The promised day had arrived.
Chanos poured all the funds he possessed into short selling to prove himself to the hedge fund manager.
"Sir! Hess's stock price has started to plummet rapidly."
"It seems Taewoo Group hasn't even set up a system to defend against short selling. But the counterattack will come soon, so stay focused."
"Individual investors have also started to dump some of their shares."
"The chairman of Taewoo Group spent time on Wall Street. This won't end easily."
Chanos felt his blood boil.
As if he were back to when he first entered Wall Street, he attacked Hess using various strategies.
"It looks like Taewoo Group is making a move."
"What's the scale of their funds?"
"Initially, they are buying back shorted stocks worth 500 million dollars."
"Only 500 million? Taewoo Group's funding must have truly dried up. Even if that's just their first move, moving only 500 million dollars is pathetic. Crush their spirit early on. Throw in an additional two billion from us!"
Within a single day, Chanos's faction had shorted amounts exceeding five billion dollars.
Taewoo Group attempted to defend several times, but their funds were insufficient to stop the declining stock price.
"This is progressing easier than I thought."
"What will you do? The stock price dropped over 7% just today."
"Do you think I went through all this for a mere 7%? I need at least a fifty percent drop to make my move worthwhile. Prepare for continuous attacks tomorrow, next week, and next month."
"Understood. Also, the hedge fund representatives have arrived."
As soon as the stock market closed, the hedge fund managers came.
They had witnessed Hess's stock price fall more than 7% just today.
They hurried here because they knew the sooner they joined forces, the greater the profits could be.
"Bring them inside. Now we can finally have a proper conversation."
Chanos entered the office first.
Unlike before, he leaned against the desk with a somewhat arrogant posture, waiting for his guests.
The hedge fund managers greeted Chanos with a respectful demeanor, a stark contrast to their previous attitude.
"Congratulations. We have witnessed the majesty of a true ruler. It looked like a heavyweight champion toying with a lightweight amateur."
"Hess's stock price is plummeting wildly, and even Chesapeake's shares, which haven't been targeted yet, are falling along with it."
The hedge fund managers flattered him.
Sweet words rarely came from their mouths unless money was involved.
They babbled like that because the scent of money strongly surrounded Chanos.
"This is only the beginning. Although the stock fell 7% today, the primary goal is to halve Hess's stock price within six months."
"Taewoo Trading and the entire Taewoo Group will be the secondary and tertiary targets. Hess is on the brink of bankruptcy and has no defense power, but won't Taewoo Group be more difficult?"
"We decided to send an activist fund to Korea. Since the manager is a Korean-American, they are perfectly suited to implement activism tailored to the Korean market."
An activist fund.
A fund that actively demands measures to increase shareholder value.
It demands all possible methods to raise stock prices, including stock buybacks, mergers and acquisitions, and governance improvements.
There were activist funds in Korea as well.
But compared to Wall Street, their intensity was mild, and the Korean market had never experienced serious activism.
Therefore, Chanos expected that the moment a Wall Street-origin activist fund landed in Korea, Taewoo Group would start to waver.
"When an activist fund goes to Korea, it will be a headache for Taewoo Group. But aren't activist funds ultimately a group that hopes for stock price rises? If Taewoo Group's stock price goes up, it won't help our short selling."
"If Taewoo Group accepts the demands of the activist fund, that would happen. But unlike the US, in Korea one chaebol head wields almost absolute power. They will never be led by an activist fund. If so, the stock price will fall."
It was not a bad plan.
A corporate head who completely rejected the demands of the activist fund.
It was the perfect situation to brand the company as one that didn't care for its shareholders, and if that happened, the stock price would naturally fall.
"One last thing to mention. Although Taewoo Group's capital has significantly diminished, isn't there still room for external capital to intervene?"
"Are you talking about the Saudi sovereign wealth fund?"
Chanos clenched his teeth.
The reason he failed in the Tesla short-selling operation was precisely because of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.
It was the Saudi fund, pouring in massive amounts of money, that caused his failure; Chanos endured his anger through gritted teeth.
"I'm not saying this to provoke you, Mr. Chanos. Isn't it a well-known fact that Saudi and Taewoo Group have a good relationship?"
"Under normal circumstances, we would have to consider the Saudi sovereign fund. But this time it's different. Because Taewoo Group is connected to an American oil company that opposes Saudi interests, Saudi will never move their funds."
The root of this crisis was an oil war.
At its core, it was a power struggle between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Therefore, it was impossible for Saudi to assist Taewoo Group, which had acquired the American oil company.
"Every condition is turning against Taewoo Group."
"There's not a single way out. Unless Saudi suddenly announces an oil production cut—which is less than 1% likely."
"Mr. Chanos, we want to help you bring down the arrogant Taewoo Group."
A hedge fund manager extended his hand.
Other hedge fund representatives also stood and stretched out their hands.
Chanos paused briefly, then clasped their hands.
"Think ahead about how to divide Taewoo Group. We will tear it to pieces."
"We'll trust and follow only you, Mr. Chanos."
"American financial firms that entered the Korean financial tower will be packing up soon."
"Chairman Kim of Taewoo Group must be sweating bullets. I wonder if he's sitting in the bathroom all day. Ha ha ha!"
The short-selling faction was already celebrating.
No matter how they ran simulations, it was a battle they were destined to win.
They were thrilled at the thought of crushing Taewoo Group, which was making a name for itself in the global financial market.
***
The next day.
I was spending a leisurely morning with a cup of coffee.
But President Han came to see me, nervously swallowing his saliva repeatedly.
"Chairman, Hess's stock price fell more than 7% in a single day. And the short-sellers are expected to continue their attacks today."
"Just keep pretending to defend like you're doing now."
"Are you really okay with that? Even though I know you're just baiting the fish to gather, I can't help but worry."
Worry was pointless.
Even if the stock price dropped, we wouldn't particularly lose out.
We purchased at a very low point, and even if the stock fell as much as it rose when Taewoo Group acquired it, it would just break even.
Even if it dropped further, it didn't matter.
We weren't planning to resell our shares right away anyway.
"Let the stock price of Hess be cut in half."
"If that happens, the short-sellers will seriously set their sights on Taewoo Trading and Taewoo Group."
"Let Taewoo Trading play the part of the sacrificial lamb. That will attract even more fish."
"But won't the financial firms in the consortium, including the fintech bank, become suspicious if they don't take any action?"
Hess and Chesapeake Energy weren't acquired solely under the Taewoo Group's name.
Some of the funds also came from financial firms and IT companies, including the fintech bank, so the short-sellers might have been wary.
"I've already finished talks with Dimon. The companies participating in the consortium, including the fintech bank, will officially announce they won't be involved in this short-selling attack."
"That will definitely make the short-sellers bite harder."
"But it won't end there. I've instructed David to leak information that the oil consortium is showing signs of division. We need that kind of news to get the short-sellers to attack more aggressively."
Just biting isn't enough to catch a fish.
The fish must swallow the bait quickly for the hook to catch it.
To achieve that, the fish had to be reassured, and various efforts were underway to make the short-sellers feel at ease.
"Certainly, more forces will join the Hess short-sell. But what if they only attack Hess and don't participate in attacking Taewoo Trading and Taewoo Group?"
"Those people won't be satisfied with Hess alone. You obviously know this well from your Wall Street experience."
"Taewoo Trading and Taewoo Group are Korean companies, making short-selling difficult. We need to definitely pull the short-sellers inside Korea if we are to win."
President Han didn't know one thing.
Even if the short-sellers only attacked Hess, victory was still achievable.
With me holding 70% of Taewoo Group's shares, their defeat there was certain.
But Hess required a tremendous comeback card to beat the short-sellers—and that card was already in my hands.
"I've already devised a way to win even if they only attack Hess. So just keep pretending to defend like you are now. The stock price needs to fall further here."
"Dimon just sent news that will push Hess's stock price down even more."
"What news?"
"ExxonMobil sold 10% of its stake in the Guyana fund to the oil consortium. They paid a whopping 8 billion dollars. Once this news spreads, the stock price is likely to drop further."
An additional $8 billion expenditure.
Funds that should have been used for short-sell defense were instead spent on acquiring the Guyana fund stake.
Therefore, it inevitably affected Hess's stock price and was very good news for the short-sellers.
It was also good news for me.
Because the short-sellers would now launch their attacks with full force.
***
Chanos, the core of the Hess short-selling faction.
His office was now filled with many more hedge fund managers than before.
More than half of them had already participated in the Hess short-selling and made decent profits, and upon hearing this, other hedge fund representatives bowed to Chanos, eager to get a share of the crumbs.
"We wonder if we came too late. If it's something Chanos does, we should have joined sooner, but we were delayed trying to understand the market trends."
"It's not too late yet. This is just the beginning. Hess's stock price is still heavily inflated. If we push a little harder from here, even Taewoo Group will start to shake. The pie to divide is more than enough in Taewoo Group."
Chanos spoke with a benevolent smile.
But he didn't think kindly of the hedge fund managers joining late.
After setting the table, they now want to grab the spoons?
Still, since more funds were needed to attack Taewoo Group, he decided to ignore it for now.
"We won't be greedy and will only take as much as you allow, Mr. Chanos."
"No, you can be greedy. For me, reclaiming honor matters more than money in this operation."
Chanos believed he had been resurrected.
The honor buried in his grave after the Tesla short-sell failure had finally been revived, or so he thought.
And the many hedge funds following him.
But all of this was nothing more than a huge fishing net.
They had no idea that what they were eating was just the bait inside the net.