“Carl Albert Singer.”
Originally a lawyer, he left his law firm in his 40s to establish an activist hedge fund called Albert Management.
Retirement funds, sovereign wealth funds, and investment funds invested with him, and Carl Singer achieved significant profits in a short time with his aggressive style.
His conduct during this time was astonishing.
Like a bald eagle swooping down on decaying flesh left behind by other animals, Carl Singer was indiscriminate when it came to making money.
His main investments involved buying bonds from countries in default at rock-bottom prices and demanding full repayment. His targets were low-credit, weak nations in South America and Africa, such as Peru, Argentina, and the Congo.
Even when sovereign nations and institutions agreed to a 30% debt relief, Albert used every means to secure more than that or even the full amount.
He even seized foreign aid funds from the government’s foreign accounts, leading to a suspension of vaccine supplies and the death of hundreds of children.
Upon learning this, the international community was outraged, and Warren Buffet condemned him, stating he was no different from Shylock.
He gained a notorious reputation, being called a vulture and a hyena, but Carl Singer didn’t care.
In a capitalist society, money is akin to blood. Investors live by sucking that blood.
There’s only a difference between being worse or less bad; who is anyone to criticize?
Money has no morality, no dirtiness or cleanliness.
Money is just money.
Once investment performance became known, wealthy individuals flocked with their money. They invested large sums anonymously, wanting to profit without facing criticism.
Carl Singer secretly mocked them as hypocrites. For him, making money was all that mattered.
Albert Management took 25% of profits as management fees. Given it was a hedge fund, this was excessively high. However, no one objected because they made high enough profits to willingly pay the fees.
Carl Singer was confident he would someday surpass Warren Buffet. In terms of actual returns, only one investor had outperformed him in the last five years.
‘After the earthquake…’
The most influential figure in the financial sector right now is Kang Jin-hoo. If it weren’t for him, the U.S. would have faced shocks beyond a financial crisis by now.
The anxiety caused by the earthquake, combined with an unprecedented presidential impeachment, has led to extreme fluctuations in global financial markets. For hedge funds, this was a prime opportunity to make profits.
However… the big one eventually hit.
Hedge funds suffered massive losses. Dozens of firms, which had aggressively invested by increasing leverage, went bankrupt, wiping out their clients’ money.
Fortunately, Carl Singer did not completely ignore Kang Jin-hoo’s warnings and managed to avoid significant losses by hedging just beforehand. However, he lost all the money he had earned over the year through hard work.
Nevertheless, opportunities to make money were abundant. The shock to the U.S. caused difficulties in emerging market stocks, and car sales plummeted.
Albert had been closely monitoring Eunsung Motors for some time. With the drop in sales, recall issues, government change, governance problems, and succession issues all piling up, maintaining stock prices was certainly going to be difficult.
Another issue for Eunsung Motors was its poor relationship with Kang Jin-hoo. In fact, it was Kang Jin-hoo who triggered the current airbag problem.
They secured top-level autonomous driving technology through CarOS and recruited Professor Kim Ho-min to develop next-generation batteries.
Additionally, they established automobile and battery factories in the Rust Belt, setting up a mass production system, which would clearly position them as leaders in the future of autonomous driving and electric vehicles.
OTK Company would never cooperate with Eunsung Motors, which would lead to the latter falling behind in competition.
As Albert sensed the smell of money and jumped in, other hedge funds followed suit. They launched a short-selling spree not only on Eunsung Motors but also across the Korean stock market, including biotech and consumer goods.
Once hedge funds decided to attack, Eunsung Motors plummeted by nearly half, and the Korean stock market fell by more than 15%. In contrast, the exchange rate soared.
What remained was to lower the stock price further, close the short positions, and leave quietly with the money.
Although he had been eyeing opportunities prior, Kang Jin-hoo pulling the trigger made things much easier.
Carl Singer murmured with a smile, “I think I should buy Kang Jin-hoo a drink.”
***
After December 31st, a new year began.
The Golden Gate and OTK Company held their new year’s meetings and started work anew. The stock market dropped immediately upon opening.
Individual investors were in a furious uproar.
– Please, get rid of those short sales!
– What are we supposed to do if the national pension lends out stocks for short selling?
– It’s the people’s money, and you’re using it to harm them!
– Is it reasonable for brokerage firms that profit off retail investors to lend stocks for short selling?
– Alternatively, allow individuals to short sell!
– Let’s move our accounts to brokerages that don’t lend stocks. It’s pointless to complain anyway.
– Isn’t it time for the government to take action?
– The president is too busy dealing with his own mess.
– I heard he’s hiding in the Blue House, destroying evidence and coordinating stories.
– He’s looking at jail time after his term ends; he needs to prepare.
Not only the stock market, but the current state of the South Korean economy was also poor.
With a sluggish real economy, the stock market declined, and falling stock prices further led to an economic downturn. The most serious issue was the rising unemployment rate.
When thinking of Korea, large corporations like Seosung or LG come to mind, and most protagonists on TV work for large companies. Thus, it’s easy to assume that only large corporations exist in Korea, but in reality, they account for less than 15% of employment.
The remaining over 85% of employment is provided by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, when SMEs struggle, unemployment rises immediately, severely impacting the livelihoods of ordinary citizens.
The main reason for the current situation is President Park’s policies.
For five years, by continuously advocating for business-friendly policies that favored large corporations, he ultimately ruined the economy due to his own mistakes.
However, criticism also fell upon me.
– Thanks to Kang Jin-hoo, all SMEs are about to collapse!
– Why is this Kang Jin-hoo’s fault? It’s due to the president and the harm done to SMEs.
– If Kang Jin-hoo confirmed the defect and still covered it up, wouldn’t you have cursed him for being the same kind of guy?
– Still, I believe they should have announced it after assessing the situation to some extent. Right now, the subcontractors for Eunsung Motors are living in hell every day.
– They made such a fuss about helping the U.S., but what have they actually done for Korea?
– If they had invested even half of the money they invested in the U.S. in Korea…
– The mess was made by the president; why are they blaming Kang Jin-hoo?
– Whoever made the mess, please clean it upㅜㅜ
I skimmed through the materials Hyun-joo had given me about Albert.
If I had studied this hard when I was in school, my grades wouldn’t have looked like that in my first year. (At that time, I was busy hanging out with my girlfriend and participating in club activities.)
Taek-gyu, who was pretending to study next to me, asked, “I have one question.”
“What is it?”
“I heard Albert bought bonds from struggling countries and manipulated things to make money?”
“That’s right.”
“But why was he quiet during the Russian moratorium?”
I put down the materials I was reading and nodded.
“That’s a very good point.”
When a debtor has no way to repay their debt and begs on their knees, most people tend to show some leniency. But while everyone else was saying they’d forgive debts, Albert insisted on trying to squeeze more money, even threatening dire consequences.
But what if the debtor is a gangster?
If you threaten them, you might end up dead.
“Albert doesn’t shy away from anything profitable, but he knows how to pick his battles. If he had tried something similar with Russia, he wouldn’t have come out in one piece.”
No matter how defeated a tiger looks, it’s still a tiger.
There are several countries that have lost money due to Russia’s moratorium, and South Korea is among them. However, rather than making a fuss, everyone is quietly waiting for the creditors to decide when to pay up.
The only countries that can make a big noise against Russia are probably the United States and China.
For reference, during this time, George Soros suffered massive losses and exited, while Long-Term Capital Management was completely destroyed.
Taek-Gyu seemed to recall something and said, “Come to think of it, Japan boldly demanded the return of the Northern Territories while Russia was weakened, but they couldn’t recoup anything.”
Surprisingly, he’s an otaku with some historical knowledge.
“During the Cold War, Japan was a country that could rival the US and divide the world.”
Taek-Gyu nodded as if he understood.
“And if they didn’t like you, they’d poison you with radioactive tea as an assassination method.”
It’s a country where the president comes from the KGB. Knowing when to attack is the key to a general’s success.
While we were talking, the intercom rang.
Senior Gi-Hong spoke.
[The guests have arrived. You may proceed to the meeting room.]
“Got it.”
I went down to the meeting room with Taek-Gyu.
***
Inside the meeting room, ten middle-aged men in suits and work jumpers were seated. Originally, around 50 were expected, but the number was limited to ten to avoid overwhelming pressure.
These are the presidents of the cooperative companies with Eunsung Motors. They had long established an emergency response meeting, urging both the government and Eunsung Motors to take action.
The government did nothing, and while the primary contractor, Eunsung Motors, provided advance payments and emergency funds, it was woefully inadequate to resolve the situation.
“Hello, I’m Kang Jin-hoo.”
I greeted them and took a seat. The presidents introduced themselves one by one with their company names and names.
Wearing name tags made it easy to recognize who was who.
“Things must be tough these days?”
In response to my question, President Baek Hyun-soo spoke on behalf of the group.
With a bitter tone, he said, “It’s not just tough; we’re barely surviving.”
The responsibility for the airbag incident lies with both Eunsung Motors and PAS. However, I was the one who revealed it.
They all wore expressions mixed with resentment, questioning why such a situation arose.
“The airbag defect is clearly a wrong issue. But announcing it without any preparation isn’t acceptable, is it? They should have taken their time.”
If I had given Eunsung Motors a month, they could have secured airbags and mitigated the shock.
But had that happened, it’s likely Lee Jung-hye of the Liberty Korea Party would have been elected as the next president instead of Heo Chang-min of the New Politics Party. Park Si-hyeong would have tried to cover it up regardless.
Anyway, I understand their negative feelings toward me.
“Our factory lines are completely halted.”
“If we can’t stop the bills due this month, we’re on the brink of bankruptcy.”
“We may not be able to pay our employees’ salaries.”
“Why are we suffering like this when we did nothing wrong?”
Several presidents spoke, and some were moved to tears.
I quietly listened to the mixed voices of cooperation, complaints, and blame. After waiting for them to finish speaking, I said:
“As you know, my father used to run a partner company for Eunsung Motor. So, I can fully empathize with the difficulties you’re facing.”
At that moment, CEO Baek Hyun-soo jumped up, raising his voice.
“You empathize, but did you act on it? This is basically asking us to just give up!”
Other CEOs also stood up immediately.
“That’s right.”
“There’s no solution from the government or anyone else.”
“Only after people start jumping into the Han River will they finally come up with a plan?”
“I wish I could break that glass and jump right now.”
What floor are we on again?
Taek-gyu asked me in a low voice.
“Isn’t that bulletproof glass?”
“It’s probably just tempered glass.”
How often would anyone need bulletproof glass in a building in Seoul?
“Calm down, everyone. I’m here to discuss solutions.”
“Do we look calm when we’re about to die?”
“What kind of solution is it?”
I replied calmly.
“I’ll order parts from CarOS.”
“What, what does that mean…?”
CarOS is about to launch two new car models.
The factory built in the Rust Belt before the U.S. elections is nearly complete and ready for operation, with all preparations made, including new hires and negotiations for transfers with the union.
“I will redirect some of the orders CarOS has for its partner companies to Korea. While it won’t be enough, it should ease the burden somewhat. I will provide the payment upfront in cash, not through promissory notes.”
At my words, the CEOs who had just been shouting and pointing suddenly fell silent as if nothing had happened. After a moment of exchanging glances, they then bowed politely.
“Thank you, Chairman.”
“We will do our best.”
“We will not forget this favor.”
“I didn’t know you had such deep intentions.”
“If we have committed any discourtesy, please forgive us.”
Taek-gyu spoke in a low voice.
“Isn’t the turnaround a bit too fast?”
“That’s how it usually is.”
For now, this should put out the immediate fire.
