Purecell Day (1)
Thomas Motors had become the hottest stock on the American market.
Everyone was piling in with chase buys, afraid they’d miss their last chance, and the share price had climbed 700 percent since the start of the year alone.
By price performance alone, it was more than enough to earn praise as the new Tisla.
What’s more, word was already out that Purecell Day would bring both a new-car reveal and an announcement of hydrogen infrastructure investment plans.
Investors were brimming with anticipation.
“I heard GM’s buying in and taking over production is practically a done deal.”
“At this rate, mass production could start as early as the first half of next year.”
“Once the production problem’s solved, the rally really begins.”
“Shouldn’t we buy in before it’s too late?”
Analysts were rushing to raise their target prices, and the media was pumping out article after article.
Fueled by that excitement, investors swarmed to buy Thomas Motors shares all at once, and trading volume exploded.
And yet the stock didn’t rise nearly as much as expected.
When volume was heavy but the price advance was limited, it meant there were plenty of sellers in the market.
“That’s a lot of selling.”
“Where the hell is it all coming from?”
“Are they taking profits ahead of the event?”
Even then, the selling represented less than 10 percent of the total float. It wasn’t enough to overwhelm the market. That was why it couldn’t break the upward trend.
As buying pressure kept flooding in, Thomas Motors pushed past its previous high of $62.
Chairman Yoo Jae-ho was being briefed by Chief Secretary Park Su-chan.
“We’ve received contact from Tyler Park.”
GTiger PE was a company based in Saint Lucia. Outwardly, it was a private equity firm, but in reality it was one of the channels Yuseong Group used to manage its overseas slush funds.
Its representative, Tyler Park, was Korean by blood, but held dual British and Saint Lucian citizenship—a black-haired foreigner, in other words.
He had no idea who owned the money he managed, and he had no intention of finding out.
“And what did he say?”
“As you instructed, he invested $100 million.”
The company that had received the investment was Continue Capital.
Yoo Jae-ho remembered Han Miru turning down his offer. Back then, he’d thought Miru wouldn’t be the kind of man to work under anyone else, and sure enough, it looked like he’d gone and started his own company.
The representative’s name was David Lockhart.
“Who is this man?”
“He’s an investor by way of law. From what I’ve learned, he’s fairly well known on Wall Street.”
“Is that so?”
Chief Secretary Park Su-chan spoke carefully.
“There’s something more important.”
“What is it?”
“He used the $100 million he raised to short Thomas Motors.”
First short the stock, then release a sell report to push the price down and profit from the drop. It was a common hedge fund tactic.
“I see.”
It wasn’t all that surprising, since Yoo Jae-ho had already expected something like this.
“He said he used CFD trading.”
At that, Yoo Jae-ho looked faintly taken aback.
“What kind of leverage?”
“Ten times.”
He gave a helpless laugh before he could stop himself.
He bet ten times the investment capital?
Chief Secretary Park Su-chan said in a worried tone, “If you factor in transaction costs, a five percent rise in the stock could wipe him out completely.”
As someone who had worked at a securities firm, Han Miru could hardly have been unaware of that fact.
And yet he’d still gone ahead and done this...
Does that mean he’s that confident?
He knew Miru intended to drive the price down.
But the market never moved exactly the way you wanted. Short sellers were often hit by an unexpected backlash even after publishing their reports.
Thomas Motors was volatile enough that a move of more than five percent up or down in a single day was hardly unusual.
If the stock rose and he couldn’t post additional margin, the entire $100 million would be gone.
And $100 million was no small sum, even for him.
Just because someone was a chaebol chairman didn’t mean money had lost its value. Cash, especially, was something you could never have too much of.
“What should we do? Should I tell him to stop?”
If he pulled out now, he could recover his principal without suffering a major loss.
But...
After a moment’s thought, Yoo Jae-ho spoke.
“Let’s watch and see.”
He had uncovered a fund’s hidden weakness that no one else had noticed, and recognized the value of Dongwoo Precision when even the experts had missed it.
So what would happen this time?
Could this investment, which looked almost recklessly bold, actually succeed?
The acquisition of Dongwoo Precision, the purchase of ADM’s stake, and the takeover of RDQuanet and NP Semi.
Buying them was not the end of it. Dongwoo Precision alone was already pouring enormous sums into development, and there was no telling how much more investment the others would need.
All of it had started with a single word from Han Miru.
If he succeeded again this time, then Yoo Jae-ho felt as if he’d have reason to trust the things Miru was pushing forward now, and to keep moving ahead with them.
And if he failed?
Then I suppose that’s all there was to him.
In that case, it would be worth reviewing everything they were doing now from the ground up.
Though somehow, I doubt that’s going to happen.
Purecell Day was only one day away.
The speaker was Thomas Motors CEO Brad Burton, speaking in an NBC interview.
I thought so too.
Because something no one had imagined would happen at tomorrow’s event.
I shut off the TV and looked at Edward.
“I’ve been thinking this since the first time I saw you, but that tattoo looks great.”
“Thank you.”
He had a tattoo running from his neck to his shoulder.
“I heard you’re from Harlem.”
He had a big frame, a muscular build, and even a small scar on his face. He looked like a man who knew how to throw a punch.
If I’d met him on a dark street instead of in a place like this, I would’ve crossed to the other side without hesitation.
He gave an embarrassed smile.
“That’s right. I lived in Harlem, New York, until I was in high school. I used to get into trouble a lot when I was younger. It’s embarrassing, but I even spent a little time in juvenile detention.”
“How’d you get into this line of work?”
Edward smiled sheepishly.
“I have an older brother. Even as a man, you could tell he was strong and cool. More than anything, he never bowed his head or got intimidated no matter who he was dealing with. He was basically my idol.”
“Oh? Really.”
“Then I had a kid at a young age. I had to start working earlier than most people, and luckily I got a job as a driver and bodyguard.”
“And then?”
“One day I saw my brother at work, and he was practically groveling over a single hundred-dollar bill. Right in front of some fat, rich white guy he usually looked down on. In that moment I realized that being good at using money was better than being good with your fists.”
“Oh! You discovered the meaning of life.”
No matter what anyone said, money was king.
“After that I studied hard and barely managed to get into college.”
Considering the university he’d barely managed to enter was NYU, he must have either been naturally smart or studied like his life depended on it.
Desire was an important engine for success.
But anyway...
“By any chance, do you know anyone around here who’s good with their hands?”
“What for?”
“Ah, nothing illegal. Nothing involving hitting people or fighting, either. I just need some muscle, that’s all. I’m paying $1,000 a day. Know anyone you can introduce me to?”
Edward snorted with a laugh.
“If you paid even half that, a hundred people would show up.”
Money can make even ghosts work for you.
I nodded.
“Good. Pick four or five of them and head over to the event venue.”
Montgomery, Alabama.
Purecell Day was being held at the convention center there.
As if to prove it was the hottest issue on the American market, crowds of shareholders, spectators, industry insiders, and reporters had all gathered in force.
The press frenzy was intense. Journalists were taking photos and video, then filing articles on the spot.
Barnessa Rose, a reporter for the New York Times, moved around with a microphone, interviewing people connected to the event.
“I’m here live at the Purecell Day venue. Interest in this event is enormous, and everyone is eager to see what announcements will be made today.”
She uploaded short clips to A-Tube.
As if to reflect the public’s attention, every single video racked up huge view counts.
Barnessa organized photos she’d taken in the press room and wrote her article on her laptop.
In the middle of it, she ran into someone she hadn’t expected to see.
“Oh!”
Trish, who had spotted Barnessa, greeted her brightly.
“Hey! We meet again.”
“Why are you here...?”
Trish, who had been writing an article, looked back at her and asked, “Why? Am I not supposed to be here?”
Barnessa quickly forced a smile.
“No, I’m just surprised to see you. Did you come as an attendee?”
“No. I was invited too—I’m here as a reporter.”
She flashed the press badge hanging around her neck as if to prove it. Still, only journalists were allowed into the press room.
Who on earth invited a reporter from some internet outlet I’ve barely even heard of?
There were plenty of media companies that wanted to cover the event. But Thomas Motors’ press invitations were notoriously strict.
In particular, they never invited anyone who had written even the slightest bit of negative coverage.
What kind of trick did she use?
“Looks like you were writing an article.”
“Yeah.”
Barnessa glanced at the piece Trish had been writing.
...There are numerous suspicions surrounding Thomas Motors. However, CEO Brad Burton has failed to provide a convincing explanation. Many outlets compare Thomas Motors to Tisla, but unlike Tisla, which has sold tens of thousands of cars worldwide, Thomas Motors has produced only a single prototype. The bigger problem is that even this prototype may be fake.
Her eyes widened.
“You wrote this?”
“Yeah.”
As she answered, Trish thought to herself, Who cares what anyone else writes.
Barnessa asked again, “You’re actually going to publish that?”
“Why not? Is there a problem?”
At Trish’s answer, Barnessa said in a deliberately worried tone, “You’ll really get sued for that.”
But Trish sounded utterly unconcerned.
“Let them sue me or not. If it’s true, what’s the issue?”
Why is she suddenly so confident?
Her attitude was completely different from the last time they’d met, and it left Barnessa a little rattled.
“You’re saying this article is true?”
Trish looked around once to make sure no one was nearby, then said, “Yeah. According to a report written by Continue Capital, everything Thomas Motors has announced is a lie.”
“...”
Barnessa was speechless for a moment.
What the hell is she talking about?
Still confused, Barnessa watched as Trish showed her a short article attached to a report posted three days earlier.
When she saw it, Barnessa was shocked.
“The person who wrote this report is David Lockhart? The same one who used to work at Victory Investment?”
“That’s right.”
Barnessa had once written an article about Victory Investment’s bankruptcy. In that piece, she had savaged David Lockhart without mercy.
“He was a failed investor.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because Victory Investment collapsed because of him.”
At the time, that rumor had spread widely across Wall Street, and the man himself had never denied it. That was why most of the media had written it that way.
Trish shook her head.
“That was just a rumor. He had nothing to do with Victory Investment’s bankruptcy.”
Barnessa frowned slightly.
“So you’re saying I wrote my article wrong?”
At that, Trish nodded as if it were obvious.
“Yeah.”