At a manor in the northern suburbs of Greenwich, Connecticut.
The date is Thursday, October 23.
Simon and his wife had spent three days in Washington and arrived in New York today. During the day, Simon was busy with matters related to Daenerys Entertainment and other ventures, while Janet focused on Cercei Capital. In the evening, the Westeros family hosted a small cocktail party, primarily entertaining some of Wall Street's financial heavyweights.
In the villa's grand hall.
The three giants overseeing Cercei Capital's hedge, investment, and fund businesses—Matthew Kaplan, Leon Black, and Lawrence Fink—were present, along with George Soros, the head of Quantum Fund; Henry Paulson, CEO of Goldman Sachs; Bill Spelt, who had recently become the president of Credit Suisse's First Boston; Thomas Renyi, CEO of the newly integrated Bank of New York Mellon; John Meriwether, head of Long-Term Capital Management; and others.
Including Simon, the host, and James Rebeld, who managed Westeros Corporation, there were only about twenty people in total. However, anyone familiar with Wall Street's financial circles would feel the weight of their presence, as if Mount Tai were pressing down.
And, of course, it was clear that something significant was about to happen in the financial world.
Indeed, something significant was about to happen.
And the truth wasn't all that hard to guess—it was undoubtedly related to the ongoing turmoil in Asia.
Over the past few days, after Simon's series of communications, most of the relevant parties had become aware of the situation regarding Hong Kong. Today's gathering was the result of numerous phone calls and probes, with Simon deciding to invite everyone together to establish a unified understanding.
When it came to the "international financial speculators" targeting Asia, George Soros was at the forefront. Many even believed that the Asian financial crisis was solely Soros's doing.
In reality, that wasn't the case.
Soros was merely the figurehead, and the old man was happy to play that role.
Beyond him, the entire Wall Street—Goldman Sachs, Morgan, Lehman, First Boston, and others—as well as financial giants in Europe and Japan, were all involved. Even if they didn't have direct hedge fund divisions, they had privately invested in various hedge funds. Thus, they were all part of the "international financial speculators" wreaking havoc in Asia.
Capitalists have no homeland.
During this period of widespread financial turbulence in Asia, Europe, and even North America, everyone was seizing opportunities wherever profits could be made. Just like the circuit-breaker-level crash of the Dow Jones, not only did Cercei Capital profit handsomely, but many U.S. financial institutions also reaped significant gains. Of course, there were also institutions that suffered massive losses due to betting on the wrong direction.
Winners owe no one, and losers blame no one.
It was all about skill.
Now, Simon Westeros, along with George Soros, who was seen as an enemy by many Asian nations, had suddenly shifted their stance, deciding to support Hong Kong. After some coordination, everyone saw an opportunity.
Hong Kong was a juicy piece of meat.
Everyone knew that. If they could take a bite, they would all be handsomely rewarded.
The problem was, everyone also understood that this piece of meat wasn't easy to chew, as it was backed by mainland China. A misstep could result in losing their teeth.
Without Simon's leadership, even if it was difficult, everyone would still try to work together to take a bite.
What if they succeeded?
However, with Simon taking the lead, things suddenly became more interesting—and simpler.
Hong Kong was tough to crack, but if they used it as a chessboard to set a trap for European or Asian capital, which was far weaker than Wall Street, as well as countless small funds and retail investors who were blindly following the trend, they could clean them all out in one fell swoop and still walk away with a hefty profit.
Thus, in recent days, after gradually receiving the news, Wall Street's big players had quietly shifted their positions, clearing out their short positions and establishing long ones.
Although Hong Kong's stock market had continued to decline due to the overall financial turmoil in Asia, many major Wall Street players had already subtly completed their shift in stance.
Amid the chaos in Asia, even though many believed that Hong Kong's financial market wouldn't be breached, the prevailing view was still that the Hang Seng Index would fall below 10,000 points, or even lower. Therefore, at the beginning of October, it was difficult for those betting against the market to establish short positions. Knowing that the market would fall, few were foolish enough to bet against the shorts.
In the zero-sum game of the hedge market, only some official capital would take on a small number of short contracts to maintain financial market stability.
After Simon and Soros reached an understanding and quickly coordinated with Wall Street's major players, everyone began intentionally establishing various long positions in Hong Kong's financial market. While this raised some concerns among a few financial players, given the overwhelming bearish sentiment across Asia, these long positions were quickly absorbed by the flood of short sellers.
Simon wasn't sure about the specifics of other firms, but just within Cercei Capital, the total scale of long positions accumulated around Hong Kong during this period exceeded $6 billion.
Today's gathering was to finalize the last piece of the puzzle.
Specifically, the date.
On October 29, next Wednesday, the Westeros system and Soros would jointly announce positive investment news regarding Hong Kong.
Then, on October 30, Thursday, and October 31, Friday—the last two trading days of next week, the final two days of October, and the settlement dates for October's Hang Seng Index futures contracts—various parties, including those in China, would act together to orchestrate a major reversal, propping up the Hang Seng Index to the greatest extent possible and wiping out all short positions.
In a corner of the hall.
Henry Paulson, who had just taken over as Goldman Sachs' CEO last year, got the exact date from Simon and asked a few follow-up questions before shifting to another topic: "Simon, regarding South Korea, could you share some details about your plans?"
If Hong Kong was already a matter of mutual understanding, then when it came to South Korea, even among those at the party, only a few were aware of Simon's plans.
Goldman Sachs, of course, was an exception.
The current Secretary of the Treasury, Bob Rubin, was Goldman's previous CEO. Simon's plans for South Korea couldn't bypass the IMF, so this matter was no secret to Washington, the Treasury, or, naturally, Goldman Sachs.
Simon didn't deny it to Paulson, instead saying, "Henry, regarding South Korea, this is a long-term industrial strategy for the Westeros system. I doubt you'd be very interested?"
Henry Paulson shook his head. "Simon, Goldman has many long-term investments as well."
"In that case, Henry, if you're willing, you can join us this time," Simon said, hesitating for a moment before adding, "I plan to take over all of South Korea."
"Simon, that won't be easy," Henry Paulson said, looking surprised. After a moment of thought, he added, "There are many challenges."
"Any problem that can be solved isn't really a problem."
Henry Paulson said, "I've studied South Korea quite a bit. It's a country that, due to its geographical location, has been surrounded by major powers in a geopolitical vortex for over a thousand years. As a result, the Korean people place great importance on national and ethnic independence, and they have a strong sense of national pride that can easily be triggered. How do you plan to address that?"
"To be honest, I recently conducted an experiment."
"On the 18th?"
"Exactly," Simon said. "If you look into it further, you'll see that the Korean public, the Korean government, and the Korean chaebols form a very interesting triangle."
Henry Paulson pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "No, that's not a stable triangle."
"I didn't say it was stable," Simon said with a smile. "I said it's a very interesting triangle. The Korean public, the Korean government, and the Korean chaebols are all mutually restraining. If you exploit the conflicts between them, you can take over the country. You know, like a puppet master."
"Ha, I can see that, Simon," Henry Paulson said with a laugh. "You enjoy being the puppet master."
"Who doesn't?"
After the joke, Henry Paulson continued, "In this day and age, controlling a country's economy is key. In South Korea, the economic lifelines are essentially the automotive and electronics industries, and, of course, finance is indispensable. Simon, Goldman can work with Cercei Capital to get involved in South Korea's finance. You can handle the automotive and electronics sectors, or anything else I might have missed. How does that sound?"
Simon had never planned to monopolize South Korea. His talk of taking over the entire country was meant to include the various stakeholders within the Westeros system. The reason for keeping it under wraps was to avoid competition for the core targets he had his eyes on.
With Goldman stepping forward, Simon didn't refuse. He nodded and said, "That works."
Henry Paulson, however, wasn't satisfied. He smiled and probed further, "Simon, I'm actually more curious about what I might have missed."
Simon wasn't going to reveal everything to Henry Paulson, but he didn't plan to be completely tight-lipped either. He said, "Henry, to be honest, I have no interest in South Korea's automotive industry."
Henry Paulson raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"
Simon replied, "Henry, don't you think an industry that's been around for a century is already a sunset industry?"
Henry Paulson shook his head. "Simon, the issue is that many emerging countries are still in the early stages of automotive consumption, like China, Eastern Europe, and potentially Africa in the future. I believe that cars, like electricity and communication, are essential needs. They're not going away."
"Your perspective isn't wrong, Henry. But take communication, for example. A century ago, long-distance communication relied on telegraphs. Then, in the 20th century, telephones became widespread. And in the last decade, mobile communication and the internet have risen. That tells you something. Cars are essential, but in my view, traditional internal combustion engine vehicles are ripe for a transformative replacement."
Henry Paulson thought for a moment but still shook his head. "Simon, I don't see any signs of transformation in the automotive industry. You're not talking about electric vehicles, are you?"
"Why not?"
"Electric vehicles come with far more complications than internal combustion engines, especially when it comes to batteries..." Henry Paulson paused, then looked at the young man before him. "If I recall correctly, a couple of years ago, you acquired IBM's battery division, Recttery, right?"
"Exactly," Simon admitted with a smile, adding, "Henry, I must say, your memory is impressive."
Henry Paulson gave a slight, wry smile and continued, "I also happen to know that your team in China recently invested in a battery manufacturer called BYD."
Simon nodded again. Seeing Thomas Renyi of Bank of New York and George Soros approaching, he raised his glass to Henry Paulson one last time. "Henry, if you're interested, Goldman can join in on this play."
As Henry Paulson watched the young man turn to greet Soros and the others, he suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine.
He had grasped some of Simon's intentions.
Cars were essential. Henry Paulson was confident in his assessment. Even though the industry had been around for a century, he didn't believe humanity would abandon this mode of transportation in the next hundred years.
However, that didn't mean internal combustion engines couldn't be replaced.
Thinking about what this young man had accomplished.
In less than a decade, the Westeros system had single-handedly propelled the internet industry forward, and Simon had carved out a significant portion of the internet's profits for himself, becoming the world's first trillion-dollar super-wealthy individual.
It wasn't hard to see that creating an industry yielded far greater profits than competing in a mature, established industry.
And as for the automotive industry, which would remain essential for the next hundred years, if the Westeros system could single-handedly achieve the transformative replacement of internal combustion engines with electric vehicles, it would be akin to creating an entirely new industry. The scale of profits involved in the automotive industry, at least in Henry Paulson's view, far exceeded that of the internet industry.
If Simon could pull off this feat and secure the majority of the profits, it wasn't impossible for the world to see its first ten-trillion-dollar super-wealthy individual.
Such ambition was nothing short of awe-inspiring.
Glancing once more at the young man now chatting and laughing with Soros and the others, Henry Paulson momentarily forgot about South Korea and began mentally mapping out the Westeros system's potential moves in the future electric vehicle industry.
Simon's recent lobbying efforts in Washington were no secret to Henry Paulson. Among his three goals, breaking through energy limitations with controlled nuclear fusion seemed tailor-made for electric vehicles. Once controlled nuclear fusion was achieved, the cost of electrical energy would far surpass that of the fossil fuels currently dominating the automotive industry, providing a solid foundation for the widespread adoption of electric vehicles.
However, Henry Paulson wasn't overly optimistic about the short-term breakthroughs in controlled nuclear fusion. Just the ITER project, a massive tokamak experimental device that Simon's family was reportedly funding, would take a decade to build. Even if everything went smoothly, it would be at least thirty years before controlled nuclear fusion could be commercially viable.
At this thought, Henry Paulson couldn't help but wonder if he was being too pessimistic.
Regardless, with Simon Westeros making such moves and the precedent of the internet industry's success, Goldman Sachs had no reason not to follow suit and place its bets.
Henry Paulson quickly zeroed in on a critical factor.
Batteries.
Yes!
For internal combustion engines, oil was key. For electric vehicles, electricity wasn't the issue, as it could be sourced in numerous ways. The engine wasn't the problem either, given a century of technological advancements. The real challenge was the rechargeable batteries needed to store large amounts of electricity.
It wasn't hard to imagine the sheer scale of battery demand if the billions of internal combustion engine vehicles worldwide were replaced with electric vehicles.
Thus, Henry Paulson had an inkling: in the future electric vehicle industry, he who controls the battery controls the future!
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