The world's largest financial group, CITI Group.
Each of its executives held enormous influence.
Wherever they went in the world, just being a CITI Group executive guaranteed them top-tier treatment.
But in the boardroom, their demeanor was meek — like lambs before a beast.
"I'm not here as chairman for you all to mess things up! If you have a voice, then speak up!"
The only person yelling in the boardroom was Sandy Weill.
Though he had stepped down as chairman amid corruption allegations, he still pulled the strings as the power behind the throne at CITI Group.
"Apologies. The worsening real estate market has greatly increased our debt ratio. But we're cutting costs through layoffs and plan to reduce debt by divesting overseas operations and subsidiaries."
"So you want to hand over the companies and businesses I built to others? Who told you to ramp up leverage to 25 times?!"
CITI's current crisis was due to excessive leverage.
With leverage ratios between 25 and 30 times, CITI's cash reserves alone were insufficient to weather the storm.
Sandy Weill sounded as if he had only just realized this — but no major leverage decisions were made without his approval.
Still, no one dared to contradict him.
"And what about the subprime mortgage bond insurance? Who approved insurance contracts that pay out more than 20 times the value?"
"The board decided. The insurance payout conditions aren't fully met yet, but if the real estate market stays this way through next year, the conditions could be triggered."
"I see you've signed many insurance contracts with SAVE Investment and the fintech bank."
SAVE Investment's status on Wall Street had grown tremendously.
It boasted the highest investment returns of any firm and had never failed an investment — Sandy Weill knew this well.
And there was another reason he knew it so well.
SAVE had once employed Dimon, his protege and top partner.
He also knew the fintech bank well.
Dimon had spun off from SAVE Investment to establish that bank, so Weill couldn't be ignorant of it.
"SAVE Investment and the fintech bank anticipated the risks of subprime mortgage bonds early and came to us. It's clearly a deliberate trap."
"Don't they know on Wall Street, the one who gets played is the fool? Just because they set a trap doesn't mean the insurance contracts are invalid."
Sandy Weill shouted loudly.
All the executives bowed their heads and remained silent.
But unlike the others, one person held her head high and raised her voice.
"To handle the current situation, we need to secure cash assets as soon as possible. And we must resolve the insurance issues before the conditions are fully triggered if we want to survive."
"Who here doesn't know that?"
"Everyone knows the solution, but no one steps forward. So I will try to resolve it. I'll meet with SAVE Investment and Dimon to negotiate."
Sandy Weill's gaze softened as he looked at the executive speaking.
It was his eldest daughter, Jessica Weill, so he couldn't speak harshly.
She was also the one who would succeed him as the head of CITI Group, so he had to treat her differently from the others.
"Alright, you try. If this works out, no one will doubt your abilities."
"I will come back with good news, I promise."
Jessica was confident.
Her confidence came from having known Dimon since childhood and from the fact that Dimon held a large amount of insurance.
There was a time she truly considered him a brother by blood, and she believed Dimon felt the same about her.
***
The FinTech Bank that dominated Silicon Valley.
Despite the economic turbulence caused by the real estate market, large amounts of money continued to flow into Silicon Valley.
Many entrepreneurs, backed by investments through innovative ideas, didn't need to use the huge sums immediately, so they deposited their funds in banks—primarily the fintech bank favored by the titans of the IT industry.
Because of this, the fintech bank was growing larger by the day.
Jessica Weill, visiting the fintech bank for the first time, was secretly surprised at its even greater scale than she had expected.
"The bank president is waiting for you inside."
"Still punctual as ever," she said.
With a confident stride, she moved toward the bank president's office.
No matter how successful the fintech bank was in Silicon Valley, she was the heir of the world's largest financial group.
So she entered the office confidently.
Once the door closed and she was alone with Dimon, she smiled and spoke with a sense of triumph.
"Brother! It's been a long time. I really missed you."
"Humph, please mind your manners. This isn't a private meeting," Dimon responded, raising a metaphorical wall.
Jessica was shocked—and beyond that, felt betrayed.
The person who once cared so much for her was now giving her a colder look than anyone else.
"You've changed a lot."
"Thanks to someone like you," Dimon replied sharply. "Enough small talk. Why did you want to see me?"
"I came to ask for help. CITI Bank wants to sell some of its subsidiaries to the fintech bank. And I want to negotiate canceling the insurance contracts, too."
Dimon let out a bitter laugh at the situation.
He couldn't believe someone so clueless about the situation was trying to negotiate.
And that such a person was pushed forward as the heir just because they were family.
"Director Jessica, I understand the desire to sell subsidiaries, but I don't understand the part about wanting to negotiate canceling the insurance contracts."
"I'll pay five times the premiums you've paid so far. Isn't that a good enough offer to cancel the insurance?"
Just five times the insurance premiums?
This insurance wasn't just about five times — if the conditions triggered, it could pay out 500 times or more.
"That condition is absolutely impossible. If I accept that, the fintech bank's customers and shareholders will sue me for breach of fiduciary duty. Please propose a negotiable condition. This isn't child's play."
"That's harsh. So what do you want? To collect the full insurance payout? You should have some conscience. Are you trying to ruin the company my father built?"
Was this conversation even meaningful?
He never thought she'd just come here and throw a tantrum without a plan.
"When did I ever threaten you to sign the insurance contract? When we signed it, no one said a word. What are you complaining about now? I don't want to hear any more. Please leave. And if you want to negotiate, send someone with a proper offer and the right authority."
"Are you saying I'm not a proper person?"
"Ask any banker on Wall Street if this is a reasonable offer. They'll all tell you it's a joke."
Beep! Dimon pressed the call bell.
The secretaries and security waiting outside entered the office, and at Dimon's gesture, they surrounded Jessica.
"Are you really going to do this? You shouldn't act like this, thinking of old times."
"Ask the chairman if he really cast me out like this, thinking of old times. Now leave."
Jessica stormed out, fuming.
Watching her back, Dimon felt a bitter sting.
If he were still under Sandy Weill, he'd be stuck cleaning up after a brat like her.
Thanks to Boss (Kim Min-jae), he had avoided that fate.
And now, he stood in a position to look down on the very Sandy Weill who had betrayed him.
***
The subprime mortgage crisis bombs began exploding massively in every corner.
Every month, at least one mortgage company declared bankruptcy, and major Wall Street financial firms announced huge losses.
"Boss, Morgan Stanley has also reported massive losses — a staggering $3.7 billion."
"How much insurance do we have with Morgan Stanley?"
"Save Investment has $10 billion, and the fintech bank has over $20 billion."
"So that's a combined total of $30 billion."
"Even if the U.S. government provides support, the scale of these bad assets makes survival difficult. They'll likely try to sell off many assets and convert to bank holding companies to stay afloat."
But the problem didn't end there.
While Morgan Stanley might survive with government aid and restructuring, several other companies were not so lucky.
"Is AIG the company with the largest insurance contracts?"
"Yes. Combining ours and the fintech bank's, it's over $300 billion."
AIG, the largest insurance company in the U.S., had issued the most insurance on subprime mortgage bonds.
"Soon, the U.S. government will be reaching out."
"If AIG collapses, it's effectively the collapse of the entire American insurance system. The 'too big to fail' principle might not apply to investment firms, but it definitely applies to AIG. The government will let others fail, but will never let AIG go bankrupt."
That was why so many insurance contracts were tied to AIG.
It was a company that could never be allowed to fail — a joker card in any negotiation.
"The U.S. government must be busy deciding which companies to save and which to let fail."
"But without our consent and the fintech bank, no decision can be made. Even if they try to save some companies, the moment we file insurance claims, those companies will collapse."
From the perspective of Wall Street investment firms, we were like grim reapers.
Those we reached out to survived, but those we didn't were dragged straight to bankruptcy hell.
"Boss! The U.S. government has requested a meeting. They urgently want you to come to Washington with Dimon from the fintech bank."
David burst into the office, his face flushed with excitement as he conveyed the government's wishes.
"Finally, we can start real negotiations."
"Is it time to harvest the fruits of the tree we've been watering for years?"
"We just need to pick only the fruits we want and put them in the basket."
"There are so many delicious fruits. Honestly, I want to eat them all, but it's such a shame that we can't."
"We only need to eat the tastiest fruits. The other hyenas need to survive too, right?"
At the end of the administration, the U.S. government was at its weakest.
It was a time when they could afford to make somewhat bold demands.
They desperately wanted to prevent even bigger bombs from exploding before the term ended, so they had no choice but to accept our demands.
Of course, making unreasonable demands would inevitably cause backlash.
But since we had already established a good relationship with the incoming U.S. president, there was no need to worry about any aftershocks.
TL/n -
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