan.”

###

After notifying Harry Clarkson of JP Morgan that I would be giving up the collateral stock, I called Henry on a burner phone as usual.

“Johnny here, Henry. I just notified JP Morgan that I’m giving up the stock I put up as collateral.”

[I’ve been waiting for that, good job. The thought of chasing those damn big-nosed bastards out of Wall Street makes me feel like I’ve had a tooth pulled, haha.]

Was it because of revenge against the Morgan family, who had been lording over the place since the Royce family set foot in America? Henry’s laughter felt cold.

“We need to attack in the stock market, but we also need to pull some strings in Washington D.C. Both you and I are going to get a lot of flak for this.”

[Of course. Next year is an election year, so we can each donate $150 million to both parties.]

If Henry and I each donate $150 million, a total of $600 million will go into the pockets of the Democratic and Republican parties just before the election.

That $600 million was the fee that Henry and I would pay to both parties.

We would be guaranteed to safely pocket the hundreds of billions of dollars we could make in the stock market by paying that fee, so we could easily throw away $600 million.

“Understood, Henry. I’ll leave the lobbying to Claire and Sun. When I dump the stock…”

Before I could finish, Henry’s voice came through.

[I’ll make sure to blow up the Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing, and Arthur Andersen accounting fraud documents properly. We haven’t released them to the media yet, but they said they’ll blow it up as soon as we send them the documents, so don’t worry, haha.]

As soon as Henry received the data containing the irregularities of the three companies from me, he contacted broadcasting companies including CNN and BBC, and newspapers including the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.

Although they did not disclose the data, the media companies, having been promised a large sum of advertising revenue from Henry, promised to cover the documents Henry would send as key articles.

‘The media is all the same, whether it’s in Korea or America.’

I couldn’t help but smile bitterly at Henry’s boastful words. It seemed that there was nothing that stimulated human desire as much as capitalism, seeing how the media moved for money, only the amounts were different.

“Thank you, Henry. Then let’s have a toast in the new year, haha.”

After finishing the call with Henry, I pressed the button again.

“Johnny here, Isaac. I’ve given up all the collateral stock I entrusted to JP Morgan.”

[Thank you, Johnny. Chase Manhattan has also stockpiled ammunition, so we can pour it in at the right timing. Politicians, public officials, and families who are sharpening their knives at the Morgans are also moving. I’ll make sure to settle the accounts as promised when it’s over, haha.]

Isaac seemed to have a lot built up as much as Henry did. There was nothing wrong with having a smart ally with his fangs bared, so I smiled and continued the call.

“You’re welcome, Isaac. Isn’t it a give-and-take deal? Let’s finish it before next year.”

[Of course, Johnny. I’ll bring the champagne to pop at your uncle’s house next year, haha.]

After ending the call with Isaac’s refreshing laughter, I summoned all the board members to the conference room.

“From now on, we’re shorting Nikkei 225, S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 futures options, WorldCom, Enron, and Global Crossing. Trade through all channels except JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley.”

Even with the declaration of the largest all-out war in history, the board members showed no signs of fear. Rather, they couldn’t hide their excitement, their faces flushed or their fists clenched.

“We will win. As we always have. That’s all.”

“Yes, sir!”

***

From that day on, Standard Capital borrowed money from JP Morgan and recovered the money it had buried in US and Japanese stock market index funds.

All of that money was invested in short selling stocks and buying put options, and the global financial world laughed at Standard Capital. How ridiculous must it have seemed to bet all their assets on a crash when stock prices were soaring? But the result was obvious.

After successfully completing Gucci’s IPO [Initial Public Offering – the first sale of stock by a private company to the public] this morning on December 31st, I returned to the office in the evening as soon as the afternoon reception was over, checked the results of the short selling and put option purchases, and was spending the last night of the 20th century with all the executives and employees at the Standard Capital headquarters.

“Program maintenance, is it all done?”

Sun Hae-chul waved his hand at my question to confirm the preparations for Y2K [The Year 2000 problem, a computer bug that was feared to cause widespread chaos as computers switched to the year 2000].

“Don’t worry, nephew. We’ve taken care of everything, from the headquarters to the branches, since the beginning of last year. The US headquarters was taken care of by the IT team, and the Korean, Chinese, and Japanese branches were taken care of by the IT division of Haedong Corporation, right?”

Standard Capital spent a total of $400 million on program maintenance in preparation for Y2K. Half of that, $200 million, was spent by the Korean, Chinese, and Japanese branches, which Haedong Corporation was in charge of, and Shin Ho-jin directed the work, so I nodded.

“Right? Haha. Just a moment.”

After checking the time, I made a phone call.

“Yes, Uncle. Sung-min here. Is the group’s computer network management going well?”

[We’re going into night standby this evening. Senior Shin has worked hard because of that. When you come back, visit him and say hello, haha.]

I felt relieved that I didn’t have to worry about the management of the Haedong Group’s computer network, as Go Seung-ju’s voice was relaxed as he laughed heartily. I let out a sigh of relief and opened my mouth with a smile.

“Understood, Uncle. I’ll go back and say hello as soon as my business trip is over. Happy New Year, haha.”

After that, I made year-end greetings to Lee Myung-jin, Jo Young-chan, Tae Jae-ho, and Bae Jae-hoon in that order, and then called my grandfather.

“Sung-min here, Grandfather.”

[Oh, is that so. It must be midnight over there now. Is everything alright?]

“I think the results will be out in an hour. We’ve been fixing the program since last year, but I don’t know how it will turn out, haha.”

[Hae-chul and Ms. Lawrence did a good job, so you don’t have to worry. If you have time, make an effort to give me news of your second great-grandchild, euhehe.]

My grandfather is unstoppable.

He even put up the secret slush fund of half a century of history to guarantee his eldest grandson’s tens of billions of dollars in loans, but he didn’t say a word about money and asked me to tell him about the news of his second great-grandchild… I carefully asked my grandfather, who started the last day of the 20th century on the other side of the world.

“Aren’t you worried?”

[About what?]

“About what we’re doing in New York now.”

[Why would I need to worry? I heard Shin reported that he fixed the group’s computer network, and I thought your gamble would definitely succeed. So make a second great-grandchild and come back, hehe.]

As expected, my grandfather was relieved with his own conviction. Hearing his answer, I smiled and replied.

“Understood, Grandfather. Happy New Year, haha.”

[Okay, you too. Happy New Year to you too, hehe.]

I exchanged New Year’s greetings with him and hung up the phone, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing my expression lighten up, Park Tae-jin carefully asked.

“What did the Chairman say?”

“He told me to make a second great-grandchild with my sister. He said he’s not worried because my gamble will definitely succeed, haha.”

I laughed heartily as I looked at Park Tae-jin and asked Sun Hae-chul.

“Uncle, when will the data you handed over to Henry be released?”

“Tomorrow is the first day of the new year, so we decided to release it the morning after tomorrow.”

The first day of the new year is a holiday in every country. It would be effective to detonate the three nuclear bombs that we made and Henry held the detonation button on the day the stock market opened, so I nodded.

“Understood, Uncle. Then let’s prepare for Y2K.”

Today is the last year-end I’ll be spending in the office in my life. I quietly waited for the end of the year in the conference room with my people.

***

One hour later.

Fortunately, there were no Y2K errors in the computer network of Standard Capital’s US headquarters.

We let out a sigh of relief and left the company on January 1, 2000, but we were only able to rest assured after receiving reports in the afternoon that there were no errors in the three branches in Korea, Japan, and China, and in the Haedong Group’s computer network.

After spending the first day of the new year with my family, I sat at the round table in the center of the trading room from the first day of work in the new year, looking at the large screen on the wall.

[The Y2K bug, which terrified the IT industry around the world, was quietly subdued thanks to the dedication of countless nameless programmers. With this, the world is hopefully starting the first day of the new millennium…]

The CNN anchor, who was announcing the first article of the new year on the screen, suddenly looked at a document that had just come in and said urgently.

[Breaking news! A large-scale accounting fraud committed by Enron has been detected! According to the testimony of whistleblowers, Enron has been hiding the company’s debts in various shell subsidiaries. In addition, WorldCom, a wireline telecommunications company, Global Crossing, and external auditor Arthur Andersen colluded to manipulate sales through line lease exchange transactions…]

I looked at the TV, picked up the remote control in front of me, pressed the button, stood up, and shouted.

“Dump it!”

The traders, who were sitting and answering loudly, grabbed the phones and ordered additional short sales of Enron, WorldCom, and Global Crossing stocks. I walked around the aisles between the desks, encouraging the employees, and went up to the office on the upper floor with Park Tae-jin, Sun Hae-chul, and Claire.

“Henry must have started too, right?”

Sun Hae-chul, who was drinking tea, took the cup away from his mouth and said.

“Of course. I just talked to him, and he’s selling everything, from Yahoo, America Online, Cisco Systems, to Oracle.”

As promised, Henry blew up the irregularities of the three companies and Arthur Andersen, and was selling off the IT stocks he had invested in without any regrets. I smiled awkwardly at Sun Hae-chul’s answer.

“Henry is really amazing. He’s dumping without investing a penny in short selling or put options.”

Henry’s Triumph Capital was only selling stock holdings in this operation to avoid stock manipulation charges, and was not betting on any short sales or put options. Sun Hae-chul smiled at me, who couldn’t hide my awe.

“He’s a man who cares about his reputation even though he’s on Wall Street. This is what my father-in-law is really like, haha.”

Sun Hae-chul, who was smiling happily as if he was proud of his father-in-law, smiled mischievously.

“But he never forgives his enemies. He never forgives enemies who have been passed down for generations. Right, Claire?”

“Of course. That’s why he’s taking revenge now, right? Hoho.”

Claire also seemed satisfied that her father had drawn his sword. Wasn’t the Morgan family the one who had been tormenting the Royce family for five generations?

“Even JP Morgan, where all the smart people are gathered, must be out of their minds. They wouldn’t have even thought about the nuclear bomb that just exploded. I’m worried that Wall Street will be too intimidated by this, haha.”

As Park Tae-jin said, the accounting fraud of Enron, WorldCom, and Global Crossing was originally supposed to explode around the beginning of 2001, next year. But it was detonated earlier to cut off JP Morgan.

However, I shook my head at Park Tae-jin’s words.

“Still, the Wall Street guys won’t come to their senses. Human greed is endless, and they repeat the same mistakes.”

Wall Street is a pandemonium where only the thugs among the smart guys gather. I retorted with a cynical expression, clapped my hands twice, and said to the three.

“The war is not over yet. It’s not over until it’s over, so let’s prepare for the future later and focus on the current issues.”

The war we are fighting is a fight that will only end when JP Morgan and the Morgan family are driven out of the sunny land of Wall Street. The three nodded as they looked at me.

***

JP Morgan, the prey of the American Royce family, the Rockefeller family, and the Haedong Group’s Lee family.

Harry Clarkson, who leads JP Morgan in front, was sitting in his office with executives with a grim expression.

“How much did we lose from defending the stock price?”

“It’s 20 billion dollars. We were pressured by the volume that Triumph poured out, but CNN and News Corp all blew up the accounting fraud of Enron, WorldCom, and Global Crossing…”

The executive, who was giving the desperate report, couldn’t continue speaking. They had been defending the IT stock prices since the first opening day of the new year, but they had lost a total of 20 billion dollars?

Countless, but meaningless words floated around, and the meeting ended without any particular gain.

“No way…”

He, who graduated at the top of his class from Harvard Business School, and he, who had been raking in money through all sorts of currency speculation since the Great Hanshin Earthquake [A major earthquake that struck Japan in 1995], his plan had failed… Jackson Pierpont Morgan muttered with a blank expression in the conference room where only he and Harry Clarkson were left.