The employees of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund were elites.
Most of them had experience working at investment firms on Wall Street, while others were talents cultivated in Saudi Arabia as economic experts.
Perhaps that was why.
They all greeted me with friendly smiles.
"When I first learned that Chairman Kim Min-jae was the true owner of SAVE Investment, I was truly shocked. I never imagined that the heir to a major Korean conglomerate could be manipulating Wall Street."
"I was even more surprised by Vice President Faiz. Despite being a member of the royal family, I understand he spent over ten years handling the tough work at a Wall Street investment firm."
A little compliment session to break the ice.
While moving to the conference room, the planning office had gathered information and brought it to me. Any missing pieces were filled in by checking the detailed data.
"You knew I had been on Wall Street as well?" I asked.
"Wall Street is a surprisingly small community. We also know your returns were exceptional."
"I was lucky to exit Wall Street before the Lehman crisis hit. Had I stayed there until now, I would have ended up broke and never reached the vice president position at the sovereign wealth fund. I also ran into one of the presidents from Taewoo Securities a few times along the way."
Most of the sovereign wealth fund employees, including Vice President Faiz, were from Wall Street.
That meant they knew me well, and they were also familiar with President Han Jung-hoon, who had led SAVE Investment.
A few even looked at us as if we were famous sports stars.
This was going to proceed more smoothly than I had expected.
There was no need to figure out how to "cook" them.
The Saudi sovereign wealth fund had already been cooked and served on the table.
"Then, are you familiar with the person who was called the 'King of Short Selling' on Wall Street?"
"You mean Chanos? I've certainly heard the rumors."
"This time, it looks like I'm going to have a serious showdown with Chanos."
"I understand that Chanos never picks a losing fight. Surely, he wouldn't attack the Taewoo Group directly, would he?"
Perhaps because they were from Wall Street, they were very interested in Wall Street affairs.
I lowered my voice conspiratorially, just to draw out a bit of anticipation.
"He's not attacking the Taewoo Group directly. He's planning to short Tesla, which is connected to us."
"You mean Tesla, the company in which the Taewoo Group owns a partial stake? Hmm… well, since Tesla isn't a direct subsidiary of the Taewoo Group, it makes sense that Chanos would target it."
"Exactly. Because it's not a direct subsidiary, he probably assumes Taewoo Group won't defend aggressively. That assumption is going to cause Chanos a massive failure."
I said this with a confident smile.
Vice President Faiz, reading my expression, immediately understood the point I was making.
"Could it be that you plan to mobilize Taewoo Group's full financial strength to defend Tesla?"
"Actually, there's no need for an aggressive defense. As long as we succeed in defending it until the end of the year, when the electric car is launched, we will win this fight no matter what."
"You're confident in the success of the electric car."
"It would have been difficult to succeed with only Taewoo Group and Tesla, but thanks to Aramco's active investment in the infrastructure, success is now inevitable."
No one dislikes praise for their own country.
Since Aramco was a Saudi state-owned company, praising it was essentially praising Saudi Arabia itself.
"The King of Short Selling is about to experience a major failure for the first time."
"That's highly likely. Claiming victory against the King of Short Selling will become a title in itself. In fact, this short-selling attempt might even be welcomed."
"Winning against the King of Short Selling… that's an enviable title."
"If you wish, you can participate in this 'war' as well. Taewoo Group isn't particularly concerned with titles, and we're happy to yield this one to the Saudi sovereign wealth fund. After all, Aramco helped us build the electric car infrastructure—it's only natural to show some gratitude."
Vice President Faiz's face flushed as he glanced around.
He quickly made eye contact with the other sovereign wealth fund employees. When they all nodded in agreement, he immediately accepted my proposal.
"I came here specifically to do business with the Taewoo Group. How could I refuse such a great opportunity? Especially since Chairman Kim is a friend of the Saudi royal family. The Saudi royals would never ignore a friend in danger."
"This might require a surprisingly large sum of money. Are you sure that's acceptable? Of course, even if you pull out midway, there will be no liability."
"Once the Saudi sovereign wealth fund moves, there is no turning back halfway. It's not about anything else—if people said we abandoned the game halfway due to lack of funds, I wouldn't be able to set foot in Saudi Arabia ever again."
The power of Saudi Arabia came from the immense wealth of black gold.
To give up due to a lack of money would be tantamount to abandoning one's pride.
"But isn't stability the most important factor for a sovereign wealth fund?"
"All the royals acknowledge Chairman Kim's investment expertise. That's precisely why I've come all the way from distant Korea. Is there any financial product safer than one guaranteed by Chairman Kim?"
It almost seemed as if I were the one restraining him.
Vice President Faiz's eyes gleamed at the thought of defeating the King of Short Selling.
Though it might appear advantageous for us, in reality, it was far from a completely favorable situation.
What if an enormous investment was made without proper risk management?
Opposition would inevitably arise, and the Saudi sovereign wealth fund could lose its direction.
"I'll provide you with a bit more assurance," I said.
"What kind of assurance do you mean?"
"If the Tesla shares purchased in this short-selling battle are still low in price three years from now, I will buy the entire lot of Tesla shares at today's price."
Minimizing Risk.
Anyone who has invested before knows exactly how sweet the promise of principal protection can be.
Even if the defense against short selling failed, the principal was guaranteed, and if the price rose, all profits could be claimed.
There could be no better terms than this.
It was a condition I could propose because I had absolute confidence in Tesla.
"You really don't have to go that far. Just one word from Chairman Kim saying he guarantees it is enough," Faiz said.
"Not everyone is like Vice President Faiz. That's why Taewoo Group will personally guarantee risk management."
"If Taewoo Group itself guarantees risk management, I could certainly step into defending Tesla's short position without hesitation," Faiz finally said, regaining his composure.
Being someone who had worked on Wall Street, he surely understood the importance of risk management.
Yet as I continued speaking, he lost his cool again.
"We'll support the Saudi sovereign wealth fund from behind as much as possible. When forces like Chanos start short selling, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund moves first. We quietly handle the rear support."
"So you're saying you'll set the stage for the battle between Chanos and the Saudi sovereign wealth fund?"
"The Saudi sovereign wealth fund is finally stretching its legs and showing itself to the world. A stage like this is only natural, isn't it?"
Vice President Faiz clenched his fists.
He even closed his eyes slightly, as if imagining victory over Chanos.
"The Saudi royal family will surely remember this. If this succeeds, let's work together on an even larger-scale business next time."
"By 'larger-scale business,' you mean something like taking on all of Wall Street. If that happens, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund will be the first I'll approach."
"I'll be waiting!"
The negotiation concluded very smoothly.
We even prepared a contract guaranteeing risk management for Vice President Faiz, and the remaining time was spent stopping by Captain Kang's restaurant to enjoy a delicious meal.
***
One week later.
Chanos, who had been aggressively building his forces, finally began to make a move.
One of the presidents who had been closely monitoring Wall Street quickly caught the activity and reported it.
"He went on TV, pouring out disparaging comments about Tesla, and today he finally started the short selling."
"If it's Chanos, he's bound to go all-in from the start."
"Sure enough, as soon as the market opened, $500 million worth of short sales hit the market."
"That's smaller than I expected. Only $500 million?"
Five hundred million dollars—that amounted to roughly 600 billion won.
While not a trivial sum even on Wall Street, the opponent Chanos was facing was the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.
For the sovereign wealth fund, 600 billion won was pocket change.
"They've been kept waiting for a week by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund. I suspect the counterattack will be brutal."
"Now that we know Chanos's hand is around $500 million, it's time to see just how big the Saudi sovereign wealth fund's hand is."
We watched the stock charts closely in real time.
Meanwhile, a single message appeared on the phone resting on the desk.
[GO!]
Just a single, short word.
The sender information couldn't be traced, but I knew exactly who had sent it.
"Vice President Faiz must be making his move now."
"He's aggressively buying up the stocks thrown into the market by the short-sellers!"
Tesla's stock chart began to swing dramatically.
The price, which had been dropping due to the $500 million short sale, suddenly surged at an astonishing pace.
"He's planning to sweep it all up, isn't he?"
"More than $100 million has already been put in. If this pace continues for just thirty minutes, they'll have spent over $1 billion."
No battle goes all-out from the very start.
Normally each side gauges the other's strength and then commits fully.
But the Saudi sovereign wealth fund didn't bother feeling things out. Since this was a fight fought with money, they began buying Tesla shares aggressively from the outset, as if to crush the opposition right away.
"The short-sellers are starting to move again. They're dumping massive amounts."
"Give intermittent supporting fire. Make it look like several parties using paper companies are buying Tesla shares. That way retail investors won't jump in after us."
"We'll mobilize all the paper companies. And David has started moving too. Very soon Wall Street and the press will run stories that the Saudi sovereign wealth fund has become Tesla's angel investor."
Short selling ultimately comes down to who can better hold the center.
Chanos stood at the center of the short-selling forces, so many groups had rallied to him.
But if the Saudi sovereign wealth fund anchors the defense, a force naturally forms around it.
"It looks like the short-sellers are committing fully now. They've started dumping shares simultaneously across the market."
"Is the Saudi sovereign wealth fund buying all of it up?"
"So far they're absorbing it smoothly. It looks more likely to turn into a long war than a quick skirmish."
I wanted a long war.
Starting today, economic headlines would be dominated by the Tesla short-selling war.
How grateful I would be for dozens of trillions of won being spent to promote electric cars.
All I had to do was keep throwing a few logs on the fire now and then so the embers wouldn't die out.