The next morning at 6 a.m.
I arrived at the office to coincide with the Nasdaq market close.
President Han, who had stayed up all night at Taewoo Securities, rushed straight into the chairman's office.
"It closed at $24. That's a 40% increase in just one day. At one point, it even surpassed the $25 mark."
"This momentum will likely continue for a while. By the way, how many Tesla shares were sold?"
"Over 11 million shares were sold, and of those, 1.4 million that Musk sold were directly picked up by the FinTech bank. In addition, more than a million shares were purchased through paper companies."
The reason we didn't block Tesla's IPO.
It was a prime opportunity to increase our Tesla stake, so there was no reason to interfere.
Ideally, increasing our stake before the IPO would have been best, but since we were already at the limit, buying the newly listed shares now was the most cost-effective way to increase our ownership.
"So we now hold about 60% of the shares?"
"It's slightly over 60%. The shares were purchased in divided amounts under various names—FinTech, Taewoo Group, and paper companies—so it will take a little time to fully grasp the exact ownership structure."
"Stop buying more shares. Some shares need to circulate in the market; otherwise, there won't be any price fluctuations."
There was another reason.
Even with the financial power of Taewoo Group and the FinTech bank, there were limits.
After acquiring successive global companies and continuing to invest in large-scale businesses, funds that seemed inexhaustible were starting to deplete.
"I agree. Tesla's market value is high, but putting too many eggs in one basket is too risky."
"These eggs are made of steel; there's no risk of breaking. We're stopping now to avoid interfering with the stock price if we acquire more."
"Even at the current stock price, you've already doubled your investment at the very least."
"Do you think we invested just to double our money? A decent deal should yield at least a hundredfold return."
"Do you really expect Tesla's stock price to rise more than fifty times from now?"
It wasn't a matter of seeing—it had already been seen.
Of course, with the introduction of the Apple Car, the rate of Tesla's stock price increase might slow compared to before.
But even if it were cut in half, the stock could still rise more than fifty times from its current price.
"Now forget about Tesla and focus on the Taewoo Group. The Apple Car launch is less than three months away."
"Taewoo Securities is already developing financial products related to the Apple Car."
We immediately pushed all thoughts of Tesla aside.
There were far too many issues piled up within the Taewoo Group to devote more time elsewhere.
Yet, before even a month had passed, an incident occurred that forced us to turn our attention back to Tesla once again.
***
About a month after Tesla went public,
David arrived in Korea without any prior notice. He and President Han were welcomed in Captain Kang's office.
"What brings you here all of a sudden?"
"I came to see your face, Chairman, and also to stop by Korea."
"So it's a twofold purpose. You've seen my face enough—get straight to the point."
"I've obtained information that short-selling forces are targeting Tesla."
David hadn't come to Korea without reason.
If Tesla's soaring stock price were to fall, the value of my holdings would also drop.
It could also dampen the positive momentum in the electric vehicle market.
"Who's leading this short-selling?"
"James Chanos, known on Wall Street as the king of short-selling, is orchestrating it. A significant number of hedge funds are aligning with him. It seems that groups who lost money during the Lehman collapse are now planning to act on a massive scale."
I had heard of James Chanos before.
On Wall Street, it was said that any stock he chose would inevitably fall—an impossible name to ignore.
"What's the estimated scale of the short-selling?"
"Analysis suggests anywhere from $30 billion to $100 billion."
"So they're targeting Tesla with over 100 trillion won. Defending against that won't be easy."
"That's why I came to Korea in person."
President Han, listening carefully, began tapping on his calculator.
After quickly finishing the calculations, he looked up with a serious expression and spoke.
"If we use all the capital of the fintech bank and the Taewoo Group, we could defend it, but that would mean pulling out of many ongoing projects."
"Is Chanos preparing to short the entire electric vehicle market? After Tesla, is he targeting Taewoo Motors and Kia Motors as well?"
"The target is reportedly only Tesla. Taewoo and Kia Motors were excluded because of their collaboration with Apple and because Chanos knows the Taewoo Group has solid capital."
No wonder he was called the king of short-selling.
Chanos only struck in fights he could win, which is how he reached his current position.
"It's strange that he made that decision even though he must know Tesla has ties with the Taewoo Group."
"He likely judged the connection with the Taewoo Group to be weak."
"So he's assuming that if a big short occurs, the Taewoo Group won't come to Tesla's aid, and is proceeding on that basis."
Chanos' reasoning was fairly accurate.
The Taewoo Group was currently cash-strapped and lacked the funds to block a short exceeding $100 billion.
Of course, they could have used the group's assets as collateral to secure loans or raised funds by selling subsidiaries or business divisions, but I had no desire to do that.
So Chanos must have precisely assessed the Taewoo Group's situation before attacking Tesla.
"When do you think the short-selling will begin?"
"The rumor will spread across Wall Street soon. Once that happens, money-hungry hyenas will swarm like a pack. The short-selling operation is likely to start by mid-month at the latest."
"So we have about fifteen days."
"Only fifteen days? To block the short, we'd need to inject at least $50 billion. Raising such a huge sum in just fifteen days is no easy task."
David and President Han looked uneasy.
I smiled at them.
"The way to win against short-sellers is simple. Once Tesla's electric vehicles are released and achieve high sales, the short-sellers will naturally lose."
"We just need to defend against them during that period."
"Not even a perfect defense is necessary. Just like in any sport, the stock market draws the most attention when it's fiercely contested."
Once the short-selling began, it could attract several times more attention than now.
Of course, if the stock price plummeted overwhelmingly, the high level of attention could also bring irreparable damage.
But what if we manage to defend it up to a certain point and even mount a small counterattack?
A fan base would rally behind us, and the electric vehicle could maintain public interest all the way until its release at the end of the year.
"You said we don't need a perfect defense, but even a partial defense requires at least hundreds of billions of dollars. It would be difficult for Tesla to raise that much on its own, and the Taewoo Group can't help that much either."
"Then we just need to bring one more ally into the fold."
"Do you plan to request help from Berkshire or the Quantum Fund? Even if both join as allies, it won't be enough."
"There's no need to ask two allies. If we can secure just one ally, we can hit Wall Street's short-sellers hard."
I kept smiling.
David and President Han looked at me with expressions that clearly said they had no idea what I was basing my confidence on.
There was no need to explain.
They'd find out on their own in just a week.
***
Two days later.
President Han rushed into the chairman's office, clearly flustered.
"Sir, I think I finally understand who the ally you mentioned is. Isn't it the Saudi sovereign wealth fund?"
"So they've contacted us from Saudi Arabia."
"They said they'll arrive in Korea tomorrow and want to collaborate with Taewoo Securities. Did you receive any prior notice?"
"I got a tip from a member of the Saudi royal family. They're arriving sooner than I expected."
President Han, wearing a foolishly bright smile, paused, then let out a bitter laugh and collapsed onto the sofa.
"I only imagined investment firms or funds from Wall Street. I never expected you'd use the Saudi sovereign wealth fund."
"It's too early to be pleased. While the sovereign wealth fund will invest alongside the Taewoo Group, this time they said it's just a 'taste test.'"
"A 'taste test'? You mean the investment amount won't be substantial?"
"Even a 'taste test' from Saudi Arabia is still quite large in scale. But to defend against the short-sellers, it wouldn't be enough. They'd have to shift to a full, active investment to make that possible."
The Saudi sovereign wealth fund I remembered managed roughly $600 billion—over 780 trillion Korean won.
Its size had grown significantly after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ascended.
Even so, with at least $100 billion under management, if we could properly persuade them, it would be enough to counter the short-sellers.
"I know you have strong connections with the Saudi royal family. Would it help to leverage your network?"
"We'll start by holding a meeting. If that doesn't work, we'll use every available method."
We dove into a 24-hour strategic session to persuade the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.
We explored the future of the electric vehicle market, Tesla's corporate value, rising interest in environmental issues, and other angles.
By the time our meeting wrapped up, representatives from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund were arriving at Taewoo Group headquarters.
"Sir, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund representatives are entering through the main gate."
"It would be rude to wait here. I'll go down to meet them now."
I went down to the main gate with President Han.
A few minutes later, the representatives of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund poured in through the gate.
They were very different from the image I had imagined.
Not dressed in traditional Saudi attire, but in black suits.
Each carried a briefcase in one hand, resembling Wall Street bankers.
Unlike the royals who sought Saudi Arabia's development, these fund representatives were there to maximize returns, and the aura of Wall Street was unmistakably strong.
"Welcome. I'm Kim Min-jae, Chairman of Taewoo Group."
"I've heard much about you. I'm Vice President Fayed, in charge of the sovereign wealth fund's overseas investments."
I made eye contact and shook hands with Vice President Fayed.
It was partly to glean more detailed information about him—and I confirmed that he was a collateral member of the Saudi royal family.
Prince Fayed.
Though listed in the detailed information, it didn't surprise me.
Even collateral members in Saudi Arabia are called prince or princess, and I knew there were over 7,000 princes alone.
"Please, let's go inside. We've prepared extensively for this collaboration."
"I've heard of Chairman Kim Min-jae's investment prowess. Expectations are high."
Prince Fayed walked confidently ahead.
I lingered behind for a moment, observing him.
I needed to think carefully about how to handle him.