The Wealthy Ant 2
As the stock price plummeted to six thousand won, Jin Seo-yun felt her anxiety burn through her. She vented all her fears and frustrations onto Executive Director Im.
“Boss, I’m certain. The investment has already been approved by Son Hoon-jae, the president of Son Electronics. They’re negotiating the per-share price for equity participation. The stock price will rise again. Just hold on a little longer.”
Just as Director Im had assured, the stock, which had dropped to six thousand won, suddenly rebounded, soaring back to ten thousand won in no time.
But it didn’t stop there. Like a turbo engine gaining momentum, it hit the upper limit day after day, eventually surpassing the twenty thousand won mark.
However, as soon as the stock hit twenty thousand won, a flood of sell orders poured in, leading to a three-day decline.
The volatile stock market had people cheering one moment and sighing the next.
In the latter half of 1999, the stock market was dominated by the turbulent stock prices of New Data Technology, the eye of the storm.
Coincidentally, CEO Lee Sang-soo held an emergency press conference.
Rumors had been swirling on stock-related websites for days: “Son Jeong-eui’s SoftBank is investing in New Data Technology,” “They’re partnering with Yahoo to list on NASDAQ.” A major announcement was inevitable.
CEO Lee Sang-soo avoided the reporters’ flashing cameras, looking up at the ceiling. Once the room quieted, he began a simple presentation at the microphone.
As he droned on about vague solutions to current issues and future visions, the reporters’ expressions grew increasingly sour.
The so-called emergency press conference offered nothing newsworthy, just mundane content.
Lee Sang-soo kept glancing at the clock, and as noon approached, he wrapped up his presentation.
“The boring part is over. I think it’s time for the announcement.”
As he shifted the topic, the reporters refocused their attention.
“New Data Technology has decided to partner with the Sunyang Group to foster a global brand….”
He used the term “group” instead of “electronics” to amplify the impact of the announcement.
The equity participation agreement with Sunyang Electronics was finalized at 11 a.m. that day. To prepare for any “contingencies,” they maintained strict security until a safe time, verifying each reporter’s identity before allowing them into the briefing room.
The flood of sell orders that hit the market as soon as it opened that morning was likely scooped up by the operation forces.
In just a few hours, the stock price skyrocketed again, and the small investors who sold their shares in the morning had to listen to the press conference news with a sinking feeling.
As soon as the announcement of Sunyang’s equity participation ended, a barrage of questions from reporters followed. CEO Lee dodged difficult questions or answered them off the record.
Oh Se-hyun, who confirmed the news through a breaking report, quickly made a few calls and then burst into laughter.
“CEO Lee Sang-soo made a blunder while trying to escape. He shouldn’t have done that… Ha, really.”
“Why do you say that?”
“He handed over a million shares of his own stock to Sunyang Electronics. Now, CEO Lee’s stake is about 10%. Sunyang Electronics has become the second-largest shareholder.”
The founder and CEO sold his shares. Although he remains the largest shareholder, this could be a pretext for future issues. It suggests he planned to cash out and leave.
“With 20 billion won in cash, won’t they consider a capital increase? There’s no other way to increase capital.”
“Probably. They’ll likely put about 10 billion into a capital increase. But they still pocketed 10 billion.”
Oh Se-hyun worried about his junior, while I worried about my aunt.
She might forget our advice, intoxicated by the skyrocketing stock price. She must sell at forty thousand won to secure a fourfold profit. Only then will she taste the thrill of gambling and break free from our control.
From that point on, if left alone, she’ll inevitably collapse.
How much will she lose before she falls?
“Do-jun, do we really have to sell? Isn’t that foolish?”
“Sell. Oh’s instincts are rarely wrong.”
“But it keeps going up.”
My aunt looked at me skeptically, thrusting the newspaper in front of my face.
“When the stock price drops, sell orders flood in all at once. You know that. If you miss the timing, there’s no going back. You’ve made enough, haven’t you?”
My aunt quietly called me aside, avoiding Oh Se-hyun’s nagging. But when I echoed the same advice, she couldn’t hide her disappointment.
“Did you sell everything too?”
I had to answer carefully. After all, isn’t it human nature to feel envious when a cousin buys a field?
“We’ve already sold everything. Around thirty-eight thousand won. A twenty-five-fold profit is more than enough.”
Of course, we’re still holding on.
“What? T-twenty-five times?”
I replied nonchalantly to my aunt, who was stammering with her mouth agape.
“Yes. We bought at the IPO. Was it fifteen hundred won?”
“Hey! Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I didn’t know either. The company always watches the stock market, so they didn’t miss the IPO.”
“Even if the company bought it, your investment must have been included, right?”
“I don’t have much left now. Most of it went into Uncle’s campaign funds, and the land in Sangam-dong I got in return is still there. I think about five hundred million went in.”
She wouldn’t hear anything else. It’s obvious that the only thing left in her mind is the number twenty-five times.
“Aunt, there will be plenty of opportunities to make pocket money in the future. Don’t hold onto regrets now, just sell everything.”
I can’t even imagine how much I’ll be cursed for saying this. Considering my aunt’s fiery temper, I should be prepared for a scolding.
Since she was temporarily “borrowing” company funds, she couldn’t take any more risks.
In the end, I only received a message that she sold everything when it went slightly over forty thousand won. She didn’t disclose how much she invested or how much profit she made.
I managed to persuade my aunt, but a tougher challenge lies ahead.
Oh Se-hyun, surprisingly, didn’t raise his voice.
“Two hundred fifty thousand won? Is that your prediction?”
“Sounds absurd, right?”
“You know it. That’s a relief. I thought you were crazy.”
“But Uncle, think about it.”
“About what?”
“Every time I made predictions that sounded crazy, what happened?”
“That’s why I’m staying quiet. Otherwise, I’d have taken you to a hospital or gone after whoever fed you such nonsense.”
He knows he can’t win against my stubbornness, and though it sounds crazy, he also knows that another unbelievable outcome might just happen.
“I’m going to cash out. My personal investment, I mean.”
I smiled at Oh Se-hyun, who accepted it more easily than expected.
“You’ll regret it, you know? Heh.”
If ordinary investors or any operation forces hadn’t latched onto New Data Technology, what would have happened to the stock price?
Even though it was a venture frenzy, everyone in Yeouido sensed it was the end of the line.
Twenty thousand won? Forty thousand won? Maybe that was the limit.
When the stock price struggled to surpass fifty thousand won, a catalyst emerged to ignite its momentum.
CEO Lee Sang-soo personally announced a new business model aimed at listing in the U.S.
The media was in on it too.
They dedicated extensive coverage to promoting the product “Dialpad,” which utilized the “VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)” technology announced by CEO Lee.
Compared to the “pseudo-ventures” whose stock prices soared without reason, riding the KOSDAQ wave, they praised its superior technology.
They boasted about fifty thousand members joining in a short period, but they thoroughly concealed the fact that the more members joined, the worse the profits became.
Not a single line mentioned that the majority of the fifty thousand members were college students with low consumption tendencies, limiting Dialpad’s advertising promotion.
As the stock price, which had been stagnant, suddenly surged and hit one hundred thousand won, Oh Se-hyun turned pale.
“Everyone’s gone mad. Now the market cap is in the trillions. A company with a 30 billion won revenue and losses having a stock price like this can only be explained as madness.”
“Do you think anyone buying stocks now cares about that? The saying goes that if you miss out on this frenzy, you’re a fool.”
“This will crash all at once. It’ll all turn to scraps of paper. It could happen as soon as tomorrow.”
Oh Se-hyun, growing more anxious as the stock price rose, insisted on selling the stocks quickly.
“Uncle, even if my prediction is wrong, the most we lose is the company’s 3 billion and my personal 500 million. If Miracle loses 3 billion, it won’t even make a dent. Same with my money. Let’s see it through to the end.”
It was true.
Even if an unexpected variable caused a collapse right now, there was nothing to regret or lament. My only concern was that my aunt might jump back into this game.
Having tasted a fourfold profit in a short time, there’s too much money to sit idly by. Isn’t she the type who thinks of hundreds of billions as just pocket change?
Trusting Jin Do-jun’s advice, Jin Seo-yun sold everything at forty thousand won, only to watch the stock price taunt her by skyrocketing again. Frustrated, she couldn’t focus on her work.
But the stock price remained in an upward trend, and Jin Seo-yun began buying again. She did so discreetly, with only Executive Director Im, who was in charge of securing funds, aware of her actions.
Once a gambler experiences the thrill of a big win, they risk everything, even their spouse, to play again. Jin Seo-yun was no exception.
Not just fourfold, but a twenty-five-fold return was possible in this gamble.
She covered the payments owed to department store vendors with promissory notes. She poured all the cash from the eleven department stores and hotels, except for the essential payments, into New Data Technology. She thought it would all be over in just two months.
In addition, they paid hefty fees to the experts in the Myeongdong private loan market to conduct transactions under borrowed names. The plan was to funnel all the profits into slush funds.
Initially, they managed to secure a substantial amount with a hundred billion won, but once the price exceeded a hundred thousand won, the volume they could hold plummeted.
Of course, the stock price kept climbing, but the more money they “appropriated,” the more anxiety crept in. Executive Director Lim’s constant worrying only added to the tension.
“Sir, if we keep going like this, we won’t be able to stop the rumors. There’s even talk that we might default on promissory notes due to management deterioration.”
“Ignore it. By the time they try to verify the rumors, it’ll be over.”
“But still…”
Jin Seo-yoon couldn’t hold back any longer and shouted.
“Do you know what the unemployment rate is right now? Our department store managed with minimal restructuring. Do you want us to end up like other subsidiaries of Sunyang, or worse, like Daehyeon Group or Jeongil Group, where they had to lay off more than half their staff to get a grip?”
“I’m, I’m sorry.”
“Make sure to keep a tight lid on this. If we can’t stop the rumors, you’ll see what real restructuring looks like. We’ll replace over half of our partner companies and turn managerial staff at the hotel into temporary workers. Do you understand?”
Even as she yelled and threatened, Jin Seo-yoon felt uneasy.
She wanted to stop at this point, but every time she looked at the stock fluctuation chart, her resolve wavered. The steadily rising graph showed that the department store’s monthly profit could be made in just a week.
Feeling anxious, she called for people who could put her mind at ease. People who could say the words that would allow her to sleep peacefully.